Peking Speaking The Band That Echoes

Rip It Up, Issue 107, 1 June 1986, Page 12

Peking Speaking The Band That Echoes

1 will listen to the sound that surrounds me ; Even though | won't be there at all So next time you need some steps to fall down . ‘

Give my room of sounds a very loud call

I'm gonna build a room that echoes ...

“People just wouldn’t believe us if we told them what we earned,’ says the man who wrote that song, Neville Hall, of Peking Man. “People come up to us and say: ‘Oh, where’s your new car? ” says Perry Marshall.

“It's actually parked out the back,’ whis_;_pers John Fearon, followed by

another general collapse into ironic laughter.

No, having a No 1 hit is not an instant goldmine. For Peking Man, having a record deal and proper backing has freed them from holding down daytime jobs to concentrate on their music. But they're under no illusions about their exalted position in the New Zealand popular music field. What holds them together is a fierce loyalty to their music and to each other, along with a clear-headed approach to the business side of things and the ability to laugh, frequently. ; One does not “interview” Peking Man, one holds a six-way conversation (seven, counting manager Dave — bassist Tim Calder is absent). Interjections are frequent, like the laughter, opinions are strongly expressed and often strongly disputed. The band is a mass of contradictions, which is probably why it's so successful. Peking Man conform to no patterns, acknowledge plenty of influences but refuse to be labelled by any of them. What follows is basically a discussion with half a dozen average young

New Zealanders with way-above-average talent who have managed to get a large section of the record-buying public to listen to what they're producing, and who are now at a career crossroad.

Others have passed this way before, and Peking Man are well aware of this. Yet there's no fear of the unknown. One the contrary, it excites them. While they’ve got much hard work ahead with an LP to promote and a trip abroad before the year is out, the most stimulating aspect for them is the way their music is developing. Their debut LP, out this month, has a retrospective element. They're already playing new material in their set which indicates another direction. The spritely funk is being replaced by darker emotions, conveyed previously in the lyrics but now reflected in the music_ to a greater depth. You only have to listen closely to ‘Room That Echoes; ‘Afraid of the Dark’ or ‘Good Luck To You'’ to detect a bitter taste. Yet the individual members of Peking Man, while agreeing that their words are based on personal experiences, are far from bitter people. , “l think when you're unhappy, you tend to express yourself more strongly,” says Neville. “When you're happy, you go and play frisbee, when you're sad, you write a song,” says the laconic Pat Urlich. :

“It's really hard to write a positive song which comes across sincerely,” says Perry. . Neville: “They tend to be throwaway, like ‘Running in the Human Race’ or ‘Lift Your Head Up High' If you look at it from the point of view of a songwriter, the things you tend to write about, | write about the way | feel, taking the premise that other human beings feel the same way. So although the lyrics seem quite inward-looking, you're looking out toward other human beings at the same time” :

John: “You reach common points. Everyone takes great joy in their negative emotions” Neville: “You hear lots of songs on thé radio about love, but we try to get in touch with other

emotions, like fear and loneliness. The love thing is horribly overdone and cliched these days” (general murmurs of agreement) We are a very soppy, sentimental race. Margaret backs up the view by crooning, tongue in cheek, a line of Jennifer Rush’s appalling ‘The Power of Love! It seems we are so inarticulate on such matters we rely on syrupy songs to express our feelings. Pray to Jah we're not breeding a nation of soap opera addicts. Or a nation of introverts, come to that. Peking Man, speaking as card-carrying Outgoing Persons, decry the tendency to drift off towards the garage, a sentiment also expressed in these pages by Neil Finn. In some circles, nothing is more damaging to your credibility than being commercially successful. Pat: “It's a naive attitude, in a way.” Neville: “The worst thing is equating being non commercial with being artistic. That is the biggest problem in a lot of New Zealand music, it's just bad logic” Pat: “l think the ‘garage’ attitude in some people also reflects their attitude towards life in general — ‘What I'm doing is the right way to do it and you fuckers are all wrong. ” Margaret: “What amuses me is that a lot of the people who think that way are varsity students, training for a professional career in another area. It's quite bizarre that they're training to be lawyers or psychologists or whatever, and we get slagged for working for our future and developing ourselves.” ; Neville: “l think everyone should make music, it's great that so many people are doing it. But if they're really into making music, surely theyd want to improve their ability, become more articulate. | have to say that some of the music I'm hearing, some of the New Zealand music, to me just seems grossly musically inarticulate. You can hear the people in there desperately trying to say something, but with no means to really get it out, musically. Perhaps they should be painting or writing instead, | don't know.”’ Pat: “It's largely a cult thing. They're not really doing it from a musical standpoint They get together with their mates, they whip up a batch of homebake and get out their electric guitars and ..”

