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Rating: Once upon a time, there was a republic. Or rather, in fact, there was a republic three times... because this republic has reached its third incarnation: 1982, the brief reunion in 2002 and the current comeback.
Their "1938" was released this year but sounds as if it reached us through a space-time rift, a leap back 25 years. Savage Republic have the same sound as they did then, darkly frozen in time. As if the dissolution of 1989 was nothing more than a short pause for reflection between one album and the next....
18 years is a long time and many things must have changed. What made you come back? Do you think the scene has changed?
Greg Grunke: Thom, Ethan, and I always thought there were many unresolved things, things we still had to say, given the circumstances of the breakup. We had just begun to realize ideas we had tried to express. After our brief reunion in 2002, it was clear to all three of us that we still had things to say. We never intended to reform to play the old material as a nostalgic act. We started sharing ideas and things began to fall into place. One thing about us that has changed in the meantime is that we've become more confident in our abilities, enough to trust our instincts. Now that we are older, we are more focused on the way we work.
Regarding the "scene"... these are exciting times to make music - there's a lot of interesting stuff happening. And with the technology available, it's easier for non-mainstream bands to connect with their audience.
I read in an interview that Bruce Licher chose the "republican" part of the name because the idea fit the way the band worked, doing everything on their own. Does it still fit now that Bruce has moved on to other projects? Do you still work together or is there someone covering most of the roles?
GG: Sometimes a republic, sometimes a benevolent dictatorship! Even in the old days, we worked collaboratively. The songs are loosely outlined, anyone can propose the idea for a piece, and everyone else writes their part. Thom is in charge of making the "executive decisions" because he has the best production and organizational skills. As for the day-to-day affairs of the band, Thom and Ethan manage most of them. My role is to write the press releases and hit people with a wrench when necessary.
There is something funny in the tracklist, there seems to be a certain symmetry: a long song at the beginning, short tracks (except for "Siam") leading to "Caravan" and then other short songs, fading into "Peking", another long track. It all seems so... logical! Was that done on purpose?
GG: We wanted things to have a certain rhythm, but there wasn't an intentional idea of alternating tracks...
Thom Fuhrmann: Honestly, since I was voted as the CD producer, I used my best judgment. I wanted a certain rhythm, but I think I put the five best songs at the beginning, consciously or not. I was quite torn about the CD and wanted it to be much better, but we had a deadline imposed by the label. The next CD will be twice as good or I won't let it be released...
And what about "Caravan" itself? Putting such a long song in the middle of the CD might seem like an unusual idea...
GG: I'm glad that "Caravan" has sparked positive reactions. I love the song - Julia Zuker's violin is fabulous - but I expected it to be labeled as self-indulgent. It was an improv jam - we were exchanging instruments while recording. Julia recorded her part in one go, without even listening to it first, just reacting to the sound and going on instinct. It's the only overdub on the track.
TF: I'll let you in on a secret about "Caravan": it's a completely improvised piece. We were just relaxing a bit, passing around a bottle (seriously, while we were recording). At one point, we even swapped guitars without stopping recording. It was all done in the course of 25 minutes! I think those are the moments when the best things come to us, even if it's certainly a bit self-indulgent, in true "Can" style. The violin was recorded the next day, in a single take. It was the only overdub for the entire song.
Alan is a fantastic drummer. He doesn't overdo it and is so comfortable with his skills that he doesn't need to show off.
Again: 18 years is a lot of time. Your influences were Faust, Can, Wire... do you still rely on these basics, your roots, or is there something more recent that has entered the mix?
GG: We listen to lots of new things but at the same time we still like the old influences. We follow a lot of ambient/electronic stuff like Boards of Canada, Unkle, Dutch techno, etc. I really like some things that groups like Boris and SunnO))) are doing - they seem like Lamonte Young on steroids!
Even Napalm Death and Punjabi MC have connected with my folk-self and I also listen to Leonard Cohen. My eleven-year-old son tends to monopolize the stereo so I've heard quite a bit of Tool and System of a Down. And Captain Beefheart videos on YouTube - he’s practically everywhere!
Savage Republic will soon, very soon, land on Italian soil: on the 20th of January at Locomotiv in Bologna, the 21st at Teatro Nuovo CDE in Potenza, the 22nd in Lama (TA) at Circolo Gabba Gabba, the 23rd at Init in Rome, and the 24th at Garage in Milan. Up to you...
- a huge thank you to Festwca for being a partner for these questions. Hell yeah.
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