INTERVIEW WITH FOREST GIANTS

Melodic noisepop, arty folkrock, er... whatever.Forest Giants is the current project of ex-Beatnik Filmstars, Tim Rippington.Needless to say, Tim and Forest Giants are greatly appreciated here at Cielo Líquido HQ...

1.Would you give us a short bio of Forest Giants? Tell us who you are and what has happened with the band until now.

Forest Giants started as a name for me to play some songs under after I left Beatnik Filmstars. I wasn't really planning to form another band, but demo'd a few of the songs with Paula (Knight) playing bass and Andrew (Jarrett) (singer in BF) playing the drums. They sounded pretty good, so I decided to record a few more. Paula was off doing stuff with her own band Girl Boy Girl, so I persuaded Ruth (Cochrane) to play the bass - I'd seen her playing with the Blue Aeroplanes and the Mekons (with whom she toured the US) and I really liked the way she played. When the time came Andrew was off doing Kyoko stuff, so we recruited Jo Head to play drums. She had a really laid back kind of Galaxie 500 style of drumming which really suited what we were doing at the time.

We got together for a weekend and recorded 10 or so songs, most of which ended up on the "In Sequence" LP and the "Closure" single. Then Jo moved to London, leaving us to finish the record, and Tom (Adams) joined after Kyoko finished. Paula has been helping us out on Keyboards and violin, mainly when we play live, and she's also started to do some vocals..

2.You were a member of Beatnik Filmstars, a band which I loved in the past…Why did that band ended? Why did you decide to start a new project again? Which are the differences and similarities between Forest Giants and Beatnik Filmstars?

I made 5 albums with BF and a lot of singles, but I didn't get to write any of the songs. Andrew (Jarrett) was so prolific there wasn't really much room for that! I left before the last album was made, so I don't know all the ins- and outs-, but I think really it ended because there's only so long you can go on producing great music that hardly anyone gets to hear - its very soul-destroying.. The fatigue and the stress just gets too much and you need to have a break or try something new. After I left BF, it took me about three years before I really got back into playing music, but I love it so much I could never give it up totally..

Tom (Adams) carried on playing with Andrew and John (Austin) in Kyoko, so he's never really stopped. Ruth on the other hand didn't play bass for about 5-6 years, so she's really enjoying being back in a band now..

To answer the last part of your question, I think we have a similar attitude to BF, the way we do things, make records, put them out is similar - but I think we're more straightforward in our approach to recording the songs - Andrew used to write great songs and then twist them about - I try to just get them to sound as good as I can - although we do like a bit of weirdness from time to time..!

3.Just curious… Do you still have relationship with the rest of the members of BF?

Yes, we mostly see each other a lot - John does the artwork for our CDs..

4.How would you describe Forest Giant's music to someone who haven't heard it? What do you think you sound like?

I hate this question because how do you describe music? We play lots of songs in D!

5.What does it mean "to be independent" these days? What would it be the motivation of "doing rock" today?

For us, Independent means having very little opportunity to play, release records or anything else! We'd love to be a bit less independent.. At the end of the day we play music because we love it - its in the blood

6.What's your opinion on the importance of press and media coverage? Do you have any particular policies on how to get it?

I guess its extremely important - the press and media make or break you as a band - without them, its unlikely you'll ever get heard, sell any records or play any gigs. Our policy? Give away as many records as possible and hope someone is listening...

7.I think that there are loads of good bands in Britain but the big media sometimes just don't notice or support a wrong scene..What do you think?

I'm sure there are lots of good bands out there , but they probably have the same problems we do getting themselves known. Of the current crop of "big" UK bands, Snow Patrol are the only ones I have much time for, although the Libertines have a nice DIY sound....

8.How did you get in touch with the labels which have released your stuff?

Our first single came out through Mobstar, the label run by Andrew and John from BF. I was hoping they would release the album too, but they liked it so much they made me send it off to other labels in the hope of finding someone bigger. Invisible Hands liked it and released it, but it turned out they knew less about selling our kind of music than Mobstar did! They just had more money...It also took an awful long time for the record to come out- by the time it was released it was about three years old, but that's life with a lot of record labels I think..

9.What kind of role has the internet regarding music? How do you think the internet has affected the "underground music scene"? Is downloading killing music? Do you have any strong feelings sympathetic to or against?

The internet is a real lifeline to bands like us. You can find out information about labels, other bands, distributors so much more easily now. And there are loads of places to get your stuff reviewed (although I don't know if anyone reads them!!) Without the Internet we wouldn't know about Cielo Liquido! Is downloading killing music? No, the music industry cut its own throat a long time ago...

10.How do you see the future of music? Which is your opinion of the UK and International music scene right now?

The future of music? I've no idea - probably the same as the past only slightly watered down... Whatever happens, I know I'll find it hard to give up listening to or making pop music..

11.Peel's death…How does it affect to the british music scene? Which decent media are left in the UK?

