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 On a cold Wednesday evening in London, the Warlocks are in town and I have the privilege to spend some time with Corey Lee GRANET, touchingly sensitive, really smart and a genuine sweetheart.
The WARLOCKS are now notorious for their quick ‘members turn over’, however Corey is one of the founding members, and has been with the band for the full 7 years and 3 LPs. |
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Florence: Hi Corey, thanks for spending some time with me.
As a founding member you’ve seen it all and I am curious to know what have been the pros and cons of this high turn over ?
Corey: Wow! This sounds like an easy question but it’s actually not ....let me think....Well the pros are that you get rid of people that can’t handle it. Actually, most of the people we’ve let go , have been really close friends that unfortunately, for some unknown reason didn’t manage to fit. Maybe personality clashes or different characters.
Maybe too much excess or partying....
 Florence: Incompatible lifestyles !
Corey: Well....I don’t want to upset anybody as these people are still very good friends but having a band with 7 people in itself, is nearly impossible. I wouldn’t suggest anybody tries it.
Florence: They say that 3 is a crowd, so 7 must be a small country !
Corey: You need to be very strong, mentally.
I am an only child so I’ve never had to put up with anyone being a pest, a nuisance, and at times it’s a bit trying for me.
For 2 months at a time, being on something smaller than a submarine, and never being alone for a moment, can really drive you crazy.
I can imagine how a 3 person band must be absolutely great. These guys are blessed and they don’t even know it.
But obviously being 7 of us means that we can do things a 3 member band couldn’t.
We just can’t have everything, I accept that if it was 3 or 4 of us, then maybe we wouldn’t be where we are now.
Being 7 could be the reason why people are interested in us.
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 Florence: As far as song writing is concerned, how difficult
does it get, with so many personalities and influences pulling in various directions. How is it possible to accommodate everyone ?
Corey: After this many years you know your place within the band.
Bobby is the song writer, and he will come to us with some lyrics and this skeletal idea of a song.
Sometimes you can see in his eyes that you won’t be able to influence, where a song goes, and other times, he comes in and he’s like ‘ I don’t know, I’ve got this idea...’ and so we jam together and make it our own.
Sometimes we want to contribute something and we know we can’t, and, some other times he wants you to contribute but you don’t really know what he wants.
Again, it’s difficult being 7 people. For a 3 or 4 piece it must be much easier throwing ideas around and see which one sticks, but with 7 people’s input it kind of cancel everything out.
Florence: Yes ! You can’t really move forward with an idea if it’s being pulled in 7 different directions. That has to be one of the downsides.
Corey: Absolutely. That’s why it’s ended up with Bobby doing all the writing - at least as far as the lyrical content is concerned- and we can just add the instrumentation.
 Florence: ‘Surgery’, your new album, has been branded more uplifting and ‘poppy’ than previously released ‘Rise and Fall’ and ‘ phoenix’.
Do you agree with that statement ?
Corey: I think that on the previous 2 albums, there’s always been a couple of ‘poppy’ songs, only there were not recorded and produced in a manner that really marked them out as pop songs.
On this album the song writing is very similar, only it was recorded and produced in a way that makes it obvious to the listener, that this is a pop song.
On ‘Rise and Fall’ we had ‘ song for Nico’, and that’s definitely a pop song, only it was recorded on a very small budget, and maybe it doesn’t come through as it should.
For instance ‘ House of glass’ and ‘Hurricane heart attack’ are pop songs, unfortunately the lyrics are covered in a haze of low budget recordings and limited time.
On this LP, we just did what we always do, but had a guy tell us ‘ you guys are idiots, this is how you record a song...’ so better producing and a bigger budget but our ethics haven’t changed and we haven’t changed as people.
 Florence: Actually you have just answered a lot of my questions.
I was wondering if happier songs might be due to the fact that maybe Bobby now finds himself in a better place and also all of you are enjoying better times, better lifestyles ?
Corey: Yes I think that circumstances, day to day life, may have been better. Things like hanging out with smarter people or a couple of relationships, inspired him and got some good songs out of him.
Also a couple of us are treating ourselves better, staying out of trouble, trying to keep our bodies and brains together because again, you can’t tour for that long if you keep disintegrating and falling into an endless loop of despair. We are making a constructive effort to not self-destruct completely, we need to make at least one more good record !
Florence: Well, I think that ‘Surgery’ is very good. It’s at times very catchy and stays with you long after your stereo has been switched off.
Corey: Thanks. But yes, more money has been thrown at it.
 Florence: Are you, personally, happy with the current line-up. Do you feel that this could be long term ?
Is it totally homogeneous ?
