Variety Mix; 1174; Graham Coxon (recorded 2005-03-23)

Thank you for your applause, Bob. 9.3, 91.7, K-E-X-P, that is music from Michelle and de gallo, she's covering a Bill Withers tune there, who is she and what is she to you. Also music from Dove's, I know they got a new release out there, but folks want to hear catch the sun, because it's supposed to be cloudy and rainy and Seattle today, but what do you know? The weather folks wrong again, here in Seattle. I'm Cheryl Waters and I am very happy to be joined by Graham Cox and sitting here with me right now, and looking a little nervous that this is live radio. You're a pro, that surprises me. A pro. Well you've been at it for a long time. The state of mind isn't it a pro thing? I guess it could be. No, it's always nervous to be sort of, you know, because they don't know what I'm wearing, do they? No, that isn't it?

Not wearing a thing. Why don't we start it off with a song right off the bat here, Graham Cox and on K-E-X-P, he plans tonight at Jopsewie. Then again, she smiled at everybody. When I leave that place, I'm always speeding, so much coffee in my brain, I bleed in. The quick and step by the stomach reading, the thoughts of the lips I wish my feeling.

Graham Cox and on K-E-X-P, thank you so much, what is that little did he called? Latte, I have a lot of those. So happiness and magazines, that's like your 343rd album, something like that, you're the most prolific artist that I've probably ever interviewed, putting out so much music. This is your fifth solo album, and so you must be, I mean, you were in blur and put out a million albums with them, now you've got all the solo music, are you pretty much just making music all the time? I'm catching blur up now, well I started, you might pass by them any day now. Yeah, well I started because I was interested in music that I knew that they wouldn't entertain

the idea of recording or exploring themselves, so I started when I was about 27 or something with songs kind of like that I was writing in hotel rooms, and actually I think it coincided with a huge period of sobriety, and I didn't know what to do with myself, so I'm my room. I can just see it sitting in the room in front of the TV, writing songs, and ever since then that's what I do really. Well I understand you didn't have a ton of creative control in blur, so you're stretching out or you have, on a lot of your solo music singing, and you're very self-deprecating when it comes to talking about your singing voice, but it's absolutely beautiful, is it something you're not comfortable with? It's very strange thing, I love singing, but I've never really sounded like I love singing, so I'm trying to allow myself to enjoy singing, it's just that voice is a peculiar thing,

sometimes they play tricks on you and you look like an idiot in front of people, but I've never really liked perfect voices anyway, so what voices, what singers do you like? Well when I was growing up, I mean Nick Drake, I suppose it's got a beautiful voice, but I mean some people wouldn't call it perfect, and anyone from Paul Ware in the jam to pick a town's end, and to people like that, they all have peculiar voices. Well speaking, your voice is one thing, but this might be interesting for you to hear, but your regard as one of the best guitarists of your generation critics say that all the time and that's got to be an interesting moniker to live with, yet I find in your solo work even though it's actually your work with blur that it's made a lot of people say that your solo work you've even stretched out more on guitar, is that something that you've put on purposely, obviously probably it just goes along with making different music that speaks to you.

Well yeah, there's something to do with allowing myself, I've kind of purposefully stopped myself from soloing in a kind of way, because I didn't think there was allowed amongst indie people in the early 90s and 80s and things, it was frowned upon, and certainly in a blues kind of way, but that's changed now, and Marian Faithful once told me that I should fly and I think she meant guitar-wise, and so I just decided, well, that I should enjoy myself really, and so sort of soloing and making a lot of noises is something that I like, because with blur I was sort of accompanying a sort of mood that I was picking up, I was trying to translate someone else's feelings in a way. Well the vision you have on happiness and magazines definitely seems to be coming through,

it does sound like you are enjoying yourself, yeah, I just love to hear a couple more songs if you're up for it. This is called Life It Sucks, analyze myself away, am I ready to forgive, if you want to be back today, you're really caught with it. Life is Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, Sucks, barrel boots to the west, white, 2 tyres. When we talk about the last, I always have to go my tongue, up in my wrist, palms at my But still I don't feel I would be gone

Like this, such, such, such, so much That's how it's white to die I get white, this, such, such, so much That's how it's white to die I hide It's purple singing on my hands When I wanna touch your hair You know I worship every strength This heartlessness just I feel fair Like this, such, such, so much That's how it's white to die Like this, such, such, such, such Graham Cox and on K-E-X-B. Got another one in that bag of tricks?

Yeah. Oh. Alright. I've been saying nothing to hear, but I've been to be, nothing to prove, nothing to sight, nothing to me, nothing to gain, nothing to be, nothing to feel, nothing to hide. Nothing is real, something like, what can you do, and nothing's wrong? Got it where I ain't got my son Yeah, I'm far in the mouth Yeah, I'm not willing to tell Because I'm really breaking out And I'm going out on my TV got me going right And I'm really breaking out Yeah, man, you think you got it, mate

Breathe in, you stink on your friend device Clong your right, the eye of shights Yeah, man, you look you're really ice And what the hell you're doing in I'm feeling the spice between my ears Why don't you all just disappear What's up, your friends, it's way too 10 Yeah, I'm far in the mouth Yeah, I'm not willing to tell Because I'm really breaking out And I'm going out on my right TV got me going right I'm really breaking out I've been to say nothing, I hear

Nothing's a pain, nothing's a pain Nothing's a pain, nothing's a pain Nothing's a pain, nothing's a pain Yeah, I'm going out Yeah, I'm not willing to tell Because I'm really breaking out And I'm going out on my right TV got me going right And I'm really breaking out Graham Cox and on KEXP, that sounded incredible Thank you so much for doing that song You really know how to wrangle that guitar There's a lot of sound coming out of that little thing It's little, yeah, it is It's great, is that what you play on stage on tour?

