Psychedelic songwriter Anton Barbeau has made over 20 albums and worked with members of XTC, The Soft Boys and the Bevis Frond. His new album Manbird finds him at a creative high point. Jason Barnard talks to Anton about his new release and musical highlights.
Firstly, you donated an extended mix of Heavy Psychedelic Toilet’ to the We Are The Cellar Bar Restoration Society CD, which is raising funds for building work for the Cellar Bar in Cardigan. What are your memories of playing the Cellar Bar a few years ago and the plight of venues more generally?
The Cellar Bar gig ranks amongst my all-time faves, honestly. I arrived quite late, racing through the front door minutes before I was to go on, with nobody knowing if I was even in Wales yet. My set-up is easy and within 5 minutes I was playing. I think I was really “on” that evening, which was a relief. Plus, I’d lost my voice at a gig in Oxford two nights before and had to have guitarist Charlotte take over vocals in Swindon the next night. I was super careful about not talking much, post-Swindon, and I was swigging honey non-stop. Anyway, yeah, my voice came back for the Cellar Bar and I had a blast. That whole weekend was wonderful. I watched as many bands as I could and met so many dear friends.
The Restoration Society LP really brings back a flood of great memories, and in these freaky gigless pandemic days, those memories are all the more precious. We’re watching various venues shutting down and nobody knows how the pandemic will reshape the world over the next year or two. I think so many of us have been clinging to the hope that “it’ll all be back to normal by…” but I don’t know what “normal” will be in the next year or so. I’ve written off touring, and am not even looking to do one-off gigs. I just don’t think it’s safe and wouldn’t want to put anyone at risk.
Can you tell me about the concept of your Manbird album and why you chose it as a title track?
It’s an autobiographical, musical travelogue about “leaving the nest, traveling the world and finding home.” I stole that last bit from Moof Magazine. After seeing the film Lady Bird in Madrid, I knew I had to do something with the Manbird title. At first we thought we’d make a short film, with me fumbling around my own version of Sacramento, but soon enough the idea for the album started to make sense and I knew the title track was going to be a sort of manifesto.
You also collaborated with Julia VBH to make the Manbird video. How much have you worked together before and can you tell me about the creative process to get the visuals?
We’ve been working together for over ten years. She’d done some album art for me, and then came to Berlin to do the video for “Clubbing In Berlin,” which had come out on her Beehive Sound label. It was clear right away that we clicked and complemented each other’s style. Her approach is perhaps more naturalistic and mine is more surreal, to be simplistic about it, but we’ve done so much together by now that there’s all sorts of crossover. She’s open to my ideas, but I tend to defer to her judgement. She’s got a great eye and great ideas. We’ve done several videos together for other artists on her label and it’s nice to see our chemistry at work when I’m not also trying to sell myself to the world.
For the “Manbird” video, we’d started sketching out ideas almost a year before we started shooting. We knew the green screen would be a feature, since it’s mentioned in the lyric. The video was meant to function as its own behind-the-scenes “making of” film. We work on nearly no budget – the pigeon mask was $15, I think, and Julia built the giant nest by hand! She’s the one doing the filming and the computer work, but we sit side by side bouncing ideas nonstop. She says I bring the momentum and I think she has a real sense of “the moment.” She knows when something is just right, or if it needs a few more tweaks. We’ll do multiple takes over weeks until things fall into place. I’m not an actor, but I play one on TV, as the line goes. We drove through Sacramento one sunny afternoon past various childhood haunts which she filmed out the car window. I originally pictured the video giving equal airtime to Berlin, but in the end, with me stuck without a passport in California for months during the pandemic, Berlin ends up represented only by a single still photo. While there’s much skill that went into the video, my connection with Julia is steeped in magic, and I think that shows in our work together.
As Manbird is a double album (like the controversy around the White album) did you think of splitting the record or paring it down to one LP?
The songs for Manbird started flowing as soon as the idea had come to me, and it was clear early on that I was going to make a big album. I did consider it as a single album, but it cut short the story that I was trying to tell. I also considered doing a triple album! Once I was in Manbird world, I didn’t want to leave. My writing was strong and I had more focus and concentration than usual. I had a synchronistic meeting in Madrid with Santi Campos, which confirmed I had to make it a double record. I wanted each disk to be solid in its own right. I think disk 2 is a little darker, more mushroomic, but there’s no “Revolution 9” anywhere in sight!
How did you decide to sequence it?
