Starting from scratch
Gomez plays lead role in classic tale of major-label fallout
By Alan Sculley
Going into the making of the new album, How We Operate, British band Gomez knew it was an important moment in their decade-long career.
“I guess it's kind of a re-establishing ourselves, because people haven't been hearing about us in the way they should have been,” drummer Olly Peacock said during an in-person interview at the South-by-Southwest Music Festival in March. “There's been a kind of unfortunate loss of contact with a lot of people, so it's got to be something that kind of stands out, hopefully, and grabs people by their collars and maybe pulls them back in.”
The band's showcase at South-by-Southwest essentially served as How We Operate's opening promotional salvo. It was important because Gomez had recently severed ties with Virgin Records. The band's frustrations with the label reached a head in spring of 2004-just before the release of their fourth album, Split the Difference, Virgin and its parent company, EMI, decided to close Hut Recordings. Gomez was signed to Hut in the U.K., and the label had worked closely with the band in promoting its previous records.
The move essentially ensured that Split the Difference was dead on arrival. Discouraged but not despondent, Gomez toured extensively to support the record, especially in the States. While the move bolstered the band's American fanbase, Split the Difference only sold around 30,000 records-chump change in major-label terms.
The experience wasn't new for Gomez. Bassist-guitarist Paul Blackburn explained that their previous album, In Our Gun, also suffered from turmoil at the label. Back then it was a fallout from Mariah Carey's album, Glitter-a multi-million-dollar flop that forced Virgin to go through its list of employees and start hacking.
“Half of the label lost their jobs,” Blackburn said. “So it wasn't the best of climates to release a record in, as well.”
Such setbacks have undoubtedly stunted the momentum of a band that started its career with a bang. The band's first CD-1998's Bring It On-went platinum in Britain and earned the prestigious Mercury Music Prize (Britain's equivalent of a Grammy) for Album of the Year. The band also snatched Brit Awards for “Best Newcomer,” “Best Album” and “Best Artist.”
The more cinematic and polished second release, Liquid Skin, debuted at No. 2 on the British charts and netted Brit Award nominations for “Best Album” and “Best British Group.”
“A lot of people should know about us that don't,” Peacock said, noting that, due to their extensive stateside touring, Gomez has fallen off the radar in England. “In the U.K., a lot of people kind of just haven't heard the last couple of albums at all. A lot of people don't even know we're [still] around.”
The quality of the music certainly hasn't been the problem. While some faulted In Our Gun for being a bit too disjointed, Split the Difference was a strong effort that retained the band's sense of musical adventure. Known for unpredictable blues-pop-fronted by the ragged, gorgeous vocals of Tom Gray-the band shifted gears considerably on How We Operate.
Primarily acoustic, How We Operate is the band's most straightforward album yet. Some fans grumbled, having loved Gomez for their experimental take on the blues. It seemed the sort of record that a daring band makes under pressure from a major label-not when they're recording as a newly independent band.
“At times we have thrown pretty well everything on [songs],” Peacock explained. “And sometimes, while that's musically interesting, it makes the songs underneath it a bit more difficult to see.”
Blackburn credited producer Gil Norton (known for his work with Pixies and Foo Fighters) for helping the band stick to the basics on How We Operate.
“He's very good at doing that and saying ‘That's what you need for the song,'” he said. “We learned that very quickly-streamline the part. Make it as melodic as it needs to be or whatever, or make it less complex for this section and let all the melodies come through. The song has to be audible. And at the right time, go to town and do whatever you want.”
The songs from How We Operate have been finding their way into Gomez's live set. But the band figures to draw from its entire catalog live and rework and improvise songs on a nightly basis.
“We play the songs so many times, there are kind of things we want to change around from the recorded versions,” Peacock said. “I guess it kind of rocks out a bit more, as well. It's always just nice to reinterpret songs to freshen it up. People are always pretty accepting of it. There's nothing worse than to go to a live show and it's just exactly the same as the CD.”
Gomez plays with Matisyahu and Street Drum Corps at Embarcadero Marina South on Sept. 12. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. $36.50. 619-220-8497.Published: 09/06/2006
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