Post by cw on Apr 28, 2008 11:58:51 GMT 1
dug this one up from a 1997 Australian Musician. obviously v old (just before TOC) but distinctly interesting with regards to the trial and error or instrument choices/arrangements and the like.
'Australian Musician' Transcript
Corrs for Celebration
Interviewer-Greg Phillips
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcribed by Jess Lai
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of an evening Melbourne's Palais Theatre is alive with enthusiastic concert or theatre patrons waiting in anticipation of seeing something special. During the day it takes on the persona of a dark and dusty attic. It's a stark contrast for The Corrs, who are inside the theatre commencing soundcheck, for they are literally a breath of fresh air in an industry which is currently dominated by manufactured pop bands recording cover songs. Atlantic Records had no choice but to sign the three sisters and brother combination. It's no secret that they are virtually stunning but what a Corrs concert goer also discovers is that they are not only insanely talented but also have their feet firmly on the ground. Their blend of well crafted pop songs mixed with the instrumentation of their homeland of Ireland has already been rewarded with CD sales over one million, a fair slice of that cake rung up on Australian cash registers. The Corrs are quick to point out that they are enjoying ! every bit of the ride. Their sense of fun is evident late into their concerts when they launch into a funky "We Are Family, All My Sisters And Me". Jim Corr, the brother responsible for keyboard and guitar duties took some time out from testing sound levels to talk to Australian Musician's GREG PHILLIPS about the Corrs unique sound.
GP: Jim, I'm interested in the marriage of the traditional with the technological. Instruments like the tin whistles and Bohdrans weren't invented to be amplified to five thousand or more people. Does this amplification cause any problems?
JC: They merely take their own character once they're amplified. The Bohdran for instance turns into a very powerful percussion instrument when it's amplified. And just the way Caroline plays it, you hear the lows to the highs and depending on where she's got her hand positioned, and you can make it sound like the same sort of tone as a drum kit with that high pitched sound for the snare and low pitched sound for the kick drum and that's what Caroline does on stage. So you really turn it into a different instrument with amplification but the marriage has certainly worked for us. Initially I suppose it was a process of experimentation to try and come up with the sound.
GP: What do you take on stage?
JC: At the moment I'm using a Korg Trinity and some stuff sequenced on that. Actually I'm going to change that to a Roland XB80 because I've discovered that machine and I like it so much better. It's so much more user friendly because I'm used to the Rolands. So I'll get into using that. We use a JV800 overthe other side of the stage for Sharon who plays on 'Closer'.
GP: How does someone like you, who is on the road all the time, come across new equipment?
JC: I've always been a fan of Roland gear. From a very early age, I think the first synth I had was the first multi-timbral sort of thing. I think it was a W30 with a sequencer, which I loved. Then I got a 750. I suppose I just do what everybody else does, I just go into music shops and playing them and getting feedback from my friends and reading the articles in the magazines, you know finding out what particular features they have.
GP: Tell me about your Guitars?
JC: Guitars... I've always loved Strats. I want to get into using Teles now. Actually the sound we're going for now is going to get slightly...we want to get back to using dated instruments as well, like Gretchs and Gibsons. So we want to get into doing that. I'm also using a Yamaha. I've got a sponsorship with Yamaha and it's a very nice guitar as well. It's a Pacifica.
GP: What do you use to amplify your guitars?
JC: It's a Mesa Boogie and it's a Blue Angel which I just got recently and outboard I'm using a Roland ME8.
GP: What about Sharon's violin is that electric or acoustic?
JC: What she's using right now is a Barcus Berry electricc violin. That's what she's discovered to be the best. She's tried the Zetas, she's tried sticking a fishman (pickup) onto her acoustic violin. I don't know whether it's the nature of her acoustic violin or what, but by far the best sound we are getting from the electric Barcus Berry.
GP: You mentioned the Yamaha sponsorship, do you have deals with anyone else?
JC: Caroline is using a Yamaha too for drums and we also have a deal with Roland. I actually have an XB80 they've given us and they've given us a Roland GS880 hard disk recorder which we use on the road for recording demos. We do also have a music shop in Dublin which fits us out for stuff from plecs to drumsticks, you know stuff like that.
