Costello Reflects On Career At SXSW

Pretty self-explanatory
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wardo68
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Costello Reflects On Career At SXSW

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from Billboard.com. (I bolded a passage below sure to raise hackles.)

Costello Reflects On Career At SXSW

In the somewhat strange setting of an enormous Austin Convention Center ballroom, Elvis Costello sat yesterday (March 16) for a public interview that marked the beginning of Texas' annual South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival. For nearly 90 minutes, the veteran artist discussed his career with MTV Networks executive Bill Flanagan, engrossing and entertaining the crowded room.

"I don't know why that is," Costello answered when asked why he thought he was still a viable artist nearly three decades after his first release. "I just do what I do."

"I've been very, very fortunate," he said, referring to the many "great opportunities" his career has offered. "And a couple of those that came up were quite amazing."

Among them: working with a wide range of established artists, from Jerry Lee Lewis and George Jones to Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Burt Bacharach and the Brodsky Quartet. Obviously humbled by such collaborations, he said, "These are the things I'll take away with me."

Costello defended his prolificacy and the wide-ranging experimentation he has indulged over time, which has seen him record everything from punk-era new wave classics to opera, simply saying it was a case of "not allowing critics to write your records for you."

Jokingly, he described the difference between his longtime band the Attractions and its more recent replacement the Imposters as "less hair, more face."

Besides a singular different member -- bassist Bruce Thomas, with whom Costello has a well-known adverse relationship, in the old band and Davey Farragher in the new -- the bands are virtually identical, with keyboardist Steve Nieve and drummer Pete Thomas rounding out the lineup.

"The reason the Imposters are different than the Attractions is because there's a vast amount of experience in the other members," he said, noting that in the nine years between the two bands, "no one was sitting by the phone waiting for me to call." Instead, each was working on other projects, which brought more to the table.

"The other reason is because of the kind of musician Davey Farragher is," he added, noting that "Bruce simply can't play a groove." Despite that, he also called the Attractions "the best band of '77 by a country mile."

When it was brought up that he has reissued catalog titles in differing deluxe editions on two different labels, Costello said he was not trying to milk money out of die-hard fans. He sees reissues as being "for those who missed it the first time around," not for "those obsessed with having everything."

Saying "radio is my enemy," Costello admitted not expecting widespread support from traditional music business channels when he releases a new work, such as his latest rock album, "The Delivery Man" (Lost Highway). "I just want to get the music visible," he said. And to do that, the tenaciously touring artist said hitting the road is the way to get that done.

"It's always been about playing," he said. "It's not about records. Live work is where it's at."


-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

Some other things Elvis said -

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/music/ar ... 24,00.html


With the music industry still in turmoil over downloading and CD burning, the mood at the convention center, like last year, is a bit glum.

Former Semisonic drummer Jacob Slichter, author of "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star," opens the day's sessions by recounting the ways the industry stomped all over his band, a one-hit-wonder known for its late-'90s anthem "Closing Time."

Later, rock legend Elvis Costello announces the imminent demise of bricks-and-mortar record stores, predicting that music soon will be obtained through the 21st century version of mail-order shopping.

"Internet downloads — that's just a quicker way of getting your mail," Costello quips. "I hate to say it, because I love record shops. But they have to adapt or die."



http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/11159076.htm

Costello reveals his mask

It was a calm, relaxed and, at times, barely audible Elvis Costello who took the stage Wednesday at the Austin Convention Center for a sit-down interview with journalist Bill Flanagan. Costello, on a U.S. tour to push his new disc, The Delivery Man, reminisced about meeting such giants as George Jones, Count Basie and Jerry Lee Lewis, and said that everything he's gone through over the last 30 years was in service of the music, conceding that the hostility he used to be known for was a mask for something deeper.

"When I started out, I was just impatient and intolerant. [The hostility] helped keep people away so I could do my job. ... [But] I've seen others eaten by their own masks," he said referring to Kurt Cobain.

But he still can rattle a few cages, as in when he explained why he doesn't attend the Grammys, even when he's nominated: "I'm happy to be in a [nightclub] while the monolith that is U2 crushed us under their jackboot."

He also says that he and his old group, The Attractions, almost became Texans at one point. "We were considering moving to Austin because we liked it so much," he said. "And San Francisco, for the same reason."


http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/fea/ent ... 1ea0c.html

Just sign here

Elvis Costello can be a bit dull talking about record-label history. He's considerably more entertaining telling quirky anecdotes.

