BARRY ADAMSON
Creativity is a restless spirit and those possessed by it are destined to feel its presence throughout their days. The exorcism of that energy can take a number of forms and for those such as Barry Adamson, the realms of music, film, scores, writing, art, theatre, production, design, and collaboration become the Hydra-headed beast that is fought each and every day. A ceaseless war that is waged internally and whose battlefield is the world stage whereby the resulting collisions of concept and execution are delivered with regularity, finesse, and purpose.
Your history is a long and varied one with so many epochs and musical ventures. A little akin in so many ways to fellow Bad Seed Brian Tristan, who having started life in The Gun Club (you in Magazine), then with Nick Cave, onto an extensive solo career, whilst also working musical accompaniments for television/film. It is an enviable rap sheet and an awful lot to merely summarise in a passing statement but can you share with us some of that journey. The watershed moments and highwater marks that have led all the way to ‘Cut To Black’?
On the recording of ‘Cut To Black’ I’m bringing all of my experiences and knowledge to the table and also venturing into uncharted territories and pushing myself as a songwriter of soul and substance. I lean on my strengths; the world of cinematic storytelling through sound and how having been in the above mentioned bands, shaped me as an observer of how great art is aspired to and carried out and so I’m busy putting together the ingredients that take the listener on my journey, which is also gifted to them. This is the cumulative effect of years spent (as I like to call it) chiselling away and finding meaning and a way to communicate the world of the art that I am presenting. I have been blessed along the way to work with such great artists as yes indeed, Nick Cave, David Lynch (a definite high point) and Iggy Pop.
Known for your innovation and being at the vanguard of pioneering sounds and scene’s, can explain that intangible sense of an emerging style that is just beginning to coalesce into the start of something new and trying to wrangle it into being?
You can feel it. See it coming almost. The artist’s intuition and perception. The poet’s God damn sensitivity!! The need to create and next thing you know, you are connecting like other like-minded folk (easier to figure out from a historical perspective) I always see this ‘wrangling things into being’ as a wake-up call to arms! The stuff that needs writing down immediately, even if it seems like an idea that might be nothing, because it just might be something, next thing you know you are a poet of prophecy! A true artist!
Punk is often overlooked in terms of the formative vision and open mindedness that can be applied to later works in one’s musical life. Have you found that your earliest days and time in Magazine is still a guiding light towards the decisions you make now in your career?
Yes I do, following on from my last answer and being alive to the ideas, there also (I believe)has to be the recognition of vibrancy, as there was in those early days in Magazine, or running home as a kid clutching the new TRex album and almost being out of breath as so desperate to hear it! The energy of the time is what still resonates for me and something that has stayed with me at all times. It’s the same energy, harnessed, that I work with today.
Viewing music multidimensionally as you so skilfully do, is there a particular compositional approach that you employ in so much as a multi-instrumentalist can be better poised to understand the collective entirety of a piece compared to that of a singular musician contributing their solo efforts?
I think ‘arrangement’ and ‘production’ cover the need for some kind of multidimensional overview? For me the way the ‘colours’ work alongside each other (the notes and textures of the composition) are crucially important in communicating what I’m trying to say and convey.
What each person brings to the table is their own sense of mastery and then (like actors in a play) it’s down to me to bring the vision and production together. Sometimes (as in the case of Cut to Black) all the effort was mine in the sense that I wrote, played and performed everything (bar some samples) so that poised both ideas of multidimensional instrumentalism and solo efforts making up the whole.
Similarly, when it comes to collaborations-of which you have done many- what unique methodology do you engage considering that you are usually coming in direct connect with equally talented folks but who operate on a completely different level. Where is the common denominator found and how do you go about seeking it out with other musicians?
It’s seeing the idea resonate again. If the person you are working with gets what you’re doing they will (in one way or another) let you know. You become versed in communication through what you play and basically everyone involved is like a walking art and music encyclopaedia so you are free to express ideas and make references to find commonality and often to then come up with something new that nobody quite expected (I’m thinking about my involvement in Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s first few albums here) which became a collusion of talents, skilfully melded together by Nick’s riveting vision of himself, the world he sees and one that is executed thus.
On the topic of collaborations, you have worked with some incredible film makers. In a craft that is wholly different to the realm of music yet as a medium are so intimately connected, when working with different personality types what mindsets and creative approaches between the artistry overlap and where do they diverge?
I’ve always said that ‘The film is the king,’ when creating the score for one, something that’s useful when working with different personality types and a way to remain focused on what you are trying to convey in the scene or to give this ‘third dimensional’ aspect to the world of the film. Again, there’s a knowing that can’t necessarily be expressed when everything is working and something is being communicated that works with the director’s vision for his film. Then you know you are on the right track. (I’m remembering working on Lost Highway and David Lynch opening the door to the room I was working in and saying,’Something sounds good in here!?’
For a different challenge altogether, your work on the Olivier Award-winning ballet performance of Sylvie Guillem was something altogether different. Was this a case of bringing everything you know to bear on a project in order to make it the best it could be by utilising your years of experience or conversely, approaching it with a naivety that helps tackle a new endeavour with a non-bias that results in a new and fresh perspective?
Well, the music was built around a piece of mine that already existed, a track called, ‘Intensive Care,’ from the Moss Side story album, so that was an ‘in’ to then, yes, as you say, explore a freshness; an innocence, to a medium that I have never worked in and also to bring my knowledge about music and the body in terms of specific movements, helped bring about something that was hopefully new and exciting.
Across your many projects, albums scores and songs, can you share with us some of your particular favourites and for what reasons that are especially important to you?
A difficult question! It’s funny as the work has years on it now I have a strange detachment to things I thought would be in my conscience forever! Going Magazine and playing the early songs, ‘The Light Pours out of me’ and say, ‘Motorcade,’ I’m like a kid in a new suit, looking sharp as hell! I loved writing the triptych. Moss Side Story, Soul Murder and Oedipus, which were homages to my immediate family and the start of me finding my voice after a few years in the wilderness. Working on Lost Highway with David Lynch was something else (A sense of achievement?). Some spells with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were ground breaking (From Her To Eternity particularly) Some of the songs I’ve written where I pushed my vision to break my own heart and then tell the tale, have been something else too (Come Hell or High Water; Waiting for the End Of Time; The Beaten Side Of Town) As a body of work, I can look back an see that, yeah, ‘The Moss Side kid did good!’
Here In Australia this March to perform Cut To Black and from your extensive back catalogue, what have been some of your all-time favourite shows you have played and why?
Well, I’m hoping that these shows will bring an all time favourite feel as we embark on the jet lag express, playing in the Uk only days before the first show!! Haha. One of my all time faves were two nights I played at the South Bank UK one night was called, ‘These are a few of my favourite Themes’ And I got to play some of the great tv and film themes and songs that have inspired me and then the next night I played the new ‘Back To The Cat’ album in it’s entirety. The first night I played work by Issac Hayes, John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith Curtis Mayfield and was Joined by players like Dave Formula (Magazine) and Nick Cave came on and sang the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s NEXT!
Lastly, something we ask everyone who is kind enough to share their time with us by joining us here at Musicology, what does music give you that nothing else does?
Well as Charlie Parker once said, ‘If music be the food of love, then play on.
