{"id":1879,"date":"2026-01-18T00:24:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T23:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2026-01-18T09:15:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T08:15:40","slug":"the-bathers-le-secret-le-mieux-garde-de-la-musique-ecossaise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/2026\/01\/18\/the-bathers-le-secret-le-mieux-garde-de-la-musique-ecossaise\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bathers : le secret le mieux gard\u00e9 de la pop \u00e9cossaise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Qui n’a jamais entendu le timbre chaud et singulier de Chris Thomson, chanteur et compositeur du groupe \u00e9cossais The Bathers<\/a>, a beaucoup de chance. Dans une veine lyrique et po\u00e9tique, alliant tour \u00e0 tour guitare, piano, trompette ou orchestre symphonique, le groupe a publi\u00e9 depuis sa cr\u00e9ation en 1987 une s\u00e9rie d’albums magnifiques, accompagn\u00e9s par un best-of en 2001, et un dernier opus sorti en 2023 intitul\u00e9 Sirenesque.<\/em> De son adolescence en pleine p\u00e9riode punk \u00e0 sa collaboration avec l’ex-chanteuse des mythiques Cocteau Twins<\/a>, Liz Fraser<\/a>, Chris Thomson revient sur la cr\u00e9ation et le parcours d’un groupe qui a jusqu’ici connu un succ\u00e8s davantage critique que public, et qui reste surtout c\u00e9l\u00e8bre sur la sc\u00e8ne de Glasgow. Un \u00e9tat de fait que l’on ne peut que regretter tant cette musique, souvent bouleversante, toujours exaltante, est l’\u0153uvre d’un artiste qui n’h\u00e9site pas \u00e0 se mettre \u00e0 nu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGLISH VERSION BELOW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightofmylife : Tout d\u2019abord, je voudrais vous remercier de m\u2019accorder cette interview. J\u2019\u00e9coute votre musique depuis longtemps, donc c\u2019est un v\u00e9ritable honneur.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Thomson :<\/strong> \u00c7a me fait vraiment plaisir d\u2019entendre \u00e7a. Merci beaucoup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quand avez-vous commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 jouer de la musique ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je ne me suis mis \u00e0 la musique qu\u2019\u00e0 environ 15 ans. On \u00e9tait des ados au lyc\u00e9e quand quelqu\u2019un a propos\u00e9 : \u00ab On forme un groupe. \u00bb Personne ne savait jouer d\u2019un instrument. Mais \u00e0 cette \u00e9poque, le punk rock, c\u2019\u00e9tait le truc, donc ce n\u2019\u00e9tait pas si grave. C\u2019\u00e9tait surtout une question d\u2019attitude. J\u2019avais envie d\u2019\u00e9crire mes propres chansons. C\u2019est parti de l\u00e0. On \u00e9tait quatre ou cinq amis dans la m\u00eame situation, incapables de jouer, mais on voulait jouer. On a appris un peu les uns des autres. Il nous a fallu quelques ann\u00e9es pour vraiment acqu\u00e9rir les bases, mais on y est arriv\u00e9s. C\u2019\u00e9tait vers 15 ans, donc pour moi c\u2019\u00e9tait 1977, je dirais. \u201977, \u201978, on s\u2019est mis \u00e0 prendre \u00e7a au s\u00e9rieux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous avez vraiment pris des cours de musique, ou vous avez appris tout seul ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On n\u2019a jamais pris de cours de musique. Je me souviens qu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cole, on avait la fl\u00fbte \u00e0 bec, c\u2019\u00e9tait les cours de musique de base, et j\u2019ai rat\u00e9 l\u2019audition, ce qui n\u2019\u00e9tait pas un tr\u00e8s bon d\u00e9part. Je crois que le professeur nous a demand\u00e9 de chanter quelque chose. J\u2019\u00e9tais tellement nerveux. Un peu plus tard, peut-\u00eatre quatre ou cinq ans apr\u00e8s, j\u2019ai quand m\u00eame pris deux ou trois cours de chant \u00e0 Londres avec une prof tr\u00e8s connue qui a aussi enseign\u00e9 \u00e0 Johnny Rotten, les Sex Pistols, Boy George, Edwyn Collins\u2026 et Liz Fraser !<\/p>\n\n\n

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Elle s\u2019appelait Tona de Brett, vivait dans le Nord de Londres, \u00e0 Highgate. Donc oui, j\u2019ai pris deux ou trois cours. Mais c\u2019\u00e9tait vraiment une histoire de maison de disques. \u00ab Maintenant, tout le monde devrait prendre des cours de chant. \u00bb Mais, essentiellement, on \u00e9tait autodidactes et on apprenait en \u00e9coutant les autres groupes. C\u2019est comme \u00e7a qu\u2019on faisait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je suis aussi un grand fan de XTC, je voulais savoir si ce groupe \u00e9tait important pour vous.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dans la sph\u00e8re punk, on adorait XTC vers \u201978 quand on essayait juste de d\u00e9marrer. Je crois que je vois un lien entre eux et Talking Heads, comme une version am\u00e9ricaine de XTC. C\u2019\u00e9tait de la musique de guitare, c\u2019\u00e9tait pop, mais tr\u00e8s exp\u00e9rimental, tr\u00e8s int\u00e9ressant, avec des paroles tr\u00e8s intelligentes. Je ne dirais pas que j\u2019\u00e9tais un fan absolu au point d\u2019avoir tout achet\u00e9, mais ils \u00e9taient vraiment dans notre radar. C\u2019est quelque chose qu\u2019on aimait beaucoup, ce qu\u2019on entendait d\u2019eux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quel \u00e9tait le groupe que vous aimiez le plus \u00e0 cette \u00e9poque ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c0 cette \u00e9poque, on \u00e9coutait \u00e9norm\u00e9ment \u2014 \u00e0 part les \u00e9vidences comme David Bowie, Velvet Underground \u2014 des groupes plus contemporains, des trucs comme Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, une musique int\u00e9ressante, port\u00e9e par les guitares, avec un c\u00f4t\u00e9 punk. Ils \u00e9taient presque nos contemporains, juste un peu en avance sur nous. On \u00e9coutait Pale Fountains, les groupes de Liverpool. The Smiths, j\u2019aimais \u00ab\u00a0This Charming Man\u00a0\u00bb, mais je n\u2019ai jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 un grand fan. Je n\u2019ai jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 amoureux de The Smiths. Mais j\u2019adorais les groupes de Liverpool et ceux de Glasgow et d\u2019\u00c9dimbourg.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Friends Again a \u00e9t\u00e9 votre premier groupe, qui n\u2019a sorti qu\u2019un seul album, \u00ab\u00a0Trapped & Unwrapped\u00a0\u00bb, en 1984. Comment cette aventure a-t-elle commenc\u00e9 ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce groupe du lyc\u00e9e, le tout premier, bien s\u00fbr, n\u2019a men\u00e9 \u00e0 rien, mais j\u2019avais l\u2019id\u00e9e que j\u2019\u00e9tais dans un groupe. \u00c0 l\u2019\u00e9cole, on avait un \u201cgroupe musique\u201d le vendredi, dans une des salles, o\u00f9 chacun pouvait apporter son album ou son single pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9. La plupart les apportaient dans des sacs transparents, des sacs plastiques. Donc tu disais : \u00ab Oh, on \u00e9coute Iggy Pop \u00bb ou \u00ab David Bowie \u00bb. Tu \u00e9tais attir\u00e9 par les gens qui avaient des go\u00fbts musicaux intrigants. Le bassiste de Friends Again, et mon bon ami Neil Cunningham, \u00e9tait un grand fan de Bowie. Il avait Diamond Dogs. <\/em>Je me souviens : \u00ab Oh, je peux emprunter ton album ? \u00bb C\u2019est comme \u00e7a qu\u2019on est devenus amis. \u00ab Laisse-moi le prendre \u00e0 la maison et le copier sur cassette. D\u00e9sol\u00e9, succession David Bowie. \u00bb Et peu apr\u00e8s, Paul McGeechan, qui est devenu le clavi\u00e9riste de Friends Again. Lui aussi \u00e9tait comme \u00e7a. En fait, je crois que je l\u2019ai rep\u00e9r\u00e9 avec un petit synth\u00e9tiseur, un monosynth sous le bras. On a discut\u00e9, et c\u2019\u00e9tait le noyau de Friends Again \u00e0 partir d\u2019environ 1980. On avait 17, 18 ans. C\u2019\u00e9tait assez bancal. Ce n\u2019\u00e9tait pas tr\u00e8s bon, mais l\u2019attitude \u00e9tait la bonne. L\u2019esprit \u00e9tait bon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comment l\u2019album a-t-il vu le jour ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a continu\u00e9. On s\u2019est am\u00e9lior\u00e9s un peu. On a fait des d\u00e9mos. Petit \u00e0 petit, de bonnes chansons ont commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 appara\u00eetre. Ensuite on a rencontr\u00e9 James Grant, le guitariste, et Stuart, le batteur, qui \u00e9taient techniquement tr\u00e8s bons. Ils ont fait monter tout le monde d\u2019un bon niveau imm\u00e9diatement. Leur \u00e9nergie \u00e9tait la bonne. D\u2019un coup, on avait un groupe viable, et il y avait \u00e9norm\u00e9ment d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat de la part des maisons de disques, surtout \u00e0 Glasgow, o\u00f9 on \u00e9tait. Les labels londoniens montaient, signaient des groupes \u00e0 droite \u00e0 gauche, Lloyd Cole, les Bluebells, toutes sortes de choses. On s\u2019est assez vite retrouv\u00e9s avec un contrat d\u2019\u00e9dition et un contrat discographique, \u00e0 peu pr\u00e8s dans l\u2019ann\u00e9e qui a suivi l\u2019arriv\u00e9e de nous cinq dans le groupe. Donc oui, \u00e7a a sembl\u00e9 relativement facile une fois que nous\u2026 Mais il y a eu trois ou quatre ans o\u00f9 il ne s\u2019est pas pass\u00e9 grand-chose, juste le temps d\u2019acqu\u00e9rir un minimum de comp\u00e9tences et de se constituer un r\u00e9pertoire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je viens de regarder aujourd\u2019hui la vid\u00e9o de \u00ab\u00a0Sunkissed\u00a0\u00bb, o\u00f9 vous \u00eates sur la plage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh oui. Je crois que c\u2019\u00e9tait mon 20e anniversaire, en fait. C\u2019\u00e9tait un bel anniversaire !