Dulli Interview on 92.3, Cleveland
You can stream the May 24th WXRK interview with Greg Dulli at 923xtreme.com. Choose the “Greg Dulli Interview” from the flash player on the home page.
thx jill, twice
Hot Night in Dulli’s Inferno
“He’s a pimp.”
“He is the man!”
You tend to hear a lot of this whenever Greg Dulli is in the house. Holding court—Dulli is the exalted leader of an international underground cult of horny young bucks who would give their left nut for five minutes in his shoes. Cigarette dangling—he is the dream lover of women around the world who should know better. Unapologetic—he takes every crowd by the throat and taunts and teases them; ultimately, owning them. He might steal your girlfriend, but, son, you won’t care. He’ll break your heart, but baby, you’ll hand it to him again and again. A toxic, exotic narcotic—this is, as his Web site warns you, Dulli’s Inferno.
The Twilight Singers rolled into the Theatre of the Living Arts (TLA) in Philadelphia on May 30 in support of their latest stunner, Powder Burns (One Little Indian). A freakishly early heat wave had a stranglehold on the city, and to breathe was like having your face wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. The grit and grime of South Philadelphia coated the skin like twelve layers of thick crusty paste; the once-relevant South Street doused in the smell of shit and hopelessness. In other words, it was Twilight time.
Jeff Klein took the stage first. From Austin, Texas, Klein has built a die-hard following of fans and critics thanks to his bare-knuckled songwriting and self-described “Southern Gothic R&B” style. With guitar in hand (no backing band), Klein hit the disappointingly sparse (but welcoming) TLA crowd hard, opening with “Pity” from his 2005 release, The Hustler (One Little Indian). “Just breathe into my mouth,” he sighed. “I can’t sleep alone without choking.”
Hearing Klein live, you can feel the common threads that connect him to Dulli, who co-produced Hustler in New Orleans with Twilight collaborator Mike Napolitano. Not only in the R&B roots, but also in the menacing stories he tells. Life and love in mousetrap towns ain’t pretty. Klein may try to love again, but you know it will end with a restraining order and one-way police escort out of the county. “It’s about time I introduced you to the person I really am,” he growled in “Kiss and Tell.” Introduce yourself to Jeff Klein either live or through his releases Everybody Loves a Winner and The Hustler.
Next to take the stage was Italy’s Afterhours. Acclaimed musical craftsmen from Milan, Afterhours have long established themselves in their home country as an innovative supergroup. Led by recent Dulli collaborator Manuel Agnelli (with Giorgio Ciccarelli, keyboards; Dario Ciffo, violin; Giorgio Prette, drums; and Andrea Viti, bass), the band took the stage like lambs but quickly ripped into a balls-on 45-minute set that sucked the growing crowd into a thunderous, rock ‘n roll funnel cloud. Holy hell—where did these guys come from and how quickly can I get my hands on everything they’ve ever released?
From the opening salvo “Ballad for My Little Hyena,” the band lit into “White Widow,” a variation of “My Time (Has Come)” off of TS’ Powder Burns, co-written by Dulli and Agnelli. Switching back and forth between English and Italian for the remainder of their set (the band’s latest release, Ballads for Little Hyenas, also from One Little Indian, is their first release recorded in English as well as Italian), the band’s boyish appearance and good-natured interaction with the crowd belied their face-punching performance, which set the bar staggeringly high for the headliner. If in 30 years you heard that Greg Dulli’s five sons had started a band, Afterhours is what you’d hope for.
Lights out and we’re entering Dulli’s Den of Iniquity, as dark as any decadent dive bar on lower Decatur. Resplendent with incense, Oriental rug, candelabra, and bobble-head Jesus doll—a Marshall amp black-taped so it reads “Harsh”—the now-packed house welcomes Dulli and bandmates Scott Ford, bass; Bobby McIntyre, drums; Dave Rosser, guitar; and Afterhours’ Agnelli on keyboards with a fury over the strains of the instrumental “Through the Waves.” His drink raised in greeting, the fearless leader has returned—clean and among the living for the first time in years.
