Radio 4 On Tour!
Radio 4 bassist and singer Anthony Roman gave us a ring from New York as they prepare to emark on the next leg of their American tour supporting their second Astralwerks relesae, "Enemies Like This."
TALive: How as the audience reaction been to the new material live thus far on the tour?
Anthony Roman: The live shows have been going the best they’ve ever been. Its kind of like, even with all these new ways of getting music and hearing music, it still seems like the biggest way to get people to care about what you're doing is to go play a show.
TALive: You've done quite a bit of international touring as well, do you see a difference in crowd reaction abroad?
AR: Yeah, I think there's a lot more enthusiasm overseas. I think the appreciation, not just for us, but the way they act as far as going to a show...I think its more of an event for them whereas with Americans, you know, it’s not such a big deal.
TALive: Radio 4 has always featured a lot of political themes and overtones, and tomorrow night your are playing in DC, obviously a very political city. Do you feel that political presense in your shows, or is it minimal because you are surrounded by fans?
AR:Well actually, this tour is with The Bravery, so, we’re not really playing to our own camp. Its nice to get a political message across to people who maybe didn’t know they were going to be hearing something like that. So it feels less like preaching to the converted in a way. (Ed. note--The Bravery are not on the bill for the DC show)
TALive: As a Radio 4 fan I've always felt this conflict listening to your records where the political message incites anger yet I feel so darn happy dancing to the music. Do you think it is a challenge using dance music as a vehicle for your message, or is it perhaps motivating for the listener?
AR: I think it’s more motivating- I mean, I always was excited by bands that had something to say that were also kind of rhythmic and fun sounding in a way. Especially around the time when we were making "Gotham," which is when we switched to that sound format, there were a couple records that came out around that time...one was called "XTRMNTR" By Primal Scream, and also the first Le Tigre record I thought was a very good political record that also sounded good in the club. I’ve always been a fan of that, even when people did in the '70s and '80s. It seemed to disappear for a while because the whole dance music craze tends to be apolitical. It talks about doing ecstasy and having a good time, but I don’t think that’s necessarily important enough to be singing about.
TALive: Here's a fun hypothetical question for you. Let's say the current White House, either out of ignorance or perhaps in attempt to gain new support, invited Radio 4 to perform. Would you accept and use it as opportunity to voice your opinion, or would you rather just refuse the invitation.
AR: Ohh, that’s an interesting scenario. I think if we did go it would be very hard for us to keep our mouth shut. So, we probably wouldn’t go because, you know, it would just be a very bad idea. Although, the policy of the band is, for the most part, anything that’s offered that puts our music in front of new people we usually take.TALiveL Well, that would certainly be a new audience. AR:Right. So, that would be interesting. We were offered, actually, to play some Fox thing yesterday or a few days ago, and we turned it down.
TALive: Really? What kind of concerts does Fox do?
AR: Ha, I don’t know. I have no idea. But once we saw their name was affiliated with it, no.
TALive: I saw your video for "Packing Things Up On the Scene" the other day...it reminded me a bit of Radiohead's video for "Just," what with all the people mysteriously collapsing. Can you provide some insight into that that video is all about?
AR:The video is saying that just because the war isn’t here doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Just because it’s on television doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, you know, this is what’s happening, right now, because of America.
-Michelle Gilzenrat
TALive: How as the audience reaction been to the new material live thus far on the tour?
Anthony Roman: The live shows have been going the best they’ve ever been. Its kind of like, even with all these new ways of getting music and hearing music, it still seems like the biggest way to get people to care about what you're doing is to go play a show.
TALive: You've done quite a bit of international touring as well, do you see a difference in crowd reaction abroad?
AR: Yeah, I think there's a lot more enthusiasm overseas. I think the appreciation, not just for us, but the way they act as far as going to a show...I think its more of an event for them whereas with Americans, you know, it’s not such a big deal.
TALive: Radio 4 has always featured a lot of political themes and overtones, and tomorrow night your are playing in DC, obviously a very political city. Do you feel that political presense in your shows, or is it minimal because you are surrounded by fans?
AR:Well actually, this tour is with The Bravery, so, we’re not really playing to our own camp. Its nice to get a political message across to people who maybe didn’t know they were going to be hearing something like that. So it feels less like preaching to the converted in a way. (Ed. note--The Bravery are not on the bill for the DC show)
TALive: As a Radio 4 fan I've always felt this conflict listening to your records where the political message incites anger yet I feel so darn happy dancing to the music. Do you think it is a challenge using dance music as a vehicle for your message, or is it perhaps motivating for the listener?
AR: I think it’s more motivating- I mean, I always was excited by bands that had something to say that were also kind of rhythmic and fun sounding in a way. Especially around the time when we were making "Gotham," which is when we switched to that sound format, there were a couple records that came out around that time...one was called "XTRMNTR" By Primal Scream, and also the first Le Tigre record I thought was a very good political record that also sounded good in the club. I’ve always been a fan of that, even when people did in the '70s and '80s. It seemed to disappear for a while because the whole dance music craze tends to be apolitical. It talks about doing ecstasy and having a good time, but I don’t think that’s necessarily important enough to be singing about.
TALive: Here's a fun hypothetical question for you. Let's say the current White House, either out of ignorance or perhaps in attempt to gain new support, invited Radio 4 to perform. Would you accept and use it as opportunity to voice your opinion, or would you rather just refuse the invitation.
AR: Ohh, that’s an interesting scenario. I think if we did go it would be very hard for us to keep our mouth shut. So, we probably wouldn’t go because, you know, it would just be a very bad idea. Although, the policy of the band is, for the most part, anything that’s offered that puts our music in front of new people we usually take.TALiveL Well, that would certainly be a new audience. AR:Right. So, that would be interesting. We were offered, actually, to play some Fox thing yesterday or a few days ago, and we turned it down.
TALive: Really? What kind of concerts does Fox do?
AR: Ha, I don’t know. I have no idea. But once we saw their name was affiliated with it, no.
TALive: I saw your video for "Packing Things Up On the Scene" the other day...it reminded me a bit of Radiohead's video for "Just," what with all the people mysteriously collapsing. Can you provide some insight into that that video is all about?
AR:The video is saying that just because the war isn’t here doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Just because it’s on television doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, you know, this is what’s happening, right now, because of America.
-Michelle Gilzenrat
Labels: interview, radio 4, rock and roll hotel, washington d.c.
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