Tindersticks in concert Saturday in Toulouse: “Songwriting is like magic”

La Dépêche du Midi: You who live in France, what feeling do you have with our country?

Stuart A. Staple: I feel very at home in continental Europe, away from the UK, and I think that’s the feeling that drives the whole band. David lives in the Czech Republic, Neil lives in Belgium and Earl lives in Berlin. I think it’s even more important for us to live on the continent after what happened recently.

Brexit in particular?

It was not linked to Brexit when we came to the continent but it was linked to a feeling of European belonging. It’s something that almost imposed itself on us because we really felt European. The political approach has become more assertive over time, but it was not as strong when we settled down. The doors had opened, the Eurostar made traveling easier and going from London to Paris was like going from London to Manchester.

When you get together, the pleasure is increased tenfold?

I often think that when the band started and we recorded our first album and we had our own rehearsal space in London, we got into the habit of meeting there and sometimes we didn’t do anything. ! (laughs) We smoked and drank coffee often, but since we lived in different places, we had to make an effort to be together. And every time we get together, something witchy always happens, so it’s really good. Of course, it would be nice to spend more time together to feel more comfortable, but when we get together, we have great times.

And when you find yourself on tour, how do you enjoy the moments shared?

When we are on tour, there is still a certain pressure whereas when we record an album, like the last one, “Soft Tissue”, we all live together in the studio for a few weeks, we cook, we exchange, we we share, we go out and we play music. It’s a suspended moment, I think. If you’re not careful, you can get overwhelmed by the monotony during the tour when you need to keep some sort of freshness within the group. When you write, record, arrange songs, it’s like an abstract process that happens. If you’re not going to places to present this work to people, it can be reduced to performing for yourself. And I think that the only real reality, the only interest is to make music for people, to share it with them to create a common feeling in a room. To me, that makes sense. When you connect with people, it changes everything.

Has confinement reinforced your approach?

I think what drives me personally is making songs, recording them, spending time in the studio, but I didn’t realize the physical loss that comes from singing for people. And I realized its importance, in fact.

Like the writing you practice regularly…

Yes, but if I sit down every day and tell myself that I’m going to write a song it’s always a disaster! I just have to wait for a song to come to me and when it does I get moving. Sometimes it takes a while before I’m open to new ideas again, but if I started writing every day I’d end up in despair! (laughs).

Also read:
In concert at the Zénith in Toulouse: “We want to recreate the experience of a Dire Straits concert”

Is writing a song magical?

Yes there is a form of magic but it happens when we explore an idea. And I can’t say I feel it when I’m alone. When people or the group comes together, ideas can feed the group and we can see what is happening.

A few words about The Sanctuary of the Buros ?

These are the group’s archives that we have been keeping for ten years now. They bring together everything we did from 1992 to 2001, photographs, works of art, music, concerts… We wanted to launch these archives online rather than a book because they can be amended, improved , it’s more organic, interactive. We worked on the first ten years then we recorded the album and we are working on the next ten years, there is still more to do!