Lush – Split (1994)Interview to Emma Anderson and Philip King by Diego Centurion (for The 13th Magazine)

With the arrivalof June2014, came thetwentiethanniversaryofthereleaseofthesecondálbum.Thebandhasmanagedtomergebrilliantly,dreampopandshoegaze;Lushwithheir“Split”. Published on June 13, 1994, thoseyears the “World of Music” was leftdazzled by the Britpop and the GrungeacrosstheAtlantic;thisalbumprovidesamarkedshiftinthesoundoftheband,apure,cleansound,isclearlyastepforwardinthewaytheywritetheirsongs,rolethatboth composers, Miki and Emma shareonlyonesong,rolethatbothcomposers,Miki and Emma share only one song,“Starlust”. TodaywehavethewordsofEmmaAnderson (vocals y guitars) and PhilipKing(bass),theytellusalittleaboutthealbum.

Howlonghaveyounotheard“Split”?Philip:Ihaven’theardthefullalbum‘Split’inalong.Atleastnotthiscentury.

Emma: I listened to some of it recently.SomeofitIreallylike,someofitnotsomuch,butIthinkthat’snormal.

How was it working this album on4AD?Philip:Itwasgoodastheyleftuswellalonetogetonwithit.UnlikehowIimagineitwould have been on a major label. Theywould probably have dropped us after‘Splittooasitdidn’tsellparticularlywell.Emma: It was great being on 4AD andthey were very supportive all the time.MikeHedgesasproducerwasIvo’s idea.He thought Mike would suit us wellbecause of his work with The BansheesandTheCure.However,Ithinkthelabelbecameannoyedatthelengthoftimeandthe amount of money ‘Split’ was takingandcostingbutthensodidwe.Idoknowthat’Split’wasIvo’sfavoriteLushalbum.It didn’t sell as well as the others butluckilyIvodidn’tcareaboutthat!Hewasintothemusicprimarily.

Howmuchinfluencehaveatthesoundofthealbum,thatyouareproducersintheirownalbum?Philip:Well we always obviously pickedproducers that we thought would besympathetic to our sound and then leftthemtoit.WeoriginallyaskedBobMouldbuthejustwantedtodoanEP.Therewastalk of John Paul Jones for a while anddrummer/producer Fred Maher. ThenMikeHedgeswasmentionedandwelikedthefacthehadworkedwithTheCureandSiouxsie&TheBanshees.

It was recorded at various recording

studios.Howwastherecordingprocess?Philip:Wellprettymuchalltherecordingwas done at Rockfield studios in Wales– which was a residential studio - andthestringswererecordedatAbbeyRoadStudios.ThealbumwasmixedatproducerMikeHedgesplace inFranceonhisoldAbbeyRoadmixingdesk.Unfortunatelywe weren’t happy with how it sounded–veryflat–sowegotAlanMouldertoremixitinLondon.Hesavedtheday.Emma:Yes,westartedatRockfield,Wales,andthemainbulkofthealbumwasdonethere.ThatwasOKbutIpersonallydidn’tlikebeinginaresidentialstudio.Iliketogohomeafterrecordingandsleepinmyown bed! Then some of it was done inAbbeyRoad,Londonandsome(mainlythe strings) in a studio in Sussex withsomeonethatMikeknew.Afterthat,wewenttoMike’sstudioinFrancetomixitbutitdidn’tsoundrightsowehadtogobackandmixitagainwithAlanMoulderinLondon.

“Split” features string arrangementsperformed by Audrey Riley y MartinMcCarrick,insongs“LightFromADeadStar”, “Desire Lines”, “Never-Never” and“When I Die”. How were the recordingsessions of strings? Because the result issimplybeautiful.Philip: I wasn’t at the recording of thestringforthesongsatAbbeyRoad.Emma: Mike Hedges had workedextensively with strings before (stringrecording is one of his strengths) andAudrey and Martin were his contacts.Yes,itwasanewexperienceforLushandI,forone,wasabitfascinatedbyit…thesetalentedarrangerstakingoursongsawayandaddingsuchbeautifulparts to themwas amazing. It was quite spine-tingling

watching the strings being recorded. Tothearrangersandplayersthough-it’sjustanotherjob!Actually,that’snotfair…theyreallyenjoyedittoo,Ithink.IamstillintouchwithAudreyandMartintoo.Theyweregoodcollaborationsandworkedoutwell.

