SweetJaneMusic.de
English translation made possible by Anne and Isabel.
12.11.2003, Berlin
Kevin Devine is little. And he's on his way to become one of the biggest. For the second time this year he played a live show for us after he has already softened the girls' hearts when he was allowed to open for Dashboard. This year, he has already released an album, together with his band "Miracle of 86." His second solo record "Make the Clocks Move" is going to be released on January the 19th and is receiving praise from everywhere. Enough reasons to ask the guy for an interview. When we arrive in the "Magnet," Kevin is in the middle of a photo shoot, where his picture is taken in front of "Fuck Bush" posters. Well, basically, this already arouses sympathy. And in fact, Kevin seems to us like a very open-minded, politically-committed, nice young man and like an extremely pleasant conversational partner, it would have been fun to talk to the whole night.
SJM: Hey Kevin, maybe can you tell us a little bit about your musical career?
Kevin: Ok,I've been playing in a band since I was about 13 years old. This year was the best one and very hard, I played 170 shows, had several tours in Europe, the states and in Canada. Then I released to records Every Famous Last Word with my band Miracle of 86 and Make the Clocks Move of only me. My second solo record and Miracle's 3rd album.
SJM: When did you start playing an instrument?
Kevin: I think I was about ten years old when I became interested in playing the guitar. But I only played strange stuff I learned at school, such as "Little Drummer Boy." Then I stopped for 2 1/2 years. My real start was in eighth grade when I was 13. Back then, I learned Guns 'n Roses and Nirvana songs. My first band was called Delusion, later we became Miracle of 86, the same three people for about 8 years. At the beginning we played Grunge covers and stuff in someone's cellar. Terrible songs. We were really bad. Well, we were kids.
SJM: But was there already the consciously decision to become a musician?
Kevin: Yes, I've wanted that since I was a kid.
SJM: Did you have serious guitar lessons?
Kevin: That bored me. I was a little boy and I played baseball and stuff like that. I didn't want to sit in a room, together with a fifty year-old guy and learn how to play Elvis songs. I wanted to play real rock'n'roll, you know, these "cock-rock" songs by Warrant or by whoever. But the guy said, "I won't show you that." And so I stopped. Nirvana was the reason I started again, because it seemed to me that everyone was able to play these songs, although I've found out that it's not right. The guy (he refers to Kurt) was a damn brilliant guitarist. Maybe anyone could play the chords, but the other things he did...
SJM: But he wasn't able to read notes.
Kevin: Yes, but I'm not able either. I can neither write music nor read it. But I can remember it, if it's worth it.
SJM: And that's the way you write your songs?
Kevin: Yeah. I sing a tune, and I add the lyrics later. Sometimes I play something on the guitar, it always depends. I can remember it, when it's good. But I always write down the lyrics, I really write plenty of them.
SJM: Can you make a living out of music?
Kevin: Yes, now I can. With a little help from the government. I lost my job and got unemployment. In this time I could tour a lot and signed a contract with an independent label in the states. I can live off of that now.
SJM: How old are you now?
Kevin: 23, next week I'll be 24. (Editor's note: he was born in mid-December, 1979.)
SJM: In what country are you the most popular?
Kevin: I'd say in Germany. In the States as well. But I think it's just starting there.. here in Germany there were the best tours and the best reactions. The German Rolling Stone magazine has discussed my first records and I was totally blown away. That was 2 1/2 years ago. The first time that the Rolling Stone in America wrote something about me was a couple weeks ago, when they reviewed the new record. They seem to be a bit more ahead here.
SJM: What are the differences between the audience here and in America?
Kevin: I'm treated in a very friendly way here. That's one difference. The kids are far more approachable, even though they don't know you. In NY there are so many shows and so many bands, if the people don't know you they aren't interested in you either. But gigs are gigs. If the people do like your music it's similar everywhere, no matter where you actually are. And if the people don't like your music, it's also similar everywhere, no matter where you actually are. (laughs)
SJM: Is the singer/songwriter thing also big in the States?
Kevin: Yes, there are really big bands in that scope. Dashboard Confessional is quite famous, Bright Eyes, too. They are the biggest, but there are hundreds of other bands.
SJM: Why do you think this music is that popular?
