Monday, March 3, 2008

Prowling Wolf - Marco Pirroni (Part 2)



Part 1 one of my Marco interview is right here - just in case you've missed it.

Is it true that you own Dave Hill’s 'Super Yob' guitar? - How many guitars are in your collection, and which guitars or amps would you grab if the house caught fire?

I do have 'Super Yob' but I'm thinking of lending it to Rob Dickens new British Rock Museum which opens next year. I have about 50 or 60 guitars, but I don't keep them at home. If I had to grab one it would my 59' Les Paul Junior which is my number one live guitar,and my 65 hot rodded Fender Twin which sounds more like a Marshall but with that glam upper mid nasal feedback honk sound. I'm not a big amp collector, I have about 10 mostly small combos all pre seventies. I use these in the studio a lot sometimes combined with plug-ins like Guitar Rig 3.

As someone that was part of Punk scene from the beginning, were there any records or ‘guilty pleasures’ Disco or Pop tracks etc… you enjoyed during the Punk wars but had to keep ‘hush hush’ about at the time?

I never felt I had to keep hush about anything, in fact I worked at trying to think of the worst thing could say to piss off the Punk purists, but I will always insist that 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer is one of the greatest records ever made coz it is! (And as if by magic - the original Moroder 12" version of 'I Feel Love' )

The whole attitude to Punk seems to have become almost reverential now, are there any Punk myths you’d like to qualify or quosh?

Punk like beauty is in the eye of the beholder so Punk is anything you want it to be,which is the best thing about it.I'm tired of arguing about Punk and now I just say "I don't care" or "I'm bored" which are standard 1976 answers to everything.

The pre Marco ‘Dirk’ era Adam and The Ants songs have an angular almost Indie clang about them (apart from the B sides) , it’s only later when you team up with Adam that the songs start to become chart topping tunes. Do you feel your input into the writing, sound and success of Ant music gets enough recognition?

Oddly I sometimes feel I get too much credit, that I single handedly transformed a cult Punk band into a mega international success...not so,our success was down to Adam and myself fed with where we both were in our lives and the dark days of the late 70s - without Adams drive and vision I wouldn't be talking to you now.

What bands (new or old) are currently playing on The Wolfmen’s iPods?
this week I'm mostly playing Melody Gardot's new album and Scum of the Earth as they sound exactly like Rob Zombie of whom I am a huge fan! Guitar Wolf are another fave of mine, as I write this I'm listening to the soundtracks to 'Thunderball"'and 'Bladerunner'(the original Vangelis version).

So many traditional areas of the music industry Top of the Pops, music weeklies, unscripted radio playlists seem to have gone into meltdown over the last few years, how do you approach promoting The Wolfmen and their music in the digital age?

I think that all of us making music now, are still trying to find and create a music biz for the 21st century, clearly the internet is a massive part of this but its by no means the be all and end all, when people talk about the future of music they are really talking about the future of the marketing of music which I leave to more "interested" men. The Wolfmen will be releasing an 11 track album/CD I cannot defend accusations that this may be an outdated format all I can say is, that is what I have always liked, and I would like to continue that until it is no longer viable, the 7" single is already a loss leader and although that format is what I grew up on I don't mourn its passing anymore than I miss the rotary dial on telephones, basically... "in modern times the modern way".

Where would you like The Wolfmen to be this time next year?

Winning Grammies and lighting cigarettes with £50 notes, but it depends on where the world is this time next year! In an ever changing world we have to take things a day at a time and see where it all leads us.


The Wolfmen - Jackie Says (Alan Mulder Mix)



The Wolfmen - Love Is A Dog (Alan Mulder Mix)



The Wolfmen 'Jackie Says'


The Wolfmen - 'Needles In The Camels Eye'- studio footage


The Wolfmens Re-make/re-model of Eno's 'Needle In The Camels Eye' is released on the
10th March

Unfortunatley I couldn't make the Embassy gig last week but a review of it is here on the Car Trouble website

Dates and details of live shows, releases and downloads are available at...
The Wolfmen's official Myspace site

A special salute goes out to Marco and Ian Peel for their time, trouble and and accessibility in arranging this interview

8 comments:

bleecher said...

Nice work fella! You didnt ask him, his favorite meatballs recipe tho ... can you feel my dissapointment???

You should go for the full house and try to get a few words from Adam too....

go on mister mondo you know you wanna!!

Mondo said...

Bah - I knew there was something I forgot, I'll have to keep on using that meatball recipe on your site .

Adam now there's an idea, I know someone who's mates with one of Adams schoolmates (now gigging and recording as Bevis Frond)so that could be a way in. It sounds like that Ants song 'Friends'

Axe Victim said...

Nice job Mondobaby. I'm looking forward to you doing similar with my band in the near future?

Suzy Norman said...

Punk's not really my thing, but I'm with you on the Donna Summer point. I liked poppy type punk when I was younger, bands like Kenickie, although saying that I always found them clever rather than something I truly wanted to listen to.

Mondo said...

AV - definitely look forward to having Magic Ship landing on the blog.

RE - Don't forget fill your boots with full five minute 12" version 'IFL'here on Davey H's TGOE blog

And you really should try lending an ear to The Wolfmen - they're much more pop than punk. Go on - give 'em a spin

Suzy Norman said...

Thanks, yes, I have already downloaded it and listened to it on a loop for a good hour now!
Funny you should say that about punk, was thinking of putting together a Swell Maps post. Something about those brothers is tragic and intriguing.

Mondo said...

RE - It's funny you mention New Wavey type stuff, there's some Eno bits and bobs on the blog tomorrow

Anonymous said...

Great interview Planet Mondo! Some good insight there. Looking forward to more CDs and hope to make a gig (if they ever play outside of london that is!)

RB