I am blessed with all the attention. Interview to Carlo Van Putten by Diego Centuri贸n. Translation: Marcelo Simonetti. I first heard of this band, because they were the support act for The Mission. I kew about The Covent, but I never kew what their singer was doing, Carlo Van Putten. When I discovered Dead Guitars, I didn't only find an excellent band, but also very sensitive musicians and great albums. Later I discovered White Rose Transmission, another treasure. When I was thinking in an interview for the end of the year, lots of names came to my mind, and I tried to get in touch with them. My first choice happily came true. Now, that's the result. This is Carlo Van Putten!
2015 is the White Rose Transmission 20th anniversary. How much do you miss Adrian Borland? Adrian will always be missed, as a friend, as a lovely person, a guy with a lot of humour and of course for his ability to create wonderful music, as well as his talent for writing great words and excellent singing. Beyond the name of the song, Dead Guitars is a tribute name to him? We were looking for a name and Kurt our bass-player loved that track on the WRT album. Dead Guitars was, as Adrian told me a song of friendship and the love for the guitar based music that we both shared. We both were into The stooges, the Doors, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground and Joy Division.
Somehow after he passed, it felt like a good bye letter. Thought Kurt’s idea to call the band after that song a good Idea. Still don’t know about the word “dead” in it. I always sounds a bit “harsh” to me…..but it’s ok. If you have to enumerate the things you learnt from Adrian, what things could you say to us? A very important thing he taught me was to have faith and trust in what you are doing. I am more confident these days. I worked with Mark Burgess, Marty Willson Piper, Adrian and with Wayne Hussey. These people build up my confidence and more important than that is that there is a friendship and the ability to share artistic ideas. Adrian taught me also that no matter how mellow the lyrics are, sing them in the studio with a smile….so that the song doesn’t sound to dramatic and it gives the people hope. You are in the “Walking in The Opposite Direction” documental, what can you tell us about it? You know….a lot of Adrian’s lyrics have had to do with his illness. To be manic depressed is an illness. He wasn’t always down, believe me. He could be the most funniest man on earth! We have had a lot of fun together. When Adrian & I started with the 700 miles of desert album Mark and Adrian met for the second time. Mark wasn’t in the best state at that time, because of his private situation. Adrian immediately got that signal and have had a good time with Mark in the studio. This album would be lyrically wise be full written by Adrian, except from the swimmer. The third album I would write complete. Adrian wrote “Digging for Water” and asked Mark if he would fancy to sing that one. I did another short track called “Breathe”. In the end Mark did well…he kept digging for water and found an ocean…. I kept breathing and… yes I am still alive. I already sung “walking in the opposite direction” because Adrian wanted me to be the singer on the WRT project. I persuade him to sing one song as well. We wiped my vocal track on “walking in the opposite direction” it was that one he choose. Bizarre idea, because the album is called 700 miles of desert. Imagine if you are halfway through the desert…running out of water….would you carry on or turn around and walk back? The whole album started to become freaky after he passed. It took about 3 years until I could listen to it again.
Starting with Dead Guitars, I feel eclipsed by your music. In South America your albums are very hard to find, but the web is a perfect resource to get in touch with your music, what’s your relationship with the social network? First of all thanks man! It’s good if music touches you. I feel the same by several bands I love. Well, social network is very important isn’t it? At the other hand it can take the spell away from singers and musicians and make them transparent. It might also helped Adrian a lot, but it wasn’t very common those days if he would see how many people are influenced by his work and love the stuff he created. It’s a good thing the internet, but as all good things in life…don’t get addicted to it. “Airplanes”, your first album, is simply beautiful, what do you remember about those years? I remember a lot of personal changes, a divorce, a new life, a new love and then that went wrong again. Loneliness is a warm gun! I also remember brilliant recordings with a great band and a lot of brilliant guitar tunes, bass lines and excellent drum parts. A friend band, a closeness and sometimes a very selfish egocentric singer, who behaves like a prima Donna. You’ve been in The Mission Farewell tour. I saw some stuff in youtube from the Barcelona show. Was it a growth for the band, this door opened since you’ve been playing with them? It helped us a lot, yes it did. I mean we played already a lot of shows with the Dead Guitars, but never 21 days in a row with a night-liner, a crew, an own sound engineer and merchandiser. I have high respect for all those band who do this year after year. I wouldn’t like to miss a second of that tour. It was the best thing ever happened in my career though.
