Gang of Four (Pt. 3)
People always highlight the lyrical content as a factor that set you apart from other groups, both then and now. Why do you think that is?
JK: It’s a funny thing. We took on different subject matters from the established nonsense of ‘I was going out with this bird or this bloke, but I’ve broken up with them and my life’s a mess’ or ‘I’m going out to a club for a dance, to pick up someone and get laid’. There are a few subjects – the presence of being in love or the absence of love - that dominate ordinary song writing. Katie Melua is a classic example the lyric “There are nine million bicycles in Beijing, that’s a fact, it’s a thing we can’t deny, like the fact I will love you till I die” – that’s so sad, you know, give it up. We took on different subjects, and it was and continues to be an affront ‘How dare you write about something else?’ Dylan is God as far as I’m concerned. People said ‘how dare you write stuff that doesn’t quite make sense? What’s that about?’ I think there is a strong element of that in Gang Of Four.
What do you think of the overall state of the UK music scene?
JK: So much of the music coming out of the UK is in decline. Back when we started you were able to sign on. We were a typical bunch of students studying Art. Art Students – from The Kinks, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, whatever - had got time on their hands to play. That’s why we had such a successful creative thing within the whole of Britain - people were able to explore their creativity. Nowadays young people are criminalised - you just have to wear a hoodie to be a suspect.
HB: It’s worse in the States. In Shopping Malls they’re now putting a curfew on under 18’s – they can’t come in after six at night or at weekends unless accompanied at all times by their parents. It’s like ‘oh great, there’s no playgrounds, there are no places to gather but at least the Malls will be safe’ but then they kick them out because some of their older customers find them ‘unsettling’.
JK: That is – they hang around, and they lope about…
HB: …and they make stupid jokes and they smoke…
JK:… but still they’re the victims of oppression. The criminalisation and aggression to young people is to say ‘You must never slack! You must never spend a moment where you’re not being tested, looked at, observed, scrutinised, bullied, bossed around and all this kind of stuff. Yet creativity comes from being ignored, subsidised, whatever it is. I’m a big believer in people being able to lope around and waste their time. Creatively.
Do you get many young fans at your shows?
JK: An amazing amount, we reckon about two thirds of our audience are aged between 15 and 25.
What about the widely touted reggae influence, how did that have a bearing on the music of Gang Of Four?
JK: We all loved black music – Funkadelic, Parliament, Chic – all hugely unfashionable too. That was the big difference between us and other bands - we wanted to play stuff that somehow or other recognised our love of black music and reggae music. We weren’t going to play reggae but using a melodica wasn’t an ‘art rock’ thing. It wasn’t so people could say ‘he’s so crazy’ it was because of a love of Augustus Pablo - we all loved Augustus Pablo. We didn’t use it like Augustus does but it was part of that deconstruction which had black music at its core. Hugo and Dave’s heavy kind of remixing came from the love of black music, it didn’t come from punk. You couldn’t dance to punk - and if you can’t dance to something you can’t fuck to something - therefore it’s not funky, because funky music is all about sex. Curiously Gang Of Four was non-sexy music which people went home and got off to, and still do. I’m sure that’s why bands like Franz Ferdinand are successful - they do that thing and do it well. They’re like a pop version of us.
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