Picking up 'Sticks
From the archives: In a 2008 interview, Singer Stuart Staples tells us about touring Europe and the world with his band, Tindersticks. Interview by Paul Oswell
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LISTEN HERE: Stuart Staples talks touring, traveling light around Europe, what he misses about his former London stomping grounds, and loves about his new home in Lens, France.
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Stuart Staples has been for a pre-gig walk. As the lead singer of Tindersticks, coming towards the end of the first leg of their European tour, you get the sense it’s a rare luxury.
The band are just in from playing last night in Luxembourg, and we’re sat on the balcony of Bruges’ Concert Hall, the city centre milling around beneath us. “A day like today is ideal,” he says. “A city centre venue really helps you get a sense of where you are.”
The ‘Sticks have been pinballing about Europe, through Cork and Cologne, Eindhoven and Haarlem. They’re not the most compact outfit, all saxophones and cellos and keyboards…does that make a European tour difficult?
“Not really,” says a resolutely unstressed Staples. “Everyone knows what they’re doing. We started off the year as a 12 piece band, and have evolved (currently into a seven-piece), changing all the time, playing music in different ways. It’s been exciting.”
Exciting is something the band have striven for since they released their first album, Tindersticks, in 1993, to great critical acclaim. Their music encompasses lush orchestration and melancholy romance, told through Staples’ soulful baritone.
Their live shows have been anything but mundane: the theatrical venues, the five night residencies with different themes and, on one European tour, the addition to their numbers in each city by playing with pre-rehearsed local string sections on the night. “That was quite full on,” says Staples. “But it did help you feel more a part of the place, rather than the band just walking in with our instruments.”
Most of the new album The Hungry Saw was written and recorded in Staples’ home studio in Limousine, France. “Recording an album is just about how people feel at that time, trying to capture a series of moments. The studio was brand new and it was an exciting time for us all, and I think that’s why it was so quick – I thought if we take more than eight days to do this, there’s something wrong.”
Does he miss the urban chaos of a city like London? “I miss the people in London more than the place, even though it’s a fantastic city, after 20 years living there, I think of it now as a great place to visit. There’s so many people to see.”
It’s the first album Tindersticks have released in five years, and have since undergone a change of personnel. Were there any nerves?
“Not nerves exactly. I was interested to see how people would take it, and take us playing live. We’ve changed and broadened and we’re less insular, but those feelings went quickly – people seemed to embrace it. We’re enjoying ourselves at the moment – it’s getting to grips with something that’s perhaps always confused us – we want to enjoy connecting to people, in the past, we’ve made it into a bit of an ordeal.”
“I hit a point where I just thought I can’t play certain songs for the rest of my life. If we’re not going to be progressive, and take people along with that, then there’s not much point. That’s why I have no doubts about where we’re at – these tours are about who we are now. I can’t imagine playing here and just playing the same old songs – some of them we’ve kind of played to death, and we want to play the songs that are alive for us now.”
February will see Tindersticks tour the south of Europe. “We’re conscious of our European fan base. Even when we started, we found a real connection – different ones in different places – across Europe. Most bands don’t care about Europe – they care about England and then America, and that’s it.
“To me, Europe is who I am, where I belong. To play music to people, it gives you a deep connection. The European department in our record company thought we were the only band that cared about what they did. Playing places like Belgrade and St Peteresburg and Warsaw and Zagreb have been really great experiences for us.”
Tindersticks’ European credentials are strengthened by their ongoing relationship with French film director Claire Denis, who they have worked with since her 1996 film, Nenette et Boni.
“Claire Denis came to find us after a Paris gig,” recalls Staples. “She was making this film, and asked could we do the music as one of our songs had been really important to her. We’ve now had a working relationship for 14 years – we’ve just scored her new film (35 Rhums) and are already half way through the next one, so it’s a busy time.”
I suggest the band’s orchestral drama might suit, say, the next James Bond film? Staples laughs. “Doing theme would be alright! I’m just not so interested in incidental music…it’s not very inspiring. With Claire, though, everything’s open…we get the script and rough edits, and she wants to know how we feel about it – it’s more of a conversation. It’s a rare relationship in the film world, I think.”
