NUCLEUS INTERVIEW

(full, unedited transcript)

1. Please Bruce, summarize us shortly your musical career.

I bought my first guitar when I was 13, took 6 months to figure out how to tune it. I then played in various terrible bands playing embarrassing gigs in local pubs. Then, while at college, Neil and I (Neil Randall is the other half of Vulgar Unicorn) attended a 'Rock Workshop' ran by John Parish (later known for his work with PJ Harvey and The Eels). This was where we learnt the fine art of making decent, carefully crafted music. Vulgar Unicorn was born in 1991 and we released 'Umbrella' in 1995 after we signed to Cyclops. Neil and I continued to develop our skills in the studio and in 1999 I decided to launch Pineapple Thief.

2. Which have your more important influences been?

This is always a tricky question! When I was young, I loved the guitar work of Andy Latimer and Ian Biarnson and I loved bands like Camel, early Steve Hacket, Floyd, Supertramp, Yes. Probably my favourite progressive albums are the first three released by a US band called 'Ambrosia' - I love their early stuff! Neil and I also rate 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' by the Alan Parsons Project. I also think 'Crime of the Century' by Supertramp is one of the best records of all time - wonderfully recorded. Check out the toms! Lately, I have found it hard to find as much to get excited about. Many people pick up on the 'Porcupine Tree' influences, but I have never (until last year) owned a Porcupine Tree record! Not through some kind of musical arrogance, but the last thing I wanted was to be influenced by a band everyone was saying I was already influenced by! I thought 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' were 'ok' but overall sounded unfinished and pretentious. The last album I loved was the new one from 'Beck' - great string arrangements.

3. One could say that Pineapple Thief music is in a point between Porcupine Tree and Radiohead. Do you agree with it? Do you feel part next to those groupings of a new British progressive current?

I certainly feel flattered to be grouped with these two bands! But it makes me smile that the closest one can get to Pineapple Thief within modern music are these two bands. The main reason we are so often compared to PT and Radiohead is that so few bands are trying to do what we are doing. We're not neo-prog, we're just trying to push contemporary guitar music forward. Nowadays, we are flooded with pop metal, nu-metal, nu-punk - it's almost as if this is ALL guitar bands can do. Then Coldplay come along and release a global smash, simply because not enough of us are doing that kind of stuff! I honestly think the new Coldplay album is 'good' but not 'great' but it still sells millions of units because the world is crying out for decent, intelligent guitar music. But as long as the major labels continue to focus on rap, r&b and manufactured pop, guitar music is doomed. Why they can't see the selling potential of Pineapple Thief I do not know!!

4. What does it represent today to be a progressive musician in musical market of Great Britain? Should you face yourself to newspaper to give to know your work with what type of difficulties?

Getting our music 'out there' is so hard in the UK. The press are a very closed shop. Malcolm at Cyclops still sends promos to the major magazines but nothing ever gets reviewed. It's a real shame but I can understand how difficult it is when there are literally 1000s of releases each month. The main reason Pineapple Thief are emerging is through the internet - webzines (such as yourselves!) and newsgroups have been our saviour. One glowing remark on a 'Flower Kings' group for examples resulted in a flurry of sales from our website. And if our music is good enough, it should spread it's tentacles throughout the world through the power of the web. But being a progressive act in the UK is NOT easy. Most of our sales are to Europe and the USA. Having said that, there are a lot of people working hard in the UK to promote progressive music (Cyclops, the Classic Rock Society) so it's not all bad...

5. Do means dedicated to the diffusion of this music type exist?

Like I said before, the web is the best way to diffuse our music. We hardly get any mainstream reviews in the UK - most appear in webzines and fanzines. The healthiest markets seem to be Germany, the Netherlands and the US. For some reason, more people seem to be into progressive music there! But I'm not going to stand here and complain that we can't get our music heard. I honestly think there are 1000s of people who have never heard of us that would love our music - but the means DO exist to get it out there. If our music is good enough, it will get noticed. The depressing aspect is that so many mediocre bands reach a large audience through luck and miss-placed marketing by the majors while so many good bands have to make it the hard way.

6. Which you would say that it is the difference between Vulgar Unicorn and Pineapple Thief? What does it allow you to express each one of those projects?

