Interview with Tim Bowness - The Voice of NO-MAN
Date: Thursday, June 26 @ 09:50:00 EDT
Topic: Interviews
Tim Bowness:
Ghosts of the Past and of the Future
by Tommy "Hashman" Hash
He is the voice behind one of art rock's most hypnotic and intriguing bands, having fronted and molded the haunting musical monstrosity known as No-Man along with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson since the late eighties. The new album, Schoolyard Ghosts (K-Scope Music) marks another high point in the band's career and the continuation of dark and atmospheric melodies are spawned upon the masses for an offering of intelligent post-rock.
Tim Bowness has been through a lot of musical endeavors through the years, he has worked with Alice, David Tom, Samuel Smiles, among many other bands; he was immersed within the infamous 'Madchester' scene, has released solo work, started his own online record label called Burning Shed, and continues to collaborate even further down an endless list. Bowness stopped by Ytsejam.com to talk about the new record, his work with Wilson, and what?s beholds for the ever so busy frontman.
"I think in some ways it?s the quintessential No-Man record," begins Bowness, "I actually think that it is us becoming more ourselves, perhaps doing No-Man better than we have done before. Steven Wilson and I felt from the beginning that we created our own universe with this album. In some ways, it?s a logical progression from our past albums such as Returning Jesus and Together We're Stranger; Together We're Stranger was very atmospheric, but Schoolyard Ghosts is quite focused in terms of arrangements and songwriting."
And the inspiration behind such mystifying lyrics? 'Personal experiences,' says Bowness without skipping a beat, "that and a combination of what I might read. There?s a great Picasso quote about art being an emotional reaction to reality and that is true with the lyrics to No-Man."
It's almost a no brainer that the music is going to be dark and moody, especially with himself and Wilson involved, but as he explains, not only is this sound that that comes easy for the two, there is this fine line between something that can be heard as an atmospheric compliment and something that is down right gloom and doom, "It's pretty natural for both Steven and I," explains Bowness, "It was something we discussed while making this album, I think that we have always been drawn towards rich, melancholy music. However, there is a difference between something that is melancholy & haunting and something that is downright miserable - and I hope we fall in the category of something that is melancholy and haunting. The lyrics and the music on this album are dark, but there is a certain kind of optimism in that makes the darkness not so relentless."
The effort is collaborative, with Bowness being the chief lyricist and co-writer of the music and Wilson co-writing the music as well as expanding the arrangements. The album features several guest on the recording including Pat Mastelotto, Theo Travis, and Marianne De Chastelaine among others, giving more enhancement to the reverb, ambiance and mellotrons, where woodwinds, pedal steel, real cello, and various percussion is used to really make this recording sound big; so big in fact a DVD-A was released alongside the CD to offer up a 5.1 and high resolution stereo mix to really expose the sonic vibe of the record. "This album was done differently from our previous ones," explains Bowness, "With an average No-Man album, I would bring in a couple of pieces and Steven would bring in several instrumental backing tracks that I would work with, and then we would also wind up writing songs in the studio together. With Schoolyard Ghosts, I brought in a lot of the original arrangements and song ideas. Subsequently, Steven and I would discuss certain things and figure out how we would expand the songs. With Truenorth, for example, Steven two new sections as a result of the original starting point that I had written."
"There is one example of a piece of music that we wrote together spontaneously in the studio, and that's "Wherever There is Light." As for choosing the musicians for the sessions, it was interesting because on Together We?re Stranger, although there were guest musicians, most of it was just myself and Steven. It had felt complete with just the two of us doing most of the work - adding too many other musicians would have felt like doodling cartoons over our original painting when it came to making that record. With the new record, you could just 'hear' certain instruments that would enhance the songs. For example, the pedal steel on certain tracks. I had long been a fan of Bruce Kaphan and his work with American Music Club and Red House Painters, so he was my first choice for that. It was about working with musicians who were entirely right for the pieces. Steven knew that (drummer) Gavin Harrison would do a very good and 'interpretive' job on the track 'Mixtaped' with his jazz-like performance, which I didn't even realize he was even capable of - apparently Gavin's roots are in jazz. It was a combination of hearing certain things and realizing that we had to get the musicians that we wanted to work with who would enhance the music."
