Three Monkeys Online Magazine

Thunder, Lightning, Strike - The Go! Team in interview

From the name, through to the music, it seems like The Go! Team (named after the people who clean up after airplane crashes) are dedicated to energy and crashing beats. How important is the ‘foot stomping’ factor to the music? “It was important for the overriding feeling to be of Kicking ass; to have immediacy and, even though it's quite complex, to sound spontaneous. But there are a few slower windswept ones on there as well”, he’s quick to add. This fits into his general idea of what an album should and shouldn’t have: “No fillers. It shouldn’t be too cleanly produced. It should have an angle but try to surprise you. I guess melody is pretty key too”.

It won’t surprise anyone who’s heard the album to hear that the ears of the advertising industry have perked up, and already there have been suggestions of using some of the tracks for a McDonalds advert: “I’m quite proud 'cos our label, Memphis industries, said no instantly, without even asking us. They knew we’d never go for it.” But what about advertising in general? Could he envisage licensing out tracks if the advertiser was right? “I’ve given the advertising question a lot of thought recently and I really think refusing everything is the only option. What a horrible idea to be so closely associated with a product. The two things should be separated. It’ll kind of hang with you forever. Sponsorship is seeping into everything these days.”

One of the other obvious outlets for new bands these days are film soundtracks, to which he’s more open: ”I love the idea of a Go! Team song being used in a film, if it’s good, and I think lots of them could fit pretty nicely. As long as the film doesn’t feature Tom Cruise!”

He’s generally supportive of the idea promoted by David Byrne and Gilberto Gil recently, that artists should issue certain songs with a creative licence, allowing for other artists to use it for free to generate new music. Not surprisingly, as the Go! Team are avid samplers: “I think if you’ve lifted a sample wholesale and called it your song then that’s unfair but when you sample something obscure, then mess around with it to make something fresh it’s a bit of a drag when you have to pay them 15%. And when you have to go through legal departments for months on end.”

In terms of people that Parton would like to work with, he cites Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and Cornelius. Moore because “he gets these bizarre sounds out of a guitar, and he’s always got little sideprojects on the go, plus he’s the most dynamic person you could ever see on stage (on the right day)”. Cornelius, because “he knows how to use a sampler in the cheekiest way”. At the same time, when asked what record he’d like to consign to the dustbind of history, scarcely missing a beat he responds “that Keane one”. Responses that illustrate his musical manifesto clearly: ”Making something new is a big deal – I love the idea of making something unusual and experimental but which is undeniably meant for getting down to. I like music which has taken an angle and stuck to it“.

In Thunder, Lightning, Strike the Go! Team have managed to produce a brilliant, and innovative album. Their next step will be playing around Europe in various cities. Let’s hope the live show is as exciting as the record!

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