Your first EP was also the first record released by Memphis Industries. How did you get to work with them?
Andy: I was looking to send out a few demos to labels and someone told me about a new label being set up. I sent a tape to Memphis and from that they asked me to do a couple of EP’s and then the album. I signed with them in 1998 and the rest is history.

When Nothing Changes Under The Sun was released, did you expect that it would sale as well as it did? What was you reaction back then?
Andy: I had no expectations when Nothing Changes... was released; I hoped it would sell enough for me to be able to write another one, which has been the case. Initial reaction was great from the press but it didn’t sell much early on, it was only after the re-release in August 2001 that it began to do well. At first I was delighted that it actually got released but I was happy with how it was received. 

How did the band come together?
Andy: It’s a mixture of old and new friends. Chris and Karl, acoustic and bass, are old friends who I’ve been in many bands with over the years. I met Jon (drums) through Ollie at Memphis and Ty was put in touch with me when I was looking for a vocalist. The newest member is Mark on keys.

You still write most of the tracks, with Tahita contributing to the vocal tracks. How does working as a six-piece band has affected the way you work?
Andy: As I mentioned earlier having the live band in place has been in the back of my mind when writing Man Mountain, but I still basically did what I wanted. The direction I’ve taken was always where I wanted to go, as soon as I finished Nothing Changes… I knew how I wanted Man Mountain to sound.

Tahita, what is your musical background? How did you discover you could sing?
Tahita: I thought that everyone could sing. Then I joined a school choir during my teens and how people reacted to my voice within the choir convinced me that maybe my voice was something special. I got into music as a teenager and I think I’ve been through as many phases as the next person. I”ve always loved music that moves you – literally – like the rap of the late 80s – NWA, Public Enemy, or that really visceral punk of the early 70s, like Stooges and MC5, that makes you want to go out and scream in the streets - and the bands that I’ve founded in the past have reflected that.  Its been amazing to do this more reflective music, because I’m not strictly speaking from that background.

Although you were born in London, you grew up in Europe and the US. Where did you live, and do you think this has had an influence on your musical influences?
Tahita: I lived all over Europe for short periods – my mother liked moving around. We spent some time in Egypt and I think that influenced my way of thinking about other cultures. In the US, we lived in New York for almost two years and I watched a lot of MTV and old musicals – there’s definitely a pop sensibility about what I do, so I suppose all that must have seeped in somewhere.

Have you been involved with other project before joining Blue States?
Tahita: Yes, but unfortunately none of it made it to the streets for various reasons. I did some stuff with Jadell who was on Ultimate Dilemma and Sophisticuts (which became Tru – thoughts) – and I’ve been in various bands. Alphawave was a project I started in Brighton with some friends during uni and that was the last time I was the driving force creatively. Our style was very Noow Yourk Punk – we would have been very in now, if we hadn’t imploded messily.

Had you heard of Blue States before? If yes, what was your opinion on Nothing Changes Under The Sun?
Tahita: Yes. I had heard Nothing Changes and it was on my shopping list. It’s a great album. Of course, now many groups that came after Andy have done albums that seem to have similar influences – the cinematic sound, etc but it was a unique nugget at the time. Lots of people I knew had discovered for themselves it and really rated it as a weekend favourite. So I was over the moon when Andy decided he wanted to work with me.

How did you meet Andy, and how did the idea of working together come up?
Tahita: Working with Andy came up through friends of friends. He was looking for singers and I was looking for collaborators. Snap!!! Luckily for us, we hit it off immediately and working together was fairly easy, as well as very rewarding. Its very important to feel comfortable with creative partners and I think we do understand each other creatively speaking. We have similar reference points.

What was it like to integrate a project that already existed? Did you find it easy to find your place within the band?
Tahita: When I joined, Blue States only had two members of their original line up. Jon Chandler (Drums) and Karl Hagar (Bass) were also new boys and so really we all carved out our places with relative ease. No-one knew what to expect so anything that worked was good… As far as Andy and I writing together is concerned, Andy was pretty easy-going and I think I am too. We know what we like and we know what we don’t like and thankfully, those things correspond for the most part.

Are the roles in Blue States well established, especially with the writing and composing, or are the other member also involved in the creative process?
Tahita: Its Andy’s baby, though I think in the past other people have brought ideas in that Andy has liked and so they have been used. However, on Man Mountain, Jon brought a lot to the drum tracks. As far as melodies and lyrics are concerned, I think Andy was happy for me to bash things out and then give an opinion or advice on how things might progress, which was important. It would have been much more difficult with someone dictating what every note and word should be.
Andy: I wrote all of Man Mountain, except the vocal tracks, which Ty wrote the lyrics and vocal lines, and Jon who played drums on most of the album. The live band is separate from the studio, but the two things run parallel.

