“Yes, I've been writing this kind of thing for ever..."
ANYONE ELSE OUT there who had a spring put into their step by that little groovy bassline in Brighter's magnificent "Killjoy" ? Who wore a indelible smile from the moment that the multi-layered melodies of Hal's "Election day" oozed gloriously into their ears ? Who dared to move out of the shadows and dance to the likes of Fosca's "All I Know" ? Yes ? First, thank this man. Second, get in touch with us. We will buy you many drinks.
Worthing's own Alex Sharkey released his first solo work as Pinkie on Planting Seeds Records of Virginia, USA last year. The excellent "My little experiment" mini-LP incorporates seven songs, including the two that we gabbled about here. It's an album of careful mood and tone, relatively sparse in the instrumentation when it has to be, but allowing Alex to develop a "solo" personality with his gentle vocal. It mixes those early Sarah guitars with sweeps of keyboard and some softly mournful, but far from suicidal, lyrics. We guess it's one of those records that's just an antidote to the corporate suffocation, the capitalist consumerism, of the professional balladeers. When you're crammed against the doors of the 8.37 to Waterloo, lamenting the lack of staying power of modern deodrant, and have tired of craning your neck in a vain attempt to read the morning papers over people's shoulders, the likes of "Two angels" or "You Shouldn't Have" are manna from heaven, transporting you outside and to a time when your thought processes involved your friends, your hapless attempts at relationships and your aspirations, rather than the constant nagging of work commitments... maybe those cramped around you can even see how you're being transported away, feeling serene, and how suddenly the heat of the carriage and the droning of the bloke next to you into his Nokia aren't bothering you at all...
Um, anyway. With becoming promptness, Alex answered "a few" questions that had been carefully composed for him one overcast Sunday in Bermondsey...
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first there was brighter, where we first came across you, shyly plucking bass in unjustifiably small venues... were you a member from the start, or did you get roped in as worldwide fame began to beckon ?
back in our school days myself and keris [howard, 50% of harper lee] used to form bands all the time... though always with just the two of us in them... we didn't really like other people... but I used to write the more poppy stuff and he would knock out the morose numbers... eventually we decided that musically we'd try going our separate ways and shortly after he became involved with Sarah Records and I became involved with a dodgy record mogul from Barrow-in-Furness. Needless to say his venture proved more fruitful and after the second ep/single ("Noah's Ark") I became a full time member of Brighter (along with Alison).
how do you look back on those "brighter" years ?
I do look back on the brighter years with happy memories... excitement... total naïvety... and seeming to believe I was some kind of alternative indie Keith Moon... without the constitution... well maybe I was...
then with Hal (we've always felt "election day" to be cruelly underrated, not to mention underexposed) it sounds like you perhaps took a more prominent role in arranging / programming the songs ?
even if I say so myself... (and probably no-one's going to say it for me) "election day" did form some kind of pop perfection... unfortunately (at the time at least) no-one else agreed. I did all the arranging and programming in my little bedroom in Worthing... with some samples added by our engineer friend Mike Roberts in the studio... so put simply, in answer to your question... yes...
and after hal, you didn't resurface until the start of this century, in the "mk.2" fosca. so what had you been doing with yourself in the meantime ? were there any musical projects going on ?
um... kind of... Hal took a great deal out of me emotionally... myself and keris believed Hal should inherit the earth by right... and when we didn't... we thought the next best alternative was to play playstation games... and I suppose at the same time... whether I knew it or not... I was working on the future Pinkie back catalogue...
how did it feel to be involved in the writing process again (and a collaborative process at that) for the first fosca album ["on earth to make the numbers up"] ? were you happy with the results ?
it was kind of strange... I was ready to get back into circulation... and Dickon [Edwards. Fosca. You know] asked if I'd like to collaborate in Fosca... except... although I had already made a start on Pinkie... and was committed to the 'stripped down' jangling guitar stylee I've come to make my own... he was after a style similar to that successfully created for Hal... does irony work via email... probably not without the smiley face things... so it was back to the programming and arranging and trying to layer tunes and musical flourishes to make things as musically interesting and pleasant as possible... as to how did it feel?... well it felt like really hard work... that's not meant as any criticism of Dickon... it's just that trying to work on a large number of songs in a really short period of time... and produce something you're happy with is hard work... but what kept me going was the assumption of being a springboard to the next step... ie global fame... with Dickon's professional personality brand and my musical genius it was surely a passport to immortality?! What could possibly go wrong??!!
dickon implied in a recent interview that ultimately there wasn't room for both of you in fosca, perhaps because it was always "his" band. but i thought perhaps the reason you left might have been more to do with the impracticality of being a "writing" but not a "playing live" member of a band... could you shed any light on this ?
