This interview is outstanding!

 

Source: Daily Telegraph

 

TEN years after they unleashed their unique sound, Garbage release their greatest hits.

 

A hits compilation generally signals a band is about to finish up with their record label or call it quits. When Garbage cut short their world tour supporting the Bleed Like Me album in 2005 to take an "indefinite hiatus", many fans feared it was the beginning of the end.

 

And the arrival of their first retrospective, Absolute Garbage, and the confirmation frontwoman Shirley Manson is working on her debut solo album has fuelled that speculation.

 

But Butch Vig insists the compilation simply celebrates their first decade and the band are already thinking of a new direction for album No.5.

 

"I am astonished that we have made four records in 10 years, played a thousand shows and had this incredible adventure," Vig says.

 

"The band is not done. We are looking at this as the end of chapter one and we want to do some different things from this point on, reassess what we do.

 

"The vibe between the band is good. We finished the last tour on really good terms - exhausted but good. And we've since written two other songs for B-sides. Our creative juices are still there. We still have a lot of songs in us."

 

To further prove the bond between Vig and Manson remains strong, the pair have worked on songs together for the singer's album.

 

The new Garbage single, Tell Me Where It Hurts, hints at the new direction for the band with its Dusty Springfield pop sound.

 

It was written after the band regrouped in February for a charity performance, stripping down to acoustic mode and adding a string quartet.

 

"It might be cool to make a record like that, that's really raw and stark and go out on tour in intimate venues," Vig says."At this point we don't necessarily want to get a big rock show up and running."

 

Both Vig and Manson are extraordinarily proud of the fact that, with Duke Erikson and Steve Marker, they reinvented rock music, fusing electronica, pop and grunge.

 

And the in-your-face performance of Manson helped put women back at the forefront of rock.

 

"I look at a lot of the female-fronted bands at the moment and most of the women are interchangeable. They seem reluctant to do something different," Manson says.

 

"I think perhaps rock'n'roll in general has been defined by a male aesthete and women feel compelled to play to that.

 

"I love artists who step outside the blocks like Karen O."

 

Manson says the fact that Garbage did not conform to fad or fashion at any point during their career to date was both a blessing and a curse.

 

It seems astonishing despite their credentials some critics accused Garbage of being manufactured because of their backgrounds and how Manson was attached to the line-up.

 

Vig, the producer of seminal early '90s albums including Nirvana's Nevermind and the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, approached fellow producers Marker and Erikson to form a band with the sole intention of recording but not touring.

 

They invited Manson to audition for the vocalist role after seeing a clip of her performing with her band Angelfish on MTV.

 

"I feel like we were never considered a bona fide altenative band or a bona fide pop band. People never really knew where we sat," Manson says.

 

"We thought that was great but it was a bit of a nightmare for the record label because in a world of black and white, we just didn't fit into a particular genre or brand."

 

Vig says the fact he never intended to tour Garbage's music allowed them the freedom to create their wall of sound.

 

"I think our first record was very ambitious at the time and caught people off guard," he says.

 

"We were the first band to use hip-hop beats to meld with rock and pop and funk and whatever and stylistically, it was all over the place but set the bar not only for us but a lot of other bands.

 

"It was my ass on the line and I f...ing busted everyone's balls. That first record was more of me and from that point on, it's really the four of us."

 

Vig chuckles when asked about Manson's legendary fiery debates in the studio with her bandmates. He credits her with orchestrating their image and the look of their videos.

 

"It was three against one and more often than not, she won. She's a formidable person, very intelligent," he says.

 

"Shirley really had a sense from the very start of how we should look image-wise and what to do in the videos.

 

"And she never had a problem telling us when something looked f...in' $h!t.

 

"I was just happy to sit in the background drinking beer."

 

Manson says she is even more determined to stick to her guns these days.

 

"From this point on I feel more determined to refuse to compromise no matter what the price is. One of my nieces came to the US to visit me recently and she said she was really proud that I hadn't done anything to embarrass her," Manson says, laughing heartily.

 

"Coming from a teenager, that made me feel incredibly proud; it is the highest compliment a teenager can pay you. They are more scathing and more bang-on than any critic could ever be."

Manson, who is also reportedly working with Jack White and Billy Corgan on her solo album, is reticent to talk about it now, preferring to wait until it is released early next year.

 

"It's exciting ... you never know what's going to happen. But this is a big week for us with the greatest hits coming out and I just want to enjoy that for now."

Edited August 2, 200717 yr by Alin

What do you say about this?

 

Manson, who is also reportedly working with Jack White and Billy Corgan on her solo album, is reticent to talk about it now, preferring to wait until it is released early next year.

 

 

 

 

With Vig working on Shirley's album, I'm wondering whether it will be much of a departure from the Garbage sound or not...

I think it will be different. Don't forget that Vig is not only the producer of Garbage but also the producer of bands like Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Nirvana or Sonic Youth. He can make something different than usual Garbage sound for sure.

 

If Shirley really wants to be taken as serious solo singer she must create an album really different than anything she has done before...

 

Please no Gwen-like music :P

I couldn't STAND another Hollaback Girl.

I bet will not have another Hollaback Girl :D

 

Just look at the list of collaborators:

David Arnold (the Bond themes master)

Paul Buchanan (Blue Nile, also he wrote & sing the song Sleep for Texas)

Billy Corgan (Smasing Pumpkins frontman)

Jack White (the White Stripes frontman)

Beck (do you now the famous song Loser? :P )

Butch Vig (who else? B) )

Greg Kurstin

Steve Anderson (Kylie Minogue collaborator)

William Baker (collaborations with Westlife, Jay Kay, Bjork, Geri Halliwell, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Sting, Paul McCartney and Britney Spears)

 

Great lineup for a great album!

Now we can wait for early 2008 to listen to it... ^_^

Edited August 4, 200717 yr by Alin

I can't actually wait :yahoo: :w00t:

Not too sure on the last two on that list...Shirley certainly doesn't need to do cheesy disco in a high-pitched squeak baring her bum like a certain Australian singer.