INTERVIEW - LIARS

Art-punk chameleons Liars seem to reinvent themselves on every album. The only common thread that runs through their back catalogue is that it's great to listen to when you're baked and staring into space. We met up with the band and talked about their experimentalism.

So did you guys live the art school dream of sex and drugs?
Julian (drums): Well, I started when I was 23, so I got all the drugs and sex out of my system. When I went to school I wanted to learn and study. I took it really seriously.

How do you feel about being called an "experimental" band?
Julian: For us, each album is like a new project, rather than a part of one big entity. It works into the idea of Fluxus*.

Um... What's Fluxus?
(Painful, painful silence)

What if you took the opposite approach and tried to work within the confines of a strict set of rules?
Julian: Well, take someone like Mondrian who did the same thing for thirty years. It gets kind of boring. I mean, it was good when he first did it, but after a while...

So, if you don't go by a strict set of rules, then what inspires the band to keep creating new things?
Angus (vocals/guitar): Well, you try new things that you don't know anything about, and then it becomes new again. You aren't sure whether you can do it, so you always have this doubt. I don't think we're the type of band that's always confident. A lot of the time we're both unsure and confident.

Isn't doubt and fear essentially the same thing?
Julian: You could say that fear and excitement are one in the same.

Yes you could. Thanks guys!

*Don't feel bad if you have no idea what Fluxus is. No one does.

- Liars' album, rather inventively titled Liars, comes out on Mute on August 28   

Comments

[karen o]

awesome video.

[nama]

i am pissing myself with excitement!

[dr rhythm]

too bad the album is pretty much shit after the first three tracks