BRITISH SEA POWER ///
ROUGH TRADE OFFICE, NYC ///
MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2003 ///
INTERVIEW BY ARYE DWORKEN ///
PHOTO BY COURTESY OF ROUGH TRADE ///

The British media have a tendency to be a little 'tag-happy.' It seems a different 'best band in the world ever' comes around on a weekly basis (remember Menswe@r?). So one can't help but be slightly cynical when encountering yet another group that rose from virtual obscurity to insane critical British acclaim, causing loads of excitement and making the English spill tea on their freshly-pressed trousers.

And while it does get a bit silly on occasion (at least their music magazines don't have to resort to the insulting tactic of pages and pages of scantily-clad women), every now and then the praise is worthy. Such is the case with British Sea Power.

Conjuring my ever-responsible Boy Scout skillz, I always read up on a band before I meet with them. This time, thankfully, I had to do none of the work-I was supplied with a stack of press clippings from Mojo, Q Magazine, Time Out London, et cetera. After reading a healthy dose of adjective-heavy musings, I grew wary about my encounter with the Power. See, all the journalists and writers wrote of how important they thought this band was (I suspected this because I had the album), but moreover, they all also spoke of this unusual brand of BSP weirdness. Like how before each show the band collects tree branches to adorn the stage, how they have an unhealthy fixation with stuffed birds, and how they show up to interviews with a packed lunch.

Our meeting took place in the Rough Trade office, a suite in the legendary Chelsea Hotel. Five reserved blokes walked into the room, humbly outstretching their arms to shake my hand. Upon first glance, there was nothing weird about them other than the names they went by (Yan, Wood, Noble, Eamon and Hamilton-no last names). In fact, I found our conversation very grounded, very normal. So normal that I had to consciously make an effort to connect the young men sitting before me with the music of The Decline of British Sea Power, an album so furious and moody that it strikes the match of schizophrenia and burns down the fences of restraint. It's a work that rips up the category called "retro-rock," yet still feels nostalgic, angrily recalling earlier music that reeked of desperate expression. Hours later, while I watched them tear Brooklyn a new arsehole, I once again had to reality-check: Are these the guys I met with this afternoon?

In between talk of influences (the Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division), cups of coffee (not tea: shocking!) and cheap imported cigarettes, BSP waxed nostalgic on the importance of history, the ocean, the lack of inspiration in the music world, the need to inspire and of course, stuffed birds.

You all look kind of young - how old are you?
Eamon: We're collectively in our mid-20s.

The British press has fallen for you guys pretty hard.
Yan: Yeah, but that doesn't mean a great deal to us. We just wanted to just make the album and hear it. I'd be just as happy if it was ignored. I wanted to make something that I lust after, not just love.

Could we talk about your influences? I'm told they range from people outside the world of music.
Yan: Some of them are so obscure that no one would know them. Charles Lindbergh is one of them and then there's this captain who shows up to all our shows. There are so many interesting influences we come across in books and history. Especially this Count who sailed off to Peru. Everyone told him, "Don't do this. You're going to die." And he set off to do it and it was the best thing he could've done. He ate fish everyday that flew onto his boat. That's such determination.
Noble: We also learn so much from books. The people we are introduced to from the pages of history.

There's this whole retro movement in music today like the White Stripes. Do you consider your music to be like that?
Eamon: We'd really like people to think that it's more romantic than anything.

Besides your historical fascination, what about the present day? Is there anything turning on the band that seems out of time?
Yan: The Flaming Lips. We were on tour with them. And also Interpol.
Hamilton: Carlos is amazing.

They dress like that all the time.
Hamilton: Yeah, off and on the stage.
Yan: Wayne Coyne [of Flaming Lips] is such an amazing presence. He's like a preacher.

Were you on tour when the Lips did the stuffed animals?
Yan: I was a rabbit.

What were you guys doing before you were in this band?
Noble: Washing dishes.
Eamon: Also, washing dishes.
Noble: I was also studying animals.
Wood: I was studying illustration.

All these multiple interests.
Yan: I am also an artist. I think it's important to pursue our passions also outside of music.

I've heard so much about the live experience. How some of you tend to get injured during performances. Like, serious injuries.
Noble: Well, because of all the jobs we've had, working in shops, we know that service with a smile is so important.
Noble: Well, it's our responsibility to the audience. We've seen so many bands just standing there. People ask, don't the trees onstage get in the way of your performance? We don't think it's that big of a deal.
Hamilton: It's like Noble said; it's truly about service with a smile. It's an interaction. We have a message and we want to deliver it with passion.
Yan: I don't get it when people talk about the trees and the birds on stage. I mean, these are things people pass every day and they don't say anything about them then.

You've been traveling a great deal. Do you miss home? You come from a small town and all these places you've been going to are, in contrast, big cities.
Yan: I miss the ocean.
Noble: The trees in big cities like in New York aren't so good.
Eamon: But further north, they're beautiful.

Does it bother you when people refer to it as an art project?
Hamilton: Well, when we appeal to more than just the sense of hearing, I guess people label that as an art project.

Will you ever run out of ideas? What else do you have planned?
Eamon: A human cannon. (laughs)

I'm not sure if you're serious or not.
Eamon: Well, any idea that makes us laugh...then we'll try to implement that.
Yan: It also keeps us excited. Like we'll travel to small islands where there are no venues and bands don't tour regularly. We did this one town where there was a population of about 2,000 people and we got 20% of the population at the show.

There are a lot of lyrical references to the ocean and water. Why is that?
Eamon: We come from a small town, an island.
Yan: There's also the power of the sea. I have this theory that there is this chemical in the sea that provides you with a feeling of relief.
Noble: Also when you look out at the sea, you could be anywhere at any time. You're looking out and you don't see anything other than the water. You're seeing what people in previous centuries saw. There's no historical context tying you down to a moment.
Noble: It's the only time you're looking out and you don't see anything man-made.

I was into British bands like Suede and Blur in high school. I remember how concerned bands were about conquering America. Like when the Charlatans had to change their name to Charlatans UK.
I remember their hesitance because the American market was tough to crack as it was. But you guys have the word 'British' in your name.
Yan: We never thought we would get this far to begin with. That was never a concern of ours.
Eamon: You mentioned Blur and I think a name like that is so vacuous. A name should evoke so much more imagery.

Is there a deep desire to gain more recognition or, sincerely, is this level of achievement way beyond your expectations?
Yan: This whole thing is a journey; traveling to all these new places, all of this is about inspiring ourselves and gaining more ideas.

You all mentioned other artistic ambitions. Do you fear not having time for those things?
Noble: Why couldn't we just combine all of these things together into being a band?
Yan: I think that all these forms of creativity occupy the same part of the brain. Just as long as that's being used, then we should be all right. Just as long as what we do creates a legacy. We want this whole entire experience to be meaningful to us and to the people around us. And if we keep doing it this way, that should happen. ///