GP: How does the songwriting process work with The Corrs?
JC: It depends. It's a collaborative affair generally. Some person or two people might come up with the initial foundations or ideas, then everybody becomes involved and we develop it further and it evolves into a Corrs song. That's generally the way it happens.
GP: What criteria do you use to decide if a particular song should remain traditional or to add more electric elements?
JC: Just by trial and error and listening. I mean mainly our songs tend to be more pop and rock before they're traditional. The traditional is sort of an extra ingredient. First and foremost we try to write a good pop or rock song and then apply a sort of traditional management to it.
GP: I suppose it's the nature of the instrument you use that gives it traditional feel anyway?
JC: Yeah, exactly, I mean we gre up in a place called Dundalk in Ireland and we're very much influenced by music coming from close to the water and music in our own homeland so that's how we've evolved that Irish traditionalised music with rock and pop.
GP: You've been on the road for a long time now, virtually at the end of a world tour so how are you using your soundcheck today and in general?
JC: We use it to warm up. We also use it to get used to specific instruments that we change around the stage, which is what happens with acoustic guitar which change over to other guitars at one point of the show. We make sure we rehearse those songs just to make sure that every change in terms of guitars, different guitars or keyboards is rehearsed. And also we use it for a good warm up. It helps us warm up our voices and just get in gear for the pending show.
GP: You are using two additional musicians on stage....
JC: We use a guy called Keith Duffy on bass and a guy called Anto Drennan on lead guitar and they're both from Dublin. I met Anto through all the bands I played with years ago. Keith Duffy I just heard of and he was recommended by someone. We get along so well it's just a great combination. It's like two new extra members to the family.
GP: It seems that you've been to Australia so many times in the last couple of years, this time you did places like Cairns in the middle of our hot summer, I don't know if that was an outdoor gig....
JC: Cairns was an indoor gig, it was air-conditioned, it was very nice, I think it's dangerous doing outdoor gigs. You know it's been a dramatic contrast coming from Ireland in the winter and to playing Cairns. It's beautiful, it's just pure heaven. We had some days off and we went to the Great Barrier Reef.
GP: So now looking to the future how will the next album differ?
JC: It'll differ quite a bit in terms of what we've learnt and how we've grown in the past couple of years, especially from playing live. Because it's developed into a much more raw energetic thing, I think actually, to be honest, the next album will be much more less reliant on technology. I mean the first one we were using Macintosh computers with software that was being converted down into Syclavier files. We worked with a Synclavier programmer. We think about, and listen to what other bands are doing nowadays. You nearly, in a sense lose something to the over use of technology. It will certainly be very much a Corrs sound and songs but we want to get a little bit more back to the basics. It's not going to be a folk album. It's still going to be very similar to what we put out before but slightly less reliant on technology.
GP: Have you decided on a producer?
JC: We have got David Foster(producer of their first album) who is producing half the album and Glen Ballard who, produced Alanis Morisette, is producing the other half.
GP: A lot of Irish performers are very political, is that something you prefer to stay away from?
JC: We stay away from that because the way we look at it, we're not politicians, we're musicians. I think if you want to start voicing your opinion on issues which you might be concerned about, you certainly need to be very knowledgeable about particular events. We don't have time to deftly get involved in current affairs. We're making music to hopefully make people happy or drag some emotion from people. That's not to say we wouldn't speak out in the future if we thought we felt very strongly about something but you know we just want to make good music.
GP: You have come a long way in what would seem a short time, to the public anyway, what goals have you set for yourself?
JC: We've been together for about seven years, people don't realise that. We started off writing and recording in a small bedroom studio so we've been going since then and had a lot of ups and downs thankfully it's only been in these past three years that things have really kicked in with the signing of us to Atlantic Records. We think we've made a fantastic foundation worldwide for this album. So obviously we'd like to achieve an even greater success with the second. We hope that our sound is even more appealing to people. We feel very good about the second album, a lot of high hopes for it. We would love to do the same thing in Australia. It's fantastic how well it's gone for us here and we've got a fantastic record company here and hopefully we can repeat the same success here worldwide.
