Bib/O : Do you believe in an electro revolution in 2007?

G: As Technolgy advances, you get hands on all sort of stuffs. Perhaps, I’m not answering the right question. There’s so much more access to technology and different ways of making music. It’s fantastic. Everybody’s walking round with their i-pods, or photographing and making videos. You can make this incredible mixture of media...

Bib/O : What I meant is that there are loads of bands including both of you with your respective solo projects including electronic music.

A: It’s more a medium really rather than an end in itself and it’s how it should be. Also, it’s due to what people have to say with that medium without way of doing things. But also, technology of it has allowed a lot of people and a lot of women. A lot of women are doing electronic music because you can do it on your own, and you learn by yourself, you do it with your computer or out of bits and pieces that you collect.

G: And then you get it right, then you put on a nice dress and then you go out. And you dress up and it is perfect!

A: In a way, it has become a revolution because it has allowed a lot of people and a lot of women to create a lot of new music. That’s the revolutionary side of it, not necessarily the sound of it. The fact in the hands of a lot of women, it’s not just music, it’s also cameras, videos, you can create incredible pieces of work either complex or very simple involving technolgy. I think that’s the good thing.

Bib/O :: Let’s talk about your solo projects: How did it come out?

A: Basically, we kind of stopped The Raincoats. Seperately we wanted to do some music. In my case, I just got hold of very simple equipment and started working with it and I made a whole album with just a simple piece of equiment this size.

Bib/O :: What is it?

A: Yamaha QY70. It is a sequencer with a little mini keyboard. It’s got loads of sounds. On my album, some people think that I used guitars whereas I didn’t use anything, it’s just the QY70. This is what I thought, this is how I want to do it! I don’t want anything else. I want to keep this simplicity which is the punk ethic, which is as simple as that. It costs about £ 300.

G: In my case, this is quite different I suppose because just after the release of the last Raincoats record, I made music videos for bands. The two people I worked with, were two performance artists and they wanted me to do music for shows. They were doing shows for theaters. They asked me to produce the music for their shows I’d just started writing. Songs and pieces of music kept coming to me. We got show sat the RSCA, at the Royal Hall. I just kept on writing. I thought I was indie and DIY. DIY means do-it-Yourself. In my case, I haven’t actually done it myself! Somebody else did it for me when we were kind of independent. So I thought it would be very interesting to release these things on my own label. I did everything myself in the Uk and in Europe. It was an amazing experience: being on the phone to Norway and Sweden, Germany, even France. I played for The Inrockuptibles. And then Kill Rock Stars in Olympia, Washington, asked me if they could release it in America. I got a relationship with them, I did a bit of touring in America. That was shortly after the Raincoats. Ana did it more recently. In the meantime, I adopted two girls. I’ve got two daughters from China. I haven’t had the same time to do a lot more. Because mostly I make films and videos for music for other people’s so I have a bit of money. The luxury of sitting home and writing a song isn’t available to me. I’ve got a new record written but I just haven’t got the means to do it. And I need to get myself some little help. That’s interesting to think about.

Bib/O : Have you decided whether you’re gonna play the Raincoats songs or more like Gina and Ana’s songs?

A: The Raincoats!!

G: We might just go on stage and say “Ana” or “Gina”!!

THE RAINCOATS website | myspace

ANA DA SILVA myspace

GINA BIRCH myspace  

OPAQUE website