I suppose if I was anyone else I'd keep a dignified silence on this... but unfortunately I'm not.... I have to admit that the puny male one playing the guitar was me... yes I did play live with Fosca right up until my departure... [bad research. sackcloth and ashes all ours] I haven't actually seen any interviews with Dickon... but I'm sure he was a gentleman as always... I suppose basically that was true... we are both control freaks... and no band can survive with two control freaks in it...
anyway (overdue), on to pinkie proper! was pinkie "born" as an alternative to the more electronic work you were doing with fosca, or had you always been writing your own sort of guitar-based things on the side ?
Pinkie was born a long time before fosca... but while fosca was going on Pinkie took a back seat because fosca was so exhausting... my songs are mostly piano based believe it or not (yes... grade 8 piano... music A level... read it and weep music lovers everywhere) and then I reinterpret them to suit my underdeveloped raw and basic guitar technique... I think it works... and yes I've been writing this kind of thing for ever...
not least given the sleeve of the cd, we don't have to look far to see where the "pinkie" alias comes from. "brighton rock" is one of our favourite books and (apart from the cop-out ending!) films... also, we're sure there are some parallels with your music - beautiful yet sad - and pinkie brown himself, the angelic baby face with a darker side. is that something you identified with in choosing the name, or was it just because the character is a bit of a local (anti)hero ?
Yes I probably was a little too literal with the cover of the cd, it may have been wiser to keep everyone guessing... it makes the whole thing more intriguing... I like to think that as in all great artistic concepts (!) it works on a number of levels... the book is important to me because I love the fact that even though written in the first half of the last century, it paints pictures about places I know and wander around in... i think it's wonderful how it mentions Worthing... [as does Alex on "I Can See", fact fans] but you've more or less summed it up... Graham Greene wanted to write a novel about the absolute epitome of evil... i think he acknowledged that it changed somewhat from this during the writing process... but i was inspired by a character that although vulnerable and childish looking (i'm not sure about the angelic bit) and in some ways quite feeble, basically wanted to be feared and hated... however if I think anyone hates me i do tend to feel quite crushed... but i also like the ambiguity of the name... the colour pink... an ambiguous colour...
planting seeds records are not a label that everyone reading this might know that much about. so how did you hook up with them to release the cd ?
I was looking for someone who might be interested in releasing the songs and came across planting seeds because their website mentioned some common themes and so sent the songs and then forgot doing it... it was only when fosca was in full swing that they contacted me and said they'd like to release them... they're a great label and i advise anyone to investigate them further... they have a band called astropop 3 that make guitar pop to die for...
as for the title, "my little experiment", we thought either it was a reference to the way gandhi always used to talk about his "experiments" - or perhaps it was just a self-deprecating way of acknowledging that the album was an "experiment" in terms of allowing you for the first time to release songs that were all your own work, your lyrics and your vocals ?
unfortunately it doesn't have anything to do with Gandhi... though maybe i should start pretending it did... again there's an element of truth in your theory... but it is also partly to do with a picture i have from an old 1950s New Scientist magazine of an elegant lady in a white coat staring at a white mouse in a bell jar... (but only partly).... what I was really alluding to was.... in life when you feel very much under the control and influence of other people's decisions and external pressures... if you believe that it is all part of your own 'little experiment' suddenly you are the one in control... when people are letting you down or being cruel... they don't realise... it is all part of your own plan... it's all part of the experiment...
normally we hear that an artist we like is to release something new, and then we come to it with preconceived ideas, but with "pantomime" i was just listening to my new mobstar comp, as you do, and i just got waylaid by this wonderful song. i actually remember scrabbling for the sleeve to see what i could find out about this new band!
anyway. you then also recorded "she's dead" [brilliant corners tune] for the mobstar "hoppin' on the west coast" compilation. how did you and mobstar come to each other's attention ?
you know i'm not really sure... i think i may have sent something to andy (mobstar) because he's based in bristol and therefore may have heard of Sarah Records... so you see it was cynical marketing from my point of view... but again i do love this label... (aaah so much love)... they did offer to put a single out some time ago but it went a bit quiet... i'm not sure if they're waiting for something from me... or hoping that i've forgotten... but i was pleased with the "she's dead" track... it's the way i record... it can be a little hit and miss...
is there any sense in which the alex sharkey on "my little experiment" is the "real" musical you, given that hal or fosca were much more obviously collaborative affairs ?
obviously Pinkie is nearer the real me as there is no-one else to please or appease... but i'm afraid the electronic / lo-fi dance influences in fosca and hal were all my own doing... and i am thinking of working on another dance/sample based project... but pinkie is certainly a large part of the real me... (is that the title of a country and western song?) [er, wasn't it the who - aged sub-editor]
"my little experiment" is such a fresh record, it doesn't seem reined in by anything, it just floats, with you adding extra instrumentation quite sparingly, so every introduction of second guitar, or keyboards, really works. the lightness of touch also means it seems a lot less "clinical" than many might have expected when they heard there was an alex sharkey "solo project" in the offing. was it deliberate to keep things relatively stripped down ?
