Verlaine Again

Rip It Up, Issue 82, 1 May 1984, Page 2

Verlaine Again

Russell Brown

The Verlaines are back in swing proper after a couple of long periods of inactivity. They’ve just finished recording a new EP and you might just see them in your town soon. The band’s problems have mainly been with holding on to drummers both Alan Haig (now back with the Chills) and former Spines drummer Caroline Easther (who had to return to Wellington) joined and left the band. But now Robbie Yeats (a native of Gore, the South's little-known musical mecca) has his backside firmly planted on the drumseat and things have stabilised. Was it frustrating being out of circulation? "Not really," says bassist Jane Dodd. "It was frustrating having to start over again but the actual layoff wasn't really frustrating." "It was more or less a holiday. I suppose most bands take them anyway, sooner or later,” adds singer-guitarist Graeme Downes.

All three are at university, enforcing part-time status for the band because they can only tour during university holidays.

"But as far as I’m concerned that's alright because the work's not too hard so you don’t need to take a rest in your holidays,”

Downes smiles. So there's no desire to go fulltime? "I think this way we might last longer. You play a few gigs and you might go for five years and still retain some freshness. It’s better than being a professional and getting sick of it after six months.” If you’re talking that kind of longevity do you think you’ll have to throw out older songs in order to stay interested? "Every song's different. A weak song will go but there’s no need for a strong song to,” says Dodd. So you don't get sick of playing 'Death and the Maiden’, which dates back a long way? “Sometimes ...’’ ventures Downes. Dodd: "It’s not really a matter of getting sick of playing it, it’s getting sick of having to play it. Sometimes you’re expected to play it.” Downes: "Yeah, it would be nice not to have to play it every time...’’ Yeats: "We have left it out sometimes.” Downes: “Have we? It’s not quite so bad in Dunedin because everyone knows the other songs a lot better so they can appreciate the ones that aren’t on record. But I think the lyrics of that song are good, so I usually manage to sing it with feeling because it still means something to me to sing it. That's why I don’t write very many songs. The ones that have meaning in them last longer.”