Features | Interviews
Graham Coxon
By Peter Hepburn | 10 October 2005
I caught up with Graham Coxon, famed for his membership in Blur and his ever-growing solo career, at the Black Cat Club in Washington, DC before the evening’s show. He was two shows away from the end of his tour, and had an air of nervousness combined with weariness.
He was friendlier than I expected, willing to talk about Blur, and not wearing his trademark thick, black-framed glasses (though he did throw them on later that night to begin his set).
*****
Coke Machine Glow's Peter Hepburn (CMG): Introduce yourself.
Graham Coxon (GC): This here is Graham Coxon, here to play a show at the Black Cat.
CMG: What kind of music do you play?
GC: Give me anything that is pretty much influenced from the mid- to late-‘60s and mid-to late-‘70s. I miss out on some of the ‘80s. A bit of ealy-‘80s weirdo stuff and I kinda like American ‘90s music. The ‘60s and ‘70s includes British and American.
CMG: Big influences?
GC: I like the Who. The Saints, stuff like that. I also have my moments enjoying some country rock. Some CCR. Also a bit of Pink Floyd, Beatles, all the classics. Not really much for the Stones though.
CMG: What were your favorite albums growing up?
GC: Growing up? Rubber Soul. Setting Sons by the Jam was always one that I liked. And All Mod Cons. Umm. When does growing up include? Teenage?
CMG: Yeah, sure.
GC: I was into the Van Der Graaf Generator.
CMG: What were you listening to in college?
GC: My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. I suppose that was like the late ’80s. But I was always listening to old stuff ‘cause I was learning the guitar. I was listening to a lot of Who really.
CMG: What was the last album that really blew you away?
GC: I love the Deerhoof stuff. Which one was it that made me go bananas? The one with the light-blue, really pretty cover. Kinda hand-drawn but looks posh. [We’re thinking he probably meant Reveille]. The Libertines’ first album. Thought the spirit of that record was amazing.
CMG: What’d you the think of the second one?
GC: It was alright. Seems a little unfinished to me. Which is fine, but I just think…eh.
CMG: What did you think of the Petra Haden cover of The Who Sell Out?
GC: I think it’s great. Pete Townsend actually gave me my copy of that. He quite likes it too.
CMG: You’re best-known for your work with your last band, which was Blur, and you were one of the big figures of Britpop. In your opinion, what is the best Britpop song of all time?
GC: Well I think “Pop Scene” probably was. Because it was a Blur song, but it was in ’92 and was our immediate, knee-jerk reaction to grunge and the Britpop phenomena came just after that, so to us I think that was the first. I don’t really subscribe to calling anything Britpop, but I suppose that was probably the first single of Britpop-ness. Really, the exaggeration of Englishness among the Britpop bands was a bit grotesque to me, to be honest. I didn’t enjoy it.
CMG: Just how the press portrayed you?
GC: Just the fact that to counteract the American thing we exaggerated the Englishness of ourselves, caricatured it. I wasn’t really listening to English groups then anyways.
CMG: Just to give an idea of what your contributions in Blur were, what’s an example of one of your songs from Parklife?
GC: They’re Damon’s songs really, that I’d arrange.
CMG: So you did all the arranging?
GC: Yeah, and like, backing vocals. I was like a director. I would sort of listen to Damon’s demo and then I’d have a fairly good idea of how I wanted to take it. That’s sort of how it would be.
CMG: You still talk with him at all?
GC: I haven’t seen him for ages.
CMG: Which was your favorite Blur record?
GC: I like Modern Life is Rubbish. And the Blur one. “Essex Dogs” is on that is on that, which I thought was kind of interesting.
CMG: Yeah, and “I’m Just a Killer for Your Love.”
GC: Yeah, that was a good song. Just me and Damon did that. I did the drums and the bass on that. That was nice. It wasn’t going to be on the record.
CMG: What do you think of touring? Would you rather be recording?