Thanks for the compliments... and yes absolutely... with the restrictions of my method of recording i thought the simpler i could make everything the better it would sound... i really didn't want anything programmed or over arranged... as i'd done far too much of that... i just wanted everything to sound as fragile as it really was...
there's a great review of the cd in "popmatters" which really hits the nail on the head... "expressing longing and emptiness without making people want to slap you". it's what brighter managed to do, and we think songs like "i'm afraid you're just like me" pick up a touch of brighter at their best. but our favourite track is probably still... just... "pantomime"... which song or lyric means the most to you personally?
yes... it's never big or clever to hit someone... no matter how much they deserve it... but personally I suppose "pantomime" and "two angels" mean the most...
which came first - "you shouldn't have" on the cd or "my body isn't me" [sharkey-penned track from fosca's "supine" cdep] ?
"You shouldn't have" which was originally a Hal song called "Thorn"... you see i am just a musical slut...
we understand that what's coming next is a new album - also on planting seeds. should we expect it to evidence any change of direction, or is it more your chance, now that the "little experiment" has definitely worked, of refining the essence of "MLE" into a "proper", full record ?
um... yes... I really just want to develop the theme... recording something for the first time (at least as Pinkie) with the intention of a release has inspired me to want to get it right... I know it will never be quite right... but hopefully this will be closer... the thing I want to maintain is keeping things as simple as possible. I would also like there to be a continuous theme... something that sounds like a soundtrack to a film with snippets of instrumentals...but whether I can be this organised is another thing...
have you considered playing live (please!) - and if so, would you be solo and "unplugged", or try and surround yourself with a band ?
yes i have... and in both the formats you suggest... rachel fosca has offered to help out in a band but it's really down to being offered an opportunity...
we'd be interested to know what music you're listening to at the moment...
I've become obsessed by going into charity shops (of which we are blessed by many in Worthing) and finding odd easy listening records to sample... initially for my alternative dance project... but some of it may slip onto the Pinkie album... I suppose this may hint at some sort of change of direction... but it will be subtle, honest... anyway some things you end up becoming a true fan of... even if you think you're being ironic... you end up genuinely liking it and i suppose that's why i've been listening to some of the following... anyway here's a random selection of songs/cds i've been listening to...
Trembling Blue Stars - "Alive to Every Smile", the latest TBS album, and in my opinion the best yet. In a perfect world this would sell millions. Granddaddy - "He's Simple He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" ... yes, used in Trigger Happy TV... but it's a funny show... and a gorgeous song. Osmonds - "Our Best to You"... they could really write good tunes... "Let Me In"... I would love to do a version of this song.... Françoise Hardy - "Françoise Hardy"... Peters and Lee - "We can Make it"... easy listening at its best... and anything by Badly Drawn Boy is never far from my cd player... i suppose that's what's inspired my craving for instrumental snippets.... mmm... reading through that it doesn't look very cutting edge... but then i think the cutting edge is rather rusty and blunt these days...
developing a theme from elsewhere... where would you go, and what would you do, for the perfect "day in the life of alex from pinkie" ?
well it certainly wouldn't be doing the things i did in the "day in the life of alex from pinkie" you're referring to... that's far too tiring... i'm not sure... it would probably be in the highlands of scotland... with a guitar and a bottle of whisky... there... that doesn't sound too tiring...
and to finish, to come full-circle to the literary muse that was part of yr inspiration. what are your favourite novels of all time ?
it's funny... i practically never revisit novels... and as much as i may become drawn into one and believe it's the best thing i've ever read... the next i read could quite possibly do the same... i relate reading a book in much the same way i do listening to music... the state of mind and situation you were in at the time will affect how you remember the book... so with that in mind... i'd say "The Catcher in the Rye" - J.D. Salinger - "A Tale of Two Cities" Charles Dickens - "Nineteen Eighty Four" - George Orwell and of course "Brighton Rock" Graham Greene...
well - of course!
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Pausing only to note that playing playstation games is a noble alternative to making music.... indeed, there are a lot of bands we would recommend it for as a full time diversion... can we just say thank you to Alex... these dots are catching... we're afraid we're just like him... ILWTTISOTT
