Massive Attack (2010)
Interview Background
Emerging from Bristol in the early 1990s, Massive Attack are arguably the most influential UK dance group of their generation. Down to a duo of Daddy G and 3D (or D, as he was known at this juncture) by the time of 2010’s Heligoland, both members have no interest in suffering fools when it comes to media commitments. While Daddy G remained somewhat detached during this interview, his refreshingly candid approach meant what he lacked in pleasantries he made up for in startling honesty. The tour dates in support of this album were as vivid and evocative as we've come to expect from Massive Attack's performances, with the gig I witnessed in Adelaide being the first music event at the new Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, March 2010.
Massive Attack - Straight To Heligo
by Scott McLennan
Massive Attack’s Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall has both literally and metaphorically come in from the cold. Having been part of the renowned Bristol act’s evolution - from Blue Lines’ majestic grooves through to Mezzanine’s ominous paranoia - Daddy G disappeared from the collective before the release of 2004’s 100th Window. Now back with Massive Attack collaborator Robert ‘D’ Del Naja as a studio partner for the first time in more than a decade, the brusque but affable musician is sounding positive about the thawing landscape.
“I’m good as gold mate,” Daddy G offers in his distinct, low tone. “It’s the first day of spring today, so there’s a sign of sunshine.”
Although a tour mainstay during the fractious 100th Window era, Massive Attack’s fifth official studio album Heligoland is the first record Daddy G has made a major contribution to since 1998’s Mezzanine.
“Yeah, that’s exactly right. It’s been well-documented the fall-outs we’ve had in the past and my fall-out with D over 100th Window, but this is the first collaboration myself and D have had since that album.”
When asked if any pride was swallowed upon Daddy G’s return to the fold, his answer is astonishingly candid.
“Working with D, there’s always a case of swallowing one’s pride, because he’s such a belligerent guy to work with. He always likes to get his own way and he always has his own way of thinking. It’s always a fight with him because he has such a set way of doing things. We weren’t working together on a lot of tracks but we would be in the studio together sharing the same air. Trying to get the finished product was kind of a nightmare because he’s a perfectionist to a certain extent – it’s never finished. But he’s a great person to work with and we get the best out of each other. It’s not always fun, but we get there in the end.
“I’ve known the guy for 27 years and we know exactly what makes each other tick. It’s one of those relationships where we’re more like brothers than working pals, since we know each other so well. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’re in a good place at the moment. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but we’re going well for now...”
Damon Albarn’s role as production mediator created a temporarily healthy environment for the fractious pair. Even Daddy G’s studio restlessness was curtailed by the Gorillaz and Blur frontman’s influence.
“Damon acted as the glue. The reason the two of us could actually get back in the studio was the fact we were working with Damon. Evidently it was a great experience to work with him and that presence made us feel better about working together again.”
From the soaring Shara Nelson vocals on Unfinished Sympathy through to Tracey Thorn’s sorrowful Protection and Horace Andy’s quivering Angel, Massive Attack are as recognised for their guest vocalists as their smart productions. Former Cocteau Twins frontwoman Liz Fraser briefly toured with Massive Attack in 2006, but the enigmatic Teardrop singer has been something of a musical hermit ever since.
“Well I see her every day because our kids go to the same school in Bristol, so she doesn’t come across like that to me,” Daddy G remarks. “She’s trying to get her next solo album project together but Damon Reece, who is her boyfriend and is her partner in the project, is our drummer, so it’s not helping matters. She’s still working though and the fact is we’re never going to expect to get everyone out on our tours.”
A common fixture on each Massive Attack album, Jamaican singer Horace Andy has always played the elder statesman role in the Bristol group’s revolving line-up of contributors. Despite being a musical father figure to Daddy G, the reggae star’s actually less than 10 years older than him.
“He’s less than 10 years older than us? Sorry, I had to do the maths then for a second. He is something of a father figure to us because we still feel like kids in a lot of ways. We grew up listening to his music and it’s kind of weird when you’re working with these people and you realise they’re not all that much older than you. Horace was singing at the age of 14 or 15, so in that respect he was 10 years ahead of us with the musical thing. We got into his music in those days and to be a fan of someone it is an amazing thing when you get to work with them. Just like we were fans of Sinead O’Connor, Liz Fraser and Tracey Thorn. Then there’s Damon and [Elbow’s] Guy Garvey – people who were into our music who we’ve been able to knock on their doors and collaborate with. That’s what Massive Attack’s always been about – a platform of ideas and getting different people on board and keeping it quite fluid.”
Despite Massive Attack dabbling in movie scores such as Oldboy (AKA Danny The Dog), Daddy G finds the coupling of Massive Attack music with film somewhat distasteful. In Snatch, Guy Ritchie paired Massive Attack’s Angel with a powerful scene where Brad Pitt’s character watches his mother burn to death. The musician remains unconvinced.