The rest is drowned in a great shout of laughter from everyone present. And before angry readers start firing off the hate mail, it should be stressed here that the remarks quoted were far more tongue-in-cheek than print convey.

Quota Bill Quotes : Talking of commercial success brings us around to the vexed issue of radio airplay, the subject of much debate and a nationwide petition. Recently, a fellow journalistiand rabid Kiwi music supporter surprised me by opposing the concept of a quota system, believing that enforced quotas would bring about a tide of strictlycommercial performers who would dominate the airwaves at the expense of the less commercial but equally, if not more talented. Peking Man, who have given moral and financial support to the petition, strongly beg to differ. ‘ Pat; “In a way, it's a chicken-or-the-egg situation. What comes first — do the record companies take a punt on a whole lot of unknown bands who haven't really proven themselves and lose

a whole lot of money, or do the radio stations start playing New Zealand music and therefore increase the demand, so the record companies get something they can sell?”

Perry: “l heard a Canadian radio guy on talkback with Karyn Hay. He said it takes a lot of time, but they introduced quotas and the local industry just boomed.”

John: “The situation we have in this country is that a band which wants to play diverse music is even worse off than a commercial-type band. They’re not going to earn a cent because there is no industry to speak of. A few hundred years ago there might have been a rich patron who would back the music if he liked it. The situation hasn't changed much. In the modern world, the patron is the record company, and through the vast profits that they make, they put a lot of money into recording other things which are nonprofit makers from the word go. But the industry has to get going, otherwise there are a lot of bands which aren't going to get a look-in” Pat: “ don't think it would be so bad if we started copying Australia. It would certainly be better than copying England or America. New Zealand hasn't got a national rock identity at all, really. Australia has, whether you like it or not. And the Australians love it. After all, they pay taxes. Why shouldn't they hear music they like”? Australia has been cited by quota opponents as a prime example of the worst that such a system can do. Personally speaking, | feel that one version of INXS or the Models is enough, and that cloning is just as counter-productive. - Neville: ‘Just because more diverse music was on the radio, it doesn’'t necessarily mean that people would like it. | think if people don't like a song that’s on the radio, they turn the radio off. The aim should be to educate people better so they understand the language of new music. | mean, how many people have never heard of the Art Ensemble of Chicago? If you played them the music, theyd just be offended. They don't understand the language of the music, and just having it put straight on the radio isn't going to help anyone’” John: “Personally, | don't like the idea of having to legislate for things, but at the same time | just don't think the industry in this country is going to happen any other way.” '

Signed, Sealed and Delivered . Getting airplay is hardly a worry for Peking Man right now. Their strong visual appeal helps, of course, and this is being capitalised on with a deal they've recently signed with Spaghetti Clothing, keeping them in stage and street clothes. In fact, a special line of Peking Man clothes is to be marketed, a first for a New Zealand band. In addition, their relationship with their record company, CBS, is such that they were able to veto plans to sell them in South Africa with little or no hassle. ‘

' Perry: “CBS have been really good like that, they'll always listen to'what we have to say, and play the game as a team. It's not ‘us against them;, which is great.” : A recent article in Metro magazine still has the band's backs up, making it appear as though they considered their record company hide-bound and old-fashioned.

