Terrisfic

Gavin Goodwin is a very relieved man. At the end of 1999, many a London music journalist jumped on Terris’ tail in their hyperbolic droves, scribbling them to up the hilt alongside a fledgling JJ72 and the usual bunch of neverbeens that disappear as quickly as they were ‘discovered’. Undeterred, the band took their time over their debut album and have eventually resurfaced to join the class of 2001.

Meanwhile, Goodwin is almost whispering down a phone line about how much he’s looking forward to touring outside the UK, as touring and playing live is what Terris are reputed to do best as that is what got the King’s Reach Tower hacks in such a lather of superlatives in the first place. But Gavin is not one to bask in his own glory. He is suspicious of any short term acclaim of the music press and is vehemently critical of the media at large. “When you look at all these magazines in the newsagents and its just racks and racks of so-called celebrities saying nothing and doing nothing. Just this bland, antiseptic, clean-cut and streamlined world of vacuity devoid of any opinions or ideas. I don’t think people, or least enough people, question things because we live in an age of consumer enlightenment. People have a huge choice of nothing, but it keeps them happy and means they have lots to do or wear.”

Unsurprisingly, thanks to the very simple facts that Terris are a) Welsh, and b) anti-corporate, they have prompted more than their fair share of comparisons with the Manic Street Preachers. Gavin once famously proclaimed: “The Manics were never more than a bit of rhetoric. And their rhetoric was stolen from greater minds. Look at their lyric sheets, it’s not their words, it’s all quotes. There’s a difference between being an artist and loving art. That’s the Manics, they loved literature, loved music, but they never had their own beating hearts. And all their songs were shite.”

Gavin views the current popscene with even less enthusiasm, but is quick to point out any oasis of quality and genuine passion. “Everything these days seems to be about compromising yourself, your music, your attitudes. In compromising yourself you clip your wings, and if you clip your wings you’re never going to let your music fly and inspire people beyond words and platitudes and give them something truly special. It’s great to see something like the Mogwai album (Rock Action) doing really well because in addition to producing great music, they have an attitude of zero compromise. The problem isn’t that there isn’t good music out there. That’s a stupid assertion because there is always fantastic music to be found anywhere at any time. The problem is that this music isn’t given a chance or opportunity to be heard. People genuinely don’t know that it exists.”

On ‘Searching for the Switches’ on Time To Let Go Gavin screeches; “I am a bomb/And I’ve been searching for the switches/Just to turn myself on”. And I don’t think we have any choice except to receive him.

Terris play Whelan’s on Saturday May 26th with support from La Rocca and Bilbo