Hooked up
Old dogs and new tricks, or new dogs ‘ and old tricks? Tune in for another
; exciting episode in the helter-skelter i life Of MONACO. Words: Rodger Evans
; ‘llang on. I see a copper.‘ Monaco — a band on the
run'.’ .\'o. Peter ‘llooky‘ llook is not down by the law.
but he is somewhat perilously conducting this phone interview one-handed while driving home. A feat
i more impressive when you learn that he recently suffered a severed artery during a video shoot in America.
‘We had to smash things up.‘ he explains. ‘only instead of using sugar glass we were using real vases. One shattered and went straight through my hand. It took three and a half hours to stop the bleeding. and MTV refused to show it in
i case it scared children.‘ llooky is made of sturdy ‘ stuff. though. He‘s certainly proved himself a survivor after the tabloid feeding frenzy over his very public spat with es-missus Mrs Merton. The success of the band in the meantime has come as quite a surprise. ‘I knew they were pretty good tunes.‘ he says. ‘but after living with them for a year you really can‘t judge.~
"l‘here was no pressure.‘ says David ‘Potsy' Potts. llooky‘s musical partner. ‘We just did it. And then our girlfriends and males kept telling us we should do something about it rather than pissing about.‘ The LP Music For l’lmsun' has sold l()().()()() copies in the States and the first two singles have been top twenty hits here. Not bad for a couple of blokes pissing about. I There‘s a little more to it of course. llooky did
'I didn't know who Hooky was, but he took me on because I was from Salford! l was shit at engineering so all he had me doing was brewing up.’ Potsy
Monaco: 'poop geniuses'
happen to play bass in one of the most successful bands of the liighties. Whether he'll make another record with his old Factory muckers New Order is unclear.
‘l've not spoken to Bernard in about a year now. I‘ve not spoken to Stephen and Gillian for two and a half years. It‘s like you‘re always scared to go borne at (‘hristmas because you wonder what it's going to be like. but once you‘re back it immediately reverts to how it was. New Order is like family. I don't know what” happen. but I think it would be a good idea to resolve it.‘
Back to Monaco. llooky started working with Potsy after interviewing him for a job in his studio. ‘I wanted to be a tape op.‘ says Potsy. "l‘he Fall used to record there and I wanted to work with them. I didn’t know who llooky was. but he took me on because I was from Salford! l was shit at engineering so all he had me doing was brewing tip. Then I started playing guitar as their guitarist at the time was rubbish. then I elbowed the keyboardist out and then the drummer. I joined and everyone left!‘
‘He became a friend and we started writing together.‘ says llooky. "l‘he weird thing is everyone thinks I lead him around. but if anything it's the opposite. He keeps me in check like I'm this errant seventeen-year—old.'
‘We‘re 50-50 in everything from the writing down to the performing] he adds. 'It's nice after Revenge lllooky's previous project] when it was very much
just me.‘
But would llooky agree with Monaco‘s press release in which he is described as a ‘poop genius‘ (sic)?
‘llahahal Poop's a good word. I‘m sure that's something my kids would agree with.‘
Monaco's new single 'Shine' is out on 1 Sep. They play The Cathouse, Glasgow Wed 10 Sep.
preview MUSIC
Bigmouth
What‘s it all about, eh? If you want answers, don’t ask a rock star.
‘I don't look at any other artist as a role model but (I look) to see how many people can carry on through old age, still mean something and have an edge. I've been to a lot of middle-aged shows where the audience have been falling asleep. I don't want to get to that stage.’ Paul Weller explains to Q what might influence his next career move. We’re saying nothing.
'It was the first time he'd been arrested and then it turned out the stuff he was carrying was useless, hardly anything in it. He’d bought shit drugs!’
Noel Gallagher tel/s O of his brother’s drugs bust and reveals that being a superstar is no guarantee of not being ripped off in dodgy drugs deals.
'You're in a white room and there’s only one window and whatever goes past that window takes up your whole existence. I think we've always worked best in isolation.’ Thom ’Hey, let’s party!’ Yorke reveals what fuels Radiohead’s creative spark.
'It's just us. We played some tunes to Peter Gabriel, but he doesn't duet with Shaun or anything. Kylie Minogue came in for a listen - she got gaffa-taped to a pole in the live room, if I remember rightly.’
Danny Saber, producer of Black
Grape ’s forthcoming album, tells Mojo what fuels Black Grape’s creative spark. Funny lads.
'We called him Elvis, that's the nickname used by his closest collaborators. When Bill speaks he does in fact sound a little like Elvis. Before we called him Bill from Little Rock.‘
Bono discusses the correct term of address for the most powerful man in the world, No ’Mr President’ or ’sir’ required when you’re a rock star.
29 Aug—ll Sep 1997 THE LIST 41