Interview from back in May 2008

[cephaus]

I'm not very sure, but I don't believe I've seen this here before..

 

SOURCE: http://cdbaby.org/stories/08/05/27/0879820.html

 

ColdPlay Interview at The Marriot Hotel London.

Interview by Just Joe

 

On the 23rd May 2008 at 1:30pm London time, Just Joe (aka Joe

Wheeler) went to interview Cold Play about their new album Viva

La Vida. The interview went really well and the band felt really

happy and excited to be interviewed by HAI Magazine.

Just Joe

 

I played your new album last night and was amazed at how

different it was to your previous albums. I really enjoyed the

listen.

 

Chris & Johnny

 

Thank you

Just Joe

 

This is the first time your band have had Brian Eno as a

producer. What Influence did he bring to this album? There is a

very Eno feel to the tracks.

Chris

 

Eno was a great guy to work with. He is the kind of guy who

don’t give a sh*t about how many Grammy awards someone has,

he would still work with them. While working with us, he would

work at all hours trying out different things using different and

crazy machines. He would sit and play and we would say ‘damn

what the hell is that?’ it would sound awful but when he took it

to the studio it would then sound totally amazing! Brian does

get bored pretty quickly though, he was never around when the

band had to setup the instruments because it took too much

time, Brian would show up as soon as the band were all setup.

 

Just Joe

 

Why did you or I should say, why did the band choose ‘Violet

Hill’ as the first single? And what made you want to give it away

as a free download?

 

Johnny

 

To be honest none of us are quite sure why Violet Hill is the first

single taken from the album. I guess it was because it was the

one that sounded most different. The band sat down and spent a

long time deciding and chose that specific one. In this period

you can feel like a whore, forever selling ourselves so we

decided to give it away for free. We have to remember though

that we are signed to a label and that we just can not give

everything away for free as much as we would like to now.

 

Just Joe

 

Yes many bands and musicians have decided to give some of

there music away for free.

 

Just Joe

 

This new sound of Coldplay, will you keep elements of the sound

for your next album?

 

Chris

 

Well we are left with many unfinished ideas, it is really too early

to say. I believe we will look at changing our sound again

maybe.

 

Just Joe

 

I heard that you have a new headquarters and studio, called ‘The

Bakery’?. Can you tell me more about it? And why did you call it

‘The Bakery’?

 

Johnny

 

Yes the Bakery is our new studio, well it is more like a cottage,

it’s a place we are free to try out new ideas, paint, make clothes

and so on. It’s a place that holds no ego’s. The place is under

Brian Eno’s influence. It used to be a Bakery and then changed to

an art gallery. We thought naming it ‘Art Gallery’ would sound

sh*t so we chose ‘The Bakery’ which is a place we can go to

create expression.

 

 

Just Joe

 

When are you going to play in Indonesia? You have a really huge

fanbase here?

 

Chris

 

I am not aware of when we are doing gigs because the album

was only finished 3 weeks ago. I don’t really know what has

been confirmed or not. Although I do know we have shows in

USA next month. Me and the band would love to come to

Indonesia and I am sure it will happen. We love to travel to new

places.

 

Just Joe

Last year you made an announcement on your website that two

songs, Famous Old Painters and Glass of Water had been written

and were being considered for this album. What happened to

those songs?

Chris

Glass of Water and Famous Old Painters are still around, but not

dead. We will work on some more songs and see if these two fit

in with them.

 

Just Joe

 

Many of the big bands out there now like to make big statements

and do different things. Would your band ever make big

statements or make any radical changes?

 

Johnny

 

Well we are signed to EMI, We have to do everything the classic

way. We record and send the master to EMI and get it released

on cd and digital download. I would say what we did with Violet

Hill was a big statement. We have tried our best to adapt with

the way the music scene keeps changing. We made our album a

45 minute piece with different moods, it is more of a soundtrack

then an album. I believe that cd’s have too much time on them

to use up so this is why I am a big fan of the download market

as we can create a recording that is around the 45 minute mark

without worrying about leaving out loads of space on a cd.

 

Just Joe

 

So you like to try out new things? I can see this by the sound of

your album.

 

Johnny

 

Yes this album was a statement, we boxed ourselves in and

really need to get ourselves out of this state. The new album

took lots of stamina, while we were on the South American tour

we felt a long way off from our perfect sound. We felt like we

were short changing people so decided to have a think and

change our sound so it was totally different from our previous

albums.

 

Just Joe

 

Did you enjoy the making of the music video for Violet Hill?

 

Chris

 

Yes, we all enjoyed the making of the video’s. There was actually

two video’s made. One was filmed around Mount Etna in Scilly.

We were all running around like mad lunatics having fun in this

video, a bit like the way the beatles had fun in their very first

video. The second video which is the one we decided to use was

made by one of our friends. You see President Bush does so

much dancing we just could not avoid using him in the video.

 

Just Joe

 

Which track describes the main idea of the album?

 

Johnny

 

I would have to say, the track that most describes the main idea

of the album would be ‘42’.

 

Just Joe

 

When the band rehearses, is there a lot of playing around?

 

Johnny

 

Well messing about was not on, we just played and recorded

together. Although at times we got stuck so took breaks. Or

Brian would get bored too quickly.

 

Just Joe

 

Why didn’t you put Frida Kahlo’s Viva la Vida painting on your

album cover instead of Eugene Delacroix’s?

 

Johnny

 

Well we wanted an album cover that was revolutionary and

banging! Like in a palace wrecking everything. This is why we

never used Frida’s painting as we did not want to ruin it.

 

Just Joe

 

On Coldplay’s website, you also described taking an accoustic

guitar and some recording equipment to churches. What were

you guys doing there with those instruments?

 

Johnny

 

Well we actually went to a Nunnery in Barcelona as we thought it

would be interesting to sing and chant. We wanted it to sound

big so a church fitted perfect for this. We wanted to be like the

movie Sister Act!! I guess we were influenced to do this by

Barber Shop.

 

Just Joe

 

Well thank you very much for speaking to us at HAI Magazine,

we like your new sound very much and we wish you all the best.

 

 

As the interview ended, I left the room and had a think. I played

the album again and the message in the music hit me. It is an

album that is lively and upbeat but, almost revolutionary and

banging as it is a sound that describes death in the most

liveliest of ways. It is almost like the band are saying that once

you are dead it is not the end. Vida La Viva is a very big change

in the bands sound.

[CRYSTAL]

good interview.i always like the interviews which goes into professional details than family or personal details of people.

[marie/pims]

Thanks for the interview!Nice one

[KissesBirds]

Great interview, thanks!

[viva la vida]

Looks like it's the same interview on croatian airplay radio right now heheh

[Yellow Hill]

Pretty good interview :P

[Cobalt]

"We wanted to be like the movie Sister Act!!"

 

:lol: Oh dear :laugh3:

[Open-Politik]

Thanks, its great!