Issue 512

Blonde Redhead A joke is a risky opening gambit when conducting an interview with any musician. If well executed, it can break the ice or alternatively doom the rest of the interview to excruciating awkwardness. Asking Amedeo Pace of Italian/Japanese/American indie rock trio Blonde Redhead whether there are band arguments over what take out to order when on tour wasn't exactly a good joke, but his response did set a warm tone for the rest of our chat. "We do actually have so many fights about, because we all have different values about food and what sort of food we want to have. There's not only the question of taste and what we like, but there's also whether certain types of food are right to eat; it can get complicated at times." The culinary conundrum deepens when you consider that Amedeo's twin Simone plays drums in the band. Any feisty sibling rivalry when deciding what to eat? "No, we tend to share the same values. Sometimes we slack off and go down the dark path of fast food, but we try to eat carefully, organic, grass-fed food. In America, there is just so much waste in society, and we try to put some thought into how we behave." Since releasing their eponymous debut in 1995, Blonde Redhead has inched closer and closer to the intense glare of the Pitchfork et al spotlight. 'Penny Sparkle', their third album for 4AD, demonstrated a willingness to play around with softer electronic textures rather than the no-wave/neo-shoegaze, without sacrificing popularity. The album even made it to #79 on the American charts. "There have been moments where we've not been prepared for what's come our way," Pace says. "You're constantly confronted by that reality. But still, those moments where we are humbled are sort of rare; we play big shows and smaller shows, but it's interesting, because the whole process has been gradual for us." 'Penny Sparkle' was, unusually for a Blonde Redhead album, not met with universally glowing praise. Some fans and critics alike were put off by the aforementioned move toward pillowy electro-acoustics, a pretty sharp turn from the band's noisy no-wave tendencies. I asked Pace whether in his eyes critical praise acted as a validation for the creative process he and his bandmates undertake. "On this album, we didn't get nice reviews. Kazu, she reads a lot of them, and she feels sensitive about it, so she got hurt by it, and upset and discouraged. And the record company does too, because they're counting on the success of the album, and for people to say good things, so it's really complicated. Personally, if I feel strongly about something, it doesn't really matter what other people are saying, but sometimes you need time to be able to distance yourself so you're not in the moment as much. You do get upset by it, but we've been through so many up and downs, as long as we can feel good about ourselves, that's the most important thing." As for the sound of the album, for which Pace and his colleagues should not need to apologise for, what instigated that? "We started with saying we wanted a different record; we're always trying to capture really warm and analogue-sounding songs. So we said we'd try to really capture that on 'Penny Sparkle', just to try and challenge ourselves and see what happens. That's what happened, and how it came out." Finally, Amedeo and I got to the real meat of the interview. We'd done the perfunctory talk of albums and critical reactions and recording techniques; but I wanted to hear about horses. Blonde Redhead and horses are closely intertwined, their fates seemingly dependent on one another - the band is possibly (I don't even know how to even confirm or deny this) the only New York indie band in existence to have had a member almost trampled to death by one. Naturally - and this was another joke, that perhaps could have been poorly received- I asked whether there was any commercial opportunity for the band to exploit arising from this fact. "No, we haven't. Can you think of anything?" If anyone can, Amedeo would like you to contact him personally. Blonde Redhead will headline the Laneway Festival beside Fowlers Live on Fri 11 Feb. By Mateo Szlapek-Sewillo