This album was also for you the opportunity to write some string arrangements. How did you approach this? Was it a big challenge?
Andy: It was the biggest thrill for me on this album, the chance to work and arrange strings. When I started writing the album I had to enthuse for it, it was like I was waiting for something to click to give me that desire. After my first session with the strings it gave me the impetus to get my head down. To hear the strings playing over my tracks was a great thrill and one that has given me the taste for more. The way I approached it was to basically not worry about the imperfections of my score just to continue to write the melodies I like, as I knew they would translate well to live strings. It was a challenge but one that was one of the most rewarding aspects about this album.

What difference did it make to write more for vocal tracks than on the first album?
Andy: Well I don’t think the way I write has changed between albums, I always write in a traditional song structure. Tracks on Nothing Changes… were very verse, chorus based and one criticism was that they sounded like instrumental tracks that were written for vocals. So writing tracks for vocals was fairly easy

Blue States is closely assimilated to the electronic scene, although the music is largely created from real instruments. Does it annoy you a bit?
Andy: A little bit, but I can understand it as Nothing Changes... is coming from a more electronica angle than Man Mountain. Hopefully the new album will be seen in a slightly broader sense and not just confined to electronic music

Following the release of Nothing Changes Under The Sun, there has been a series of very successful “chill out” bands, with the likes of Zero 7 and Bent possibly stilling the highlights a bit. How did you react to this, and do you feel Blue States is on the same wavelength as these bands?
Andy: I don’t have anything in common Zero 7, I’ve never met them and their best song is a cover anyway. I like Bent though.

I recently played your album to friends who’d never heard of Blue States before, and their reaction was that “it sounded a bit like Zero 7”. How do you react to people thinking like that when you were actually there first?
Andy: It pisses me off. 

Had you heard of Blue States before? If yes, what was your opinion on Nothing Changes Under The Sun?
Tahita: Yes. I had heard Nothing Changes... and it was on my shopping list. It’s a great album. Of course, now many groups that came after Andy have done albums that seem to have similar influences – the cinematic sound, etc but it was a unique nugget at the time. Lots of people I knew had discovered for themselves it and really rated it as a weekend favourite. So I was over the moon when Andy decided he wanted to work with me.

What inspires you to write music?
Andy: Listening to other music really. When I hear a track that blows me away it inspires me to try and write a better song.
Tahita: With Blue States, it’s always the music. Whatever the mood seems to be for any piece, that’s the inspiration for the track. Once I come up with a melody, certain syllables and vowels sounds seem to work and coupled with the overall mood that dictates what the track is about. Stylistically Blue States was already well realised and it wouldn’t have worked for someone to come in and try to impose something entirely different on it. Its always romantic and reflective and I hope my lyrics express that.

What are your influences?
Andy: Musically people like Quincy Jones, David Axelrod, Scott Walker the big writers and producers and arrangers. Films also influence me, like Papillon with its real life tragedy, Where Eagles Dare with its breathless action, and Turner & Hooch with Tom Hanks and a funny dog.

You told me at the end of the London gig that you could play anywhere and not feel too nervous, but when you play in London, it always is a nerve-wracking experience. How do you explain this?
Andy: There’s something about a London audience that make me nervous, probably because you have to work harder to impress them. You really have to be at your best to get a good response.
Tahita: It’s Home turf, your mates have turned up and there are always people needing to be impressed. Knowing that it’s difficult to switch off and enjoy yourself. London audiences are notoriously bad at reacting well to anything that hasn’t been pre-certified as ‘cool’ by the style mags and weekly newspapers. Elsewhere people are more open-minded to begin with and less self-conscious so they get into things and want to be involved. I have memories of banging a tambourine on some girls bum, when she jumped behind the monitors at a gig we played in Memphis. I don’t think a Londoner would have been so abandoned.

When did you sing with Blue States for the first time?
Tahita: Last May at Cargo. It was the first gig with the new line up including me and it was nerve-wracking.

What was the reaction of the audience then?
Tahita: They were very warm (as they were a London audience I supposed I have just contradicted myself), they seemed to enjoy it. They yelled for an encore, but we didn’t have one.

Londoners are known for their general apathy regarding gigs and events. Do you feel they are harder to attract because there is so much on offer there?
Andy: I think people will turn up in London, it’s just whether they’ve turned up to slag it off or enjoy it.

