the pastels

After being a fan of The Pastels' cuddly shamblepop for ten years, I finally gathered up enough nerves to interview one of my heroes. But I could barely dial as I went to phone the undeniably wonderful Stephen Pastel. My hands shook, my heart was beating rapidly, and I could hardly mutter a word. Even though I had met Stephen once before, I stressed about the interview. I wanted to ask him so much, but could only manage a 30 minute conversation. Talk about a wasted opportunity (of sorts).

When Stephen answered after the 4th ring, most of my anxiety disappeared. Still, I had to gush and tell him the influence The Pastels have had on me. And I just had to tell him that I can't stop listening to "Illuminati". Their beautiful remix sequel to "Illumination" is a masterpiece that features the likes of Stereolab, Cornelius, Mouse On Mars, and Kevin Shields. And Shields, in fact, is the reason why "Illuminati" is a record at all.

"I don't think we would have really undertaken it without Kevin. In a way, I think there's something quite cold about remixing and I kind of felt a warmth about the idea of working with [him]. When we asked Kevin to remix us, he hadn't really done very much at all for a few years and it seemed unlikely. It seemed like if Kevin would do it, it'd be a sign to go ahead with the project."

But the project itself seemed an unlikely concept. I never imagined the sweet, carefree punk pop of The Pastels would be able to carry over into an electronic form. Even the band themselves didn't think of remixing "Illumination" until after the album's release. Ironically though, "Illuminati" excels as one of the great remix records released in the last year&emdashif only for Shields' reworking of 'Magic Nights'. It's so astounding and parallels anything found on his own "Loveless". "Well that's a compliment," Stephen thanks. "I always wanted to see what The Pastels would sound like crossed with My Bloody Valentine.

"A lot of the chord progressions and intervals between the notes in Pastels music and in My Bloody Valentine music is quite similar. And I think that's why the mixes he's done of us is much more like My Bloody Valentine than the mixes he's done of Primal Scream or Mogwai."

Ah, Mogwai. The Glasweigan wonders also released a remix album of their own, Kicking A Dead Pig, in 1998. "I like Mogwai," Stephen states, "I think, especially live, they're completely amazing. But I just thought that a lot of the people they chose to have remix them were people that didn't have much connection with their music. I think Mogwai just wanted to get their record out before ours and they gave [the tracks] to anyone." Stephen chuckles and explains that the contributors on "Illuminati" are either friends of The Pastels or fans of the band. I get the feeling that The Pastels just needed to feel they clicked with the digital doctors. "It's mainly people that we felt some emotional connection with or people that we'd met, people that we know like The Pastels, that have respect for The Pastels."

Clearly the most amusing track on "Illuminati" is the collaboration by The Make Up and Mighty Flashlight. "That made us smile," Stephen says. "A lot of the people we thought of to remix us were people that really don't do remixes. And The Make Up was one like that. We wanted to hook them up with Mighty Flashlight cause he'd done a Royal Trux remix that we really like. We knew he could provide the technical know-how and they're so unique in their vision."

With this record, The Pastels proved they can most certainly hold their own in an electronica-dominated age. So then, will their next creation sound more like "Illuminati" or "Illumination"? Stephen explains that ""Illumination" is a very nighttime record and I'd like to make something slightly more strident, but I'm not sure. But it will be a little bit like "Illumination" in some ways. [Illuminati's] been a good experience for us, bringing this record out, and people like it. But we really need to get back into making our own music."

And Stephen sounded quite eager to return to the studio, for the band had a bit of a lull in 1998. "Illuminati" was originally to be released last year, but some last minute delays caused a '99 release. "Everything with The Pastels takes long," Stephen points out, noting that while they're not perfectionists, they do like to make sure everything's just right. "We're pretty hands-on, all the way down the line. Other people can probably let things go a little bit that we absolutely feel we have to do ourselves.

"I just like to feel that, especially now, since we've made a lot of records, I want the records to come out to be better than the records that the records that already exist. I think records should be precious and beautiful and that takes a little longer."

Although they are looking at a spring EP release, The Pastels deserve all the time in the world.

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