He's in two bands - Ladytron and Venini, runs Invicta
Hi-Fi and the Liquidation package of club nights. He's a busy as a glazier
in Belgrade, and what thanks does he get? A ear bashing from Liverpool Yell
respondents over comments in Sleaze Nation. Now Cow - in the first
of a series of e-terviews - flung some questions at Danny Hunt. He responded.
Blimey, it works.
*Have you been getting any feedback from your apparent residency in the NME?
Yes, lots of misconceptions about what i'm doing etc.
*How many bands are you actually in at the moment?
I'm in two bands, my own Ladytron, and I play keyboard
in Venini, which although not my material, gives me an opportunity to indulge
my rockist fantasies.
I still look like a numanoid/smackhead onstage though....
I also produce Vada, the feisty dames.
* Which is the best?
In theory they should be similar, but they actually
sound nothing like each other, I obviously prefer my own thing, though Venini
is a better live act at the moment,
because that is not a high Ladytron priority yet....
* How do you juggle your time between bands, club and
label?
I just slack off wherever possible. I only travel to
Sheffield to rehearse for specific concerts, the club I just turn up with
records, I've missed quite a few through Venini stuff though.
The label is my day job, I make Ladytronic music at night.
Breakdown zentralle basically.......!
* Which do you enjoy the most?
Well I just came back from playing in Paris with Ladytron,
which was the most fun thing I've done as of yet.
Playing with people I really admire and their interest and faith in it is
a good feeling.
Tricatel is a great label.
* How did you come to be doing this?
The Ladytron thing came out of the end-phase of Chevette
my old band who could've been a good bet, had they all not left liverpool,
some of the Ladytron songs are Chevette tracks.
The Chevette 'We can dance again' had its production credited to Ladytron,
so I was sort of preparing the way, that was 3 years ago....
I had the real idea for the band when I was in Japan later that year.
* What other Liverpool acts (that you don't have a
connection with) do you rate?
I like Surreal Madrid a lot, hmmmmm I'm trying to think
of bands I have absolutely NO connection with-----Eriksson/Schulte?? Ricky
Spontane?? I think I failed!!
Ooberman...ooops, know them too.
Liverpool is too small to be completely unconnected...
...oh yes....Clinic, they're ace, never see them around.
I get the feeling there are a lot of people trying
new things, besides the lot on Special Skool.
The fear is that bands like that will disband after 6 months when they waste
their energy sending tapes to London labels, who never seem to be interested
in anything Liverpool does....
Hopefully thats where Invicta Hi-Fi comes in, people who aren't in Scally
rock bands or House producers can get records out. Tapes please to Invicta
Hi-Fi in Liverpool Palace, Slater Street.
That's the funniest part, we've recieved more demo tapes from Japan than from
Liverpool so far...are we scary?
* What does the future hold for Liquidation?
It will just keep evolving, we were told 4 years ago
that we'd be finished by 1997......we're doing better now than then, and the
playlist is totally different.
We've always made it clear that we're not one of those franchise indie discos...
* What projects can we expect in the future from Invicta
Hi-Fi?
Invicta want to do singles with all the artists on
the Special Skool CD more or less, A DHK single later in the autumn, another
Hayleys Cake.
Disneyporn and Apes mini lps maybe.....more Japanese stuff too.
We can do what the fuck we want really because we're not constrained by unrecoupable
advances and backslapping insider dealings...
Mentioning no names...
* It was suggested to me (by a fool in a pub) that
your label's roster consisted of a few of your mates, a couple of post-modern
one shot jokes and Hayley's Cake. How do you plead?
Not guilty sire.
That sounds like the bitter ramblings of somebody who hasn't got any better
ideas themselves... or non-featured bands?
I mean, we SHOULD be beyond criticism at this point, without wanting to sound
all worthy... noone else would've done this... self financed.
I mean, what else was here label wise before
What was the alternative, DON'T start a label?
Hmmmmm.
Hold on, let me get the CD and count my mates on it....
That's absurd!
I'm in Ladytron so that doesn't count.
That really isn't true.
I suppose something like Funsize Lions could be construed as a postmodern
joke
containing my mates, but nothing else there could.
Basically, I dont expect us ever to be accepted by
the boring North Liverpool rock establishment.
Besides, we dont really wish any of our roster supporting the R*** *****e
on a Wednesday night at the *****.
* Do you ever get recognised in the street?
In the past week quite a lot.
* Whats been your highest high to date?
Make-Up gig at Liquidation came close.
* Whats been your lowest low to date?
Can't remember. Don't want to.
* How easy is it to work in the music industry on Merseyside?
Getting easier by the looks of it...
And with that optimistic viewpoint, the interview concludes.
Danny seems to be a target - as he suggests - because he's gotten off his
slim butt and done something. But Liverpool would be a poorer place without
Liquidation, and the CD racks a sadder browse in the absence of the Invicta
stuff. Maybe it's time we moved from personality politics to focusing on the
music. Because even if Funsize Lions are a Postmodern joke, they're a good
postmodern joke. And the way to really beat the establishment is to sing the
walls away.
