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Welcome to Insomnia
[img]http://blogs.thisismoney.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c565553ef0120a5c6cb29970c-800wi[/img]
“I often feel like I’m, to quote LCD Soundsystem, losing my edge,” Eric Quillington self-consciously admits during one part of our interview, “When writing for Midnight Skies, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make anything that would top Blue Nebula. Now that I’m working on Insomnia, there’s a fear that it won’t be on the same level as Infinite’s last two albums. There’s this constant urge to one-up my last effort every time I enter the studio. The day I don’t fulfill that urge is the day I quit. It’s starting to look like that day might come sometime soon.”
These aren’t the words of confidence generally spoken by rock-stars, but it’s the normality for Quillington. Throughout his prolific career, he has always given off an air of self-doubt; from confession to ‘hiding from the world out of shame’ when Blue Nebula was released, to describing Midnight Skies as ‘a shitty attempt to sell-out and make pop music’. Fans of Infinite hold quite the opposite stance, however, and have proven to be one of the most dedicated fan-bases in rock history. Even their words of encouragement don't seem to be able to shake him from periodic self-doubt, and such is the mood that plagues him this afternoon.
In spite of the moods felt by Quillington, life goes on at Abbey Road. The singer yells at drummer Greg Oldson if he appears too distracted by the female he brought into the studio ('If she's giving you a quickie behind that bass-drum while we rehearse this song, I'm going to put a hole in the underside of your boat', Quillington claims, without a hint of a joking manner), Matt Roberts calmly asks his bandmates several times to stop behaving like dicks, and the musical chemistry between the three is almost palpable in the air. The only noticeable difference is a big one; Infinite is rehearsing for a song called 'Salt', which will feature Matt Roberts on vocals for the first time.
Hearing Robert's deep voice boom out of the speakers is a weird and alien noise. The fact that it will be present on Insomnia is stranger altogether, but still seems like a logical step forward. From the very beginning, Quillington has rejected the spotlight on Infinite's albums. While this seems wildly inaccurate, as he is amongst the most recognizable frontman in modern music, there is surprising truth to this claim when listening to his earlier work. Almost half the songs on 'Midnight Skies' were written by Greg Oldson, and both albums by Infinite feature show-stopping bass solos by Roberts. Although there will be no bass-solo on this album ('It'd be too predictable if we stuck to same formula for a third time in a row', in the bassist's own words), this album will still take Roberts' involvement to the next level.
In many ways, Quillington's actual involvement in this album has been severely depleted. Although he will still sing all of the songs, excluding 'Chaos Reigns' and 'Salt', his productivity behind the scenes has been depleted. This is, however, completely by his own choice, as he says, "People would just get bored of it if I took complete control of Insomnia. The audience knows all my tricks, they know how much of a miserable old sod I am, and they know my lyrics are irritatingly cryptic." As a result of Quillington's combination of self-doubt and unease at stealing the spotlight from his bandmates, Infinite has been taking steady strides to becoming a band without a frontman, and Insomnia is showing hints of that dream becoming a reality.
Of course, the fact that Insomnia is being made at all is a huge surprise to those within the Infinite camp. Quillington’s involvement with supergroup ‘Project; Prometheus’, as well as a reported signing to Studio60 as a solo artist, were taken as a sign that Infinite’s blaze of glory was nearing an end. Mind’s break-up last month did little to ease the worry amongst fans, many of whom worried that Infinite was treading down the same path. Although Quillington was typically dismissive of these doubts (‘We get these bloody rumors every time we go through a small period of inactivity’, the singer sarcastically comments, ‘I swear, people must be expecting the Great Dissolution of Infinite to be the most interesting thing since the fuckin’ Big Bang. They’ll be really disappointed when it finally does happen; everybody will just go to work, and realize that life goes on.’), the other members weren’t so sure.
"Quillington just called Matt and I up one day, wanting our help with a couple ideas he had for a song," Oldson recalls, "Before you could even blink, the ideas had spread into a couple songs, and we had the backbones for our next album. It all happened very quickly, none of it was planned. I think the best part of this so far has been the freedom Matt and I have on this album. We were basically just session-musicians in the past. Well payed session-musicians, yeah, but it didn't feel like a band. Just the 'Eric Quillington Project'. This'll be the first record where we're truly Infinite, I think"
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(OOC: Changing Infinite's face-claim to Muse. Wanted to do this for a while, since Nirvana no longer seemed to fit their personalities. I talked to Troy about this, who was the original owner of the claim, and he agreed to give Muse to me before he left.)
Edited by user 09 February 2011 01:47:08(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified |
Kid Anything- Indie/Britpop/Shoegaze; influenced by Sigur Ros, XXYYXX, Kanye West, Blur, Oasis (Bringing together an eclectic group of influences, Ulysses' songs are sung with carefree abandon by Nick Junk) Kurt Ulysses - Songwriter, Guitarist, Backup Vocalist Nick Junk - Vocals, Mojo Infinite- Alternative/Experimental Rock; influenced by Muse, Radiohead, and The Beatles (Known best for their experimental music and their frontman's eccentric behavior, the band disbanded after Eric Quillington's death to pursue solo careers or, in Matt Robert's case, peace of mind. Infinite released four albums over the course of their career; Blue Nebula, Midnight Skies, Insomnia, and Dancing about Architecture.) Eric Quillington (Deceased) - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Piano, Primary Lyricist Matt Roberts - Bass Greg Oldson - Drums, Backup Vocals, Secondary Lyricist Amelia Florentine - Keyboards, Piano, Lyricist, Backup Vocals "When asked 'how do you write?' I invariably answer, 'one word at a time', and this answer is invariably dismissed. But that's all it is. It sounds too simple to be true, but consider the Great Wall of China, if you will: one stone at a time, man. That's all. One stone at a time. But I've read you can see that motherfucker from space without a telescope." - Stephen King |
