A DEEP LOVE OF THE MYTH.
Interview with Chris Connelly by Diego Centurión
Photographs by Derick Smith.
Beyond this tribute, how important has Lou Reed been in your life, both musically and personally? Do you feel that his approach to music and artistic creation influenced your own path as a musician?
It still does to this day. I have grown to appreciate his writing more and more.
When I discovered Lou Reed in the ’70s, he was “the godfather of punk” and also had a strong connection to Bowie. He was a figure from the streets that had bred Television, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, the New York Dolls, etc. So I fell for the rock myth.
His style of writing regularly echoed the types of noir crime fiction I adore, but also his poetry too. He is a steadfast influence, often because he so brilliantly blends fiction with reality to create something new: parts of his character are in the songs, but not all. Like any good writer, he uses experience to create a new fiction.
In “Bye Bye Johnny Viola”, John Cale, Andy Warhol and Sterling Morrison appear, all key figures in the world of The Velvet Underground. This makes me think about the moment you first discovered the band's music. What memories do you have of that first listen? How did their music first reach your ears, and what impression did it make on you?
It still does to this day. I have grown to appreciate his writing more and more.
When I discovered Lou Reed in the ’70s, he was “the godfather of punk” and also had a strong connection to Bowie. He was a figure from the streets that had bred Television, Patti Smith, Richard Hell, the New York Dolls, etc. So I fell for the rock myth.
His style of writing regularly echoed the types of noir crime fiction I adore, but also his poetry too. He is a steadfast influence, often because he so brilliantly blends fiction with reality to create something new: parts of his character are in the songs, but not all. Like any good writer, he uses experience to create a new fiction.
I bought “the banana album” in 1980. I was deeply into Throbbing Gristle at the time and had read comparisons, and there were a lot, spiritually if not always musically.
From “Sunday Morning” to “European Son,” it was a remarkable album. At the time I was 15 and had a very robust taste in music, from things like post-punk through Leonard Cohen and Captain Beefheart, so the Velvets were not only a revelation, but they made sense as well.
If I had been around in the ’60s and heard it (like David Bowie did), I am sure it would have had a far bigger impact, but coming to me during “post-punk,” it was easier to accept, I suppose.
Doo Wop in the Dark features 21 tracks, an unusual length in these times of immediacy, when it seems increasingly difficult to devote time to truly listening to music. Personally, I see releasing an album like this as a beautiful slap in the face of the times we're being pushed to live in. How did you come to make such an extensive record? Was it a narrative necessity in telling Lou Reed's story, or was there also an intention to challenge the way music is consumed today?
I didn’t think about that!!! No, I actually had to edit it a lot. There are 5 or 6 songs that didn’t make it! Much to my detriment, I suppose.
I don’t think about attention spans. The story could not be edited any more without it starting to lose narrative logic, really.
I don’t intend to challenge anyone. If people listen, I am really very grateful!
I still listen to whatever I buy, and actually, my son, who is 20, has always carefully listened to an entire album if he buys one. He wants the whole picture, as do I.
The album moves through a remarkably diverse range of sounds. There are moments of intense rock that bring to mind the abrasive experimentation of Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, passages where the experimental spirit of your industrial years seems to resurface, and others that move closer to acoustic songwriting. Listening to it, I wondered whether, beyond exploring Lou Reed's story, this album might also represent, in some way, a journey through your own musical past. Do you see it that way?
Not at all, but I can appreciate this point of view.
To me, my past is the sum of the things I either learned or like to use when I am creating something new. Just like any painter, writer, actor, you come to the new project with a fresh approach, looking to the future, but you bring with you all your tools, and no expectations. Otherwise, it becomes reputation.
I am proud of my past (mostly), but far too excited about creating something new. People like Lou Reed were the same.
I imagine that writing an album of this nature and scope couldn't have been a simple process. But what I find particularly fascinating and compelling about the project is the way you intertwine the story of an artist you admire with your own memories and experiences. How long had you been thinking about making this album? And during its development, how many times did you find yourself wondering whether you were crazy to take on such an ambitious project?
I thought I was being absolutely RIDICULOUS, taking on a challenge like this, which made it even more of a challenge. But once I was in it, I became immersed and very dedicated.
My guiding light told me to be respectful at all times, and remember, this is MY impression of Lou Reed, from being a fan, from listening, reading the biographies and the interviews, over the past 50 years.
I didn’t know him, so it’s my perception based on research and a deep love of the myth.
Listening to the album and reading the lyrics of your own compositions, I get the impression that a considerable amount of research into Lou Reed's life went into this project. Which books, documentaries, interviews or other sources did you draw upon to reconstruct his story? During that research, did you discover any episodes or aspects of his personality that you hadn't known about and that changed the way you saw him?
