Anyone who's peeped the Proper Songs Last.FM scrobbler has seen its been overrun by multiple plays of Remember Remember's insanely brilliant album from last year. Head brain Graeme granted PS some words.
PS: Tell everyone a bit about yourself and what you're up to.
My name is Graeme Ronald, I'm 28 and I drink too much. I haven't bothered to shave in a number of days as I haven't in fact left the house in a number of days except to buy cigarettes and beer. Aside from this, I work by night under the pseudonym Remember Remember, righting societies wrongs through the medium of instrumental music.
PS: As a solo musician how did you approach writing the album? Was it straightforward recording it?
Despite being a solo musician I play with a band so I guess you could say that I'm not a solo musician. I deliberately attempt to keep a sense of mystery about who is actually in Remember Remember but this has mostly resulted in the people that played on the record becoming upset as everyone thinks it's just me. So to try and set the record straight, Remember Remember is a collective, the only constant member of said collective being me, but the album could not have possibly turned out the way it did without the contributions of the other players. I suppose it was fairly straightforward, I had a very clear picture in my head of how every layer of every song was going to be placed, yet there were some interesting tangents that lead to very unexpected changes.....deciding at the last minute, after every part had been recorded that some songs really needed drums, for example....the absolute opposite of everything I've ever been told about proper recording practise.
PS: You play a variety of instruments, what's your favourite/or/most unusual?
I would say that I turned my hand to a variety of instruments, not so much that I play them....i certainly wouldn't say that I've mastered any of them. My favourite instrument that I own, and probably the most unusual too, is a Mexican instrument called a Gatorra. It is, on one hand, completely useless, but on the other hand, a wonder-torch. I was given mine by a friend not realising how rare and incredible it is.....a guitar shaped drum machine / analogue synth made by a former TV Repairman called Tony Da Gatorra, constructed from old television components. It has a peace sign emblazoned on it and on closer inspection is in fact not in the shape of a guitar, but of a communist sickle.
PS: How does playing live differ to the album?
I'm actually becoming increasingly worried that the album is impossible to recreate live without a huge band. I put together an 11 piece group for the launch and it sounded tremendous, however it's not always possible to have that many people available. Sometimes I play on my own, sometimes I play with a trio of myself, Sax (James Swinburne) and Violin (Joan Sweeney), and sometimes other combinations depending on peoples availability. I enjoy that it's different every time, but for people who have only heard the album I imagine the live show might be a bit of a surprise.
PS: If 'Remember Remember' could be associated with a date other than 5th November, what would it be and why?
Oh probably my first date. Who could forget puking in the general direction of the object of your affection.
PS: Give us a Top 5 of something.
1. "Something" by The Beatles
2. "Something Else" by Sid Vicious / Eddie Cochran
3. Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" By Marc Almond and Gene Pitney
4. "Some Things Come From Nothing" By Super Furry Animals
5. Deep Blue Something
Buy the album at Rough Trade.