This is a tricky one! Vulgar Unicorn is very different to Pineapple Thief. For one, it's collaboration with my long time friend and musical partner 'Neil Randall' and I am conscious to make sure it's a 50/50 split. But overall, it's quite unique - more electronic and probably more innovative. Neil also writes the lyrics for VU and they are very different to mine. Neil always says that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't think that is always a bad thing though. Pineapple Thief focuses more on song writing and is very much more personal (to me) than VU. While VU is an exclusively 'modern' sounding band, Pineapple Thief takes traditional sounds such as mellotron, orchestral arrangements and guitars and tries to propel them into the 21st century with something new and moving. At least, we try!

7. Could you make a journey for your discography and to give me your current opinion of each work?

OK!

Pineapple Thief: Abducting the Unicorn (2000)

I was very proud of this release at the time but it is definitely my least favourite Pineapple Thief release! And I should hope so - it would be a depressing state of affairs if my new releases were not up to the standard of my old ones. Having said that, I still look back on 'Private Paradise' and 'Parted Forever' with pride. But sonically, they are not the greatest recordings in the world. However, this release got me 'out there' and the response was brilliant, which inspired me to do 137...

Pineapple Thief: 137 (2002)

This was really the album that got Pineapple Thief noticed. While 'Abducting' was a good album, it was not quite good enough to inspire people to rave about it on newsgroups. However, 137 started to grow and spread as reviews and word of mouth started spreading. When I released '137' I thought to myself, 'how can I follow this one?' - but now I realise how much better I can do. Having said that, 'Kid Chameleon' is still one of my favourite tracks, but there are also a few duds on there such as 'Warm Me' and 'Incubate'. Also, some of the performances were not that great and some of my vocals were a bit dodgy! But all in all, this was the album that made people take notice.

Pineapple Thief: Variations on a Dream (2003)

I am really proud of this one, although I expect a year from now I will look back with a different opinion. This is probably the most personal album I have ever made as a large proportion of it was influenced by the early death of one of my very close friends (he was 28 years old and died suddenly of a heart attack). If one good thing came from his death, it was the inspiration to put my emotions into this music. It's too early to tell how well this is going to go but I've had some lovely emails from fans around the world who pre-ordered it from our site. The official release is the end of May so it will be interesting to see how this one spreads around the world. But overall, yes, I am very proud of this one. It is easily (in my opinion) the best Pineapple Thief album to date. And probably the saddest!

8. You count me something about "Variations on a Dream", your new album. How are the things coming out up to now?

Well, it's too early to say. I have only sold copies to die hard Pineapple Thief fans, and I have to say, they all love it (which is a relief!). The studio can be a very lonely place and when I receive emails from people saying how 'bowled over' by it they are, it really makes all the difference. This may sound trite, but whether selling 100 or 100,000 copies - when people genuinely love my music, it makes everything worthwhile. I've already got the energy to tackle the 4th Pineapple Thief album from the response I have had from fans.

9. What opinion do you have of the finished album?

Like I said, it's definitely my strongest work to date. It's interesting to hear that most people pick up on 'coldplay/radiohead/porcupine tree/smashing pumpkins' influences. But to me, it doesn't really fit into any of these 'sub-genres'. I just look at this album as a collection of songs, variations on the same theme. When I sat down to write them, I didn't think of any particular style to emulate. I love melody and moving words. I love lush orchestral arrangements. I hate meandering solos but love carefully crafted guitar melodies. I love old analogue synths. I love the piano. And I love the mellotron (but didn't use it too much!). Bung all this into the mixer and I guess that is where Pineapple Thief is at. Oh yes! And lets not forget that fact that we're not consigned to the '3 minute pop song format' - if a song needs to be 6/8/10/30 minutes long, so be it! But I would never write a long song to sell to the progressive market, just as I wouldn't write a short song to play on the radio.

10. Did the songs compose them in the same way that in the past, or this time you followed some different method? Did you experience with new sounds?

With 'Variations', I spent a lot more time applying 'fine sheens', developing structure and melody until everything seemed perfect. My time working with Steve Coe (who is the producer/writing partner with Sheila Chandra) taught me how important getting into the fine detail is. I also experimented a lot more with orchestral instruments such as string ensembles and other more 'unusual' (within rock music anyway) instruments such as bass clarinet, contra bassoon etc. I also had fun working with the mellotron. Finally, I spent a lot more time on the performance - especially the vocals. Over time, my voice has become a real instrument and I spent a long time developing the melody and timbre for the parts. An important thing I learnt also is that you must WAIT to be inspired. A great song does NOT take months to write. All my best songs were written in an evening. I cannot describe what it feels like to feel truly inspired but sadly it does not happen every day.

