When the Tindersticks came to London from Nottingham almost 30 years ago to record the songs for their debut, they immersed themselves in a vibrant music scene, an ideal biotope for a band that had nothing to do with mainstream Britpop trends.
Back in 1993, I met Stuart A. Staples for the first time. During the interview at the Hotel Hafen Hamburg, he presented himself as a dandy, who seemed stranger to nothing than dealing with the laws and rules of the music business. The Tindersticks, that’s what fascinates me about them to this day, existed in their own cosmos of pulp poetry, exaggerated tragedy and voluptuous melancholy.
In the fall of 2013, I met Staples again. The occasion was the anniversary album “Across Six Leap Years”, artfully equipped with new interpretations of old own songs. Staples, a father in his late 40s who is still dandyish but graying with dignity, who has lived in the French countryside for a long time, was more modest than he was then, he has come to know the hardships of the business.
Tindersticks have reinvented themselves
In a quiet voice, he tells me in a Berlin café how a few years ago he almost lost faith in his talent as a musician. The consequence was the dissolution of the Tindersticks and the attempt at a solo career, which above all served self-discovery. Today, after several grandiose late works like “The Something Rain”, the band, although aged and matured, seems almost as vital as in the early days.
Meanwhile, with their own label, Lucky Dog, the Tindersticks also have to position themselves broadly in order to be able to make a living for up to four band members and their families: “A little here, a little there, then it all adds up,” says Staples . Record sales and tour earnings are a big part, but it’s not for nothing that the band is repeatedly hired for soundtrack scores and also provided the music for a major exhibition in Belgium about the First World War for the first time.
All of this is done with passion, but also to be able to pay the bills.
The archive text comes from the series “ROLLING STONE turns 20. Our Heroes”, which was published for the 20th anniversary of ROLLING STONE.
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