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous avez l\u2019air tr\u00e8s jeune dans cette vid\u00e9o.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, tr\u00e8s jeune. On \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s, tr\u00e8s jeunes. Cette vid\u00e9o a disparu pendant des d\u00e9cennies, et elle a tout juste r\u00e9apparu r\u00e9cemment. Il y a une note de bas de page int\u00e9ressante \u00e0 propos de cette vid\u00e9o. Le type qui l\u2019a faite \u2014 il n\u2019y avait qu\u2019un cam\u00e9raman et un r\u00e9alisateur \u2014 mais le r\u00e9alisateur \u00e9tait un type qui s\u2019appelait Nigel Dick, et qui est devenu ensuite un r\u00e9alisateur de clips immens\u00e9ment connu. Il a fait les fameux clips de Britney Spears, toutes sortes de choses. Je crois qu\u2019ils nous ont eus \u201c\u00e0 l\u2019arrache\u201d. Si vous le cherchez sur Google, c\u2019est du genre : \u00ab Oh l\u00e0 l\u00e0. \u00bb Mais oui, il a tr\u00e8s bien r\u00e9ussi. On \u00e9tait, je crois, son premier clip complet. On l\u2019a envoy\u00e9 \u00e0 la plage avec les gars de Friends Again, quasiment sans budget. \u00ab Oui, fais \u00e7a et on verra. \u00bb C\u2019\u00e9tait un petit clip plut\u00f4t sympa. Tr\u00e8s simple, belle journ\u00e9e \u00e0 Camber Sands. Je crois que c\u2019est dans le Sussex. Oui, East Sussex. C\u2019est magnifique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waouh, super souvenir. Comment l\u2019album a-t-il march\u00e9 ? A-t-il eu du succ\u00e8s ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je ne pense pas qu\u2019on ait eu l\u2019impression qu\u2019il avait du succ\u00e8s \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque, mais nous voil\u00e0, 40 ans plus tard, sur le point de faire quelques concerts de Friends Again, et les billets sont partis en une heure. Il y a un grand festival \u00e0 Glasgow qui s\u2019appelle le Celtic Connections Festival en janvier. C\u2019est un festival tr\u00e8s populaire. On nous a demand\u00e9 de jouer dans une superbe salle qui s\u2019appelle l\u2019Old Fruit Market. Elle peut contenir environ 1 500 personnes. \u00c7a s\u2019est vendu tr\u00e8s vite\u2026 Je pense qu\u2019ils s\u2019attendaient \u00e0 vendre deux ou trois cents, ou 400 billets, mais 1 500 billets sont partis en une heure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waouh, c\u2019est g\u00e9nial.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est vraiment adorable\u2026 Les gens sont tellement demandeurs d\u2019entendre cette musique. Pour l\u2019album, je crois que la maison de disques cherchait un gros single \u201chit\u201d pour lancer l\u2019album. L\u2019album a presque \u00e9t\u00e9 retard\u00e9 d\u2019environ un an, pendant qu\u2019on continuait \u00e0 travailler dessus. La chanson \u00ab\u00a0State of Art\u00a0\u00bb, je crois qu\u2019ils pensaient que ce serait un \u00e9norme tube, et \u00e7a s\u2019est arr\u00eat\u00e9 quelque part vers la 40e ou 50e place dans les charts. Au moment o\u00f9 l\u2019album est sorti, le moral du groupe commen\u00e7ait \u00e0 \u00eatre un peu bas parce qu\u2019on n\u2019avait pas le sentiment d\u2019avoir du succ\u00e8s. On tournait, et on tournait. On vivait dans un van, quasiment\u2026 \u00e0 faire les universit\u00e9s. Avec le recul, il y avait de belles salles. Une culture qui n\u2019existe plus vraiment de la m\u00eame mani\u00e8re aujourd\u2019hui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donc vous poursuiviez vos \u00e9tudes pendant que vous faisiez de la musique ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je n\u2019ai fait qu\u2019une ann\u00e9e d\u2019universit\u00e9, puis j\u2019ai arr\u00eat\u00e9. Paul, le clavi\u00e9riste, avait fait deux ans d\u2019\u00e9lectronique, il avait fini. Neil, le bassiste, avait arr\u00eat\u00e9 l\u2019urbanisme \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cole d\u2019art. James avait fait un cursus th\u00e9\u00e2tre pendant un an. Stuart \u00e9tait au ch\u00f4mage, \u00e0 pointer. On \u00e9tait tous compl\u00e8tement \u00e0 100 % sur le groupe au moment o\u00f9 on faisait les d\u00e9mos, etc. On \u00e9tait absolument d\u00e9di\u00e9s \u00e0 faire en sorte que \u00e7a arrive. Je crois que nos parents nous prenaient pour des fous. Nos amis aussi, probablement. Je ne sais pas, cette foi qu\u2019on a \u00e0 19-20 ans, que \u00e7a va marcher. On a fait assez pour que \u00e7a marche, mais on s\u2019est s\u00e9par\u00e9s juste au moment o\u00f9 l\u2019album est enfin sorti. On s\u2019est dit : bon, c\u2019est fini. Mais comme je dis, il y a encore un fort int\u00e9r\u00eat pour l\u2019album toutes ces ann\u00e9es plus tard. On va faire ce concert le 31 janvier. Ensuite, on a un concert d\u2019\u00e9t\u00e9 dans un festival en plein air avec les Bluebells, si vous vous en souvenez, de la m\u00eame \u00e9poque. Eux aussi ont une seconde vie, avec de nouveaux albums. Ils ont jou\u00e9 \u00e0 Glastonbury l\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re, en fait. Tout va bien, en plus de tout le reste qu\u2019on fait.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ensuite, vous avez sign\u00e9 un nouveau deal avec un label, et vous avez lanc\u00e9, enfin, The Bathers, comme on les conna\u00eet aujourd\u2019hui. Comment cela s\u2019est-il fait ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019avais une amie tr\u00e8s gentille \u00e0 Londres, une immense fan de Friends Again, et elle a vraiment commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 faire circuler les d\u00e9mos que j\u2019avais enregistr\u00e9es. Elle les a apport\u00e9es \u00e0 trois ou quatre maisons de disques et, tr\u00e8s vite, il y a eu de l\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat de la part de Go! Discs, un type qui s\u2019appelait Andy McDonald, qui a ensuite eu beaucoup de succ\u00e8s avec le label \u2014 Billy Bragg et les La\u2019s, The Housemartins, bien s\u00fbr. \u00c0 l\u2019\u00e9coute, je crois, de deux titres, \u00ab\u00a0Fancy Dress\u00a0\u00bb et \u00ab\u00a0Lata\u2019s Dream\u00a0\u00bb, ils ont dit : \u00ab Oui, on veut signer \u00e7a. \u00bb Avec le recul, \u00e7a semble incroyablement chanceux. Les choses se sont mises en place. Bon, \u00e7a a pris environ un an, mais assez vite pour que je sois encore dans le jeu, parce que les autres gars ont form\u00e9 Love & Money, qui, je crois, a plut\u00f4t bien march\u00e9 en France, si je me souviens bien. Mais ils \u00e9taient rest\u00e9s dans la m\u00eame maison de disques, donc ils avaient un chemin clair d\u00e8s le d\u00e9part. J\u2019ai eu de la chance, tout s\u2019est assembl\u00e9 gr\u00e2ce au travail de mon amie. J\u2019avais l\u2019impression que c\u2019\u00e9tait exactement la bonne maison de disques pour moi. Ils m\u2019ont fait confiance pour aller \u00e0 \u00c9dimbourg et terminer l\u2019album. Ils ne sont pas intervenus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s constructifs dans la fa\u00e7on de mettre l\u2019album en forme. Ils m\u2019ont plus ou moins laiss\u00e9 faire ce que je voulais. Malheureusement, j\u2019ai \u00e9t\u00e9 pris dans un bras de fer politique entre maisons de disques\u00a0: Go! Discs avait une maison-m\u00e8re ou un partenaire, Chrysalis, mais ils ont d\u00e9cid\u00e9 que \u00e7a ne marchait pas, donc presque du jour au lendemain, ils sont partis rejoindre un autre label. Je ne me souviens plus, Island Records ou quelque chose. Mais Chrysalis a dit : \u00ab Non, The Bathers, c\u2019est chez nous. \u00bb Je me suis retrouv\u00e9 coinc\u00e9 dans cette guerre de territoire entre les deux soci\u00e9t\u00e9s. Notre premier disque (Unusual Places to Die, <\/em>1987) est sorti et il n\u2019y a eu aucune promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est dommage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ils ne savaient pas trop s\u2019ils avaient le disque ou pas. C\u2019\u00e9tait un peu un cauchemar, mais au moins il est sorti et \u00e7a m\u2019a permis de continuer. C\u2019\u00e9tait un bon point de d\u00e9part pour The Bathers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Je l\u2019ai r\u00e9\u00e9cout\u00e9 aujourd\u2019hui, et il me semble que tous les \u00e9l\u00e9ments que vous allez d\u00e9velopper au fil des ann\u00e9es sont d\u00e9j\u00e0 pr\u00e9sents dans ce premier album.