interviewer: Firstly, congratulations for the new release of the single "Snow"! I am very excited and happy, so happy that even if we did not have the interview article in the issue of our magazine, we have put trash can sinatras photo on the cover of our new issue :) tell me how you do you feel now.
frank: i am very glad to speak with you at this time, and can only hope you have chosen a pretty picture of the band. if you cannot find a pretty picture of tcs, feel free to substitute a nice photo of a cat.
interviewer: I have heard that you are on vacation, spending time in LA. How is it there? How are you spending you days there?
frank: i'm actually in san diego, about two hours drive south of los angeles, and i really am happy to wake up and see a lot of light and feel that i could go out today and walk around the neighbourhood, or visit a park, or stroll along the beach boardwalk with the rest of the restless. i never do any of these things of course, but life is all about possibilities, isn't it? i find myself looking for an excuse to go out rather than to not go out, which is all really surprising to me. every now and then, i sing karaoke at "the lamplighter" bar, just to keep my hand in. usually, i start off with something i know is in a good key for me, so's i can impress the three drunks at the bar - "to all the girls i've loved before" by julio inglesias and willie nelson is good for this - then later, i'll risk an attempt at something new. this is indeed dangerous - once i had to sing 'to sir with love' in a painful falsetto - but i like to live on the edge, just like willie nelson. now that i think about it, it's a pretty sad to be having to sing a duet on your own in an empty bar - it sounds like a good basis for a country and western ballad in itself. someone should try and write it.
interviewer: After David left the band, how are the two new additional members getting along with the tcs? how did they get in the band?
frank: around the shabby road kitchen, certain individuals had established themselves as holders of a tea-cup, and could claim a seat at the table, thanks to their affability, love of music and good times, and willingness to cry openly at a sad film. grant and stevie (as well as george, the manager) were people that we were already seeing a lot of, and after grant had been in the band for a month or so, we asked stevie if he'd try out too. i don't know how long it's all going to last as it is - both stevie and grant have their own pursuits - but it's a sickeningly harmonious mixture at the moment.
interviewer: About "Snow". It was wonderful. Personally, my image of tcs is winter, and this song is very simple but has a strong power which squeezes your heart, and it perfectly fits the tcs image. but why did you choose a cover song for your new release after 3 years of silence? This is one of my favorite songs but it is quite suttle song nor does it stand out among the Harpers Bizarre recorded songs. Please tell me if you have special feelings or episode on this song. Whose choice was it?
frank: whenever i get into a new record or band, if the rest of the tcs aren't aware of them, i'll insist on playing them the music, and on them liking it. i know they all hate this, because i hate it when they do it to me. luckily, paul, grant and stephen were into it immediately, though john refused to stop listening to scott walker long enough to give his opinion. when next practising, we tried to play 'snow', 'witchi tai to', 'drifter' and 'jessie', but only 'snow' bore up to any repeated playing, so when the sunnyday service and northern bright boys came to visit shabby road, we asked them what they thought, and, through an interpreter, they said they also loved harpers bizarre, and would love to play guitar and bass and percussion on 'snow'. we supplied the studio, they supplied the beer and snacks, and over a few hours, we recorded the bulk of it live. sokabe took this multitrack back to japan, and i believe put mellotron and piano on top before mixing it all into the soup you hear today. i don't consider this record our re-emergence from silence, only as a seasonal gesture of celtic-sinia co-operation.
interviewer: In Japan, 60's pop songs by artists like Harper's Bizarre, Nilsson, Roger Nichols, Jimmy Webb, Burt Bacharach is called "soft rock"and are greatly listened by young people (including me! i am now 25 years old :) ) The choice of your band name and selecting cool covers lead me to think that you are a great pops fan - am i correct? I think right now, we are able to listen flatly to good music as good music without thinking if the music is from the 60s or 70s or 80s or 90s. Do you think this is true?
frank: i am still prejudiced when it comes to musical eras because, for one, i'm attached to the late 70s, which is when i first started buying and listening to music, and almost any record from that time is guaranteed a favourable listen from me, just because it evokes a happy and exciting time. i don't know... when it comes to 90s music that i like, such as 'dogbowl', it usually depends on how '60s' it sounds. or 'early 70s'. do you know what i mean? i love all the artists you've listed, except for roger nicholls, who i don't know anything about. there are some old vinyl record shops around here, and maybe it'll be worth trying to pick up a copy of one of his records. i like melody and singers, and the kind of music you mentioned tends to concentrate on those aspects, so maybe that's why i like a lot of it. the name of our band does neatly cover our ramshackle liking for classy pop, but it has come to do so over time, i feel. it was never our intention, funnily enough.
