L'indic, March/April, 1995
by Philippe Perret
Submitted by Niella
Translated by me
94 revealed many new artists who made their mark on the international music scene from the very first album. Among them: Beck, Oasis, Portishead and especially Jeff Buckley who, in the space of six months, has achieved almost mythical status through a luminous album, "Grace", and magical concerts. Meeting and description of the phenomenon during his first French tour.
Scott Moorhead was born on November 17, 1966 in Los Angeles. His father abandoned him shortly after his birth and his mother, Mary Gilbert, raised him. By his own admission, he admits to having had a fairly free childhood and adolescence. Introduced very early to marijuana and especially to music by his mother, a classical cellist, and by his stepfather, a garage owner and a great rock fan. "When an adult asked me what I wanted to do later, I always answered: I want to make music." At the age of eight, he briefly met his father, Tim Buckley, the mythical artist of the 60's (voice flirting with angels, music evolving from pop-folk to celestial jazz, a career led against all logic of commercial success). He will never see him again because he dies two months later, on June 15, 75, of an overdose. He was only 27 years old. Some time later, after his mother divorced, he chose to take the name Jeffrey Scott Buckley, accepting the heavy legacy that this name represents and thus marking his attachment to this father whom he knows only through his records and what others say about him.
Growing up under the Californian sun, he never really felt at home in this idyllic setting, perfect to symbolize America, but not very conducive to the blossoming of a young man with a bubbly and intense inner life. At the age of twelve, he is already convinced that his future lies elsewhere, in this city, New York, where being is more important than appearing. Symbolically, it is on the occasion of a concert in homage to Tim Buckley, where he is invited to sing a song ("Once I Was") that Jeff will make this trip from West to East, synonymous for him with a "new life". Having abandoned all that he possessed and knew, he finds himself alone but ready to assume himself, carried by a faith in himself that transcends him. "The rain is falling... And I know my time has come", Grace.
In his Lower East Side neighborhood, there is a tremendous concentration of artists of all kinds. Jeff finally feels like he exists even if he sometimes has to face loneliness and a dangerous attraction for heroin. He starts to play in cafés such as Fez, Bang On and especially Sin-é where he sometimes practices dishwashing! Night after night, he attracts more and more admirers and acquires a stage experience that allows him to keep the difficult and demanding pub audience on tenterhooks. The memory of this learning period is recorded on his first CD, Live at Sin-é, a 4-track mini-LP released on the Big Cat label. Two covers are included, "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin" by Edith Piaf and Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do," as well as two original compositions, "Mojo Pin" and "Eternal Life." Jeff Buckley creates a personal music, inhabited by passion. Simply with his voice, pure and high-pitched, and his guitar from which he draws sounds and harmonies of great richness. Following this magnificent and promising first record, things are going to speed up for Buckley. Alerted by the rumour, Columbia came to offer him a contract where he had complete artistic freedom. Jeff immediately starts looking for a band. "I wanted to find people with an intuitive approach to music, playing with their souls and investing themselves emotionally. Otherwise the music would be sterile...Michael Tighe (guitar) has been my friend for three years. He's been to almost all of my solo concerts. Mick Grondahl (bass) was the first one to come to me and say he'd like to work with me. He was so honest, straightforward and sincere that I knew I had to call him back. Then I contacted Matt Johnson (drums) that was recommended to me. The first night we played together, we put together "Dream Brother". All the ideas, the arrangements came naturally. Just like a dream..." After a few weeks of rehearsals, the band enters the studio with Andy Wallace (producer, among others, of Rage Against The Machine!) and records Grace. Major album, timeless. Of a rare beauty, combining fragility and violence. The reactions of the public and the press are unanimous and the interest around Jeff Buckley is skillfully maintained by Columbia, which feels that it has an outstanding artist. Jeff and his band then go on a world tour. They performed in Paris for the first time on September 22nd at the Passage du Nord-Ouest in a dazzling concert which confirmed all the rumours that had been circulating about him. The group then toured the United States, England and Japan before embarking on their first French tour, which took place in medium-capacity venues (500 to 1000 seats). Proof of France's craze for Jeff Buckley: all the dates are sold out, even before the start of this tour!
