And in English
© Saskia Hutchings
Greetings from an angry planet
December 8 2015 19:57 | Cornell Evers in Music written by C. Cornell Evers
"So you thought: There must be more to life than rock journalism?" Justin Sullivan takes a lifting of his e-cigarette and blows a cloud in the New Model Army studio in Bradford.
To be honest, in all the years I was rock journalist, I have never written a letter about New Model Army. Not that it was not my kind of band. I got there just not in touch with it. New Model Army with influences from punk, folk, soul, metal and even classic rock music at its best, I say, but not when I include music magazine OOR wrote articles about Foetus, Swans, Sonic Youth, Einstürzende Neubauten, Test Department and Against other Tones.
Mid nineties I exchanged music journalism for the Brazilian Amazon. I survived aggressive bees, drunk Indians, the anti-malaria drug Lariam and the river itself. I learned the American know (former Associated Press) photographer John Sevigny, who lived long in the northern Mexican city of Saltillo, to the violence of the drug cartels and the police was to link him. Today he lives in El Salvador. But even there, threatening him now death.
John Sevigny introduced me to Justin Sullivan, with whom he is in regular contact, as often as the "muse" of New Model Army said Joolz Denby, poet, writer and (tattoo) artist. With Joolz Sevigny made the video "Angel".
The New Model Army soundtrack hit me in my soul. Also, in the Brazilian part thereof. In 2014 the band recorded in the run-up to the World Cup inspired by "O Jogo Bonito" the Brazilian football legend Pelé and the spirit of the samba anthemic "The Beautiful Game" on one of the best football songs ever.
"I love the idea that with a football at your feet can travel the world and make friends wherever you go. It is the game of the world." (Justin Sullivan)
phoenix
I watched the movie "Between Dog And Wolf - The New Model Army Story" by director Matt Reid and saw the story of a generation that in Bradford, England, and grew up with music, art and poetry campaigned against social inequality during Reagan Thatcher era of the eighties. "Between Dog And Wolf - The New Model Army Story" is a film about the people in and around a band, their friends, their many loyal fans. But the film mainly tells the story of his singer, songwriter and founder Justin Sullivan. There were successes, of course, otherwise you do not have a story 35 years of full, but also setbacks. Drummer Rob Heaton died in 2004 from pancreatic cancer, in 2010 there was the sudden death of manager Tommy Tee and on Christmas Eve 2011 a fire destroyed the New Model Army studio in Bradford, the archives and all equipment. In 2013 the band was resurrected like a phoenix from the ashes of the past with the groundbreaking album "Between Dog And Wolf." A year later, "Between Wine And Blood".
"The nature of the planet is violent. They murder each other, they die."
"I live on an angry planet," sings Justin Sullivan "Between Wine And Blood". The video shows a mitraillerend bombardment of horror and violence, of wars, of abattoirs, natural disasters, destruction of humans, animals and nature. The blood spatter almost literally from the screen. And then there at the end, smiling in silent meditation, Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and creation. God a perpetual cyclical movement.
I live on an angry planet, amidst the crowds and the endless noise / In the debris of the broken families and the cracks in the grand designs / And all the angry gods are back, gathering strength as the continents collide (Angry Planet, 2014)
Justin Sullivan laughs when I "Angry Planet" name "that's a depressing song. More and more depressing actually. We tried out the human race, the civilization that increasingly angry, demanding and dissatisfied with itself, to connect to nature, the planet. The nature of the planet is violent, in a sense. They murder each other, they die. The one replaces the other. All life is limited, going in circles. In our society gets all of us, ourselves, our loved ones, deal with the inevitable violent circle of life. "
They Say That we're all kings and queens in the new world except for Those Who are not / They say we can follow our dreams to the very top of the tree except for Those Who can not / They Say That the meek Shall inherit the earth except thatthey Shall Not (Angry Planet, 2014)
Refugees
Early nineties played New Model Army with Tom Jones of the Stones classic "Gimme Shelter" to draw attention to the growing number of homeless people in England. Now, so many years later, Europe does not know how to handle the large influx of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other regions of the world, fleeing war and violence. "Gimme Shelter" is now the major problem with terror. It makes the song more relevant than ever.
"All empires, all centers of power and wealth, eventually implode."
