Mark Lanegan

The first track you played on repeat?
'Sure 'Nuff 'N Yes I Do' by Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band. When I first heard 'Safe As Milk' as a fourteen-year old I was instantly captivated by Beefheart's voice. The music itself seemed, at first, like some psych ward patients had got ahold of some instruments and were attempting to play the blues. A couple of years later I got a copy of 'Trout Mask Replica' and it was a hundred times more insane. Then I realized they had created something not just ahead of its time, but something outside of time altogether. Pure genius, not of this earth.

A song that defines the teenage you?
'Pretty Vacant' by Sex Pistols. I collected comic books as a kid and one day the hippy who owned the shop put on the 12 inch single of ‘Anarchy In The U.K.’ and that was the moment my life changed forever. Within a day or two, I’d traded my entire comic book collection for store credit, which I used to buy anything punk related. While my newfound life-long-love-to-be gave me a soundtrack to the petty crime I participated in all my life until being in a band myself gave me a roadmap way out.

One record you would keep forever?
'Closer' by Joy Division. Hands down the one record that absolutely saved my life and continues to tell my own story to me after all these years. At age twenty, it was such a comfort to discover music that mirrored my inner life, thoughts and feelings. I suddenly realized I was not alone.

A song lyric that has inspired you?
“Oh Shark who is this god? Before him every man is made to cower. I feel ashamed and the simple things come harder now, I doubt my legs, my words, my every move”

From 'The Sun Before The Darkness' by Crime And The City Solution. Simon Bonney, the singer behind Crime and the City Solution, is, in my mind, one of the top three or four vocalists/songwriters of our time. A master of melody, phrasing, and poetic lyrics, all strictly unique unto him. The way he puts a lyric to music and the melodies with which he sings them is so completely brilliant, that I dare anyone attempt to do it like him. It’s impossible, there’s only one Simon Bonney. A man among boys.

A song you wished you had written?
'Strong As Death Sweet As Love' by Al Green. Al Green is simply one of the all-time greatest singers. This song is one of many he’s done I wish I’d written. Beautiful lyrics sung by a man blessed with not only one of history’s most beautiful voices but an otherworldly master at how to use it.

Best song to turn up loud?
'666 The Number Of The Beast' by Iron Maiden. When I was young, with incredibly stupid looking extra-long hair, I was often approached by kids in airports, grocery stores and out on the street, who would ask me if I was Bruce Dickinson. I was not thrilled by that at the time, but to this day, I sometimes roll all the windows down, open my sunroof and then hit the road with this song as my soundtrack. Cranked at top volume, of course. Total classic

A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'Too Much Heaven' by Bee Gees. Barry Gibb is a genius along the lines of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, etc., but the staggering amount of mind-blowing, incredibly brilliant, heartbreaking tunes he wrote that were chart hits for his band, as well as for others, puts him in a class by himself. From the earliest Bee Gees records, recorded when the brothers Gibb were mere teenagers, straight through the disco era and beyond. The Bee Gees stood apart from the crowd, some kids from The Isle of Man by way of Queensland, Australia who, starting in the late fifties and early sixties, hit the big time behind Barry’s songwriting and he and brother Robin’s one of a kind voices.

The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
'V.D. Hospital' by Regis.
'Two Different Ways' by Factory Floor.
'Rare Earth Material' by BLOOD MUSIC.
'Drenba Nih Sendaut' by Oake.
Disclaimer: I am not likely to hit the dance floor no matter what is playing but for the last several years the music I listen to most is by DJ/Producer/Musicians like Karl O'Connor aka Regis. People who play a dark, ambient or pummeling goth-tinged, post-punk, powerful wall of noise or heavily-rhythmic electronic music that I can listen to for days on end. Music that to me, is in some ways, the natural extension of bands like Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire, Coil or Throbbing Gristle. The great British stuff that had no rules. Some people might call much of it techno but that term makes me think of something else I’m not as fond of. Silent Servant, Function, Not Waving, Dave Clarke, Female, RRose, Tropic of Cancer, Surgeon, Sam Kerridge, Alberich, Sanford Electronics, British Murder Boys (Surgeon and Regis), Raime, Broken English Club, BLOOD MUSIC, Russell Haswell, Factory Floor, Prurient (and Vatican Shadow) are some of my current personal favourites.

Best song to end an all-nighter?
'Lilac Wine' by Nina Simone. One of my greatest regrets is having tickets to see Nina Simone and then blowing it off because I did not want to go out in poor weather. She died shortly thereafter, as did Sun Ra who I also held tickets for but did not attend. I never make that mistake anymore. Many of us alive today are lucky to have lived at the same time as giants like David Bowie, Emmylou Harris, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Chris D, Prince, K.D. Lang, Nick Cave, John Cale, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, James Brown, The Ramones, Lucinda Williams, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, George Clinton, Siouxie Sioux, Elvis Costello, Neil Young and many, many more of the greatest artists ever. They will not be around forever, don’t be the idiot who missed your chance to see/hear true, one-of-a-kind artistry when given the chance.

Any new bands you are into at the moment?
TR/ST, Uni.