Wednesday, February 8 - Toulouse
First stop on February 8 in Toulouse, the magnificent city on the banks of the Garonne. An astonishing city both for the richness of its heritage (the countless pink brick buildings, the Capitol...) and the youth of its inhabitants (more than 110,000 students!). The Bikini, a beautiful room located in the industrial suburb of Toulouse, is therefore sold out. The audience is young (apart from the father's "old" fans), knows Grace by heart, and expects a lot from this concert. The first part is played softly by Dutchmen Bettie Serveert, who, fortunately, will leave the tour the same evening without glory. The tension is palpable in the room when suddenly the audience lets out a cry of happiness when Jeff and his musicians appear. Having arrived in the simplest way in the world, he immediately catches the eye and the attention thanks to his extraordinary charisma. With dishevelled hair, a lived-in look, disarmingly natural smile, casual ease: there is an uncanny resemblance between this character and the early Jim Morrison! Right away, the room is under the spell. Buckley grabs a bottleneck and starts the intro to "Last Goodbye." Right afterwards, "Dream Brother" creates a mystical atmosphere with its oriental intonations and rising tensions. The text evokes in barely hidden words the memory of Tim. Someone in the crowd shouts, "Get your soul out!" Yes, that's what this is all about. Buckley reveals his soul. Not by complacent exhibitionism but rather to get rid of too much emotion and to share it. Then comes "So Real". Then Jeff launches into a long introduction where aerial singing and ethereal arpeggios are mixed together and a brutal attack on "Mojo Pin." The song rises to the end where his voice is on the verge of tearing. At "Grace"'s first notes, people show their pleasure. After its repeated appearances on radio and TV, this song turns out to be an unexpected "hit". The live version differs little from the studio version. "Lilac Wine" starts on a series of dissonant and tortured chords before falling back on the weightless climate of the album version. Jeff appropriates with great ease this masterpiece by Jonas Shelton (an illustrious unknown) which was popularized by Nina Simone. "What Will You Say," a new song that's a little disappointing. The melody is easy and the emotion seems a little forced on this track, set back from the rest of the repertoire. "Eternal Life" appeared on Live at Sin-é in a stripped down version and had already been hardened on Grace. On stage, he goes downright wild. Impressive! "Hallelujah" is one of the most anticipated titles of the public. On this Leonard Cohen song, imbued with great spirituality, Jeff Buckley's voice reaches new heights of purity. An angel passes...As an encore, we'll be treated to another unreleased track, a piece that looks pretty much like the Cure-Disintegration period. "We were playing in Vancouver and there was pressure to record a B-side. We worked on an idea of Michael's, but the song doesn't have a definitive form, we change it every night. I don't really have time to write while I'm on tour. No...just little bits of melody, riffs, lyrics, when I manage to isolate myself for a few moments. On the other hand, the fact that I travel a lot brings special ideas and renews my inspiration." The concert ends with Alex Chilton's hypnotic Kangaroo and Jeff Buckley leaves the stage, to the cheers of the conquered audience. In the dressing room, two groupies try in vain to seduce him. He rejects them politely, remaining in all circumstances kind and attentive to everything that happens around him. He tells me he just turned down the first half of the Page/Plant tour. "I'll never play in stadiums...You see me singing "Lilac Wine" in front of hard-rockers! No it's impossible. But it's an honor and an amazing thing that they offered it to me." Clearly, he has difficulty realizing the phenomenal infatuation he is the object of and he seems disoriented by the exhausting, unreferenced life he is currently leading. "The control of my life is a little out of my hands. They tell me when to get up, where to go, who to talk to, they give me food I don't necessarily like...I sometimes dream of being able to go to a store, buy a piece of bread and make my own sandwich! So I don't get depressed, I need to focus on the one thing I really care about: playing!" Exhausted, he takes his leave of us and heads for the bus where a short night's sleep awaits him.
