04 March 2010 (released)
11 March 2010
On the 16th February 2010 Tony Sly released his solo Album ’12 Song Program’. A short time later the tour that saw him re-united with friend and fellow musician Joey Cape reached London’s Islington Academy. I caught up with the pair to discuss the tour, the music, their inspirations and their plans for the Future.
Music News: Hi there guys, thank you for giving me some of your time. How has the tour been so far?
Joey Cape: It’s been Great!
Do either of you have any habit’s or preferences for your rider when you tour?
Joey Cape: Its just basic really man, on a tour like this it is a bit difficult to ask for green M 'n’ Ms.
Tony Sly - ,Although I have just switched regular Red Bull for sugar free Red Bull.
MN: Joey, your new album has been released with a unique business model where the public can sign up online and receive a track a month for twelve months. After a year a hard copy will be received. Did the advent of media sharing, along with inspiration from such bands as Radiohead and Nine inch Nails, encourage you to take this route?
Joey Cape: It’s something I have thought about for a long time. It makes sense to me and perhaps to people who feel more comfortable purchasing one track at a time. They have several options with me though, if they are romantic about hard copy’s they can get that at any time.
MN: You have mentioned the love of music in physical form, rather than the media and file sharing medium that is so popular these days, do either of you miss the traditional method of collecting music from record shops?
Joey Cape: Oh yeah! I wrote a song about it. I completely miss it. It was one of my favorite things as a kid, to shop at a record store.
TS – When the original Tower records chain folded, it was a tragedy. I have noticed here in London that people still do shop in record stores like HMV. You hardly get that at all in America.
JC – It’s all Amazon.com.
MN: Tony, you have mentioned in the past about your routes and about how important it is to stick to them and not to false goals and ambitions. Has this album been true to this and has it enabled you to release material that nay not be suitable for 'No Use For A Name’?
Tony Sly: Musically the album has stayed true, for sure. I wanted to be able to make people feel the same way I felt the first time I heard a record. The first time I heard music it was totally stripped down, It didn’t sound that great, but it changed my life on the spot. The first record I heard was 'Rubber Soul’ by The Beatles. It was my mums. I think I was six years old. I guess this album also has something to do with my daughter approaching the age of six, I want to make her feel the same way I did, I want her to feel that love as well.
MN: Have you enjoyed working together and touring again?
Tony Sly: Definitely, It was really good to collaborate again. We rehearsed at Joey’s house before the tour and it was really easy and convenient. When we did the split album in 2004 we were in completely different parts of the country, we did all the communication via the phone and the Internet. It was really hard.
MN: Do you think that, going on past experience, should you work together again you will communicate on a more physical level?
Joey Cape: Yeah, for sure. We are already thinking of our next project. We are thinking about possibly putting together another split album or something.
MN: What’s the next stage for you?
Joey Cape: With our new stuff, we have to find a time when we can both do it, making sure we have the songs together soon. I think it will happen. For now, for both of us, we are just touring, touring, seeing the family and then touring!
TS – We are busy!
(Joey Cape leaves to learn a last minute song)
MN: Tony, in the song 'Toaster in the Bathtub’, you mention the lyrics 'you are the truth and I am the lie’, does this refer to a goal or belief in your heart that you have perhaps deviated from in the past?
Tony Sly: It’s basically a broad stroke about destroying a relationship and building it back up again. What I meant by the lyrics, in a therapeutic sense, the ’12 Song Program’ is like the ’12 Step Program’. This is more like therapy through music, a kind of funny play on words. The thing I like about old folk music is how honest it is, and so I really just wanted the lyrics to be open and honest.
MN: Are these songs the remains of work that perhaps didn’t make it onto the last 'NUFAN’ album?
Tony Sly: No. These are strictly written for a solo album. The band took a declared five months, no touring and no music. I wanted to write this album really fast, as there were no inhibitions It came out really well. I know how to write a song properly so it came out really fluently and successfully.
MN: Finally, Who would win in an arm wrestle between you and Dave Raun of Lagwagon?
Tony Sly: Dave definitely, he’s huge. He’s a big guy. That’s not even a good match up!
Thank you for your time Tony, good luck with the rest of the Tour.
