Alex Sipahioglu and Dom Chamberlain, the song-writing team behind Lieutenant, are back with a new line-up and a new sound. This time it comes with a little help from the Stereophonics and a flying elephant.
You’re back with a new band but virtually the same line-up. What is the difference between Lieutenant and the Technicolour Elephants?
Dom Chamberlain (DC): The big difference is that it’s more about having fun and doing things we want to do rather than what we think we should do.
Alex Sipahioglu (AS): We are also better musicians now, so we have to worry less about being able to play the songs and as a result we can concentrate on just enjoying ourselves.
Where did the name come from?
Both: Dumbo! [Disney film (1941)]
DC: There is a scene where he [Dumbo] gets drunk and sees lots of pink elephants so it sort of came from that.
[Both laugh]
AS (to Dom): You came up with Technicolour Jesus and I suggested elephants instead and you said yeah.
How would you describe your sound?
DC: I think the best way to describe it would be…..
AS: Punk
DC: Well, yeah…AC/DC meets black rebel motorcycle club, meets the sex pistols, meets the hives.
AS: Yeah somewhere between those bands.
Will you keep playing your old songs, or do you see this as an opportunity to start again?
DC: Definitely an opportunity to start again and do something a bit different.
AS: We might play some of the old ones but with a new twist.
DC: We might keep some of the later Lieutenant songs, Sun In Your Eyes is one were definitely going to hang on to.
AS: But not the really early stuff.
DC: No, not the stuff we wrote when we were fourteen!
How do the two of you work together as songwriters?
DC: Alex will come up with a riff or an idea and I’ll simplify it. [Laughs]
AS: I can’t write lyrics... I leave all the intricate stuff up to Dom.
DC: Alex usually comes up with the main idea, and I turn it into a song...
Can you single out and bands or artists that have been a particular influence on your songwriting?
DC: For me it would definitely be The Stereophonics, they were a big one, and Bob Dylan. I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to say I was trying to be like him, but I like the way he uses words and how he manages to put more words in a verse than you think is possible. He’s definitely an inspiration.
AS: I’m not aware of my influences. Other than AC/DC, it’s more subconscious. I think all the music I listen to influences me. I never write a song trying to sound like Led Zeppelin or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but when I listen back, I may hear bits that sound a bit like Pink Floyd or something.
What does new drummer Chris Gilliam add to the band?
AS: Talent.
DC: Yeah.
AS: An amazing musician and person.
DC: He’s one of the most talented people I have ever played with. He is so versatile. He brings a new intelligent structure to the band. If we get frustrated, he’ll make us move on and do something else so we don’t go and ruin it….he is really great.
Have you got any new songs ready for recording?
DC: A couple, one song called Clockwork and one called Bacardi Smile. They are nearly ready.
AS: Ready for us is different to other people’s standards.
DC: True.
There are some rather explicit lyrics in some of your early songs (superstar in particular). Who is responsible?
DC: That would be me mainly.
AS: Well yeah, but the environment we were in made a difference.
DC: Actually, I would say the main people responsible are AC/DC. They put those ideas into Alex’s head, and then he tainted my innocent mind, so I suppose I wrote them but…. Actually in the final version the one on the album, Alex put in some last minute changes.
AS: Did I?
DC: Yes!
If there is a disagreement on which songs to play at a gig, who gets the final say?
DC: It would be between me and Alex. We bully the others so there’s no disagreements
AS: No it’s only with covers really, which is why we usually avoid doing them.
What is the strangest thing that has ever happened at one of your gigs?
AS: Rock for Zambia [charity gig in Rome]. Somebody’s head split open in the mosh-pit. It wasn’t really the strangest thing that ever happened but definitely the most hardcore!
DC: yeah that was a good gig actually, we got a really good reception, someone ended up in hospital and afterwards I was asked to sign somebody’s boob in case I ever got famous.
AS: And somebody remembered our lyrics two weeks after the gig, we don’t even remember our lyrics!
If the Technicolour Elephants were to be remembered for one thing it would be...?
AS: Energy.
DC: I hope that we are remembered as a live band, a band people go to see, and come out thinking “wow that was fun”. I mean, we do it for ourselves, but hopefully people can just enjoy it.
AS: But if the audience sees you having a fun on stage, they should be influenced and start enjoying themselves because it’s contagious... a bit like yawning and sneezing... Well, not sneezing.
DC: [Laughs] Sneezing!
http://www.myspace.com/technicolourelephants
