Interview with Elvis Perkins in Cologne - English Version

(Elvis Perkins)

30.10.2007 von Stephan Kämper

During the German-Tour of the sympathetic Songwriter Elvis Perkins, Musicheadquarter had the opportunity to talk to him within the scope of his concert in the Gebäude9 in Cologne. In the interview Perkins especially talks about his music but also about the situation of music industries due to illegal downloads in the world wide web. Stephan Kämper met Elvis Perkins in his tourbus.

First of all I will welcome you in Cologne.

Elvis Perkins: Thank you.

What are your impressions when you think of Cologne? Did you ever heard of it?

Elvis Perkins: Well. I was here in February with „Clap Your Hands Say Yeah“ and „Cold War Kids“. And that night we shared the bus with the „Cold War Kids“. And that night they went off. So we took some guys from „Clap Your Hands Say Yeah“ to our bus and go out on the street. God knows where we were. From Berlin to Cologne. It was a fun night. We walked up out on the street there. And had dinner or breakfast. I don’t guess what it was. We were very confused. I guess it was around some festival where there were clowns everywhere?

Yeah, Karneval. We call it Karneval in germany.

Elvis Perkins: In february, right. And we were very spaced out. And didn’t know where we were. And had this dinner. Breakfast dinner place. It was round about these clowns. And we were all about „What is going on here?“. And maybe we thought Cologne has something to do with clowns. But we learned what it was all about. And later walked in south to the cathedral.

You have played in Hamburg and Berlin yet. Are there any differences between the german and the american audience?

Elvis Perkins: The language is different. So it seems like the most people who come to the shows understand english. So I apologize to the audience that me and my band don’t speak german. I don’t know. We have been very well received in germany. It is been very nice. It was a very nice surprise for the first time. Here tonight was our first real show in germany. I’m happy with the german reaction.

What is special of performing live? Is it different to record an album?

Elvis Perkins: Sure. It is completely different. When recording a song, it’s more pressure, than you have been on tour for 14 months. The same songs every night, it’s a different relationship to the song, than you recorded them the first time. So it is definitely a different thing. But sometimes, you know, it can be better to playing live, because you get real immediat feedback from the people who are there. It’s more of changing energy. You give the music to somebody directly and they receive it and get back to you. It is different like somebody is buying a record in a store. You don’t really know their reaction and what their experiences of the music is until you bring it to them face to face.

If you were not a musician. What other professiones would you have?

Elvis Perkins: I don’t know. Maybe I would write books.

Oh, I love writing books.

Elvis Perkins: Do you write books?

Yes.

Elvis Perkins: I guess I would do that. Or make paintings or maybe go in the theatre or something. Do some acting or [...] it is hard to say really.

What is personally for you important when you think of music?

Elvis Perkins: It means a constitution of communicating. It is even better than speaking to somebody in a regular scienary. I think it is for me more effective than to speak to somebody on the street for example. It is a special form of communication. That automatically feels me more impressed and more understood than other forms of communication.

Are there any references you thought of when you recorded „Ash Wednesday“? I personally think „May Day“ has got references to „All You Need Is Love“ from The Beatles.

Elvis Perkins: (laughs) Maybe in the spirit in which it was recorded. It was my brothers idea to record the song that way and a few of my friends. There were over at our house and it was a sort of a party and we just recorded the song in one day. I don’t know if I thought about the song structurally like „All You Need Is Love“. But I think it has some of that spirit in it.

„Ash Wednesday“ is personally for me almost a master piece of concept album. Do you think you could be as successful as other single singers like Conor Oberst or Ryan Adams.

Elvis Perkins: Sure. I don’t see why not.

„Ash Wednesday“ is hopefully not your last record.

Elvis Perkins: No. It’s just the first.

Your record is a concept record. Do you think this kind of record will still be used in the future when you think about iTunes or digital plattforms?

Elvis Perkins: I don’t know if I considered with a concept album so much. A lot of the songs I didn’t write thinking of being on any album, at least at this one. [...] I don’t think the concept of an album is going to die. If people like a song and hear it on iTunes than they want to hear more. I hope that are intentions never get so small that we can’t listen to a whole album at one.

Are you afraid of such developements like illegal copy of music?

Elvis Perkins: It’s not got to be afraid of things. So, this is what happens. This is the reality. The music business won’t be that what it was and it will be not in the future that what it is now. It is an exciting time. A time of change. It is been an exciting time to be part of the music business. Like nobody knows what it is gonna be. It is a good time.

Do you think laws are the only option to prohibit illegal copy of music?

Elvis Perkins: I don’t know. What is the alternativ do you think?

I don’t know. It is difficult to catch out people, who copy illegal music or download illegal music from the Internet. I think you have to buy the music because you don’t go to a supermarket and take things without paying for them.

Elvis Perkins: Yeah. It is a complicated world like people who are starving. If they take something to eat to survive are you going to castigate them? If the culture around them is so dead that they need music to survive. I mean it is a sad thing for them and a sad thing for the artist. But it is a time of change. And it gonna work itself out. There always be thieves. There always be hunger. Real hunger for food. It is a spirituell emptiness that people need to fill. It is small fragment of a big problem.

Thank you for the interview.

Elvis Perkins: Thank you. You are welcome. Are you going to the show tonight?

Yes, of course.

Elvis Perkins: Cool.

Thanks a lot to Melanie from Beggars. She made this interview happen. And of course thanks to Elvis Perkins and his management for the very warm welcome in the tourbus.

The German Version of this interview you can find here.

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