On Song :: Joe Gideon & The Shark

Having recently released one of the debut albums of 2009 with Harum Scarum, we caught up with its creator Joe Gideon to find out about the musical influences behind the lo-fi dirty blues the idiosyncratic duo muster.

What was the first song that really caught your imagination?
Mr Blue Sky by ELO. In fact, all of their stuff including Xanadu.

What was the music your parents liked and do you think it’s influenced you at all?
Our dad came home one day with three albums by Bauhaus. We fell in love with Bela Lugosi’s Dead, the 12″ version, with its repeated bass notes, over and over. Not sure whether this directly influenced our penchant for repeating a phrase both spoken and musical tirelessly. Then the song appeared again in the film The Hunger with Bowie and Deneuve.

What posters did you have on your wall as a kid?
A gatefold sleeve of a weird Dr John record and a postcard of an emaciated looking Jim Morrison.

Which songs or albums would you play at a party?
We’d start off with LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Losing My Edge’, move through ‘Cold Blooded Old Times’ by Smog, then ‘Push It’ by Salt’n’Pepa, then hit them with Manilow’s ‘Copacabana’ when they’re good and ready.

Which songs remind you of a rainy day?
All the songs on Rachel’s Systems/Layers + Mogwai

Which album do you seek solace in when you are feeling sad?
Anything by Drive-By Truckers.

Which album would you play when you wanted to get down to some lovin’?
Either Trans Am’s ‘Sex Change’ or The Fucking Am ‘Gold’, a collaboration between Trans Am and The Fucking Champs.

What music was, or would be, the “first dance” at your wedding?
For myself, ‘I Saw The Light’ by Hank Williams. The Shark prefers that to be a secret.

What was the first gig you went to as a paying customer?
Lou Reed at The Brixton Academy some while ago, notable for the fact that I passed out for the entire duration of ‘Coney Island Baby’, then regained consciousness, all whilst still on my feet!

Name the one song you think everyone should hear.
Dura Europus by David Byrne, from the album The Forest.

Which one artist do you think not enough people know about?
The songwriting of Vic Pratt and his band Monogram.

What’s the best thing you’ve heard recently?
‘We Are Him’ by Angels Of Light.

Dead or alive, what 5 acts would you have play with you at a festival?
Frank Zappa with the Mothers Of Invention, playing Uncle Meat in its entirety, shipping in the Albert Hall pipe-organ they used on one of the tracks. Also, Captain Beefheart, Tom Waits & Ian Svenonius with both his bands: The Make-Up and Weird War.

We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
The theme is film soundtracks, and on our tape we’d have:
‘John’s theme’, by Pino Donaggio, from the film ‘Don’t Look Now’.
‘Il Grande Massacro’, by Ennio Morricone, from the film, ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’.
‘Sorcerer’, by Tangerine Dream, from the remake of ‘Wages Of Fear’.
‘Cutter’s Way’ by Jack Nitzsche, from the film ‘Cutter’s Way’.
And the Main Theme by The Goblins from the film ‘Suspiria’.

And finally, who would win in a fight: a stoat or a goat and why?
The Goat. We would help the goat, because goat’s cheese rocks!