INTERVIEW WITH THE BIG PINK
You hit the ground running with an NME award, how important was that for you?
I guess it was a catalyst in moving things forward for The Big Pink. The NME seemed to adopt us early on which has its ups and downs.
Tell us how the name – The Big Pink – came about and why it stuck?
We always liked The Big Black as a name so The Big Pink came from that really.
Do you still have your own label? And what are the benefits of that?
Yeah, I still run Merok. It’s my baby and I love doing it. The benefits are job satisfaction and the amazing and talented people I get to work with on a daily basis.
You’ve covered Lovesong by The Cure before, what other songs would you be keen to cover?
I’d like to cover a 60s pop song, something by The Move or Manfred Mann or something like that .
I’m guessing your biggest gig was opening for Muse at Wembley, that must have been pretty scary/epic. Tell us about that…
Actually, I think it was Stade De France. It’s bigger than Wembley, but it’s all the same really once you go past the first few hundred rows! The shows with them were like really fun days out you had when you were a kid, like going to Chessington World of Adventures.
You’ve also played Coachella in California, how does that differ from UK festivals?
It’s warmer and the people are better looking .
What influenced the new album ‘Future This’?
So many different things – death, Kanye West, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Vision street wear and Powell Peralta, graffiti.
This tour is pretty succinct, do you have much more planned for 2012?
I guess we will be touring a lot, but when I’m not doing that, I’m gonna try and listen to every ‘In Our Time’ on Radio 4 as they’re all on the iPlayer. It’s a show where they really get in depth about anything from ancient Mayans to the City of London. A brilliant show.