Well, I always knew Manbird would start with the title track, and I knew I wanted a second version of that song included at the end of disk 2. The first disk was mostly finished before I started writing the second half. “Coming Home,” which begins disk 2, is meant as the b-side to “Manbird,” which leads off disk 1. And it ends with a reference to and a recording of the mockingbird I sing about in the next track, “Don’t Knock The Mockingbird.” Things like that were easy decisions. Splitting the krauty “Beak” into two halves made sense and giving each half its own flava did too. “Underneath The Mushroom Tree” and “Auslanderbeak” weren’t written as one, but they clearly needed to be joined almost as a single song. “Space Force” was the final song written for the album, and I love the idea that, instead of Manbird finally landing and settling down, he ends up in a rocketship, destined to die in space, basically flying for eternity.
Are there lyrical themes that thread the album together?
There are a LOT of birds in these songs! And suitcases and airports and airplanes! Music itself is being written and sung about. There’s the image of home at the heart of everything. What if “home” isn’t just Berlin or California, but is also Tegel and Heathrow and my Samsonite as well? I’m singing about my relationships, too, but carefully and cryptically. Loss, letting go and holding on. The focus mostly is on me, always in-between.
What generally inspires you to write music? What comes first – lyrics or music? Do you collaborate with other musicians?
Not always, but often, my better songs start with a title. My brain constantly plays with words and generates “material,” good or bad. A good title is gold. It’ll get me excited about writing and give instant focus. That title will quickly become a hook or a chorus and with guitar or piano at hand I’ll build the rest of the lyrics and the tune around it. Sometimes, though, I write out of restless anxiety. Meaning, I have periods where I worry I’ll never write again or at least never write anything good. So, I grab the guitar or sit at the piano and knock out chords in the hope of something decent jumping out. Of course, other music inspires me – and it can be anything, from something I love to something I can’t stand, from the bizarre to the most mundane. I still strive for that big hit – I love the power of pop music and keep trying to do my part to contribute something worthy. Scott Miller was the first person I ever co-wrote with. He sent one verse and a chorus and I fleshed out the rest, filling in lyrics and adding a bridge. Recently, I’ve been working on the second Salt record. On the first one, I helped main man Stef with lyrics, as his English is very French. For the second album, he’s been sending backing tracks and I’m writing melodies and lyrics from scratch. I’ve always wished for a Lennon-McCartney connection with someone, but overall, I’ve been pretty possessive and protective of my songs!
Who played on the album – was the band put together for the recording? Did you produce?
As with most of my records, there are a number of people playing in a mix and match stylee on Manbird. I knew – from a dream, to be honest – that Michael Urbano had to play drums on the title track. He was the drummer in my first “real” band and it’s great having him on the album. Don Hawkins was also in that band and he’s playing on Manbird. Some of the folks I knew from Oxford – Sharron Kraus, Su Jordan and Stornoway’s Jon Ouin – are on the alternate version of the title track. I met the very psychedelic Bryan Poole right as I was finishing the album. He came over to my apartment in Berlin and knocked out some freaky great guitar on “Space Force.” I’ve got many friends on the album, and a handful of folks from my hometown, including Vince DiFiore from Cake and Jonah Matranga. My longtime California band, Kenny, plays on several tracks. It was important to bring a Sacramento vibration to things.
You’re frequently compared to songwriters like Julian Cope and Robyn Hitchcock? Is this something you recognise or is it tiresome?
And Andy Partridge, to make the holy triumvirate! These guys have had huge influence on me and I cherish their work. With Julian Cope, it’s not just his music – he’s on, as we say, a Trip. His life is his life’s work, with music the most known outlet. I don’t mind seeing my name in print near any of these folks, but it’s also a thrill to see ABBA’s or Kate Bush’s impact on me rub off on a snoopy journalist! And with the release of Manbird, watch out for the Schoenberg kids to start hanging ‘round my front door!
Where are you from and what were your musical influences?
I’m from Sacramento, California. It’s the state capital and a city with an eternal “are we there yet?” furrow in its brow. I definitely relate to that. My parents had Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, the Doors, Neil Diamond and the soundtrack to “Hair” in constant rotation. Throw in some Beach Boys and lots of American AM radio, too. At age 13 I became “one of the new wave boys” with Gary Numan as the pied piper. Ultravox, Adam and the Ants, Gang of Four all led me to XTC…
Were you in many bands before recording solo?
I was putting out cassettes on my own for a few years before I finally landed a solid band lineup. The Joyboys lasted six years, playing regionally quite frequently. While I’ve had dozens of bands since then, it’s never been my main focus. I did have Three MInute Tease with Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor, formerly of the Soft Boys/Egyptians. One thing I loved most with TMT was that I was IN the band, it wasn’t just my backing band. We made two albums together, but the band split after I moved from the UK to Berlin. I now have a band in the UK called Thrust and back home, it’s the aforementioned Kenny. I sing in a French band called Salt, which also features Ken Stringfellow. I love working with all sorts of musicians, but I guess the old saying, “There are leaders, there are followers and then there are solo artists” applies.
