The Baker's Dozen #25 BIRDPEN
The duo of Mike Bird and Dave Pen released ‘Discussing Robots – Dig That Hole’ in 2003 on 7” vinyl which was the first in a run of EP releases before their debut album ‘On/Off/Safety/Danger’ arrived in 2009. Over the years BirdPen have continued to release albums at a healthy pace with their sixth album ‘All Function One’ due via JAR Records on March 5th, 2021. RGM caught up with the duo for a chat about their various influences and the expected struggles of touring in a post-pandemic/Brexit world. Away from the music Dave shares his love of Ray Bradbury while, like so many of us, Mike really wants to get out for some fresh air and who could blame him. Many thanks to Dave and Mike for their time.
1. What is your earliest musical memory?
My dad was looking after me one evening when I was about 7 or 8 years old, My dad had suffered a pretty big mental breakdown so I think music was a big therapy for him at the time. He turned out all the lights and with the glow of the fire he sat me down and played me the whole of Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I think it set me on a path of where I am today to be honest.
Mike: My parents playing records at home, a lot of Beatles and blues!
2. Do you remember the name of your first band?
Yes we, Mike and I, were called Mainline. The blueprints of that band led to what Birdpen are today really.
3. Which current artist do you hear and just go Wow?
Whenever I listen to Swans I am always completely blown away. I got into them some years back when the Sear came out and everything since then has literally blown me away!! They’ve become a huge inspiration.
Mike: I really like what the Sleaford Mods are doing right now.
4. Do you sit down to write songs or do you wait until your mojo comes to get you?
I sometimes take breaks from writing music but am always writing lyrics and ideas down. I like to think the breaks I take make everything sound fresher when I return to writing. A simple A chord or something like that can all of a sudden sound like the best note ever, I like that feeling.
Mike: When Dave and I write for BirdPen we go into the studio every day with the distinct purpose of writing, but also whenever ideas come they get captured, quite often as ropey audio recordings in my phone. We have such great technology at our fingertips these days to capture and document ideas anywhere and anytime.
5. Big venue or small venue - what's your favourite to play?
We are very lucky to have and to still play Small clubs with BirdPen and arenas with Archive [Dave has been a member of Archive, a band with all sorts of interesting influences including electronic, trip-hop, avant-garde, post-rock and progressive rock since 2004.) so we really do get the best of both worlds. I personally do like a really rammed club with about 600 people in, I love really hot gigs, when you come off stage in a big room and you’re not pretty wet, something doesn’t quite feel right to me.
Mike: Right now I’d take anywhere! They’re very different things, but you can’t beat a small, packed, sweaty club gig, as a punter or a musician.
6. Who is the one artist you wish you could share a stage with (past or present)?
Probably Mike Patton of Faith No More or Roger Waters.
Mike: I wouldn’t turn down a gig supporting Roger Waters...
7. Bowie, Prince, Sinatra, Elvis which departed great means the most to you?
Bowie all the way, A genius that covered so many different genres and made them all sound like he owned them. As unique as they come, the fact his last album came out on the day he died still blows my mind.
Mike: The Beatles, even though they’re not all departed!
8. The musical landscape could change markedly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. How has the situation affected you and what do you feel will be its impact on the music business/live performance going forward?
I hope and pray that the vaccines stop the spread so people can enjoy being together as that’s what seeing live music is about, people sharing the same air as the music and the people making it and watching it etc. We had gigs booked with Archive and financially them all being cancelled was a complete nightmare as we only really earn money from touring so it’s quite dire at the moment. We did a lockdown gig during last summer that we pre-recorded so it didn’t go out fully live but the fans loved it, it also made me feel sad as we have all been trapped inside to the most extent. We’ll be the last ones going back to work and I miss playing live a lot and we haven’t been able to book a tour for this new album yet but we hope to tour it in early 2022. Along with Brexit, touring could become a huge struggle and also from the pandemic I think fees will be lower as so many establishments have been hit so hard financially so it’s gonna be a crawl to get things back to where they were for sure. I think the next years or so will be one big experiment in a way to see what works with people being together again etc.
