Jake - Scissor Sisters - Interview - 2003

No one isn’t talking about the Scissor Sisters. Despite the fact that the ‘important’ people are telling us that the market is erring away from a diet of manufactured and corporately sponsored bands from the bandwagon extruder, it still seems as though there is little else than major label plundering and subsequent musical re-direction of starving bands in exchange for gruel. Will play for food. [Polemic over].

There has been a growing stable of independent, near-novelty bands who actually offer us more substance than so much of the ‘credible pop’ that Radio One playlists – The Darkness, Electric Six. And from the same canon come the Scissor Sisters: a camp and trashy silly sounding band who make Pink Floyd songs sound like a New Order/Beegees soundclash. And somehow there’s more honesty and depth than an island overcrowded with Ramones-fancying dishwater. 

We spoke to Jake to discuss these matters in depth. 

History

“Baby Daddy and I were friends in the very beginning, and we ended up graduating from college and being in New York at the same time. We met Ana Matronic when she was working as a hostess in a drag performance at a cabaret night called ‘Knock Off’ in New York. The three of us got together and started making music which we had released on Touch Of Class Records. Our first record was ‘Electronic’. We didn’t have a drummer, we only had a drum machine so the music was really quite dancey. We’re a lot more ‘rock’ now.’ 

Creative process

“Everyone contributes to the music in their own way. I guess the core songwriting happens with me and Baby Daddy – but like I say, everyone puts their two cents worth in in the studio.”

Inspirations

“I wouldn’t want to trawl through everything we’re inspired by musically. I’m inspired by a lot of the films I watched in my childhood, and I think that’s helped to set the mood and the tone of the band. The sound isn’t too calculated: it just came out of our hearts.”

‘Comfortably Numb’

“Pink’s Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ is one of my favourite songs of all time. I went to visit my parents, and I was singing it in a falsetto, and it just sounded different but good. It could be one of my least favourite songs from the album. We haven’t touched it since we made it; and it was one of the first songs we made – it’s more primitive and raw than the rest of the album.” 

“I think people are going to be surprised by the album. We’re not another Fischerspooner.” 

“We’re  always writing new material, but it’s so hard when you’re touring and so on. There’s always the fear that one day you’ll just run out of songs to write. I think a good song is divine intervention. You just pray that those moments don’t dry up.” 

UK/US

“We have a strong fanbase in New York, but to get radio play in America you have to fit into a box; if you’re not rap-metal, country or commercial hiphop you just won’t get played. But over here [London] people aren’t as scared to play things that don’t fit - not as scared to try something new. The [British] top ten is good at the moment. You’ve got Franz Ferdinand, Kelis and Outkast [and the Scissor Sisters] all up there. I think people are bored of all the same old pop shit; they’re ready for something new. It’s a really exciting time for music.”  

‘The press’

“I don’t know why the style press like us so much? I hope it’s because they like our music, but it might be because we’re a bit freaky – we like dressing up and having a good time. We’re not too concerned what the style press say, we’re a band not a fashion house. [Having said that] It was nice when Vivian Westwood played our whole demo at her Milan show was exciting.” 

Now and next

“It looks like we’re going t be rammed for the next 6 months with touring and what not. We’re playing here, and Germany and the Netherlands and France and America - and we’ll be back here to play the Astoria in April. We’re going to be doing all the festivals too.     

“It’s so hard to record new material when you’re on the road, but we’re hoping to get a little studio on our bus. We’ll see.”