Russell IE : Were there any strange things he unearthed in that pursuit that maybe you ’ d forgotten ? RM : Well , I mean , the one thing that he unearthed was this incredible cast of characters that spoke about their connection with Sparks and the influence that Sparks has had on their careers . And not only
|
IE : I had totally forgotten your Jane Wiedlin connection . RM : Yeah ! That “ Cool Places ” song that we did together , which was a hit of sorts in America .
IE : And now after all these years , you ’ re back on your original 1970s imprint Island . How did this happen ? RM : Yeah . They heard the new album , and they thought that it was as musically bold and provocative , and forward-thinking as anything we had done when we were with them in the ‘ 70s . And they just said that they wanted to sign the band , and not as a nostalgic thing from the past , but as a band that ’ s doing equally provocative work like we did when they had Sparks the first go- ' round . So we thought it was a really unique situation , and we ’ re excited to be back with them .
|
Sparks , circa mid- ’ 70s |
|
musicians from all different genres of pop music , but also writers and actors , and so just to gather this cast of characters who all wanted to speak out about Sparks was just something that really surprised us , because we weren ’ t aware of most of these people ’ s affinity toward the band , and also that they wanted to go on record as being fans of the band . And so that was something that Edgar really brought to the project that we thought was really amazing and really a surprise to us . |
IE : Did the movie open up whole new avenues for you , tour-wise ? And you ’ re even going back to Japan again ? RM : The movie has been really well received and viewed all around the world , and so , as a result , there ’ s a whole new audience that ’ s been made aware of us that didn ’ t already know about Sparks , and they ’ ve been kind of filled in about the band . And then what Edgar also managed to get across was the fact that this story – that being an artist is |
about following your own creative instincts , no matter what the external things are that might be happening , like whether an album sells well or doesn ’ t sell well , whether an album is in the cutout bin or not – that ’ s not the issue . The issue is what you ’ re doing creatively , and he feels that in the documentary , he ’ s expressed that all of the albums that we ’ ve done have a unique place , and there ’ s not one golden era for Sparks . It ’ s all part of a long story leading up to what we ’ re doing now , and what we ’ re doing now is arguably as strong as anything that we ’ ve ever done throughout our whole career . So that helped to open things up because a lot of people love that story , that through thick and thin , the only thing that really matters is your creativity because that ’ s something tangible that you have at the end of the day . And so it really struck a nerve with a lot of people |
, and as a result , we are now , on the upcoming tour , going to be playing bigger places than we ’ ve ever played – the Hollywood Bowl in L . A ., we ’ re playing two nights that have already sold out at the Royal Albert Hall in London , we ' re playing Glastonbury and bigger places in Japan . So there ’ s really been a connection , a correlation between that movie , and also the Annette movie musical that we did , which gained us a different audience , as well , that may not have heard of Sparks , but could now via Sparks ’ music itself .
IE : How do you know that survivalist instinct is coming on , album to album ? Like , say , in “ Beat the Clock ,” when you jumped one way while everyone else was jumping another ? How do you feel a left or a right turn coming on musically ?
|