As you’re so prolific, can you tell me about your musical history and highlights along the way?
I did a few gigs supporting Julian Cope on his 2011 and 2012 tours. “Julian Cope got me stoned” goes on my tombstone. Working with Andy and Morris in Three Minute Tease, of course. Wish we could have made a third album, though Morris suggests that my solo Magic Act album is the third TMT. Colin Moulding of XTC has played on a couple things of mine. The day after shooting a video in his kitchen, I was recording at Abbey Road with Salt. Meeting the Bevis Frond in Sacramento was a life-changing moment. I’ve done something like 15 tours in Spain and I’ve loved every moment there. My times in Oxford have always been musically charged. Stewart Lee came to my last London gig, that was cool.
What are your favourite tracks you’ve penned across all your musical career?
I think “Manbird” is pretty solid. “This Is Why They Call Me Guru 7” and “In The Village Of The Apple Sun” from the “In The Village…” album are groovy. “Milk Churn In The Morning” has a nice early Beatles energy, especially live. I’ve dragged “Losing You Makes Crucifixion Easy” and “The Banana Song” around the world for years and they always serve a purpose! There are a number of tunes on the Natural Causes album that I like, some new and some definitive remakes of older songs.
Has your song writing style changed over the years?
Yes, but in certain ways also no. Meaning, my style is grounded in traditional song structure – the old verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge etc thing. The part of my brain that needs order loves the reliable, satisfying shape of a pop song. But I’m a musically adventurous person, too. I dig freakiness and chaos and noise and comedy. I like to play tricks or subvert my own work. I hope that lyrically I’m improving. I have certain albums, Manbird especially, where I think the lyrics are strong throughout. Words come easily, but writing something with real feeling is always the goal.
Do you play live much and how does it compare to being in the studio?
I’ve probably done a thousand gigs, give or take, but only rarely does playing live relate to how I make records. I’m a recording fiend, really. The live gig thing is totally different for me. If I’m with a full band, everything is pretty straightforward. If I’m solo, I might do an all-piano set or acoustic guitar with a little karaoke thrown in and on a good night, some surrealist stand-up comedy for added confusion. When I’m recording, I can go anywhere with a song. I don’t often have much idea anymore what something will sound like when it’s finished. Of course, recording in a proper studio is quite different than working at home. I used to be so fussy in my early studio days – a clueless control freak, asking the engineer dumb questions every three minutes and always watching the clock. I’m far more relaxed in studio now, but I’m also much faster at getting my work done. At home, where I do the bulk of recording, I’m not as disciplined and tend to work in a blurry way, but I can get things sounding really good at home these days.
How has the pandemic affected you?
I left Berlin quite suddenly, when we were all afraid there’d be no flights out at all. It was quite stressful and surreal. My passport is up for renewal and has been sent off, so I’m in California for the foreseeable. Obviously, all gigs have been cancelled. I was meant to play Berlin right before I left, with loads of gigs booked in California. Upon return to the EU, I’d have played with Salt in France before doing a solo Spanish tour. In September, I was meant to do a festival in Hastings with a UK tour booked around that. I don’t really want to go into the more personal side of things, but I know people who’ve died from Covid-19 and others who have had it and came through. Please wear your masks, keep a respectful and safe distance from people, wash your hands, be kind and patient with people and watch out for motherfuckers!
Do you/are you able to make plans for the rest of the year?
As I mentioned, my passport was sent for renewal with the pandemic slowing down processing time to a crawl. Now, Trump is trying to mess with the US postal service for his own dreadful purposes, and thus I’ve zero idea what will happen to my passport once it’s been processed. I don’t know when I can safely return to Berlin, and without the income of touring in Europe, I’ll have no money (or even much to do) when I’m there. Meanwhile, I’m doing my thing with Julia here in California, with another video in the works and lots of Patreon stuff planned. My dad’s just down the hill, so we’re seeing him frequently, helping with the house and that. I can keep making records – recording solo or sending tracks over the Internet, but otherwise, there’s a heavy sense of limbo in the air!
Anton’s Manbird album can be orded at: antonbarbeau.bandcamp.com/album/manbird
More information can be found at: antonbarbeau.com
The Cellar Bar in Cardigan is home to Fruits de Mer Records’ annual ‘Dr. Sardonicus’ festival and not only is it the best ‘live’ venue in West Wales, the Cellar Bar is much more for the local community. This fundraising LP will help to pay for much-needed building work. The We Are The Cellar Bar Restoration Society CD can be bought at fruitsdemerrecords.com/cellarbarcd
Photos by Julia Boorinakis Harper.