Can you tell us something about somesongsonthealbum?Emma:Ican’tremembermuchabouttherecording at all - sorry. (It was 20 yearsago).IdorememberDaveEdmundsandCozy Powell visiting the studio though(notus-justthestudio).Ialsorememberus doing a Breughel jigsaw. The StoneRoseswerealsoatRockfielddoingsomerecording and I went to a Charlatanspartyatthestudiotheywereat(verynearours).As for thecompositions -well I can tellyou what my songs are about. ‘Lovelife’isaboutLondonandhowI loved itandwouldneverleave(thatdidn’tturnouttobetrue-IliveinHastingsnow).‘DesireLines’wasaboutsomeone(aman)Iliked!‘TheInvisibleMan’wasaboutthisstrangeand frightening sensation I used to getwhere I was in a half-awake and half-asleepmodeanditwaslikesomeonewaslyingontopofmeandIcouldn’tbreathe.ItwasveryscaryandIuseditgetitquiteoften but I don’t anymore (thank God).‘Lit Up’ was about telling someone whois down to cheer up and not be so sad.Things will get better.‘When I Die’ wasaboutmyfatherwhodiedin1992.Ican’tremember what ‘Blackout’ and ‘Never-Never’ were about. I have just looked at‘Never-Never and I have no idea! Mikiwrotetheotherlyrics.Music-wise, the sings were written inthe traditional Lush method - either by

myself or Miki in our homes and thenpresented to the band. Whoever wroteeach song would write every single part-bass,guitars,backingvocals leadvocalsetcetc.Wedidn’t‘jam’asaband.

Philip:“LightFromADeadStar”.Thisisoneoftherareoccasionswherethesongstarted from a jam in rehearsals. Mikiplayed the opening chord and I did thedescendingbassline.Shethenwenthomeand wrote the song and added the nextsection.“TheInvisibleMan”.Emmadidn’thaveabasslineforthissongsoaskedmetowriteone.Chrissaiditmadeitsoundlike Theatre Of Hate! “Never-Never”.Emmaaskedmewritethebasslinefortheendsequenceofthis.

I remember in those years in Argentinawas very difficult to get original copiesofdiskswhichwerepublishedinUkandUSA, but we managed to get recordedcassettes.AndIrememberwhenIgotto“Split”.Igothome,Iheardfromstarttofinish, and I was amazed. How do youfeeltoday,inthis2014,thesoundofthealbum?Philip: It still sounds very fresh andmodernIthink.Emma:It’sfunnythatpeoplestillholdtherecord in such high regard. Back then, Ididn’tthinkthat,20yearslater,thatwouldhappen.It’sgreatthoughandatestamenttothesongswhichhaveobviouslystoodthetestoftime.I have heard that South America hasreallyopeneduptobandscomingtoplay.Iguessalsowiththeinternetallmusicismucheasiertoaccess.

Wheredotheyput“Split”intheirlives?Philip:OfthetwoalbumsIplayedonby

Lushitismyfavorite.

Currently there is a revivalof the soundthathas“Split”.“Split”soundsveryfresh,as if ithadbeeneditedinthis2014.Doyouthinkthesame?Philip:Yes,definitely.Emma:Idon’tknowreally.Idothinkthat’shoegazing’ (I hate that term but don’tknowwhatelsetouse)hasactuallystoodthetestoftimemorethansaymostoftheMadchesterorBritpopbands.Ithinkalotofbandsfromtodayhavebeeninfluencedbythesoundthatperhapsweandvariousotherbandshad.It’squiteflattering.

Haveyouparticipatedintheremasteringofthealbumin2001?PhilipandEmma:No.

I can’t stop listening to what you haverecorded Chris. And we know that iswhat has happened to him. A big blowfor“Lush”.HowwasChris?Doyoumisshim?Philip: Chris was lovely. Very friendly,happy and outgoing. Still can’t believewhathappened.Yes,misshimalot.

Andtofinish.APhilipyouwillhaveseena fewweeksagowith“TheJesusandMaryChain”.Butbeyond that. What are your plans? Youwillreturn“Lush”?Philip:Whoknow?Emma:Noplansatthemoment.