My 2005: Paul Smith, Maximo Park

HERO OF 2005?
Having heroes is a dangerous thing. I’m quite wary of heroes. You build these people up into being things they probably aren’t. I don’t want to say 'everyone can be a hero' but there is something heroic about just living your own life. You should look to yourself for a hero in the first place.
VILLAIN OF 2005?
Again, life’s a little more complicated than that. Nothing is black and white. People might say George Bush is their villain, but they should ask themselves what are the reasons for that. He’s become a convenient totem for something that is far more complex. It’s not just one man doing these things.
BEST MOMENT?
There’s been so many! I would say that traveling and experiencing different cultures was the most amazing thing. We played the Fuji Festival in Japan – mists were flying around us while we performed to 10,000 people in a part of the world that was completely new to us. Sydney blew me away as well, which I was surprised by. The Opera House was amazing. It was a building that aspired to being more than merely functional.
BEST MOVIE?
I didn’t get to see many films. One that impressed me was Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers. It was very honest and indicative of real life. It doesn't pretend there are easy answers to things. I also saw Alphaville, a Jean-Luc Godard movie, on DVD. It’s just so innovative. Anyone making a movie today should take a few tips from him.
BEST RECORD?
I have two favourites. The first is a reissue of an album by Arthur Russell called World Of Echo. It’s just him and a cello going through an amplifier. It’s like listening to a conversation and you can’t quite make out what’s being said. I also loved A River Ain’t To Much To Love by Smog. Most of Bill Callaghan’s albums have been very honest and brutal, but this is quite tender too. I was listening to it last night while making dinner for a friend and it just stopped me in my tracks.
BEST BOOK?
I’ve read several great books this year – it’s hard to pick a favourite. I was impressed by Sick Notes by Gwendoline Riley. It’s set inside a young woman’s mind as she goes about her daily business. There are some very moving descriptions about the way she interacts with the world. In many ways it’s a bleak book, but there’s great hope there too.
BEST TV SHOW?
We didn’t get to watch an awful lot of television this year. I like documentaries but we’ve been on tour so long we tended to watch DVDs instead.
BEST THING OF THE YEAR?
I’m not sure if there has been one overall thing which you could say was 'best’ or ‘worst’. Like I said, the world is a complicated place and you can’t always reduce it to a simple list of things.
HOPE FOR NEXT YEAR?
We want to record a new album that will be true to the band while not sounding like A Certain Trigger Mk. 2. We have an audience now and feel a responsibility towards them to do our very best.
WHAT TICKLED YOUR FUNNY BONES?
Being on tour can be a laugh sometimes. There was no one incident, but we did have a lot of fun, although it was quite hard work as well obviously.
Pic: Graham Keogh