, Jean Cocteau’s 1930 black & […] "'Pin It")
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES CO-FOUNDER STEVE SEVERIN RETURNS TO EXETER PICTUREHOUSE
Steven Severin, former bass-player and founding member of highly influential post-punk legends Siouxsie and the Banshees, returns to Exeter Picturehouse on Sunday Feb 19.
He was last there just over a year ago, to provide a live soundtrack using a laptop, to Le Sang d’un Poete (Blood Of A Poet), Jean Cocteau’s 1930 black & white surrealist classic. To continue Severin’s ongoing series of music for silent films, this time he will be presenting a live score to the classic 1932 chiller, Vampyr (PG). 247 Magazine’s Arash Torabi had a chat with Steven Severin after his last performance at Exeter Picturehouse.
How long did it take you to create the soundtrack to Blood of a Poet?
“Two weeks. Some of the music had already been written for other things that hadn’t been used. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle: you divide the whole film into acts or scenes, and slowly fit in repetitive themes.”
So each time you do a performance alongside the film, is it different to the time before?
“Not by very much, but yes. There are no cuts on the beat, so I can move it around and mix it as I’m going along. It doesn’t alter that much every time, but to me it does. Other people probably wouldn’t notice it.”
How many performances of Blood of A Poet have you done so far, and what other places have you been to apart from Exeter Picturehouse?
“The first place I did it was at the Hollywood Silent Film Theatre in Los Angeles. Then in January this year, I did it in New York, and then I played some more shows in Canada in June. Now I’m touring it at the Picturehouse venues across the country.”
It may not be obvious, but I can see similarities in your current performance and your work in Siouxsie and the Banshees, in that they both have psychedelic and dreamy qualities. Would you say that’s true?
“Well of course…it’s me, so it would have to be! I can see the links and the evolution, though some people might find it difficult to relate- especially if they only know the singles we made. But it should make total sense, like you say, for people who know the Banshees catalogue, including the B-sides or The Glove album (Steven’s project with Robert Smith of The Cure) The dreamy psychedelic elements of the movie are what attracted me to it. There’s no narrative in the movie, so that gives me a lot of scope.”
With the current trend in bands getting back together, do you see that happening with Siouxsie and the Banshees?
“We tried it once and it didn’t work very well. It’s very different for us, because a lot of the bands that get back together didn’t really have much of a lifespan in the first place, whereas The Banshees were together for 20 years. So we’ve had that. There’s no desire or any unfinished business, put it that way. We all feel that it might be a very pale shadow of before, if we went out and did it again. Nobody wants to tarnish the reputation or the legacy. People will just have to settle for the re-masters (The Banshees back-catalogue was recently re-issued)”
Any other plans to do music in the band forum, or are you just happy to do films for the time being?
“Well, I’m enjoying doing films: commercial, documentary and genre independent films. I won’t rule out doing other music, but I can’t really envisage it either.”
So if Robert Smith rang you and said, “Let’s do another Glove album”, would you do it if you both had the time?
“Yes, absolutely. It would be something different, another one-off project and a blast, I’m sure! But as for joining a band and doing all that malarkey: it’s a young man’s job. You have to have tonnes of energy. I’ve done it, now it’s time to move on.”
Vampyr at Exeter Picturehouse with the live score by Steven Severinis is on Sunday February 19th at 3.30pm. Tickets are priced at £8.00, £6.50 (concessions), £6.00 (members) and £5.50 (children). Book in person at the cinema, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5730 or on line at www.picturehouses.co.uk
Words: Arash Torabi
Photo: Angie Knight
