Stephen Lawrie of the Telescopes

24/01/06

Stephen Lawrie of thee mighty Telescopes answers Poptones.co.uk’s Questions of Doom about the noise scene of late 80s England, the reactions to the early Telescopes albums and singles, violence at the noise shows, Creation Records, the return of the Telescopes to the pop world of England, playing with Damo Suzuki, Fuxa, making people’s ears bleed and much much more in our brilliant interview.

What was the inspiration to get involved in the noise scene of late eighties England?

Anger and disillusion mainly. I grew up hearing music within environmental sounds. Things like windscreen wipers, and engine humms on boring car journeys, sitting in the airing cupboard with my eyes closed.

I used to see the strangest music in my head. I was in a band previous to the Telescopes, but wasn’t feeling it, then I got this pedal that would howl when you plugged it in, and the dial on it only made it SKREECH, the sound consumed the room and me with it, but the others hated it, which made me love it all the more. So I decided to form a band with the pedal instead.

What was the reaction to the early Telescopes shows?

People were extremely divided. And rightly so. I’ve always been deeply suspicious of music that tries to please everyone.

Was there much violence at the gigs?

Up until the ‘Precious Little’ EP.

You seemed to have taken noise to much more violent extremes than Jesus and Mary Chain - how did you keep on pushing the band further into noise worlds, this time around?

On Third Wave, noise was used in a more tranquil way, as a mood for us to build from. It has a more abusive presence in our sound right now. It can be really brutal, I heard we made somebody’s ears bleed at our last show. I hope they are ok.

Where did you get the name Telescopes from?

My grandfather. His ship once transported German prisoners in the war, they all swapped momentos with each other on the journey. My grandfather came back with a telescope. Which I remembered when I was trying to think of a name. It seemed perfect. hearing ‘friction’ by Television, the line ‘my eyes are like telescopes’ convinced me further.

What were the secret origins of the Telescopes?

From another sky.

Your second album - the Telescopes was a turn-around from the early noise incarnation. Why did you feel that you had taken noise as far as it could have gone?

I didn’t feel inspired to take it any further. And I was hearing apparitions within the noise. I wanted to explore them.

Is music a drug?

No, it’s a higher force.

When I listen to the second album - I feel that it is the psychedelic, drug psychotic version of Brighton Rock. Why is that?

I’m not sure.. But it makes me want to listen to it again with that in mind. Maybe it has a few razorblades sewn into the lapels.

You’ve said that you nearly became a tone during the recording of the second album and it scared you. What did you mean by that?

It was a quest to find words for ‘and’. I had an altered perception .. It began with a creeping tone.. growing louder in my head.. I became convinced the tone was actually me.. and the person i knew myself to be.. was transient and passing.. as my thoughts slipped away.. I felt sadness more than fear.. when it occurred to me that I may have gone too far.. I felt unable to stop it.

Why do you think that the Telescopes music always seems to be constantly recurring?

It stands up to repeated listens.

Do you feel that the second album is an iconic ‘lost album’.

A lost classic of the future (((from the past))).

You’ve mentioned to Joe Foster that although the album was released - it was never released. What did you mean by that?

It was released but never realised.

Did you feel that ‘shoe-gazing’ was a ghetto that Telescopes found it hard to escape from?

Not at all, all our listeners are welcome.

What were the influences of the second album? What albums were played around yours during the make of the album?

I listened to very little during the making. My biggest influences were experiences, such as finding warmth in the sounds made by the house we were staying in. Discussing compression techniques with Guy Fixsen and Kevin Shields influenced the mix of flying.

Music i can remember hearing at the time.
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Mostly what the taxi drivers taking us to and from the studio played. The driver in the mornings blasted out Turkish radio. We heard warm jazz and laid back dub on the way home.

Guy Fixsen played a lot of Talk Talk during breaks. On days off, I was going through my entire record collection and seeing how everything sounded on my radiogram with the bass up full. I was obsessed with warmth. Jo listened to a lot of staple singers. McGee played Chris Bell from Big Star on his visits and Richard Formby would always have some rare Beach Boys out takes on him when he came by, or Can tracks we’d missed.

Why were you dropped by Creation Records?

I was burnt out.

How did you feel about the reissue of the Telescopes album on Revola?

Happy that people can hear it again. It was made to be listened to.

Your two albums, up to then, had have very different sounds. Do think people like both, or do you think they only listen to one of them? And if just the one, which one?

We gain and lose listeners with every record , and some enjoy it all.. some hate a new release, only to come back to it later and find they like it. And of course some people hate everything we do.

I heard that you were or have been on tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre. What was that like?

Anton put out a selection of some of his favourite Telescopes recordings through Bomp + The Committee to Keep Music Evil. But we still haven’t got round to touring together yet.

You’ve supported Damo Suzuki. What was that like?

Amazing. We’ve played with Damo twice now, first with Cul de Sac as his sound carriers, and the second time with members of Lords, Bilge Pump, Wolves of Greece and Reynolds. Each time I was blown away.

Were you roundly booed in Stoke during the first comeback gig - why?

I don’t think we’ve ever been booed. We’ve been spat on, attacked, run out of town, had bottles thrown at us, but never booed. The comeback gig was at the arts centre here. We played a very unconfrontational set to a great audience. It was the only time we ever played Third Wave live, we did some old stuff too, there were people with tears in their eyes during ‘The Perfect Needle’. Alan from Bearos recorded the event. I’m sure he’d copy it for anyone who’d like to hear it.

We played Stoke on the Third Wave tour. We arrived to find the night had been promoted as a kind of 90’s guitar pop experience. But we weren’t even playing Third Wave on any of the dates. The four of us had been improvising with free drone / noise. There was a full house to begin with, but when i looked up at the end, they were all gone. We fell about laughing. We saw it coming. then a few people came out of the shadows to thank us wildly. Extreme reactions are always interesting. The next time we played Stoke, it was totally different, they all stayed and no one was frightened away by the noise.

You’ve revived The Telescopes and have recorded again - how has that been going?

The line up we have now is really exciting.. the best yet. We’ve a new single out on Hungry Audio at the moment called the Winter EP, it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard. There’s a complete list of all our releases at doubleagentrecords.com. The fourth album should be out soon on Antenna.

You’ve stated that The Telescopes is a vehicle for your own musical vision.

In some ways, but it’s never dictatorial. When you’re working with the right people it never needs to be. It’s a shared vision.

What happened since the release of the second Telescopes album that made you want to restart the band again?

It was left unfinished for a long while, I didn’t feel inspired to take it any further. Hanging out working with Füxa, I found myself back in the right mindset to receive Telescope signals again. The places Füxa take shape shifting sound to are truly inspirational.

Check the Revola re-issue here.
To purchase some of the Telescopes freakiness please go to http://www.doubleagentrecords.com{{PERIOD}}

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