{"id":19248,"date":"2012-09-04T20:24:12","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T00:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zeitgeistworld.com\/?p=19248"},"modified":"2012-09-09T19:54:35","modified_gmt":"2012-09-09T23:54:35","slug":"bloc-party-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zeitgeistworld.com\/?p=19248","title":{"rendered":"Bloc Party INTERVIEW"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BLOC PARTY FRONTMAN KELE OKEREKE OPENS UP ABOUT THE MAKING OF A NEW RECORD IN NEW YORK AND INFINITE SADNESS<\/strong><\/p>\n

After sustaining a few trials, tribulations and tantrums, Bloc Party<\/a> has managed to reassess what\u2019s important in making punk disco and have vengefully risen from the indie landfill that claimed more than a few of their pastiche contemporaries. Their latest album Four, the band\u2019s first full-length since 2008\u2032s acclaimed Intimacy, has forgone the usual niceties associated with past dance floor friendly releases and side projects and opted for an epic, twisted fairy tale sound that unapologetically blasts you out of your comfort zone. After spending a year abroad in NYC, amongst the cramped recesses of his own introspective, frontman Kele hooked up again with band mates Russell, Gordon and Matt and got the boys back to their shambolic rock roots, fertilized with plenty of ardor and affection, as presented on epic tearjerker tracks Real Talk and Truth. This collection of seemingly fragmented thoughts, produced by Alex Newport (The Mars Volta and Polysics), is cohesive in its personal revelations- emotions are still raw, but what is at times awkwardly clear aurally is that this is BP\u2019s love\/hate opus. Kele confesses, \u201cIn the past, we have tried to hide the passion with which we perform, tried to obscure it, manipulate it so it doesn\u2019t resemble us anymore.\u201d This is decidedly no longer the case. With tons of screeching guitars in the foreground, and scorching maleficent vocals that tear your soul apart, Bloc Party is finally telling their story that rips at your heart strings and leaves you gushingly raw, searching to find your own splint for proper immobilization. VMAN sat down with Kele to discuss the journey of four guys, their fourth album and what happens on day four.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

PAISLEY DALTON<\/strong> Is this your return to rock?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KELE OKEREKE<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s definitely more of a rock record than our previous records. It\u2019s a sort of rock and roll that we haven\u2019t played in a really long time. It\u2019s really heavy. It doesn\u2019t feel like the past. It feels like a new direction. We\u2019ve always been a rock band. What is a rock band in the 21st century if it\u2019s not aware of the music that\u2019s going on around it? It\u2019s about paying homage to the music that\u2019s been around us.<\/p>\n

Is it a \u2018love is pain\u2019 opus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KO\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019ve got no idea what this record is about! There\u2019s no overview. When I started writing the music, I just wrote about the first things on my mind. Would I say it\u2019s about love? I don\u2019t know. Love is important to me. It\u2019s something I will always write about. The redemptive power of love is something that is pretty important to me and always will be.<\/p>\n

In the song \u201cV.A.L.I.S.\u201d, you state, \u201cHe is not the real me\u201d, whilst giving a list of things that \u2018He\u2019 is into. Who is the real Kele?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KO\u00a0<\/strong>There is a Kele for all seasons\u2026a Kele for all occasions! Like in\u00a0Grease 2<\/em>(singing) \u201cI\u2019ll be your girl for all seasons\u2026all the year through.\u201d I think that all the different facets of my personality\u2014singer, musician, human being\u2014they\u2019re all part of the real me. There isn\u2019t one Kele that\u2019s hiding from the real world.<\/p>\n

You seem a bit jilted in \u201cTeam A\u201d. Has somebody done you wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KO<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019m quite at peace at the moment. That song was inspired by my time in New York City. I was living there for a year. And also by my experiences with this drug called Adderall. Lot\u2019s of people in the art scene that I seemed to be coming in contact with were telling me about the new \u2018wonder drug\u2019 that seemed to be enhancing everyone\u2019s productivity and focus. From my experiences, interacting with people that were on said drug, it was just ghastly! On more than one occasion, I was eavesdropping on what people were saying and the conversation seemed completely dehumanized. That\u2019s what \u201cTeam A\u201d is about\u2026living in New York, wanting to get ahead, and being willing to push anyone out of the way that\u2019s coming for something you want, that brutal unbridled ambition.<\/p>\n