16 Horsepower : David Eugene Edwards (vocals, banjo, concertina, hurdy gurdy, guitar)
September 17, 1998
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16HP: We had seen Street of Crocodiles and we couldn't believe how good it was. They (A&M) were thinking of making a video for Black Soul Choir which was the pretend single off of our first record. We said we wanted the Brothers Quay to do it, so A&M contacted them and sent them the music, and they said "Yeah, we'd like to do it." Which was really nice because they don't usually make music videos. A&M contacts them quite a bit actually, but they always keep turning them down. So we felt pretty honored that they wanted to do it. So we went to London, where the BQ live, it was... we got along so well. They're pretty eccentric, they're twin brothers you know. They like the same things that we like: they like old things , things that look old, things that smell old. Their house is incredible, there's not an inch of space that isn't covered with something that grabs your attention, something you want to look at...it's like a museum. We collaborated on an idea for the video and it turned out really good. I mean, I like it a lot. Not too many people see it, not that many people play it.
VV: Is it a storyline video, or is it a conceptual piece? Does it represent the lyrics of Black Soul Choir?
16HP:Yeah, it goes along with the lyrics. It's done with white chalk on a chalkboard and it's all black and white. We're in it at different points, of course. It's mainly chalk drawing by itself, the words on a blackboard and putting images to the words.
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16HP: The record company decides which song is the single, and the single is the video. There's a ton of other songs that are better suited for the Brothers Quay to do a video for, more mood oriented. But they took what we had and made a great piece with it.
VV: In the past, 16 Horsepower also made their own video? A self produced video of Haw?
16HP: Yeah, we did. We did it in Colorado and New Mexico with a hand crank camera by ourselves. We made up a story line for it. The story line doesn't necessarily even go with the song, not lyrically. We had great fun making it, sort of spaghetti western style.
VV:Do you think you would like to make more videos?
16HP: If you do well (with the music side), yeah, you get to make videos for every record. I don't dislike doing them necessarily, but I don't think most videos are very good. It's fun to try and make it good anyways.
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16HP: It's just stuff I grew up with my whole life, going to the rodeo...all of my relatives live on farms. My parents have a farm with horses in Colorado. Most of my relatives are from Arkansas and North Carolina and places like that, but I grew up in Colorado - which is not the South, but it's the West. I listen to so much Southern music, like mountain music, that I feel really close to it. And I don't even think about it very much.
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I'VE BEEN TO YOUR HOUSE AN SEEN WHAT YOU ADORE,
I LEFT THERE STIFF - STIFF AS A BOARD
What was it that you saw there that caused such a reaction, or was this a fictional lyric?
16HP: I'm talking about everything that people are interested in - outside of what really matters: God, your relationship with God, the way you treat other people, and your reasons for doing what you do. Basically, everything else to me, such as education, progress, and success and all that is stuff that people adore. Like money. And I guess I don't believe that way.
VV: Do you feel out of the main stream in your beliefs? And is that feeling an inspiration for your music?
16HP: Of yeah. No, it's not an inspiration or anything. It's just the way I think.
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I'LL TAKE THAT CROWN OF SCORN
Is this something you feel because you're often singing about subjects that may be scorned by others and the uneasy relationship Americans have with religion ?
16HP: I'm sure there are some people who don't like what I'm singing about. But what I'm trying to say in that lyric is: It's ok with me if you really don't like me and what I have to say. It's forgiveness to forget what people think of you. It's kind of like what I say in For Heaven's Sake,
WHEN WILL I SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN
If you're scorned and you suffer for the right reason, then it feels good. But if you're getting in trouble for something you did wrong, it's not the same. But if people scorn you for something that you really believe in and it's good, then it doesn't really bother you.
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16HP: It's really foreign to me. I've never really been a part of it. I grew up in church and all that, but I was never into Christian rock music. I've never really listened to it. I didn't even know it existed. I started seeing Christian video channels ...I think that's great for those people who need that but ninety percent of the music is just crap. It has no creativity at all - that's what bugs me about it - people who see a successful secular band and then they copy it with their message. They think that if they put this message with this successful music, then people will listen. Which is completely fucking rediculous. I don't understand that way of thinking, and I don't even try to.
VV: So you're not influenced to change your lyrics or music in the face of their Christian scolding...
16HP: No. Because I make music for the kind of people who would never listen to that kind of music -or would ever go to church. That's who I make music for.
VV: So you're making music for people (who you think) might not ever listen to messages about God, or think about their lives in such religious terms....why am I here, what am I doing for God...
16HP: That's exactly right.
Interviewer: Catherine Lee
Camera: Rodwin Pabello
Photos & Transcription: Catherine Lee
© 1999, 2000 Evans Media Group, Inc.
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