Always Crashing in a Different Car

Rip It Up, Issue 71, 1 June 1983, Page 10

Always Crashing in a Different Car

Russell Brown

It's usually the drummer who's the problem in a band. He has to be dressed up or sobered out or made to have a haircut ... The Car Crash Set have to programme theirs. It's the programming of instruments and recording of ; backing tapes that makes a Car Crash Set live performance such a major undertaking. "The tapes have been tailored to a live situation," explains one half of the synthesiser duo, Nigel Russell. "Basically, all the vocals and the manually played lines are taken out and the rhythm section's left. It leaves us quite a bit of scope we can either play it exactly the same as the stuff we've recorded or do a bit of spur-of-the-moment stuff. 'There's a lot of sequenced stuff which triggers off the drum machine, which is sort of the master clock for the whole thing." The duo is signed to Mandrill Studios' Reaction label and recorded the tapes at the studio. There is an agreement with regard to tapes that may be used for future records. "But the live stuff we're paying for ourselves," Nigel says. The Car Crash Set began in October last year with Nigel,

Dave Bulog and Nicholas Jenkin, who has since returned to England. This line-up produced the demo tape from which the song on Propeller's We'll Do Our Best compilation Toys' was taken. "Initially we were interested mainly in studio work," Nigel says. "Live wasn't a consideration. But now that we have the record coming out we thought we should do something about it." The record is 'The Outsider'/ 'Fall from Grace'. It will ,be out soon on Reaction and a:TVNZ video has been made. . Nigel's recording . experience extends back through Danse Macabre to the Spelling Mistakes. That, experience has obviously been useful this time round? "Yes, we're working with the same team as on the Danse Macabre album, Tim Field and Trevor Reekie. So it's an ongoing thing."

The studio has largely meant a place to experiment for.' the Car Crash Set. "What we're doing now is just working with rhythms and developing ideas off that," Dave says. They have been trying to get around the "flat" sound of electronic percussion by working with reverb and echo and even playing ■ the drum machine into a "live" room and miking it from there. "We've also worked a lot on getting the big bass drum sound," Dave adds. 'That's very important if people want to dance to it." So people can dance'to Car Crash Set music? - "Oh yes most certainly,". Nigel says. In future, they'd like to experiment with the integration of electronic and acoustic instruments. There'll be another single or EP to come out of the songs they are working on now^fmflßAHH They hope to continue to play live, but aren't about to hop on any treadmill. . "We'll play to enjoy ourselves," [Dave^ysTnHBMnBBBBB "We'd like to keep it a changing thing," Nigel adds. "Some nights we might use a drummer or a bass player- or a guitarist to make : things ‘a.bit. different." ; ."*• They are also attempting to keep abreast of advances in electronic instruments and have just undergone a major change of fequipmentßSßM^Hßfc^^S "It serves a dual purpose," Nigel grins. "It also helps keep our tradein values up." Wellington electronic band the Body Electric have copped more than a few accusations that they are merely copying English bands," but that criticism's not something the Car Crash Set are worried about. "It's not as if we've suddenly gone 'Golly gee, synthesisers are the in thing, let's go buy up a whole lot of stuff'," Nigel points out. "What with playing keyboards through Danse Macabre, for me it's just a natural progression." "We wrote all the melodies ourselves and learnt everything about : synthesisers, ourselves," Dave adds. "If we're happy with the stuff we're doing that's all that matters."