|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
jim
Niall Stokes:
With this record you took on responsibilities as a group which were
significantly greater than had been the cause before, in terms of shaping
the record, being involved in production. How did that affect the process?
Jim Corr:
Our attitude was - go it alone, see how far we get but of course be
very open to getting somebody else in if it's not right. And basically
that was the approach. We got Mitchell Froom to come in at the very end,
for about a 12-day period to tidy up. There are some songs that he didn't
touch, the he felt were good enough. We are to a large extent, self sufficient
but we've also aware of the fact that you can get cocooned and not see
the bigger picture as somebody outside the whole scenario would.
So in terms of this record, what are its strengths?
I think we can all feel there
has been a development in our song writing skills. I think we are getting
that little bit deeper. We're not afraid to explore different avenues,
sonically, so some of the song have a slightly rockier feel. I think there's
more soul in some of the songs. As a group I think we're getting more prolific
and we're getting better at it.
How does it feel to be the big brother and the senior musician?
Senior in age! (laughs) We're
all equally talented musician-wise, that's for sure. I don't know. I have
to make myself stand back and allow all the ideas to bear fruit because
I am very aware that in earlier days I was probably a bit too quick to
criticise but there is one thing about this band, a lot of these songs
are a pool of all our talents. That's what makes The Corrs. We're very
much a team. I don't feel there is any additional responsibility on me.
I do love production, I'd like to do that down the line. But we all produce,
we all arrange, we all song write. That's our strength.
As the big brother, do you feel you have to keep an eye out for the
others?
I do. I am very aware that they're
three strong girls and they are capable of looking after themselves but
I find myself getting more and more protective because our status has risen,
you can get increasingly worried that something could go horribly wrong.
We happen to be in the public eye, what we do might be slightly different
in that sense but essentially we're ordinary people. But some of the public,
a small minority don't see us as that. They idolise us and that can bring
all sorts of distortions in terms of people's perception and that worries
me a bit.
Are you thinking there of the media of the fans?
I'm thinking of eccentric fans,
I'm thinking crazed fans, you know, doing something stupid.
It's happened that people arrive in Dublin and try to find individuals
and that sort of thing.
Indeed it has. It certainly wasn't
helped by a journalist in the Sunday Independent printing the addresses
of my sisters. That was something that was unforgivable. With the advent
of the Internet, once anything is printed anywhere it's just out there.
Anybody who has a computer basically has it. So from that point of view
it is worrying. I think we're lucky with the music we play because the
type of fans that we meet are so respectful, so special but there can always
be the one mad person that decides to try something.
It must be strange being there and seeing your sisters with guys
all over the world adoring them. Does that kind of aspect of it ever get
to you, that there is a kind of predatorial thing around them?
Obviously I don't see my sisters
in the same light that another guy would but I would understand it. I will
not pass judgement on this unless it crosses a particular line. When we
were shooting the video in Times Square for 'Irresistible' Andrea did get
accosted by a group of Italian guys. I was watching and I could see that
she was starting to get distressed so I had to go over and had to start
pushing them away and shouting at them. As soon as they calmed down it
was okay but I did get a bit worried about it.
One of the great strength of the group is that it is a family and
things happen in a musical sense which are particular to that and are special
as the result of that. But it must also be constraining factor that you're
with people that you grew up with as kids and that there's all sorts of
internal dynamics that have to be dealt with.
There is that, definitely. You
can get away with being blunt with family members in a way that would never
be accept amongst strangers and it's not always acceptable either, it doesn't
excuse it but it is just the way it is among siblings. There is a history
as well, within each individual's mind that's kind of in the house. But
the thing is if you can handle a situation like this correctly, it can
be an excellent accelerator of personal growth because you show your vulnerabilities
that you have can simply be down to insecurity and once you start to see
the insecurity in yourself and you start to work on that, it can bring
out fantastic results. You get to know yourself better, get to like yourself
an awful lot more.
Is there a bully in the family?
I think when I was younger I might
have been a bit of a bully but certainly not now. I think I get bullied,
the three girls bully me! (laughs( No they don't, we get on extremely well.
