Phantom Radio Interview,15 November, 2001

this radio interview was generously transcribed for us by Killian. thanks!

Last Thursday evening Mark did a phone interview with the Dublin pirate 'indie' radio station, Phantom. I managed to tape it.....

DJ plays 'Miracle'

Sinister Pete: And that is the sounds of Mark Lanegan from his last LP entitled 'Field Song' and if everything's working properly we'll have him on the line. Hello, Mark ?
Mark Lanegan: Hey, how's it going ?
SP: Aaaah, good, it's all working brilliantly ! How are things ?
ML: Oh they're alright, I can't complain.
SP: Fantastic. Listen, I don't know, I don't recognise the area code in which I'm calling you so where are you right now ? Are you in Seattle ?
ML: No I'm actually in eh, I'm sitting outside a coffee shop in Glendow, California.
SP: Oh right, brilliant, brilliant, well welcome to Dublin I suppose in a transcontinental sonic sort of way. Now I suppose the first thing we should say is that you're going to be playing in Dublin fairly recently, er fairly shortly aren't you ?
ML: Yes I am.
SP: November the 25th at Whelan's.
ML: Right, yeah.
SP: Fantastic. Is that your first time in Ireland ?
ML: Yes it is.
SP: And are you looking forward to it ?
ML: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it a lot. I was scheduled to go there a couple of times in the past and for one reason or another it didn't happen.
SP: Yeah.
ML: That's where my family is from and I never have been there so I'm looking forward to it.
SP: Brilliant, brilliant. Now there's a couple of things just, we only have a short period of time to talk to you. Now I understand that you're, the latest news I have is that you're currently in studio recording the next album for Queens of the Stoneage.
ML: Right, yeah.
SP: And you've been, is it true you sort of officially joined the band in last spring ?
ML: Well I don't know if anyone offically joins that band but I've been playing with them and working with them on this record, I worked with them some on their last record and I'm doing a little bit more on this one.
SP: Excellent. And it how's it turning out ? What level of development is it at right now ?
ML: Well I think it's great, I mean to me I think the other 2 records are really different from one another, and this one has elements of both of those, but there's a lot of stuff I've not heard from them before, so I really like it a lot but I'm just a big fan, y'know.
SP: Mmmhmm. Any chance of the Queens playing over this side of the pond ?
ML: I think there's a definite chance of that in the new year.
SP: Great.
ML: Maybe next spring.
SP: Excellent. People will be really looking forward to seeing you over here in Ireland, that's for sure.
ML: Cool.
SP: Now your last album 'Field Songs', that's your fifth solo album since breaking up with Screaming Trees, is that correct yeah ?
ML: Well I actually made three of them while I was still with the Trees.
SP: Oh right, yeah.
ML: But I've made a couple since breaking up.
SP: And to people who would be used to the Screaming Trees, I don't know how familiar our audience would be with the Screaming Trees, but they were a rather seminal band back in, certainly the college radio scene in Canada, but it's quite a departure and I'm wondering, I sort of see this kind of dual personality thing happening when you've got members of bands who are into a sort of quite heavy sound, doing these side-projects which are quite a departure. Is it sort of a Yin & Yang thing for you ?
ML: Well I don't know. My girlfriend says I have 10 personalites and not one of them's good so maybe it's Yin + Yin + Yin & Yang + Yang + Yang. I always look at it as my part in whatever I'm doing as sort of being the same thing just in different settings...if that makes any sense.
SP: Mmmhmm it does.
ML: Because basically I'm always singing about the same stuff whether it's in a loud or quiet outfit.
SP: Right. And do you find that it's sort of...I gather from what I read when you're talking about these songs that it's sort of an organic process that it just sort of comes to you. Does it ?
ML: Yeah I don't question it much, I just sort of do whatever on the top of my head and they are fun records to make because I'm playing with my friends and usually they're playing an instrument that they don't usually play in their normal bands. So we just kind of fly by the seat of our pants and see what happens, and it's nice, for me it's more for the expense of making the things than the end result.
SP: Mmm. And what can a Dublin audience expect from your show on the 25th ?
ML: Well I'm gonna show up there with a band, God willing, and play these songs. And other than that I'm not really sure !
SP: And are you touring anywhere else in Ireland or are you hitting the Dublin-Belfast thing and then heading out ?
ML: I think we have one other show as well.
SP: Brilliant.
ML: Although I'm not exactly sure where that is, ha ha.
SP: Ha ha, you're letting someone else do all the plans for you.
ML: Yeah I better take a look at my social schedule some time soon cos I'm not really sure, but I know there's another one.
SP: Excellent, excellent. Well I think you'll have good fun when you're in Dublin that's for sure.
ML: Cool.
SP: I've just got a couple of questions from people who are listening right now and have sort of used a text message thing to ask. So if you don't mind can I ask you a couple of questions from the punters, as it were ?
ML: Certainly.
SP: Somebody was asking (me !) what music you are currently listening to right now.
ML: Well I've been so wrapped up in the Queens record and various projects of my own that I've sort of been ignoring what's going on in the world. I get into a phase where when i'm working on something I don't like listening to a lot of other music. But then in my down time I listen to a lot of other music, I'm sort of in the working mode right now.
SP: Right, right. And is it difficult to switch from solo mode to collaborative mode ?
ML: Well, I look at the solo records as collaborative, in the same way I think about band records, I think about these solo records cos I'm always playing with a group of musiciand and collaborators, and again because of my multiple personality disorder I can switch pretty easily from one to the other, project-wise...and that's a joke. Ba-dum-dum-doom !
SP: Sorry ?
ML: Oh that was the drumbeat after the joke, sorry !
SP: Oh, hahaha. Yes, there's a bit of a delay on the line here. The last album was released last spring, when are we going to see...I suppose your hands are full with Queens of the Stoneage right now but do you have any plans in the future for another solo album ?
ML: Yeah, I definitely do. When I'm gonna get around to making that I'm not sure. See how my schedule with the Queens permits outside projects right now, like I said, I'm pretty much immersed in that but I'll definitely be making one at some point, hopefully in the next year.
SP: Hmm hmm. Did you get a European tour with that ? I can't remember.
ML: I'm sorry ?
SP: Did you do a European tour for that album ?
ML: With the Queens ?
SP: Yeah.
ML: Yeah, I did the last couple of tours with them which were last spring and late this summer.
SP: Mmm yeah, yeah. And I imagine there's going to be a fairly extensive tour once this album's completed. When can we look forward to hearing it ?
ML: Well hopefully it'll be out in April, February maybe. But it's nearing completion now so...soon.
SP: Soon, excellent, excellent. Well we'll look forward to hearing that as well as more solo material and we'll be looking forward to hearing from you when you get here. That's the 25th of November. Well, listen, thank you very much for taking the time out to talk to us.
ML: Thank you Peter.
SP: And we shall talk to you when you get into town.
ML: Alright take care of yourself.
SP: Alright, bye bye Mark.
ML: See ya.
SP: Bye. And that was Mark Lanegan of a myriad of fame, formerly the front man of the Screaming Trees and than again with Queens of the Stoneage now and has a rather successful solo career for the last, oh, nearly 10 years I imagine now. Alright I'm gonna play for you a song, let's see, I'll play another Mark Lanegan song, this one is 'She done something too much' but I can't remember the name of the song, oh well I'll just play it and you can listen to it.

Plays 'She Done Too Much'