Thursday 9 February - Montpellier
Montpellier, a southern city in constant mutation which generates a very lively cultural and rock activity in particular. The concert takes place at Victoire 2, a room not particularly welcoming and lacking in warmth. Yet, just as Jeff and the band come on stage, we feel something strong and inexplicable. The attention is greater, the audience reacts instantly and really communicates with the music. Silent, staring at Jeff during quiet and introverted passages or totally unleashed when he finds himself caught in the sound swirl of Eternal life or Kangaroo. The order of the songs is not the same as the day before: "Every night is different. There is no set list. Likewise, each song is played differently depending on the atmosphere and mood." One song follows another. Breathtaking, extremely tense versions of "So Real" and "Lover, You Should've Come Over." To counterbalance this tension, Jeff converses and jokes with the audience, replying tacitly. To an idiot, "Tim Buckley!" he says a scathing, "You're at the wrong concert, baby!" He always rejects all comparisons with his father quite strongly. "I hope people never forget Tim. Because they can't! But I don't listen to his records for inspiration. I have other heroes!" Comes Hallelujah interspersed with a verse from the Smiths' "I Know It's Over," one of his favourite bands. In fact, he frequently cites Johnny Marr among the guitarists who influenced him the most. The concert ends, like the day before, with "Kangaroo." But as the roadies start to turn off the amps and the lights in the hall come back on, the audience, still in shock from this "magical" concert, keeps shouting and applauding. So much so that Jeff returns. He thanks again and again. He is sincerely touched by this token of love. "All I can expect from the audience is for them to smile, to shout...So I say thank you and I totally believe them." He's indulging in some antics. Parodying a dance hit of the moment or playing a Stooges intro. And launches into a mature version of "The Way Young Lovers Do." "I covered this song because one day Michael told me that he had dreamt that we both played it. So, I did it! I realized afterwards that some might find it presumptuous to tackle such a piece. But in the end, it's just a song...It sounds a bit jazzy because at the time I listened to jazz all day long." Cheers. Jeff smiles, shouts a last "sweet dreams!" and walks away. We reluctantly let him go.
Friday, February 10 - Lyon
Arrived in Lyon in the early afternoon, through traffic jams and drizzle, in this city whose image is currently suffering from the media-legal disputes of its mayor. At 3 p.m. sharp, a mini press conference will take place, in order to deepen the subject and get to know this endearing artist better...
What does Grace mean to you?
It's not religious or mystical. It's very ordinary. That's the thing that makes people divine. That's a quality I appreciate in a person. Especially in a man because it is very rare.
What do you think of critics who find that Grace is overproduced?
There is a journalist in New York who loved me when I was soloing in Sin-é. And all of a sudden, when Grace came out, he said: "I was crazy to love Jeff Buckley! His album is totally over-produced. Blah-blah-blah...". He thinks I betrayed him because I've evolved. When I create in the studio, I have the opportunity to experiment with all the ideas I have in mind. I can say, "I need this! I don't want that!" It's a fantastic feeling to be able to give an existence to sounds, emotions that you have within you.
Most of the songs in the album express the difficulty of managing a love relationship and the tearing that brings about a separation. What did you bring to writing these songs?
From my love experiences and what I have expressed on Grace, I have learned not to rely entirely on someone and not to live through a person.
In Europe, the critics are unanimously favorable whereas in the United States it seems different. How do you explain that?
In America, a very influential rock critic, who writes in many magazines and whose opinion is authoritative, insulted me outright! He thinks I'm confused, that I don't know where I'm going, that I'm scattered. He can't figure me out, he can't classify me, so he rejects me outright. I'm not bothered! It's just that I feel different emotions and express them in different ways, with different sounds. Because that's how it should sound! People have multiple personalities on the inside. But they're still themselves. They can be naturally serene or tortured. Everyone has states of mind, totally opposite feelings. And the music reflects these paradoxes. All the arts do it. But music probably more than others. There's something special about music that makes people "crazy" as soon as they listen to it. They either hate it or they love it, but it provokes more reactions than a film, a sculpture or a painting. It's a strange art...the one closest to a dream. I can not explain or make a sound. I wish I could, but I can't.