Kevin: Well, there are always famous singer/songwriters. People like Bob Dylan, James Taylor or in the eighties a few very bad guys like Don Henley. These artists are always present. The reason why Dashboard is that famous at the moment is, in my opinion, the people are rather fed up with the whole rap/rockstar stuff. Dashboard is very personal (?), no rough edges. Probably it's also a bit like the grunge thing: the people look like they could mow your lawn or work at the next service station. Kurt Cobain looked like anybody. Like you and me. No spandex, no six pack or who knows what else. But actually I don't really know what's going on. I never know why things are getting popular. It surely doesn't hurt that Dashboard is a good-looking guy. That's an important part to all the famous pop-musicians. It's a sure thing to have him as an independent musician.
SJM: How was the tour with him?
Kevin: Great. He's a very nice guy. I'm really grateful. This year he took me with him to three shows in Germany, I played with him in his hometown Connecticut in front of 2000 people, and he said really nice things about me to the press. I think, in "Intro" and in Alternative Press, a big American magazine. He was real nice to me. And the tour was a lot of fun. Big shows in front of 600, 800 people.
SJM: What do you like most abuout Europe?
Kevin: That George Bush is not here. (laughs) I think, in general, there is a bigger acceptance towards independent arts in Europe. There are more niches. In America nobody is interested in that. Only a few kids, but as soon there is something like a "underground movement" it is made commercial by the mainstream. Things like that are more accepted here. The cultures are interesting as well, of couse. I love the fact that in every city I was there was something that was 1000 years old. A church or something. That's really cool, the cultural wealth. That's why I like to be away from America. I hate the government, and there are no churches from 1200 something. I've been to Berlin several times and had time to visit things. This time there was too little time.
SJM: Why do you play in a band and release solo albums at the same time?
Kevin: At some point I started to like music where the lyrics are important and the music only provides the background. The music we play with the band is different. Full of punk and aggression. Of course, I am concerned the lyrics as well but they are not that important. Moreover I wanted to do something quieter. Five or six years ago, when we started to play to the public, I loved Elliott Smith and I also had a lot of quiet acoustic songs but I didn't dare to play them in public until I saw him. I thought, "Wow, he's better than any band and he's just a guy with a guitar!" So, I wanted to go out on stage and do the same, too. But I've always written plenty of songs and since I was twenty I've written far more songs like that than rock songs. It fits much better to the music I listen to and comes to me more easily.
SJM: Do you like Johnny Cash?
Kevin: I love him. It's so sad that he passed away. But I have to admit that I'm more the guy who owns a greatest hits album. Okay, I've got one of the prison concerts. But the four latest American Recordings albums are great.
SJM: Do you write the songs for Miracle, too?
Kevin: It's different. From time to time it's me, sometimes it's Mike, our guitarist, or all of us.
SJM: What do you say about the label situation? Here in Europe all your albums (the new Miracle of 86 album as well) were released on Defiance. IN the states Make the clocks move is on Triple Crown, where you're the only singer/songwriter, while all other records were released on different labels.
Kevin: I love Defiance, they care for their bands very well and show lots of passion. They were an important reason for me becoming more famous. Triple Crown owner Fred is great as well. Somehow I like it that I'm the only singer/songwriter there. That's good. And even if I considered it to be awesome to be on a label like Saddle Creek or Sub Pop, I think I've found a good home for my music at Triple Crown.
SJM: What's gonna be different from the old record to the new one? (Make the Clocks Move - released on 1/26/04)?
Kevin: It's more complex, more keyboards and different instrumentation. The songwriting is more grown-up. I ws only 19 when I wrote the songs for the first record. Lyrically a lot has changed. The production is better. At home I play the songs live with a band. I hope I can tour with the guys next time as well, but I couldn't afford it.
SJM: What's your favorite song on the new record?
Kevin: It depends on my mood. I have a special relation towards "Ballgame," since it was big step for me to write this song. It's very direct. But I really like every song. On Circle Gets the Square there are few songs that I maybe wouldn't have put on the record afterwards. Maybe I will think about this album like that in a few years, but at the moment I'm totally happy.
SJM: What's the meaning of the title, Make the Clocks Move?
Kevin: It's taken from "Tapdance." It's about the things we do in order not to have to think about our brainless working life.There are so many people who hate their jobs, but everyone accepts it as the way it is, and that's bullshit. For me, it was better not to have a job. Okay, financially, it was harder, but I started to live properly again. But just because I am happy that way doesn't mean that it works for others as well. But I think it's really sad. At the moment, most of the people live until they are 21 and find a job, and then not again until they are 65. And after that they'll pass away and that was it! I'm not an idiot. I'm totally aware that we can't stroll around for our whole life and do nothing. But there must be a better way. A different kind of work, which is not so homogeneous, other timings or better conditions. At the moment, it's like most of the people don't have any fun in their lives, and everything we do, whether we meet with friends, analyze things, or drink, we're always trying to distract ourselves from the fact that most of the time we're waiting for things we do to stop. That the clock moves faster. That's the reason why I write songs.