The band kicks immediately into “I’m Ready,” the second track from Powder Burns. It’s early in the tour, but the band is tight. Buoyed by the crowd—most of whom have already memorized Powder Burns even though it’s barely a month old—Dulli works the stage like a shaman, controlling the din with a smile, a shimmy, a shared cigarette.
In characteristic fashion, the set list is packed with original Twilight material, a few Whigs favorites (though no “Going to Town”—for shame!), eclectic covers, and enough carefully placed digressions to keep the crowd on its toes. With “66” comes the now-famous “Little Red Corvette” bridge; Aerosmith’s “Dream On” morphs into “Love”; “Papillon” ends with a nod to Steve Miller’s “The Joker”; and Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” flows into “The Killer,” which climaxes into a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.”
Unfortunately, the show climaxed after only one encore—which, after the building rhythm and groove of the night’s set, felt a little too close to a premature ejaculation. Other shows were treated to two and three returns to the stage. Don’t know if it was the band’s decision or a venue curfew—but we’ll expect you to make it up to us when you come back in the fall, St. Gregory. Bring “Going to Town”; I need to get my stroll on, baby.
Heather Chakiris
Scott Ford on Little Radio
Twilight Singers bassist Scott Ford will be co-hosting the Mo Show on LittleRadio.com tomorrow, Thursday, from 6pm – 8pm PST. The show is not archived so if you want to catch it, then you’ll have to tune in live. Scott will be spinning some tracks, perhaps even some rare tunes, and talking about the band.
Here’s the tracklisting from Mo’s website:
Live With Me - Twilight Singers w/Mark Lanegan (Live, Massive Attack cover)
Bonnie Brae - Twilight Singers
Redemption Song - Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer
Bring It Back - Mates of State
Permanent Solution - Pleasure Club
Hyperballad - Bjork (live)
Velouria - Pixies
Eton Rifles - The Jam
Hide & Seek - Imogen Heap
Sublime - Twilight Singers (w/Joe Arthur, unreleased track)
Suzanne - Jeff Klein
Hit the City - Mark Lanegan (w/ PJ Harvey)
? (Scott couldn’t remember) - Afterhours [it's ballata per la mia piccola iena, sk]
Obsession (?) - John Frusciante
Pussywillow - Greg Dulli
Hurt - Johnny Cash
Since You Been Gone - Rainbow
Let It Be - Nick Cave
Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
Poison - Rancid
New England - Billy Bragg
Some Cities - The Doves
Destination Diamond - Diamond Nights
Czar - Frank Black
(?) - Gadjits
We Are Not the Losers Anymore - Actionslacks
Sister Surround - Soundtrack to Our Lives
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
“Teenage Wristband” Video Online
Scott Ford has added another wonderful pro-shot Twilight Singers video to his MySpace site. This one features Steve Myers (Mighty Fine) on backing vox in NYC.
AFTER THE STORM
Amplifier Magazine Issue #54
By Brian Baker
There is an almost unearthly calm that emanates from the phone as Greg Dulli speaks. It’s reminiscent of the deathly silence that comes moments before a tornado heedlessly levels everything in its erratic path, not because it has any malevolent intent, but because that is its nature. There was a time when Dulli had more in common with the tornado’s demolition than the uncharacteristic peace that precedes it, but times have changed. Greg Dulli has found serenity.
In the course of our conversation, Dulli brings up the salient point that he and his rotating cast of musical talent known as the Twilight Singers have now released nearly as many full length albums as the Afghan Whigs, the whack ass indie soul/rock/punk band that occasioned Dulli’s rise in the early ’90s and earned him the type of slavish fans that most bands can only dream of. There was a time when Dulli would have proclaimed this fact with the kind of belligerence that generally occurs right before a pool cue gets snapped in half for use as a weapon. But that was then, this is now.
