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Although they're usually bunged in with the Trip Hop gang, Attica don't have much time for such categorisations, preferring to do their own thing and at their own pace. It's a strategy that will pay off in the long run as the headliners on this jaunt round the UK will no doubt discover when they've been discarded by the pop crowd in 18 months or so. Live, Morcheeba display none of the slickness of their records, instead they sound like a bunch of indie-funk chancers who've welded a deaf DJ to their half-time-breakbeats and stuck a great vocalist on top to cash in on the trip hop thing. The kids loved 'em. Attica are the giants upon whose shoulders Morcheeba are standing and, to give them credit, they've chosen a firm foundation, hip hop is a solid base on which to build and when you've got an innate knowledge of the bricks and mortar, you can't really go wrong. Attica blew Morcheeba away. The kids weren't into them at all.
Displaying their brickie arse-cracks: Tony, Charlie and Roba do battle with the Magic Robot. All questions from Smash Hits or related to Clint Eastwood (don't ask).
What's the tour been like?
R: Well, at the Olympia in Dublin we were supposed to be supporting
Morcheeba and there was a mess-up with the promoter where there was
a play beforehand and basically we would've had 20 minutes to perform
and no line check, so we had to blow that one out but the promoter
managed to get us a support with Coolio, which was
very...interesting, playing to 5000 12-year-olds.
Me: How did you go down? Were you too sophisticated?
A: They were just into hip hop, so if you're playing hip hop they'd be
like "yeeeaaahhhh" and nodding their heads...These guys refused to
look at the crowd.
T: I didn't want any criminal proceedings towards me! I mean, so long
as you shout "Coolio" every ten minutes, it's alright. But it was
amazing, just in terms of being in front of 5000 people, that
was...quite mad.
Me: Is that the biggest audience that you've played to?
T: Er, yeah...we played to 2000 with Massive, but that [Coolio] was
stupid; it was almost like playing at Wembley Arena, you know what I
mean? It was a strange, strange experience.
Would you appear on Kid's TV on a Saturday morning?
C: Of course...no doubt. Definitely.
T: Which one?
C: Oh, Live and Kicking or a guest appearance in Beverly Hills 90210,
y'know or perhaps have my own cartoon named after me and my own
superheroes. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing kid's
TV.
Me: The reason the question's on there is that bands are trivialised
by the programmes, just wheeled on to mime for 3 minutes and then
booted off again.
C: Well, that's the way that the industry is, you can't escape
that. If it's not children's TV that trivialising you, it's the music
papers, so basically that's one of the things that comes with the
job. Y'know taking the message of Attica Blues out to people, be they
any age, kid's TV is a medium for doing that and I think we're
prepared to do it cos we've all been kids once. It's not like, we're
so cool that we wouldn't do it.
T: Would you go on the Lottery thing on a Wednesday?
C: If it's a chance to play live, then definitely. If they're allowing
us a forum to go and do what we do without any restrictions, then why
not? If they were making us dress up in spandex pants, then I'd have
to think twice about doing it.
Who do you compare yourself to? Or how do you describe your
music?
T: No comment on the first part. I'd say our music is hip hop
foundation with a twist, basically. Anyone that's into interesting
hybrids of music and likes to nod their head at the same time, they'll
be into us.
Me: Do you think there's any blues in your sound? I wanted to ask you
because of the name.
T: Not really.
Me: I don't mean, like 12-bar blues or anything, but do you think
you've got the blues?
T: No.
C: Of course.
T: Have we?
C: Yeah, definitely. Quality black music, that's what we do...yeah, in
the sentiments in some of the songs.
Me: Well obviously, you don't sound like John Lee Hooker or
anything...
T: ...no, but I wouldn't say that our music has got any kind of blues
influence.
C: I disagree.
T: Blues is a scale, a very classic scale...
Me: ...but it's a spiritual thing as well...
T: ...but most of our songs aren't about, I don't know..."my girl's
dun kicked me out". They might be more investigative than that, so I
wouldn't say blues in that respect either. In terms of perhaps...no, no
not at all, there's no form of real social document...
C: ...so what's "Atlanta" then?
T: That's just observation, "Atlanta" is escapism.
C: Is it? Why's that?
