David Travis invites Rob Holliday to the studio to talk about his life with Marilyn Manson, The Prodigy and his band Sulpher

Nick Halkes did a guest talk at Point Blank Music School

Part 2 gets into creating XL and signing The Prodigy at 15 minutes in...

https://youtu.be/6jFiR3rXibg

Interview in a local norwegian newspaper, Bergensavisen June 8th 2018

Translated here :

https://justpaste.it/4ijbh

What was the point of that interview?

They're playing on a festival here in Norway in July! What's the point of ANY interview? :p

Nice interview with Leeroy about his new stuff, lots of prodigy talk as well:

https://ukf.com/words/we-need-to-talk-a ... hill/22186

For most fans you were first known as a dancer. Let’s start by getting a scope of your development as an artist…

Well I was DJing before I did anything else, aged about 15. Beat mixing had hardly been invented back then, it was all hip-hop, rare groove and funk with me and a mate playing bars in town. Then I got into the band. It sounds funny hearing me described as a ‘dancer’ even now. I’d just get up on stage and bust a few moves! It’s a bit embarrassing. But I was playing on stage, even from the first gig we had with the band. Liam only had one (Roland) W30 and we needed two to play it live. I’d take that spare one home and practice on it. I can tell you a few things about that let me tell you…

Tell me!

Well Liam was an absolute genius on that synth, and any synth, but one day we were talking and I said ‘you know you can quantize and copy and paste?’ He was like ‘what? Really?’ On the Experience album he played every single drum hit that came from that synth personally. Every hi-hat, every kick, every snare. He played it all by hand! His focus was on the music and not the technical aspects. But his brain is on another level mate.

Twenty-seven years after their debut single 'Charly', Liam, Keith and Maxim are still storming every stage as if it were a heavily armed fortress to be captured. Punishment, taken into account that the group has long since nothing to prove, that every regular group member is now almost 50 or the 50 over, and that even the maniceclown haircut of Keith has had a receding hairline for years.

The Prodigy has sold more than thirty million records worldwide over the past decades and has two Guinness world records: their 'The Fat of the Land' is the fastest selling dance record of all time, in its own country already good for 317,000 copies in the first week. And they are the only electronic group that ever had ten singles at once in the UK Top 100, on April 20, 1996.

The organizers of the Lokerse Feesten usually try to program one genre per day, but The Prodigy is predominantly preceded by Belgian hip-hop bands in Lokeren, such as STIKSTOF, Le 77, Blu Samu and 't Hof van Commerce. Liam Howlett is known as a perfectionist and a neurot, would he have explored the competition?

Liam Howlett (producer, songwriter and founder) «I have never heard of those bands. But I promise to take time in Lokeren to listen to a few Belgian bands. Actually, I want to hear especially if they have something to say. "

HUMO Dust off your West-Flemish. What is the ideal festival poster for you?

Howlett "May it also be with groups that no longer exist? I do not need a line-up of eight groups, I prefer to opt for a double bill. The Beastie Boys - rest in peace, MCA - and The Prodigy, that's it. The power and energy of the two, what more do you need? »

HUMO Are you still following the competition? What do you think for example the best record of 2018?

Howlett «Fuck knows ... I have not heard anything this year that I really like. A few things that were okay, but even nothing has stuck. That says enough. Most music today is so vulgar, so middle of the road, so boring. Made by sheep, everyone copies everyone. "

HUMO A year ago Leftfield, companions of The Prodigy, was at the Lokerse Feesten. They then played the integral 'Leftism', all tracks in exactly the same order as on their record from 1995. Would you ever do the same thing, and which of your records is the most appropriate?

Howlett (blows) «No. I would do something like that if I was really in financial trouble. The Prodigy only looks ahead. In the studio I sometimes play old tracks, but bring a complete old record live? I would be bored stony. "

HUMO According to setlist.fm, no song by The Prodigy is played as often as 'Breathe': 806 times in total. More than a hundred times more often than number two, 'Firestarter'.

Howlett «'Breathe' is not our favorite song. 'Take Me to the Hospital': that is the highlight of every Prodigy performance for me. We love that song. "

HUMO In 2015, at a Prodigy concert, I lost my portfolio in the moshpit during 'Voodoo People'. Have you ever lost something during a Prodigy concert while you were playing?

Howlett «Except my head? I would not know. As soon as I am on stage, I change into a totally different person. I then have no control over what I do. I would not even realize it if I lost something, and it would not really matter to me at that moment. "

HUMO Do you still have concrete memories of your previous concerts in Belgium, or do all these performances merge into one blurry spot in your memory over time?

Howlett "I remember everything."

HUMO Which performance in Belgium stands out?

Howlett "Every gig."

HUMO Okay. What is the strangest compliment you have ever received on one of your records or performances?

Howlett "I was called by David Copperfield, the world-famous illusionist. He told me he liked 'Smack My Bitch Up'. (Grijnst) That surprised me nothing (Copperfield has been indicted several times for alleged sexual violence, ed.). He wanted to use our song for one of his shows, but I said no. "

HUMO A young band constantly has firsts, new experiences. The first concert, the first record, the first manager that can not be trusted ... But what is the most recent first of The Prodigy?

Howlett "In any case, we have had that rogue manager, but that has been a long time ago. We recently played in India for the first time. Nice. We like to go to places where we never were before, to spread the noise. We will always look for new corners of the world, just because we will always continue to act. We only stop when we drop down, or when we really notice that people are no longer interested in us. "

HUMO 'Music for the Jilted Generation' is almost a quarter of a century old, but the album still sounds like it was made three years ago. What makes this album so timeless, do you think?

Howlett «Fuck knows. I do not even want to know. I never analyze my own music, I leave that to people like you. "


HUMO Soon 'No Tourists' will be released, your seventh. It was first announced for January of this year. Why has the release been postponed?

Howlett (surprised) "Nothing has been postponed. Maybe I was lying when I was talking about January, maybe not. Who cares? The release is now scheduled for November. "

HUMO In 2015 you said that The Prodigy would never release a full album, only EPs and singles.

Howlett "I did not want to make a record because it takes so much time. But this time it happened to be much faster than usual. Before I knew it, I had six finished tracks. The whole process felt good, we had a good concept and therefore a good reason to make another record. So, yeah ... But we would never just release a record. We gotta keep it real.

»I want to do it all as simple as possible and keep the strings in my hands. I have produced and mixed 'No Tourists' myself. As I mixed all our biggest songs ourselves. 'Firestarter', 'Breathe', 'Smack My Bitch Up': no ​​one else was there with his legs. I have to do it myself. A few weeks in a big studio camping and have to watch how someone else is tinkering with my songs for too long: I could not bear it. Boring!

»Before I make a track, I always put myself in a state of mind that most closely resembles that of a madman. I bring myself to the edge of madness. That is the only way for me to make fresh music. Nothing is more deadly for creativity than always repeating the same, safe working process.

»'No Tourists' sounds like an evil rave. It's The Prodigy at its very best. "

HUMO How does your audience differ in 2018 from those who came to The Prodigy in about 1998?

Howlett "It is noticeable that people now let themselves go much more than they used to. That depends on how the world has evolved. It has not gotten any better, and people now have even more need to occasionally escape reality, to let go of steam. Great for us: The Prodigy is made to let steam in. »

The Prodigy will play at the Lokerse Feesten on 9 August. Info & tickets: lokersefeesten.be

https://www.humo.be/humo-archief/393061/raven-als-de-beesten-the-prodigy-op-de-lokerse-feesten