HARRY KOISSER OF PEACE
Hi Harry and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.
Firstly congratulations on the new record Kindness Is The New Rock and Roll. What lines of continuity does this album share with your previous LP’s, In Love & Happy People and where does it verge, taking it into a new direction?
Thanks. It's definitely more of our "more is more" approach to making music. It's the usual sideways scrape across the grain. Obviously In Love & Happy People have been normalised by hindsight but they were both slightly radical moves for Peace at the time. I feel like Kindness is different in the same way, which whilst making it different also renders it the same. I didn't use any effects on my guitar on this record which was a completely bizarre and ridiculous move on my behalf seeing as all I ever were was my effects chains.
Having not just taken a sabbatical ahead of the new record, you intentionally went to a remote area free from worldly distractions to write the new album. Was the choice of location especially pertinent to the results gained from such an exclusion in creating the right environment for a record that may not have been the same if written elsewhere?
I would never have written these songs if I’d stayed in London. Or any songs for that matter. I could've lived out my days doing DJ sets at fashion parties and arguing with expensive lovers in even more expensive restaurants but I decided against it for some reason. By excluding myself for that long, all those things went away and I was just left with the music & 3 close friends. Time is yet to tell if I made the right decision.
In terms of the writing and lyrical content, was there an overarching narrative tying the album together or an assortment of topics and inspirations that zig zag throughout the record?
The record has horses pulling on both sides of the cart. It's an optimistically sad record about struggling to understand the duality of being part of a species but also an individual. Caring for yourself vs Caring for everybody. I'm not a scholar and I'm not particularly smart but it's just my personal experiences channelled into something that I imagine sounds borderline philosophical.
Kindness Is The New Rock and Roll was produced by Simone Felice, what did Simone bring to the table that really shines through on this record?
His ability to get vocal takes from me was really special. We only did four takes for each song where as previously we'd spend days labouring over it. He has a magic ability to massage the take from me and get the most from the band. He sets the scene and lets the games begin.
As an artist evolving emotionally and musically from album to album, do you find it hard or even redundant performing some of your earlier material when the person you are today maybe completely different from the person you were when you first put pen to paper?
We just did a tour and it was like opening up an emotional time capsule. I actually connected with the old songs far more fiercely that maybe I did at the time. That's the magic of music isn't it?
You are about to embark on some big performances including Live At Leeds and Liverpool Sound City. Do you tend to pull a little something extra out of the bag for festival performances or treat them in the same way as you would a small and intimate gig?
Every peace show is like a festival headline set. It has been since day 1. We were setting off confetti cannons playing in pubs to 8 people at the beginning. We'll just turn up and do our thing.
No strangers to spending time on the road, do you find touring to be inspirational whereby it helps you write and create more material or are you so focused on the task at hand that writing and creating new material takes a back seat?
I can write on the road. To be honest my favourite writing experience was at the farm house. I think there's not enough hours for road writing in any significant capacity.
Having met and played with so many different musicians over the years, were there any words of wisdom spoken to you that really resonated with you and altered the way you approach your music?
Damon Albarn told me to write a song every day, Noel Gallagher told me to listen to nobody as no one knows what the fuck they're talking about. Why does life have to be so confusing?