Which artists do you feel most influence?
I think the artists that have made the biggest impression on me are the ones I listened to as a child like Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, MC5, Billie Holliday, Nina Simone, Patti Smith, John Lennon, and later Siouxie (I have a lot of her in my voice), Nick Cave (especially when he was in the Birthday Party), the Smiths ...I'm a fan of thousands of people. Listening to them, they remind me of all the possibilities of expression. That's inspiration! Currently, there are still a lot of good things but they are more underground. Emulation is an important thing. That's why the 60s and 70s were so fantastic. There was the Beatles and everyone said: "Oooouuaaahh!" Then Jimi Hendrix: "Woohh! We can do that!" and then James Brown, the Stones, the Beach Boys, the Doors ect...
The structures of your songs are quite far from the usual formats of pop music.
Yes, I've heard so many songs built on the same mold (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-end) that I'm no longer satisfied. I prefer a freer approach to writing. From that point of view, Bob Dylan is one of my main influences. I have nothing but praise for him. He made poetry alive and current, when it was something outdated. And he constantly renewed the rules of what a modern rock artist should be. I met him once. I was terrified and he told me something I will never forget: "Make a good album, man! Just make a good album!" And I made Grace.
Exactly, how do you see your next album?
By becoming a better artist, I would like to be more able to express joy and happiness. I don't want to be like Sisters Of Mercy, always depressed. I love Sisters Of Mercy but I want my music to reflect every part of my life. All I have to do is express myself, be myself. I don't need to crystallize on what I've already done. My success will be to make the next album a success.
The interview could have gone on even longer, but the manager intervened abruptly to stop it. Too bad! The same evening, back to the B-52, a small club with a cosy atmosphere, an ideal setting for an intimate and warm concert. The beginning of the concert is disrupted by a small cabling problem that Buckley diverts to his advantage by launching into an a capella improvisation while the roadie is busy changing the faulty cable. The concert then proceeds normally but Jeff's performance is a little below what he can do. He and his group seem tired and a bit absent tonight. As if there's something in the air that he can't seem to grasp all the time. From a "Mojo Pin" overflowing with electricity, it goes to an approximate Lilac Wine. But that does not mean that he loses his formidable ability to interact with the public, to amuse them to then better assert a devastating "Eternal Life".
Saturday, February 11 - Paris
Jeff is back in the French capital, a city he is particularly fond of being a big fan of Edith Piaf. Around 6pm, after the sacrosanct ritual of the scales, he will spend nearly an hour with Michael Tighe perfecting the arrangements of "So Real." Proof that he is not tired of his songs and that he is constantly trying to improve them. In the evening, you can sense that there's a particular pressure in Paris: France-Inter recorded the concert, a team of M6 travelled to make a report and we notice the presence of many journalists, photographers and other "personalities". The Bataclan is obviously full. The Parisian public welcomes Jeff Buckley in a great clamor. Photographers rush to their cameras ("Only during the first three tracks and above all, no flash!") "Who was there last time?" he asks with a big smile. After an hour and a half of intense performance, he offers a long solo encore with a splendid version of "The Way Young Lovers Do", a medley of Piaf tunes and a long and solemn Hallelujah that rises in cathedral-like silence. We come out of there shaken. Stronger, more vulnerable. Both alone and as part of a communion of thought. In any case, what Jeff Buckley and his music bring is to feel more intensely. No one knows how it will evolve but the memory of these concerts and the magic of Grace will remain. He will be back in France at the beginning of July, at the Olympia, at the Fourvière festival in Lyon and at the Eurockéennes in Belfort. As for the next album, it will have to wait until the spring of 96. In the meantime, Buckley will have to avoid getting caught up in the spiral of success and resist the demons that have taken away his father and so many others. The best thing we can say to him? "Make another good album, man!"
by Philippe Perret
Submitted by Niella
Translated by me
94 revealed many new artists who made their mark on the international music scene from the very first album. Among them: Beck, Oasis, Portishead and especially Jeff Buckley who, in the space of six months, has achieved almost mythical status through a luminous album, "Grace", and magical concerts. Meeting and description of the phenomenon during his first French tour.
