Interview: Saint Etienne - 'Thank heavens for Little Boots!'
- Feb 12, 2009
London's very own electro-pop legends Saint Etienne are about to treat us all to a new best-of set, London Conversations. They've teased us this week with their frankly gorgeous and glittery double A-side, Method Of Modern Love/This Is Tomorrow, which would have Kylie, Lady GaGa and Little Boots fighting each other (in a spangly day-glo blur of spandex, boob tubes, metallic lipstick and blonde highlights) to steal off of Sarah Cracknell and her boys (especially as it's now riding high in the mid week charts). The pop man machine that is Richard X has produced these latest tracks and I caught up with one third of Saint Etienne trio, the legendary Bob Stanley, to find out more about their return to the scene and what more plans they have in store for us fans this year. This is what happened when Bob met Bob...
Bob Fear: The very much in-demand Richard X has produced your latest double A side single, how did you come to work with him?
Bob Stanley: I bumped into him a couple of times at Wonky Pop and we've been fans of each others a while. I don't know why we haven't worked with him before actually. He'd done a mix of This Is Tomorrow ⓠthe other side of the new single which was the theme to our 2006 Royal Festival Hall film. He turned it in to a sparkling pop song so while he was working on that he played us his ideas for Method Of Modern Love which he thought would really suit us. We really loved it so that was that really...
BF: What do you think of the current electro-pop scene, much of which seems inspired by Saint Etienne?
BS: I love the scene, it's noticeably very strong on melody. I struggled with electro clash a few years back. I felt I should have liked it more than I did. It wasn't very tuneful. I'm going to see Little Boots on Friday with Heartbreaks â“ who did a great remix of Method Of Modern Love which is on the single. A lot of that stuff is breaking through and being listened to again and it's very much up our street. Thank heavens for Little Boots!
BF: You excel at creating cool and credible pop songs â“ how important is commercial success to you?
BS: We try to make a living out if it but we're not guaranteed to get radio play â“ we've been around a little too long! But all 3 of us love love classic pop. We're still obsessed by the top forty and we really miss Top Of The Pops. The Method Of Modern Love is a great pop single.
BF: How do you stay fresh and inspired after twenty years in the industry?
BS: Simply by not getting stuck with what we listen to. We go the cinema, we read books and we're big music fans. You need to be always listening to new music â“ not just listening to the same stuff as 3 years ago. We're always interested in what's going on and we've never wanted to go off touring around America, being stuck in the back of a bus for months on end. If we did we'd be too cut off from everything. Apart from anything we love our creature comforts too much!
BF: Your new compilation, London Conversations, is coming out. How does it feel looking back over your catalogue?
BS: It's quite weird ⓠlike digging out your own old diary. There are bits which are quite embarrassing, but it's mostly lots of good, strong memories. It's twenty years' worth - that's half my life. And we're still doing it! We're re-issuing all of our old albums with bonus discs of outtakes and unreleased stuff. Foxbase Alpha will be out in May and Continental should be out at about the same time ⓠthat had He's On The Phone on and was only ever released in Japan before now for some strange reason.
BF: Out of all your catalogue, what track are you most proud of?
BS: Not one particular song â“ even though I'm very fond of the current single. Before that it might be Avenue, Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi), Goodnight Jack...
BF: London is the subject of a lot of your work, hence the title of the new best-of. What do you think of the London scene at the moment?
BS: There's a lot going on in the London scene right now but it's a shame that things are moving out of Soho. We've lost 3 music venues in the past couple of months and the record companies have moved out. It's a shame as London's so rich in pop tradition. There's been a good scene in Hackney and East London for a while now. In the early to mid 90s, back when we were starting up, there was bugger all! Blow Up was the only club you could go to where you'd bump into people you'd know. But I'm getting on a bit now anyway...
BF: So if you were to introduce your side of the city to a newcomer, where would you suggest they go to see Bob Stanley's London?
BS: There's a great café ⓠthe Louis Patisserie on Heath Street in Hampstead. You can tell how hard living I am now! You should take in the view of London from up on Hampstead Heath then get the tube into town. There aren't many record shops left now but go and try Rough Trade West. In the evening go to the Salisbury pub on St Martin's Lane ⓠit's a proper old gin palace. Go there and drink beer!
Grab yourself a copy of Method Of Modern Love now and give Saint Etienne a top ten hit!
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photo: Elaine Constantine