“Flags”, your second album, is a step above, if we talk about sound an compositional treatment. Beyond the Mission collaborations in this album, it seems you found your own identity with this album… Don’t think we ever had an identity. But I know what you are saying in this. Yes you are right, we created something that sounded more like a whole thing instead of different styles in one album, if that is what you mean. “Airplanes” was recorded during 2 years, Flags just happened straight after the tour with The Mission and the band was tight and up for it. Then “Strangers” arrives, a magnificent album, where we can hear you much more entrenched and spiritual. Do you think that Ralf Aussem production has anything to do with that? Oh yes, Ralf’s production is the fingerprint on that album, it marks the whole thing. He already did hell of a lot on the one before, but with stranger he spends day after day and night after night in the Dead Rose Studio mixing the tracks and gave the album a lot of his own identity. But we all love it that way. Ralf really knows what he is doing. The guy is a sound wizard, who should be rich and famous by now. Talking about Ralf, he achieves a unique sound for Dead Guitars, a mix between dreampop and soundscapes that makes the band fly, most of all your voice. How much this sound source releases you at the time of composing your vocal melodies? Again man, thanks! You know ….we all love a certain kind of music. We all prefer different bands and have huge collections. But at the cross road of all styles there is something we all have in common. That mellowness in music. If Ralf starts to come up with an idea, or Pete wrote a great melody on his guitars…I start to get carried away by it. I love what the band does….the words come out by themselves.
There’s a new album. Tell us about it. Yesterday we played six new songs on a concert in Germany. The people loved them. Up till now it sounds fantastic. I am not going to push up your expectations to high. Soon you will have it in front of you….let me know then what you think ok? The Convent, White Rose Transmission, Dead Guitars, lots of phases, lots of sonorities. With Dead Guitars, are you feeling fulfilled ideological and musically? Definitely! I do! Every band I have been in and every project I was part of are special in a kind. The Convent never split up and Jojo will always be my mate as well as the rest of the band. With the dead guitars I can also be myself. I feel that I am appreciated whenever I start to sing, because I see the enthusiasm on their faces. This is the band I want to be in. In our last number we interviewed Steve Kilbey from The Church, and now that I’m talking with you, I’ve got the same sensation. I feel I’m interviewing a person that should have more recognition. It’s just a reflexion I wanted to do. Great band, great singer, great bass-player, lovely person! The Church, more recognition? Man the band is known all over the world, because they keep going on and on and every one of that band is a genius in its own kind. I’ve got most of their stuff in my vinyl collection! I tell you, if you keep telling yourself that you are underrated and that you don’t get the recognition that you deserve…you will end up like Adrian, depressed, sad, lonely! If music and the industry that comes with it depresses you… STOP doing it! Go and read a good book, play chess, go surfing, do something you enjoy in life. I don’t think Steve feels underrated at all. That guy loves what he is doing and he does it well! I am not underrated at all, sold out gig yesterday, people from Argentina ask me questions ….what more can I expect out of my work? Nothing man... I am blessed with all the attention. And to end the interview, beyond the new álbum, what’s in Carlo van Putten horizon for 2015? I just finished my study. I got my master degree German language and education at the university here in Utrecht. I am a German teacher and play the right music to the new generation. Just kidding! I hope I will still be creative and unpredictable. Thank you for your time Diego!
My sincere thanks for the interview Revista The 13th: http://issuu.com/revistathe13th http://issuu.com/revistathe13th/docs/the13th_numero_13 https://www.facebook.com/the13thlarevista @RevistaThe13th revistathe13th@gmail.com