INTERVIEW with PETER COYNE ( The Godfathers )
΄΄A Big Bad Beautiful Noise΄΄ released 10th February 2017, that is the title of the new THE GODFATHERS album . We think that it is amazing album and also that this album is the new start for the band!Sorry but this is the opinion of the Greek Culture website www.athenscalling.gr !
But what is PETER COYNE opinion and what he has to say to us ?
ATHENS CALLING. Hi Peter ! We are happy to meet you and we would like you to know that we love the music of GODFATHERS band. In fact, how can you characterize your music…?
PETER COYNE : It’s a big, bad, beautiful noise!! I would quite happily describe it as rock & roll music – our version of rock & roll. Rock & roll is really my first love & what I find so fascinating about it is that it incorporates so many different elements & styles – blues, soul, rockabilly, country, psychedelic, hard rock, glam rock & punk etc What we try & do with The Godfathers is take all of those different themes & give it our own individual twist & hopefully approach it all with a modern sensibility. A genuine love for music & total respect for its traditions is what I hope comes out of somebody else listening to our songs.We want The Godfathers music to be truly exciting &to energize other people with it.
ATHENS CALLING. Your new album …΄΄A Big Bad Beautiful noise΄΄ Really it amazing and we think that this album is a new start for the band…sorry but this is the opinion of Athens Calling team ! What is your opinion about ?
PETER COYNE : Thank you! I really do believe that ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ is definitely one of the greatest albums The Godfathers have ever made & maybe even the very best! We spent a couple of years writing what we thought were some really good songs & we wanted the new album to be a fantastic trip from start to finish, so that you did not exactly know where this record might take you next. It had to start BIG with the rebellious excitement & anger of the title track & then it climaxes with ‘You And Me Against The World’, which starts as a very dark song but then ends up as a real positive, uplifting message about love. There is so much shit thrown at people today from the media, or work, or unemployment, or nasty, cruel politicians that sometimes people forget that love is the glue that holds the world together – that’s the feeling we wanted to portray in ‘You And Me Against The World’. In between those 2 numbers there are some really great songs with some lovely textures to the music: The Godfathers can take you up with tunes like ‘Let’s Get Higher’ or ‘Till My Heart Stops Beating’, play some thrilling, nasty rock & roll like ‘Defibrillator’ & ‘Feedbacking’ or bring you down to earth with a track like ‘One Good Reason’. Or we can sum up what’s going on in the USA today with ‘Miss America’ or just play a real beautiful selection like ‘She’s Mine’. This album ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ really has it all!!
ATHENS CALLING. Now a double questions. Why…΄΄A Big Bad Beautiful noise΄΄ Tell us about the title of the album, We mean how did you choose the title and the other question is… how much time did you need to prepare this?
PETER COYNE : I have been asked many times in the past how I would describe the sound of The Godfathers & sometimes I’ve said, “It’s a big, bad, beautiful noise.” Then I saw that quote of mine in a couple of interviews in cold, black & white print & I thought that it might make a really interesting song.
So I started from there & added observations about modern life – the feeling of anti-establishment rebellion in the air & social disorder & turned the lyrics into a joyous anthem. I love that title track – it’s got a real Stooges-type feel about it. We spent as I said a couple of years writing songs for this album, but we recorded it all really quickly in about two weeks so that hopefully it all sounds fresh & spontaneous. Some of the vocals on tracks like ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’, ‘Miss America’ & ‘She’s Mine’ were all recorded in just one take – when you think you’ve got something right you should not labour over it or it might lose the real genuine feeling of what a song is all about. Our guitarist Steve Crittall produced the album with Paul Robert Gray & they did an amazing job on the sound of the whole record – this collection of songs kicks like a mule!!
ATHENS CALLING. 11 really amazing song’s .But for us the best of all is the song with the title ΄΄She’s Mine΄΄ Which one of the 11 songs is your favorite Peter and why?