He nods in agreement: "I understand what you mean, but a lot has been written about the things that are happening and I do not want to repeat the same. While we work on something I wrote last winter on the refugee camp in Calais. I spent much time in Calais, because the train of my girlfriend was getting through it. It was almost impossible for me to do nothing with it. Everyone is writing about refugees. But we did it all for everything that happens now. I remember "Higher Wall" in the eighties. That was then. Now there is the war in Syria and Afghanistan, the disastrous Western policy of the past fifteen years. All empires, all centers of power and wealth, implode uiteindelijk.Wij go from the west into the world and knock us proud chest to our great technical civilization, our culture, our means of communication, all the great products that you can buy. And then we are surprised when people elsewhere in the world want to the source of all that. It's terrible, but journalists, artists, scientists, anyone who looks at the world - I'm 60 next year - will see the same patterns reoccur. And then it feels frustrating and empty to something over there again to say in the same way you've done it before. We now go on tour and I think I should say something about what is going on, but I need to find an interesting way to do that. "
We're out here on the borders with our favorite few possesions / Traded stories whispered round the fire / As shadows in the searchlights, mugshots in the files / Waiting in the camps behind the wire / Kick the door until it opens, what you have you can not hold / We are young, forever hungry, you are fat and growing old / Still every day you try to build a higher wall (Higher Wall, 1987)
Crisis
"To me wondering, in my naivety, perhaps, the lack of response after the crash of 2008. For me that was the moment when throughout the world people would stand up and say: Look, the financial structures of the world are completely uncontrollable, they do not work, and except for a very small minority nobody stands to benefit. They carry the entire human civilization to the brink of collapse. People must realize that a fundamental change must take place in the way the financial world works. But nothing happened, absolutely nothing. Nothing changed, not really. The Occupy movement came some time later and paid attention to it, but it was almost as if the time had already passed. Although there was a crisis, but the power did not fall off, the supermarkets were full and people could still travel. We think like monkeys: What's in the fridge? We are only concerned if we truly walk with the head against the wall. And there are fixed a lot of people who are angry when they say: Let's go against it, let the revolution begin. But they also know that every bloody revolution is followed by more bloodshed and more misery, as history shows, without exception. And though the system is incredibly rotten, it will not be tackled unless the power goes out and there is no food on the shelves and everything collapses in stores. Until then, however, the prevailing thought on issues which they will again blow over. Do I sound like a huge pessimist? "
"We think the monkeys: What's in the fridge?"
You were in Egypt and wrote "Qasr El Nil Bridge".
"I was not in Egypt during the revolution. My sister lives in Egypt, still. So I go now and then to go there. I was there in May 2011, but not with the intention to do research there. I do not feel well with the attitude: Hey, I'm a rock star from England and I want to write something about the revolution, take me to your leaders. By friends of my sister I spoke with many ordinary people who were involved, but not the people who were at the heart of the insurgency - well, everyone was involved to some extent. So the song that we wrote, was really about the people and about their feelings, more than that it was a political song. That is in some way better, I think. The song still has eloquence. It's not that you're there to listen and think: Well, but it's all gone wrong. You listen and still thinks of those people. Qasr El Nil Bridge is about them "
Come, tell me, Ibrahim, aboutthis Day That you'll remember / Tell the story about to be sure it really happened / How you Gathered in a circle to protect your kneeling brothers / Amid the howling of the sirens and the stutter of the gunfire (Qasr El Nil Bridge, 2013)
Empathy
"If I as a writer back on the first two albums of New Model Army, and then got the ball to: I believe in this, I believe in it and that is right and that is wrong and that needs to change and I will fight against the power and so. But if you've done two albums long, can you not continue without becoming a parody of yourself. Then I started to write more narrative. In what I write now are very few direct political references. The stories are about people, but in the background does play what it is to live the world of today. It's a pretty dark album, because I feel pretty dark about the world. "
"One of my favorite albums is Bruce Springsteen's masterpiece" The Ghost of Tom Joad "from the 90's that all about the underbelly of America. There's no hard politics, these are all stories about the real misery of people. Great record. "
"The media are somehow the enemy of civilization. Refugees no people for them anymore. "
"Empathy and sympathy and understanding that we are all stuck on the same planet, people need to be reminded of that, every time. And maybe stories are the best way to do that. You tell a story about a refugee or someone else in a way that everyone listens and can identify with that person. You can move in the other, that's what counts. It is amazing that demonization of refugees, and how it is supported by the media, which the enemy in any way from the civilization. They make sure that everyone gets scared by the large numbers arriving. Refugees no people for them anymore. They're a swarm. Our "warmhearted" Prime Minister David Cameron had it at some point over a swarm. "
Now in the queues at immigration, in the border zone / We are your bastard children, all coming home / And every day you try to build a higher wall / Every day you try to build a higher wall / But your money can not stop us / violence and you can not stop us / No you will never stop us with your higher wall (Higher Wall, 1987)
Rock Status
Rock Musicians would now no longer be committed.
