| Peter Murphy Interview 5/25/02 by Samuel Gibson Peter Murphy, the fabulously talented spirit. "Waiting in the driver's seat", playing Dust loud and listening to the Turkish influences of Marcan Dede indeed present Peter Murphy in a fresh, very desireable form. Such an extreme voice that carries well over the acoustics and out through your soul. Samuel – Your album, ‘Dust’ has a very different sound than your previous albums and I was wondering what direction are you moving on to with that? Peter – I think if you listen to all my albums, even the Bauhaus stuff, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, ‘Burning From the Inside’, ‘Three Shadows.’ My albums in the past have been actually quite eclectic in a way and there’s been a binding factor with the voice and the lyrics. There’s been much more of a focus on that sort of use of space. I can’t hear that, but obviously there’s a much more magnetized sort of a quality about where it’s coming from and it’s sort of very much, has a brilliant continuity about it and it’s probably the best album in ten years. Samuel – I think it’s fantastic, actually. I love it. Peter – Thank you. I mean, I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but you kind of… “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” And that’s Nelson Mandela. He also says, “It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” I like to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous. Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel secure around you. We were born to make manifest glory of God that is within us. It is not just some of us, it’s in every one and if we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people the chance to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically brings others. That’s really how brilliant… I mean, I love that quote and that’s basically it. Samuel – I read that in this album you have a lot of influence from Turkey and I’m wondering where exactly that came from? Peter – Well, I’ve lived there for ten years and I’ve been absorbing that and listening to the whole thing of Pop to Turkish Classical. It was really through Mercan Dede, meeting him, who’s our producer. He’s a Turk who lives in Montreal, but he also tours in Turkey and he was the first person I had heard that had really nailed an element of what I was hearing as which in my own head and through Mercan, I started to play with and meet these wonderful Turkish players. I realized, “God, this is where there’s a real deep, deep power in the simplicity of these brilliant instruments.” The playing is kind of like… I mean if you want Rock and Roll, that’s it. The heart of it, really. That’s kind of like the most deep, most challenging sound of God if you like. Samuel – Your music is a diverse style that offers many sounds. Do you feel that this helped in allowing many different people to relate to your music? Peter – Yes, I think it’s by default. I represent a challenge to people who I think may be afraid and confused about Islam. I think this album has a very sort of remote coincidental affect that breaks down a lot of stereotypes in Rock and Roll and out a bit. It’s kind of like Rock and Roll and Pop music isn’t just about throwing bombs and kicking people in the face and fucking women. It’s about breaking the boundaries. It’s an art form. Now we’re starting to liberate it from it’s fucked up past. We’re kind of like honest people like Moby, and I call them Rock and Roll, not the so-called Rock and Roll people who are kind of like muppets. Even Industrial acts. There’s a lot of that regurgitating, this sort of hate, so it’s subject to confusion, really. Although, I’m not being specific. I don’t really know much about that, but it’s kind of like Moby and Tricky. Rock and Roll is also like Chemical Brothers. The real Rock and Roll or the real spirits of Punk is in the hands of the Dance world. The Deep Trance. There’s a lot of amazing work out there. So, what did you ask me? Sorry. Blah, blah, blah. Samuel – Since the Bauhaus reunion tour was a great success, can we expect another reunion in the future? Peter – Well, I think no, not really. Not after this album. I was saving all of this energy for definitely another three albums with Bauhaus after the tour and I spent a year trying to communicate with the guys that this was completely not a retro thing and there were reasons, head reasons, really. Fear. Kind of like what Nelson Mandela said, that “The deepest fear was that they were not powerful beyond measure.” So I just had to pull up my anchor that… you know, I’ve been docked at the shore a long time, a year and how could Bauhaus top ‘Dust’? I’m not arrogant, that was just something I hoped that we would make, but it’s okay. I mean, Bauhaus is amazing. They are like my brothers. I love them. There was a question, it said, “What band would you be in if you weren’t a solo artist?” and I said, well, Bauhaus. You know, you can’t just treat a band like a weekend money maker. That’s complete cynical crap. I won’t have that. Samuel – Can we expect further collaboration with Mercan on your future projects? Peter – Oh, for sure. This is just like a new window. We have an understanding. I’m much more Turkish than he is in many ways and he’s much more Western than I am. There’s a really sort of thick weight there. I think I’ll probably introduce a deep… I’m not sure yet… something more like a cross between the stooges and quality music. Samuel – Are you guys writing right now? Peter – No, I don’t have to. That’s the thing with working. I basically set a ten week period where I write, record and mix the album. That’s what happens. Never mind spending five years and spending like a million bucks on protecting your ass. If you’ve got an ass, then just move it. What is that, a Nike ad? “Just Do It!” |