Interview: Paul Livingston of Trashcan Sinatras

Scotland's Trashcan Sinatras have sometimes kept a low profile during their 15-plus-year existence, but fans--and the group members' belief in their music--have kept the band plugged in for the long haul.

The five-piece introduced its witty, indie-pop music with its 1990 debut, "Cake," which proved a college-radio hit. Its follow-up, 1993's "I've Seen Everything," didn't neatly fit into the grunge-heavy playlists of the time, and barely got noticed in the U.S. By 1996, the band couldn't nab a U.S. distribution deal, and it was later dropped from its U.K. label.

Though the Trashcans faded into the background over the next few years, longtime fan Joe Dimaria was helping to keep the band's pulse alive via the group's website, which grew to include lyric transcriptions, bootlegs of shows, videos and more.

With help from the online buzz, the band returned to the studio to record 2004's critically acclaimed "Weightlifting." A tour soon followed, as well as the independently released, acoustic-live album "Fez."

liveDaily recently spoke with founding guitarist Paul Livingston over a few beers in Los Angeles.

What's kept the band together for so long?
Paul Livingston: Well, we love each other. We've been through a lot with each other, and we think we're really good as well. We like our songs a lot. When we put out an album, and nothing really happens ... we think we've put a lot of effort into it with nothing to show for it. Then somebody will write a song and we'll love it, somebody else will write a song and we'll love it and then we just do another album. The main reason is the songs, really.

There was a long pause between albums (despite a small EP release in Japan). What brought everything together for the "Weightlifting" album?
We forgot how to be in a band. We didn't have any money. It wasn't planned. We just stopped answering our phones. The record company got bought over, and we never had a record deal. We just sat around in our houses and lived in poverty. It gets fun for a while, then years went by and Frank got really sick of it. He came to me and John and said, "Let's try and get this back together." That's why we're really proud of this album--because we did start from nothing. Other albums, we had a record deal and it was a natural thing, but this album came around to a bunch of guys hanging around on the dole. We made an album, and luckily, we think it's the best thing we've done, so we're really proud of it.

Your latest release was on an independent label, while your earlier releases were on major labels. Is there a preference?
Well, on a major label, you get money in advance, so you feel like you're a success, but you're actually not. So we made the first three albums with money, but we actually didn't make any money. It was just advances that you don't pay back. Now, if somebody buys it, we get money. It just seems like a more honest way of working. There's no secret anymore. It's like "this is how much you sold, this is the size of your operation and this is what you've got to work with." We're also in a better frame of mind these days. I don't think we could have done it before on an independent label, because we were too volatile and there were too many problems. Now we're all happy and it seems like the best way to do things.

Did you have more control with this album?
Actually, it's about the same. We had a pretty good deal with Go! Discs, and we could do anything we wanted and we did. The only thing is, they could tell you what they wanted to be a single. Like, why did we release "To Sir with Love" as a single? It's a cover version, and we never wanted to do that.

What brought about the live album's release?
I don't know?! [laughs] Joe DiMaria is the guy who runs our website. He's a great guy--looks like an astronaut--and he does it for free. He just helps us a lot. He just likes to make sure that if he's got a tape of something he thinks is good--and that other people on the website would like--he says, "Let's release it." So we did. I think it's very illegal. We don't own any of the copyrights to the songs, so I think it's rather illegal [laughs].

You've had some great comeback tours in the U.S. in the last year. What did you miss about U.S. audiences that you can experience again?
People seem to really, really love us here. Other than the audience, it doesn't feel like there's anyone there to see if we're any good or not. It's like, when we start to play a song, you get this beautiful sigh and the audience gets people going "ahhh." It's just a really nice feeling, you know? I really appreciate it. And the people in America are just really friendly and happy. People in Scotland, nah.

What's it like playing back home in Scotland?
It's good, but kind of rowdy in Glasgow. In Edinburgh, for some reason, there's people who don't respond at all. It's weird. Maybe they think they're too cool to clap. We hadn't played for a long time, and we didn't want to play in Britain, because it's quite depressing driving around in the cold and the rain, and then you get to a gig and it's got sticky carpets and it's just freezing and grimy. You come to America and it's sunny and a lot more fun, really. When we recently played our first gig for a long time in Los Angeles, it was a revelation, really. It's beautiful.

Do you prefer acoustic or electric live shows?
It's easier to play acoustic and cheaper. We don't rock really much, but it's good to play loud. I take everything for both [live and acoustic shows], like my pedals and electric guitar, so for me, I play the same and it doesn't make a difference.


At the recent SXSW Festival you played a party for Maxim Magazine. Any highlights for that interesting soiree?
There were a lot of beautiful models hanging around trying to sell you things like perfume. I'm like "What's that?" and it was kind of weird--a Maxim party starring the Trashcans? It was outside [on an] upstairs patio. After the band before us, there was a downpour, so a lot of water got all over the floor. It wasn't good for my pedals, but the place eventually got better after some towels. We seem to do well in weird situations like that. We don't jump around or anything, we just play songs.

You've kept very loyal fans for quite a while. What's your secret?
We don't treat anybody like fools. No bashing over the head with anything silly. We just do what we like and hope that people like it, and that's probably why we're not very successful [laughs].

Taken from: http://www.livedaily.com/news/8127.html