------------------------------------------------------------------------ Karl Hyde. Man with quizzical eyebrows. Ex lead singer of a squiggle called Freur. Current lead singer with Underworld band. Famed for non-rhyming couplets and parent bemusing lyrics. Carries a notebook, Dylan style. A seed in the Tomato collective. Wrong side of thirty. Karl Hyde - lets crack open your cranium. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who would Underworld be in a parallel universe? The Archies, that cartoon band who did 'Sugar Sugar'. Actually we'd be the Banana Splits but I'm not saying which one's Darren. Yeah. the Banana Splits with the fourth Beatle. Bob Dylan used to carry a notebook everywhere with him. So do you. Does it help? Yes. Because I can't remember things very well. I have a really bad memory. Recount a bizarre conversation you recently overheard. Hang on. I've got one here (finds notebook) "You can see where my dog's been at it. It wasn't completely dry but I had to wear it. Hey. They enjoyed it." I got from a train. Most of them are off trains. When did you last steal something? This morning on the train, overhearing that conversation. Would you ever get a scanner? We've made tapes off scanners and to be honest I just think it's such an invasion of privacy. I find them really upsetting. It's not like overhearing someone's conversation in a public place. If people talk loud, thats their business. I think eavesdropping on a private phonecall is out of order. What is your all time favourite crap pop lyric? Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. It's the first song I ever sing as a kid. That was used as evidence against me once. I went down for life. Are you a fan of Shaun Ryders lyrical style? Yes. I just think he's brilliant, and I'm so glad he's still doing it. I missed him. Should lyrics rhyme? No! Good Lord no! If there was a law I'd be scuppered. I used to try, I'd spend weeks and weeks trying to craft these bloody rhymes. I had walls full of rhyming dictionaries. In Trance Europe Express 4 you didn't have an interview like everyone else, but had a series of photos. Why? I've been doing a lot of photography for a long time and it just felt like we didn't have anything else to say in words. the photos don't often get seen, and I get a bit sick of listening to us in print. the pictures are like a little snapshot of what's going on around us, all stuck together. You are part of the Tomato Collective. Is a collective better than competition? There is competition in the sense of somebody does something that really inspires you. Everybody here is quite happy to leave their stuff available for everyone else to use, so there's no personal competition. You get the chance to participate in things you normally wouldn't. You were in Freur, which was a squiggle and worked with Prince who is a also a squiggle. Is there a link? Actually it was FREUUUUUR. I kid you not. I didn't actually work with Prince. I was working at Paisley Park and it was an amazing time, sitting outside listening to him rehearse, it was incredible. there's no link, it's just one of those strange spooky things. What is your most vivid recurring dream? Wierdly enough this was the most terrifying dream I've ever had. When I was about 11 I used to dream that I was in junior school and this kid walks out with this enormous luminous smiley head, waving at me. And this was before there ever were smileys! Yes. I was an acid casualty from an early age. Do you watch soaps? Not often, but if I do it's usually Brookside. See how depressed everyone can get. I'm not a big fan. Was Brookie better in '88? Bloody right. What would the soundtrack to Underworld - The Film be? Hmmm. Conversations On A Nightbus From Romford. Who would play you. Captain Beefheart. When were you last in a fight? I get into arguments most days. I just go looking for them. I don't get into fights really. I do like a good argument though. I don't agree with a lot of things. What do you particularly not agree with? Corporations. Particularly those which have anything to do with creative people. I have a particular aversion to corporate mentality. Have you ever read Hello!? Yes! I think it's the most fantastic layout ever. I bought it once because I wanted to do a project at Tomato where we took an existing magazine and changed everything, substituting the text for my poetry and re-presenting it. I think it's awful and wonderful at the same time, but completely unreadable. What makes you dance? Jah Shakka. He's amazing. Dub gets me going. I like jungle. I think it's great. I just can't compete so I feel really inadequate when I'm trying to dance to jungle. It's mad watching Jah Shakka DJ because he's only got one really old musty deck and these fuck off speakers.... I couldn't work out how he could be just taking one record off and there's a space and it's fantastic and it's ever better when he puts another one on. I'd love to work with him. We tried but I got as far as getting him on his mobile and he was busy busy busy. You Darren and Rick are walking in a tropical rainforest when you are all bitten by a poisonous snake. There is only one shot of anti-venom and you have it in your pocket. What do you do? Take a vote. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Back