"asphalt" - avant gardai

At the best of times, it can be difficult to get anything approaching information out of Avant Gardai. They are infamous for their reticence, and have only granted one interview in their entire career. However, having applied some significant arm-twisting pressure (basically, we threatened that we would not release their new album "asphalt" if they did not co-operate in promoting the album), we managed to get John to talk to us.

- Tell us about the album, John

 - Well, it's a nine-track album with a mixture of experimental tracks and some drum'n'bass on it.

- Good grief! Avant Gardai make music?

- Well, you can't really call drum'n'bass "music", can you?

- What was your experience of recording the album?

- Well, you know that we're an odd bunch of people and some days, the recording process can go very smoothly. Other times, it can be rather traumatic.

- What causes the trauma?

- Well, I suppose you can use the hackneyed phrase "artistic differences". With our material, it can sometimes be difficult to argue whether one particular piece of noise has a greater merit than another. But we succeeded...

- ... in selecting one piece over another?

- No, in arguing.

- Is there a concept behind "asphalt"?

- Well, no, not really. Dessie came up with the title one night. I think he didn't want us tarred with the same brush as other groups in our field. The idea of the album cover came from the title. Mind you, if you were to ask Dessie, he'd probably be able to give you a friggin' manifesto.

- Where is Dessie today?

- Well, he's back in Finland with his girlfriend and kid.

- And Bren?

- Well, he finds the recording process very stressful, poor lad. He's down in Dingle at the moment, swimming with Fungi.

- Finally, how would you describe "asphalt" in five words or less?

- Well, it's our new album. That's five words!

Fortune - Specimen - Partial - Depanoto - Slowly - Mortal - Constant - Forian - Dakota

(c) 2002 Reincheque Recordings