NME2: GRANT GEE AND MICHAEL HOROWITZ

 

Pleased to see in the same issue tips to the hat for two of The Generalist’s favourite people, both of whom I have done extensive interviews with.

Following the NME’s cover story on the upcoming Stone Roses documentary by Shane Meadows, the paper features a Top 10 line-up of the greatest examples of rock movie-making. Included is Grant Gee’s very excellent Radiohead movie ‘Meeting People Is Easy’ which follows the band on their exhausting world tour in support of their 1997 album ‘OK Computer.’ Its unusual and insightful into the realities of global promotion. The band burn out in front of your eyes.

My favourite of Grant’s film to date is the brilliant Joy Division documentary he made with Jon Savage. You can read my excitable early review of the film.

My lengthy 2008  interview with Grant about the making of the film is on the AUDIO GENERALIST site.

Grant also shot and edited [with Mat Whitecross] the remarkable doc ‘Scott Walker: 30 Century Man’ for which David Bowie was Executive Producer.

Most recently I watched with great interest ‘Patience’, Grant’s most recent film following the journey the late writer W.G. Sebald made across Suffolk, which formed the basis of his now famous book ‘The Rings of Saturn’. Beautifully shot on b&w film stock , the subject suits perfectly Grant’s multilevel collage film-making approach. Three-quarters of the way through I remembered that I still had Grant’s number in my book (yes I still have a phone book). The number still worked, Grant was at home and a few days later we met up at the Lewes Arms for a catch-up. I’m sworn to secrecy at present about his next documentary project but it promises to be interesting. There’s a great 2001 interview with Sebald here. Also a great post on Richard Skinner’s blog on Max Sebald’s Writing Tips.

 

Good to also see the great British poet Michael Horovitz in the NME. He recently performed at the Albert Hall with Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn from Blur with Paul Weller (on drums!!). The results of their collaboration is a full album and single to be released on Record Store Day.

I conducted a long in-depth interview with Mike on 25th October 2007 which can be found on the AUDIO GENERALIST site. I was pleased to discover today that my interview is also linked via Mike’s Wikipedia site.

This followed my attendance at a launch event in September  that year for his magnum opus ‘A New Waste Land’. See full report and picture here. Mike has done more than any other single person to promote and develop poetry in Britain over the last 50 years at least. Hats off to this man.