Spoken collapse of conversational Ka-Spel: Interview in Seventh Street Entry, MN
After seventeen years of psychedelic madness and awe-inspiring beauty, The Legendary Pink Dots’ creative energy shows no signs of withering. Based out of Holland where they operate their own label Terminal Kaleidoscope, they sport perhaps the most intense world wide musical cult following. I traveled from the Yukon Territories (where I was slaving away my summer) to Minneapolis to indulge in their performance on August 11th at the 7th St. Entry. Minneapolis was their first stop on their North American tour in support of their latest release “Hallway of the Gods” with Twilight Circus, Ryan Moore’s (bassist/percussionist of TLPD) zany dub project, and the Silverman, the nocturnal navigator of TLPD sweeping somberly through icy caverns. Prior to the performance we (myself) engaged in an interview with the poet/prophet Edward Ka-Spel.
I have read three interviews with him and made a conscious effort to avoid questions to which answers have already been provided. Despite diving from a G. Love and the Special Sauce sound check into the TLPD one, most of the tape was still decipherable. This was an evening of idol slaughter at the embrace of the human presence of these artists. Thrown into sudden catatonia at the shock of contact. The repression of physical reality from years of trancing in my own room and the meeting of the inducers whom I could not comprehend as being human spawned an anxious surreality.
Q: So Edward Ka-Spel, this is the ice breaking question. What do you think of cats?
EK: I love cats. I have two at home Billie and Koska (And we found out that two days prior, his new love Inca had just got another cat in which Edward obviously hadn’t seen)
CUT IN: this Interview began rather abruptly with a confining tape recorder and an overbearing sound check. Most questions died before Edward Ka-Spel even got a chance to answer them. The wee segment of the interview that did
inspire answers were mere harmless statements obviously just killing the time. Good chance that the questions we asked were banal/lazy and self gratifying, but seeing it was the first stop on the tour and the fact that the Legendary Pink Dots tonight were performing with half of what normally they perform with (equipment wise that is) and not to mention the lack of the recorded material that was supposed to be on sale at the show, “Way to go UPS” the written interview with Edward Ka-Spel will be conducted via terrestrial haphazardness intentionally equated.
ONE DAY, a name before the lobster pink nail polish which was so efficacious to April the piano player and Edward and Patrick, referred to what seem important at the time. And it stuck. THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS.
The Legendary Pink Dots sound was awe inspired by early up to The Wall PINK FLOYD, especially the British accent of Syd Barrett which to whom Ka-Spel has often been considered to resemble “…but it goes deeper than that…” and so “it’s a coincidence…et cetra…it might go back to that…” also the fantasy of American novelist Harlan Ellison “..goes deeper than that…” brought life to Ka-Spel but seeing he’s on the road a lot and is prolific with recording material for LPD, his solo work and appearing “its David’s way of saying hello” with tintinnabulation on certain current 93 recordings. “David is a long friendship.” and on nights with David “it’s usually a lot of joking, drinking German wine and just enjoying each others company” also Steve Stapleton dedicated His soliloquy to Lilith to Edward, ex wife Elke, and their son Calyxx.
Question: So when you go to see the hermit Stapleton and family, do Calyxx(4 years) and Stapleton’s daughter Lilith (seven years) play together?”
No they have hardly met, we stay up late past there bed times so it’s not very good we bring them along”
What was your first memory of musical exposure?
“the thing that really hit me the most was hearing See Emily Play on the juke box.”
With a snail mail correspondence with Cevin Cey of the now defunct Skinny Puppy Ka-Spel traveled to mildewy Vancouver to record THE TEAR GARDEN, a new project which to this date hasn’t toured Canada. “Cey collected all the cassettes and wrote to us”. Cassettes were the only way until the stint with Play It Again Sam (something that was mentioned later with accentual spite) that LPD were released and now with Soleilmoon “really working hard on us, and they are doing a good job, and we really need it” early material by the pink dots is being re-released for those that were unable to collect dots tapes like Cey to hear the mesmeric claustrophobic psychedelic of their first few tapes. Which included the first few songs ever written through dreams by Ka-Spel like Defeated “the defeated kept coming back in the dream, the rest of the lyrics came afterwards”
So the prophet QA-spell (a pseudonym used by Edward: one of the many) are you very religious?
“Not in any orthodox way, but then again I don’t believe that everything is a coincidence” going on “I am certainly no atheist. I just believe in taking a very holistic view of the universe. I tend to feel quite small.”
Its a small wonder about the relevance of the word depicting a color in the title of their name compared with one of the inspirers.
Did you tour Europe before taking on north America to promote your new LPG album ‘Hallway of the Gods’? ”
A small tour of Europe. Did you know Inca got one more cat today…
What relevance does the title of the new album have?
It was the obvious title”
Please expound we don’t understand {” thanks UPS!”}
“Reminds me of a hallway contracting with god laughing at me behind the walls.” now the violin plays oddly”
making a noise, using a violin I find a cord that’s pleasing I stick with it.” its time to go Edward…Edward…Edward. it go time…”he’s a nice guy”
Are you connected with The Residents? ESKIMO CHINA DOLL?
LOL “I will always love The Residents” (which residents?) “they are a very important band to me”
As you can see Edward Ka-Spel, Matthew Stephan. and I (s. Arden hill) had a dysfunctional opera of interlocutional methodology, resulting in a extraterrestrial recording. We probed into areas of Ka-Spel life, extracting seminal events, which could/should remain blank.
The time when the Legendary Pink Dots were playing in some European city, which the crowd believed in paying homage through silence. Elke, Edward’s ex wife, brought their son Calyxx to the show. During one pause for breath between incantations when the breathing could be heard without amplification, Calyxx bellowed out…”hi dad!” Edward response was so human that the erecting awe from the crowd dismantled the cute humility of the words “hi
son” from Ka-Spel. The modest rotation of Edward’s head while explaining this to us, esoterically answered any question we ever wondered about Ka-Spel relation to life, art and distinction. “sing while you may”…”may
you sing awhile”
ahill@autobahn.mb.ca
S. Arden Hill
‘SElf INDuceD deMENtia’
CKUW, UovW, CAN
MUSIC FOR DISEMBOWeLMENT
‘THEpavement’-A&E editor
ahill@autobahn.mb.ca
