Linus Loves interview: Back to the Future
Author: Shell Heaven Lee
Saturday, July 15, 2006
More then just an A.K.A., Linus Loves is a concept, beholden to the theory that all music destined to be created in the future, no matter how unique, can only be the reinvention of what has preceded it. To quote from his bio: "Talent Borrows, Genius Steals, Linus Loves." 'Stage Invader', Linus Love's debut album, holds true to this ideal, the extra talent of producer/programmer Kevin Kennedy and Data Panik's John Clarke making the dream a reality. What began as a assortment of bootlegs, metamorphosised into a collection of covers before finally reaching completion as a masterpiece of fusion that took on a life all of its own.
'Stage Invader' is not the first time Linus Loves has dabbled in electro-perversion, with Steve Nicks' Stand Back an early target in 2003, recreated into The Terrace. 2004 saw Nightmusic reach the record boxes of electro's elite and the steady progress continued with 'The Victoria Principle EP' in 2005. On 'Stage Invader', Fleetwood Mac, Siouxie & The Banshees and The Pet Shop Boys are just some of the artists to be given a new lease of life when sampled into electro-pop oblivion on this Frankenstein's monster of a patch-worked puzzle. A dab hand at the remix too, artists including Plant Life, Armand Van Helden, Bodyrockers, Mattafix, Mylo and even Elton John have enlisted his services. On the eve of his Australian tour, Shell Heaven Lee found out what makes the Loved One tick!.
Terms such as 'midnight club tracks' and 'heavy electro pop', have been used to describe 'Stage Invader'. Considering this vast array of genres on your album, was it difficult to make the end product cohesive-
Well I just did what I loved to do and hoped everybody liked it as well. The more people that like it the better! There are definitely a lot of 80s influence in the record.
Electro rock has been recently dominating the electro scene with rockin' guitar riffs along with 80's sampled mashups. Where do you see Linus Loves fitting in-
Well I don't know where Linus Loves fits in it all. I think it's a personal opinion and when people see Linus, hopefully they like it, and if they do, I'll be happy!.
Were you self-conscious about the risk of crossing over into the mainstream when producing 'Stage Invader-'
No not really. I just wanted to do my thing and share it with everyone.
It's always going to create some controversy when covering a 'golden-oldie' such as 10CC's, Waterfall. What has been the reaction to it-
I wasn't really trying to be controversial, but there is a lot of opinions on it. A lot of people have said Waterfall is their favourite song on the album. There are a couple of tracks like it on the album and they are really slow and calm. It's like the calm before the storm hits on the album!
SO is that why your version is paced at a leisurely 88bpm-
For 'Waterfall', I was just playing around with a lot of different speeds really til' it all worked out
Did remixing tracks for others distort and sidetrack what you wanted to do for your album, or did it give you more clarity-
Definitely gave more clarity as to how I wanted my album to sound.
Did you strategically plan the way things were to be with your album, or simply allow it to flow-
I didn't think too much about it, I just think everything with the record flowed really well.
You've previously mentioned that of your own tracks, your favourite is The Terrace. And you least liked is Stand Back. Why is that-
I just think The Terrace is a much better record than Stand Back. I don't think the remix of Stand Back did justice to Stevie Nicks! Nobody does it like Stevie!
You said in an interview a few years ago that Madonna's 'The First Album' broke you i Tags