MARK HODKINSON

(Black September, Black Sedan)

απαντά στο ερωτηματολόγιο του MUSIC WORKS

1.ΠΡΟΣΟΝΤΑ;
Από το Εθνικό Συμβούλιο, Δίπλωμα Γενικής Επάρκειας για Εκπαίδευση Δημοσιογράφων

2. ΣΗΜΑΝΤΙΚΕΣ ΣΤΙΓΜΕΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΡΙΕΡΑ ΣΟΥ;
H πρόσκληση να παίξω ένα BBC session με την μπάντα μου τους The Monkey Run. To σαπόρτ στους The Stone Roses, The Chameleons and The Wedding Present. Όταν έπαιξα κιθάρα σε δύο σπουδαία EPs των The Last Peach. To σαπόρτ στους Pulp. Τα τρία “σόλο” άλμπουμ που κυκλοφόρησα ως Black September και Black Sedan. Tα αθλητικά μου βιβλία Believe in the Sign, Blue Moon and Life at the Top. Και οι δύο μου νουβέλες The Last Mad Surge of Youth και That Summer Feeling.

3.ΦΙΛΟΔΟΞΙΕΣ;
Να είμαι πιστός στο ταλέντο μου όσο το δυνατόν και να δω πόσο μακριά θα με πάει αυτό. Και το πιο σημαντικό, να δεχθώ και να είμαι ευτυχής με τον εαυτό μου ό,τι και αν συμβεί. Εύκολο!

4. ΤΡΑΓΟΥΔΙΑ ΠΟΥ ΘΑ ΕΥΧΟΣΟΥΝ ΝΑ ΕΙΧΕΣ ΣΥΝΘΕΣΕΙ;
Εκατοντάδες και χιλιάδες. Τόσα πολλά για να αναφέρω.

5. DESERT ISLAND DISCS (ΔΙΣΚΟΙ ΓΙΑ ΕΝΑ ΕΡΗΜΙΚΟ ΝΗΣΙ);
Θα διαλέξω οκτώ τραγούδια που μου θυμίζουν συγκεκριμένα άτομα – φίλους, μέλη της οικογένειας μου, ή κάποια χρονική στιγμή της ζωής μου.
Daisy Taylor – Popsy-Wopsy
Elvis Presley – The Wonder of You
Bobby Vinton – Roses are Red
Black Sabbath – Changes
The Silver Seas – What’s the Drawback?
Modern English – Melt with You
The Lotus Eaters – The First Picture of You
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Adagio in G Minor (Albinoni)

6. ΑΓΑΠΗΜΕΝΟΙ ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΕΣ / ΓΚΡΟΥΠ;
Θεέ μου έχω σχεδόν 6.000 CDs. Έχουμε και λέμε – The Smiths, The Chameleons, Crass, Hawkwind, The Jam, Nada Surf, The Go Betweens, Modern English, The High, Steel Pulse, Material Issue, Be Bop Deluxe, Tommy Guerrero, Fragile State, The Church, For Against, Ween, Blue States, Gill Scott Heron, John Frusciante, The Stone Roses, Jonathan Richman, The Teardrop Explodes, Levy, Miracle Legion, David Sylvian, The Passage, Rachel Portman, Terry Jacks, REM, James Iha, Violent Femmes.

7. ΤΙ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΑΚΟΥΣ ΤΩΡΑ;
Πάντοτε ψάχνω κάποιο ενδιαφέρον νέο υλικό και στη λίστα μου για να “τσεκάρω”. Τώρα είναι: Hangabouts, Tim Bowness, Daniel Wylie, The Steppes, The Outsiders, Minami Deutsch, The Molochs, The Karminsky Experience Inc, Hollow Hand, Palace Winter, Charles Watson, Reigning Sound, Anna Ternheim, Erland Cooper.

8. ΤΟ ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΟ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΠΟΥ ΔΙΑΒΑΣΕΣ;
Πάντα διαβάζω ταυτόχρονα 10 βιβλία. Χθες βράδυ πήρα μία γεύση από το ‘Who or What Were They?’ του Alan Godfrey, σχετικά με μία υποτιθέμενη απαγωγή – από εξωγήινο – ενός αστυνομικού σε μία πόλη κοντά στην περιοχή που μένω. Ο αγαπημένος μου συγγραφέας όλων των εποχών είναι ο Alberto Moravia.