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je pense que oui. C\u2019est un premier album raisonnablement bon. C\u2019est un ensemble solide de chansons, et certains musiciens et producteurs \u00e9taient impliqu\u00e9s, ce qui m\u2019a aid\u00e9 sur l\u2019album suivant, Sweet Deceit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00c7a me para\u00eet plus personnel que Friends Again. J\u2019adore \u00ab\u00a0Trapped and Unwrapped\u00a0\u00bb. C\u2019est vraiment super. Mais le premier LP de The Bathers, \u00ab\u00a0Unusual Places to Die\u00a0\u00bb, c\u2019est votre son. \u00c7a ne ressemble \u00e0 rien d\u2019autre.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je crois que c\u2019est probablement vrai. C\u2019est parce que c\u2019est devenu une unit\u00e9 tr\u00e8s resserr\u00e9e entre moi et deux gars en studio, et deux amis qui passaient. En particulier, ces disques-l\u00e0 \u00e9taient tr\u00e8s serr\u00e9s, tr\u00e8s personnels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donc, vous \u00e9crivez toutes les chansons de The Bathers ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, la plupart. Avec le temps, j\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 \u00e0 collaborer de plus en plus. J\u2019ai toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 ouvert aux id\u00e9es des autres et aux bons musiciens. On r\u00e9agit aux bons musiciens et aux bonnes personnes.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ce qui me surprend chez The Bathers, c\u2019est la dimension orchestrale, les cordes m\u00eal\u00e9es \u00e0 votre voix. C\u2019est vraiment difficile de r\u00e9ussir ce m\u00e9lange. Je pense que c\u2019est une des qualit\u00e9s de votre musique. Comment parvenez-vous \u00e0 cette ma\u00eetrise des violons, violoncelles, et tout le reste, qui est devenue vraiment incroyable sur le dernier album Sirenesque (2023) ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je crois que vous avez raison, c\u2019est un m\u00e9lange assez d\u00e9licat. \u00c7a a demand\u00e9 beaucoup d\u2019exp\u00e9rimentations\u2026 J\u2019avais le son d\u2019orchestre en t\u00eate, et heureusement, on m\u2019a pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 un tr\u00e8s bon ensemble de musiciens \u00e0 cordes. J\u2019avais d\u00e9j\u00e0 exp\u00e9riment\u00e9 les cordes sur des albums pr\u00e9c\u00e9dents, mais sur ce dernier album, on a vraiment pouss\u00e9 le curseur, avec un orchestre de 24 musiciens. Certains titres, c\u2019est uniquement orchestre et voix. Comme l\u2019orchestre sonnait tellement bien, sur les versions CD, on a laiss\u00e9 quelques versions instrumentales parce qu\u2019elles sont juste magnifiques toutes seules. Mais j\u2019ai d\u00fb beaucoup travailler pour trouver un espace, l\u00e0-dedans, pour la voix chant\u00e9e. C\u2019\u00e9tait quelque chose de tr\u00e8s agr\u00e9able \u00e0 faire, mais c\u2019\u00e9tait difficile. \u00c7a a demand\u00e9 beaucoup de pratique et, si vous voulez, beaucoup d\u2019essais-erreurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J\u2019ai \u00e9crit le premier livre sur Cocteau Twins, sorti ici en France en 2013. On travaille en ce moment sur une traduction anglaise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, fantastique. \u00c7a a l\u2019air super.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quand mon groupe pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9, The Bathers, a travaill\u00e9 avec Elizabeth Fraser, c\u2019\u00e9tait comme un r\u00eave qui devenait r\u00e9alit\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est un talent absolument merveilleux, comme vous le savez, \u00e9videmment. Vraiment une personne magique.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Comment en \u00eates-vous venu \u00e0 travailler avec elle sur \u00ab\u00a0Sunpowder\u00a0\u00bb (1995) ? Je crois que vous l\u2019avez fait alors que les Cocteau Twins \u00e9taient encore ensemble.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019\u00e9tait vraiment \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque de Four Calendar Cafe<\/em>, cet album allait sortir. Mais je crois qu\u2019ils traversaient une p\u00e9riode difficile. Liz s\u2019\u00e9tait clairement s\u00e9par\u00e9e de Robin sur le plan romantique. C\u2019\u00e9tait d\u00e9finitivement termin\u00e9 et \u00e7a avait \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s difficile pour le groupe. C\u2019est bien document\u00e9, comme vous le savez. Le lien, c\u2019est un \u00c9cossais qui travaillait chez 4AD et connaissait les Cocteau Twins depuis l\u2019\u00e9poque de Grangemouth au pays : Colin Wallace. Il m\u2019a contact\u00e9 et m\u2019a dit \u00e0 quel point il avait aim\u00e9 l\u2019album Lagoon Blues,<\/em> celui juste avant Sunpowder.<\/em> Il a dit : \u00ab \u00c9coutez, je vais le faire \u00e9couter \u00e0 Liz. Est-ce que vous seriez int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par une collaboration ? \u00bb Et moi : \u00ab Waouh, \u00e7a a l\u2019air incroyable. \u00bb Mais \u00e7a paraissait trop beau pour \u00eatre vrai. Et puis un mois ou deux plus tard, il est revenu vers moi et a dit : \u00ab\u00a0Liz adore l\u2019album. Elle aimerait faire quelque chose. \u00bb \u00c0 partir de l\u00e0, \u00e7a a \u00e9t\u00e9 relativement simple. Beaucoup de longues conversations t\u00e9l\u00e9phoniques avec Liz, avant qu\u2019on ne se rencontre vraiment en studio. Elle est venue deux ou trois jours \u00e0 \u00c9dimbourg. Heureusement pour moi, elle avait d\u00e9j\u00e0 travaill\u00e9 aux Palladium Studios au d\u00e9but des Cocteau Twins. Ils y avaient fait des Eps. Je crois qu\u2019ils y avaient m\u00eame fait un album. Elle connaissait Jon Turner, qui poss\u00e9dait le studio. C\u2019est un personnage g\u00e9nial, tr\u00e8s dr\u00f4le, tr\u00e8s terre-\u00e0-terre, toujours \u00e0 plaisanter. Liz s\u2019y sentait \u00e0 l\u2019aise. Je dirais qu\u2019on a eu deux ou trois jours pour apprendre \u00e0 se conna\u00eetre. Elle a dit : \u00ab Le meilleur moyen, c\u2019est qu\u2019on entre ensemble dans la salle d\u2019enregistrement juste pour voir, qu\u2019on joue l\u2019un avec l\u2019autre. \u00bb C\u2019\u00e9tait une belle fa\u00e7on de travailler. C\u2019\u00e9tait tr\u00e8s \u201clive\u201d, dans l\u2019instant. Elle r\u00e9fl\u00e9chissait beaucoup. Elle bidouillait. On a enregistr\u00e9 certaines de ses petites mises en voix sur une cassette DAT, mais on aurait d\u00fb enregistrer les \u00e9chauffements de trente minutes. Juste s\u2019asseoir et \u00e9couter Liz, c\u2019\u00e9tait intimidant. Juste elle, \u00e0 faire son truc, c\u2019\u00e9tait merveilleux. C\u2019\u00e9tait presque un disque en soi. C\u2019\u00e9tait tr\u00e8s amusant et une exp\u00e9rience vraiment magique de travailler avec quelqu\u2019un que j\u2019admirais depuis longtemps \u2014 et que j\u2019admire toujours.