PETER COYNE : Thank you! I wrote the lyrics to ‘She’s Mine’ for my wife Karen, but I guess for anybody else who listens to it it’s all about their wife or girlfriend too!! I’m really pleased with how lovely & beautiful that number turned out, it’s got some great, moody guitar from Steve Crittall who wrote the music for it. I really do like every single song on this album, I don’t believe there are any weak numbers at all. ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ has got some amazing reviews & reactions from all over the world – the critics, Godfathers’ fans & music lovers in general seem to be really appreciating it, which is tremendous to see.
ATHENS CALLING: Something now about Your career! You are a founding member of the band, do you remember some good or bad moments of your career?
PETER COYNE : Well I’ve been in The Godfathers now for about 32 years, that’s a major chunk out of my life. We’ve definitely made some classic records that have proved to stand the test of time & we have also performed some amazing concerts around the world. The Godfathers have been blessed to play alongside some genuine heroes of mine like Iggy Pop & The Ramones & David Bowie loved the band & came to see us play live twice. It was such a thrill & pleasure to meet him & hang out with him. I cried when Bowie died…It’s all been great, every second, every minute, every hour of The Godfathers. Bad moments? Sometimes, sure – but I don’t let my life be ruled by negativity & forget the fairly shitty bits instantly!! The good & the great moments definitely very much outweigh the bad.
ATHENS CALLING: The GODFATHERS ,stay alive until today with a new line up! How do you feel with the new line up members?
PETER COYNE : Steve Crittall, Tim James, Mauro Venegas & Darren Birch are all great musicians & in their own right real characters. This is one of the best line-ups of the band & together we have played some fantastic concerts all over planet earth & recorded probably the best album The Godfathers have ever made. This is a real team & of course I could not have done all this without them – so thanks boys!! The Godfathers are in great form currently – when we play live we can KILL any audience anywhere with our music…
ATHENS CALLING: Now before we say goodbye to you, we would like to know about ‘’A Big Bad Beautiful Noise Tour 2017΄΄ .
PETER COYNE : We have been touring all round the world ever since the album was released in February, with concerts in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany & Austria & we have some really big festivals to play in Europe this summer. We were going to tour America as well but it’s so unbelievably expensive & you have to go through so many legal obstacles with work visas that cost a fortune to perform in the US that we decided not to tour there right now & leave it till later on in the year. We will also be doing big tours of Spain in October & another return to play live in Germany & Austria & other places in Europe & the UK. We will be doing as well a very special, unique concert at The Lexington in London on Saturday June 24th where we will play 2 very different live sets – the first set will be the entire ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ album, every number from it in sequence. Then the 2nd set will be a much longer one where we will play Godfathers classic songs & rare treasures from our back catalogue, some of those songs we won’t have performed live in years or decades! So that’s going to be a real special night & a lot of fun. We have got people from all over the world coming to that London concert, from Australia. America, Europe & the UK! If any Greek people would like to come too here’s the link for tickets – http://www.wegottickets.com/ event/392909
ATHENS CALLING: Thank you very much for what you said and you should know that we expect you to come in Greece for a concert?
PETER COYNE : We love playing in Greece! We last toured there in December 2016 when we played 6 concerts in Serres, Patras, Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa & Ioannina. We had a wonderful time with you lovely Greek people & got to exclusively perform for you some of the tracks from ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ that had not yet been released then. It’s always been a great experience for The Godfathers to play in Greece – such a beautiful country, fantastic food, lovely,lovely people & amazing, wild audiences. I love ouzo too – YAMAS!! It is possible that we might get to play Greece again this year as well, so hopefully we might see you all very soon. The Godfathers will return!! If you want to stay in touch with us here are links to our Facebook page & official website
And remember that…
The Godfathers will be releasing a brand new, limited edition 10 inch vinyl EP called ‘A Big Bad Beautiful EP’ on Friday 16th June.
‘A Big Bad Beautiful EP’ will feature the title track from their critically acclaimed album ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’, along with a ‘High Voltage’ remix of live favourite ‘Defibrillator’ & two exclusive, previously unavailable tracks ‘You’re So Slow’ & ‘Human Zoo’.
You can order ‘A Big Bad Beautiful EP’ EXCLUSIVELY from the band’s official website NOW and have it delivered one month before the official release of 16th June –