The Legendary Pink Dots

by Squid

Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots was very obliging to spend some time chattingwith us before an amazing recent show. He was personable and witty. The odd thing wasthat the robe he was wearing blended exactly into the fabric of the booth where he sat.Just like a chameleon, he became one with his surroundings and one with his admirers,spending a good two hours indulging us, like friends.

Before turning on the recorder, we found that Ed's birthday is January 23 and that theband acquired their name from a spot-causing disease which came out of a three hundredyear old organ they found and used for their early recordings. Well, the spots from thisdisease formed the exact shape of the legendary King Arthur on one of the band members.This was also the precise time when they were trying to come up with a name forthemselves, and somebody noticed what legendary form these pink dots took, and the restis...

Ed:: I was lying completely.
RAD:: You were lying completely? Well tell us another good one! So how did you really getyour name?
Ed:: The thing is, it's not really known generally that the Legendary Pink Dots -- it'sassumed that we started in London -- actually, we came from a very small hamlet inMoldavia, which of course didn't have any street-lamps so it was dark all the time. But,as the population in this small hamlet of Moldavia evolved, they developed their ownpersonal lights to light the streets -- which were fluorescent pink lights.

It was so remote, this hamlet in Moldavia, that very few people would ever find it. Oneday--you know, the story got around, of course, but nobody really believed it wastrue--some hitchhikers from the furthest reaches of Georgia sort of stumbled onto thishamlet in Moldavia and saw the locals walking around with these fluorescent pink spotsall over their faces and finally someone said, "Those are the legendary pink dots!" Andwe were just rehearsing in a room nearby, and, that's how we got the name.
RAD:: Wow, so you used to have those dots, but you don't anymore?
Ed:: As soon as you left the perimeters of the village, they just dropped off, 'cause ofthe street-lamps.
RAD:: And that is how you got your name.
Ed:: I always like to make up these fantastic stories, 'cause you know, I thought the realstory about street-lamps in Moldavia was kind of a bit boring.
RAD:: Yeah, it was. The one you told earlier was a lot more interesting. So you're not fromLondon, then, like people thought.
Ed:: No, we're from Moldavia. It's a very small corner of Moldavia where everybody speaksEnglish. It's got a certain Moldavian dialect, but it's definitely English.
RAD:: Can you still speak with that dialect?
Ed:: Um, not really; I've forgotten over the years.
RAD:: That's too bad. So then, after that, did the band move to the Netherlands?
Ed:: Well, first of all, we walked to London. It took several years. We spent a few yearsin London and finally moved over to Holland in 1984.
RAD:: So, why do you have the motto--often written inside your albums--"Sing While YouMay"?
Ed:: It has to do with a personal philosophy that if you compare the planet to a drowningman, if you would just look at the acceleration of the events in the last hundred years,it's as if the planet sees its entire life flashing before its eyes, before it might justgo into overload and saturation. This is such a significant time for the planet, such asignificant time to really, I'd say, cherish ...
RAD:: I was curious about your involvement in some of your other side projects. I read aninterview with Christoph Heemann. Is there a collaboration between you and Christophcoming out soon on the Streamline label?
Ed:: There's the "Khataclimici China Doll." There's a lot of extra material on it, abouthalf an hour's worth. They were pieces I've made that I handed over to Christoph and justsaid, "Do what you will with them." I really liked what he did with them.
RAD:: So he's reworking them?
Ed:: No, just making his own treatment.
RAD:: I read a couple years ago about you doing some work with Steven Stapleton for aproject.
Ed:: Steve is currently working with some stuff that I sent him a couple years ago. Itwill be ready quite soon.
RAD:: One thing I like about the Pink Dots and your solo work, is that it creates a worldthat doesn't really exist, yet seems so real. Do you feel like you've created a worldthat just exists in your imagination?
