And we just thought this isn’t good enough. There’s very little radio over there than there is on the internet but then you would turn on the radio and it would be Durand Durand, Culture Club, and the same old garbage really. In the 1980s we used to listen to, in the UK there’s a national radio station called Radio 1, and they play all Pop. People don’t realize that sometimes negativity can be a positive. That was the reason why we always made records. We made records because we didn’t like what we were hearing coming out of the radio. Just a record that once it’s made, five years later you listen to it and it still sounds good. Reid: Just a record that you could live with at the end of the day. The pressure’s in your own head.ĭO YOU TRY TO ACHIEVE THE SAME THING IN YOUR MUSIC NOW AS YOU DID WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED? We just made the record that we wanted to hear. Thankfully enough people have that I’m still here talking about it 30 odd years later. We’ve always made records to suit ourselves and hopefully other people will get into it. Reid: Never felt pressured into being anything other than just what you want to do. DID YOU FEEL PRESSURED TO EVOLVE INTO A DIFFERENT SOUND? YOU STILL USE THE SAME DISTINCTIVE FEEDBACK AND DISTORTION SOUND IN DAMAGE AND JOY THAT YOU HAD ALWAYS USED. The same process but it’s just more efficient now I think. So, in a lot of ways, it was quicker but in other ways it was very much the same. ![]() Whereas with Michael you’d say, “Oh God this would be good with a 1960s Beatle’s drum kit” and he’d just go and then it would be exactly what you were thinking of. You’d say something like, “Wouldn’t it be good to have a cello at this part?” and you’d sort of send out for a cellist but find that it doesn’t exist and then you’ve wasted a day. He’d sort of come up with an idea that, back in the old days, you’d spend maybe the entire day trying the idea. It was the first time we had used a producer but there was also a guy that worked all the computers and stuff, Michael Rendall, and he was amazing. And not that we were masters of that technology. ![]() Reid: It’s quicker because technology’s moved on quite a bit since we last made a record. HOW HAS THE RECORDING PROCESS CHANGED SINCE YOU WERE IN THE STUDIO LAST? The recording process I don’t enjoy but once it’s done and you’ve captured the thing, it feels pretty good. Or sometimes it’s like a happy accident when you’ve got an idea in mind and the song turns out nothing like your idea but it turns out like something else that’s just as good or maybe even better. Then, with a little luck, it all just gets together when it needs to. Sometimes it seems to be getting away from you, that idea in mind, and it doesn’t seem to be going the right way. ![]() But, the recording process, it’s like trying to hail a cab sometimes. Because it wouldn’t get to that point unless you feel pretty good about it. When it’s finished, you’re a bit more relaxed because by the time you finish it you become generally pretty happy with the way it’s turned out. Reid: There’s always a bit of anxiety when you make an album in the studio because there’s so much at stake. BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU PREVIOUSLY RELEASED AN ALBUM, DID YOU FEEL MORE ANXIOUS DURING THE RECORDING PROCESS OR AFTER IT WAS RELEASED? ![]() It went 16 in the UK album charts which I suppose these days means it probably sold about 25 copies but it’s still better than nothing. And it could’ve come out, it could’ve gone totally unnoticed. I mean, it’s our first record in almost 20 years. I suppose about as well as we can expect really. Before their first of two sold out nights in Brooklyn, NY, Atwood Magazine sat down with Jim to discuss their most recent album, hesitancy to return, and rehabilitation.Ī CONVERSATION WITH THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN ATWOOD MAGAZINE: IT’S BEEN A LITTLE OVER A YEAR SINCE DAMAGE AND JOY CAME OUT. They welcomed collaborations on it, including with Sky Ferreira, and have been heavily touring since, most recently opening for Nine Inch Nails across North America. The Scottish band’s debut album, Psychocandy, set a precedent for distorted rock at it’s purest, but the frenzy that manifested from it was fueled by the turbulence between the members who made it.Īfter years of stubbornness and assuming that the other would never want to reunite, in 2017 they put to bed all animosity that once festered and released their first album in almost 19 years, Damage and Joy. The tumultuous relationship between brothers Jim and William Reid was no secret and by their 1998 album, Munki, being in the same recording studio without provocation was near impossible. Damage and Joy – The Jesus and Mary ChainĪlmost a decade after what appeared to be an unsalvageable breakup, The Jesus and Mary Chain reformed in 2007 to perform in front of a crowd from all over the world at Coachella and Meltdown festivals.
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