Scott Moorhead was born on November 17, 1966 in Los Angeles. His father abandoned him shortly after his birth and his mother, Mary Gilbert, raised him. By his own admission, he admits to having had a fairly free childhood and adolescence. Introduced very early to marijuana and especially to music by his mother, a classical cellist, and by his stepfather, a garage owner and a great rock fan. "When an adult asked me what I wanted to do later, I always answered: I want to make music." At the age of eight, he briefly met his father, Tim Buckley, the mythical artist of the 60's (voice flirting with angels, music evolving from pop-folk to celestial jazz, a career led against all logic of commercial success). He will never see him again because he dies two months later, on June 15, 75, of an overdose. He was only 27 years old. Some time later, after his mother divorced, he chose to take the name Jeffrey Scott Buckley, accepting the heavy legacy that this name represents and thus marking his attachment to this father whom he knows only through his records and what others say about him.
Growing up under the Californian sun, he never really felt at home in this idyllic setting, perfect to symbolize America, but not very conducive to the blossoming of a young man with a bubbly and intense inner life. At the age of twelve, he is already convinced that his future lies elsewhere, in this city, New York, where being is more important than appearing. Symbolically, it is on the occasion of a concert in homage to Tim Buckley, where he is invited to sing a song ("Once I Was") that Jeff will make this trip from West to East, synonymous for him with a "new life". Having abandoned all that he possessed and knew, he finds himself alone but ready to assume himself, carried by a faith in himself that transcends him. "The rain is falling... And I know my time has come", Grace.
In his Lower East Side neighborhood, there is a tremendous concentration of artists of all kinds. Jeff finally feels like he exists even if he sometimes has to face loneliness and a dangerous attraction for heroin. He starts to play in cafés such as Fez, Bang On and especially Sin-é where he sometimes practices dishwashing! Night after night, he attracts more and more admirers and acquires a stage experience that allows him to keep the difficult and demanding pub audience on tenterhooks. The memory of this learning period is recorded on his first CD, Live at Sin-é, a 4-track mini-LP released on the Big Cat label. Two covers are included, "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin" by Edith Piaf and Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do," as well as two original compositions, "Mojo Pin" and "Eternal Life." Jeff Buckley creates a personal music, inhabited by passion. Simply with his voice, pure and high-pitched, and his guitar from which he draws sounds and harmonies of great richness. Following this magnificent and promising first record, things are going to speed up for Buckley. Alerted by the rumour, Columbia came to offer him a contract where he had complete artistic freedom. Jeff immediately starts looking for a band. "I wanted to find people with an intuitive approach to music, playing with their souls and investing themselves emotionally. Otherwise the music would be sterile...Michael Tighe (guitar) has been my friend for three years. He's been to almost all of my solo concerts. Mick Grondahl (bass) was the first one to come to me and say he'd like to work with me. He was so honest, straightforward and sincere that I knew I had to call him back. Then I contacted Matt Johnson (drums) that was recommended to me. The first night we played together, we put together "Dream Brother". All the ideas, the arrangements came naturally. Just like a dream..." After a few weeks of rehearsals, the band enters the studio with Andy Wallace (producer, among others, of Rage Against The Machine!) and records Grace. Major album, timeless. Of a rare beauty, combining fragility and violence. The reactions of the public and the press are unanimous and the interest around Jeff Buckley is skillfully maintained by Columbia, which feels that it has an outstanding artist. Jeff and his band then go on a world tour. They performed in Paris for the first time on September 22nd at the Passage du Nord-Ouest in a dazzling concert which confirmed all the rumours that had been circulating about him. The group then toured the United States, England and Japan before embarking on their first French tour, which took place in medium-capacity venues (500 to 1000 seats). Proof of France's craze for Jeff Buckley: all the dates are sold out, even before the start of this tour!