During an interview session Wednesday, he offered self-deprecating humor about an awkward moment meeting Jerry Lee Lewis and learning from George Jones while suffering from the mumps.

A recent gig in New Orleans provided him with the quirkiest tale. A fortysomething female fan had his face tattooed onto one of her, um, cheeks, and a circle on the other. He gave his autograph inside the circle, which she planned to have permanently tattooed the next day.

Rob Clark



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/ar ... 1000845831

Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, now a Universal recording artist after long tenures at Columbia and Warner Bros., reflected on the changes he has witnessed in the business during an interview conducted by MTV Networks senior vp Bill Flanagan.

"The creative people inside the companies have become increasingly invisible," Costello said. "They box in the creative people inside this massive and unwieldy structure, which resembles the last days of the dinosaurs."

Costello also accused specialty music retailers, who have faced stiff competition from online music services, of being woefully behind the times and out of touch with consumers.

"As soon as broadband is big enough, the record (retailing) business is over," Costello maintained. "They will have to change or die. ... It's going to be about five minutes to the end. All bets are off." He added that traditional music chains like Tower Records had "let the spirit go out of it."


see photo here -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samfelder/6751062/
johnfoyle
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/ ... 177590.xml

Another seasoned pro, Elvis Costello performed selections from his back-to-basics latest album, "The Delivery Man," and from his back pages, including a devil-may-care "Radio, Radio."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer warned of tough times ahead when the likes of the Thompson Twins become eligible for the "Hall of Shame," as Costello put it. "It was kind of cool up until now," he said. "But it's going to get thin gruel when they get to the mid- '80s."
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertai ... almusictop

Elvis in the building

There was glass insulation on the screen door this week, when drizzling rain and temperatures in the mid-40s made the climate strangely inhospitable for Texas in March. Elvis Costello was bundled in a jacket and scarf for his interview session (Inside the Actor's Studio-style) at the convention center. Costello, it turns out, is an insightful and funny guy. He praised Bob Dylan's memoir and talked of doing his own next year, though he doesn't have as many secrets as Dylan: "I don't need to wait 30 years to set the record straight. I've been setting it straight all along."
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Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ss ... 284630.xml

The weekend before SXSW, Elvis Costello played at a sold-out, jam-packed House of Blues in New Orleans. He and the Imposters banged out old favorites and new tracks from his current CD, "The Delivery Man," with efficient purpose and well-rehearsed immediacy. They even reprised Dave Bartholomew's "The Monkey Speaks His Mind," the namesake for Costello's tour.

Based on his afternoon SXSW discussion with writer/MTV senior vice president Bill Flanagan, Costello left New Orleans with two lasting impressions. The first was of his inebriated audience.

"Drunk people would be calling out for numbers that we'd already played," Costello said.

The second was of the woman who approached him after the show on Decatur Street and pulled down her pants, revealing a tattoo of his face on her rear. She asked him to autograph the opposite cheek, so she could tattoo the signature. He obliged.

"It's times like that," Costello cracked, "that I'm glad my ex-manager didn't call me Engelbert Presley."

Augmenting his New Orleans stories were anecdotes about George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis and Van Morrison and eloquent remarks on a range of subjects.

That such classic albums as Joni Mitchell's "Blue" are often discounted in England for five pounds strikes him as a travesty. "It should be 50 pounds," he said. "It's a work of art. Young people have no sense of the value."

At this year's Grammy awards, Costello notched another loss. "The monolith that is U2," he said, joking, "crushed us under their jackboot."

Not that he always walks away from the Grammys empty-handed: He met his wife, jazz singer Diana Krall, there. "That," Costello said, "is the best thing that ever happened."
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Post by johnfoyle »

Ayako writes to listserv -



Video excerpts from SXSW interview with Bill Flanagan can be found at the following link:

http://2005.sxsw.com/coverage/
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Post by Man out of Time »

johnfoyle wrote:Ayako writes to listserv -

Video excerpts from SXSW interview with Bill Flanagan can be found at the following link:

http://2005.sxsw.com/coverage/
That now appears to be a dead link, but six minutes of the interview are archived here:

http://www.SXSW.com - Iconic moments

MOOT
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