interviewer: The two new songs included in the single are the ones you performed live in Japan this year. I hear you have many new songs, but why did you choose to record these two songs?
frank: 'co-stars' had just been written, and most of the band were strangers to it, so with the studio time in japan, we thought we could try recording from scratch, trying to get drum and bass and piano parts as we played it through, and deciding on instrumentation and orchestrations there and then. so really, we were doing for a record what we would normally do for a demo. i couldn't say it was an unqualified success. with 'leave me alone', we were on surer ground, but again i think we were unable to do justice to the song. we will be recording these two songs again, i'm certain.
interviewer: Listening to 3 songs in the single, i thought they were very simple songs -very melodious and delicate and i felt that the core aesthetic of tcs has been either highly purified or further deepened. Did you have this kind of intention when you were selecting the songs and doing the actual recording ? Or it happened naturally, and you will continue to leave things to happen naturally? they are simple, aren't they?
frank: the core of what we do has always been to write as originally as we can without being crass and i think we adhere to that on the single. we certainly are changed in our approach to the execution of our aims, with a pledge to less messing around in the studio, and to recording more of the song live than before, but whichever songs we'd chosen would have been done this way. the songs themselves are no different than 'easy read' or 'the main attraction' or even 'who's he?' - they just aren't being indulged in so much in the studio. we'll see if we've made the right move a few years hence. as to whether or not it's natural, no, it doesn't feel all that natural to me, but then, i'm more inclined to dressing things up. john and paul are a lot happier this way, and that makes me happy.
interviewer: I believe the first time you met Sokabe of Suny Day Service was when you played together in Tokyo back in 1996. How were you able to continue the relationship alive? The editor in chief and I have interviewed Sokabe several times and every time, he would repeatedly say that "Trash Cans are the Best!" :) :) How was it to actually (or "officially") do a collaboration with Sokabe this time? If you have any episode please tell us.
frank: just after signing a publishing deal with june at sony music, she reminded us of sokabe, and suggested we try to get together with him and his band to do some recording. at first, everything remained on a casual basis, and even 'snow' was recorded spontaneously while the sunnyday boys were on a holiday trip to the u.k. there was of course a problem with direct communication, because neither of us spoke more than a word or two of the other's language, so really all there was to do was to give sokabe a guitar, and for us all to engage in that hoary old pursuit of 'jamming'. we later visited japan and joined sokabe and friends in the studio, completing the work we'd all started in scotland, and when it was suggested that sunnyday service and northern bright support us on tour in japan we were very appreciative, because we knew that sunnyday in particular, but also northern bright, were very popular in japan and needn't bother themselves supporting the trash can sinatras. it meant that each show was more crowded than if we played on our own, and it gave us the chance to play to the sunnyday service and northern bright fans. i can speak for all of the trash cans when i say that we all so enjoyed the company of our japanese friends, and loved singing 'yellow submarine' with them, and were honoured to visit sokabe's house, and to get to say 'campai!' night after night.
interviewer: I am a great TCS fan as well as fan of Sunny Day Service. Sokabe has a very unique talent that he is able to express the sensitivity and pureness of neo accoustic music (a genre of music which was very popular in the 80s) even if he puts japanese lyrics on the melody. what do you think of sunny day service's music?
frank: having seen him in action up close, i can vouch for his great ability on the guitar, and even with a kazoo!! 'wing of the sun' is a lovely song, too.
interviewer: When I heard Go! Discs was gone, I was very disappointed. How did you receive this news?
frank: we received the news from behind, bent over forwards at the waist. only two people at go discs liked the trash can sinatras, and only one of them was directly involved with us by the time of it's demise. i think it was a very male company at the end. there seemed no room anymore for idiosyncrasy, or beauty even. everyone concerned themselves with things being "wicked!" and "safe!" (groovy speak for "cool!") - but we wanted nothing to do with the faddish lad culture of that time, and so many awkward meetings ensued wherein i'd be excrutiated by the latest obscene insult masquerading as a marketing ploy (see 'spooktime: the movie', see anagrams of our name on posters, see limited release singles). i went along with everything with the minimal of open protestation, much to my shame. as far as the polygram takeover goes, all i know is that our third album was languishing like the jarndyce & jarndyce suit in 'bleak house' while millions of fake pounds were bartered over the front page of music week and the back page of the financial times, and when it became clear that we were not going to secure a u.s. release for the record - because no-one would fight for one - i knew that we had had it, that we were fucked. so, when i hear of how the managing director of go discs - now a very rich man indeed - was heartbroken by the demise of 'his baby', i'm tempted to send him a shite in a shoebox by way of condolence.
