RFC Interview: The Real Tuesday Weld

Next Tuesday (8/28), Brit electro/antique pop sensation Stephen Coates returns with his 5th release as The Real Tuesday Weld. Titled The London Book of The Dead, the new record finds Stephen's usual quirky pop aesthetic treading some darker waters, but the overall sound is still quintessential Real Tuesday Weld. RFC recently caught up with Coates via email to talk about the new album's darker tones and how his earlier work has suddenly become the toast of Madison Avenue.

Download: The Real Tuesday Weld - "Last Words"

I’ve always been intrigued by the sound of The Real Tuesday Weld, a style  you call “antique beat.” How did you come to develop your unique mix of electronic pop and vintage jazz/cabaret/lounge.

I grew up in a house in which old jazz and easy listening were virtually the only things listened to so that was really my musical education.  Then I was given a sampler and a computer and I started to try to make music with them which sounded like what I could hear in my imagination – I think antique beat emerged out of that imagination and memory combined.

This latest album is probably your most personal and serious record to date, your recent experience of becoming a father one week only to lose your own father two weeks later is some seriously heady stuff. Yet, even with the heavy subject matter, you’ve still managed to instill your trademark humor and wit in the new record. What’s your secret for keeping things light in the end, even through the darkest of subjects? Also, was this a more difficult record to put together than your others, or was the process an essential cathartic release to help you sort things out?

Well, you know death is necessarily a serious thing!  My father’s death was of course sad but also it was very positive  the way it happened.  My life seems to be a mixture of things – from the ludicrous to the profound  - and I like the music to reflect that.  Also this was an album about all stages in a life – not just the end.  I like heartbreaking songs and stupid songs in equal measure I think.  It was quite a difficult record in some respects just because there was so much going on, but not because I was in some traumatized state.  But I made two records and that’s important to me, I think you get the whole picture by listening to both.

On a much much lighter note, your song “I Love The Rain” has been resurrected in a recent Cherry Coke ad campaign. When you were first starting out as an artist, did you ever in your wildest dreams think that your songs would end up in soft drink ads? What are your thoughts on the music industry these days in terms of getting your music out there? Traditional radio is pretty much a lost cause at this point, so what do you think is the best vehicle for artists to get their music heard these days?

Oh, I’m very happy if the ad is a good one and it’s not something I object to. Firstly as you say, it’s a very good way to connect with a lot of people - perhaps people who you wouldn’t ordinarily come across - but also it’s part of the whole way of making a living when it’s harder and harder to sell music conventionally.  There are things I definitely wouldn’t want to be associated with but  I thought the Cherry Coke ad was good.

Any plans to bring The Real Tuesday Weld out on the road in The States soon? (come to think of it, have ever toured the States before?)

We have played several times in the US and I hope to be with you again later this year – just putting it together at the moment – and of course I would absolutely love to come to Chicago. I really would.

What music or other art has inspired you recently? Max Richter  - I love him – also Astor Piazolla, Vernon Elliot, Tom Waits, H P Lovecraft, The Modern Antiquarian, Twin Peaks

Best/worst thing about being a musician in UK

Best – making a living in London
Worst -  making a living in London

Best/worst thing about the US music scene

Best - It seems very unprejudiced and open to me.  Also, Jon Brion
Worst – R n B – I just don’t get it. Sorry

Seen any good movies lately?

I saw Pan’s Labyrinth again – still love that

Of all the unusual instrumentation you’ve used on your records, which is your favorite and why?

The Optigan – I don’t think really you need anything else

Comments

[brad k]

hey, for the record...just wanted to clarify that it was in fact Stephen, not me, who said Jon Brion was the best thing from the U.S. music scene. weird how your favorite artists also tend to have the same favorite bands/artists as you do