By Christopher David<\/p>\n
In The Loop Magazine’s, Christopher David, got a chance to talk with Miki Berenyi (singer\/guitarist) of Lush this week and they discussed many things going on in the Lush camp. They discussed the recent reunion, the current tour and the bands unmistakable sound. Rising as a leader in the Shoegazing scene in the late 80’s, they produced some of the most iconic BritPop and Etherial music of a generation.<\/p>\n
The band, Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Phil King, are currently back together and with the assistance of Justin Welch filling in on drums, out on tour for the first time in 16 years. Just in time as next year, 2017, will mark the bands 30th anniversary. Here’s to hoping we get something special for that milestone. In the meantime, we get one of the Gen Xers\u00a0most Iconic british bands live and in our lives again.<\/p>\n
Interview with Miki Berenyi of Lush, September 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Christopher David (ITLM): <\/strong>So how did the Lush reunion come about?<\/p>\n Miki Berenyi:<\/strong> That\u2019s a tricky one to answer, as there were quite a lot of contributing factors. The idea of a reunion did come up probably about a decade ago, but I\u2019ll be honest, I was probably the most reluctant at that point. My children were still quite small and I didn\u2019t have any real urgent need to get back into it. But I\u2019d talked to people like Rachel from Slowdive, and she\u2019d said how great it was for them, and how they\u2019d had such a great time. I\u2019m not really on social media, but Emma and Phil floated the idea and said that there was a lot of interest out there, which actually really surprised me.<\/p>\n Also, I thought you know, if I\u2019m going to do this, I\u2019d better just bloody do it now, or I\u2019m going to be too old! *laughs* And even now, you know, I was thinking, I haven\u2019t played in twenty years, what\u2019s it going to be like? But also, Emma had met Jim (Abbiss) and Danny (Hunt, of Ladytron), who had expressed interest in making the Blind Spot<\/em> EP.\u00a0\u00a0 Suddenly all this stuff just felt like a proper team, and it was just a really nice, positive feeling. So I thought, actually, I\u2019m being the sticky wicket here, and it\u2019s a great opportunity.<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> It\u2019s interesting that you mention your being surprised about the renewed interest, because I\u2019ve talked to some bands from the same general era, and I\u2019ve gotten that same reaction, that they just didn\u2019t realize the fan base that was still there and clamoring for this. And your name always came up in those \u2018wish list\u2019 circles when it came to bands people wanted to see back together.<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: You know, I think it\u2019s because\u2014at least certainly for me\u2014my life has changed completely, I have a job, a family, so to actually get this up and running takes a lot of work. If you\u2019re someone who\u2019s been out there, and you\u2019re still gigging, it\u2019s just not that big a deal as you\u2019re already in that world. But when you have to get this whole thing cranked up, you have to feel like there\u2019s really interest there. I don\u2019t want to spend six months re-learning all the songs just to play in some fucking pub somewhere! *laughs*<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> So the Blind Spot<\/em> EP was sort of what locked you into doing this, the prospect of new material and being a functioning band again?<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: Well, to be mercenary, it\u2019s about the live show. That\u2019s where you really make any kind of money as a band, but Emma, in particular, enjoys the studio process more than playing live. So because she\u2019d already hooked up with Danny and he was interested in producing it, she was already one step in with that. And I was like, well, that\u2019s great, and I want to be involved, so if I can write the lyrics, that was it.<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> I can see how that would make something like this the undertaking that it is, particularly when you\u2019re a band with a history that\u2019s also comprised of people who do very specific things within that context, whether it\u2019s the music, the lyrics, whatever. You have a confluence of elements that allows it work.<\/p>\n MB:<\/strong> Exactly, and it came together quite organically, so fortunately we didn\u2019t have to \u2018mastermind\u2019 the whole thing.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve been asked why I didn\u2019t pursue a solo career or anything like that, and frankly, I just don\u2019t have that kind of motivation, I\u2019d rather go along with other people. So having that sort of team makes it a lot more fun.<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> And of course, in addition to Blind Spot<\/em>, there\u2019s Chorus<\/em>, the giant CD boxed set that came out last Christmas (Origami<\/em>, the vinyl counterpart, came out in April).\u00a0\u00a0 What was it like to help curate that and see your body of work from that perspective?<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: It was quite a lot of work! Obviously, 4AD thought that if we were going to reform, it was a great opportunity to put this boxed set together. So there was listening to all the stuff, different versions, B-sides, radio edits. I was actually quite surprised, because I thought, \u201creally? A boxed set?\u201d You know, you see like, a Pixies boxed set, and you think, well, yeah, they have a ton of material. But there\u2019s some bands where you see it, and you think, \u201cum, do they have enough for a boxed set?\u201d So if they can do it, we can, though it led to quite the busy year!<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> You really have managed to do a lot in a short amount of time! How did you go about then putting a setlist together for the tour, having just reviewed your whole career, revisiting the material, and fielding the fans who, of course, want to hear certain songs?<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: There are certain limits, even back when we were touring. Depending on the album, we\u2019d be doing a lot from that, and there were certain things that didn\u2019t really work or were really difficult, like \u201cWhen I Die\u201d or \u201cLast Night.\u201d There was quite a bit of stuff that we\u2019d either never played live or were just too difficult. And, there were certain things that people just didn\u2019t want to play. For example, Emma said, \u201ccan we please just not fucking play \u2018Single Girl\u2019?\u201d And I agreed that I felt a bit dumb at this point singing that as well.\u00a0\u00a0 With Justin (Welch, formerly the drummer of Elastica) in the band now, too, you want to make sure that everyone\u2019s enjoying themselves. We tried a whole bunch of stuff, and mainly just locked in on the ones that felt good.<\/p>\n ITLM: <\/strong>You mention feeling silly about playing a song like \u201cSingle Girl\u201d at this point in your career. In a broader context, has your perspective on your work changed over time? Are there certain things you like now more than you did then, or vice versa, in terms of how you relate to what you\u2019ve done, these years on?<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: Yeah, probably a bit. I always thought that Lovelife<\/em> (1996) was a bit of an anomaly. To be honest, it was really after Britpop, Britpop had hit already, and it followed the initial explosion. And it always felt like, on your side of the Atlantic, people thought, \u201coh, that\u2019s when they sold out and went Britpop,\u201d while in Britain, it was like, \u201coh, that\u2019s when they went really poppy.\u201d But I always felt like the music hadn\u2019t actually changed much from the tracks that were on the earlier records. Something like \u201cHypocrite\u201d is a pretty straightforward punky-pop song, but it just happened to be on Split<\/em> (1994). \u201cSingle Girl\u201d was originally written as a B-side, but because of the time in which it came about, it got picked up as a single. I don\u2019t think that six years before that anyone would have suggested that \u201cSingle Girl\u201d be the bloody single! It was a product of the time, I think.<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> In that context, I can hear songs like \u201cHypocrite\u201d or \u201cBlackout\u201d being products of their time as well, of the production that gave it that ethereal sound that sort of defined those earlier records.<\/p>\n MB<\/strong>: Absolutely, it was the emphasis that was different more than the music itself, I think.<\/p>\n ITLM:<\/strong> Well, as a long-time fan, I have to say how happy I am to have you back.<\/p>\n