Legendary Pink Dots (Experimental rock, UK/NL)

The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984 the band transplanted itself to Amsterdam which led to a shift in the original lineup.

Although far outside the mainstream (in terms of their music and career path), The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following and tour frequently.

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Core members:

• LPD vocalist Edward Ka-Spel on the piano
• LPD keyboards and electronics Phil Knight (a.k.a. The Silverman)

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2010. The concert in Cluj will feature the following band members:

• LPD saxophone Niels van Hoornblower
• LPD guitarist Erik Drost

Raymond Steeg – live sound engineer, who has also done live work, mixing for Hawkwind and Porcupine Tree during the 90s.

Many others have passed through the group over the years.

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Their music touches on elements of neo-psychedelia, ambient music, electronic music, tape music, industrial, psych folk, synth-pop and goth rock, with a distinctly experimental/avant-garde bent; their sound has evolved over time and remains distinctive, making it difficult to place the group in a specific style or genre.

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The Legendary Pink Dots have influenced a wide range of bands, such as

• The Dresden Dolls
• Orbit Service
• Skinny Puppy
• Christus and the Cosmonaughts
• Halber Vakuum
• Golden Death Music
• Un Festín Sagital
• One for Jude
• Hide n’ Seek

Wed. Apr. 14^th, 2010.

Cluj. Roland Garros

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CZB: How do you explain 40 albums in 30 years?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): Obsession… I’ve tended to live, eat and breathe music for the biggest part of my life and it means no day off even when I find myself in a beautiful location far from home. Just cannot SWITCH off and, you know, I do like to share!

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CZB: Do these 40 albums have some sense of musical evolution, or is it all a matter of momentary lapse of reason?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): I like that term A momentary lapse of reason, but to be fair I’d say there has been a steady evolution.
The perfectionism grows as you become older. At the beginning it’s like “So much to say, so little time to say it”.

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CZB: How do Live songs differ from the recorded original versions?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): Improvisation and spontaneity is important onstage (well, in the studio too but that’s etched in stone).

Songs often grow during a tour as well.

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CZB: Have you had any kind of influence from Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire or Pink Floyd in starting out your musical endeavors?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): The “do it yourself ” ethos of Throbbing Gristle was a big influence. It gave a lot of bands like The Legendary Pink Dots the courage to show themselves and release their own music when still many bands and artists believed they had to be “discovered” by a big label. Pink Floyd was the first band I truly loved so they have to be there somewhere.

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CZB: Why did the band move to Amsterdam in 1984? Did you squat someplace special to become Dutch citizens?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): I’m not a Dutch citizen, neither is Phil… Erik Drost and Raymond Steeg are from The Netherlands. I moved because I fell in love and the rest of the (then wholly English) band followed suit in the following year.

The squat was a necessity as we didn’t have any money.

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CZB: Do you agree with John Cage when he said that music is the sound that is unaffected by the human soul.

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): I have to think about that one…

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CZB: How do you feel about being a musical influence to others?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): Fine as long as it’s a GOOD influence.

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CZB: How do you feel about the concert-going public in East Europe? Have you traveled this far East before?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): We came to Bucharest last year and had a wonderful time. Certainly, it’s the furthest we’ve gone east by road, but we also played twice in Moscow which is a brilliant experience. Audiences in the east are far less jaded than in some parts of the west where a “seen everything, next please…” attitude can be detected.

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CZB: Did The Legendary Pink Dots start out as a hobby – did you imagine you would still be playing to interested audiences 30 years down the line?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): It never was a hobby not even on day one. Sometimes you see your destiny and once I began making music I knew it was for life.

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CZB: How do you feel about the times we live in? How are current failing social values and the system we’ve inherited pertinent influences on the music you make?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): Europe feels like a greedy unsympathetic continent right now. Maybe it’s the country I chose to live in which was a genuinely progressive, far-thinking place back in the 80s and 90s but has turned into a xenophobic jungle dictated by ugly corporations and uglier self-seeking politicians who dare to call themselves “Christians”. There again, that’s just the little corner we live in and of course we’re affected by our environment.

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CZB: Do you believe in God and how have you channeled good and evil feelings in the more recent music you have written and played live?

Edward Ka-Spel (Legendary Pink Dots): I believe we’re all God – and there is a divine plan – but it would be too much for me to articulate this in an email interview so early in the morning. Good and evil exist in our day-to-day existence but as for channeling these polarities into the music, I’d only say I channel what I feel when I feel it – it’s personal.

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Interview: RiCo

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The experimental Anglo-Dutch rock band played in Cluj, Romania APR.14.2010.

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www.myspace.com/thelegendarypinkdots

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