"I think you're right, though, these things sometimes go in circles. I feel that young people in the West are very confused. Most of the really creative expressions currently do not come from Europe, not from America. They come from elsewhere, and where energy is - hope is the wrong word - a kind of spirit. The West has eaten itself. We are very spoiled, cynical and know - too many young people - not exactly what to do. The refugee crisis in Europe, whatever the solution is, which is probably not that there are more bombs to be thrown, that's for sure. There are no easy solutions, especially when people do not coordinate their decisions, which would still be in a globalized world. I remember one of the first advocates of globalization and the freedom of the market claimed it would bring more equality in the world. That is far-fetched. But part right. Thus, it is inevitable that the west in comparison to the rest of the world is going to be poorer. There is a notion in the West that - especially in Europe - they were the center of the world, the source of all inspiration, art, ideas, technology, blah blah blah. But it becomes less and less. And the energy now comes from elsewhere. In that respect, it is interesting to live in Bradford. It is a city of immigrants. In the past, 200 years ago, was nothing here. And now comes the most energy in the city of the newcomers. "
"Most truly creative expressions do not come from Europe, not from America. They come from elsewhere, and where energy is a kind of spirit."
There is less anger? Is the rock status become more important?
"Yes, but that element was always there. Think of Led Zeppelin and the like, who wanted to be rock stars. They really gave nowhere. That is not really new. Examples of the super rich rock star who travels around the world and became involved in politics is a cliché and is used mainly to make people ridicule "
U2, Sting?
"Yes. It's not their fault. I do not doubt their sincerity, but their opportunities to use the media and the fact that they are very rich, perhaps it is a little difficult to digest. The first time we went to Brazil, in 1991, we met many Brazilians against which all talked about Sting and they were glad he campaigned for them. But very quickly it was over again and they found him a meddler. When I went to Egypt, I did not try to talk to important people about the situation there. Who am I really? A songwriter from a small town in England. "
PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN SEVIGNY OVER NEW MODEL ARMY
"Paparazzi to the Iconic Unknown" is one of the ways in which the American photographer John Sevigny bills itself, "One-Man Photographic Groove Machine" another. His work is brutal and raw, very direct, but at the same time possesses a deep layered beauty. He himself once said to want to take pictures with "the simple emotion of a Lightnin 'Hopkins song."
Sevigny: "Justin Sullivan recently said something about" beauty and violence, "and how they work in art or music. I may have misunderstood, but I guess not. At New Model Army violence may come from a story in a song, or the Great Rock and Roll Noise of a live concert. The beauty can come from any song itself, the melody or Justins beautiful, lyrical poetry.
"At New Model Army is the violence comes from a story in a song, or the Great Rock and Roll Noise of a live concert."
"In my photography, I'm going with violence in ways that are not traditionally beautiful, but despite that you catch the eye and hopefully the heart. Can actually see the same in the text and the art of Joolz Denby. This approach of making things is something like alchemy and black magic. It's definitely a dark art, why creative people were never fully trusted. We take very real forces of the soul, the world, nature, humanity, and bring them together into something explosive. Or heartbreaking. Or cheerful. Or angry.
"But ... I would never dare claim to know how personal and / or painful Justin's work for him once it is created, recorded and done. In my case I am the sole support for my pictures. And more than that who lose their strength over time, many of the photos that I create later for me something poisonous, whether they are infected. I am proud of them. They are not vulgar or obscene. They are so genuine, so real, and they tell stories about so many people who are suffering in so many ways with so little hope of redemption. I come to a point where I can no longer look at those pictures, because they make me angry and sad.
"Whatever the differences between the creative processes - I doubt there are many similarities - I'm pretty sure that my art off very early age was already influenced by NCAs combination of angry, violent expression and musical beauty. If there is something that connects what I do with what they do and have done, it's that. And I'm grateful for. "
New Model Army enters Sunday, December 20th at the Melkweg in Amsterdam.