“What we do is just about energy. If the desire is there, it creates its own energy. It’s just that feeling between people, inspiring the people around you, and we’ve just had five years off, and we’ve had time to think about the why’s of why we do things, and this is now a great up time. Five years ago, we needed to get away from it, but now…it’s good times.”
The band are just in from playing last night in Luxembourg, and we’re sat on the balcony of Bruges’ Concert Hall, the city centre milling around beneath us. “A day like today is ideal,” he says. “A city centre venue really helps you get a sense of where you are.”
The ‘Sticks have been pinballing about Europe, through Cork and Cologne, Eindhoven and Haarlem. They’re not the most compact outfit, all saxophones and cellos and keyboards…does that make a European tour difficult?
“Not really,” says a resolutely unstressed Staples. “Everyone knows what they’re doing. We started off the year as a 12 piece band, and have evolved (currently into a seven-piece), changing all the time, playing music in different ways. It’s been exciting.”
Exciting is something the band have striven for since they released their first album, Tindersticks, in 1993, to great critical acclaim. Their music encompasses lush orchestration and melancholy romance, told through Staples’ soulful baritone.
Their live shows have been anything but mundane: the theatrical venues, the five night residencies with different themes and, on one European tour, the addition to their numbers in each city by playing with pre-rehearsed local string sections on the night. “That was quite full on,” says Staples. “But it did help you feel more a part of the place, rather than the band just walking in with our instruments.”
Most of the new album The Hungry Saw was written and recorded in Staples’ home studio in Limousine, France. “Recording an album is just about how people feel at that time, trying to capture a series of moments. The studio was brand new and it was an exciting time for us all, and I think that’s why it was so quick – I thought if we take more than eight days to do this, there’s something wrong.”
Does he miss the urban chaos of a city like London? “I miss the people in London more than the place, even though it’s a fantastic city, after 20 years living there, I think of it now as a great place to visit. There’s so many people to see.”
It’s the first album Tindersticks have released in five years, and have since undergone a change of personnel. Were there any nerves?
“Not nerves exactly. I was interested to see how people would take it, and take us playing live. We’ve changed and broadened and we’re less insular, but those feelings went quickly – people seemed to embrace it. We’re enjoying ourselves at the moment – it’s getting to grips with something that’s perhaps always confused us – we want to enjoy connecting to people, in the past, we’ve made it into a bit of an ordeal.”
“I hit a point where I just thought I can’t play certain songs for the rest of my life. If we’re not going to be progressive, and take people along with that, then there’s not much point. That’s why I have no doubts about where we’re at – these tours are about who we are now. I can’t imagine playing here and just playing the same old songs – some of them we’ve kind of played to death, and we want to play the songs that are alive for us now.”
February will see Tindersticks tour the south of Europe. “We’re conscious of our European fan base. Even when we started, we found a real connection – different ones in different places – across Europe. Most bands don’t care about Europe – they care about England and then America, and that’s it.
“To me, Europe is who I am, where I belong. To play music to people, it gives you a deep connection. The European department in our record company thought we were the only band that cared about what they did. Playing places like Belgrade and St Peteresburg and Warsaw and Zagreb have been really great experiences for us.”
Tindersticks’ European credentials are strengthened by their ongoing relationship with French film director Claire Denis, who they have worked with since her 1996 film, Nenette et Boni.
“Claire Denis came to find us after a Paris gig,” recalls Staples. “She was making this film, and asked could we do the music as one of our songs had been really important to her. We’ve now had a working relationship for 14 years – we’ve just scored her new film (35 Rhums) and are already half way through the next one, so it’s a busy time.”
I suggest the band’s orchestral drama might suit, say, the next James Bond film? Staples laughs. “Doing theme would be alright! I’m just not so interested in incidental music…it’s not very inspiring. With Claire, though, everything’s open…we get the script and rough edits, and she wants to know how we feel about it – it’s more of a conversation. It’s a rare relationship in the film world, I think.”
“What we do is just about energy. If the desire is there, it creates its own energy. It’s just that feeling between people, inspiring the people around you, and we’ve just had five years off, and we’ve had time to think about the why’s of why we do things, and this is now a great up time. Five years ago, we needed to get away from it, but now…it’s good times.”