http://www.leconcorde.org

Stephen Becker is lead singer of US band Le Concorde. His music is reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian, Beautiful South and Aztec Camera. I've not been so infatuated with a band in years. We encourage you to seek out Universe and Villa on Amazon, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy the big interview.

HOLV: First off how are you?

SB: I'm doing very well, thanks Chris. To be honest, my mood has been a little blue for the last week since I returned to Chicago from recording sessions in Los Angeles. I think it's a combination returning to the Chicago winter and the post-partum-type raincloud that sometimes rolls in once a project is finished. I'm not talking about a serious depression or anything. The answer is for me to keep moving, whether it's doing an interview or rehearsing the band or taking a walk and coming up with a new song. I'm really excited about the results of the sessions but I wanted to just keep going and record more songs! David lent me his bike and I'd wake up every day and bike from the apartment I was staying over to the studio, beautiful weather…fresh fruit for breakfast. I may move.

HOLV: We've been listening to Universe and Villa. Would it be fair to say you have been quite heavily influenced by the post punk UK scene of the 80's?

SB: It was the soundtrack of my life when I was a kid growing up in Seattle. Some of it now merely sounds quaint, but some of it I have just kept listening to over the years with a deepening fascination and appreciation. I want to be precise, though, I'd never embrace a genre wholesale and I think that many of the bands I liked the most are ones that don't fit so easily into genre categories. A couple of Scots are notable among these, I might add: Roddy Frame and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. There are several others and as I envision the list, none of them are peas in a pod. They're all coming from different angles and I don't think any of them fit comfortably into one genre or other. I suppose all were critically acclaimed, but none of these bands ever got their due.

HOLV: Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, see page 18), David Gamson (Scritti Politti) , John Ashton (Psychedelic Furs) and Steve Gillis (Filter) have all worked with you. When you set out to make music did you ever have any idea you'd be working with such established stars so early in your Le Concorde career?

SB: Collaboration on this level has always been an aim and decisions such has whom to seek out have been focused and deliberate on my part. That said, it has been thrilling and affirming to say the least. Working on the new songs with David is really a special case among all the others because he was a huge musical hero of mine ever since I was a kid and also because with the new material I wanted to take the synth work to a new level and make it move more from a rhythmic standpoint. I always admired the collaborative efforts of bands like Scritti Politti or Aztec Camera who were able to pull in such a wide array of talented musicians. In the case of Scritti, you had players like Miles Davis, Marcus Miller, Roger Troutman, Robert Quine. Mind blowing, huge talent, dream-like budgets. I don't think such budgets even exist anymore but, in case any wealthy benefactors are reading this, may I please have your attention! David Gamson and I have an epic synth-pop album to deliver and it can be brought into the world for a price much more modest than Aztec Camera, "Love."

HOLV: You have lived in Seattle, New York and Chicago all cultural hubs of the US. You are an academic, with a good taste in art (judging from the cover of Universe and Villa anyway) and have toured some of Europe's great cities. How have you been influenced by non musical culture?

SB: Thank you for asking that. You know, when you think about it, what's funny is how hard it is to separate the two types of influences, the musical and the non-musical. I think we ought to begin by acknowledging the problem of separating the two. Now, obviously, I'm a pop-songwriter, I'm not pretending to be Cage or Stockhausen but for me, there IS music in everything. Take architecture for example. Goethe was famously quoted as saying, "Architecture is frozen music." If you experience Baroque architecture you hear Baroque music. Architectural spaces often invite certain movement of the body in and through the space in the same way that music invites particular dances. You look at great paintings and the influence of music is in them. Poetry is obviously even more entwined. I find inspiration in poetry but we can't say that poetry is a non-musical influence… Poetry is not to be read silently. You should always read poetry aloud. And once you are chewing the words…playing their rhythm…music! I haven't even answered your question yet… You incur a certain amount of brain damage in the process of completing a Ph.D. and I feel it is something to overcome, not something to wear on one's sleeve… So anyway if we ignore this business about the interpenetration/cross-contamination of musical and non-musical culture, then the straight answer is yes, for me, non-musical influences have been important. In fact, I would go as far as to say the non-musical influences have been more important for me than music, I'd say. When I start to really get into a singer-songwriter, I'm often curious to know: what is their story? Where is the music coming from? What experiences have they had in life? With what degree of acuity and sensitivity are they capable of perceiving their world? You don't get these things from simply listening to records or jamming with your band, those things are important too. I'll listen to my favorite songs a 100 times in a row scrutinizing its details. But for me, in the greater scheme, music is not the main focus. LIVING is the main focus. For me, music is a symptom of really living, of experiencing moments of my life that are interesting and impassioned, reflecting on these moments, trying to distill them in some way… When life becomes routine or flat I don't get good songs.

HOLV: We are running a big article on electronic music in this edition. Who for your money has made the best electronic music in recent years?

SB: I know it's not recent but it's still pretty hard to beat that first Air album, isn't it? I like what I've heard from Hot Chip. Other recent stuff I like would include Boards of Canada, Black Moth Super Rainbow and teenage Blackout. The actual chip music / Game Boy scene that was happening here in Chicago back around 2003 produced some very interesting stuff-and I think that some of the best stuff was never even released. There is a synth-guitar duo in Chicago called Coltrane Motion. I just saw them live and they tore it up. On one hand there is a lot of great new stuff going on out there it's an exciting time and I'm happy to hear you will be doing an electronic music issue. On the other hand, I have to admit that I'm a curmudgeon. Let's face it, electronic music suffers from the same pervasive lack of imagination, lack of ambition, and lack of desire for beauty as guitar rock music. Most of it I find completely uninteresting and unmoving. I suppose I'm playing the aged hippie who exalts classic rock to the exclusion of all else… But listen to Thomas Dolby's use of synthesizers on "Jordan: The Comeback" in a pair of good headphones... or listen to David Gamson's approach to synthesis on "Provision" or "Cupid and Psyche 85." There are individual series CHORDS on individual songs on those albums that took an entire DAY to sonically sculpt...this was due in large part to the huge technological obstacles of the time that they had to overcome, but it only serves to point up their uncompromising attention to detail. If you want to invite me back for the electronic issue, I'd be happy to report for duty as your electronic music curmudgeon on call.

HOLV: Ha feel free! Lastly when can we expect more Le Concorde and what can we expect?

SB: I spent almost the entirety of 2006 in a writing and recording bubble. The opportunity to work with David Gamson arose and I went to LA. That was followed by recording sessions in Paris with Ken Stringfellow where we tracked a duet the song is a deconstruction of the institution of marriage called "All These Fragile Unions." My new track with David was written to win back my girlfriend and it is sort of Human League meets Motown meets Joni Mitchell/Bob Dylan. She is more into King Diamond and Judas Priest but I had to try, in my own language, you know? Detroit-based label, Le Grand Magistery, just recently released a special Valentines Day compilation on iTunes and it includes a new track, "She Loves the Way They Love Her," which is a Colin Blunstone cover. I am hoping to release an EP in the late-spring, early summer and there will be a US tour, hopefully UK as well if there is interest we want to come over. As I mentioned I'm actively looking for the right label to get behind a masterpiece full-album statement co-written with David Gamson from Scritti Politti. We have the songs and we're ready to go.

Interviewed By Hammond