The Stool Pigeon

After Skins, after two nude cover shoots, the paparazzi attention and grotesque tabloid fascination with Beth Ditto, after that fucking song, where exactly can the Gossip go next? The British public is notoriously fickle, swift to chide and slow to give the blessing of longevity, no matter if you’re a group who’ve earned your chops slogging it around the live circuit preaching queer and gender positive activism for years. The Gossip effortlessly deal with this by simultaneously stripping things back and reaching for new ground, returning with a single like ‘Heavy Cross’, which eschews a chorus like The Hit in favour of a fresh, electronic tint to the familiar dance punk.

Then they play gigs like this, packing the faithful into the Scala for riotous introduction to their new material, giving a roll call of their most loyal fans after their first song. These Southern folk... they know family. Alright, so Ditto is styled to the nines, but the power and passion in tonight’s performance suggest that the Gossip would still keep going even if Sony decided a queer-focused label was as necessary as an account for ‘flowers and candles’, and sent them packing back to the dive bars.

In his grey vest and trucker’s restroom moustache, Nathan is dressed for that eventuality. But, of course, it won’t happen. Because the Gossip are, hands down, one of the best dance bands we’ve got out there. Their music is instinctual, and not earnest, as has become the American indie rock norm. It’s what propelled them to the heart of the British mainstream while they remain a fringe concern in their homeland. Once our reserve is broken in the way that the Gossip have broken it, and do again tonight, we Brits love a good frug. Adding a new member on bass and guitar has helped, certainly, filling the spaces to give the songs old and new a real boost, and allowing the synth-heavy leanings to really come to life. Some tracks from their fourth album, Music For Men, are bizarrely akin to a soulful Killing Joke or Sonic Youth if they’d listened to disco rather than Glen Branca in 1979. New single ‘Heavy Cross’ has hints of Bowie’s ‘Ashes To Ashes’.

It all ends with ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’ and Ditto asking the crowd to “be gentle”. And this mixed audience, pleasingly free of boozy lads, are gentle, even as they make the floor shake and fill the air with screams. Yet neither this, nor the a capella cover of ‘Private Dancer’ that makes for the encore, eclipse any other song tonight.

Q&A with Nathan Howdeshel, aka Brace Paine

Were you worried, after it got so crazy, that people would turn on you?

“Yeah, kind of. But people have been really cool and responsive, and I’m surprised there hasn’t been a huge backlash, though I expect there to be at some point. There always is.”

How has the craziness affected you?

“For Beth, it’s always crazy. I’m glad that neither Hannah or I are in that position. It’s a bummer because Beth can’t even go out and have fun in London without somebody being weird. We still all have a good time together when we’re here, though.”

Has the level of interest in Beth been strange to you, seeing as you’re such a solid trio?

“Yeah, we try to do interviews all together - to nail that point home. People have been cool asking us about the record and stuff. They always have their questions about Kate Moss or something, but it’s like... whatever. We try to make it a point that we’re a band.”

It hasn’t caused any tension?

“No, not at all. If you think about The Smiths or many other bands, the singer always gets a lot of attention. I don’t want that kind of attention - it’s not interesting to me, and to have that hunger is weird.”

There always was a huge mainstream potential to what you’ve been doing, and your political beliefs ought to be taken into the mainstream. Is there a Trojan Horse element to what you’re doing?

“I think so. The reason that we signed to a major label was because we kind of felt like we’d taken it as far as we could with Kill Rock Stars. For us it’s important to have some influence on kids. The whole Nirvana thing was so important to us. Some kid could read an interview and hear us talking about no wave records or underground punk records and learn from that. And that’s exciting: opening kids up to politics and music.”

How about Skins in the UK? That played a huge part in making you big.

“That was done without our permission, by the way. Back Yard (label that put their last LP out in the UK) gave it to them without asking us, which was ridiculous. We didn’t even know what the show was, then someone was like, ‘Oh, you’re the ones that did the theme songs for Skins.’ We YouTubed it and were like, ‘What the fuck?’ It was really random.”

Did that make you keen to lock down how your music is used?

“We try to. Especially on a major label where you’ve got a bunch of goons working for you... well, not necessarily goons - some of them are really nice - but you’ve got a load of people who are working as a job and have no interest in integrity or whatever. You have to make sure that you’re in touch with everything.”

Your last album became a pop record by mistake, but this one has more polish to it. Was that deliberate?

“Before we used a guitar and a drum set-up and that’s easy to record - it can be done in a lo-fi way. But we’re using a lot of new gear now, playing synth and piano, and we wanted Rick (Rubin) to do his sound magic. We wanted to be careful not to sound over-produced, and I don’t think it does - it sounds big and that’s what I was hoping for. Over-production is the death of all bands. Making a rock record that sounds like Kings Of Leon is not anything interesting.”

What was Rubin’s impact?

“He came in every once in a while and checked everything out. He was really cool, and it was amazing how much we were on the same wavelength. We listened to PiL and John Cage and talked about The Slits and house records. He really understood all the references and he wanted to keep it minimal too. It was important to us that it still sounded like a Gossip record.”

Did the time slogging away before you hit the charts keep you grounded?

“I’ve talked to some people that read their own press and I feel like I understand it when they talk about how ‘that song should have been a hit’ or whatever. I think what has helped us is not worrying about it ever - being able to make the records you want to make, play what you want to play and put on a good show. That’s all that matters to us.”

How much of that attitude derives from the fact you’re from the South?

“Probably a lot. In the South, you’re told to be humble all the time. Beth and I were raised to be humble and honest. I think that we’re pretty equal about how we feel about everyone. I think modesty and humbleness are really important, especially in this industry, and especially when you’re on a major label.”

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