Cinema Prague talk art, discoand Art Disco

Wed 21st Nov, 2007 in Features

Comeback kings Cinema Prague get back on stage this weekend in Perth, marking their full-time return to the live scene after a handful of warm-up gigs earlier in the year. Guitarist Georgie K checks in to give us the latest…

Last time we spoke you were getting ready for the big comeback gig. How did that go and what’s happened since then?

The gig was amazing. We honestly could not have wished for it to have gone any better. It was a real moment of truth for us because somehow our reputation had enlarged since we’d split and the pressure to live up to the ‘enlarger’ was quite huge actually. Some people didn’t want us to do the gig, which I found a bit strange at first but as the date got closer I realised that it was not only our reputation at stake but theirs as well. I think the fact that we had (for all intents and purposes) played our last gig 10 years ago allowed the myth to grow unchecked and without any proof and, yea, meant that we had to do a show that was many times better than before. If we didn’t – there would have been some “I thought you said they were good” going on! Behind the scenes we took it extremely seriously because of this.

Since the show (apart from Tim and I going on a Monday rampage through Fremantle) we’ve been cutting our DVD, finishing the album and some home recording too.

Have the gigs in Perth and then Melbourne inspired you to get up and start writing again?

I think last time we spoke I said that it’s hard for me to write if there is no one there to listen to it. That’s still true but at the moment my creative juices are being used to refine our current set so when we (finally) hit the east coast it totally rocks. It still feels like we have a lot of stuff to get through before we can sit down and say “Okay, let’s start writing our new album”. I’m looking forward to that day but we’ve got to do things in order this time. Last time we had a very strange way of doing things for example releasing our first album last, our second – first, our third – third and our fourth – second. This made it a bit strange when we’d go to tour a release and the songs were all old. But in general, I’m inspired to keep the band going because it’s lots of fun.

You’re almost finished the new album… what stage are you at now
and what have you got left to do?

We’ve just started the mixdown. On this front we’re not much further that when we last spoke but the ball is rolling now and we should be finished in a couple of weeks. It’s an independent release so we have to organise all the artwork, manufacturing and promotion too. God I love cottage industries. I really do. It seems like more bands are doing it these days which is great. There’s no point in getting miserable if you don’t get a record deal – just do it yourselves. If you can get a few punters at the shows and sell a few discs then you’re better off. If you can’t, then you definitely need a record deal. There’s talk of a free download happening through your website.

What are you planning to do with the album and what are you NOT planning on doing?

At the moment there are a few old songs that can be downloaded but we need to update that because they are not current (sorry – œbout that). We’re going to do some rough and ready home recording of the set as it is today (with new bassist Roy Martinez and the horn section), pretty much as we play it live and have it as a free download. I think as a punter our music is a lot more enjoyable if you know where it’s going so it’s a chance for our eastern states friends to get up to speed before checking out the live show. Also we’re going to put up links to youtube or make downloadable from our site parts of the DVD.

Not planning on doing? Pretty much everything else!

The live DVD that’s on the way – when can we expect it and what can
we expect from it? Any ‘interactive features’ – customise your own
Cinema Prague outfit and then watch the members play the gig while
wearing it? Pseudo-intellectual commentary? Poorly-dubbed lyrics in
French, German and Italian?

Hey I like that Prague-suit idea. I really want to do a commentary track on it. I think it would be hilarious! The commentary on Ricky Gervais’ DVD has absolutely nothing to do with the vision and is him taking the piss out of his mate! Excellent stuff. We’re probably not going to make too big a deal about the DVD and we want to get it out quickly and cheaply maybe even a freebie for our website members.

Something like that. Mmm, interactive? How about a Prague shreds? Have you seen the ’______ shreds’ series on youtube? It’s some guitar geek doing really really bad guitar overdubs on famous guitarists solos. I’ve seen ‘Santana shreds’, ‘Slash shreds’ and ‘Angus shreds’. Quite disturbing actually.

You’re playing Art Disco this weekend – what’s your favorite piece of
art and what’s your favorite disco tune?

My favorite mainstream artists are Picasso, Jeffery Smart and Edvard Munch. I’m a bit of a sucker for those airbrushed paintings of spaceships that appear on book covers too because I like to see how people imagine the future. Sculpturally I like Antony Gormley because I did some work for him on his Inside Australia installation and we became good friends (namedrop from hell!). Architecturally, I like Renzo Piano, and James Stirling. I remember when I was a kid going to the Art Gallery of Western Australia and there was a sculpture that was made of wires and transistors and it had sensors that could detect where you were in the room, the light and god knows what else. As you walked around it, it made these beautiful ethereal sounds that were totally dependent on its environment. It spun me out then but I can really appreciate it now even though I haven’t seen it for 25 years.

Disco tunes? Definitely Disco Boy by Frank Zappa.

Are you planning anything special for the show?

This will be the first show since our return as a three-piece. All of our tunes work as a three-piece and the horns are really just as embellishment so were just going to get really sweaty and smash it!

Cinema Prague play the Art Disco this Saturday (November 24) at the Bakery in Northbridge as part of the Artrage Festival.