Subject to Bill Ginsmore, ghostly multi-tasker

Q Magazine
by -
November 2002

How's it going? I don't fucking know," says a languid Courtney Taylor, speaking via cell phone on his way to the Dandy warhols' Portland studio. "But we've done some good work and have been in the studio all night a lot, so it's going to be great, I guess."

The follow-up to 2000's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia was begun, spookily enough, on 11 September 2001 when the band opened their studio, The Greek Community Centre (motto: "We Give Love From The Inside"). Since then, recording has been broken up by touring and promotion, not least due to their mobile phone advert reissue smash, Bohemian Like You. As ever, they're producing it themselves.

"This record's very different-sounding," warns Taylor. "It sounds like us, but not much." Tracks include the "amazingly soothing" Over It, which uses the sound of eight people breathing, and Love Me Lovely, which "has a very similair groove to Low Rider by War. We achieved the perfect cowbell sound on that one - any Mexican shepherd would weep to hear it."

Taylor is particularly pleased with I Am Sound: "I played it for David Bowie," he says, "and he said,Hmmm, Ashes To Ashes. Which, even if it's a B-minus Ashes To Ashes, is doing pretty well."

Superstition means he won't reveal the title or any possible singles. But he does insist the studio is haunted by the ghost of a man called Bill Ginsmore.

"We found his Master Multi-Tasker certificate, framed on the wall," deadpans Taylor. "He's still multi-tasking, messing-up our shit."

Then he has to go and continue mixing.

"It doesn't sound anything like The Vines, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club or The Hives," he warns, "who are, incidentally, all fucking brilliant. But they're all making guitar rock, so we don't have to."