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| Pivot interview By It's not often one gets to see "electronica" and "heart" in the same sentence. These mutually exclusive nouns sit together like Marilyn Manson and Doris Day at a Tupperware party, yet there are still detractors who believe that the genre can be as expressive as any other. Dave Miller of Australian band Pivot is one of them. "Electronic music can be as emotive as it can be cold, just like most forms of music. Some people might have a hard time 'feeling' electronic music, but that's probably just their musical background." As recent signings to Warp Records, he may have a point. The legendary label, home to acts such as Aphex Twin and Nightmares on Wax, is known for picking up only the best, brightest and most original fixtures of the electronic scene. Indeed, the band doesn’t sit well with a lot of contemporary club-lite music of the genre, played to a sweaty clutch of trendies. Instead Pivot's music is a weird fusion of space age synths and rock instrumentation, and if their iTunes podcast is anything to go by, not shy to embrace a little eccentricity (see: Tom Waits, Ariel Pink). Hell, the band don't even think they are electronica. But is there any bite to their bark? What was the inspiration for the title track of your new CD, O' Soundtrack My Heart? How emotive do you think electronic music can be compared to other genres? Dave Miller: For that song, it's all about the synths - the sounds 70's synth stuff like Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre are heavy there. It's probably the most 'epic' of songs on the record and the most emotive as well. Any plans to feature vocals in your music? Do you think this would compromise the band’s vision? Richard Pike: No not at all. We already use vocals. It would only compromise the band’s vision if the vocals were bad. We’re listening to mostly vocal music at the moment. And we use a lot of vocals live, but it’s mostly wordless "oohs" and "ahs" and gibberish at this stage. Your music has a definite sci-fi quality to it. What do you think the future of music will be? RP: Well that’s a big question, because predicting the future of music means predicting everything in the future: the political climate, how people listen to music and for what purpose, whether people can afford to pay musicians to play, if humanity drowns in stupidity and downloading ringtones becomes the main source of music for people. Will machines be creating songs without humans or will people return to their roots with traditional folk music? RP: Well, both have already happened to a certain extent, and it always goes in cycles. A reversion to folk music always occurs after a mainstream focus on processed music. In the late 80s, Americana rock was embraced after the heyday of disco and new wave pop. Or earlier in the 70s the Sex Pistols were a kind of folk music reaction to stadium rock, which was seen as big and commercial and processed. How easy do you think it is to be derivative of other electronic bands? Have you ever had to alter a track to avoid comparisons with bands like Tangerine Dream? RP: We haven’t really thought any of our stuff has sounded like Tangerine Dream yet. But yes there are always moments when you’re writing and jamming and you think 'that sounds a little like X or Y’. We try to avoid it sounding like anyone in particular. We have people referring to all sorts of unexpected groups at gigs. Sean Paul and Dire Straits were two references I heard from a fan, which is weird. But I like that. Your music uses a lot of rock instrumentation. What are your musical influences beyond electronica? RP: Well we’re not electronica, and that’s not where our music starts from. It’s only one element of everything we check out. Today we listened to The National in the tour van as well as a mix tape with Tom Waits, Irma Thomas and Frank Sinatra. I rarely listen to electronica any more to be honest. What is your impression of the London music scene, both generally and in terms of electronica, compared to Australian cities? DM: London's music scene has got to be one of the most diverse and competitive in the world for the punter. There are shows on every night of the year, always something to see and do. For the musician, it's tougher: supply/demand means you get less exposure, less money and less time on stage, but it seems that as you put more work in, the results come slowly. Electronica-wise, it's not as strong as it should be, but really, over the past few years electronica has had a bit of a lull, so shows have become more sparse. What are your favourite off-duty London musical haunts? DM: Barden's Boudoir is generally good, loud and shitty. Plastic People is my favourite small club in the world. How has your music progressed as the second incarnation of Pivot? DM: More muscle. More heart. More bass. Finally, you’ve released a cover of Talking Heads’ “I Zimbra” on a limited 7” single of “O Soundtrack My Heart”. Are there any other songs you’d like to make your own? DM: "The Final Countdown" by Europe. Umm, well, we are doing a cover for a Warp compilation that's out this year, so you'll have to wait and see. |
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