It wasn't always the case. When I was younger, I was a bit of a nasty brat
(laughs).
So what is the wildest thing you've done?
The wildest thing I've done? Well
I don't know if it's wild but I don't know if you can do anymore more extreme
than allowing yourself to confront death and I kind of did that when I
did a bungee jump. That was the most terrifying thing I have ever done.
I don't think I could do that again because I was literally confronting
death. I think if I had kids of my own there's no way I would have don't
it because the thrill comes from the fact that there's a possibility that
you might die doing this and what a rush it was. It was a helluva rush.
The Corrs have been depicted in a lot of places as a squeaky clean
band.
We're anything but, anything but.
I was going to say that the truth is that Jim Corr is a bit of a
party animal.
Well that was up to recently.
When I come home, having been out on the road, I can tend to party to extreme.
I absolutely love socialising, I love going out with my friends, I love
meeting new people and it is a big release for me. Yu are working so intensively
within The Corrs whether it's promo or live touring, that you want to run
from it. That's why we try to get breaks as often as we can, even just
three or four days at the end of two months, at least it's a break and
it's removed from The Corrs. So when I go home I tend to burn the candle
literally at both ends.
Is there a risk that when you don't have that intensity that you
need to fill that space - which is how the infatuation that people in showbusiness
or have with booze and drugs is often explain.
I think it's probably that, if
anybody is attracted to the spotlight, attracted to the adulation, they're
trying to satisfy the vacuum within themselves. Depending on how deep their
own insecurities go. Of course you realise after a while that that will
only fill that vacuum temporarily. It doesn't last. The most important
thing is that one works on themselves, on the growth of their character,
a sort of spiritual thing. I am not going to say that I don't enjoy it.
I do enjoy the fact that it is easier for me to get into nice restaurants.
Like I can phone up on a Saturday night and I generally get a table quickly
- that's a nice thing. You kind of appreciate the little perks but at the
same time, I have not gone into the music business for adulation, no way.
I did not get into the music business to get put up on the pedestal because
I am not comfortable with that. I don' think at the end of the day that
there is anything different between me and anybody else on the planet.
What might you have been otherwise?
When I was a kid, about 9 or 10,
I wanted to be a traindriver because we were right beside this railway
line and I love trains. I went through the whole notion of being a helicopter
pilot and I sort of dabbled a little bit in electronics. I was interested
in that but nothing would have steered me away from music. Even when I'd
lapse or hate getting piano lessons, I'd always love the music itself.
It was pretty evident that I was going to have a career in music. I just
didn't know doing what until I was 21 and decided to join a band and tour
and we toured around Germany and all the army bases, not the greatest of
gigs but it was a great experience. It was at that point that I decided
to turn professional.
Where do you think you'll be in 10 years' time?
In our situation it is very hard
to tell. I'm in a band with three girls and they are women who are going
to want to settle down to a certain extent and want to have children and
that is going to impede the direction that the band will go in, to a certain
extent. That is not to say that we are going to stop but it could slow
down the operation considerably. We could become a studio band. Just write,
stay at home, going into the studio and record. It's kind of like a drug
in a sense, being on the road and it really does get into your veins, into
your system. It's something that you crave when you're away from it. I
find that when I've been at home for three weeks, it's like I've explored
partying, I've done all of that, I kind of get an itchy feet and thing,
'My God' maybe I'll travel, go to Galway or the west of Ireland. I'm always
drawn to get back on the road and I know the girls are the same so it's
really hard to tell. So in ten years' time I hope we'll be making music
and still successful together as a four or five piece unit and I hope that
I have a chance to explore a bit in terms of producing other bands as well.
What about the relationships - that must be a lot harder for somebody
who is going out on the road?
It's extremely hard. First of
all you think it's great, you think the way males think - from my perspective,
it does make it a lot easier to get women but the problem that you eventually
see is that women can be attracted to you for the wrong reasons and that
becomes a complete f**king pain in the arse. And also I find I hold back
so much more. If I see somebody that I like, I've definitely got the confidence
to go up to somebody and say "I like you, I'd like to take you out. Will
you come out for dinner?" but I've been scared by things that happened
in the past and I just stand back for ages before I'd actually make a move
on somebody. The reason for that is I suppose I overestimated some girls
that I went out with and the very fact that I asked them out or that we
went out on one date, or whatever, they went around and told other people
about it in a way that I know was just trying to elevate themselves. It's
ridiculous.