GC: Don’t like it much. I’m just not very good at traveling.
CMG: Is that true especially being here in America?
GC: It could be anywhere. Europe’s the same -- long drives, lot of boredom, feeling ill and tired. No safety blankets.
CMG: How have the crowds been?
GC: Great, really nice. I feel really good because it’s my first tour doing my own stuff and the reaction has been really nice from people.
CMG: This last record [Happiness in Magazines] has been doing really well, right?
GC: Yeah, it’s weird. I don’t know what “really well” means, cause I’ve never done well in America, with Blur or anything like that. I don’t know if it’s doing really well or if it’s doing reasonably well for something like what I would make.
CMG: The critical response at least has been very positive.
GC: Yeah, yeah.
CMG: On the records, you’re playing most of the instruments yourself, right?
GC: Yeah, I’m playing everything really.
CMG: Why do you choose to do it that way?
GC: ‘Cause I don’t want to be sitting in the studio waiting for someone to finish their part. I ain’t got the patience to teach people the parts, so I just do it myself. It’s just some residue control freakishness.
CMG: How does that work when you’re then translating that for touring and getting a band together?
GC: They offered their services, and they’re all old friends. I said, “okay, here’s the record. Go out and rehearse and we’ll see how we get on.” Everyone picks it up pretty quickly. Live they can do what they want. They don’t have to stick strictly to the album.
CMG: I wondering what the song “All Over Me” was inspired by. Are those real events?
GC: It’s fantasy really. It’s a mixture of like dreaming, faeries, death. The void. It’s all sensory. It’s kind of a fantasy about being looked after by a girl, I guess, but nonsexual. It’s just all about showers, warmth, fainting, the void of that unconsciousness. All that. [Later in the evening, during his set, he introduced the song by mumbling, “faeries, bloody faeries,” into the mic]
CMG: There are some great hooks on the record. “Freakin’ Out” and “Don’t be a Stranger” are especially noteworthy. How do you go about writing songs like that?
GC: I come up with music, kinda demo them at home on a four-track cassette player. I sort of nonsense sing. Sometimes you listen back and it’s formed words and sentences, and often you have some sort of line or something. “Don’t be a Stranger” is sort of a nonsense story loosely based on when I used to squat with two agoraphobic Slayer fans who were really nuts. They didn’t use the toilet, they’d just go in the corner of the room. Yeah.
CMG: I also saw some of your paintings online. How did you get started with that?
GC: I don’t know, I’ve just always painted since I was a kid. I was painting before I was playing music. I did the usual thing: I went to art school and all that. Something I always did, but I’ve never really shown any of my stuff, only the stuff that has been on the covers of my records.
CMG: Does painting provide the same sort of creative release that music does?
GC: Kinda. It’s not so instant. All the creating is done in solitude. The performing of music is the privilege you get after the working and the recording. With a painting, it’s hard to watch people see your stuff. When I exhibited it was really horrible. No one reacts like in a show. They’re all reacting quietly in their own heads and you have no idea what they’re thinking. That’s really difficult. It’s a lot more nerve-wracking than music.
CMG: For people who have gotten into Happiness in Magazines but don’t know much of your back catalogue, where would you recommend starting?
GC: Kiss of Morning is kind of easy on the ears. A lot of my stuff has been pretty depressive I guess. I’d write in moments of crisis, till 2001 or ’02, when I went into a couple of institutions for drinking and depression and all that kind of stuff. Had to get myself cleaned up. Got slightly more optimistic after that. It’s kind of pretty miserable, a lot of my stuff.
CMG: How has that whole process of cleaning your self up contributed to your friendship with Pete Doherty?
GC: Well, I am his friend if he ever wants to call me up and talk about anything like that, but I understand how addicts are, being one. It’s not always easy to talk to anybody. He goes in waves. Sometimes he seems pretty together and other times you have to run away and just pray that he’s gonna be alright. You can’t really do anything. You just gotta be positive.
