Interview: Robyn Hitchcock [Win Tickets to the Show on Friday @ Antone's]
What’s it like to have a cult following?
It's fine as long as the cult follows you. I'm visible to certain people and not to others.
How is the tour treating you so far? Any stops you’re especially looking forward to?
We've traveled 15,000 miles and done 4 shows so far. I'm looking forward to playing everywhere, especially Austin as I hardly ever play there outside of SXSW. Plus we get to see our friends Jody, Holly, and maybe Mac if we're lucky.
Have your goals as a musician changed over the course of your career? If so, how?
Being a professional musician all my life has made me appreciate styles of music I didn't dig as a youngster. I aim to touch but not always to please. My goal is to produce music that keeps people company, and probably always has been, though I may not have realized that at first.
Does having a box set out make you feel like an elder statesmen? You’ve previously said you aren’t that interested in older work, but were you pleased with how the box set came out?
All the great rock musicians are now elder statesmen, or dead legends. A boxed set doesn't necessarily give you membership of that club, but it's good to know that so many of my recordings are available again. It's sad to be out of print. What would Mozart make of CDs - or John Lennon for that matter?
Are there older songs that you still love to perform now? Is it because the audience particularly values them, or that you yourself particularly value them?
My songs sometimes seem to know more than I do. Emotionally, I'm a late developer, but my songs often seem to be a voice from outside, telling me my situation objectively, as if I had a camera trained on myself. Other times, they are moments of my life bottled and stored for the future: so when I sing them now, I can re-inhabit that lost time I lived through. And the people in the audience that heard those songs back in their own past, as perhaps transported back there too - emotional triggers hopefully.
Are there any things musically that you haven’t gotten around to that you’re just waiting to do?
It's sad to be out of print.
You’ve done a bit of acting, and have worked with Jonathan Demme on a few projects, including 1998’s Storefront Hitchcock and last year’s Rachel Getting Married. What’s it like working with Demme? Can we assume he’s a huge fan of yours?
Jonathan is huge fan of people, which makes him an empathic director. He sees acting and playing music as parallel disciplines: "They're both performance" he told me.
What do you like about working on film projects, and does it differ from the sorts of things you normally do?
The musical soundtrack is a subtle counterpoint to the movie - the music is never the star, but can have an effective supporting role. The music flavours the picture and you have to get it right. I've been working on a soundtrack recently. Jonathan Demme has filmed me quite a bit and that's always fun, beyond that I don't know ...
Are there aspects of your live musical performances that feel like acting? Or, are we audience members getting the raw deal?
As Jonathan said, it's all performance. If the audience gives you right kind of water, you can walk on it. If two people in the crowd are talking, everybody gets a raw deal. People who come to gigs to hear themselves rather than the performer should be tagged and barred from live venues for life.
You’ve played Austin tons of times. Do you have a noteworthy story about the city that you’d be willing to share with us?
Playing my first gig in Austin in 1985 I was so sick from post-operative exhaustion (never a good way to start a tour) that I walked offstage after 5 numbers and got a few powerful electric shocks from the mic. I really hope that never happens again ...
Thanks so much for your time. Hopefully, this time in Austin will be shock free.
