The13th AÑO: 4 | NÚMERO 41
UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA
DEAN GARCIA I LIKE TO KEEP BUSY WITH AS MANY THINGS AS POSSIBLE
[ Interview With Dean Garcia From SPC ECO - Curve. By DarÃo Martinez ]
I LIKE TO KEEP BUSY WITH AS MANY THINGS AS POSSIBLE
This year commemorates 25 years of Doppelgänger (1992) and Cuckoo (1993), two great discs from Curve. Your band left a great mark in that decade for much of us, celebrating this anniversary with a remastered expanded deluxe version of both. First of all, thanks for your music. Please tell us if this process was inspiring or motivating for you? Hi and thanks, re process/motivation etc. it was more a case of re-finding and digging out all the masters that were used along with any extras that might be useful along the way, I suppose it was inspiring in a I'm surprised I'm still alive and of reasonable brain capacity to be able to remember anything about it let alone what mixes were used type way, that said I do remember a fare bit and it was an interesting dip back into those songs which in turn brought back some fond ( and not so ) memories of that time. I'm pleased with the results and comp of it all, some of the songs have stood the test of time, especially Horror Head which will always be my fave Curve song. It's good to have it all back out there in a different time space and hopefully turn a few new people on to it as well as bring back those younger times and peculier memories for all who sailed with us back in the day. This also includes previously unpublished songs. Tell us‌ what do you remember about these at the time they were recorded and why did you decide to include them in this re-issue? It was a case of trying to find something new to include, which is not easy as we only ever recorded what was required at the time, I can't remember a time we recorded just for the sake of it, those two songs were the only ones I could find so def worth it to include them, they were somewhat holy grail I believe so a perfect (if only) no brainer choice. Plus they're actually pretty good. Did this involve re-recording some new tracks, re-mixing some song or just re-mastering? No re-recording etc., I did suggest we record a new song or two to go with it but Toni wasn't into it. Some of the tracks were remastered some not, I believe all the Cuckoo stuff was the original Howie masters but the Dopps tracks were tweaked via a recent unattended session at the labels suggestion. I think they have all
turned out OK judging by the feedback I've read. We know from your band’s Facebook that, for the time being, you have no plans to play these albums live again. Toni, for now, prefers to stay away from the stage. Would you personally like to play live? Toni doesn't want anything to do with the music business anymore which is a shame but I do understand her thoughts and feelings, from the preliminary enquiries we made about a few Curve shows it brought back a lot of feelings that she just doesn't want to deal with anymore, you can only respect that and move on. I would have been up for taking Curve out again and will always be so I just say what I always say which is never say never. On that note, what possibility is there that SPC ECO will tour? We'd like to play live again but only if the situ is right and the demand is there, we're looking into some dates in the States (n more if it works) for sometimes next year, Rose is very keen on tour mode which is exactly right considering her age, I on the other hand am far more cautious and vibe kill about it as the last thing I want to do is drag my Daughter through a world of shit which a poorly planned no demand tour situ can easily turn into. So again Yes/No/Maybe all things considered. There are two numbers that seem to be special, a 25-year anniversary for Curve albums and 10 years for SPC ECO. Was the recording of Calm done in a special way in this relation? Not consciously or initially but it did seem to spur us along when we got the release date for the Curve reissue, it was a big push and motivation for us to finish the SPC ECO record and tie it all up together, just a neat and tidy type thing, everything in place and topically historical. It seems that some songs on Calm sound closer to Curve than previous SPC ECO output. Is this on purpose or is this just my imagination? Perhaps you were influenced by the fact that you were listening to Curve to prep for the reissues around the same time? It was always our intention to explore the guitar/noise
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element more when we started up recording for the Calm record, Waking Up Again is one of the tracks that has a Curve ring to it , I think a lot of this is due to Jarek's input and thinking as he and I were gearing up to bring new tracks to the table when the suggestion of recording new Curve songs was in the air, this track was originally recorded around that time but unused for its intention so Jarek sent it to Rose and I and we worked on it instead. As for the others I'm not sure, as said we wanted to bring back and explore the noise/ guitars more and whenever this happens it's bound (and natural) to take on a few Curve (ish) elements along the way. I read that Rose said that you have recorded many more songs than are found on the album contains. Will you be release more music sometime soon for SPC ECO? Yep, we recorded almost three albums worth of songs, I'm sure they'll surface in some form or another at some stage but for now we'll just sit on them. We always prefer to record in the moment when we write so it's quite possible that they'll get nested in the drives until such a time someone needs them or they get dug out, in all
honesty they're never that far my mind and the good ones tend to stick, they're all ear marked for a rainy day. You usually work on many different projects, and I get the impression that you must live in your music studio. Tell us about the remix you've made for Ummagma. I like to keep busy with as many things as possible, even if that does mean lying in bed all day, which is sometimes a crucial thing to do. Working with Ummagma was one of those rare asks that you jump on, I like the feels of their songs so just lost myself in them, which is always a good sign for me, you tend to shut out the outside and get lost in translation. Working on the Ummagma remixes was part of those moments. I'd like to do more for them in the future. What about S T F U or your other side projects – any plans? Jarek and I are always sound swapping ideas back n forth and are looking towards a new Blurred City Lights EP at some point soonish. Also working with Preston Maddox right now on a new S T F U record, we're over
5 half way into an album that is kicking and screaming, noisy, dark and oddly foreboding as you'd expect. I love it and look forward to getting it out there. I'd like to involve S T F U in the possible touring thing I mentioned earlier in the US, a rollercoaster noise fest with
all the people I love involved. Sounds like fun to me. Thank you very much Dean!!! Thank you too :) x
The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA