On 16th September, Yello vocalist Deiter Meier made his UK debut at the Jazz Café in London as part of the Out Of Chaos album project.
hiapop Blog caught up with
him before the show and had a little chat.
hiapop:
The reception to Out Of Chaos was superb (we called it ‘genius’), did it match your own expectations?
Deiter Meier:
Absolutely. I played my songs to the producers and gave them total
freedom to arrange them their way. It was a great pleasure to be a guest in my
own songs.
You’re performing at the Jazz Café on 16 September.
Will this just be for the Out Of Chaos or will you be performing a few
other surprises?
My performance with Out of Chaos is full of
surprises.
You could have chosen any walk of life you wanted,
why did you choose music and in particular, experimentalism?
I wanted the music to be Out Of Chaos. And
this is exactly what this production is all about.
One of the founder members of Yello, Carlos Peron
left the group in the early 80s. Are you still in touch?
I’ve not heard from Peron in the last 25 years.
Did you encourage your children to follow a career
in music?
I would never encourage my children to follow any
career. Nevertheless the youngest of four, Francis a gifted electro-acrobat who
spends his weekends in his tiny studio with friends.
Can I buy a good wine for less than £5?
Yes, if you spend about two weeks to find it!
I’m coming for a meal, what are we having?
A healthy piece of 100% Argentinian grass-fed Black
Angus.
Boris is soon to release an album of Yello outtakes
and rarities, can we expect you to get together for another album?
We have a lot of fun in the studio right now with
our next album to be released in February 2015.
You released the single The Rhythm Divine with the
amazing Dame Shirley Bassey, how was she to work with?
Incredibly professional. Because of a delayed
plane, I was an hour late for the studio and Mrs. Bassey had already recorded
eight takes, each one better than the other.
You also worked with the late Billy MacKenzie – he
had an extraordinary voice didn’t he?
Billy was a dear friend. His voice was divine.
Do you still play golf?
Every day, if it's possible. Golf is the only
Zen-budistic discipline the western world has invented.
Critically you have great success in the UK but
commercially maybe not as much. Does this bother you?
Not at all. Our only task is "to become like
children” (Jesus Christ). Success is a funny, sometimes dangerous side-effect.
Your voice on Out Of Chaos seems deeper than
before. Was this intentional?
No, but "Oh Yeah" was pretty deep, wasn’t
it?
Will you ever tire of hearing The Race and Oh Yeah?
I don’t know. I'm never looking or listening into
the past.
Are there any artists old or new that still excite
you?
Many! All introduced to me by my son, Francis, with
whom I have long weekly internet sessions.
What does the future hold?
Of course Yello, including 12 videos for the new
album, a feature film "White Fear' which will be shot in Berlin next year,
and, the launch of the chocolate brand "XOC" based on the extraction
of cacao beans method invented by the Maya in 1200 years BC.
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