SJM: Your lyrics are very personal. What do you think of writing political lyrics?
Kevin: A bit of that is on the new record. I don't like writing things like that, pointing the finger at something. I'm glad there are bands who do, they have to be there. But I feel better when I put political statements in personal lyrics. I like to do that, I'd like my thoughts to be heard, but for me such straight political lyrics are too dry. Conor Oberst writes amazing political lyrics, since he succeeds in making them personal. Phil Oaks was a great protest songwriter. Even the best political songs by Dylan are very personal.
SJM: What's your attitude towards the Bush government and the war in Iraq?
Kevin: I can't tell you in less than 24 hours, what I think is shit to the Bush government. I think the invasion in Iraq was an example. Our president said, "We don't give a fuck what the rest of the world thinks about it, we just do what we want." The UN didn't agree, half of Europe was against it, but that didn't matter. We had this cowboy mentality: "You are for it or you are against us." That's shit. It's violent and painful and so stupid. But it's not only Bush. The US government was a fucked up, suppressor institution. Conquerors. An empire. Clinton, Reagen, Bush, Kennedy, everybody acted like that. When you read about the history of our country, you get sick. Everything you are told as a kid is wrong. That makes it really difficult not to be ashamed of where you come from. What Bush does to the people makes me more angry. After September 11th we could have though about why this happens and why there are people in the world who think about us that way. And the fear, this energy that it caused was just used to make everybody more angry and wage a war. Even though they knew before that this could happen. And then they destroyed a whole country to find one guy. I'd like to know what the Americans would say if something like that happened here. If the Iraqis, for example, had blown the whole USA up to catch Clinton. He's bombed a hospital, because they thought it was a military base. So, there is quite a lot of that that is big fuck-up.
SJM: Especially in Germany it's very popular to take an anti-attitude towards the American government, nevertheless, American trends, such as music or fashion are really popular.
Kevin: Well, I think that the people here see parallels between Bush and the guy who fucks up your country.
SJM: But he has been elected.
Kevin: Bush hasn't been elected. He lost. The counting in California was manipulated. But the people who represent democracy would not have been better, either. There is barely a difference. At most they have a nicer touch. They are all marionettes, all dominated by the lobby. That's another point. People are living in a world they don't like, but they accept it and don't go to the polls anymore, because they believe that it wouldn't make a difference. In America, about 50% of the population take part in the election, at the most! That's the reason we have a president that has only been elected by 20% of the public. But just because it is like that doesn't mean that it can stay like that. I'm really proud of all the young people out there who protest and get involved.
SJM: Okay, back to the music. What are your biggest influences?
Kevin: Elliott Smith, Nirvana, Pavement, Sonic Youth Superchunk, Cat Power, Beatles, Pixies, REM, Smith.
SJM: Your favorite albums at the moment?
Kevin: Wilco, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Postal Service, the last Johnny Cash, Modest Mouse - by the way a great political songwriter. Very metaphoric.
SJM: What's your attitude towars file sharing?
Kevin: Don't have a problem with it. I don't earn money with the music anyway. And when you're fucking Eminem and selling 6 million records, and then accuse fat kids for downloading songs in their bedrooms, then it's ridiculous. I see it a bit split. On one hand, I'd like to sell my records because I have to pay my return ticket. But I'm on the internet a lot and I think it's good that more people can listen to my music that way. And whoever likes the records, buys them. And if it's only every tenth person. I don't believe people really "steal" music, that's a mtyh. The statistics prove it.
SJM: What are your plans for the future?
Kevin: Go on. I have found a great booking agent in America. This guy does Wilco, the Eels, Patti Smith and Ryan Adams. I have no idea why he wants to book me, but he does. That's great. Furthermore, now there is the promotion for the new album. College radios and so on.
SJM: Do you write on tour?
Kevin: Yes, I always write. Today I wrote two half-songs. At the moment I'm not yet thinking about recording the new record, but if somebody put a gun to my head, I'd have enough material for an album.
SJM: A word to your fans?
Kevin: I'm really happy about being on tour and travelling. That's why I want to thank everybody who comes to my shows and makes that possible.
That was a nice close by Kevin and no doubts were left about him being serious, when later he sang his heart out until late in the night for two hours and was was still funny.
Stefan