(We Are) Performance walking in a winter wonderland.
(We Are) Performance walking in a winter wonderland.
With the release of three promotional videos for three tracks (“Reptile”, “Let’s Start”, and “The Living”) off their unnamed forthcoming album, my excitement for (We Are) Performance’s return is at an all time high. To address this anticipation I spoke with lead singer and author extraordinaire Joe Stretch about the new album, being covered in ink, irony, and sitting on the bottom of pools.
All of the members of (We Are) Performance have an active life outside of the band (with other bands, cottage jam business, writing novels, producing tracks, etc.) what made it time for you to reconvene and create a new album?
We missed each other and I’ve always thought pop music should be a bi-annual concern. I also heard my youth and my lovelife gurgling in the plug hole so thought I should write about that.
How was the process of developing this album different than the first?
It was much easier. We used studios less and wrote the whole thing in a bedroom. I liked that. I never liked the ostentatious side of all this. I always like the domestic side of pop; posters on bedroom walls, the scraps left behind by magazine clippings.
What’s it like to make a music video where gallons of ink (I’m assuming) are being thrown at you (In “The Living” music video)?
It’s very cold. And there were no towels. We drove back to Manchester painted black. There are still black stain in my bath.
Is there something conceptual about the video starting with everyone in white clothing and then ink being thrown? Pen to paper? The mark of time? Something like that?
I’m only guessing, but I think it’s about living. You start of white innocence. And then all your innocence goes into a collective landfill and you get splattered by experience. But it’s possible it’s just meant to look good.
It was mentioned that people wanted you to change your band’s name, did they give you potential alternate names? If so what was the worst?
I think the worst was ‘Joy Boy’. But there were some terrible ones. We like Wonderland. But ultimately, it felt wrong. Rightly or wrongly, we’ll always be Performance.
It’s always been a staple of the best synth-pop bands to feature bone-crushingly depressing lyrics over the poppiest of backing tracks (Blue Monday etc.), is this euphoric irony a reason that the band gravitates towards the synth pop sound?
Yes. I think misery needs to be offset by the plasticity and “fun factor” of synths. There’s a trace of humour and irony that synthetic elements bring to melancholy.
On that same note, do you think there is something engaging about writing songs that can be at once satirical and heartfelt?
Yes, that’s exactly what I try to do. I like a lyric to be both comment and expression. Inside and outside itself. As you say, satirical and emotional. But also in the music we try to blend very conventional forms with words and lyrical tones that come, to some extent, from outside pop music.
Billy Marsden has chosen to sit this album out to pursue other interests. Has she decided to work on other music projects? Or perhaps maintaining her sisters cottage jam business while the band hits the road?
She and Adam from Hurts live together so I think she’d got enough music around her for the time being. I don’t know who will look after Laura’s jam business. I think she might have expanded to chutneys.
You’ve been seriously interested in writing since you were ten years old, when did you start writing songs and lyrics and how do you 
feel your songwriting and novel writing feed into each other?
I started writing songs when I was about ten. I read an adaptation of Beowolf and turned it into a song. I still don’t really see myself as a songwriter. I’m just fond of saying things carefully. Sometimes I write them down. Sometimes it seems better to sing them. I actually don’t think there’s much link between writing songs and novels. Songs are about capturing moments. Novels are much slower, stranger things, really. They’re heavy constructions. Whereas songs can float on the breeze.
You said in a video that you’re an avid swimmer, how did you get into that, did you swim on a team in school or anything like that?
No. I got into swimming because I like the feeling of being underwater. Each day I try to lie on the bottom of a swimming pool. If I don’t, I’m unsettled. I think underwater is a good place for people. I’ve always loved that moment in The Graduate where Benjamin Braddock is standing in his parent’s pool in a deep sea diver’s suit. I remember I did have a swimming lesson once. I wore Thunderbirds speedos.
You do a pretty good impression of Tom from Editors, do you have any other impressions that you like to do?
Yes, that wasn’t meant to get on Youtube. I once tried to get it down but failed. I can impersonate anyone but they all tend to boil down to the same high-pitched voice (except Tom from Editors).
You’ve toured with music legends Bryan Ferry and Gary Numan, do you have any unforgettable experiences from sharing the stage with them?
Not really, I’m afraid. I make a point of not remembering the good bits. I do have memories of looking out at packed venues and feeling very strange. It’s a sort of out-of-body experience. But mostly I like to remember the moments in between. I’ve always liked shifting the gear into the van after the gig. And I like standing alone outside.
Any word on when the second album will be released or what it will be called (Or a possible North American Release)?
I think it will be released fairly soon in UK but I can’t say when. Certainly the next six months. I think it is coming out in North America, too.
What’s next on the collective plate for (We Are) Performance?
We’re off to play in Bogota, Columbia next month. Should be good.
For a free download of their track “Reptile” Check out their Myspace and sign up for their mailing list.
You should really listen to the track.