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Il y a eu une p\u00e9riode o\u00f9 The Bathers s’est mis en pause, entre 2001 et 2016. Pouvez-vous me dire ce qui s\u2019est pass\u00e9 ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mes enfants ! Je faisais toujours de la musique, mais on a eu deux enfants. C\u2019\u00e9tait super. Et m\u2019occuper d’eux est devenu mon truc. Je faisais toujours beaucoup de musique, mais uniquement \u00e0 la maison, au piano. Certaines id\u00e9es ont probablement leurs origines dans cette p\u00e9riode, sur le dernier album. De petits motifs de piano et des encha\u00eenements d\u2019accords que j\u2019aimais. Je travaillais d\u00e8s que j\u2019avais un moment. J\u2019ai un bon piano \u00e0 la maison. Et puis, d\u2019un coup, ces ann\u00e9es ont pass\u00e9 sans qu\u2019on sorte de nouvelle musique. Je n\u2019ai pas fait beaucoup de concerts non plus. Je crois qu\u2019il y a eu quelques concerts occasionnels \u00e0 partir de 2008. J\u2019ai fait quelques concerts acoustiques avec James Grant de Friends Again, Love & Money. James, je dois dire, a toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 formidable. Il m\u2019a aid\u00e9 sur les albums de The Bathers depuis le d\u00e9but. Et sur Kelvingrove Baby<\/em> (1997). Il a fait de tr\u00e8s belles choses pour m\u2019aider, voix et guitare. C\u2019\u00e9tait un type immens\u00e9ment talentueux. J\u2019ai toujours pens\u00e9 : \u00ab J\u2019ai au moins un album de plus de The Bathers \u00e0 faire \u00bb, ce qui est devenu Sirenesque<\/em> (2023). Mais avant m\u00eame de pouvoir le terminer, je me suis retrouv\u00e9 impliqu\u00e9 avec les gars de Marina en Allemagne, et ils voulaient sortir Kelvingrove Baby, Sunpowder<\/em> et Lagoon Blues<\/em> en vinyle pour la premi\u00e8re fois. Je les ai r\u00e9\u00e9cout\u00e9s et je me suis dit : \u00ab Attends, il y a plein de choses que j\u2019aime \u00bb, mais j\u2019ai fini par r\u00e9inventer beaucoup de choses, pour ma propre satisfaction cr\u00e9ative. Certains disent : \u00ab Oh, je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re l\u2019original. \u00bb Pour moi, c\u2019est juste : \u00ab Rendons \u00e7a artistique. \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous aimez donc r\u00e9enregistrer vos chansons, faire de nouvelles versions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je me retrouve \u00e0 faire \u00e7a. J\u2019en ai eu l\u2019occasion. La m\u00eame chose est arriv\u00e9e avec Pandemonia, <\/em>de 2001. J\u2019ai pass\u00e9 une grande partie de cette ann\u00e9e \u00e0 travailler dessus pour le vinyle, en me disant : \u00ab Bon, j\u2019adore \u00e7a. \u00c7a pourrait \u00eatre mieux. \u00bb Pour ma propre satisfaction, j\u2019ai am\u00e9lior\u00e9 les choses qui avaient besoin d\u2019\u00eatre am\u00e9lior\u00e9es. \u00c0 notre \u00e9poque, la version originale existe toujours, quelque part, dans le paysage num\u00e9rique. C\u2019est assez chronophage, mais d\u2019une belle mani\u00e8re, d\u2019\u00eatre cr\u00e9ativement impliqu\u00e9. Les trois sorties Marina m\u2019ont pris probablement trois mois chacune. Donc, soudain, encore une ann\u00e9e a pass\u00e9, ce qui a retard\u00e9 Sirenesque, <\/em>mais j\u2019avais l\u2019impression que c\u2019\u00e9tait comme \u00e7a que \u00e7a devait \u00eatre. Quand je me suis enfin concentr\u00e9 sur Sirenesque, <\/em>tout s\u2019est mis en place. J\u2019ai regard\u00e9 \u00e0 nouveau ce que j\u2019avais, j\u2019ai mis de c\u00f4t\u00e9 certaines choses, peut-\u00eatre plus \u201cfull band\u201d,<\/em> guitare \u00e9lectrique. J\u2019ai ramen\u00e9 encore davantage les cordes. J\u2019en ai fait le centre de l\u2019exp\u00e9rience. C\u2019\u00e9tait l\u2019exp\u00e9rience centrale de cet album. Une partie venait des gars en Allemagne. Ils voulaient sortir l\u2019album, et je voulais faire une collaboration. Je leur ai envoy\u00e9 des versions en cours, et ils ont dit : \u00ab On adore absolument \u00e7a, surtout les cordes. \u00bb Donc \u00e7a m\u2019a donn\u00e9 la confiance de me dire : c\u2019est ce que mon instinct me dit. J\u2019ai fini par le revoir et par aller jusqu\u2019au produit final, qui est tr\u00e8s port\u00e9 par les cordes, mais avec cette belle combinaison de quelques guitares \u00e9lectriques, guitares slide, que je pense avoir appris \u00e0 aimer en revenant \u00e0 \u00ab\u00a0State of Art\u00a0\u00bb, quand Friends Again a utilis\u00e9 un orchestre \u00e0 cordes complet sur un titre. On avait fait venir Paul Buckmaster, l\u2019arrangeur bien connu. C\u2019\u00e9tait une exp\u00e9rience incroyable. Mais en \u00e9coutant ce titre, avec la combinaison des cordes luxuriantes et des magnifiques solos de guitare \u00e9lectrique, je voulais ce parfum-l\u00e0 dans ce que je faisais. Je pense qu\u2019il y a des \u00e9l\u00e9ments de \u00e7a dans Sirenesque<\/em> : la combinaison des cordes et d\u2019un peu de lead <\/em>\u00e9lectrique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je trouve que le dernier album est vraiment super. Je l\u2019\u00e9coute beaucoup. C\u2019est tr\u00e8s beau \u00e0 \u00e9couter. Mais vous avez fait un autre album juste avant, non ? \u00ab\u00a0Summer Lightning\u00a0\u00bb.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer Lightning, <\/em>oui. C’\u00e9tait une p\u00e9riode tr\u00e8s fertile, mais qui \u00e9tait dans le pass\u00e9. Quand on m\u2019a demand\u00e9 de r\u00e9\u00e9diter Unusual Places to Die,<\/em> le premier album, pour une raison ou une autre j\u2019ai dit : \u00ab\u00a0\u00c9coutez, j\u2019ai quelques d\u00e9mos et des chansons in\u00e9dites. \u00bb L\u00e0 encore, j\u2019ai utilis\u00e9 \u00e7a comme une occasion de retravailler certaines choses. Le morceau lui-m\u00eame, \u00ab\u00a0Summer Lightning\u00a0\u00bb, j\u2019ai toujours aim\u00e9 les couplets, mais c\u2019\u00e9tait tr\u00e8s ann\u00e9es 80. Le son de la d\u00e9mo \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s \u201ccheesy\u201d.<\/em> Il y a des claviers bizarres et tout. Je l\u2019ai retravaill\u00e9 dans la forme que vous entendez sur l\u2019album, plus piano\/voix. J\u2019ai termin\u00e9 le texte. J\u2019ai fait des choses similaires avec l\u2019album Summer Lightning<\/em> de 2022 : j\u2019ai utilis\u00e9 la base des id\u00e9es originales, mais j\u2019ai fini par r\u00e9enregistrer beaucoup de voix et donner diff\u00e9rentes prises. C\u2019\u00e9tait un bel album. C\u2019est une pi\u00e8ce compagne du premier album. Il s\u2019installe \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9, comme une autre nuance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Que signifie Sirenesque ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est li\u00e9 \u00e0 une voix de sir\u00e8ne qui appelle. En tant que fan des Cocteau Twins, j\u2019ai toujours ador\u00e9 leur version de \u00ab\u00a0Song to the Siren\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mais vous avez aussi une chanson qui s\u2019appelle Garlands.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est vrai. Oui, c\u2019\u00e9tait une co\u00efncidence. Parfois on a des titres de travail. L\u00e0, au fur et \u00e0 mesure que la chanson se d\u00e9veloppait, j\u2019ai trouv\u00e9 que le mot \u00ab\u00a0Garlands\u00a0\u00bb marchait pour le refrain. Je me suis dit : \u00ab Oui, \u00e7a va. \u00bb J\u2019\u00e9tais conscient que c\u2019\u00e9tait un titre des Cocteau, mais je me suis dit : \u00ab OK, tr\u00e8s bien. \u00bb Il n\u2019y avait pas de lien particulier, \u00e0 part que le mot siren est le m\u00eame mot. C\u2019est une belle connexion \u00e0 avoir, dans ce sens. \u00ab\u00a0Song to the Siren\u00a0\u00bb a toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 un de mes grands favoris. Toute la mythologie grecque autour des sir\u00e8nes m\u2019a toujours intrigu\u00e9. Je l\u2019avais comme titre de travail, et je l\u2019ai mentionn\u00e9 \u00e0 un journaliste deux ans avant la sortie de l\u2019album. Il m\u2019a dit : \u00ab Vous avez un titre de travail ? \u00bb J\u2019ai dit : \u00ab\u00a0Sirenesque. \u00bb Je n\u2019\u00e9tais pas s\u00fbr de moi. Il a dit : \u00ab Oh, c\u2019est tr\u00e8s Bathers. \u00bb L\u00e0 encore, \u00e7a m\u2019a donn\u00e9 la confiance de me dire : \u00ab Oui, j\u2019aime bien. \u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est un beau mot.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C\u2019est charmant\u2026 Je crois que ce qui me freinait, c\u2019est que je savais que Teenage FanClub avait un album qui s\u2019appelait Bandwagonesque. <\/em>Pour une raison quelconque, je me disais : \u00ab Oui, est-ce que c\u2019est trop proche ? \u00bb Mais c\u2019est juste joli. C\u2019est un beau mot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En fait, je pense que la musique \u00e9cossaise est la meilleure pop-rock du monde.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a beaucoup de talent ici.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous avez beaucoup de grands groupes, en \u00c9cosse : Teenage Fanclub, Jesus And Mary Chain\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merci. Oui, \u00e7a a toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 une sc\u00e8ne forte, je crois. La comp\u00e9tition : d\u00e8s qu\u2019un groupe d\u2019amis est dans un groupe, tu te dis : \u00ab Oh, moi aussi je peux faire \u00e7a. \u00bb L\u2019\u00e9nergie se nourrit d\u2019un bon retour. Tout le monde s\u2019alimente les uns les autres. Il y a une bonne sc\u00e8ne live, il y en a toujours eu une.