Billy Childish interview with the Guardian...

[Dan Electreau]

Posted at the Guardian UK website on May 21, 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/audio/2008/may/21/billy.childish


I'm attaching an MP3 of it in case the link gets taken down/moved.

Any thoughts about this interview? His new band? etc.?

[Gringo Starr]

Thanks for the link, man. Yeah, nice straight-forward interview encompassing all the basics of Childish. I particularly found Billy's remarks about live concert sound interesting. It might not be well known by everyone that Billy's bands (since Headcoats times at least to my knowledge) refuse to be microphoned/mixed through a P.A. The last time I saw Thee Headcoats (Wild Weekend 1998 in London) the band set up at the side of the venue (quite a large venue, I might add) on two drum risers, using their own small P.A. for vocals only! I was amazed that a large number of the audience (which I perceived to be veteran Garage-Punkers) were very upset and disturbed by this. I even had the feeling that some in the crowd took it as a personal attack as if the band were cheating them by not using the proper technology available. Billy hit the nail on the head when he says that 'you are not aloud to have music from an origin, it has to be surround-a-sound'. I can imagine that most of the younger generation of Garage-Punkers were introduced to the great 60's Punk Nuggets via re-mastered CD's, pushed and re-amplified for modern ears, experiencing live music in modern venues equipped with monster P.A. systems. All of Billy Childish's art is about stripping things down to the basics. Three chord Beat music, non pretentious Van Gogh-ian-like impressionism (see Stuckism), and in-your-face prose/poetry/truism. Thanks for the link.

[FuzzChile]

All very interesting especially that he feels an affinity with the Dadaists( artists such as John Heartfield, George Grosz and many others) I can see that having read about them at college many moons ago.

[The Branded]

Great interview, Billy is an extremely interesting and talented guy, thanks for the link

[White Trash Art]

awesome...
thanks for posting!