Greg Dulli is the eye rather than the storm these days. He will gladly discuss the band that established his reputation, but naturally he would rather talk about Powder Burns, the latest and perhaps best Twilight Singers album to date. Still in all, he understands the continued fascination with the Afghan Whigs.
That understanding, and Dulli’s newfound sense of inner calm, was at least mildly evident at this year’s South by Southwest festival. On the event’s second day, just hours before the Twilight Singers were scheduled to take the stage at Friends for an 11:30 PM showcase, I ran into Dulli on the sidewalk as I was heading back to a hotel room to write my daily notes. Recognizing me as a hometown writer (and someone whose history goes back to the formation of the Whigs in Cincinnati in 1987), he greeted me warmly and we chatted for a few minutes before a woman inserted herself into the conversation.
She was passionate in her love of the Afghan Whigs and there was no question of her sincerity even as Dulli thanked her profusely for her longstanding appreciation. Then she confessed that the last time she had seen the band was at the infamous 1998 Liberty Lunch gig in Austin, when a post-show altercation between Dulli and a stagehand landed him in the hospital with a skull fracture and resulted in a lawsuit that was dropped when the club went out of business.
The incident has long been a sore point with Dulli and I cringed at the woman’s mention of it, fully expecting his demeanor to reflect his discomfort, quite possibly in a most negative manner. Instead, he smiled sincerely and said, “I don’t remember much about that night.” He noted that he should be leaving before she thanked him again and that was that. As we walked down Sixth Street together, Dulli asked if I was just hanging and if I would like to join him.
Although the exchange I had just witnessed was uncharacteristic, I was still wary of disappearing into the late Austin afternoon with Greg Dulli. Unless you knew him back in the early days, you have no idea of how many explanations to cops, judges, bosses, and angry girlfriends all started out with, “Dulli and I went to this bar…” I weighed his offer against my journalistic responsibilities and told Greg I should head back to my hotel to get some writing in. He smiled, nodded and headed up the street. I walked back to my rental car, secure in the knowledge that I would be sober and unbooked for the evening ahead.
“I’ll be perfectly honest - about two years ago, I had a major awakening/lifestyle change, and it was with that change that I decided to take a glimpse back on the scorched earth policy I had been endeavoring to put upon the nation,” Dulli reports three weeks after our Austin meeting from his home in Los Angeles. “I was 38 years old and I had to decide whether I wanted to stick around or jump off a cliff. My zest for life had reached an insatiable point and I really had to make a conscious decision on how I wanted the remaining hours and days to go. The slow realization probably came from the internal dialogue that had been going on for years but was constantly obliterated by outside forces. I think I had been a passenger in my own Cadillac and I decided to take the wheel finally. I was headed for Hank Williams.”
If it’s hard to imagine a serene Greg Dulli, witnessing a current Twilight Singers show is not likely to make imagining it any easier. Dulli is every bit the swaggering, boisterous showman of old, approaching the Singers’ material with the same ferocity that always made the Whigs a viscerally compelling live force. Even in his quietest onstage moments, Dulli is like a truck spring that’s been coiled a couple turns too many. He is intensity personified.
It is that intensity that has also been successfully translated in the studio over Dulli’s nearly 20-year recording career, first with the Whigs and now with the Twilight Singers. The first Singers album, Twilight as Played by the Twilight Singers, was actually conceived in 1997, four years before the Whigs called it a day. Basic tracks were laid down with Howlin’ Maggie keyboardist Happy Chichester and Screaming Trees drummer Martin Barrett, among others, and ultimately remixed by British dance gurus Steve Cobby and Dave McSherry, known professionally as Fila Brazilia. The album finally saw the light of day in 2000, and it was widely hailed as a fascinating and diverse side project.
In 2001, the geographical distance that separated the members of the Afghan Whigs finally took its toll. With Dulli in Seattle (and L.A. and New Orleans), bassist John Curley and drummer Michael Horrigan in Cincinnati, and guitarist Rick McCollum in Minneapolis, the band decided it was time to put the Whigs to rest.