'Australian Musician' Transcript
Corrs for Celebration
Interviewer-Greg Phillips
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcribed by Jess Lai
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of an evening Melbourne's Palais Theatre is alive with enthusiastic concert or theatre patrons waiting in anticipation of seeing something special. During the day it takes on the persona of a dark and dusty attic. It's a stark contrast for The Corrs, who are inside the theatre commencing soundcheck, for they are literally a breath of fresh air in an industry which is currently dominated by manufactured pop bands recording cover songs. Atlantic Records had no choice but to sign the three sisters and brother combination. It's no secret that they are virtually stunning but what a Corrs concert goer also discovers is that they are not only insanely talented but also have their feet firmly on the ground. Their blend of well crafted pop songs mixed with the instrumentation of their homeland of Ireland has already been rewarded with CD sales over one million, a fair slice of that cake rung up on Australian cash registers. The Corrs are quick to point out that they are enjoying ! every bit of the ride. Their sense of fun is evident late into their concerts when they launch into a funky "We Are Family, All My Sisters And Me". Jim Corr, the brother responsible for keyboard and guitar duties took some time out from testing sound levels to talk to Australian Musician's GREG PHILLIPS about the Corrs unique sound.
GP: Jim, I'm interested in the marriage of the traditional with the technological. Instruments like the tin whistles and Bohdrans weren't invented to be amplified to five thousand or more people. Does this amplification cause any problems?
JC: They merely take their own character once they're amplified. The Bohdran for instance turns into a very powerful percussion instrument when it's amplified. And just the way Caroline plays it, you hear the lows to the highs and depending on where she's got her hand positioned, and you can make it sound like the same sort of tone as a drum kit with that high pitched sound for the snare and low pitched sound for the kick drum and that's what Caroline does on stage. So you really turn it into a different instrument with amplification but the marriage has certainly worked for us. Initially I suppose it was a process of experimentation to try and come up with the sound.
GP: What do you take on stage?
JC: At the moment I'm using a Korg Trinity and some stuff sequenced on that. Actually I'm going to change that to a Roland XB80 because I've discovered that machine and I like it so much better. It's so much more user friendly because I'm used to the Rolands. So I'll get into using that. We use a JV800 overthe other side of the stage for Sharon who plays on 'Closer'.
GP: How does someone like you, who is on the road all the time, come across new equipment?
JC: I've always been a fan of Roland gear. From a very early age, I think the first synth I had was the first multi-timbral sort of thing. I think it was a W30 with a sequencer, which I loved. Then I got a 750. I suppose I just do what everybody else does, I just go into music shops and playing them and getting feedback from my friends and reading the articles in the magazines, you know finding out what particular features they have.
GP: Tell me about your Guitars?
JC: Guitars... I've always loved Strats. I want to get into using Teles now. Actually the sound we're going for now is going to get slightly...we want to get back to using dated instruments as well, like Gretchs and Gibsons. So we want to get into doing that. I'm also using a Yamaha. I've got a sponsorship with Yamaha and it's a very nice guitar as well. It's a Pacifica.
GP: What do you use to amplify your guitars?
JC: It's a Mesa Boogie and it's a Blue Angel which I just got recently and outboard I'm using a Roland ME8.
GP: What about Sharon's violin is that electric or acoustic?
JC: What she's using right now is a Barcus Berry electricc violin. That's what she's discovered to be the best. She's tried the Zetas, she's tried sticking a fishman (pickup) onto her acoustic violin. I don't know whether it's the nature of her acoustic violin or what, but by far the best sound we are getting from the electric Barcus Berry.
GP: You mentioned the Yamaha sponsorship, do you have deals with anyone else?
JC: Caroline is using a Yamaha too for drums and we also have a deal with Roland. I actually have an XB80 they've given us and they've given us a Roland GS880 hard disk recorder which we use on the road for recording demos. We do also have a music shop in Dublin which fits us out for stuff from plecs to drumsticks, you know stuff like that.
GP: How does the songwriting process work with The Corrs?