CMG: Are you planning a follow-up to Happiness?
GC: Yeah, I’m recording it now. I’ve got 18 tracks finished, all ready to go. It might come out in the fall in England.
He was friendlier than I expected, willing to talk about Blur, and not wearing his trademark thick, black-framed glasses (though he did throw them on later that night to begin his set).
*****
Coke Machine Glow's Peter Hepburn (CMG): Introduce yourself.
Graham Coxon (GC): This here is Graham Coxon, here to play a show at the Black Cat.
CMG: What kind of music do you play?
GC: Give me anything that is pretty much influenced from the mid- to late-‘60s and mid-to late-‘70s. I miss out on some of the ‘80s. A bit of ealy-‘80s weirdo stuff and I kinda like American ‘90s music. The ‘60s and ‘70s includes British and American.
CMG: Big influences?
GC: I like the Who. The Saints, stuff like that. I also have my moments enjoying some country rock. Some CCR. Also a bit of Pink Floyd, Beatles, all the classics. Not really much for the Stones though.
CMG: What were your favorite albums growing up?
GC: Growing up? Rubber Soul. Setting Sons by the Jam was always one that I liked. And All Mod Cons. Umm. When does growing up include? Teenage?
CMG: Yeah, sure.
GC: I was into the Van Der Graaf Generator.
CMG: What were you listening to in college?
GC: My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. I suppose that was like the late ’80s. But I was always listening to old stuff ‘cause I was learning the guitar. I was listening to a lot of Who really.
CMG: What was the last album that really blew you away?
GC: I love the Deerhoof stuff. Which one was it that made me go bananas? The one with the light-blue, really pretty cover. Kinda hand-drawn but looks posh. [We’re thinking he probably meant Reveille]. The Libertines’ first album. Thought the spirit of that record was amazing.
CMG: What’d you the think of the second one?
GC: It was alright. Seems a little unfinished to me. Which is fine, but I just think…eh.
CMG: What did you think of the Petra Haden cover of The Who Sell Out?
GC: I think it’s great. Pete Townsend actually gave me my copy of that. He quite likes it too.
CMG: You’re best-known for your work with your last band, which was Blur, and you were one of the big figures of Britpop. In your opinion, what is the best Britpop song of all time?
GC: Well I think “Pop Scene” probably was. Because it was a Blur song, but it was in ’92 and was our immediate, knee-jerk reaction to grunge and the Britpop phenomena came just after that, so to us I think that was the first. I don’t really subscribe to calling anything Britpop, but I suppose that was probably the first single of Britpop-ness. Really, the exaggeration of Englishness among the Britpop bands was a bit grotesque to me, to be honest. I didn’t enjoy it.
CMG: Just how the press portrayed you?
GC: Just the fact that to counteract the American thing we exaggerated the Englishness of ourselves, caricatured it. I wasn’t really listening to English groups then anyways.
CMG: Just to give an idea of what your contributions in Blur were, what’s an example of one of your songs from Parklife?
GC: They’re Damon’s songs really, that I’d arrange.
CMG: So you did all the arranging?
GC: Yeah, and like, backing vocals. I was like a director. I would sort of listen to Damon’s demo and then I’d have a fairly good idea of how I wanted to take it. That’s sort of how it would be.
CMG: You still talk with him at all?
GC: I haven’t seen him for ages.
CMG: Which was your favorite Blur record?
GC: I like Modern Life is Rubbish. And the Blur one. “Essex Dogs” is on that is on that, which I thought was kind of interesting.
CMG: Yeah, and “I’m Just a Killer for Your Love.”
GC: Yeah, that was a good song. Just me and Damon did that. I did the drums and the bass on that. That was nice. It wasn’t going to be on the record.
CMG: What do you think of touring? Would you rather be recording?
GC: Don’t like it much. I’m just not very good at traveling.
CMG: Is that true especially being here in America?
GC: It could be anywhere. Europe’s the same -- long drives, lot of boredom, feeling ill and tired. No safety blankets.