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interviewer: After Go!Disc misfortune, how were your activities? i thought that, just as you have been always, you have been writing songs and practising in Kilmarnock at your own pace, may be?
frank: our shoulders drooped considerably after the end of go discs. bankruptcy ensued, and we lost our beloved shabby road studio to a beastly flock of pigeons who'd taken over the attic. their mating sounds drove us away... once we'd been made bankrupt, and established as complete financial failures, we felt a certain security in being at the lowest point possible (without going to jail). rock bottom has it's own cushions. as official paupers, we could no longer be hounded, and needless to say, we were sick of not answering our front door for fear of having to confront either a bailiff, or a tabloid reporter. of course, the tabloids were not excited by the money worries of such a minor pop group as the trash can sinatras, only by the possibility of eddi 'perfect' reader's brother throwing himself off a bridge in despair at the extent of them. eventually through all this murky water, we found the way through to continue writing and practising, with a lot of help from friends in japan, i might add. june at sony publishing called us up and told us we could carry on, and that we could still make records, if we wanted to.
interviewer: After the collapse of Go! Discs, you seem to be in such a disasterous status and i am a bit shocked to hear that. In Japan, especially Tokyo, the cost of living is very expensive which means the studio costs end up being extremely expensive, and almost impossible to continue to play in the band if you are an employee, so most people stop playing in a band when they come to the border of 30 years old. It requires lots of passion and resolution that you wish to continue. of course, the story is different if you are popular and have top sellers. Would you tell us about situation is like in Scotland under the current economy and/or social welfare programs/conditions, especially in relation to circumstances to continue playing music. i believe you have gone through the experience in reality.
frank: i've been no worse off than a lot of people that i see around me. the social security in the u.k. can keep you going, but i don't think it's the kind of thing you want to get stuck doing for too long. it's funny you should mention 30 years old as being an age where one would be forced into making a change, because in the u.k., there is government support available for aspiring rock and rollers, but i think the age at which they deem you past it is 24, or 25, and anyone older can just go and find themselves a job, any job. and i think that's fair enough, it all depends on the drive you feel to go on, and sometimes that drive fails me. we are thankfully not totally without support, and can practise. two of the band have part-time jobs - grant is a librarian, and stevie works in a clothes shop! the rest of us do all the work.
interviewer: While being a musician, i guess there are things you want to do or must do in the course of living your life; such as work to pay your bills, taking care of your family, spending time with your friends....please tell me what takes most of your time in life other than music. And, how do you balance that with your music?
frank: i can't actually make my life work at the moment. it's in danger of becoming very messy because i have very little money, and at this time, no income, so unless things brighten up soon, it'll be the army for me. as far as my family is concerned, two of my five sisters stay in or around london, one is in the usa permanently, while the other two live in scotland, near me. my older brother is a very nice lad who needs, in my opinion, a girlfriend. so if you know anybody in japan who would like a skinny, six foot three boyfriend who's very sweet, tell them there's one waiting for them in irvine, scotland. i see my mother often too. my dad died in may of 1998 and we're not used to his absence at all, so we try to be together as much as we can. other than listening and playing music, i like reading novels and playing with my very bad cat, eve. if sarah is in a good mood with me, we'll talk and walk around, eating fast food and making ourselves sick.
interviewer: a bit of nuisance questions - cats. you must really like cats. i am more of a dog person. i am scared of cats because they glare at you. and they only move at their own pace, and seem a bit impudent. My girlfriend has a dog (welsh corgy) and she is very friendly and cute. will you please tell how wonderful cats are to a dog person like me?
frank: i haven't liked every cat i've ever met, you know. some are too timid, or only ever want to play all the time. some hate being lifted up, and some even hate being petted at all. there are cats who will allow you to stroke them for a time, then turn on you with a ferocious hiss, and then there are those who only want food from you. but as far as nice, sweet cats are concerned, i think i just like their pretty faces, and i suppose i'm attracted to that independence you call impudence. if you prefer to wrestle with a dirty, smelly dog that can't even wash itself, then that's your problem.
