The Posies and the arse of the world

The posies and the arse of the world!

The following interview is with American band 'The Posies', a humorous and rather memorable interview!

For those of you vaguely familiar with some of my post titles, the above title is pretty much the norm for me though I do feel before I start, I ought to hastily point out that THE POSIES and THE ARSE OF THE WORLD in the same sentence is a strange coincidence and not a reflection of the great band that they are! Rather it pertains to an unfortunate memory of mine from some 20 years ago and the story goes like this: I met a charming young Spanish man who told me he was from a town near Alicante called, 'Aspe' and then proceeded to describe it as 'El culo del mundo' or for us Angloparlantes, 'The arse of the world!’
Now before I get confronted by a legion of angry Aspe dwellers accusing me of dissing their beloved home town, I passed through it on my way to the 'The Posies' gig and it seemed like a pleasant kind of place, believe me I've seen far worse and  this is definitely NOT what I'd describe as the 'arse of the world.’ Unless it was of course a euphemism for something we'd rather not think about, anyway, I digress...

 Imagine my surprise when I'm informed that the well known US band The Posies are not only playing a free gig but a free gig in the arse of the world: A mere hour and a half from where I live-this called for action.
So when the opportunity arose to go see The Posies it became more than just going to a gig, it led me to  rediscover the only CD I have of theirs, 'Every kind of light.’ The first track I had ever heard of theirs was, ‘Should he treat you better’ a sleazy, slow  bluesy sounding track that caught my attention straight away when I heard it on Spanish radio station, Radio 3.

My light bulb moment of 'why don't I approach these guys and request an interview' was immediately followed by severe self doubt and the 'why would they want to talk to me'? Well,  fortunately my demon failed and my angel won out, if you never try you'll never know, so I Tweeted and they responded in a very friendly natural way-I liked that immediately. So finally coming into the 21st century and having Twitter on my phone served its purpose after all. Contact was made about 10 minutes before meeting them swiftly followed by a sudden moment of Bollocks! What am I going to say?  Frantic scribbling of random questions ensued helped along by a musician friend of mine who just happens to write a music blog, handy to say the least...
   I wanted to ask the kind of memorable questions that no ‘normal’ journalist would ever come up with such as, 'How do you chop your onions on a rainy day?’ but felt that even randomness needed some kind of structure so yes, we skipped that one.
 I was ushered in after committing my first Faus Pax and not recognising one of the band members ( I wikipediaed  for the grand total of 5 mins to research the band!) but I at least remembered Ken Stringfellow's name.  I admit to having sudden confusing flashbacks of ex London mayor Ken Livingstone interspersed with Peter Stringfellow, notorious lap dancing club owner.

So in I went, followed by my 'special friend' who jealously wrestled the camera from my previous companion and insisted on accompanying me in bodyguard mode - I can’t imagine what he thought I’d encounter 'backstage'? Backstage consisted of a portable cabin with lights so harsh I felt like I was in an operating theatre/interrogation room where two friendly normal guys, no celebrity bullshit, were sat; Jon, preparing their set list I assume, and Ken.
I introduced myself and momentarily forgot who I was-Saffron or Zoe-this pseudonym malarky gets confusing. Jon said he hadn't had time to enlarge my pic on Twitter and get a better look but half expected a bearded bloke in a hat (something to do with my previous profile pic on twitter, don't ask ) I hope he wasn't disappointed by my lack of pink hair either...

My curiosity overcame my fear of blank mind syndrome and I launched into the first of my questions which was of course-How do you find yourselves playing a free gig in a small town, like Aspe, in inland Spain ( aka culo del mundo) They explained that they had other dates in Spain, knew the promotor and also had a festival in Jaen the following day. One of the band members is actually based in Europe (France) and has a close relationship with Spain-both playing gigs and producing Spanish bands.
My next question was my favourite but left Jon momentarily puzzled; What album best illustrates your current mental state? We settled in the end on a timeless album that one can go back to in both dark and lighter moments in life which was in his case the album ‘Dummy’ by the band  Portishead. He also recommended ‘Phantogram’ fall in love which I duly checked out.


 I really wanted to enquire about their particular sense of humor and gage their response at 'Queso Panda' and 'The Mighty Boosh' but I was aware of time limitations, not to mention the distraction of my ‘photographer’ attempting to take pictures at weird angles, the other band members coming in and out and the sweat that seemed to be dripping furiously down my forehead.
I hurried on to something more adequate like: Tell me about the lyrics to 'Could he treat you better' which one assumes is about an abusive relationship between a couple. Actually I was surprised at the answer but according to Ken it's a metaphor for domestic abuse en masse-the former US president George Bush and his abuse of trust of the American people-SHE being the metaphor for the USA-the abused and the abuser...



And here ladies and gentlemen is where I became so distracted by the conversation that I gave up taking notes and forgot to write down their answers, becoming so engrossed with Jon’s response to the question, ‘What kind of question would you like to be asked if you could choose?’

I imagined that a group that had been around not far off 30 years or so must become increasingly bored with the same old questions and I therefore absolutely refused to ask about their beginnings, their musical influences etc I wanted them to take the lead with something that interested them. What struck me the most was how fulfilling it seemed to be at this point in their career to make whatever creative choices they wished-choices not governed by a multinational record label, choosing their own well earned creative paths as respected musicians/songwriters.


That seemed to be Jon’s message at this point; both of them enjoying the eclectic mix of artists they were producing/collaborating with as well as other artistic projects. Guys who seemed completely comfortable in their own skin-this may sound like a strange thing to say and maybe I’m romanticising my brief minutes with them but that’s the vibe I got…

 Perhaps ultimately I was the one looking for my own creative direction and briefly hanging with those who have it was an almost cathartic experience for me. Sadly of course the fascinating conversation had to be cut short in order for the guys to prepare to go onstage where they proceeded to rock the audience with an excellent set, leaving me invigorated and wanting more, of great music that is! It’s always a pleasure to see excellent musicians doing what they do best and enjoying it, which I most certainly did.

Note: I later received this on Twitter from the band: The Posies

@theposies@1000milesfrom@aspesuenaloved the interview but note: seems that Jon is Ken & Ken is Jon. Ken is the guy in the red tartan shirt, etc.

 Note to self: Oh dear! No more 'shots' before interviews to steady the nerves! So I shall now make the changes so those who may have read before take note, Jon is now jon and Ken is now Ken!