“The logistics became intolerable; four guys in four cities and three different time zones,” says Dulli. “I grew up with those guys. We were a gang. Had we attempted to continue, we would have done permanent damage to our friendship. That we had the foresight to know when to walk away with grace is something I will always be proud of. I see people who were in bands together and they fucking hate each other and that would break my heart. We all sensed that it had reached its logical conclusion. Don’t get me wrong, tears were shed. It was not an emotionless experience; it was heavy.”
Considering Dulli’s activities to that point, the shift to the Twilight Singers was almost seamless. Dulli had already begun writing songs for a new Whigs record so he simply adjusted his mindset to the Singers and continued. While working on new Singers material, Dulli worked on several other projects, including friend Mark Lanegan’s Bubblegum album, singing with the Lo Fidelity All-Stars and Cypress Hill’s Muggs on their respective albums, and providing John Lennon’s vocals on the soundtrack for the Beatles biopic Backbeat.
Dulli was well into the making of his sophomore Singers album, Blackberry Belle, when good friend and director Ted Demme died of a heart attack during a pick-up basketball game. Dulli scrapped much of what he had already written and began working on a darker, more reflective set of songs. The resulting album was a departure from the arc Dulli had originally intended, and it could be assumed that this is where the Twilight Singers’ singular album-by-album approach had its start, but Dulli is quick to note that he has a long history of not repeating himself.
Dulli acknowledges the diversity of the Singers catalog, but adds that, “every Whigs record had a different personality. The idea of making the same record twice does not appeal to me. The only people who should make consistently similar records are the Ramones and AC/DC. Once you have a formula like that, you’re an idiot to ditch it.”
In a sense, Dulli’s refusal to duplicate himself across even a pair of albums is his formula, and it has served him well. Even the Singers themselves do not adhere to the rules of rock band membership, as Dulli assembles musicians the way Jim Phelps used to put together a strike force on Mission: Impossible - on an individual, as-needed, as-available basis. All of the Singers’ albums, including the unpredictably diverse covers album, She Loves You, the messy, jammy rock of Amber Headlights (a collection of tracks recorded around the time of the Whigs break-up and actually credited to Dulli rather than the Singers), and Dulli’s perceived fresh masterwork, Powder Burns, have been constructed in this manner.
“I write a lot, actually more so now than when I was in the Whigs, to be perfectly honest,” says Dulli. “Sometimes I’ll do it just to keep the sword sharp. I’ll farm out songs to different people and I’ve worked with a variety of people. Once I grasp some sort of thematic thread, that’s when I start to put a record together in earnest. To wit, the oldest songs on Powder Burns are ‘Dead to Rights’ and ‘Forty Dollars,’ and they were just songs that I liked. I didn’t know what would happen with them. Then when I wrote ‘I’m Ready’ and ‘There’s Been an Accident,’ I saw those four as kind of a foundation for what I wanted to do.”
While Dulli admits to that there is something of a conceptual theme running through the songs on Powder Burns, and grants that it might be connected to his recent introspection on the party-til-you-hit-the-wall days, he is less inclined to make any obvious statement on his direct intentions. “Yeah, but at the risk of being gauche, I would say that it’s a thread to me and to put it on the listener would be unfair,” says Dulli. “It’s not Tommy.”
Powder Burns may not be an epic concept album but it is most certainly one of most powerful musical statements that Dulli has offered in either of his acclaimed band entities. His soul and punk skills have rarely been melded into such an effective hybrid, like a genetic jumble of Paul Westerberg and Marvin Gaye; neither takes precedence yet both are in glorious evidence. From the Replacements-channel-the-Stooges bluster of “I’m Ready” to the jazzily cinematic swell of the album’s closing track, “I Wish I Was,” Dulli revisits familiar themes like lust and love, regret and pride, cynicism and hope.
