310-317 JONNINE STANDISH & NIGEL YANG / H T R K

JONNINE STANDISH & NIGEL YANG PHOTOGRAPHED BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE AT SOME/THINGS SECRET [PARIS, JULY 2011]



[...RUFUS KNIGHT / THE IDEA OF CORPORATE LIFE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE DEALING WITH IN THE NEW ALBUM. IT’S A VERY STRANGE PLACE TO BE...
JONNINE STANDISH / THERE’S HEAVY CORPORATE THEMES. AS MUCH AS I DESPISE IT, I’M REALLY INSPIRED BY IT AT THE SAME TIME. A LOT OF INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT ABOUT ART COMES FROM WHAT AFFECTS YOU, WHETHER THAT’S ON A GOOD LEVEL OR NOT. MYSELF & SEAN ESPECIALLY REALLY HAVE HAD THESE CORPORATE DOUBLE LIVES DURING THE DAY & THEN AT NIGHT WE BECOME OURSELVES. NOT SO MUCH NIGEL, HE’S KIND OF GOT OUT OF IT— I DON’T KNOW HOW – OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN REALLY JEALOUS AS HE’S ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO WORK FROM HOME. SEAN WAS KIND OF WORKING FROM HOME BUT HE WAS DEALING WITH THESE MEGA-INTENSIVE CORPORATE CONFERENCE CALLS; HE’D BE IN HIS UNDERWEAR COMPLETELY WIRED TALKING TO 8 PEOPLE IN SAN FRANCISCO HOLDING THE WHOLE MEETING & THEY WOULD JUST THINK HE WAS A GENIUS. HE’D BE AT MY HOUSE SAYING ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M PULLING THIS SHIT OFF’ AS I’M GOING TO WORK IN MY CORPORATE BLAZER & WE WOULD LAUGH AT THIS COMPLETELY ALTERNATE UNIVERSE THAT WE HAD THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH WHO WE WERE. WE FELT LIKE KINDRED SPIRITS. I’M SURE THAT’S WHY THOSE SUBJECTS HAVE LEAKED INTO THE ALBUM.

[...]

RK / WHAT WAS IT LIKE FINALISING THE ALBUM WITHOUT SEAN; WAS IT THERAPEUTIC? WHAT KIND OF PRESENCE DOES HE HAVE ON THIS ALBUM, SPECTRAL OR OTHERWISE?
NIGEL YANG / I’VE LONG BEEN AWARE OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL IDEA OF DEATH & DESTRUCTION GIVING RISE TO UNHERALDED BURSTS OF LIFE & CREATIVITY. BUT I’D NEVER EXPERIENCED THIS PHENOMENON PERSONALLY. WHEN SEAN DIED, HE LET LOOSE SO MUCH ENERGY & POWER INTO ME. I DID NOT DENY THIS ENERGY— I TOOK IT FROM HIM LIKE A GIFT, THE GREATEST GIFT HE EVER GAVE ME. SO THIS RECORD WAS WRITTEN ON THAT HIGH.
MANY OF THE BASIC FOUNDATIONS OF THESE SONGS WERE WRITTEN BY SEAN WHILST HE WAS LIVING IN BERLIN— HE WOULD EMAIL THROUGH THESE ROUGH DEMOS, BUT WE NEVER WORKED ON THEM PROPERLY. ONLY POSTHUMOUSLY DID WE ADD OUR LAYERS, TURNING THESE SKETCHES INTO PROPER SONGS THAT I KNOW HE WOULD HAVE LOVED.
AS FOR HIS GHOST— I’M RELUCTANT TO SAY TOO MUCH— WE FEEL WE NEED TO KEEP SOME STORIES SECRET, CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS FOREVER. BUT I CAN TELL YOU one STORY. FOR YEARS, SEAN HAD WANTED TO CALL AN HTRK RELEASE OR SONG ‘ANATHEMA’. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT SOUNDED TOO GOTHIC. HIS ‘ANATHEMA’ TITLE IDEA HADN’T COME UP FOR YEARS & WAS PROBABLY NEVER GOING TO COME UP EVER AGAIN. AFTER HE DIED, IN BETWEEN RECORDING SESSIONS FOR WORK (WORK, WORK), I PICKED UP A TEMPORARY JOB STOCKTAKING CLOTHES AT A BIG WAREHOUSE. SO IT’S 1:00AM IN THE MORNING & I’VE STILL GOT A HUGE PILE OF BAGS & WALLETS & LEATHER GOODS TO SCAN. I COME ACROSS THIS UGLY WALLET, OUT OF A PILE OF OVER 200 WALLETS. FOR SOME REASON IT REMINDS ME OF SOMETHING SEAN WOULD LIKE; IT’S GOT COARSE SEAMS, IT LOOKS RIGID & A BIT BULKY. I STARE AT IT & WONDER WHETHER I SHOULD BUY IT, AS I NEED A NEW WALLET, EVEN THOUGH I’D NEVER USE SUCH AN UGLY THING. WHEN I OPENED IT UP TO GET A FEEL FOR IT TO HELP ME DECIDE, I DISCOVERED INSIDE, TUCKED INTO A SECRET COMPARTMENT, A PIECE OF PAPER — A RIPPED OUT BIT OF A DICTIONARY WITH THE ENTRY ON ANATHEMA. MY HEART WAS RACING; I BOUGHT THE WALLET. FATE COULDN’T HAVE BEEN POINTING MORE TO CALLING THE ALBUM ‘ANATHEMA’— BUT OF COURSE WE STILL DEEMED IT AS SOUNDING TOO GOTH.
FINALISING THE ALBUM WITHOUT HIM WAS THE BEST THERAPY I COULD HAVE EVER HOPED FOR, IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH THE SHOCK & SENSE OF LOSS. THROUGH MY GRIEF I ALSO EXPERIENCED one OF THE HAPPIEST TIMES OF MY LIFE, WORKING WITH JONN WITH A STEADY FLOW OF IDEAS THROUGH INTUITION. EVERY DECISION WAS MADE WITH HIS SPIRIT IN MIND— HIS SADNESS, HIS TENDERNESS, HIS WICKEDNESS.
JS / THE LINE BETWEEN KEEPING IT TOGETHER & GOING UNDER IS SO FINE. WE ALL KNOW THIS— IT’S LIKE THE LUCK OF CROSSING A ROAD...]


/ EXCERPT FROM A CONVERSATION BETWEEN RUFUS KNIGHT, NIGEL YANG, & JONNINE STANDISH. ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE CHAPTER005 / SHE HAS NO STRINGS APOLLO









HTRK WITH SEAN STEWART PHOTOGRAPHED BY REN ROX