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You've
worked with (composer) Joby Talbot for quite a few years now. Did you
ever expect to be involved in any way with Hitchhikers once you'd heard
that he was scoring the film? How did it come about?
Yeah, he was in my band. But there was no kind of real 'payback' involved
for that as such. Obviously Joby had a lot to do with me being involved,
but I knew Garth and Nick and various people who were involved with the
project, so I don't suppose it came as a huge surprised when I was asked,
but I was extremely grateful. There was huge pressure from the studio
to get bigger names working on (the soundtrack) but I was just so…what's
the right word?…chuffed, I suppose, that everybody stuck up for me
when maybe the 'money men' were looking to go in other directions.
Do
you enjoy singing other people's material?
It's always very lovely and relaxing when these jobs come along. The song's
written already, and I just did my best Tony Bennett impression over the
top of it, and it sounds really good, and I'm so pleased with the outcome,
and everybody else was. And that's good.
Divine Comedy songs and music have appeared in
quite a few films over the past few years...
Not enough, I have to say! (laughs) But, yeah, a few…
So
in films like Amelie and Gangster No 1, do you always know that your music
is going to being used, or do you sometimes sit up and say "that's
mine" in the middle of a film?
Oh no…well with Amelie, that's a different case in point. That's
a rather peculiar one, because it's actually nothing to do with me, I
hate to say (laughs). Jan (Tierson - Composer on Amelie) did all the music
and I was connected as a co-writer of the lyric of that particular song
on his album, so obviously I was credited with the co-write, and yet it
was only the instrumental version that was used on the movie. So basically
I was credited with a co-write of something that I had nothing to do with!
But, you know, I'll take any credits, however they come!
Now
I can't talk to you without mentioning Father Ted. It's almost ten years
now since Ted debuted on our screens. Does it ever get to the stage where
you hear somebody watching Father Ted and feel like you just can't get
away from it?
Well kind of, but the music has become completely disassociated from me,
in my own brain…
So
can you actually listen to the song now without immediately thinking about
three priests in a house somewhere off the coast of Co. Clare?
(laughs) Well perhaps other people can't, but I've been singing it at
every gig for the last ten years, so the song, 'Songs of Love', has become
disassociated form Father Ted for me. But it's funny when I do see Fr
Ted. I'm laughing away, and then the song comes up at the end, and it's
always nice. Because I hear it in a totally different format, to when
I play it, that it always takes me by surprise. It's totally different
instrumentation - there's a strange twangy guitar on the telly - but,
yeah, it's really fantastic that such a great series, one that's going
to go on forever, that I've got a little bit in it.
You've said a few times in the past that you'd
like to write a musical. Is this still something you'd like to do, especially
now that they're back in vogue somewhat, or were you being slightly tongue
in cheek?
No, I'm being deadly serious. It's about time they came back. It's something
I'd really love to do. I've spoken to various different people about it
over the years, but I suppose I'll know when something comes along that's
good. That is the big problem, trying to find a good reason to find a
musical. Because you can't just go "I'm going to write a musical"
and write a load of songs, because it'll be crap, it has to be a really
important film or stage show.
You're still open to it then?
Oh yeah, I'm open to offers…and movies.
You
were saying earlier on that Divine Comedy music hasn't been used enough
in movies in your opinion.
Yeah, but that's not an egotistical thing, I'm just slightly surprised
because it is rather 'filmic'.
People
have described the sound as being like the soundtrack to "a cool
French film" in the past. How do you feel about that?
That's a nice description. I think that may be the reason though, that
it sounds film-y. Often, you see films where you'd expect to hear orchestral
pop, but you hear something completely different, because the director
doesn't want to go down the 'ordinary' lines. Maybe we've swapped. I've
taken from film music, and films have taken from more contemporary music.
Especially
with people like Kevin Shields and David Holmes currently enjoying great
success with their soundtrack composition nowadays…
Exactly, and they've never sounded on record as particularly 'soundtrack-ey',
but they sound great on films.
However,
they seem to have moved away from studio work, in a way, to concentrate
more and more on films. Is that somewhere that you could see yourself
going?
Leaving the studio or the pop world is something I would never consider.
I mean, I want to do everything, so I'd hate to close off 'pop', because
I love it to bits and it's kind of my natural home. I've just kind of
stolen from all these other things to improve my albums. But as far as
time allows, I'm more or less up for most things. But I won't be doing
any acting any time soon. You can cross that off!
So
what's next for Neil Hannon? Is the new album any closer to completion?
Well, I've been doing mostly odd jobs recently. A bit of writing with
other people, but I'm not writing for anything in particular. I'm just
writing and writing and writing but not for an album as such. There'll
be lots of projects, but I'll just attach the music to those things when
they com up. There will be an album eventually, there always is, but I
don't want to get stuck into that right now.
'The
Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy' is released nationwide on the
29th of April 2005 through Buena Vista International (Ireland)
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