The Music

Gigz with Robert Harvey and Phil Jordan from The Music at the AJ Palumbo Center

3/02/03



RC: And it's a great pleasure of the Rock Circus to come
     to the AJ Palumbo Center, it's been a while since 
     we've been here. We've come to hang and check these
     guys out, the Music, a new band out. I'ld say the 
     new band of 2003. This is Phil, bad a** drummer.
Phil: Hi
RC: And this is Robert...
Robert: Hello
RC: ...the man with the body and vocals.
Robert: I like that. (laughing)
RC: And this is their new CD, which is entitled The
      Music, a self-titled release. What made you go
      with that? Did you feel like you weren't trying to
      make any great statement or the name of the band 
      was good enough?
Robert: Just Lazy.
RC: Now you guys are from Leads, how did you hook up? 
      Did you got to school together or did you hook up
      in local bands?
Robert: Well, I used to be in a band with Phil, before
      this band, and I went to school with Stuart and
      Adam I've hnown all my life basically. Me and Phil
      left the old band and just started jamming with 
      these two and pretty much went from there.
RC: How long of a process was it til' you guys knew you
      had something to work with, 5 or 6 months?
Phil: No, I knew the first day really. I know it sounds
      like a cliche, but we wrote like 6 songs the first
      time we were together.
RC: That whole rush, kind of like when you read about
      Zeppelin and when they first jammed together. I 
      know that's the ultimate cliche what can I say, us
      Americans like dwelling on sh**. Now you released
      like 3 EP's in England, UK?
Phil: No just like one single that was kind of like a 
      demo but was a single. Then one EP, or were we
      signed then?
Robert: Yeah, we signed with that EP and got really stoned
      and had to drive home. We smoked a joint of refer 
      as long as my arm and had to drive home.
RC: It was as long as your arm?
Robert: Yeah, as long as my arm almost (points from
      wrist to elbow), I wrecken it would be about that
      long. When we last saw him, after we had smoked 
      it, he said he got home alright but he couldn't
      remember getting home.
RC: What was it, some African Gange?
Robert: Don't know what it was.
RC: Here in America we like the pin, we got the Hydro,
      the Midies, and then the Regee Miller. Which is
      the not so good schwag.
Phil: Regee Miller, who's Regee Miller?
RC: Regee Miller is sh**, it's regular weed but we call
      it Regee, it's just some slang.
Robert: But who is Regee Miller?
RC: Nobody it's regular weed.
Phil: Was that Roger Miller?
RC: Roger Miller yeah.
Phil: Football.
RC: Yeah that would be soccer to us. You guys get real
      violent about soccer, or football, in England.
Phil: F*** OFF! (laughter) You've seen the Superbowl 
      right? When you win you go and trash the place
      man, we don't do that when we win.
RC: I just see these riots at these soccer games, or 
      football games sorry, let's get back to your 
      stuff. Now you knew you hit it off from the first
      time you jammed, six songs, now you did the EP or
      the demo. Who got a hold of that? Was there many 
      labels, was it Capitol of UK, or you had a manager
      send it out?
Phil: We had a manager help us, he just kind of spread
      the word and then there were a few record 
      companies interested, it was just in England. So
      we went to a meal with each of them. Went to like 
      a posh restaurant with one, then a posh restaurant
      with another, and when we signed McDonald's. We 
      took him down there, he seemed well, so from there
      it just went out and then to Virgin, and then to
      Capitol in America.
RC: Now I read that you were kind of ridiculed for 
      having a high voice as a singer, it's a very
      powerful voice but high. I thought I read
      somewhere that that was a point of being bullied 
      in school when you were younger.
Robert: No, I didn't get bullied for having a high 
      voice, man.
RC: No, you're singing voice. I must have misread it or 
      something.
Phil: I know what you read, it wasn't about his voice.
Robert: Just about being skinny and ugly and just being
      a fruit I guess.
RC: Well there's a certain part of society that's 
      stamped out to be blue collar workers and you got
      the creative people that like to indulge in things
      and the arts and stuff.
(laughter)
RC: Tell us a little bit about the video. The first
      video off the album is "Take the Long Road and
      Walk It," which is a really good song off the
      album I must say. Tell us a little bit about how
      that came together. Who directed it and what not, 
      how much fun was that to make?
Robert: The video was tough. We did it with a guy called 
      David Slade, an English guy working in LA. We 
      originally had it set out for two days. We ended
      up trying to fit it all in to one, for some
      strange reason.
RC: Budget cuts or something wierd like that.
Robert: I got up at like quarter to five, and was put in
      to a harness at half past eight, and came out of 
      the harness at-I think it was like 12:53 or
      something like that the following morning.
RC: That's an extensive day.
Phil: It was all day with like cycling shorts, harness,
      jeans, t-shirt, top, wooly hat, pendant-bright 
      yellow for effect. All day in LA sun.
Robert: I kept doing it, getting dizzy as f***, then
      somebody would hold me up and spot me some water
      and then on the way again.
Phil: We wore the cycling shorts and didn't f***ing need
      them at all.
RC: You'll find that out over the next couple of years,
      there will be a lot of stuff that just doesn't 
      make the edit. I wanted to ask you about The
      People, it's a track I really dig since I'm a
      music head.
Robert: The People is kind of about mondaine nine
      to five day to day stuff. I always had a b**** 
      about that when we were younger so it was nice to
      get it on record.
RC: Who were some of your influences as a singer? Who
      captured your ears at first in your formative
      years?
Robert: Michael Jackson did a lot.
RC: What do you think about all the stuff that's going
      on with him now? Do you think it's kind of wierd?
Robert: I think they should just leave him alone.
RC: Leave him alone!
Robert: Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, the Drifters,
      Morrison, about a year ago I really started 
      getting in to the Doors.
RC: Did he say jazz?
Robert: The DOORS!
RC: Oh, The Doors, f*** yeah, I am the lizard king I can
      do anything. Did you ever see the movie? Val 
      Kilmer did an alright job.
Robert: Yeah, I thought.
Phil: I was hoping he'ld do the tour with them, that
      they're gonna do in minute.
RC: You were hoping Morrison was gonna do the tour with 
      them (confused)?
Phil: WHAT?!
RC: They're touring right now with Ian Ashberry.
Phil: I was hoping Val Kilmer was gonna tour with them.
RC: Oh, sorry, I got confused, it's the accent barrier.
    I'm trying to catch on. I dig the CD, love the music.
    Now when you came up with the title for the band how
    did it evolve to The Music? Did you think that was 
    kind of ballsy or a bold statement to make for the 
    band.
Robert: We thought it would be a good idea to call 
    ourselves The Music just because we enjoy playing
    music. We're not trying to make any statement, it's
    just funny seeing people react that way.
RC: Yeah, curious minds.
Robert: We were reading some press stuff from America 
    the other day and... a band called themselves The
    Music and hmmm... let's see, the end of it got 
    positive. We're not cocky and we're not trying to be
    something that we're not, we just enjoy playing music.
RC: Well it's great music so I suggest you check it out!
    The website is themusic.uk.com, you can find out all
    about these guys. Do you have other things on there,
    more videos, live footage, and stuff?
Phil: ... it needs sorting.
RC: You really don't keep in touch with that, you have
    somebody doing it for you?
Robert: We should be, shouldn't we?
Phil: We've been putting photos on recently, that's only
    just come on.
RC: I'm trying to motivate you guys.
Phil: We're behind the times.
RC: You guys are just jamming all the time. Well thank 
    you guys, I appreciate you coming on the show.
Robert: Thank you.

For More Info Go To www.themusic.uk.com

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