When I speak with Echo and the Bunnymen, there is (aptly) a rare harvest moon. And while it would be easy to use this as a metaphor for the mysterious band and their equally mythical track The Killing Moon – I’d rather not.
Having just played a sell-out show at the London Royal Albert Hall a few weeks ago, the Bunnymen are back and ready to take on California with three upcoming gigs. Besides rehearsing for their Ocean Rain tour, they’ve also been promoting guitarist and founder, Will Sergeant’s second memoir, Echos.
“Should be a laugh,” reckons Sergeant, who’s latest book recounts never-before-told anecdotes of heady Rockfield Studio sessions, the New-York club-scene and sold-out shows at Whisky a Go Go. “It takes hours to put together,” he says wryly. “Better than being down the mines.”
These lanky lads from Liverpool have certainly done well — strumming their guitars and back-combing their barnets. Their gloomy songs have seen them headline all over the world, hurtling themselves to the forefront of our brains with their hopelessly romantic aesthetic and perky nihilistic takes.
Although 40 years have passed since their post-punk debut, Crocodiles, the band is still all about the same thing. Most fans would say (and I am one of them) their angular sound— which stabs with emotion, an all-too familiar tragedy and out-of-your-mind loneliness — is only part of it. They have the ability to unite a multi-generational audience, giving the dads and moody twenty-odds something weightless and empty to blast from both their cars and bedrooms.
You can’t be a 65-year-old man with long hair. You look like a Wally
Though Echo & the Bunnymen don’t appear boastful, instead they demur on the subject of their success. “There’s a T-shirt going around, and it’s like a map of how chords work, ‘there’s an E, there’s a D, now go start a band.’ That’s basically what it was like,” says Sergeant, on how the band came to be. “You don’t need to be some amazing guitarist to be in a band, you just need to know a couple of chords.”
With all their brooding existential dread, you may think their legacy weighs heavy on them, but they don’t really give it much thought. “We were just factory fodder but always interested in art and music and films,” they tell me. “We didn’t really have aspirations, just sort of drifted into this band thing. If you think ‘I’m gonna be this or that’, you’ll always be disappointed, won’t you?”
We didn’t really have aspirations, just sort of drifted into this band thing
No longer those “bloody moody” fellas in their early twenties, traces of their youth still linger. “We do a little fist bumpy thing before, which is a bit cheesy, but keeps Mac happy,” says Sergeant, referencing the band’s pre-show rituals.
So what more can we expect next for Echo & the Bunnymen? They’d love to go head to head with The Velvet Underground, “that would be good, yano.” What about a return of the dead-cat hair look? “You can’t be a 65 year old man with long hair. You look like a Wally.”
So, without further ado, here’s this week’s Friday Night Playlist curated by Echo and the Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant.
Roxy Music — Virginia Plain
“Christ, there’s about a million records, Oh God… probably Virginia Plain, Roxy Music. It’s so groovy, all our mates were into Roxy and the early Doors.”
David Bowie — The Width of a Circle
“There’s gotta be a Bowie one in there, hasn’t there? Scanning the records, The Width of a Circle off The Man Who Sold the World. He went through a period where it was a bit heavier and it’s a bit more rocky. Mick Ronson got the distortion pedal out for whatever reason. It’s just a really good song and one that always gets overlooked. He’s got so many good songs so it’s kind of difficult.”
Television — Marquee Moon
“It’s an oldie, but goldie off of 1977. And it’s long. So you’ve got plenty of time to get your hair right. If you’re about going out on the raz. Well, you’ve got to get the hair right haven’t you?”
Tomorrow — My White Bicycle
“Let’s go down the psychedelic route with Tomorrow, My White Bicycle. Ken Burgess and Keith West. They kind of merged and became the Pretty Things, it’s 60s psychedelic rock and a great song as loads of it’s backwards.”
Miles Davis — Kind Of Blue
“Then let’s vere off a bit. Let’s go on a tangent to the jazz world with Miles Davis. It’s a bit more mellow, but by now you’ve got your hair right, you’ve ironed your flares and you’ve polished your platform boots. Off you go.”