No, this is the thing that I just have around I went to the Cambridge Folk Festival in England Which is very famous, and I bought it there I was very drunk on Sider, and I bought it And it was lucky that it was good It is very good It's a little old sort of martin thing Now, are you on tour with band right now? Are you on tour with a band right now? Are you performing by yourself? Yeah, my friends, they're sort of people I've known for ages, and we have the same sense of humor, which is a humor's more important Playing ability That is very important, it's good to enjoy The people that you travel with But they can play, which is good Good to know, for those of those folks Headnout to Chuck Sui tonight Speaking of humor, I find happiness in magazines There's a very sentimental album, there's a wide range of emotions there And there's a lot of wit there, but also some melancholy And it actually makes me wonder, I know you have a small daughter And I'm wondering how that's changed your musical writing at all Well, when she first arrived, I wrote some lullabies for her

I think she becomes part of a whole fantasy, fairy, elf, pixie world Which I kind of draw inspiration from a little bit A lot of my sentimental songs are based in some sort of fantasy Really, all my songs are Fatherhood's a big part of your life, right now, I understand You took some time off, and you'd spend a big chunk of your time doing that What is your life like these days? And clearly you're making tons of music, it seems like you pop a song out every day, in fact, you're on tour for this latest album But I understand you're almost done with another album Yeah, I've been recording another record at home, yeah, that was a long question It was, I was asking about how Fatherhood works in free time and writing Well, I just, I just sort of, well that's all I do now

I mean, part of the reasons I left the group was that my priorities It changed a lot, and that the mind, brain, and my daughter My situation, and looking up to my creative self, and all that kind of stuff Really had to be rearranged, I still had the priorities of a sort of 20-year-old So now I have, basically am I a tad Or writing something else to do, I don't do anything You know, drinking, or anything like that So I'm at home, all the time, and there's nothing else to do You know, when she's gone to bed, I just play guitar and watch TV Do you cook? Right, songs, yeah, but I don't cook after she's gone to bed Okay, just watch TV and write songs I know that your visual artist as well, you went to art school, you have a background And that is that fit in at all these days for you Yeah, I love it, I just sort of started to paint again

Because I managed to sap a studio and a barn in the middle of a field And so I'm in a house that I've got now Canterbury in Kent in England And I started to paint again for an exhibition And I've always done the artwork for my LPs, but it's always got to be linked up into a consistency Emotionally and everything with the drive of the LPs So to work, visually, straight from the brain without having to go via music and stuff like that It's always quite good, yeah That's great, well, we can't wait to hear more music from you, I'm still enjoying this album Sounds like you've got another one coming up, and if you could play another song, it'd be great Yeah, I just have to make sure that these Oh, yeah, we forgot about the tuning I'll remind people that Graham is playing tonight at Chop Sui So we're actually coming by this afternoon at 3 o'clock Sorry, I'm rubbish at this, because my...

No, no, I'm not sure what that has to do with tuning For my knees Okay, I was going to do a sentimental song, then Hey, when I shout, and I fade in I'm a flower, I was free Swimming in light, yeah Well, so scared, you washed my hair Bright red water, you really thought

That was dead I know why you make me so scared You're all I can see You speak and my hair is impaired You're not me You're all in love with my hair

You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You speak and my hair is impaired

You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair You're all in love with my hair to you coming back. It's been a long time since you've been here in the United States.

First time on a solo tour. Yeah, yeah. It's been really nice. Well, I hope that you enjoyed. I heard you were just at South by Southwest. That must have been crazy. Yeah, it was straight from North London to that. It was a bit strange. I am mad. Well, enjoy the tour. And again, thank you so much for stopping by. This is KEX PC. My dad. I haven't had a pizza for ages. Right in that cell, then like that. Hello, this is, all right, so I put the heading phones on. Oh, this is Green Carson. I've taken time out from working on the play to tell you to listen to a cool blind me. That's good radio mate, Governor. Oh, I'm Graham Coxon. Hello, I'm Graham Coxon. Hello, I'm Graham

Coxon. This is KXP. Go blind me. That's good radio, Governor. I say, right, KXP. Not. All right, this, this is Graham Coxon here. And I have found happiness in radio with Cheryl Waters on KXP. I had a bit of a pop. And this is Graham Coxon. And I found happiness in radio with Cheryl Waters on KXP. Yeah, all right, I could

say you're on another one. All right, this is Graham Coxon. I found happiness in radio with Cheryl Waters on KXP. Yeah, all right. Hiya, this is Graham Coxon. And this is John in the morning. I'm gonna do it again. Not so wanker. This is Graham Coxon. And this is John in the morning. Not a wanker. What does that mean? Definitely not a wanker. Definitely not a wanker. This is Graham Coxon leaving you in the capable hands of Kevin Hill on KXP. Yeah, yeah, fantastic. You want them all like that. He is definitely not a wanker role center. Okay, cool.

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