Wednesday, February 8 - Toulouse
First stop on February 8 in Toulouse, the magnificent city on the banks of the Garonne. An astonishing city both for the richness of its heritage (the countless pink brick buildings, the Capitol...) and the youth of its inhabitants (more than 110,000 students!). The Bikini, a beautiful room located in the industrial suburb of Toulouse, is therefore sold out. The audience is young (apart from the father's "old" fans), knows Grace by heart, and expects a lot from this concert. The first part is played softly by Dutchmen Bettie Serveert, who, fortunately, will leave the tour the same evening without glory. The tension is palpable in the room when suddenly the audience lets out a cry of happiness when Jeff and his musicians appear. Having arrived in the simplest way in the world, he immediately catches the eye and the attention thanks to his extraordinary charisma. With dishevelled hair, a lived-in look, disarmingly natural smile, casual ease: there is an uncanny resemblance between this character and the early Jim Morrison! Right away, the room is under the spell. Buckley grabs a bottleneck and starts the intro to "Last Goodbye." Right afterwards, "Dream Brother" creates a mystical atmosphere with its oriental intonations and rising tensions. The text evokes in barely hidden words the memory of Tim. Someone in the crowd shouts, "Get your soul out!" Yes, that's what this is all about. Buckley reveals his soul. Not by complacent exhibitionism but rather to get rid of too much emotion and to share it. Then comes "So Real". Then Jeff launches into a long introduction where aerial singing and ethereal arpeggios are mixed together and a brutal attack on "Mojo Pin." The song rises to the end where his voice is on the verge of tearing. At "Grace"'s first notes, people show their pleasure. After its repeated appearances on radio and TV, this song turns out to be an unexpected "hit". The live version differs little from the studio version. "Lilac Wine" starts on a series of dissonant and tortured chords before falling back on the weightless climate of the album version. Jeff appropriates with great ease this masterpiece by Jonas Shelton (an illustrious unknown) which was popularized by Nina Simone. "What Will You Say," a new song that's a little disappointing. The melody is easy and the emotion seems a little forced on this track, set back from the rest of the repertoire. "Eternal Life" appeared on Live at Sin-é in a stripped down version and had already been hardened on Grace. On stage, he goes downright wild. Impressive! "Hallelujah" is one of the most anticipated titles of the public. On this Leonard Cohen song, imbued with great spirituality, Jeff Buckley's voice reaches new heights of purity. An angel passes...As an encore, we'll be treated to another unreleased track, a piece that looks pretty much like the Cure-Disintegration period. "We were playing in Vancouver and there was pressure to record a B-side. We worked on an idea of Michael's, but the song doesn't have a definitive form, we change it every night. I don't really have time to write while I'm on tour. No...just little bits of melody, riffs, lyrics, when I manage to isolate myself for a few moments. On the other hand, the fact that I travel a lot brings special ideas and renews my inspiration." The concert ends with Alex Chilton's hypnotic Kangaroo and Jeff Buckley leaves the stage, to the cheers of the conquered audience. In the dressing room, two groupies try in vain to seduce him. He rejects them politely, remaining in all circumstances kind and attentive to everything that happens around him. He tells me he just turned down the first half of the Page/Plant tour. "I'll never play in stadiums...You see me singing "Lilac Wine" in front of hard-rockers! No it's impossible. But it's an honor and an amazing thing that they offered it to me." Clearly, he has difficulty realizing the phenomenal infatuation he is the object of and he seems disoriented by the exhausting, unreferenced life he is currently leading. "The control of my life is a little out of my hands. They tell me when to get up, where to go, who to talk to, they give me food I don't necessarily like...I sometimes dream of being able to go to a store, buy a piece of bread and make my own sandwich! So I don't get depressed, I need to focus on the one thing I really care about: playing!" Exhausted, he takes his leave of us and heads for the bus where a short night's sleep awaits him.
