An artist’s music can speak volumes about their personality. At the very least, a performer’s songwriting will offer a fairly accurate indication of the intellect behind it. Sidewinder, for example, writes intelligent music; songs that are clever, adventurous and diverse. The fact that this inhibits simple classification has already caused the band problems in its accelerating career. And being sensitive, intelligent boys, to return to the original motif, the criticism stemming from critical confusion has disturbed the Craft brothers. Although their most recent album Tangerine has earned them much praise, not to mention a national support slot with U2, Martin and Nick Craft, the creative hub of Sidewinder, are still affected by bad press.
In considering whether such public response affects the band to the decision making level, Martin rationalises his sensitivity. "It has done in the past you know, because we’re still pretty young even though we’ve been around the traps for a long time you know, and I think as a man especially in the world you don’t really find your thing, like when you’re eighteen, you’re easily swayed you don’t really know exactly what you are. And like I was eighteen when we recorded Atlantis, or maybe nineteen. If you’re putting your whole self on the line in your songs and then the song is sledged, then that’s your whole self being sledged publicly, you know. I mean I’m sure if anyone read a public paper and saw three or four paragraphs which was just insult after insult to their very being, then it would hurt and in a way that’s what reading a really bad review is like.
"But having said that, you gotta be strong enough to deal with it in this business I guess and I think we’re just learning that and we’re just kind of getting to a point where we won’t be swayed."
To focus the question and introduce a concrete example, consider the band’s most recent single God. Although far above Oasis style rock banality, God is a pretty straightforward rocker recorded in an uncomplicated, up front fashion; possibly a reaction to critical accusations of obscurity.
"I think we did take it into account when we put God out as our latest single," Martin affirms. "We were just finding so many sounds and had done things on our terms so much that people seemed to be really confused about Tangerine. A lot of people seemed to think we’d lost what we had for all those years before, you know, and I think God kind of proves we haven’t ‘cos that’s a song we just went in and banged down live with a couple of bottles of wine in our bellies. So I think that sort of thing affects it. But I think diversity also comes from the same thing which is not quite knowing exactly where you stand. And like I’ll admit to that weakness, I’ll gladly admit to that confusion ‘cos I think that it’s a part of life."
And rock ’n’ roll is supposed to be superficial! Well, we’re waxing philosophical and there’s no turning back now. Although Martin has labelled his sensitivity a weakness and a cause of confusion, it’s possibly the most valuable attribute of his creativity. The lack of convention in Sidewinder’s music is destined to become one of their trademarks and it’s due largely to the Craft brothers’ awareness. It’s a strength, not a weakness.
"Yeah, exactly, that’s true," Martin agrees. "Like I’m really finding a lot more focus in my music now and I get the impression that if I put that in my songs and put out another album, then everyone will say ‘Oh what happened to their diversity, I loved their diversity so much’ you know. And that’ll probably confuse me again, you know what I mean? In the end you just have to do what comes to you and that’s what came to us at the time with Tangerine and I have no shame about that record. I have a lot of pride about it on many levels."
To conclude Matin Craft’s philosophy lesson, I ask him to consider the current state of the band’s career. First, Martin emphasises that were he creating music for money only, he would be perfectly capable of producing more conventional, commercially aimed music. He ads, however, that their career choices are fairly limited. "We’d just be so shit at doing any other job basically," are his own words. When asked to contemplate whether the success and momentum the band has established suddenly presents him with more to lose, Martin imparts his very final philosophical sermon:
"Well, the funny thing is, I feel like, I’m a Capricorn so I’m getting younger everyday. And I’m feeling more and more like I’ve got nothing to lose in life as I get older. And as things progress, no I don’t feel like I’ve got anything to lose. I think the whole human race is going to be gone in two years’ time anyway so how can you have anything to lose. You know we’re all just going to be blown out by some big botchelism bomb or a big wack of anthrax. We’re all fucked."
- By Martin Jones.
INPRESS MAGAZINE - Wednesday 18th March 1998.
