2. Billy StewartI Do Love You
This falls into a somewhat misunderstood genre called oldies, and I grew up on it living in L.A. When I was about 10, a friend of mine had a cousin. He would work on his car that was parked on his lawn and he’d play this romantic music. And I was like “wow, I’ve never heard anything like that”. I was listening to metal at the time. “Like, what is this?” He pulls out this cassette and it said Jimmy Stewart. Wow, Jimmy Stewart. The Christmas song guy. I went to the record store and asked “do you have a Jimmy Stewart record?” And of course they brought the Jimmy Stewart Christmas album. I’m like, “no, no, no, no. That’s not it!” It took me so long to realise that my friend’s cousin had made a mistake.
It’s interesting you say ‘romantic music’, because that’s present in Nonpareils and it was always there in Liars. Has that always been important to you?
I think with Liars, it depends on the era, because Angus and I would change who wrote that closing romantic song. With Nonpareils it’s a goal to attain. It’s very easy for me to be caught in my head or a concept that I try to follow. With the first Nonpareils record, I was very into trying to make my statement with electronic music and use tools that I had made myself. The sound and the music I’m very proud of, but that whole cerebral goal didn’t add anything. Billy Stewart is something I can listen to at any point and it makes me feel something in that moment. That’s a goal I constantly try to reach for.
