4. The BeatlesRevolver
I was half tempted to put in all of The Beatles’ albums. It’s really hard for me to pick one because I fucking love all of them. They mean so much to me. I think Revolver, because it pointed the way forward. It’s interesting that ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, which still sounds like something that’s coming from the future, was the first song that they started work on. They started that in early 1966 or whatever. Pretty far out when you think about it. That song always sounds contemporary to me. That thing with the bass and drums where it’s just one groove, like a loop. And all the tape sounds that are coming in and out. It’s very advanced for its time. The sound was so different that you knew there was something else going on, that something was changing culturally and musically for people, which of course it did the following year. The Indian influence is there as well. Obviously it’s in ‘Love You To’, the George track, but also the way the guitars are played. You’ve got a slight drone going on with the guitars.
Obviously The Beatles were fairly prodigious drug-takers. Have drugs had much of an influence on your music?
Yeah sure they have. Sometimes in a good way, but rarely I’d say. Sometimes in a very negative way. I think they’re a bit of a dead end. Certain drugs, especially when you first start taking them, open up the world in a way you’ve never thought about before. But of course as soon as it creeps into abuse it shuts down all those creative channels and you just become a junkie. I think taken in small doses it can be very creative, but prolonged use just fucks people up.
