Jesu interview
Jonathan Carter stepped away from his computer long enough to place a call to Justin K. Broadrick of Godflesh (and now Jesu) noteriety. Prior to altercation, the photo at left was borrowed from Godflesh.com and Toni Lopez Querol.
Interview conducted by Jonathan Carter in early-March, 2005. Posted on 3/26/2005. Lambgoat.com
 
You've got some big touring ahead of you this year; first Europe with Isis, then you're reuniting with labelmates Pelican for your first US stint. That's not too bad a schedule for supporting your recently released self-titled album.

Yeah, we are also just putting into place our first Japanese tour too. I never went there with Godflesh oddly enough. We obviously toured the states a lot with Godflesh, though back in the day.

I remember you mentioned you didn't feel comfortable with yourself during the UK tour with Pelican back in August of last year; having played without a drummer. Have you since regained your confidence and feel more prepared to play your material at future shows?

Well as long as we play with a drummer 90% of the time, we'll be fine. We were awful on those dates with Pelican, but we weren't as prepared as we would've liked either. We had to do this tour whilst I was moving my house and studio, besides the drummer problem.

Now you've leveraged some visuals in past shows, and I can only imagine you would want to improve your performance wherever possible. What type of experience can fans expect to see from you in concert, and do you have any plans or ideas for upcoming tours we can look forward to?

Well the whole Jesu experience should involve huge volume and clarity; at least three of us on stage and the visuals, which were intended to be a part of Jesu since day one. At the moment we need venues to get in the projector, etc, which isn't proving too productive. Unfortunately, our show is limited by money, and that's just the way it is.

Since the new album shipped I've heard nothing but good responses from just about everyone who has heard it. Despite your usually self-critical attitude, have you been able to feel satisfied with this latest effort and accept its success?

I'm shocked at the responses to be honest. I really made this record for myself and could have never anticipated such positive reactions. I made this album in a vacuum and it took over 3 years. I did not once consider my audience and who they would be. I didn't care whether people into Godflesh liked this or not, I didn't make this for anyone or any scene or such bullshit, I made it purely for myself. I'm never completely happy with any record I make, but currently I'm as happy as I can be with this.

How much time did you have to spend tweaking each track before you felt the record was complete and you were happy with it?

Well, I started putting things together privately in late 2001, and the record was mixed by April 2004, so I took fucking ages with this record. Some songs I mixed nearly 20 times before I was happy. This album was killing me at some points, driving me totally crazy being locked in the studio alone with it day after day. Sometimes I think that this first album required this amount of work so as to set the stage for upcoming Jesu releases, in which I already have over 20 new songs.

Damn dude, that's a lot of material, I'll be expecting some great stuff from you in the future.
With the added effects and overall feeling of your vocals when present it's clear you're using your voice as an extra instrument not as a lead of the band. When you do sit down and write the actual content you'll sing, what tends to inspire you in writing the little bit of lyrics you have?

Yeah, there are very little lyrics, and yes, my voice is purely another instrument, not a lead. I also think it is another aspect of what sets us apart from most other "epic" bands out there. My vocals in Jesu are influenced by mainstream pop music, but I don't use them like they're used in mainstream pop, as in leading the song and ultra-high in the mix. The central themes in Jesu are love, loss and relationships.

Speaking of influences and similarities, Jesu has been compared to just about every band that has even the slightest similarity, some of which hold actual merit, while others not so much. What artists do you feel you most parallel, and what are some groups you feel have been sadly misrelated to you?

Yeah, I've noticed some considerably lazy journalism regarding this album. Jesu, like Godflesh, is an outsider. We don't fit with anything, and people try to fit us into what they can, but we never truly fit. People like and need to compartmentalize music, and as far as I'm concerned, broadly speaking, we're making pop music; Godflesh made rock music. We have melodies that are inspired by groups like Red House Painters, Brian Eno, Big Star/Chris Bell, etc, these are the people I feel comfortable being grouped in with, as well as My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, and Codeine.

Aside from the countless "high-profile" comparisons, Jesu has gotten a lot of credibility for being on the Hydra Head roster as well as obviously sporting former members of Godflesh. Are you glad to have received that initial popularity, or would you prefer people look at Jesu as a completely separate entity?

I can't complain, but I see Jesu as standing on its own. Scenes just swallow people up and die, and I've never been a part of any scene nor do I care to be. It's inevitable that people will come to Jesu either because of Godflesh or the Hydra Head connections... that's all fine.

For the many people out there who haven't heard your latest album and are wondering how close Jesu is to Godflesh, or whether or not the two even resemble each other at all, how would you like to respond?

Well, it's Godflesh stripped of the hate and the bile I guess. It's pretty yet brutal, beautiful yet painful. Melody is at the fore not the attack.

Your music is somewhat of an acquired taste and obviously some are going to feel it's a little to slow or drawn out, while others would relate the quality of the music with smoking pot and listening to it while getting high. Which of the two, if either would you consider a bigger insult?

Neither, I recognize that there will be more people out there that cannot stand my music than there are people that would like it, that's obvious to me. I know it's too slow, boring and drawn out, ect, etc, etc. It's designed to be like that, that's how I like it. I get high and listen to music, I enjoy that, actually there's very little music I listen to straight. Getting high is a part of my every day existence, so this doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I'd recommend getting high to listen to most of my music. [Laughs]

[Laughs] While we're on the subject of getting high, let's go over a couple of hypothetical questions for entertainment purposes. What band do you think would most increase in listening appeal while high?

I don't know, for me smoking is a very personal thing, I mean it's obviously sociable too and I enjoy it in that respect too. I've been smoking dope now for over 20 years so its just a part of me, something I do not question anymore, so its hard for me to think of cannabis in an negative context, unlike the negativity that comes with being drunk. For me the more psychedelic the music is the more enjoyable it can be whilst high.

Name some bands that you think are so horrible you'd have to be extremely high to even consider listening to?

Again, it's the opposite for me. The higher I am the more sensitive to sounds I am, so really horrible things when I'm stoned are ridiculously horrible, infinitely more revolting than when I'm totally sober. For me its more the question of say being drunk, if I was drunk I may somehow appreciate something that I'd normally find fairly shitty, maybe.

What band do you think is so good that they could perform at their peak level despite being stoned out of their mind?

Well, I hate performing without being somewhat stoned, and I think some of the best shows I have done that I have been near wasted on smoke. I remember a show in NYC in 1992 with Monster Magnet where I was so high I could barely sing, and GC Green was on about 5 hits of acid and the show was amazing. That wasn't just our perception either; people we spoke to after said it was near perfect. Led Zeppelin pulled off a lot of decent shows whilst being ultra fucked up, Spacemen 3 were usually high on everything known and this added to the performance. Same for early Hawkwind, particularly when Lemmy was in the band, "Space Ritual" being the album in question, they were totally fucked, but the record is incredible.

Alright enough of that. You've been really awesome Justin, thanks so much for doing this interview.

Thank you.