From Dotmusic Talent:
BUSH More Than Ready For Success At Home
by Mike Pattenden
Over the past year, we've become almost blase
about the phenomenal level of success enjoyed by UK rock act Bush in the US,
but this week
the band scaled a new peak when their second album Razorblade Suitcase
debuted at number
one in the Billboard charts.
Razorblade Suitcase shipped 2.5m units in its first week of release,
outstripping the first week
sales of REM's New Adventures In Hi-fi by 80,000 copies. It also went to
number one in
Canada and looks set to repeat the success in Australasia.
This achievement caps a whirlwind year for Bush and their US-based label
Trauma Records
after the pair combined to push the band's previous album Sixteen Stone into
the US Top 10 and
on to worldwide sales of 7m units. Intensive gigging also saw the band become
the third largest
touring act in the US this year. "We're thrilled at the scale of their
success, they have a
very loyal following," says Rob Kahane, joint president of Trauma. "Bush have
this work
ethic. They go out of their way to play to as many people as possible and
work as hard
with people in the market as they can."
They used every break in their jammed touring schedule to record a new album
and then
committed to the promotional chores. Former DJ and MARRS figurehead Dave
Dorrell, now
the band's manager, says, "Some bands might have thought about sitting around
for a
year, thinking about a change in direction. Bush wanted to carry on playing
live but with
new material. You have to remember it's two years since the debut came out,
not many
new bands would wait that long to release a follow-up."
Razorblade Suitcase, another dose of powerhouse grunge rock, was recorded in
two
three-week bursts at Abbey Road and Hook End with Steve Albini at the helm, a
choice which
inevitably raised eyebrows but which seemed natural to the band. "He was the
perfect man
for us after coming off the road and performing 230 shows," says bassist
Nigel Pulsford.
"We knew how good we'd become at playing live and we wanted to capture that
feel. No
one's better at putting that dynamic down than Steve. He seemed like a
perfectly
natural choice and we'd always admired his stuff with Big Black through to
his
production work with The Breeders and The Pixies."
Kahane admits to some reservations about the choice of producer, but points
out that he and his
partner Paul Palmer leave the band to A&R themselves, a point confirmed by
Dorrell. "The
bands are very autonomous creatively, we don't have what I call traditional
A&R
guidance," he says. "Steve is painted as some kind of corporate bete noir,
but he's a
damn fine producer. The label was more than happy to give us a shot and the
results
prove us right. We're a real band, we don't want to spend 18 months in the
studio."
As you'd expect from Albini, Razorblade Suitcase features the minimum of
overdubbing, although
the producer claims it's the longest time he's spent making an album in
years. While Razorblade
Suitcase is busy shifting units in vast quantities around the world, the
album's UK release has
been held back until next month. MCA marketing director Mark Crossingham
says, "It
would be suicide to release it into a Christmas market. Our opinion is that
we wouldn't
get the sort of profile we're looking for with the media. Early next year, we
can make
some impact when there are fewer records around."
Kahane, who formerly managed George Michael, believes the fact that Trauma is
now going
through MCA, following its acquisition of Interscope last August, will help
raise Bush's UK
profile. He says, "The switch to MCA has made a great difference. They've
really put
their weight behind us and, since they have had this record from the
beginning, I think
we're really going to see Europe explode."
However, Bush could be forgiven for turning their backs on the UK given the
relative lack of
interest which has seen them shift only 42,000 units of Sixteen Stone here.
"We're not media
darlings in Britain, but that doesn't bother us. We don't have any real
expectations for
this country really. Funnily enough, it is nice in a way to come home and not
be treated
like pop stars," says Pulsford.
Kahane is more candid. "I'm not sure they'd admit this, but I think the UK is
more
important to them than ever. It's their home and everyone wants to be
accepted at
home," he says. With a UK tour planned for February and then another stint in
the US, 1997
looks as if it will be at least as, if not more, intensive than this year.
"We're at the tip of the
iceberg," says Kahane. "They have amazing drive, they're quite the most
talented act
I've worked with and I've worked with some big names."