Thursday 9 February - Montpellier
Montpellier, a southern city in constant mutation which generates a very lively cultural and rock activity in particular. The concert takes place at Victoire 2, a room not particularly welcoming and lacking in warmth. Yet, just as Jeff and the band come on stage, we feel something strong and inexplicable. The attention is greater, the audience reacts instantly and really communicates with the music. Silent, staring at Jeff during quiet and introverted passages or totally unleashed when he finds himself caught in the sound swirl of Eternal life or Kangaroo. The order of the songs is not the same as the day before: "Every night is different. There is no set list. Likewise, each song is played differently depending on the atmosphere and mood." One song follows another. Breathtaking, extremely tense versions of "So Real" and "Lover, You Should've Come Over." To counterbalance this tension, Jeff converses and jokes with the audience, replying tacitly. To an idiot, "Tim Buckley!" he says a scathing, "You're at the wrong concert, baby!" He always rejects all comparisons with his father quite strongly. "I hope people never forget Tim. Because they can't! But I don't listen to his records for inspiration. I have other heroes!" Comes Hallelujah interspersed with a verse from the Smiths' "I Know It's Over," one of his favourite bands. In fact, he frequently cites Johnny Marr among the guitarists who influenced him the most. The concert ends, like the day before, with "Kangaroo." But as the roadies start to turn off the amps and the lights in the hall come back on, the audience, still in shock from this "magical" concert, keeps shouting and applauding. So much so that Jeff returns. He thanks again and again. He is sincerely touched by this token of love. "All I can expect from the audience is for them to smile, to shout...So I say thank you and I totally believe them." He's indulging in some antics. Parodying a dance hit of the moment or playing a Stooges intro. And launches into a mature version of "The Way Young Lovers Do." "I covered this song because one day Michael told me that he had dreamt that we both played it. So, I did it! I realized afterwards that some might find it presumptuous to tackle such a piece. But in the end, it's just a song...It sounds a bit jazzy because at the time I listened to jazz all day long." Cheers. Jeff smiles, shouts a last "sweet dreams!" and walks away. We reluctantly let him go.
Friday, February 10 - Lyon
Arrived in Lyon in the early afternoon, through traffic jams and drizzle, in this city whose image is currently suffering from the media-legal disputes of its mayor. At 3 p.m. sharp, a mini press conference will take place, in order to deepen the subject and get to know this endearing artist better...
What does Grace mean to you?
It's not religious or mystical. It's very ordinary. That's the thing that makes people divine. That's a quality I appreciate in a person. Especially in a man because it is very rare.
What do you think of critics who find that Grace is overproduced?
There is a journalist in New York who loved me when I was soloing in Sin-é. And all of a sudden, when Grace came out, he said: "I was crazy to love Jeff Buckley! His album is totally over-produced. Blah-blah-blah...". He thinks I betrayed him because I've evolved. When I create in the studio, I have the opportunity to experiment with all the ideas I have in mind. I can say, "I need this! I don't want that!" It's a fantastic feeling to be able to give an existence to sounds, emotions that you have within you.
Most of the songs in the album express the difficulty of managing a love relationship and the tearing that brings about a separation. What did you bring to writing these songs?
From my love experiences and what I have expressed on Grace, I have learned not to rely entirely on someone and not to live through a person.
In Europe, the critics are unanimously favorable whereas in the United States it seems different. How do you explain that?
In America, a very influential rock critic, who writes in many magazines and whose opinion is authoritative, insulted me outright! He thinks I'm confused, that I don't know where I'm going, that I'm scattered. He can't figure me out, he can't classify me, so he rejects me outright. I'm not bothered! It's just that I feel different emotions and express them in different ways, with different sounds. Because that's how it should sound! People have multiple personalities on the inside. But they're still themselves. They can be naturally serene or tortured. Everyone has states of mind, totally opposite feelings. And the music reflects these paradoxes. All the arts do it. But music probably more than others. There's something special about music that makes people "crazy" as soon as they listen to it. They either hate it or they love it, but it provokes more reactions than a film, a sculpture or a painting. It's a strange art...the one closest to a dream. I can not explain or make a sound. I wish I could, but I can't.