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avez-vous jou\u00e9 en dehors de l\u2019\u00c9cosse, en France par exemple ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamais en France. J\u2019aimerais vraiment venir y jouer. J\u2019ai un peu jou\u00e9 en Allemagne et Friends Again a jou\u00e9 en Espagne. Pas beaucoup en dehors de l\u2019\u00c9cosse, l\u2019Angleterre, le Pays de Galles, le Royaume-Uni, vraiment. C\u2019est compliqu\u00e9, mais on n\u2019a pas renonc\u00e9 \u00e0 venir en France, m\u00eame si c\u2019est un seul concert. Je l\u2019esp\u00e8re. Oui. Eh bien, watch this space.<\/em> Regardons \u00e7a. On a r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 aller en Allemagne l\u2019ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re. Concert fantastique, et des gens qui aiment vraiment notre musique. Super sympas, un son incroyable. C\u2019\u00e9tait organis\u00e9 comme un \u201cone-off\u201d, <\/em>depuis ici, en leur parlant. Rencontrer des gens qui nous ressemblent dans diff\u00e9rents pays, faire arriver les choses. Oui, \u00e7a pourrait marcher.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Vous semblez aimer la langue fran\u00e7aise, parce qu\u2019on l\u2019entend parfois dans vos chansons.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, sur l\u2019album Pandemonia. <\/em>J\u2019\u00e9tais un grand fan de Marcel Proust \u00e0 peu pr\u00e8s \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque du premier album des Bathers, et il y a quelques titres proustien. Dans Pandemonia,<\/em> on a utilis\u00e9 de beaux extraits de Proust. L\u00e0 encore, j\u2019ai eu beaucoup de chance. Il y avait une Fran\u00e7aise qui vivait \u00e0 Glasgow, une amie d\u2019une amie. Je cherchais quelqu\u2019un pour faire \u00e7a. Elle n\u2019avait jamais fait d\u2019acting<\/em> ni de musique. Elle \u00e9tait prof. Elle a dit oui, mais elle vivait justement une rupture tr\u00e8s douloureuse. Donc son \u00e9motion \u00e9tait\u2026 J\u2019ai \u00e9cout\u00e9 ses performances, et il y en a une qui \u00e9tait juste captur\u00e9e. Une ou deux prises, et elle \u00e9tait absolument brillante dessus. Et en fran\u00e7ais. Fait int\u00e9ressant : l\u2019usine de pressage vinyle en \u00c9cosse est tenue par un Irlandais et sa femme fran\u00e7aise, Dominique. Quelqu\u2019un qui parle fran\u00e7ais nativement m\u2019a rapport\u00e9 directement : \u00ab Oh, elle a l\u2019air de parler un fran\u00e7ais tr\u00e8s \u201cposh\u201d.<\/em> Je ne sais pas. C\u2019est bien \u00e9crit comme \u00e7a ? \u00bb Parce que moi, je ne saurais pas. Pour moi, \u00e7a sonne comme un beau fran\u00e7ais. Je sais que ce n\u2019est pas du fran\u00e7ais argotique. \u00c9videmment, elle lit Proust. Mais c\u2019\u00e9tait int\u00e9ressant d\u2019entendre \u00e7a. Moi, je ne l\u2019entends jamais comme un francophone. Je l\u2019entends juste comme un beau son. J\u2019aime me connecter aux mots \u00e0 travers la fa\u00e7on dont elle les a dits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vous m\u2019avez parl\u00e9 des concerts en \u00c9cosse. Qu\u2019est-ce qui arrive ensuite pour votre groupe ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eh bien, The Bathers va jouer quelques concerts en \u00c9cosse, on retournera probablement \u00e0 Londres \u00e0 un moment. Je travaille actuellement sur la suite de Sirenesque,<\/em> pr\u00e9vue pour l\u2019automne de cette ann\u00e9e. Je suis encore au stade o\u00f9 je peux partir dans diff\u00e9rentes directions. J\u2019ai de tr\u00e8s belles choses avec les cordes, mais est-ce que je veux peut-\u00eatre m\u00e9langer un peu ? Je ne sais pas. On verra o\u00f9 m\u2019emm\u00e8nent les \u00e9nergies cr\u00e9atives, et ce qui sonne le mieux, mais c\u2019est bien avanc\u00e9. Quand l\u2019album sortira, on fera, esp\u00e9rons-le, quelques concerts avec le groupe au complet pour le promouvoir. Je pense qu\u2019octobre, \u00e7a semble juste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Votre musique est tr\u00e8s sensible, tr\u00e8s brute. J\u2019ai l\u2019impression que les \u00e9motions d\u00e9bordent de la musique. C\u2019est ce que j\u2019aime beaucoup. On sent que vous mettez beaucoup de vous dedans.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, je pense que, en particulier, le deuxi\u00e8me album, Sweet Deceit, <\/em>\u00e9tait tr\u00e8s brut et tr\u00e8s honn\u00eate. Je crois que j\u2019ai gard\u00e9 \u00e7a, mais l\u2019astuce, c\u2019est d\u2019essayer de ne pas perdre de vue une douceur m\u00e9lodique, et d\u2019autres choses, ce qu\u2019on a, je l\u2019esp\u00e8re, r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 r\u00e9unir sur Sirenesque.<\/em> Il y a beaucoup de choses \u00e9motionnelles, honn\u00eates. Parfois c\u2019est personnel pour moi, mais aussi tr\u00e8s universel. Ce sont des exp\u00e9riences universelles : les personnes qu\u2019on aime, les lieux qu\u2019on aime, la musique qu\u2019on aime, les livres qu\u2019on aime. Ce sont des choses profond\u00e9ment humaines. On canalise \u00e7a dans la musique de fa\u00e7on honn\u00eate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Un grand merci \u00e0 Chris Thomson pour cette interview !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bathers: Scotland\u2019s best-kept secret in pop<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anyone who has never heard the warm, deeply moving timbre of Chris Thomson, singer and songwriter of the Scottish group The Bathers, is very lucky. In a lyrical and poetic vein, alternating between guitar, piano, trumpet or symphony orchestra, the group has released since its creation in 1987 a series of magnificent albums, complemented by a best-of in 2001, and a latest opus released in 2023 entitled\u00a0Sirenesque<\/em>. From his adolescence in the midst of the punk era to his collaboration with former singer of the legendary Cocteau Twins, Liz Fraser, Chris Thomson looks back on the creation and trajectory of a group that has so far enjoyed more critical than public success, and which remains above all famous on the Glasgow scene. A state of affairs one can only regret, as this music\u2014often deeply moving, always exhilarating\u2014is the work of an artist who does not hesitate to lay himself bare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lightofmylife : <\/strong>First, I want to thank you for granting me this interview. It’s really great to talk to you. I’ve been listening to your music for a long time, so it’s quite an honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Thomson :<\/strong> That’s fantastic to hear. Thank you so much. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d like to know, when did you start playing music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t take up music until I was about 15 years of age. We were teenagers in school when someone suggested: let’s make a band, let’s form a band. No one could play any instrument. But at that time, punk rock was the thing, so it didn’t matter so much. It was more about an attitude. I had the desire to make my own songs. It came about from that. We were four or five friends who were all in the same situation, couldn’t play, but we wanted to play. We learned a little bit from each other. It took a few years to actually get the basics, but we got there. It was about age 15 or so, which for me is 1977, I would say. ’77, ’78, we got serious about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Did you actually take music lessons or did you learn by yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We never took music lessons. I remember at school, they had the recorder, that was the basic music lessons, and I failed the audition, which was not a good start. I think the teacher asked us to sing something. I was just so nervous. A bit later, maybe four or five years later, I did take a couple of singing lessons in London with a very well-known teacher who also taught Johnny Rotten, the Sex Pistols, and Boy George, Edwyn Collins\u2026and Liz Fraser!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tona de Brett was her name, in North London, Highgate. So I did take a couple of lessons. But that was very much a record company thing. \u201cEveryone should take singing lessons now\u201d. But essentially, we were self-taught and learning from the other bands. That’s the way we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m also a big fan of XTC, I wanted to know if that band was important to you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, in the punk area, we loved XTC about ’78 when we were just trying to get started. I think I can see a link between them and Talking Heads as an American version of XTC. It was guitar music, it was pop, but it was very experimental, very interesting, very intelligent lyrics. I wouldn’t say I was a massive fan in the sense of I bought everything, but they were very much on the radar. That’s something we really loved when we were hearing from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which was the band that you liked most in that time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, we got heavily into, apart from the obvious things like David Bowie, Velvet Underground, more contemporary bands, the things like Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, guitar-driven, interesting music with a punky edge. They were almost our contemporaries, just maybe a little bit ahead of us. We were listening to Pale Fountains, the Liverpool bands. The Smiths, I loved This charming man,<\/em> but I was never a big fan. I was never in love with The Smiths. But I loved the Liverpool bands and the Glasgow and Edinburgh bands.