JC: It depends. It's a collaborative affair generally. Some person or two people might come up with the initial foundations or ideas, then everybody becomes involved and we develop it further and it evolves into a Corrs song. That's generally the way it happens.
GP: What criteria do you use to decide if a particular song should remain traditional or to add more electric elements?
JC: Just by trial and error and listening. I mean mainly our songs tend to be more pop and rock before they're traditional. The traditional is sort of an extra ingredient. First and foremost we try to write a good pop or rock song and then apply a sort of traditional management to it.
GP: I suppose it's the nature of the instrument you use that gives it traditional feel anyway?
JC: Yeah, exactly, I mean we gre up in a place called Dundalk in Ireland and we're very much influenced by music coming from close to the water and music in our own homeland so that's how we've evolved that Irish traditionalised music with rock and pop.
GP: You've been on the road for a long time now, virtually at the end of a world tour so how are you using your soundcheck today and in general?
JC: We use it to warm up. We also use it to get used to specific instruments that we change around the stage, which is what happens with acoustic guitar which change over to other guitars at one point of the show. We make sure we rehearse those songs just to make sure that every change in terms of guitars, different guitars or keyboards is rehearsed. And also we use it for a good warm up. It helps us warm up our voices and just get in gear for the pending show.
GP: You are using two additional musicians on stage....
JC: We use a guy called Keith Duffy on bass and a guy called Anto Drennan on lead guitar and they're both from Dublin. I met Anto through all the bands I played with years ago. Keith Duffy I just heard of and he was recommended by someone. We get along so well it's just a great combination. It's like two new extra members to the family.
GP: It seems that you've been to Australia so many times in the last couple of years, this time you did places like Cairns in the middle of our hot summer, I don't know if that was an outdoor gig....
JC: Cairns was an indoor gig, it was air-conditioned, it was very nice, I think it's dangerous doing outdoor gigs. You know it's been a dramatic contrast coming from Ireland in the winter and to playing Cairns. It's beautiful, it's just pure heaven. We had some days off and we went to the Great Barrier Reef.
GP: So now looking to the future how will the next album differ?
JC: It'll differ quite a bit in terms of what we've learnt and how we've grown in the past couple of years, especially from playing live. Because it's developed into a much more raw energetic thing, I think actually, to be honest, the next album will be much more less reliant on technology. I mean the first one we were using Macintosh computers with software that was being converted down into Syclavier files. We worked with a Synclavier programmer. We think about, and listen to what other bands are doing nowadays. You nearly, in a sense lose something to the over use of technology. It will certainly be very much a Corrs sound and songs but we want to get a little bit more back to the basics. It's not going to be a folk album. It's still going to be very similar to what we put out before but slightly less reliant on technology.
GP: Have you decided on a producer?
JC: We have got David Foster(producer of their first album) who is producing half the album and Glen Ballard who, produced Alanis Morisette, is producing the other half.
GP: A lot of Irish performers are very political, is that something you prefer to stay away from?
JC: We stay away from that because the way we look at it, we're not politicians, we're musicians. I think if you want to start voicing your opinion on issues which you might be concerned about, you certainly need to be very knowledgeable about particular events. We don't have time to deftly get involved in current affairs. We're making music to hopefully make people happy or drag some emotion from people. That's not to say we wouldn't speak out in the future if we thought we felt very strongly about something but you know we just want to make good music.
GP: You have come a long way in what would seem a short time, to the public anyway, what goals have you set for yourself?
JC: We've been together for about seven years, people don't realise that. We started off writing and recording in a small bedroom studio so we've been going since then and had a lot of ups and downs thankfully it's only been in these past three years that things have really kicked in with the signing of us to Atlantic Records. We think we've made a fantastic foundation worldwide for this album. So obviously we'd like to achieve an even greater success with the second. We hope that our sound is even more appealing to people. We feel very good about the second album, a lot of high hopes for it. We would love to do the same thing in Australia. It's fantastic how well it's gone for us here and we've got a fantastic record company here and hopefully we can repeat the same success here worldwide.
But I have to go to work first. 