Ed:: It depends on your definition of reality.
RAD:: What's your definition of reality?
Ed:: I don't have one. I've lost all grasp of what reality actually is.
RAD:: Maybe there isn't one. What do you feel your solo releases allow you to do that youdon't get to do as the LPD?
Ed:: They allow me to be a megalomaniac. And I don't want to be a megalomaniac with thePink Dots, because we're a band. I'm glad it's a band, and all members have input. But Ican be a megalomaniac with myself.
RAD:: So do you feel like you lose some control as the LPD?
Ed:: I never really wanted to be in control, because how can that be a positiveeffect?
RAD:: The Mimir project -- is that an ongoing project? How do those sessions work?
Ed:: That was recorded in a weekend.
RAD:: What's behind Mimir? What's the working criteria?
Ed:: Improvisation. But it's Christoph's interpretation of that improvisation. The secondCD -- when Phil and I had heard it -- it had been recorded a while before, but we justcouldn't think where these pieces had come from, but there we were playing them, and itwas Christoph's skill in editing and processing.
RAD:: The "Shadow Weaver" projects, for some reason -- I made a very strong connectionbetween those and the Asylum period.
Ed:: So did I. Asylum was a very, very hard time for the band. We almost split up. We werealmost murdered by this manager at the time who literally broke us. And people in theband were acting real strangely. I was living on a floor. I mean, it was a really, reallyhard time. And so when we recorded that album, we threw a terror ruse... "Shadow Weaver"is the first album we recorded after the death of Bob, our guitar player. It was anincredibly sad time -- and, especially on number one -- both were recorded parallel."Shadow Weaver" I has really just a very desolate sense.
RAD:: So there have been high points and low points.
Ed:: Sure. "Maria Dimension" was a very high point. There are always tensions, but we'realways friends, as well. It's what keeps it alive.
RAD:: So what's the mood for "From Here You'll Watch the World Go By?"
Ed:: I can't say, really.
RAD:: To me, it seems lighter.
Ed:: You've got to get into the lyrics. It's a shame the lyrics weren't put into the workmore...
RAD:: Are there things about this album that you think should be different?
Ed:: Oh, there are always things -- different mixes. The song "Friend", which is reallyone of my favorites from the album, we could play it live and it's much better. Some ofthese things we've only played once.
RAD:: Do you get a vacation after this tour?
Ed:: I've managed four beautiful days on an island in North Holland -- no phone, no cars,no TV. sets.
RAD:: Now is Elke your wife? Girlfriend? Elke Skelter -- will she be on that island?
Ed:: She's in Berlin. We've split.
RAD:: In which city do you end this tour?
Ed:: Mexico City.
RAD:: Do you have a lot of fans there?
Ed:: I thought we had about ten or eleven. Maybe we'll be surprised. It's really shockingto play Mexico. I'm serious, I'm not joking. I know we don't sell too many CD's inMexico.
RAD:: Oh, I was wondering, now, on a lot of your albums, there are song titles or littlephrases that are in some strange language. Can you tell us what that is?
Ed:: Ah, it's just me being stupid, really.
RAD:: So it's all just made up!
Ed:: It's made up. It's what you read into it.

At this moment, the club was bombarded with very loud music, so we could not recordanything further, but Ed stayed to chat with us about being a vegetarian and to tell whathis mindset was behind certain Pink Dots songs. (For example, "The Plasma Twins" --"something very sick!") Nils Van Hornblower, the Dutchman of the band, came over to us,in a fabulous blue velvet shirt, and offered everyone fireball candies. And despite greatfatigue, the Legendary Pink Dots gave their all this night. The crowd demanded encores,so they did three. During one, Ed told the funniest tale about Horatio the cockroach,recordings of which may be available by contacting Squid here at RAD. In a final, chaoticblow-out at the end of the last encore, Nils leapt into the audience with his saxophoneand traveled the entire venue, blasting into people's faces. What an experience.

Last Updated on Saturday, 13 September 2008 22:15