11. Can you describe me one by one the songs?

OK - but I won't give too much away about the true meaning behind these songs as I prefer people to run free with their own interpretations

We Subside - This is one of the orchestral based works and is quite sombre. It is quite obvious what it is about; the loss of someone and finding the reason to carry on and find meaning in life. This was originally an instrumental, but my friend Steve Coe convinced me to put a vocal part on it. And I respect his opinion!

This will remain Unspoken - I really love the mellotron and horns on this one. I spent some time getting the guitar and vocals to sit together nicely. Again, it's all about finding our 'raison d'etre' and is a very personal work.

Vapour Trails - Yes, I know, this is a Rush album! But it was the only sensible title for this track. I was trying to get a dreamy, un-earthly 'vibe' here. It also features a sample from one of my early fans (and now friend) called Will Torrens from Toronto - he did an 8-minute guitar feedback drone, which I sampled and filtered for the middle section. He promised not to sue me!

Run me Through - I have extremely vivid and scary nightmares. I regularly run around the house screaming at make believe creatures. Sometimes I try to clamber out of my bedroom window which is a little disturbing! This track follows that theme, and begins with the track playing in a car outside driving by the studio. It's my girlfriend driving the car - I was on the mobile phone telling her to 'turn the track up' while I recorded it with a stereo pair of mics dangling outside!

Bitter Pill - Once again, a sombre piece based around a simple piano melody. The emphasis on this track was with the 'song' - you won't find any technical synth or guitar solos here!

Resident Alien - The only instrumental track, this is influenced by minimalist music. One of the greatest performances I ever saw live was of Steve Reich's 'Music for 18 Musicians'. This blew me away and probably influenced my music more than anything else. You can hear minimalist influences on a lot of my work.

Sooner or Later - A welcome upbeat sojourn! I enjoy working with electronic sounds for percussion and if there was any Smashing Pumpkins influences you could find it here (although I would argue I am more influenced by Flood's production) but I tire if this style is overused. I managed to use my new Fender Telecaster for this one (all my other guitar parts are played with my trusty USA strat) which has some nice mods on it that enable me to perform the stuttered solo.

Part Zero - Another orchestral based one, this is one of my favourite tracks as it covers all kind of moods - sombre, uplifting, aggressive and peaceful. The guitar solo on the end is a re-recording as the original one is exclusively available on the 5th Cyclops sampler.

Keep Dreaming - Another melody based simple song in 6/8. Again, I decided on orchestral parts such as clarinet and trumpet where as before I may have used guitar and synths to perform the same part.

Remember Us - This has to be my favourite track. The real meaning behind the song and inspiration makes me feel very sombre. Without remembrance there is nothing.

12. Which are your favorite bands? How other things usually listen?

Currently, my favourite bands are Ambrosia, Beck, Camel, America, Nick Drake, Al Stewart, early Yes, Colin Blunstone, Radiohead, Longpigs, Deus and Smashing Pumpkins. I love the new 'Queens of the Stone age' album which I think is pretty progressive. I also love the Deftones who seem to be doing something new in the saturated world of metal.

13. Is there some new band that has impressed you and do want to recommend us to listen?

This is tricky. I don't listen to an awful lot of new stuff because I am constantly trying to write new, original stuff myself. I loved the last Beck record (very nice production from Nigel Godrich) but don't listen to too much modern progressive stuff in case it makes my own music too derivative. Many people may well argue with this philosophy. On my own label, I think PO90 are the band trying to push progressive music into the new millennium while Sphere3 are also doing some great BrandX style prog jazz!

14. Which your challenge is as musician for the future?

That's easy! To always better myself, to always better my last recording. If I ever start to churn out sub-standard records then I hope someone will tell me! I remember Steve Coe said that 'carrying on writing music when you know you've lost it is like not having the courage to finish a loveless relationship.' There are far too many bands who have diluted their legacy by churning out mediocre album after album into their twilight years. Nirvana had the right idea (apart from suicide that is).

15. Thank you. The closing of the interview is yours...

No, thank you! Without people like you in the world who love music and who seek out new music, I would never be where I am today. Hooray for the internet, hooray for newsgroups, hooray for MP3s, hooray for Kazaa! As far as I am concerned if my music gets out there, in whatever form, I am happy.

Many thanks. Bruce Soord 6th April 2003