interviewer: Please tell us about the secret success to keep the long distance relationship!
frank: obviously to reduce the distance to nothing as often as you can. for those times when you cannot help but be apart, find a cheap international telephone server, but try not to impoverish yourself in using it, or you'll make yourself sick and blame it on your significant other. write nice, sweet long letters as often as you can. if you read victorian novels, you'll see that those lovers rent asunder by war or work were writing long, passionate missives to each other 10 times a day! so it's helpful to have no other demands on your time. the long distance relationship doesn't actually work, i think. you need to be together within, i'd say, 5 years, or give up. personally, i have 1 year left in which to get mine sorted.
interviewer: Recently bands with delicateness of neo accoustic music such as h Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura has been coming from Glasgow area. What do you think about them? What do you think about a band like Travis who made it to number 1 on the UK chart? by the way, travis was the cover for the issue right before the tcs cover issue :)
frank: haven't heard camera obscura yet. i like the other two bands you've mentioned, but not without a pang of envy that they gain more recognition than the band i'm in.
interviewer: What kind of music have you been listening recently?
frank: i've mentioned 'dogbowl' already. the only album i have of his is 'flan', and it's fun. i'm listening these days to dory previn and al stewart, joni mitchell and, of course, richard harris. and i might go to see 'morrissey' soon, but i know it's likely to be bad.
interviewer: How do you want to age?
frank: never having heard 'stand by me' by ben e. king, or 'mustang sally' ever again.
interviewer: Do you remember the feeling you had when you started playing music. Is the feeling still the same? Or has it changed as a matter of course as you have seen many things. also i think your songwritings may have changed a lot-recently, what inspires you?
frank: i'm inspired by the task required of me. the feeling i get from playing music has changed for the worst.
interviewer: To be honest, I was very shocked to hear your comments : "singing to keep the hand in", ".....at this time, no income.......it will be the army for me", Even though i believe you are saying this with a dry humor and self-scorning the current condition.However, as a fan who are waiting for tcs re-emergence, i was expecting somekind of comment with a bit of positiveness. Although the situation may not be at its best, but i hope that there is still the willingness or enthusiasm. this may be a selfish comment on the part of fan....To be specific, what is the probability that your economic situation will be moving upwards? Do you have visions in any way of your next album? I must say that if you release an album and start your activities would mean that you might be mixed up again in the toil and trouble of the music business, but are you ready for deal with them, or acquiring the way to "how to swim with the stream" Or may be you are still not ready to be able to start thinking about these things?
frank: the next album doesn't exist yet. until we've written enough good songs for it, i remain pessimistic that it ever will, but it's always been that way for me, unfortunately. as far as the business goes, it's true that everything is nice and simple when you are bankrupt, and i'm a little wary of how to handle things - whether to accept small advances, or go it alone - but i console myself with the thought that surely i couldn't be so stupid as to buy another studio, or hire the same managers, or spend the same ridiculous amounts of money on producers only to resist their every suggestion, or could i? we shall see...
interviewer: When are you going back to Kilmarnock? What would be the first thing you will do when you go back? Write a lietter to your girlfriend?
frank: i haven't decided when to return, but i would think it would be before christmas. the first thing i'll do when i get home, i'm afraid to say, is play with my cat, then maybe i'll go out and shoot one or two dogs.
interviewer: What are your activities in the future? we are long awaiting to hear your album.....
frank: there are only variables in the tcs' mathematical formula. we have songs, some of them are good, too, but it will be a little while yet before we record and release a new album...sorry.
interviewer: From this March, I have been working in a record store called "warszawa" which is in the Quattro building in Shibuya. I hope you will come to Japan again, and play live at Quattro! and come and visit Warszawa!
frank: i certainly can't see why not.
interviewer: In relation to the above situation on music and living, would you please tell me how you would like to be and/or what your way of life will be as you grow older.
frank: i'd like my life to improve. i want the friendly relationships i have to become closer, and the troublesome ones to die off. as i get older, i think more and more about doing different kinds of writing. writing is the only thing i can do, and even that i hate with avengeance a lot of the time. i suppose i'm in big trouble.
interviewer: I truly hope that everything will turn out to be positive for you! Best of luck to you, Francis!
frank: again, you're welcome minoru. thank you for your interest.
Originally appeared in Cookie Scene magazine .
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