Its a tragedy. He'll never be bettered. His radio show was a one off, and they're not even trying to replace it. I met John a few times and he was exactly the same in real life as he was on the radio... There is some good music around, most of it American as usual - there's also lots of dross, as usual

12.Have you been really inspired/influenced by anyone?

Joe Strummer. John Peel. Ian Curtis. Morrissey. Lou Reed. Andrew Jarrett. My mum..

13.Tell us a little bit about the the process of writing songs and your lyrics.

Mostly the music comes first. We put together rough demos, then I'll listen to them a lot and the words and melody come, sometimes all at once, sometimes they change over time. Occasionally a whole song will appear fully formed in my head, but on the other hand some of the newest material has been more of a band collaboration..

Words are very important to me. I used to love Andrew's words (in BF) and they kind of set a bench mark for me. He taught me that you can write about pretty much anything as long as you do it well - our songs cover love, politics, someone trashing your car, looking out of a window, anything really!! The song Mr Doorman is about some guy who used to ring in to the Call Centre where I worked for a time. He was just a crazy guy who upset all the staff, and it made me laugh so I wrote some words about it..

14.How different is playing live than studio recording? What do you prefer? Do you like to improvise when performing live? Is your live stuff very different from your recordings?

For us, live and recording are very different. We like to play around with song structures, use different instruments live and in the studio. I like doing that, keeping it interesting for ourselves and anyone who turns up regularly to watch us!

After a good gig I like live, after a bad one I hate it! Getting an idea for a song and recording it quickly is pretty satisfying..

15.Do you listen to your records a lot after finishing them?

No, but I listen to them a lot before they're finished. I'm always getting extra ideas, adding new melodies, new guitar parts or coming up with ideas for backing vocals. Sometimes a song will be recorded for a long time but I know its not quite right - eventually an idea will pop up to improve it, or if it doesn't, we probably won't end up releasing it at all.. Listening to stuff on a walkman is great for getting new ideas, because sometimes they come from external sources, like a car going by or a dog barking at just the right time!

16.How really important is the production in your records?

You may not believe it from listening to our early stuff, but production is very important to me. A lot of things you do live sound good because its all turned up loud and the sound is naturally distorted, but with recording you have to achieve the same effect at much lower volumes. Things have to stand up to repeated listening, so you need to layer melodies, leave things for the listener to find later on - bands like Lambchop and Grandaddy are really good at that. I think the production on our stuff is getting better and better, even though we do most of it ourselves - its just a learning curve..

17.Which is your current label?

Breaking Down records. They've "reformed" just to release this EP. We're looking for a new label at the moment to release the next album, someone who can support us live..

18.I noticed that you seem very keen on the EP format? Is that true or is it just a personal impression?

I like to put the number of songs on a record that I think will hold the listener's attention. The first LP had three extra songs originally, but they weren't quite right so you lost interest - we took them off and the record worked a lot better, even though it ended up under 30 minutes..

The new EP came about because we recorded a single for Invisible Hands but they wouldn't put it out - singles are very hard to sell. So we agreed with Breaking Down that they'd put it out but we'd add more songs to make it worth the effort. I really like the format of this particular record.

The next album is definitely over 35 minutes and has 10 or 11 songs on it. I know because its almost complete..

19.What is your local scene at (Bristol)? Is there a good musical activity (fanzines, venues, labels, etc)? Would you recommend some bands? Which is your relationship with other Bristol bands?

I don't know much about the local music scene - I don't get out much! I saw a band I liked the other day called "North Sea Navigator" - I think they may have connections with Movietone.. I also like Sammo Hung a lot, but they're from Cardiff..

20.I love to talk about music so… What's on your stereo right now? What kind of bands/artists do you like at the moment? What were the last records you bought? Is there any other stuff that you like musically apart from "rock"? What new bands interest you?

We like to talk music too - here's what we're listening to at the moment:

Tim - The Wedding Present, Brian Wilson, Luna

Paula - Low, Gillian Welch

Tom - Interpol, Preston School of Industry, Bloc Party and The Fall

Ruth is reading The Siege by Helen Dunmore..

21.Tell us something about your next records.How much different are these records from the previous ones?

The next album is almost finished. Its called "Welcome to the Mid-West", inspired by a recent trip to Weston Super Mare.. Its easily the best thing we've done so far. Paula sings on a couple of songs, they sound great.

22.Finally, what are your upcoming plans?

Next thing we do is have a party to celebrate the release of the CD. We're fed up of playing to no one, so we thought we'd organise a free party, get all our friends along and play! (yes, we have told them!).Then we find a label for the next album. Then Paula wants us to write and record a country album. So that's a bit to be going on with..!!

Phew - all done! Thanks for interviewing us Fernando - and if you're reading this, please buy our records!!

For more info about Forest Giants, visit their website www.forestgiants.co.uk

Interview by Fernando Pérez Herrero