With the release of their new album Love and Terror we thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to catch up with Scott Rinning and Larry Reid from The Cinematics:
R13: First and foremost; how are you? How’s life?
Scott Rinning: We’re very well, thanks. We got home yesterday after a month on the road in Europe. It was great to be out there gigging, but it’s also good to be home for a short rest.
R13: So for those people reading this interview and don't know who you are, can you give us an introduction to The Cinematics?
SR: Well, we’re a four-piece band from Glasgow. Last week we released our second album, Love and Terror. Basically, we make big music, with massive guitars, soaring vocals and lyrics which say something, I think.
R13: How did you all meet? How did you go about bringing the band together?
SR: I’ve known our drummer and bassist since primary school and we’ve played in bands together since we were teenagers. We met Larry here much more recently, in Glasgow.
R13: Since forming the band you've experienced the highs of signing to a label and then the lows of the uncertainty when TVT went bust. Did this ever make you jaded in the music industry?
SR: There have been times, yeah.
Larry Reid: Working in the music business is a constant struggle. There are very few emeralds in this sea of snakes.
R13: Has everything settled down now?
LR: Our new label, the Orchard, seem like nice people.
SR: We’re always going to be more ambitious than the business-minded side of things, however, so we often become impatient with the time it takes the industry machinery to move.
R13: You've got a new album just out, how are you feeling about it?
SR: I think this is a better album than our first, certainly.
LR: I think it’s a strong album, in terms of the song-writing, and there’s a great deal of ourselves in there- it’s a very personal album- so I hope these songs will resonate with people.
R13: Are you confident with the final results?
SR: Yes, it’s a good album.
R13: What sort of audience do you aim to please? Would you say that your music is largely accessible, or are your listeners required to bring something with them to your music?
LR: Whether you’re writing pop music, indie music or harder rock music, the fundamentals of melody, harmony and structure are the same. I’ve never wanted to make obscure music and I’ve always had respect for people who can write pop tunes. That said, I’ve also never wanted to simply appeal to the lowest common denominator. On one hand, I love the writers from the Brill Building-era and the writers behind the Motown acts- back when they were striving to achieve the “perfect pop tune”- but on the other hand I love the artists who’ve made records which require several listens before they can be truly appreciated, like Neu! or My Bloody Valentine, for example.
SR: Basically, we make the music we make and we’re not out to impress anyone.
R13: Who have been your greatest influences, musically?
SR: Radiohead, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Echo & the Bunnymen
LR: Bob Dylan, the Smiths, the Clash, Jimi Hendrix and the Velvet Underground
R13: Your music is definitely music to make one think and reading your blogs there seems to be the same sort of theme. Is this deliberate; or a natural process of your creativity?
LR: I think we definitely feel that we have something to say. I don’t mean this in a pretentious or didactic way. I just don’t see the point in stringing together generic lyrics, so if I don’t have anything to say then I don’t write a lyric. Our blogs are an extension of this. Most bands abuse the position they have and clog-up cyberspace with gossiping, self-indulgent nonsense, and I think we owe it to our fan-base to offer more than that.
R13: In your blogs you talk about dreams to change the world as you entered university. Do you think this is a possibility? Or do you share in the view that the world is broken?
SR: Well, I think the point we made was that we shouldn’t be so quick to scoff at anyone who does try to make the world a better place, even if it is hard not to grow cynical.
LR: I hate cynicism, even if there’s at least a little bit of it in all of us. Of course we could change the world, just as I would have announced to everyone I met when I was younger, but I don’t think it’s something an individual can do, and certainly not a bunch of musicians.
SR: I also don’t think people really want song-writers and bands lecturing them from the stage or the studio. Certain multi-multi-multi millionaires have ruined it for us all.
R13: What would you ultimately like to bring to the music industry?
SR: If possible, we’d have nothing to do with the “music industry”, as such. However, as we want to make music and we want people to hear it, this just isn’t possible.
LR: We want to continue to make music that people can believe. We want to resist all forms of manipulation or demands to compromise. If that fits in with the “industry” then all the better, but we’re doing it regardless.
R13: You've been on tour with a lot of well known artists like The Editors, OK GO and We Are Scientists, what's the craziest thing to happen to you on tour?
SR: As you might expect, we can’t really tell you about the craziest things that have happened on tour, for legal reasons and reasons of good taste. However, I do remember the boys stripping me naked one time while we were all very drunk in a hotel in Boston, tying me to a chair on wheels, taking me down in the elevator and then pushing me into the hotel lobby for all to see. The band thought it was hilarious, but the hotel staff were so embarrassed that they had to phone up to the room and demand that one of the boys came down with some clothes and wheel me back to the room.
R13: You're previously toured with The Editors, but I've heard that you're no longer their biggest fans. Is there any truth in this; if so, how come?
SR: Someone else hinted at this recently, also, but I don’t know where it’s come from. We had fun when we toured with the Editors and we’re still friends. We met them about two weeks ago in Hamburg, and we were chatting away. They’re nice guys.
LR: It’s annoying when journalists blindly compare our band with theirs, but they’ve worked hard for their success, and they deserve it.
SR: I just don’t think we sound like them. Listen to Love and Terror and you’ll agree!
R13: Since forming as a band you've had line up changes. How has this affected the dynamics of the band? Has it affected your sound?
SR: It’s been all good, as far as I’m concerned. Ramsay, our first guitarist, was an old friend from school, so we were sorry to see him go, but Larry has brought a lot to the band. He writes many of the songs, and he ended-up producing our record. And he makes wildly original guitar sounds.
R13: What's in the future for you?
SR: We’re going to tour this album around Europe, the UK, the US and possibly Japan. We just need a couple of weeks off and then we’ll be raring to go again. We’re desperate to get out there and let people hear these new songs.
LR: We’re also fairly well-on with the writing for the third album. We want to record that very soon and make sure it’s released in the not-too-distant future. We want to be the most prolific band in the world.