Which artists do you feel most influence?
I think the artists that have made the biggest impression on me are the ones I listened to as a child like Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, MC5, Billie Holliday, Nina Simone, Patti Smith, John Lennon, and later Siouxie (I have a lot of her in my voice), Nick Cave (especially when he was in the Birthday Party), the Smiths ...I'm a fan of thousands of people. Listening to them, they remind me of all the possibilities of expression. That's inspiration! Currently, there are still a lot of good things but they are more underground. Emulation is an important thing. That's why the 60s and 70s were so fantastic. There was the Beatles and everyone said: "Oooouuaaahh!" Then Jimi Hendrix: "Woohh! We can do that!" and then James Brown, the Stones, the Beach Boys, the Doors ect...
The structures of your songs are quite far from the usual formats of pop music.
Yes, I've heard so many songs built on the same mold (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-end) that I'm no longer satisfied. I prefer a freer approach to writing. From that point of view, Bob Dylan is one of my main influences. I have nothing but praise for him. He made poetry alive and current, when it was something outdated. And he constantly renewed the rules of what a modern rock artist should be. I met him once. I was terrified and he told me something I will never forget: "Make a good album, man! Just make a good album!" And I made Grace.
Exactly, how do you see your next album?
By becoming a better artist, I would like to be more able to express joy and happiness. I don't want to be like Sisters Of Mercy, always depressed. I love Sisters Of Mercy but I want my music to reflect every part of my life. All I have to do is express myself, be myself. I don't need to crystallize on what I've already done. My success will be to make the next album a success.
The interview could have gone on even longer, but the manager intervened abruptly to stop it. Too bad! The same evening, back to the B-52, a small club with a cosy atmosphere, an ideal setting for an intimate and warm concert. The beginning of the concert is disrupted by a small cabling problem that Buckley diverts to his advantage by launching into an a capella improvisation while the roadie is busy changing the faulty cable. The concert then proceeds normally but Jeff's performance is a little below what he can do. He and his group seem tired and a bit absent tonight. As if there's something in the air that he can't seem to grasp all the time. From a "Mojo Pin" overflowing with electricity, it goes to an approximate Lilac Wine. But that does not mean that he loses his formidable ability to interact with the public, to amuse them to then better assert a devastating "Eternal Life".
Saturday, February 11 - Paris
Jeff is back in the French capital, a city he is particularly fond of being a big fan of Edith Piaf. Around 6pm, after the sacrosanct ritual of the scales, he will spend nearly an hour with Michael Tighe perfecting the arrangements of "So Real." Proof that he is not tired of his songs and that he is constantly trying to improve them. In the evening, you can sense that there's a particular pressure in Paris: France-Inter recorded the concert, a team of M6 travelled to make a report and we notice the presence of many journalists, photographers and other "personalities". The Bataclan is obviously full. The Parisian public welcomes Jeff Buckley in a great clamor. Photographers rush to their cameras ("Only during the first three tracks and above all, no flash!") "Who was there last time?" he asks with a big smile. After an hour and a half of intense performance, he offers a long solo encore with a splendid version of "The Way Young Lovers Do", a medley of Piaf tunes and a long and solemn Hallelujah that rises in cathedral-like silence. We come out of there shaken. Stronger, more vulnerable. Both alone and as part of a communion of thought. In any case, what Jeff Buckley and his music bring is to feel more intensely. No one knows how it will evolve but the memory of these concerts and the magic of Grace will remain. He will be back in France at the beginning of July, at the Olympia, at the Fourvière festival in Lyon and at the Eurockéennes in Belfort. As for the next album, it will have to wait until the spring of 96. In the meantime, Buckley will have to avoid getting caught up in the spiral of success and resist the demons that have taken away his father and so many others. The best thing we can say to him? "Make another good album, man!"
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