9. ΧΟΜΠΥ;
Να παίζω και να παρακολουθώ ποδόσφαιρο. Να συλλέγω πράγματα. Να φυτεύω δέντρα. Διάβασμα. Περπάτημα. Ηλιοθεραπεία.

10. ΒΙΝΥΛΙΟ, ΚΑΣΕΤΑ, CD, MP3 ή WEB STREAMING;
Νομίζω ότι όλοι μας είμαστε πολύ εγκλωβισμένοι στα διαφορετικά φορμάτ. Το προφανές είναι ότι η μουσική είναι μουσική, όποιος και να είναι ο τρόπος που έχουμε πρόσβαση σε αυτή.

11. Η ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ ΤΗΝ ΕΠΟΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΙΝΤΕΡΝΕΤ;
….

12. ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΚΟ ΑΠΟΦΘΕΓΜΑ ;
Crede Signo (Σ.Σ. Το σήμα της εμπιστοσύνης και αυτοπεποίθησης)

Black Sedan

‎Adventure Lit Their Star

PS53 – Pomona Sounds

Black Sedan is a collective of musicians rallied by the journalist/author/publisher, Mark Hodkinson. Mark began the project two years ago. He explains the name. ‘‘When I was growing up, there was a record shop in town [Rochdale, to where his family had moved from nearby Manchester] called Black Sedan. I often got close to the door, smelling the patchouli oil and hearing all these great sounds, but was too intimidated to actually go in. By the time I’d plucked up the courage, it had closed down.’’

The album, Adventure Lit Their Star, is furiously varied with no less than five vocalists and upwards of 30 contributing musicians. In its down tempo, cut-up moments it has been said to evoke Boards of Canada, The Avalanches, UNKLE, The Sound Defects, Tommy Guerrero or Christopher Goze but when it’s upfront and at-you, it’s as simple and direct as power pop maestros Nada Surf, Material Issue, Army Navy, Oh Sees or The Shout Out Louds. And, of course, there’s always Hawkwind – Black Sedan cover Robert Calvert’s The Right Stuff, and This Is Your Captain Speaking: Your Captain Is Alive is, near enough, a tribute to space rock’s finest. Almost always, you can tell what an album is going to sound like after the first two or three tracks,’’ says Mark . ‘‘I think a record should be eclectic and challenging, every song taking you somewhere else. I am a huge music fan with thousands of records and two iPods full of music. I’ve tried to bring a bit of absolutely everything to the record.

’’The opening number is Love on Love featuring lengthy samples from Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech in the film, The Great Dictator. ‘‘I saw the film about 10 years ago and became obsessed with the power and prescience of the speech. Since then, I’ve tried numerous ways to make it work properly as a song. At one point I set it against David Bowie’s Be My Wife but his management wanted a huge portion of the publishing, so I had to start all over again,’’ he says.The new version, produced by the highly respected Sean McGhee (Alanis Morissette, Sugababes etc) has a chorus ‘borrowed’ from Nada Surf’s Blonde on Blonde. ‘‘I’ve had permission from Chaplin’s estate and Nada Surf, and, with Sean’s invaluable input, I think we’ve now framed perfectly the message within a haunting three-minute pop song.

’’Singer on Love on Love and four more tracks is Kellie While, better known in folk circles for her work with Thea Gilmore, Richard Thompson, Fairport Convention, Martin Simpson and the out-there, Reel and Soul Association.The other main vocalist is John Matthews, frontman with the newly-re-formed Manchester band, The High. ‘‘Kellie is a great singer,’’ says Mark ‘‘She’s not as steeped in the indie shtick as I am, so she takes the songs off somewhere completely unexpected. I’ve loved John’s singing for years and years, right back to when he played in a local [to Manchester] band called Turning Blue. His voice is unusually vulnerable and as honest as he is.’ ’Other major players on the record include Geoff Read, Miles Moss, Christian Brett and Terry Eves. ‘‘Everyone brought with them their own style of playing or interpretation of what I asked of them, and then trusted me to shape it into a great big slab of lovely, thought-provoking music,’’ says Mark. ‘‘I’ve been told the album is a ‘hard sell’ which is disappointing because originality should be coveted and then supported, not considered a fearful challenge.’’