Mike: It has had an enormous effect on my life. We all have to wait and see how we come out of this and what the major changes to events and touring are going to be, but live music is vital and will give so much back to people when it’s possible again.
9. Should music be free?
Absolutely not! I find the whole streaming market terribly frustrating and wrong. Nothing any musician does should they be expected to give it away or get paid an absolute pittance for a stream etc, it takes time and money to make the albums and songs people love to listen to so it’s a no brainer that we should all be paid fairly for what we create. I hate the fact that Spotify is so powerful that artists will roll over to get playlisted etc, it’s like a trap and the streaming devices have got us by the balls, As I said it really frustrates me, I don’t have a Spotify account by the way.
Mike: It feels like the concept of music being free only exits with the onset of the technology we all have in our pockets today, but no, absolutely not, music should not be free.
10. Can you remember the first record you bought and what have you bought recently?
The first 7inch single I bought was Just Got Lucky by Joe Boxer Beats in Woolworths for 99p, First 12inch was De La Soul - Eye know and first album was Rage Against The Machine, Rage Against The Machine, which I swapped for Angel Dust Japanese import on CD. Recently I’ve bought The latest Flaming Lips Album – American Head and Shames new album Trunk Tank Pink and also Olafur Arnalds album Some Kind Of Peace.
Mike: Recently Sleaford Mods, Arlo Parks, Girl Band, WHYDARDII, John Grant and the beautiful live record Idiot Prayer that Nick Cave released from his performance at Alexandra Palace.
11. What was the last song that made you cry actual tears?
It was Jumbo By Underworld, A live version came up on youtube and I watched it and seeing all the people just having the best time and to that song which I find very euphoric just totally caught me off guard and I welled up and the tears flowed. It seemed a world away and so free.
Mike: Nick Cave’s Idiot Prayer record killed me.
12. Do you binge watch Netflix / Amazon / DVD box sets (any recommendations)? Do you have a guilty pleasure in Film or TV you’ll admit to watching and loving?
Oh totally, this last year in lockdown there’s been way too much time for TV shows etc. At the start of the lockdown I didn’t watch anything though as was quite freaked out by the pandemic so was listening to meditation stuff before going to sleep and running very early in the mornings and then I started to only watch sports news ( I guess I was hiding from the real news I suppose ) but once I got to grips with it all I watched Schitts Creek with my wife ( total guilty pleasure but it made us laugh and really took our minds of what was happening) Recently I watched The Looming Tower which I enjoyed. I also loved Motherland which is a British comedy show; I watched 1917 recently which was incredible. I watch way too much sport though to be honest.
Mike: Not really binge-watching, but my partner and I usually have a series on the go, we just finished the awesome latest season of Fargo, and recently I thought Giri/Haji was really fantastic.
13. What is the most important thing to you that you can see from where you are right now?
Well, I guess it’s my collection of Fahrenheit 451 novels. I collect them from all over the world and have also been given them by family, friends and fans. I guess it would be quite fitting if they all burned in a house fire though….But I hope that doesn’t happen, obviously.
Mike: The sky.
All Function One is available direct from the BIRDPEN store on CD/LP etc
These days, with a seemingly inexhaustible amount of music available at the click of a mouse, it is easy to miss things in our search for instant gratification. The art of getting to know an album over repeated listens, allowing it to slowly reveal itself, is in danger of being lost. A case in point is the aptly titled ‘Modern Nostalgia’, the latest release from The Last Hurrah (!!), a project helmed by Norwegian musician/producer HP Gundersen. ‘Modern Nostalgia’ blends a distinctly European (Serge Gainsbourg/Marianne Faithfull) approach with the California sound of Gram Parsons and The Byrds, utilising a variety of singers and instrumentation along the way to reveal its charms. With this in mind, we caught up with HP Gundersen to learn more about HP and his collaborators in The Last Hurrah (!!).