“We’re not really into that,” he admits after a long sigh. “I know D’s done a lot of soundtrack work, but the music is an ancillary thing in a way. The detail taken when adding music to film isn’t as great as it should be to a certain extent. D’s had the experience where he’s had to fight with producers over the end product differing from how he saw it - how they want it and how you want it are often two different things. Snatch was powerful, but I’m not really into seeing our music in films to be honest.”
Heligoland (EMI)
Unpublished Interview Material
Does Heligoland contain much material from the scrapped project initially titled Weather Underground?
"We came off the 2008/2009 tour and we were a bit tired of Weather Underground as it was all over YouTube. The Weather Underground tracks that we presented on the 2008 tour were composites that D and I had done in separate studios, so we didn’t feel they were Massive Attack creations. We went back into the studio with Damon Albarn and stripped quite a lot of the tracks back to ground zero. It started the blueprint of what was to be Heligoland. We worked with Tim Goldsworthy in New York and then he came over to Bristol - he subsequently moved here because he liked it so much."
The finished album features guests including Mos Def, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Horace Andy, but Heligoland’s shortlist of prospective contributors also included Mike Patton and Tom Waits at some stage or other.
"These songs are in the vaults but not quite finished. D worked with Mike Patton three or four years back and there were a set of ideas that I’m not quite sure what state of fruition they’re in, but they’re close to finished. Tom Waits was approached but it was never something that was fulfilled, so although members of the band have spoken to him it’s yet to happen."
You realised a cool DJ Kicks CD in 2004 which featured a lot of rare stuff – did the Massive Attack remixes and rarities you chose for that in any way indicate that you favour these versions to the ones that made their respective records?
"No, not in the slightest – they were just versions that were more dancer friendly or remixes that we’d done for others, such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Les Negresses Vertes - tracks that we’d remixed in the past. The remix culture has always been about reinterpretation of songs and the invention of the 12” with extended mixes in the late ‘70s blew the whole music culture apart really. Growing up with 12” mixes of reggae records meant the whole remix thing has always been a part of Massive Attack. We went from making records for our own sound system to having a chance to go into the studio and make records that could then be reinterpreted."
There’s a sense that the percussion on new song Girl I Love You is a bit of a nod to Blue Lines’ classic Unfinished Sympathy’s cutlery on glass sound. Was that a conscious nod to the past? “No, not in the slightest. We’re not people who like to repeat ourselves on tracks, so that would be unproductive for us to recreate something that we’d done previously, you know."
Emerging from Bristol in the early 1990s, Massive Attack are arguably the most influential UK dance group of their generation. Down to a duo of Daddy G and 3D (or D, as he was known at this juncture) by the time of 2010’s Heligoland, both members have no interest in suffering fools when it comes to media commitments. While Daddy G remained somewhat detached during this interview, his refreshingly candid approach meant what he lacked in pleasantries he made up for in startling honesty. The tour dates in support of this album were as vivid and evocative as we've come to expect from Massive Attack's performances, with the gig I witnessed in Adelaide being the first music event at the new Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, March 2010.
Massive Attack - Straight To Heligo
by Scott McLennan
Massive Attack’s Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall has both literally and metaphorically come in from the cold. Having been part of the renowned Bristol act’s evolution - from Blue Lines’ majestic grooves through to Mezzanine’s ominous paranoia - Daddy G disappeared from the collective before the release of 2004’s 100th Window. Now back with Massive Attack collaborator Robert ‘D’ Del Naja as a studio partner for the first time in more than a decade, the brusque but affable musician is sounding positive about the thawing landscape.
“I’m good as gold mate,” Daddy G offers in his distinct, low tone. “It’s the first day of spring today, so there’s a sign of sunshine.”
Although a tour mainstay during the fractious 100th Window era, Massive Attack’s fifth official studio album Heligoland is the first record Daddy G has made a major contribution to since 1998’s Mezzanine.
“Yeah, that’s exactly right. It’s been well-documented the fall-outs we’ve had in the past and my fall-out with D over 100th Window, but this is the first collaboration myself and D have had since that album.”
When asked if any pride was swallowed upon Daddy G’s return to the fold, his answer is astonishingly candid.
“Working with D, there’s always a case of swallowing one’s pride, because he’s such a belligerent guy to work with. He always likes to get his own way and he always has his own way of thinking. It’s always a fight with him because he has such a set way of doing things. We weren’t working together on a lot of tracks but we would be in the studio together sharing the same air. Trying to get the finished product was kind of a nightmare because he’s a perfectionist to a certain extent – it’s never finished. But he’s a great person to work with and we get the best out of each other. It’s not always fun, but we get there in the end.
“I’ve known the guy for 27 years and we know exactly what makes each other tick. It’s one of those relationships where we’re more like brothers than working pals, since we know each other so well. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’re in a good place at the moment. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but we’re going well for now...”