CMG: How have the crowds been?
GC: Great, really nice. I feel really good because it’s my first tour doing my own stuff and the reaction has been really nice from people.
CMG: This last record [Happiness in Magazines] has been doing really well, right?
GC: Yeah, it’s weird. I don’t know what “really well” means, cause I’ve never done well in America, with Blur or anything like that. I don’t know if it’s doing really well or if it’s doing reasonably well for something like what I would make.
CMG: The critical response at least has been very positive.
GC: Yeah, yeah.
CMG: On the records, you’re playing most of the instruments yourself, right?
GC: Yeah, I’m playing everything really.
CMG: Why do you choose to do it that way?
GC: ‘Cause I don’t want to be sitting in the studio waiting for someone to finish their part. I ain’t got the patience to teach people the parts, so I just do it myself. It’s just some residue control freakishness.
CMG: How does that work when you’re then translating that for touring and getting a band together?
GC: They offered their services, and they’re all old friends. I said, “okay, here’s the record. Go out and rehearse and we’ll see how we get on.” Everyone picks it up pretty quickly. Live they can do what they want. They don’t have to stick strictly to the album.
CMG: I wondering what the song “All Over Me” was inspired by. Are those real events?
GC: It’s fantasy really. It’s a mixture of like dreaming, faeries, death. The void. It’s all sensory. It’s kind of a fantasy about being looked after by a girl, I guess, but nonsexual. It’s just all about showers, warmth, fainting, the void of that unconsciousness. All that. [Later in the evening, during his set, he introduced the song by mumbling, “faeries, bloody faeries,” into the mic]
CMG: There are some great hooks on the record. “Freakin’ Out” and “Don’t be a Stranger” are especially noteworthy. How do you go about writing songs like that?
GC: I come up with music, kinda demo them at home on a four-track cassette player. I sort of nonsense sing. Sometimes you listen back and it’s formed words and sentences, and often you have some sort of line or something. “Don’t be a Stranger” is sort of a nonsense story loosely based on when I used to squat with two agoraphobic Slayer fans who were really nuts. They didn’t use the toilet, they’d just go in the corner of the room. Yeah.
CMG: I also saw some of your paintings online. How did you get started with that?
GC: I don’t know, I’ve just always painted since I was a kid. I was painting before I was playing music. I did the usual thing: I went to art school and all that. Something I always did, but I’ve never really shown any of my stuff, only the stuff that has been on the covers of my records.
CMG: Does painting provide the same sort of creative release that music does?
GC: Kinda. It’s not so instant. All the creating is done in solitude. The performing of music is the privilege you get after the working and the recording. With a painting, it’s hard to watch people see your stuff. When I exhibited it was really horrible. No one reacts like in a show. They’re all reacting quietly in their own heads and you have no idea what they’re thinking. That’s really difficult. It’s a lot more nerve-wracking than music.
CMG: For people who have gotten into Happiness in Magazines but don’t know much of your back catalogue, where would you recommend starting?
GC: Kiss of Morning is kind of easy on the ears. A lot of my stuff has been pretty depressive I guess. I’d write in moments of crisis, till 2001 or ’02, when I went into a couple of institutions for drinking and depression and all that kind of stuff. Had to get myself cleaned up. Got slightly more optimistic after that. It’s kind of pretty miserable, a lot of my stuff.
CMG: How has that whole process of cleaning your self up contributed to your friendship with Pete Doherty?
GC: Well, I am his friend if he ever wants to call me up and talk about anything like that, but I understand how addicts are, being one. It’s not always easy to talk to anybody. He goes in waves. Sometimes he seems pretty together and other times you have to run away and just pray that he’s gonna be alright. You can’t really do anything. You just gotta be positive.
CMG: Are you planning a follow-up to Happiness?
GC: Yeah, I’m recording it now. I’ve got 18 tracks finished, all ready to go. It might come out in the fall in England.