Interviews

The Hogs Are Back In Town
August 7, 2001

Royston Langdon

The Hogs Are Back In Town

Royston Langdon: Well, emotions are very difficult to describe completely. There was a feeling when we started that we were just really good and everything clicked. It was almost a feeling of synchronicity around the band.

NATN: You guys took about a three-year break between the second and third album. What did you do?

RL: We all did different things. I spent quite a bit of time traveling. I spent some time in France writing and figuring out what I wanted to do. Also, I spent some time going back and forth to New Zealand because [fiance] Liv [Tyler] was making a movie there. We spent a good 18 months writing this record. Also, we went through a break-up with our record company. We were with Sire/Warner Bros. when we made The Chinese Album. Sire then merged with London records, and we didn’t feel at home. We didn’t know anybody and they didn’t know us, so we had to get off that deal, and that took a bit of time too.

NATN: I think the new album, The Hogyssey, proves you are really a rock band. How much influence did recording in Memphis have on the album?

RL: A lot, more to do with Paul Ebersold then the actual place. It was quite an interesting time, my brother [guitarist Antony Langdon] and I rode down to Memphis on our motorcycles from New York. So we kinda saw a lot of the outlying areas around Tennessee. It is a very beautiful place, but there is also a feeling of a history of music, particularly Black American music, down there. But there is also a lot of sadness for me down there as well. There are a lot of inner-city problems in Memphis. The actual inner city is run-down. There is a lot of segregation going on. It seems strange since it has been 30 or 40 years since Martin Luther King has been shot. I find it quite weird. We were staying on this place called Mud Island, and one side of it is this white, rich prosperous area, and the backsides are these factories and a kind of a shantytown. It is quite amazing to see the extremes. But most of the music and the words for the record were written in New York before we got there, so I don’t know how much that had on the actual writing, more the atmosphere.

NATN: You’ve said that Paul Ebersold was kind of an authority figure for you guys in the studio. Do you need that kind of help in the studio?

RL: I think we did at the time. I don’t know whether we would now. My brother and I, at the time, were having trouble seeing eye to eye. Paul was a real task guy, and we’ve never had that before. We had always been more liberal in our approach. But, with Paul you have to knuckle down and do the work, and concentrate the on the important thing, which was the music.

NATN: You’ve said that the movie "2001" is the theme of the record. Can you explain that to me?

RL: We’ve been playing the theme song at our shows, so we thought we would record it. That is what started it. 2001 was just on the horizon when we were mixing the record, and it just kinda pointed in that direction. [Drummer] Johnny [Cragg] came up with the title, "2001: A Hogyssey," as kind of a joke. I thought it was kinda good. They told us that we couldn’t use the "2001" bit because of the movie. Then, I thought you could sort of have the whole journey of the record loosely based on the film from the point when they arrive in Jupiter space.

NATN: I think you guys were a great opener for the "Brotherly Love" Tour because you were sort of in-between Oasis’ vibe and The Black Crowes vibe. How do you think you fit into the current rock scene?

RL: I think we fit in more with The Black Crowes thing these days. Less with what's in the mainstream, we’ve just sort of stuck to our guns as a rock n’ roll band. An English rock n’ roll band with an American hint. I think, right now, it feels like a difficult time for us to fit in with what is going on on MTV. Really, it comes down to us being a good band and playing great shows. You know, I think we do that fairly well. I think we are getting better at it, and I think that ultimately we will stand the test of time. I don’t know. We’ll see.

NATN: What kind of lessons have you taken away from the "Brotherly Love" tour?

RL: A lot of lessons actually. Both Oasis and The Black Crowes are just two fantastic bands of musicians and people really. Out of all the tours we’ve ever done, and we’ve done quite a lot of tours, I think that it was really the most educational in terms of knowing the right and wrong things to do. Rich, from The Black Crowes, was really supportive of me personally, and really quite helpful in terms of giving me support and good criticism on how to get better. Also just watching. Watching them play every night and sound-check.

NATN: How much does the fact that you and Antony are brothers contribute to the creative energies of the band? How does it shape the band?

RL: I think it is more important than we both allow it to be. We have had the same experience of youth, and when you’ve had that with somebody and you play music with them there is an understanding. That understanding can also be problematic because you know somebody, therefore you are more critical. You won’t let them get away with the things that you would let somebody that you don’t know as well get away with. In many ways that is a good thing because it drives us forward. I stop him and he stops me when we are doing things that aren’t necessarily as great as they might be. I don’t think I would get that without having Antony around. But, it also means that it can be a problem. There is an ego imbalance. It is the same with Rich and Chris of The Black Crowes and Noel and Liam [of Oasis]. It is a similar thing. It is also compounded by what is going on in our private lives. There is more of an intense emotion involved, and that can be difficult.

KEVIN MAURER |