Powder Burns was recorded in a number of locales in the U.S. and Italy, primarily in Dulli’s beloved and ruined New Orleans, before and after Katrina’s devastation. “New Orleans is where the bulk of the recording was done and has been done for the last eight years,” says Dulli. “I have a recording family down there and it’s my favorite place to record. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I live in Los Angeles the majority of the time, so the building blocks were created here. My musician circle is here so I built three or four of them here and I recorded the strings here in Los Angeles. In Brooklyn, I needed a particular drummer and I was visiting New York at the time and I was able to book a week of studio time and nail that down. Catania, I have friends there and visit there a lot. Daniele Grasso has a studio called The Cave there, and I have carte blanche to come in there and lay things down whenever I want, so I did basic tracks for one song there. And I produce this Italian band called After Hours, and we actually did their record in Catania, but they’re from Milan and they asked me to join the band and I did 50 shows with them in Italy last year, so I recorded basic tracks for ‘I’m Ready’ in Milan.”
In a brilliant burst of irony, the very distance that spelled the end of the Whigs five years ago has now been eliminated, through the use of technology that allows Dulli to treat the Singers’ material like a musical jigsaw puzzle. One track of particular interest to longtime fans is “Candy Cane Crawl,” which features Whigs bassist John Curley and guerilla folkie Ani DiFranco, who was recording her new album in New Orleans at the same time Dulli was working on Powder Burns.
“‘Candy Cane Crawl’ was written as a ballad and then was changed into a rather visceral rock song,” says Dulli. “On the She Loves You tour, we previewed it as a rock song. When I was putting the record together, I had plenty of uptempo numbers and needed another ballad so I switched it back to its original arrangement. I was alone at that point in New Orleans, it was just me and Mike [Napolitano], and we recorded the track to a drum loop, then it was the magic of the internet. I sent the files to New York for my friend Wiz [Greg Wieczorek] to play drums on, I sent the files to Cincinnati for John to play bass on, I sent the files to Los Angeles for Scott Bennett to do the Beach Boys vocals on. They sent them back the next day. The bass is vintage John Curley…he laid down the track, I called him and tweaked it a little bit and he got it in the second take. He’s my favorite bass player, I ain’t gonna lie. And he’s my best friend. Ani DiFranco lived in the house with Mike and I and she came in and added her part last, and it was done. That song was done in 48 hours in four different cities without me ever leaving the house.”
Powder Burns possesses all of the qualities that have infused the best work from both the Whigs and the Twilight Singers; a bruised but unapologetic romanticism, a visceral rock foundation, and a funky soulfulness that hasn’t been this evident since the Whigs’ triumphant Black Love. At the center of it all is the Hamilton, Ohio native who has grown from small town bad boy to one of the best-connected musicians in rock and roll. After nearly 20 years of work, Dulli is in the position of having his catalog evaluated for posterity and, as it happens, it holds up pretty well. He completely understands the increased interest in the Afghan Whigs, as he remains a fan of his bandmates to this day. Curley’s new band, Staggering Statistics, and McCollum’s Moon Maan have both opened for the Twilight Singers and have even joined Dulli on stage for impromptu one-night Whigs reunions. While Dulli sees no broader Whigs reunion in sight, he appreciates the excitement generated by the prospect.
“I was a fan, too,” he says with a wry laugh. “Those guys were my boys. They’re my family, they’re my brothers. We’re thick as thieves. My favorite groups had their run, then they laid it down and never came back. Right now, at the core of the Whigs - me, John and Rick - I see three happy guys doing their own thing now who still have a friendship. We‘re all supportive of each other. The Afghan Whigs made six records and did 2000 shows and if you heard those songs and liked them and saw one of those shows, and it rocked you, fuck, man, there you go.”