Being in constant musical mode whether it is writing or recording, the guy stays busy -always adding his own touch to all musical appearances, yet he does possess a diverse musical mindset - but No-Man seems closest to his heart. "I think No-Man is my most natural collaboration," says Bowness, "I have been working with Steven since the late eighties and the first evening we collaborated we wrote two songs together. It's always been a very effortless writing relationship, because we both have very eclectic tastes and we both have ambition and musical idealism. It seemed very right from the beginning. The strange thing perhaps, is that a No-Man record is far closer to my own vision of music than my own solo work tends to be; I think that is partly because Steven, as an arranger and musician can definitely realize the ideas and feelings that I have - and he always has a distinctive quality to what he does as well. That's not to say that the other stuff that I have done is not good or that I am unhappy with the way everything has turned out, because I feel that my other collaborations have come out well; but this collaboration feels more personal."
And of course, you are probably wondering, how did Bowness and Wilson meet, "Steven had read some reviews of a band I was in at the time," says the vocalist, "we are from different parts of England, I come from the outskirts of Manchester and he comes from the outskirts of London. Both of us were in very culturally dead towns, and art and music had become an escape for both of us. Most musicians we met wanted to be in U2 cover bands or 'cabaret' acts and we struggled to find musicians who had 'visions' like us. Steven had put out compilation albums out in the mid-to-late eighties and he read a couple of reviews of a band that I was in. He got in contact with me and after one call, having got along so well over the phone we ended up arranging a meeting to write."
Any of you who saw the movie 24 Hour Party People know that Manchester, England was an innovative hub for music at one point, especially with Factory Records, Joy Division, New Order, and many other bands that would form in later years that would turn the city's local music scene's name to be known as 'Madchester,' and Bowness was involved in the tail-end of that era, "It was the whole 'Madchester' scene that became one of the reasons why No-Man got it's start," hints Bowness, "Although we were very different from the Manchester bands at the time such as the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses, we were experimenting with break beats and dance music in this sort of ambient/electronic way. The fact that I came from the Northwest of England kind of helped out with us getting record companies interested in us in the late 80's/early 90's. We released a single in 1990, which got tremendous press in Britain - this was a self-financed 7" single - and we managed to get publicity in major publications which led to us getting signed by a major publishing company and eventually by One Little Indian Records, a fashionable label who had artists such as Bjork, Sugarcubes, Kitchens of Distinction among others. It's quite difficult to imagine that now, but that's how the interest first emerged; and yes we played in Manchester a few times in the early days of the band."
At this point, there are many projects underway, and it's no surprise that after hearing the record that some music will be used in film, one of note is Weak Species, as he explains "Dan (Faltz; the director of Weak Species) is a big fan of the band and he just approached us, he wants to use a variety of No-Man songs throughout the movie to emphasize the mood. As for other movie music; I?d personally love to write music for film, quite a lot of what I have done is appropriate for that. (As for other current projects) one thing that I have done outside of No-Man and most of my other collaborations is a whole series of solo vocal pieces, which is myself working with various looping machines, building a 'choir' out of my voice. Other than that I'm working with Giancarlo Erra from the Italian band Nosound, and we?ve been working on a new album which includes contributions from Porcupine Tree's Colin Edwin and Peter Hammill from Van der Graaf Generator. In some ways it's almost a continuation of aspects of No-Man?s sound."
There are plans to take this on the road, but it will be limited to Europe, but as he explains, there is hope to expand sometime and maybe play in the states. "We are doing some European dates in England, Germany, and Holland," concludes Bowness, "A lot of interest in the band has been shown in countries such as Italy and Poland, which unfortunately, we won?t be visiting, and there has also been an increasing interest in America over the past five years, particularly East Coast cities."
Copyright & Publishing: 2008 Tommy Hash for Ytsejam.com
CLICK HERE to Read a Review of Schoolyard Ghosts.
Please Visit:
The Official No-Man Website
The Official Tim Bowness Website
No-Man at MySpace
Tim Bowness at MySpace
K-Scope Music
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