Isn't it the thing that Bob Geldof or any number of pop stars read
about themselves when somebody they slept with does a kiss and tell job
in a newspaper?
Thankfully that hasn't happened
to me - that must be horrendous and when that does happen, you know, I
think we are all human at the end of the day, of course we are and we all
have the capacity to make mistakes - not that every making love episode
might be a mistake - but you've just got to be very careful. I stand way
back, it takes me a long time now.
That must be a bit of a restriction!
It's terrible because I'm only
home for such a small period of time. You know I think life would be a
bit easier if I suffered from infantilism, do you know what I mean? Like
certain rock stars do? Like certain Formula One people do? I've urges like
every single other guy has on the planet, in terms of wanting to make love
to women but my brain is certainly not ruled by my penis.
Do you look at it and think that the prospect of building a life
with somebody is a risk for you?
Absolutely. I mean that's what
I am aiming for. I am not afraid to say that. I would love to find somebody
that I gel with on every level, intellectually, emotionally, chemically,
physically and I'm kind of hoping that it will hit me right between the
eyes when I do come across that person. I'm no saint - I'm not afraid to
have fun in the meantime it's not to say that I don't. I do but I'm very,
very careful. You have to be because what I was explaining to you earlier.
So your trust was abused?
I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't
say that my trust was abused. I think I was guilty of overestimating certain
people.
That's very enigmatic!
It's true! The blame can only
be put on me. It is so easy to be blinded by superficial looks or superficial
beauty in a girl, that's what I find. It's so easy to let the brain switch
off and to dive right in. I don't mean literally but just throwing caution
to the wind.
That is an interesting aspect of being a star and living in a slightly
strange world. Is it possible to step out of that into what people think
of as normal?
When viewed from the outside,
what we do can be seen as an abnormal world and adulation is very difficult
for people to deal with. I understand why a lot of young people when they
are subjected to the adulation go completely off the rails but we've surrounded
ourselves with people who are essentially themselves, very normal, intelligent,
caring, compassionate people. Grounded people. And I know that we're grounded
ourselves. I've remained friends with my old buddies who always see me
as the way I am.
That bollocks Jim!
That bollocks Jim! Whatever way
they see me, it's never as the Jim Corr I've become in other people's eyes.
The thing is we haven't changed but people's perception of us are different.
Even when I go to the supermarket it is very hard for me to adjust - and
this is just a personal thing - to people staring when I walk past them.
I understand a lot of people out there would really like that. It would
do something for them but doesn't for me. When I'm offstage, at home, in
Dublin I really do want to be treated as normal.
Abba had two blokes and two women and there was a certain sort of
gestalt involved in that but for you it's different because as the bloke
in The Corrs, you're kind of the odd one out- which is something people
joke about.
We should all be able to laugh
at ourselves and not take ourselves too seriously and so you know, when
I hear things like that, I generally get a good laugh out of it. The sketch
that French & Saunders did, it's great. It had me amongst the girls,
jumping up behind them trying to get attention saying 'Look at me!' We
showed it before the concerts in Wembley on the last tour and it was very
funny.
Right. You have time to give me your recipe. What's your speciality,
cooking at home?
Oh God. I used to be able to cook
a fantastic Indian dish and it was called Mattar Paneer - it's basically
Indian cottage cheese with peas. It look a lot of work but I was able to
make this dish extremely authentically. I love Indian food but I prefer
to have it as a novelty when I go out. As a simple dish, I cook an excellent
steak and chips.
What do you do? Just whack it on the pan?
I've got a grill pan - so you
get the pan as hot as possible, fire the steak on to it. Give it about
40 seconds each side then take the steak off, keep it hot. Put the onions
on, give them a minute then put some red wine in, reduce that, add some
cream, then salt and black pepper and that's it. Serve it with chips and
peas!
(end of Jim interview)