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Friends Again was your first band that published only one album \u201cTrapped & Unwrapped\u201d in 1984. How did that adventure begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that school band, the initial band, of course, came to nothing, but I had the idea I was in a band. At school, we used to have the music group on Friday in one of the classes where you could bring in your favourite album or single. Most people brought them in see-through bags, plastic bags. So you said, Oh, let’s listen to Iggy Pop or David Bowie. You were drawn to people with intriguing music taste. The bass player from Friends Again, and my good friend Neil Cunningham was a big Bowie fan. He had Diamond Dogs.<\/em> I remember like, oh, can I borrow your album? That’s how we became friends. Let me take it home and tape it. Sorry, David Bowie estate. Then shortly after that, Paul McGeechan, who became the keyboard player with Friends Again. He was similar. Actually, I think I spotted him with a small synthesizer, a monosynth under his arm. We got chatting, and that was the core of Friends Again from about 1980. We were 17, 18. It was pretty shambolic. It was not very good, but the attitude was right. The spirit was good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the album come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We kept going. We got a bit better. We did some demos. We gradually had some decent songs coming through. Then we met James Grant, the guitarist, and Stuart, the drummer, who were technically very good. They brought everyone up a good level immediately. Their energy was right. Suddenly we had a viable band, and there was a huge amount of record company interest around, particularly in Glasgow, where we were. The London record companies were coming up, signing bands here and there, Lloyd Cole, the Bluebells, all sorts of things. We were quite quickly on a publishing deal and record contract within about a year of getting the five of us in the band. So, yeah, it seemed relatively easy once we… But there was three or four years of nothing much happening, just getting a little bit of a skill set it and building up a body of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve just watched today the video of \u201cSunkissed\u201d when you’re on the beach.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, yeah. I think it was my 20th birthday, actually. It was a nice birthday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You look very young in this video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, very young. We were very, very young. That video disappeared for decades, and it just has recently reappeared. There\u2019s an interesting footnote to that video. The guy who actually made it, there was only a cameraman and a director, but the director was a guy called Nigel Dick, who went on to become an immensely successful video director. He did the famous Britney Spears videos, all sorts of things. I think they got us in Roses. If you Google him, it’s like, oh, my goodness. But yeah, he did well. We were his first full video, I think. He was sent to the beach with the Friends Again guys, almost no budget. Yeah, just do this and see what happens. It was quite a nice little video. Very simple, beautiful day on Cambersands. I think Sussex is that. Yeah, Sussex or Kent. It’s lovely. (East Sussex).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow, that’s great, great memory. How did the album do? Did it have some success?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I don’t think we felt it was having success at the time, but here we are, 40 years later, about to do a couple of Friends Again gigs, and it sold out in an hour. There’s a big festival in Glasgow called the Celtic Connections Festival in January. It’s a popular festival. We were asked to do a great venue called the Old Fruit Market. It’s about 1,500 people. It sold out really fast… I think they thought we’d sell two or three hundred or 400 tickets, but 1,500 tickets went in an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wow, that’s great.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s really lovely… People are so hungry to hear the music. About the album, I think the record company was looking for a big hit single to launch the album. The album was almost delayed for about a year when we kept working at it. The song \u201cState of Art\u201d, I think they thought it was going to be a massive hit, and it stalled somewhere in probably the ’40s or ’50s in the charts. By the time the album came out, the morale of the band was getting a bit low because we didn’t feel we had any success. We were touring and touring. We were living in a van, almost\u2026going to universities. Looking back, there were some nice venues. A culture that doesn’t really exist in the same way nowadays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you were continuing your studies while you were making music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only did one year of university and then dropped out. Paul, the keyboard player, had done an electronics degree for two years he’d finished. Neil, the bass player, had dropped out of town planning at the art school. James had done a theatre course for a year. Stuart was just on the dole signing on. We were all completely just doing the band 100% by the time we did the demos and things. We were absolutely dedicated to making it happen. I think our parents thought we were crazy. Our friends probably thought we were crazy, too. I don’t know that belief you have when you’re 19-20, that it’s going to work. We did enough to make it work, but we broke up just as the album was released, finally. We thought, well, that’s the end of it. But like I say, there’s still a strong interest in the album all these years later. We’re going to do this gig on the 31st of January. Then we have a summer concert in an outdoor festival with the Bluebells, if you remember them from back in the same era. They’re having a second lease of life as well with new albums. They played Glastonbury last year, actually. It’s all good. It’s all good on top of everything else we’re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then after that, you signed a new deal with a record label, and then you launched, finally, the Bathers, as we know them today. How did that come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a very kind friend in London who was a big, big Friends Again fan, and she really started touting the demos I’d done. She took them to three or four record companies and very quickly got interest from Go! Discs, a guy called Andy McDonald, who went on to have great success with the label Billy Bragg and the La\u2019s, the Housemartins, of course. On hearing, I think it was two tracks, \u201cFancy Dress\u201d and \u201cLata’s Dream\u201d, they were like, Yeah, we want to sign this. Looking back, it seems incredibly fortunate. They just fell together. Well, it took about a year or so, but quick enough that I was still in the game because the rest of the guys formed Love & Money, who I think did quite well in France, if I remember. But they were kept on by the same record company, so they had a clear path to begin with. But I was lucky the record thing came together through the good work of my friend. It felt like they were just exactly the right company for me. They trusted me to go to Edinburgh and finish the album. They didn’t interfere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were very constructive with putting the album together. They more or less let me do what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I was caught in a record company political tug of war, where Go! Discs had a parent company or a partner company, which was Chrysalis, but they decided it wasn’t working, so almost overnight, they left to join another label. I can’t remember, Island Records or something. But Chrysalis said, no, the Bathers are part of us. I was caught in this turf war between the two companies. The record (Unusual Places to Die<\/em>, 1987), came out and there was no promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s too bad.