Neville: “It created the impression that we're

embarrassed about being successful, which is just a load of crap. As far as were concerned, CBS are the best people to be with, which is why we're with them. If we didn't want to be successful, we wouldn't be putting out records, wed just be playing for ourselves. The fact that we are making records means we want them to sell. We're quite adjusted to that. It doesn't affect our creativity.” “Pat: “A lot of people dont realise that until you sign with a record company, if you're playing original music, you're not going to make a dollar” Neville: “Having a hot company behind you means you don't have any anxieties about marketing or things like that, you can concentrate totally on the music, and it’s great, from that point of view” :

Pat: “The rest is signed, sealed and delivered. You've just got to come up with the goods.” The goods, in this case, being Peking Man's self-titled debut album. In an interview early last year, they thought it might turn out as a funk LP. While the element is certainly there, in ‘Lift Your Head Up High' and ‘Time in Store, it's the slower and moodier numbers that really stand out. Margaret shows why she won that Best Vocalist award on ‘Between the Lines, a passionate performance displaying the reverse side of her elfin sensuality. The lyrics and melody are hers, the musical development behind them belongs to the absent Tim.

“It's quite hard doing it live, because you have to step aside,” she says. “It's quite an introverted song, but it seems to be well received. It was actually the first song | helped to write and | couldn't sing it very well at all, really. But it's a lot easier to perform live now, because I've improved as a singer”

Also intriguing is ‘Start at the Beginning, which starts out as semi-reggae but ends up more jazzlike, without getting lost.

Margaret: “l originally had it as a chorus in my head, but | didn't have the bassline when | brought it to the band. | think the structure changed about five times. First it was going to be a ska-type thing, then energetic punk. So it's sort of evolved to where it is now, which is probably why it sounds a bit out of kilter” No one was more surprised by the success of ‘Room That Echoes’ than Neville. “It has a menacing, slightly malicious air to it. | still don't know how it got there. It was definitely so much rock-

ier and harder than anything wed ever recorded. I knew it would be as successful as ‘Lift Your Head'’ (now re-released), but my thoughts when wed finished it were, ‘lf it gets into the Top 20 I'll be surprised, and if it gets to No 1 | just won't believe it When | first wrote that song | wasn't even going to bring it to the band. It took me five minutes to write, and then Margaret heard me playing it one day and said we should do it” Margaret: “So I'm responsible for discovering it. You owe it all to me!” (loud laughter) - The once-communal nature of Peking Man's songwriting has now been replaced by an individuality which is developing all the time. Each member is a contributor, and the discovery of the versatile portable four-track recording facility has extended everyone's horizons. Tributes are also freely paid to album producer Bruce Lynch for instilling a sense of discipline without interfering with the band’'s arrangements. The result is an album which they'’re confident has bridged the previous gap between the studio and live performance.

A sense of purpose has characterised everything done to date by Peking Man, and is probably the source of their success. Talking to them ~over a couple of hours, you realise there is nothing contrived about their friendship or commitment. Yet Peking Man are very anti-hype, and firmly believe that the absence of that in their ‘ case has been a contributing factor. Their songs are about independence and growing up, strong reflections about themselves and each other.

Margaret: “If you don't open yourself or if you're not moving, you can't be directed. If you're not mobile, you can't steer yourself. If you only believe in what you're doing and disregard everything else, that's bad.” Pat: “That would be implying that we stop growing at a certain age” Perry: “l don't know what'’s going-to happen in the next few months, the music side is so positive, the songs we're writing are improving, we're getting on well, we've got a great company behind us and things just keep getting better” John: “I've been getting a really good feeling from the band lately, because I've overcome this personal freshness problem and everyone likes me a lot better ..” Conversation ended by general hysteria.

Duncan Campbell