The boys are back…
Now from a personal point of view, I have always thought Bent as a group who have made some of the most beautiful music ever. I drove my neighbour Mrs Pritchard crazy by putting ‘Magic Love’ on repeat for days on end – she must have nearly knocked through the wall with the amount of times she banged her shoe on her wall trying to tell me to shut up. July 20th sees the boys release of their ‘Best Of’ album, a celebration of this musical milestone. Quite simply, exquisite. Nail and Simon, a great decade bringing joy to millions. Your music is very distinctive, chilled, electronica, downbeat, heartrending and so elegant. What music were you two listening to as kids that moved you in this direction – artists/albums/particular tracks?
Nail: “I listened to a lot of Jean-Michel Jarre and Queen when I was little. Plus, the Clockwork Orange soundtrack by Wendy Carlos was a big favourite. Around ’88 I heard house music and hip hop on pirate radio stations and fell in love with that too. I was bored of learning all the lyrics to my Mum’s Barry Manilow records and needed a change anyway.”
Simon: “For me it was a mixture of pop music and soundtracks. I loved anything that John Williams did, Star Wars, ET, Raiders etc – and my parents played a lot of music from the 60’s onwards. By the time I got into making music, bands like Depeche Mode, 808 State and Massive Attack were about and they had quite an influence. I see Nail put hip hop. I think hip hop used to be amazing too. De La Soul’s light-hearted and cheeky sampling was definitely an influence.”
Four artist albums under your belts before your big collection coming out – ‘Programmed To Love’, ‘Everlasting Blink’, ‘Ariels’ and ‘Intercept’ – what album do you think was the whole package and what ONE single do you think has been the best?
Nail: “Well, I guess ‘Programmed To Love’ was our debut and we put a lot of different sounding stuff on there, a bit like ‘an introduction to’ album, so maybe that one. ‘Ariels’ is our most ‘produced’ album, but is in a world of it’s own in my opinion. Singles – not sure, although ‘Swollen’ had the best video.”
Simon: “It’s difficult to say which one defined us, because we evolved – and are still evolving. My heart is with the first two, but I think that is actually more because they remind me of an exciting time in life. They’re also very diverse stylistically, which I think reflects a lot about our love for lots of music.”
How long has the ‘Best Of’ Album been in the pipeline?
Nail: “When we realised that our 10th anniversary was coming up, we knew it had to be done. So maybe a couple of years?”
What is the story behind the name Bent?
Nail: “It stands for Bald Eagles Need Television, which was the name of the game show in Finland where me and Simon met, as contestants.”
Er, okay, Simon…?
Simon: “It’s a word that has many meanings – often offensive – but at school it was often used about things that were slightly silly or amusing, or wrong. Like a ‘bad’ album or 80’s film. I lived with Nail and had a box of very bad records and Nail used to say “that’s bent, you can’t sample them” – and then he said we should be a band called Bent. I remember not taking it too seriously, until other people did…”
Just like Moby, you have sold many of your tunes for adverts to corporate companies which appeared on adverts for Vodafone, Carlsberg, Volkswagen, Nissan, Absolute and er, the Inland Revenue. Dirty Vegas for instance also cashed in and made their fame and fortune with their tune ‘Days Go By’ – what are your thoughts on big artists selling their music to such companies?
Nail: “Well, we couldn’t get played on the radio, so TV seemed like the next best thing. And they pay well you know too.”
Simon: “I think this – if you don’t mind it, then it’s great. If it doesn’t damage what you’re about, it’s fine. But if you go about saying that you’ll never sell out etc. and then put all your music on adverts, you’re a bit of a hypocrite. Ads have saved us on a number of occasions. In a climate where people download your music, it’s a great tool for getting your music known and earning something for it.”
Some of your more famous fans include the likes of Michael Caine, Nicole Kidman and Elton John – have any of these trio or perhaps other huge celebrities been to your gigs and have you done the meet and greet thing.
Nail: “Ha ha! Not that I remember.. apparently Jeremy Clarkson is a fan too.”
Simon: “We’ve never met them, but I am personally very flattered. We nearly met Nicole once, but a girl at the label screwed up and got the meeting date wrong. We are planning on kidnapping them and forcing them to tell the world about our new album”
The album features some classic Bent remixes from the likes of Ashley Beedle, Francois K, Soulchild, Toby Tobia, Danny Howells and Serge Santiago plus some NEW remixes of Bent classics… which remixer really caught your vibe?