Corey: Without trying to be mysterious, I don’t know how long a band like that can sustain. Even if everybody was the best of friends, it gets really hard, and it’s not like we’re making any money, so we just go for as long as we can.
We all have our own threshold of how much of this lifestyle we can handle and at the same time, we are grateful to be here in London today, in Germany next week or on the Champs Elysees...
Nobody gets to do that... such a small percentage.
Florence: Are you referring to other American bands ?
Corey: I also mean human beings.
 Florence: The Warlocks have just played a few dates in Scotland and England, yet you arrived here days before the first gig. Any particular reason for that, maybe some business ?
Corey: We took some time off. Our last show in LA was on the 30th of October and we flew out here on Halloween. The first 3 days we just chilled out, sleeping a lot, only it would have been better in LA, in our apartments. The label wanted us to completely relax but we missed the Californian sunshine. However I’m sure it was decided with the best possible intentions.
It’s actually a short tour, just 3 weeks, which is really not a lot for Europe.
The new single ‘ Come save us’, comes out very soon and if for some reason we get some radio play, then we might need to come back.
Florence: I am sure you would enjoy being invited back to Europe, it must be a very positive feeling to know that the Warlocks have broken Europe the way English bands dream of breaking America.
Corey: But it’s all on a smaller scale. Things with us are always hard work. We didn’t reach a plateau early on in our career. With us everything is taking years to reach, and that’s just the way it’s gonna be, because we don’t play pop-music.
But then again the situation could turn around, as there is this new trend in America for ‘noise’ bands and ‘underground’ stuff, that’s all becoming very fashionable. You think to yourself ‘ wow! I was listening to that 5 years ago and everybody thought I was some reclusive weirdo! ‘, now it’s cool to listen to that.
Anyway being invited back is so good as it means someone out there still cares for us, despite the fact that so many fashions have come and gone in the last few years. But we can’t afford to care about what’s trendy or not.
People should also start thinking for themselves, if they like something they should admit it, go for it, tell their friends about it and not worry about what the magazines are telling them.
It’s totally acceptable for teenagers to be influenced by the media, we’ve all been there, but once you’re in your 20s you should be able to make your own mind up.
 Florence: Talking about the media, as far as I know and I am not an expert, the Warlocks don’t get any airplay in the UK, but how is it for you in the States ?
Corey: No, we don’t have that kind of clout , and that’s because it takes a push that you couldn’t even fathom. You can’t imagine all the politics that go into making a radio hit. Nobody would admit that’s how it works, but you need to know people, be ready to do favours, you need to have something to offer them and that’s the way it’s always been, from the very beginning, but again we don’t have that kind of leverage.
We get airplay from purists, people like Rodney Binginheimer and Steve Jones,[Sex pistols Jones]. Steve, who now lives in LA, has a show called ‘Jonesy’s Jukebox’, he’s a great DJ .
Unfortunately I don’t know how long his career can last as he’s not really a team player. Sometimes he’s very good at walking the line and as far as I’m concerned he’s the last hope for west coast DJs with integrity. So it would be a real shame to lose him.
Florence: Has Steve Jones been really good to you ?
Corey: As good as you can be !
If we get played 3 times a month, that’s very good. We’re not on heavy rotation or anything like that, and if we are then that’s news to me.
 Florence: Are you disappointed with all this ‘behind the scene’ bullshit?
Corey: Not so much disappointed as disillusioned .
I am a very naive person and I didn’t realise that that’s how it works but now I know! I don’t get angry anymore, I just accept that’s how it is, that’s the only way it can run. There is no place for anarchy, there is no utopian society. Sometimes we have to have faith in faith, and if things work out , great, if they don’t, don’t drive yourself crazy with it.
We need to be a touch jaded, so we don’t fall from heaven when it doesn’t go to plan. All you can do is work hard and be true to yourself.
Never sell out to your own ethics. If you sell yourself out and fail then...
Florence: It couldn’t get any worst!
You’re struggling to get airplay, struggling within the band.
Could struggling ever be good ? Does it make you a better person, musician? Can something positive ever come out of that ?
Corey: Struggle can be good, however I don’t know about 7 years of struggle. It gets tiring and monotonous. But we always put on a good show, because that’s the best part of the day for us.
We’ve spent all day on a bus staring at our feet and all of a sudden we’re on stage with 1 hour 45mins or 2 hours of non-existence, getting lost in the music.
If you’re a conscious person, thinking about the motives behind things will drive you crazy.
Struggling will eat away at you, unless you are the kind of person who lives in a dream land or someone who enjoys the fight.
Sometimes we welcome a good fight, and win or lose, whatever, as long as there is some sort of compensation, whether it’s love or money.
Some money is always good so you can treat yourself to something nice, like a mansion...no! just kidding.
