On The Ball

JASON PIERCE is one man who doesn't need to be told about the benefits of a third-level education.
"I'm not sure I'd be where I am today if I hadn't gone to art college," confides the Spiritualized mainman inbetween sips of a cheeky little red that he's picked up at the Spar. (You're getting all Michael Winner on us, Stuart - Ed.) "I needed a new guitar so I did the minimum number of days necessary to qualify for a grant and then fucked off.
"Actually, the guitar I bought is the one I'm holding on the cover of the second Spacemen 3 album."
Ah yes, 1987's The Perfect Prescription, which, with 'I Feel Good', 'Call The Doctor' and 'Ecstasy Symphony' among its stand-outs, set the tone for future pharmaceutical adventures.
"Subtlety was never our strong point," Pierce continues with a wry smile. "For a while, there was a bit of a competition between myself and Pete (Sonic Boom) to see who could get most out of it and that came across in not just the music but the titles. That compilation we had, Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, said it all really."
The tabloid journalists among you will be disappointed to hear that there's not a single pill, syringe or funny cigarette in sight as Jason psyches himself up for Spiritualized's Trinity Ball headliner. Which isn't to say that he won't be indulging in some nefarious activity later on.
"These Balls are a sort of journey through the different stages of consciousness - and unconsciousness! Y'know, how much can the human body endure before you throw up on your tux? I just love the idea of people who in a few years time are going to be judges and MPs, getting so shit-faced that they'll shag complete strangers in the bushes. The blackmail potential - if you had a camera and took pictures - is enormous."
Something which I'm sure has never occurred to Peter "the negs are yours for #100" Matthews. Having gone to school in Rugby, one assumes that Pierce is used to rough and tumble in the showers and able to take a hot crumpet from behind without blubbering.
"Nah, my school days were very un-Tom Brown," he says mournfully. "The place I went to wasn't Rugby itself but because they were living in the shadow of such a great institution, they tried to adopt the same kind of public school principles. Without much success..
"Actually, we did have a music teacher who if he'd been around a hundred a years ago would've probably roasted young boys over an open fire. Not only that but his lessons were so boring you'd have thought he was teaching advanced physics. 'Today we're going to talk about Johann Sebastian Bach, drone, drone, drone.' It was the same at college - fuck theory, you've just got to play and learn from your mistakes."
Instilled as he is with comprehensive principles, does it concern Jason that the Trinity Ball is essentially an elitist event which Spiritualized's common or garden fans can't get into?
"Yeah, it's a shame that some people will be excluded because they're not students or don't have the money, but what we do on these occasions is give absolutely no guest list to the record company and blag in as many fans as we can.
"Like I say, the Ball's a sort of experiment in drinking which means you can relax knowing you're not being scrutinised in quite the same way that you would be at a normal gig. Tonight's essential for getting it right in two days time in Japan which, in turn, is part of our preparation for Glastonbury."
Pierce's ears - which are concealed by what's getting perilously close to a mullet - prick up when I mention that Alabama 3 are in town and planning to infiltrate their way backstage.
"I met them in New York recently and discovered that we're into loads of the same bands," he reveals. "They did a cover of 'Speed At The Sound Of Loneliness' and the start of our song, 'Cop Shoot Cop', is one big John Prine reference. Actually, I don't know if you're aware of this but last year he suffered a heart attack and is still very ill."
We didn't and wish John, one of the great country outlaw songwriters, a full and speedy recovery. Inbetween visits to Toronto's CN Tower and The World Trade Center in New York - their gigs nowadays have altitude as well as attitude - Spiritualized have

been consorting with another of America's national treasures, Dr. John.
"It all started with us 'phoning him up one day and saying, 'Hello, you don't know us but would you like to play on our record?' We really expected him to fob us off but, no, he not only turned up but was so enthusiastic we thought, 'we've got to work with this guy again.' That happened a few months ago when we were invited along to Abbey Road to see what we could concoct between us for his new album. We ended up with two complete songs - one of which is outstanding and the other, well, it needed a bit more time spent on it. I finished mixing at six and the record was mastered at ten so you can tell how tight it was.
"Parlophone are the same as every other fucking record company in that they're more concerned with schedules than making great music. It's not as though I wanted another two months - half a day would have been enough. I'm not complaining, though, because musically it pushed us further than we've ever been before."
The sessions also spawned the updates of 'Come Together' and 'Broken Heart' which, with gospel choir in tow, were previewed a couple of weeks ago on Later With Jools Holland.
"The noise in the room was mind-blowing," Pierce gushes. "Jools Holland came over afterwards and said that in all the years he's been doing the show, he's never heard anything so beautiful. Which, bearing in mind the legends they've had on, was a huge compliment."
Sadly, Spiritualized's soon-to-be-released Abbey Road EP won't include the version of 'Oh Happy Day' which almost ripped the plaster off the studio walls when the choir kicked in.
"The human voice is, was and will always be the most powerful instrument there is," he proffers, switching into Luddite mode. "Hearing that sort of thing almost makes you want to go back to church."
But not college?
"Thankfully, buying guitars is no longer a problem!"
Given Spiritualized's recent track record, you'd expect the EP to come sheathed in a latex rubber zebra crossing but, no, they've let us down and settled for a boring old jewel-case.
"The marketing people at Dedicated have a heart-attack every time I walk into the building. They're not adverse to 'special editions' as long as it's something that's already been done before like a holographic cover or a metal box. I didn't want Ladies ... Gentlemen . . . to be generic like that which is why we went for the 12 individual CDs in pop-out pill casing. The label freaked and said, 'You'll never fucking sell 'em', but we did in half a day. Even though it was obscenely expensive to have them hand-made and we didn't make any extra money, it was worthwhile doing because we created a unique and relevant piece of art."
Pardon me for saying it but it's all rather reminiscent of those dark days when Roger Dean was God and Emerson Lake ... Palmer wouldn't be seen dead in anything other than a triple-gatefold sleeve with free limited-edition Persian carpet.
"They were the boys, weren't they?" Jason laughs. "As far as a lot of people are concerned, we are the New Prog Rock but, unlike Yes and ELP, I like to think our music's just as spectacular as the packaging."
Having timed my journey through the different stages of consciousness so that I was vaguely compos mentis when they hit the stage, I'm pleased to report that Spiritualized at Trinity were the most visceral of pop thrills. True, there were several moments of wig-outery that sounded like they'd time-warped in from the Windsor Free Festival but, otherwise, there was nowt to excite Rick Wakeman fans.
"Doing a show on ice is a bit passé but I'd love to be the first band to gig on the moon," he says rather alarmingly. "And if Rick wants to come along for the ride, we could always do with another keyboard-player."
That clinches it. Jason Pierce really is on drugs. n