The Twilight Singers are perhaps harder to quantify, since Dulli is still in the midst of creating their legacy. He offers a thumbnail roadmap for the Singers’ creative arc. “The first one was a side project, but it was treated as a reaction. I really wanted to make a different style of music outside the Whigs; I still had the Whigs when I first did that, and I expected to continue doing it, so I made a 180-record,” explains Dulli. “Blackberry was the first record I did without the Whigs and it was a reaction to a variety of things, most notably my friend Ted’s passing. She Loves You was the inevitable interpretive record that I couldn’t believe it took me that long to do. I’d been doing mash-ups and covers my whole life. That was a direct by-product of going out and playing with a band for the first time in three years. The original blueprint for the Twilight Singers was to sing with other people. The first one I sang with Happy and Shawn [Smith], the second one I sang with Mark Lanegan, Apollonia, and Petra Haden, this time I’m singing with Ani DiFranco and Joseph Arthur. I love seeing what different personalities can bring to a situation.”
The difference in Powder Burns is clearly the difference in Greg Dulli. Even if his lyrics remain as guarded and cryptic as ever, there is a clarity of purpose in these songs that emanates from their singer. “I’m not going to say I wasn’t present for the other records, but none so much as this one,” says Dulli honestly. “This one is about as clear as I’ve ever been. It felt kind of liberating, actually. I think I needed to make peace with certain things in my past in order to be able to move on. I think this album is intrinsically transitional and what happens next will be a completely liberated record. The one that happens next is the one I’m looking forward to.”
What’s next is always in the forefront of Dulli’s creative mind. He’s already tracked a couple of songs for the next Singers’ release and he’s trying to block out some time with Mark Lanegan for the pair to finish their long-awaited Gutter Twins project (“I wish I’d never told anyone about it,” he says. “I wish we’d just finished it and put it out…”) As for the Singers, what does the future hold? Will Greg Dulli long for a more permanent entity and put together a stable line-up that becomes the permanent Twilight Singers? Don’t bet on that horse. “To paraphrase Mark E. Smith from the Fall,” says Dulli with an audible grin, “if it’s me and your grandma playing bongos, it’s the Twilight Singers.”
“I’m Ready” UK Single
The UK single for “I’m Ready” by The Twilight Singers will be released on July 10.
The b-side is the Lo-Fidelity All Stars remix of the track.
Twilight at MTV News
MTV News - Rundown of “Crazy” (Gnarls Barkley) Covers
Who: Twilight Singers
Why you know them: Singer Greg Dulli was known for doing offbeat Motown covers with the Afghan Whigs, and his latest project has tackled artists ranging from Mary J. Blige and Stevie Wonder to Fleetwood Mac and George Gershwin.
What it sounds like: At a May 29 show at the Paradise in Boston, Dulli mellowed things out, giving Gnarls singer Cee-Lo a run for his money in the gravelly vocals department. The singer takes the uptempo song for a late-night, drunken-crooner makeover, thanks to brushed drums, piano and some spare guitar.
Verdict: Definitely a bit deranged
Moon Maan to Play Chicago, Madison
Reminder: Rick McColllum’s Moon Maan will be playing Chicago and Madison this week.
Fri June 30th - Doubledoor, Chicago IL
Sun July 2nd - High Noon Saloon , Madison WI
It’s not often that Moon Maan plays out of town, so be sure to get off your couches and support Rick and his band. You won’t be disappointed.
Dulli interview on CJSW
Greg Dulli’s interview with independent radio station CJSW in Calgary, Alberta
will air on Monday, June 26 at 8 pm MST. You can catch it online with their web audio stream at www.cjsw.com.
When The Lights Go Down In The City
How about that Twilight Singers show on Monday? It blew our socks off, and now we’re inspired to fill in the holes in our Twilight Singers album collection. Our friend Jeff Klein is on tour with Dulli and company, so we had a chance to spend time with them on their Sunday night off in San Francisco. A trip to Tommy’s Joint for dinner followed by drinks at the excellent new Mission bar Homestead revealed all the band members to be rather mellow: just a fine group of black-clad gentlemen enjoying some cocktails and a great jukebox. But once they got onstage the next night, the energy level skyrocketed. One of the most passionate performances we’ve seen all year.
The Gutter Twins: Saturnalia The long awaited debut from Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan
Order CD at Amazon.com
