"Music will save lives, not haircuts." - An interview with Ginger Wildheart
2013 has so far been another crazy year for Ginger Wildheart. The amazing success of his second fan funded album projects Mutation and Hey! Hello! (which is released commercially from Monday!), the reformation of The Wildhearts, non stop touring and news of a new Pledge Music campaign on the way, is there any stopping this guy? The answer is definitely not.
2013 has already been an incredibly busy year for you, what has been your favourite part so far?
There really have been too many great moments to isolate any single one. Being acknowledged by Classic Rock by being given an award was amazing, as was the whole occasion, Hey! Hello! being received so well in US and Japan, The Wildhearts shows, the Slash tour, playing with Courtney....aaaahh, the whole year has been amazing! And I have a feeling that next year will be even more insane.
Your Mutation project was something completely different to 555%, did it worry you at all what peoples reactions may have been, or were you confident the fans would love it, as they clearly did?
As I said in the Pledge video I don't expect everyone to like everything I do, for me that's part of the relationship with a band or artist. There are albums by Cheap Trick, Sparks and Zappa that I just can't listen to, but I love that they have the drive that makes them want to make these albums. I will always warn people that my albums might or might not be to their taste, but that's why I try to make Pledge albums collectible, so they can sell them on if they don't like them.
Where did the idea behind Hey! Hello! come from?
I had wanted to play all the instruments on an album for years now, and when I decided to make a power pop album I figured it's that time. I specifically wanted the songs to have an element of AC/DC basics in the rhythm section, but with accents that hit every syllable and to be honest I don't know any drummers who would do that better than me, being as i wrote the songs and know where all the accents are.
The Hey! Hello! album has been extremely popular, was this something you were expecting? And how did this contribute to the decision to release it commercially? We love it.
Nothing about Hey! Hello! has been anything like what I was expecting. In fact I was expecting very little apart from people saying "it's catchy, I like it". I guess it's happened at the right time where the world is in steady turmoil, that and the current heatwave presumably makes catchy, fun pop more appealing that it might normally be.
Whatever the reason, and there's no point in trying to find one, I'm really enjoying seeing this funny little project develop confidence in front of a new and loving audience.
Are their any plans to tour either Mutation/Hey! Hello! (or both) further?
I really don't know what will happen as far as playing live with either of those two. It's not something I want to spend too much time dreaming about when I could be writing new material for new projects. I'm a man possessed these days, and tend to just run in the direction of my inspiration. And I'm really enjoying the recording process more than I ever did before. Having said that, if I start getting into recording that's usually when a ton of touring work will turn up.
You have already indicated that work will begin soon on your next Pledge campaign, what sort of thing can we expect from that?
It's the Ginger Wildheart Band, my touring solo group, featuring Random Jon Poole, Denzel, Rich Jones, Chris Catalyst, Victoria and now Bryan Scary, our newest recruit. So many talented people and a private residential studio for two months. What could possibly go wrong? Don't worry, you'll be in there with us to find out. The music is going to be an insane array of styles that I'm hoping will redesign what a rock album should sound like. I'm crazy excited about this one.
Interacting with fans is a big part of what you do, why is it so important to you to keep them involved?
They're the boss, they pay my wages. I will never understand bands or artists that don't want to maintain a close relationship with their fans. Surely you want them to be proud to be on your side, right?
I've always believed that you should do the right thing by your people, and that feeling only gets stronger every year.
You have recently hinted at your disappointment in the UK press when it comes to independent music/artists, why do you think it is that they tend to shy away from giving exposure to new/independent music?
Because they're slaves to the advertisers that plough money into their mundane little rags. That's why these companies hire editors that will happily tow the line, and if they try to make too many waves they'll just replace them with another faceless, passionless drone who will do what they're told. It's an insane situation that stinks just as bad as the cookie cutter bands they feature.
Just as long as the general public don't buy the bullshit, and mistake this for the real face of UK music, then I'm fine with it. Who cares about passionless journalists and identikit magazine attitudes anyway? The reason why I get frustrated is because a gullible public could actually believe the shit these mags try to feed you, and lose sight of the underground scene.
We've seen too many great things disappear to make way for advance, like vinyl, CD's and DVDs, the inevitable casualties of tech war, but I won't sit around and let the live circuit and independent bands suffer the same fate. I'll go down fighting if nothing else.
You have inspired many other bands/artists to go down the Pledge route, and also won awards for your own efforts, how does it feel to be a kind of spokesperson for keeping it DIY?
It feels very frustrating right now, because not enough people are taking notice of the slow death of an actual DIY scene. But I'm a strong believer in water finding the right level, and suspect that there are a bunch of young kids who are more interested in their sound and songwriting than getting their entire body covered in tattoos.
Shit, if half of these bands spent as much time writing as they do being inked we'd at least have a few decent songs, but once again it's style over substance, and this traditionally makes way for a bunch of pissed off youth saying "fuck this".
That's the punks spirit I pray to see now. It is the only thing that's going to take the power away from corporate stooges and refocus attention on actual music.
Music will save lives, not haircuts.
What advice would you give new bands wanting to break through? And is there any bands/artists at the moment you want to shout about?
I'd just say do things your way, play hundreds of gigs and write better songs. Everyone, including me, needs to write better songs.
Get amazing as a live band by playing every shit hole with electricity, and if you're great word will get out, I'll hear, and I'll get you a gig.
The passion that Baby Godzilla have at every single show they play is the passion I want to see from everyone.
Lose your shit, lose your voice, lose your mind, but make it count.
You only have this chance, don't waste it by trying to fit in or join the trends. No one really cares about that shit anyway, and you will not make lasting fans if you look and sound like everyone else. Trust me on this.
Lastly, congratulations on the amazing reception the Earth vs shows received, are their any other plans to fit in anything else Wildhearts related into your tight schedule?
No plans as of right now, but then the real stuff happens when you're busy making plans, right? So I'll avoid making them and just enjoy the ride, if it's okay with you.
Hey! Hello! is released on Monday 22 July, get involved with what is probably the best album you will hear all year!
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