| Author | Message | ||
     John Earls Member Username: Johnearls Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2007 |
Hello. This is just to inform you that there will be a two-part interview with Robert on Teletext next week - the first on Monday, the second on Tuesday. It'll be on page 346 on Channel 4 on analogue UK TV or page 824 on ITV on digital TV, and can also be accessed on www.teletext.co.uk - go into Entertainment, and it'll be in Planet Sound interview/features within the Entertainment A-Z section. I'm extremely happy to know Robert is making an album, and it's good to see him thrive as a critic too. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 702 Registered: 08-2006 |
Hey, thanks for that, John. So we Yanks will be able to access it online? And, holy cow, Robert's making an album?!? | ||
| John Earls Member Username: Johnearls Post Number: 2 Registered: 06-2007 |
You Yanks can indeed get the joy of Teletext at last (not, sadly, with the lovely retro graphics that UK TV watchers have enjoyed since the Victorian era.) And, yes, Robert is making an album - that'll be the main thrust of part 2 of the interview. | ||
| Elizabeth Robinson Member Username: Liz_the_new_listener Post Number: 110 Registered: 10-2006 |
Thank you so much for the information, John - I've put Teletext into my favorites for the momentous occasion. Wow... this is good news. | ||
| allan kingdom Member Username: Allan_kingdom Post Number: 7 Registered: 04-2006 |
here is the direct link: http://www.teletext.co.uk/entertainment/ planet-sound/interviews-features/2/Rober t+Forster's+mission.aspx | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 713 Registered: 08-2006 |
Robert says something that stuck me in part 1 of this interview. He talks about how his own guitar playing improved during the "Intermission" years and mentions that, when they were working together, he'd give his songs to Grant and that Grant'd come up with guitar parts. Not that Grant wasn't a fine player, but the times I saw them live it was always Robert who seemed to be holding down the bulk of the more complex guitar parts. I always viewed Grant as the rhythm guy. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1270 Registered: 03-2005 |
I thought that was interesting too. But it makes sense; remember the way Grant would use the bass for melodic fills back in the early days? | ||
| Duncan Hurwood Member Username: Duncan_h Post Number: 76 Registered: 05-2005 |
Part two is up now. I'm looking forward to the new album - I wonder if it will have another singer other than Robert for one or two songs. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 271 Registered: 04-2005 |
Thanks a lot for that John! Interesting + moving to hear Robert's ideas on the future. And it is his 50th birthday this week too. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 719 Registered: 08-2006 |
Interesting that he's including some Grant tunes and melodies on the record. Sounds fitting, too, especially since it took me a long time listening to the GBs before I could figure out whose tunes were whose. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 101 Registered: 05-2005 |
Waow! Friday is also my birthday! | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 108 Registered: 05-2005 |
Happy birthday TROU! What a coincidence! | ||
| Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 234 Registered: 05-2005 |
Wow. Thank you so much! This was so great to read. It's nice to hear Robert's thoughts. What a class act he is! I wish him well and eagerly await this album he is working on. Did anyone capture the first day's interview? The link no longer works. I only get Part II now. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1273 Registered: 03-2005 |
So Robert and I will be the same age for a few months. The second part of this interview has a few things that resonate for me. The thing about losing your best friend--losing the person you had the communication "shortcuts" with. That's irreplaceable. He'll miss it forever. And now I understand why he's doing this album at this time. Including, as it will, both his and Grant's melodies it will be a very strong album. | ||
| Austin McLean Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 42 Registered: 09-2004 |
Can anyone post Part 1? I missed it and can't figure out how to access it. Thanks. Austin | ||
| Hugo Member Username: Hugo Post Number: 23 Registered: 06-2005 |
And I missed part 2! If anyone preserved this for posterity, I'd be grateful if you could post it here. | ||
| Pat Boland Member Username: Pat_boland Post Number: 31 Registered: 05-2005 |
Part 2 Robert Forster's future By John Earls - In the second of our two-part interview, Robert Forster reveals his plans for returning to music after the death of his Go-Betweens bandmate Grant McLennan... How many songs have you written for a new album? There are about eight songs in total. I was never as prolific as Grant. Some of the songs I'm making are the final ones Grant wrote before he died. One is called Let Your Light In, Babe. How hard is it to finish making songs based on Grant's final demos? Surprisingly easy. There are a couple I can't sing because my voice isn't right - one in particular is perfect for somebody - we'll try to get that done. Grant never recorded song ideas on PCs. Like me, he'd do proper acoustic demos. I've got those, without lyrics - from his lyric book, he only had titles for them. But his melodies are so strong, ideas quickly suggest themselves. Do you want a second solo career? I'm not sure. The record I'm making now is one that I feel has to be done. I see it as making the album Grant and I had planned to make this year anyway. But I want to write in other areas, as well as music. As Grant and I were taking last year off, I began writing for the Australian magazine The Monthly and that's been very worthwhile. It's a new discipline. It's good to start afresh with new ways of writing. What's been the biggest benefit of becoming a rock critic for The Monthly? Hearing contemporary music. I'm not a big White Stripes fan, but it's good to be sent their new record to get a feeling of it. Good albums, Fountains Of Wayne, find their way to me now. One of the things I miss most about Grant is his knowledge of all areas of the arts. It was extraordinary, and we had that shortcut where we could say what we really thought of something. Do you think you'll ever find someone to write songs with again after Grant? Probably not. It's unlikely I'd find someone twice where we complemented one another so well. And it'd be hard on the other person. I'd have the Paul McCartney syndrome, where the other person is compared to John Lennon. You turn 50 on Friday... It'll be low-key. I'm not running from the idea of getting old, I'm just not big on being part of a large party. How do you feel about playing live on your own again? I've got four shows here in Brisbane in July, one for Go-Betweens songs and one for each solo record. It's a nice way to return to doing concerts again. The Intermission compilation and the next new record were things Grant and I had already planned. These shows are the first music ideas that weren't part of what we'd already thought of. I've only just realised that, and it's nice. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 55 Registered: 05-2005 |
Happy birthday TROU, from a fellow cancerian! Mine's on Sunday, but as far as I know, I don't share it with anyone fabulous or famous.. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 56 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for posting that by the way, Pat. Anyone able to post part 1? It's only right that Robert should be the one to complete Grant's unfinished work. No-one else could do it, and truly know how it was supposed to sound. I think it's going to feel like the final GoBetweens album, rather than a solo Robert project. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1461 Registered: 04-2005 |
As Duncan wondered earlier, if Robert feels he can't sing a couple of these songs that were primarily penned by Grant, who would be appropriate to sing them? Is it still a Robert Forster solo album if someone else takes lead vocals? I'd be all for it being a Warm Nights (band) album, with either Adele or Glenn taking the vocals, since they were Grant's final bandmates and sang at the tribute show. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 59 Registered: 05-2005 |
Adele/Glenn would probably be the ideals. I doubt if it actually will be released as a GoBetweens album, but as it'll be probably be the last Grant material we'll get to hear - you know what I mean... Sorry, getting all lonesome thinking about it... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1463 Registered: 04-2005 |
No way Robert lets it get called a Go-Betweens album, but I'm sure though it'll be his name on the cover he'll make it clear that "this one's for Grant." | ||
| Hugo Member Username: Hugo Post Number: 24 Registered: 06-2005 |
Thanks for posting the interview, Pat. |