Nail: “I think every single mix we’ve had done has been a dance mix, so I’m not sure. Ashley Beedle did us proud with his mixes, plus I personally like Danny Howell’s mix.”
Simon: ” Ashley did a great job on ‘Magic Love’ and ‘Always’. Francois was also great. ‘Swollen’ was a tricky tune to mix because it has an odd number of bars in it for a traditional dance track, and he did a cracking mix.”
Who is the best band you ever seen live?
Nail: ” Radiohead at Glastonbury ’97 was pretty good.”
Simon: “Brian Wilson was my fave gig. Hoping to see Fleetwood Mac this year too.”
Best album ever made?
Nail: “Either ‘Music For Parties’ by Silicon Teens or ‘True Love Stories by Jilted John.”
Simon: ” That is always hard. Arrrgrrhrhrghrgrhgrhr…can’t do it. BBC Sound Effects Vol 12.”
What are the big ten tunes on your-pods at the moment?
Nail:
‘Dirtbox – Harmonic 313
‘Lemur’ – Guy J
‘The Bassman’ – Noah D
‘Vancouver’ – Martyn
‘I Wish It Would Rain’ – Mayer Hawthorne
Simon:
Tensnake ‘Congolal’
The Soundtrack to ‘Sideways’
Tony Lionni ‘Found a Place’
Syclops ‘Where’s Jason’s K?’
Lots of Kenny Loggins stuff
Andre Lodemann ‘Where Are You Now?’
Doug Willis and Joey Negro ‘2 Tonnes of Doug’
Floating Points ‘Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub Mix)’
The Juan Maclean ‘Happy House’ (Prince Language dub)
The music from the game Oblivion
You are beginning work on your new album in January – what are we going to expect?
Nail: “Haven’t the foggiest mate!
Simon: ” We don’t always have a preconception about what we are going to do, but I’m sure it will be a natural progression from the last album. We haven’t been in a studio together for a while, so I am really looking forward to it. The technology is just getting better all the time, so it’ll definitely have a few new twists in it.”
Tell us about your ‘Best Of’ launch party?
Nail: “Well, the launch party is on 22nd of July at The Relentless Garage on Highbury Corner in London and doors open at 7pm. We have Faithless playing too. There’s a gig before that at the Lounge On The Farm festival too, and some random live dates here and there, visit our site to see where we are at…”
You have remixed the likes of Faithless, Morcheeba, Matthew Jay, my favourite Hall and Oates and even Dolly Parton – best remix you have done?
Nail: “I liked the remix we did for Lighthouse Family, ‘Free’ – EXTREMELY bent, that one…”
Simon: “Doing The Hall and Oates mix was a privilege as it is one of my childhood songs, but I really liked the Billie Holliday mix and the one we did of ‘Happy’ by Max Sedgely.”
Best festival you’ve ever played at?
Nail: “The Big Chill.”
Simon: “Biased here, but it would be The Big Chill. Had some amazing times at that festival.”
And finally…what song (and why) makes you… Cry?
Nail: Lemon Jelly – “Nice Weather For Ducks”. The “Tra-la-la” bit destroys me every time.”
Simon: “Kate Bush ‘This Woman’s Work’ – fucking amazing. The song’s good too. www.instantrimshot.com
Gets you on the dancefloor?
Nail: Barry White – “You’re The First, My Last, My Everything”, because I’ve got a dance routine worked out.”
Simon: “Adamski NRG – very old, but I will always love it.”
Cringe?
Nail: Anything by Kate Nash. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, but I can’t stand the way she ‘sings’.”
Simon: “Simon Cowell. Anything associated with him. He should be strung up.”
Think, wish I’d written that?
Nail: “The theme tune to ‘Friends’. For the obvious reason.”
Simon: “Let’s Dance and Freak’ by Kerrier District.”
and… Think this song changed our lives?
Nail: “Can’t think of one particular song that’s done that. Whatever tune was on when I first realised music was my priority, I guess. It was probably Showaddywaddy or something, knowing my luck.”
Simon: “‘Swollen – the end of unemployment – ha ha, seriously.”
Thank you dudes.
“Thanks too Dan!”