Damon Albarn’s role as production mediator created a temporarily healthy environment for the fractious pair. Even Daddy G’s studio restlessness was curtailed by the Gorillaz and Blur frontman’s influence.
“Damon acted as the glue. The reason the two of us could actually get back in the studio was the fact we were working with Damon. Evidently it was a great experience to work with him and that presence made us feel better about working together again.”
From the soaring Shara Nelson vocals on Unfinished Sympathy through to Tracey Thorn’s sorrowful Protection and Horace Andy’s quivering Angel, Massive Attack are as recognised for their guest vocalists as their smart productions. Former Cocteau Twins frontwoman Liz Fraser briefly toured with Massive Attack in 2006, but the enigmatic Teardrop singer has been something of a musical hermit ever since.
“Well I see her every day because our kids go to the same school in Bristol, so she doesn’t come across like that to me,” Daddy G remarks. “She’s trying to get her next solo album project together but Damon Reece, who is her boyfriend and is her partner in the project, is our drummer, so it’s not helping matters. She’s still working though and the fact is we’re never going to expect to get everyone out on our tours.”
A common fixture on each Massive Attack album, Jamaican singer Horace Andy has always played the elder statesman role in the Bristol group’s revolving line-up of contributors. Despite being a musical father figure to Daddy G, the reggae star’s actually less than 10 years older than him.
“He’s less than 10 years older than us? Sorry, I had to do the maths then for a second. He is something of a father figure to us because we still feel like kids in a lot of ways. We grew up listening to his music and it’s kind of weird when you’re working with these people and you realise they’re not all that much older than you. Horace was singing at the age of 14 or 15, so in that respect he was 10 years ahead of us with the musical thing. We got into his music in those days and to be a fan of someone it is an amazing thing when you get to work with them. Just like we were fans of Sinead O’Connor, Liz Fraser and Tracey Thorn. Then there’s Damon and [Elbow’s] Guy Garvey – people who were into our music who we’ve been able to knock on their doors and collaborate with. That’s what Massive Attack’s always been about – a platform of ideas and getting different people on board and keeping it quite fluid.”
Despite Massive Attack dabbling in movie scores such as Oldboy (AKA Danny The Dog), Daddy G finds the coupling of Massive Attack music with film somewhat distasteful. In Snatch, Guy Ritchie paired Massive Attack’s Angel with a powerful scene where Brad Pitt’s character watches his mother burn to death. The musician remains unconvinced.
“We’re not really into that,” he admits after a long sigh. “I know D’s done a lot of soundtrack work, but the music is an ancillary thing in a way. The detail taken when adding music to film isn’t as great as it should be to a certain extent. D’s had the experience where he’s had to fight with producers over the end product differing from how he saw it - how they want it and how you want it are often two different things. Snatch was powerful, but I’m not really into seeing our music in films to be honest.”
Heligoland (EMI)
Unpublished Interview Material
Does Heligoland contain much material from the scrapped project initially titled Weather Underground?
"We came off the 2008/2009 tour and we were a bit tired of Weather Underground as it was all over YouTube. The Weather Underground tracks that we presented on the 2008 tour were composites that D and I had done in separate studios, so we didn’t feel they were Massive Attack creations. We went back into the studio with Damon Albarn and stripped quite a lot of the tracks back to ground zero. It started the blueprint of what was to be Heligoland. We worked with Tim Goldsworthy in New York and then he came over to Bristol - he subsequently moved here because he liked it so much."
The finished album features guests including Mos Def, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Horace Andy, but Heligoland’s shortlist of prospective contributors also included Mike Patton and Tom Waits at some stage or other.
"These songs are in the vaults but not quite finished. D worked with Mike Patton three or four years back and there were a set of ideas that I’m not quite sure what state of fruition they’re in, but they’re close to finished. Tom Waits was approached but it was never something that was fulfilled, so although members of the band have spoken to him it’s yet to happen."
You realised a cool DJ Kicks CD in 2004 which featured a lot of rare stuff – did the Massive Attack remixes and rarities you chose for that in any way indicate that you favour these versions to the ones that made their respective records?
"No, not in the slightest – they were just versions that were more dancer friendly or remixes that we’d done for others, such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Les Negresses Vertes - tracks that we’d remixed in the past. The remix culture has always been about reinterpretation of songs and the invention of the 12” with extended mixes in the late ‘70s blew the whole music culture apart really. Growing up with 12” mixes of reggae records meant the whole remix thing has always been a part of Massive Attack. We went from making records for our own sound system to having a chance to go into the studio and make records that could then be reinterpreted."
There’s a sense that the percussion on new song Girl I Love You is a bit of a nod to Blue Lines’ classic Unfinished Sympathy’s cutlery on glass sound. Was that a conscious nod to the past? “No, not in the slightest. We’re not people who like to repeat ourselves on tracks, so that would be unproductive for us to recreate something that we’d done previously, you know."
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