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They weren’t quite sure if they had the record or not. It was a bit of a nightmare, but at least the record came out and it kept me going. It was a good starting point for The Bathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just listened to it again today, and it seems to me that all the elements that you’re going to develop in the further years are all present already in the first album.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think so. It’s a reasonably good debut album. It’s a strong bunch of songs, and certain players and producers were involved that helped me on the follow-up album, Sweet Deceit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems more personal than Friends Again. I really love \u201cTrapped and Unwrapped\u201d. It’s really great. But the first LP from The Bathers, \u201cUnusual Places to Die\u201d,<\/em> it’s your sound. It doesn’t resemble anything else.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that’s probably true. It’s because it became a very tight unit between me and a couple of guys in the studio and a couple of friends who dropped in. Particularly, those records were very tight and very personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you write all the songs in The Bathers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes mostly. As time went on, I started to collaborate more and more. I’ve always been open to other people’s ideas and good players. You respond to good musicians and good people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I find surprising in The Bathers is the orchestral sound, the strings mixed with your voice. It’s really hard to do that mix. I think it’s one of the qualities of your band. How do you achieve this mastery of violins, cellos, and everything, which has become really incredible in the last album \u201cSirenesque\u201d (2023)?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think you’re right, it’s quite a tricky mix. It took a lot of experimenting with… I had the orchestra sound in mind, and luckily, I was introduced to a very good set of string players. I’d experimented with strings before on earlier albums, but with this latest album, we went full-end, really, with a 24-piece orchestra. Some tracks are only orchestra and voice. Because the orchestra sounded so good, on the CD versions, we left some instrumental versions because they just sound lovely on their own. But I had to work it a lot to find a space within it for the singing voice. It was a lovely thing to do, but it was tricky. It took a lot of practice and, if you like, trial and error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote the first book about Cocteau Twins which came out here in France in 2013. We’re actually working on an English translation right now.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, fantastic. That sounds great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my favourite band, The Bathers, worked with Elizabeth Fraser, it was like a dream come true.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was just absolutely a wonderful talent, as you know, obviously. Just a magical person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you come to work with her on \u00ab\u00a0Sunpowder\u00a0\u00bb (1995)? I think you made it when the Cocteau Twins were still together.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was really around the time of For Calendar Cafe,<\/em> that album was about to come out. But I think they were in a difficult place. She’d certainly split up with Robin as a romantic partnership. That was definitely over and had been very difficult for the band. That’s well documented, as you know. The connection was that a Scottish guy who worked at 4AD and had known the Cocteau Twins since the Grangemouth days back at home. Colin Wallace contacted me and said how much he had loved the Lagoon Blues<\/em> album, the one just before Sunpowder.<\/em> He said, Look, I’m going to play it to Liz. Would you be interested in a collaboration? I was like, Wow, that sounds amazing. But it sounded too good to be true. But a month or two later, he got back and said, Liz loves the album. She’d love to do something. From there, it was relatively straightforward. A lot of long phone conversations with Liz before we only actually met in the studio. She was up for two or three days in Edinburgh. Luckily for me, she had worked in PalladiumStudios before from early Cocteau Twins. They’d done Eps there. I think they’d even done an album in there. She knew Jon Turner, who owned the studio. He’s a great character, very funny, very down to earth, always joking. Liz felt comfortable there. I’d say we had two or three days to get to know each other. She said, The best way to do it is we go into the recording room together just to see what let’s play off each other. It was a nice way of working. It was very much live in the moment. She did a lot of thinking. She would mess about. We recorded some of her little warm-up things on DAT tape, but we should have got the half-hour warm-ups. Just to sit and listen to Liz was daunting. Just her doing her thing was just wonderful. It was a bit of a record within itself. It was great fun and real magical experience to work with someone who I’d admired for a long time and still do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a gap of time in which the band seemed to be in hiatus between 2001 and 2016. Can you tell me what happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children! I was still doing music, but we had two small children. It’s just great. That became my thing of looking after the kids. I was still doing a lot of music, but purely at home working on the piano. Some of the ideas have probably had their origin within that period on the latest album. Just little piano motifs and chord progressions that I liked. I was working when I had a spare moment. I have a nice piano at home. But yeah, so the next thing you know, those years have gone past without releasing any new music. I didn’t do very many gigs either. I think there was occasional gigs from about 2008. I did a few acoustic shows with James Grant from Friends Again, Love & Money. James, I must say, had always been great. He helped me with The Bathers\u2019 albums from the start. And for Kelvingrove Baby<\/em> (1997). He did some lovely things to help me, voice and guitar. He was a hugely talented guy. I always thought, I’ve got at least one more Bather’s album to do, which became Sirenesque<\/em> (2023). But before I even got to finish it, I got involved with the Marina guys in Germany, and they wanted to issue Kelvingrove Baby<\/em>, Sunpowder,<\/em> and Lagoon Blues<\/em> on vinyl for the first time. I listened to them and I thought, wait, there’s a lot of things I like, but I ended up reinventing a lot of stuff for my own creative satisfaction. Some people say, Oh, I like the original. To me, it’s just, let’s make it artistically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You actually like to record your songs again, to make new versions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find myself doing that. I’ve had an opportunity. The same thing happened with thePandemonia<\/em> record from 2001. I’ve spent a lot of this year looking at that for the vinyl and saying, Well, I love that. That could be better. To my own satisfaction, I’ve improved the things that needed improving. In this age, the original version still exists out there in the digital landscape. But it’s quite time consuming, but in a lovely way to be creatively involved. The three Marina releases ended up taking me probably three months each. So suddenly another year has gone past, which delayed Sirenesque,<\/em> but I felt it was meant to be. By the time I really focused on Sirenesque,<\/em> everything fell into place. I looked again at what I had and I set some things aside, which were maybe more full band-driven electric guitar. I brought the string things even more. I made them the centre of the experience. That was the core experience for that album. Part of it was held by the guys in Germany. They wanted to release the album, and I would have loved to do some collaboration. I sent them work in progress, and they said, Well, we absolutely love this, particularly the strings. So that did give me the confidence to go, that’s what my gut instinct is telling me. I ended up reviewing it and