After the gig, we were talking about Elios Therepia, with which you closed the show, and you said that it has become something of a cliché. What did you mean by that?
Andy: It’s a cliché because it’s our last song and we rock it up. It always goes down well, its kind of a different track live from Nothing Changes... now. 

You also played Glastonbury recently. What was it like?
Andy: It was good. We didn’t have the best slot and we had a few technical problems but enjoyed it. It was the first time we played there so it was a great thrill and we all had a laugh, but we played in Serbia a week later at a festival which was infantly better than Glasto. Ten thousand Serbians going nuts for us, glorious.

Being behind the mic on stage, you are obviously the focal point more than any of the guys. Is it a big responsibility for you?
Tahita: It’s a big responsibility because the performance has to be right for the band and to a certain extent, I have to help the audience relax and enjoy the gig, more than the other who can concentrate on playing more. You can’t be pogoing and winding up the audience fronting a down tempo outfit. Things have to be bit more sultry, but I enjoy sultry and from what people tell me after gigs, the audience that comes to see Blue States enjoys it too. 

Some of the compositions, either on the first album or on Man Mountain have got a bit of a Cocteau Twins edge, especially Spit & Soar on Nothing Changes... and What We’ve Won on the new album. Were you a fan?
Andy: Yeah a few people said that about What We’ve Won, it wasn’t a conscious thing though. I was listening to Heaven Or Las Vegas the other day, still sounds great. 

As well as leading Blue States, you also carry a lot of remix duties. Are you quite choosy in the tracks you decide to remix? What does incite you to rework a track?
Andy: I’m becoming more choosy as I go along. It’s down to whether I like the track or artist and whether I can see myself being able to a good job. Something like Future Sound of London’s Papa New Guinea was a real pleasure as the track was originally such a favourite of mine. I was desperate to do it and would have done it for free.

Apart from the band, is there anyone you would like to collaborate on a project with, either as Blue States, or completely separately?
Andy: I would love to work with Kurt Wagner from Lambchop.

You live in Brighton. Do you feel that London is too mad a place to live?
Andy: Not really. The only thing mad thing that pisses me off about London is the travelling. You can go anywhere in the world and the trains and busses are cheap, basic but on time. We seem incapable of running any public transport to any degree of competence. 

Was that ever a handicap to get recognised, or rather more of an advantage?
Andy: Probably an advantage because there are so many things going on in London they often get swallowed up. Brighton is doing fairly well at the moment for music, so it’s a been a benefit to be associated with it. 

Man Mountain is conjointly released by Memphis Industries and XL Recordings. How did this happen and what was your reaction?
Andy: XL had always expressed an interest since Nothing Changes... and when were in the US on tour I found out they were going to offer us a deal. It’s great for me because the increased exposure with XL is obviously going to be good for the album, while I still get to deal with Memphis. It means the day to day running of Blue States stays the same, which is good for me as a step up is made easier for me. 

How does it feel to be part of such a big label, alongside artists as diverse as The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Badly Drawn Boy or the White Stripes?
Andy: Delighted to be on a label that has such a diverse roster. They have a level of respect for what they do with taking such different artists and making them a success in their own right. XL feels like the right place for Blue States

Your compositions all have a cinematic feel. Would you like to work on a soundtrack? Any particular type of film?
Andy: Yes please. I would love to work on a soundtrack; it’s something of an ambition. If I was to get the chance it would either be a gritty European thriller, a big Lawrence Of Arabia type epic, or a hilarious dog based comedy like say…Turner & Hooch, K-9, or to a lesser extent the disappointing Beethoven. 

Many of your tracks have feature in numerous lounge and chill out compilations. Have you at any moment feared that this would dilute the impact of your music by associating it with other, sometimes less talented, bands and artists?
Andy: Yes. Being on a compilation album next to Dido is worrying, but we’re starting to turn a few things down now. I’ve been on some really good ones, but I have cringed at some of the shit ones. 

What kind of music do you like to listen to when you’re at home or on tour?
Andy: Anything really, a bit of hip-hop, soul, acoustic stuff, real mixture really. There are varied musical tastes in the live band so there is a good range of stuff that gets listened to on tour, and some that gets booed off, which is mostly when I put on Pink Floyd. Heathens.

Being the only female member of the band, is it always easy to make yourself heard?
Yes. Unless they’re talking about football.
 

For more information on Blue States, visit the Blue States, Memphis Indutries and XL Recordings web sites.
Thank you to Andy, Tahita and Lauren.

© themilkfactory.co.uk 2002