T: 'Cos it's all about imagining being somewhere else, so you're
escaping.
R: No it isn't.
T: What's the first lyric?
R: "Is it possible for you..."
T: Thankyou, so you're dreaming, right?
C: No, that's not dreaming at all.
R: "Enter" is more about escapism than "Atlanta".
T: You think so? OK. [turns to me] We've never had this discussion
before...
Me: Carry on...
T: ...to me, "Atlanta" is about, like, isn't it possible that this is
the imaginary place.
C: No, not at all.
T: So right at the end: "where is, where is Atlanta?", i.e. y'know,
you're yearning for this place. That's how I read it.
R: But that doesn't mean it's about escapism though.
T: [lengthy pause] OK.
Me: [changing the subject] So if you don't compare yourselves to
anyone, who do you get compared to most often?
T: Massive Attack, Portishead, Morcheeba, Moloko, Mono...all those, basically
anyone who's got a singer singing over a beat.
Me: Do you mind that?
C: Yes, it's lazy. It's like when people say that, it's like they're
saying "OK, we've got Massive Attack already, so why are you doing
music that's similar?" You don't go up to John Coltrane and say to
him: "give up the sax 'cos Charlie Parker's already done it before
you". I think it's because people are allowed to get away with it 'cos
the bands don't really associate with each other, they're so
determined to distance themselves from everyone else. That way you
don't get a movement which really there isn't. Just around a certain
period of time, a set of bands came out, similarly inspired, using
similar types of sounds.
Who is unforgiven?
Me: Now you get to slag some journalists off or something.
All: Calvin Bush!
C: Yeah, any journalist that just discredits the music without
listening to it and without offering an alternative can really just,
y'know, fuck off...fuck off and die. It's like a lot of these people
will just, y'know, it's become very popular to talk and discuss music
and I think a lot of people are losing the sentiment of what music is
about, intellectualising music without really knowing where it comes
from. If you don't, you should just leave it alone. Go and talk about
indie music, if that's what you know about.
Me: So what did he say?
C: He just said, y'know, straight rubbish...
T: ...basically he didn't like the album. Now, we don't mind
criticism, but the way he wrote it, it's obvious he just flicked
through the CD going "yeah yeah, fuck off...yeah, yeah, fuck off",
y'know? Making a brash assumption based on a 10 second listen to each
tune, so it wasn't even a proper criticism. It was just cack.
What's your favourite style pasta?
T: Tagliatelle. That's from Spaghetti Westerns, right?
Me: Yeah, no-one ever gets that, so well done, must be that
filmic trip-hop thing...
T: Ha ha! Nah, that's the band from Bristol.
Me: Actually, I was reading some of your press and I think they got it
better than some of the music papers when they say "classical and hip
hop". Do any of you have a classical background?
T: No.
C: Yeah, I have.
T: I didn't know that, we're learning plenty this afternoon.
C: I learnt the violin for 10 years. And played in orchestras. I think
that constitutes a classical background...
T: The closest I come is listening to "Messiah" every Sunday morning
when my dad put it on.
C: ...and since I was finally allowed to put down the instrument, I have not
looked back.
Me: How come it takes you so long to put out records? It seems like
ages since "Blueprint" was out.
T: Well, after "Blueprint" came a record called "Tender" and after
that, before the album there was "3ree" and between the first two, we
recorded the album....
R: ...and sorted things out with the record label.
Me: What's it like being signed to Mo'Wax?
R: [immense pause] It was better.
T: That's a very good answer, perfect answer.
Me: Better before they made the deal with A&M?
T: Yep.
Me: And you don't want to talk about it?
T: [deep breath] No.
It was a real pleasure to interview Attica Blues. Bands that are prepared to enter into a serious discussion on whether or not they've got the blues must be few and far between. Still fewer are bands that display the kind of attention to detail and loving care that has obviously gone into the making of their album. There's no rapping on the LP; all vocals are delivered by Roba's glorious singing voice, welding quality songwriting to uncompromising beats and scratching with minimal samples. It's still undoubtedly hip hop though (to me). But it'd be a shame if there was any of that hip hop elitism/snobbery here (in either direction); you don't need to be able to name the S1Ws to get into this, just be able to appreciate a good song when you hear it.
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