I have read most of the bios, but Aidan Levy’s Dirty Blvd. and Bettye Kronstad’s Perfect Day are the best, in my opinion.
And then there is the myth, my own mythologizing of Lou Reed. I would sit for hours listening to the live album Rock ’n’ Roll Animal, trying to imagine what it was like onstage, what was it like the day of the show, what was it like on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn in 1973?
There is a very interesting story about the album Berlin in Bettye Kronstad’s book (she was Lou’s first wife), which I won’t tell you, because I want people to buy her book. She is a sweetheart and a friend who I recently got to know.
For a 21-track album with such a wide range of sounds, it's striking that you worked with such a small group of musicians. Why did you decide to keep the lineup so limited? Considering that the recording and mixing process extended from 2023 to 2026, did you have a clear idea of the arrangements and what you wanted from each musician from the very beginning, or did the songs evolve through rehearsals, recording sessions and experimentation over those years?
I tend to make my music on my own, and then ship them out to my close collaborators to work on them.
I will work in my home studio. My longtime collaborator Chris Bruce will then work on what I have given him as a producer, musician and arranger.
Though I started the record in 2023, I took a break for a couple of years. Chris Bruce got too busy, so I worked on other projects.
I then felt the need earlier this year to finish it, so I asked my friend Alan Holden Berliant, who is a producer, to help me finish it.
Choosing a body of work like Lou Reed's to engage with, reinterpret and, in a way, make your own strikes me as an act of considerable artistic courage. The result even has something of a theatrical quality, as though we're watching someone else's life unfold through your own perspective. But what fascinates me most is the audacity of taking on such a creative adventure. At a time when seeking media approval and meeting other people's expectations often seem to take precedence, I find this album a particularly exciting artistic response.
How did you confront the risk of creatively making such an important story your own? To what extent did you worry that it might be a bad idea? Did you share those concerns with anyone during the process? Is there someone you trust, a kind of artistic sounding board, whom you turn to when facing creative decisions of this magnitude?
I don’t ever consult with anyone. If it feels right, do it.
I have always confounded other people’s expectations, right from when my first solo album Whiplash Boychild came out in 1991, the same time as I was a full-time Revolting Cock!
It really pissed off a lot of people, but that was not my intention.
I have always had a broad palate of musical tastes. Remember earlier in this interview, I mention listening to Leonard Cohen as a teen at the same time I was listening to bands like Throbbing Gristle and Nurse With Wound.
I will watch a Tarkovsky film on the same day I watch a Jennifer Aniston comedy.
I have never sought an audience’s approval, and it’s definitely cost me, but I was not about to form a Nine Inch Nails or Skinny Puppy type of band (Eight Inch Nails?) or a Ministry soundalike when the real things exist.
I am not proud of that. I am not saying I am better than that. It’s just the way I am as an artist.
Looking back at all your previous work, do you consider Doo Wop in the Dark to be your most daring and creatively complex album to date?
No, I don’t. I think it’s an accomplishment, and I love it and I am deeply proud, but I can’t think of the artistic merits of my past works while I am here in the present.
If I did that, I feel like self-doubt might rear its head, and that’s a waste of time for me in my creative life.
I hope I am improving as an artist, and I hope that I have developed a greater empathy through the character I have been studying in Lou Reed.
With the album just released, the time has come for people to discover it and start listening to it. We've already seen some videos accompanying its songs, but nowadays there are many other ways to extend the life of an album through social media, such as reels, music visualizers and lyric videos. Are you planning to explore any of these possibilities to further develop the world of Doo Wop in the Dark? And are there any plans to perform the album live? I imagine bringing a work of this nature to the stage could be an interesting challenge in itself.
I don’t know. I played with a band a few weeks ago, just a small, local show, and it was all Lou Reed compositions and it was a lot of fun.
I enjoy doing things like this interview, and will do what I can to extend the life of the album.
I just hope people who listen to it get something out of it.
You've just completed an extensive and compositionally complex album, while also revisiting your past through a reissue of earlier material. In a way, that past resurfaces in Doo Wop in the Dark, both musically and personally. And yet, I get the impression that you're an artist who, even when looking back, is always thinking about what comes next. After a project of this magnitude, what's next for Chris Connelly? Do you already have a new idea taking shape in your mind, or perhaps another project you're beginning to imagine or develop?Funnily enough, I am working on an album of Annette Peacock’s music right now. You are correct, I move forward. It’s a personal thing. I have never been able to sit and contemplate. I love what I do so much and I am so lucky to have this energy that gives me so much pleasure!
Thank You, Chris!
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