getting to where it finally the finished product, which is very string-driven, but that nice combination of some electric guitars, slide guitars, which I think I learned to love going back to \u201cstate of art \u201cwhen the one track Friends Again used a full-blown string orchestra. We brought Paul Buckmaster in, the well-known arranger. That was an amazing experience. But listening to that track with the combination of the lush strings and the beautiful electric guitar solos I wanted the flavour of that and what I was doing. I think there’s elements of that in Sirenesque<\/em>, the combination of strings and some lead electric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I think the last album is really great. I’ve been listening to it a a lot. It’s really beautiful to listen to. But you did another album right before, right? \u201cSummer Lightning\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summer Lightning,<\/em> yeah. There’s another period of time that was well spent, but it was time gone. When I was asked to re-issue Unusual Places to Die,<\/em> the first album, for some reason I said, look, I’ve got some demos and some unreleased songs. Again, I used it as an opportunity to rework some things. The track itself, \u201cSummer Lightning\u201d, I’d always liked the verses, but it was very ’80s. The sound of the demo was very cheesy. It’s got funny keyboards and things. I rework it in the form that you hear in the album with more just piano voice. It’s finished off the lyric. I did similar things with the Summer Lightning<\/em> album from 2022, I used the basis of the original ideas, but ended up re-recording a lot of voices and just giving different takes. That was a nice album. It’s a companion piece to the debut album. It just sits alongside it as a different shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does Sirenesque mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it’s related to a siren voice calling. As a Cocteau Twins fan, I\u2019ve always loved their version of \u201cSong to the Siren\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you also have a song called \u201cGarlands\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s true. Yeah, that was coincidental. Sometimes you have working titles for something. In this case, the working title, as the song developed, I found the words Garlands worked for the chorus. I was like, Yeah, that’s fine. I was aware that it was a Cocteau’s title, but I thought, okay, fine. There was no particular connection except that the word siren is the same word. It’s a nice connection to have in that sense. \u201cSong to the Siren\u201d was always a great favorite of mine. The whole Greek mythology around the Sirens has always intrigued me. I think I had it as a working title, and I mentioned it to a journalist a couple of years before the album came out. He said, Do you have a working title? I said, Sirenesque. I wasn’t sure. He was like, Oh, that\u2019s very Bathers. Again, it just gave me the confidence to go, Yeah, I like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a beautiful word.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s lovely… I think the thing that put me off thinking was I knew that Teenage Fan Club had an album called Bandwagonesque.<\/em> For some reason, I thought, Yeah, is that too close? It’s just nice. It’s a lovely word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, I think Scottish music is the best pop-rock music in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve got a lot of talent here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a lot of great bands, actually, in Scotland, Teenage Fanclub, Jesus And Mary Chain\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you. Yeah, it’s always been a strong scene, I think. The competition, once you’ve one set of friends are in a band, you’re like, Oh, I could do that too. The energy goes into a nice feedback. Everyone’s feeding from one another. There’s a good live scene, there always was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you play outside of Scotland, in France for instance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never in France. I’d always love to come and play in France. I played in Germany a bit and Friends Again played in Spain. Not much outside Scotland, England, Wales, United Kingdom, really. It’s tricky, but we haven’t given up on getting to France yet, even if it’s one gig. I hope so. Yeah. Well, watch this space. Let’s look at that. We managed to go to Germany last year. Fantastic gig and people who just love our music. Super friendly, amazing sound. That was just organised as a one-off from here, speaking to them. Meeting out to like-minded people around different countries and things, make things happen. Yeah, it could work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You seem to like the French language because we sometimes hear it in your songs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, on the Pandemonia <\/em>album. I was a huge fan of Marcel Proust from roughly the time of the first Bathers album, and there’s a few Proustian titles. In Pandemonia,<\/em> we used some nice extracts from Proust. Again, I got very lucky. There was a French lady living in Glasgow who was a friend of a friend. I was looking for someone to do those for us. She had never worked in acting or music. She was a teacher. She said, Yeah, but she happened to be going through a very painful breakup. So her emotion was… I just listened to her performances, and there’s one that was just caught. One or two takes, and she just was absolutely brilliant on it. And doing the French. Interestingly, the pressing plant for vinyl in Scotland is run by an Irish guy and his French wife, Dominique. Someone who is a native French speaker reported to me directly and said, Oh, she sounds very posh French. I don’t know about it. Is that how it’s written? Because I wouldn’t know. It just sounds like a lovely French to me. I think she got a beautiful tone to her voice. I knew it wasn’t slang French. It’s just obviously she’s reading from Proust. But it was interesting to hear that take. I would never hear it as a French speaker. I just hear it as a beautiful sound. I love connecting to the words the way she performed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You told me about the gigs in Scotland. What’s coming next for your band?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, The Bathers have a few gigs in Scotland, we\u2019ll probably go back to London at some point. I’m currently working on the follow-up to Sirenesque<\/em> which is scheduled for the autumn of this year. I’m still at the point where I could take it in different directions. I’ve got some really lovely string things, but do I want to maybe mix things up? I don’t know. We’ll see where the creative energies take me, really, and what’s sounding best, but it’s well underway. When the album comes out, we’ll hopefully do some concerts with the full band to promote that. I think in October, it sounds about right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your music is very sensitive, it’s very raw. I feel the emotions are pouring out of the music. That’s what I really like about it. I think you’re putting a lot of yourself in it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, I think, particularly the second album, Sweet Deceit,<\/em> was very raw and very honest. I think I’ve kept that, but I think the trick is to try and make sure you don’t lose sight of a melodic sweetness and things, which hopefully on Sirenesque<\/em>, we brought those elements together. There’s a lot of honest emotional things. It’s not just personal to me. Sometimes it’s things that are personal to me but are very universal as well. It’s just universal experiences of the people you love, the places you love, the music you love, the books you love. Those are all absolutely human things. You channel that into the music in an honest way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Chris Thomson for this interview!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Qui n’a jamais entendu le timbre chaud et singulier de Chris Thomson, chanteur et compositeur du groupe \u00e9cossais The Bathers, a beaucoup de chance. Dans une veine lyrique et po\u00e9tique, alliant tour \u00e0 tour guitare, piano, trompette ou orchestre symphonique, le groupe a publi\u00e9 depuis sa cr\u00e9ation en 1987 une s\u00e9rie d’albums magnifiques, accompagn\u00e9s par…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1915,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions\/1915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}