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Progressive Rock Interviews

10 cc

Interviewed by Gary Hill
Interview with Kevin Godley from 2016
MSJ:

You’ve got a new book out. What can you tell us about that?

Well, it’s not exactly new. It’s been out for a wee while and is called “SPACECAKE.” It’s my memoirs, in e-book form, and is available from the iTunes store. You can read it the way you would a straightforward book or jump into my music, film clips, videos, sounds and whatever else you fancy, directly from the written page. In other words it expands or contracts depending on how you like to read.
MSJ: We haven’t interviewed you in quite a few years. Beyond that new book, have you had any recent projects about which we should know?
Two major projects, one on going and the other released in December 2015. 

On going is: WholeWorldBand: A video / music collaboration app. Compose, jam and play with big name musicians or your buddies / fans in sound and vision and edit a video “live.” There are some exciting combinations popping up amongst the thousands of sessions going on in there.

New is: HOG FEVER - the Ear Movie: A dark comedy / pure audio experience (like a movie minus pictures) starring Terence Stamp, about the misadventures of a middle-aged, would be urban biker - told in six episodes. It includes a music soundtrack and is available from Amazon, Audible.com and Barnes and Noble as a CD set or as a download. I co-wrote, directed, composed music for and acted in it. 2015 was one seriously busy year!

MSJ: What's ahead for you?
Roll the dice and let’s find out…
MSJ: If you were a superhero, what music person would be your arch nemesis and why?
Wow! That’s a bizarre question. First off I guess I’d be MEDIA-MAN, wearing a virtual reality mask, an interactive costume impregnated with musical notes and a cloak that was a soft digital video screen. My nemesis wouldn’t be from the music world, it would be POLITICALLY CORRECT – MAN, or should that be ‘person?’ who I’d have to run every idea I wanted to do by, to make sure it wouldn’t offend anyone. Then when he / she / it told me I couldn’t do it, I’d do it anyway. MEDIA – MAN says “The Truth Always Triumphs.”
MSJ: If you were to put together your ultimate band (a band you'd like to hear or catch live), who would be in it and why?
Man, you throw some curve ball questions! Well, a significant proportion of them are dead, so I hope that’s allowed. For starters they’d be called “THE RAW MATERIALS” and feature a lot of the people who’ve influenced me. Namely Gene Kelly, Elvis P and C, Marvin Gaye, George Gershwin, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Keith Moon, Tom Waits, David Byrne, Thelonius Monk, Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, David Bowie. Need I go on?
MSJ: If you were in charge of assembling a music festival and wanted it to be the ultimate one from your point of view who would be playing?
All the above - plus Rhiannon Giddens and me on spoons.
MSJ: What was the last CD you bought and/or what have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been listening to HOG FEVER a lot. I know that sounds self-serving and pathetic but it was recorded and assembled in a pretty improvised fashion and, as it was a significant departure for me, I’m trying to understand what works and what doesn’t so I can learn something for the next one. As for CDs…I rarely buy them, but I just pre-downloaded Blackstar, the new David Bowie record. I can’t comment as I haven’t heard it yet, but I’m excited. Anything from this man has to be, at the very least, dangerous and interesting.
MSJ:
Have you read any good books lately?
Probably. I’m struggling through three at the moment but I’ve become a victim of S.A.S.S. Shrinking Attention Span Syndrome - a terrifying twenty-first Century complaint that renders me deeply frustrated unless I get some form of emotional gratification within the first six pages / seconds / frames / notes.
MSJ:
What about the last concert you attended for your enjoyment?
U2’s Innocence and Experience. I saw it in Barcelona and Dublin, twice. Unbelievable! For a band that’s been around as long as they have one might expect the greatest hits plus a few lasers and smoke bombs but the opposite is true. U2 deliver the most committed, challenging, moving and compelling live shows on this, or any other planet.
MSJ:
Do you have a musical “guilty pleasure?”
I find the term offensive, frankly. Why anyone should feel guilty about enjoying a particular kind of music mystifies me. I imagine you’re asking because 10cc has long been considered a candidate. Well, ‘cool’ we weren’t and this is really about perceptions of ’cool’ isn’t it? That’s changing though. The ubiquity of the Internet has turned what used to be “uncool” into “seminal influences” and never was a term so accurately coined…(Editor’s Note: Actually, this is just a question we ask just about every artist. I’m a big fan of 10cc, so I’d never consider them a “guilty pleasure.” I think they were a great band.)
MSJ: If you could sit down to dinner with any three people, living or dead, for food and conversation, with whom would you be dining?
Nina Simone and Donald Trump (“Trump” by the way, is a popular English colloquialism for fart) with Norman Mailer taking notes.
MSJ:
What would be on the menu?
I’m vegetarian so, if I’m hosting the dinner, no meat or fish. Nothing too pricey or exotic either, as I imagine most of it would end up flying across the table along with a few bullets.
MSJ: Are there any closing thoughts you would like to get out there?
Yes. What the f*** happened?
MSJ: This interview is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
 
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