 Florence: Just kidding! I bet you’ve got a really nice mansion in the Hollywood hills !
Corey: I wish! Actually it’s amazing how a band can produce one song, a pretty good song on a shit record, and the album will sell a billion copies because of this one song....and they will get to buy a Hollywood mansion. We don’t know how they do it, what goes on with the publishing deals. On the other hand you’ve got a band like us and a thousand others, with a strong body of work, ok, maybe not the most popular in the world, and for us it’s a hard, hard, hard life.
For us just to be able to play our instruments, forget buying a house or a car, but just to play for people, becomes at times nearly impossible.
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 Florence: With every single released, or album, comes a wave of fresh hopes. Any new record released could be THE ONE, that turns your life around. By the way ‘Come save us’ is really good and is entitled to do very well.
Corey: Absolutely, but unfortunately it’s not up to us. It’s about the media telling people ‘this is what you should be listening to, this is what you are supposed to like’, and that’s the bad part.
A 15 year old will listen to ‘Come save us’ and think ‘hum that’s ok, but it doesn’t sound like Franz Ferdinand’. Grown ups or the NME need to say ‘this is cool and you’re an idiot if you don’t like that’. But that’s never gonna happen with us.
Florence: I think that they are a lot of bands out there who can identify
with your problem.
Also, you’ve just mentioned Franz Ferdinand, do you get to listen to a lot of English music?
Corey: Not really. We don’t get influenced, musically, by anything. But it doesn’t mean that we don’t like it.
Personally, in the last year and a half, I’ve just stopped listening to all that new stuff. I just can’t afford to buy every album that’s meant to be good.
I know some Ferdinand’s singles, and that’s about it.
We’ve toured with Interpol for 2 years, yet I only know one track off their new album.
There is so much stuff out there, that we need to block it all out and only absorb what we truly believe in.
 Florence: It’s a very competitive business...
Corey: Oh yeah! and everybody has a band. Since 2000, the number of bands has doubled.
Florence: We’re going through very prolific times.
I can’t talk about America, but over here it’s firing on all cylinders, and so much so that I can’t keep up with it.
Corey: I think that the resurgence of brit-pop and British pride is very good, instead of looking to Detroit for influences.
It’s natural and it’s what should happen in England. Some of the best music comes from Europe and mainly England. It would be great to have another band like ‘Wire” or ‘Radiohead’.
Quite contemplative and dark. English music has always had a great sense of irony.
 Florence: This year we’ve been really spoilt, and if you can afford it you should check out things like Kasabian, the Go! Team, Kaiser chiefs, LCD sound system...and much more!
Anyway, what’s playing on your i-pod right now. On the tour bus can you all agree to listening to the same record ?
Corey: We each have an i-pod so we can be our own DJs, but we could all appreciate The Only ones, Pulp, Animal collective, Cabaret voltaire, lots of Wire, lots of old punk, maybe the Buzzcocks.
I think that Animal collective are one of the best bands in the US right now, I don’t think they’ve really made it over here but they’re worth checking out.
The New york and the whole Brooklyn scene, which unfortunately has always been more fashion based than anything, actually has some really valid music coming out on a regular basis.
They need to separate the hype from the really good bands.
Florence: My favourite NY band has got to be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Corey: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are absolutely great. I thought they embodied everything that, if I was a kid, I would love.
They were genuinely good, Karen O is a great performer and a really sweet person, musically gifted, ok maybe not the deepest thing in the world....
 Florence: But it sounded good...
Corey: It sounded good and they can write some damn good songs.
But again that’s a fashion band that got overlooked for their talent, and that’s a shame. It’s a shame that some people out there would think ‘hum, I don’t know about these guys, they’re nerds, they don’t look right’
Florence: I hope they can come back stronger and better than ever.
Anyway, Corey, you’re due on stage very shortly, so before I let you
go, what would be your message to the world ?
Corey: Well ! this is 2005 and girls should make the first move.
If you’re attracted to a guy, go talk to him. Guys don’t always know what to say.
No, seriously! Stop fighting, stop killing one another, get a new government in America. From there things should get better, outwardly.
Florence: As far as your government is concerned, the only way is up for you guys ! You’ve suffered enough in the last 5 years.
Corey: We’re just talking about music here, and yet there is so much going on out there, so much suffering, so much bullshit.
Florence: Yet we need music to numb the pain....
Corey: We listen to music to stop thinking too much about the truth.
As far as my country is concerned, the truth is really ugly : ‘Americans will not vote for someone who is not ready to kill !’
It can’t get any worst than that.
Words: Florence ACHERY.pictures: Leo POLI
The Warlocks website:
www.thewarlocks.com |
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