Dublin electropop veterans Blink release Every Day Is A Black Day From Today this Friday, their first single in 15 years. We asked frontman Dermot Lambert the BIG questions . . .
The track is the first of a slew of archive material from the band, who also featured Bar Campbell, Brian McLoughlin and Robbie Sexton, due for release in the coming months.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment about Every Day Is A Black Day From Today, Lambert, who also presents Garageland on RTÉ 2XM, says, "It was written by me as an interesting break away from the music that Blink was making at the time, we were moving more into full electronica, even though we didn't know it was called that yet, and by 1998 we had created The High Is High for our new USA label, Paradigm Records.
"They were mad up for some of the music we were making, comparing us to Prodigy, we didn't mind, as comparisons off the back of our debut album Map Of The Universe were so diverse anyway.
"However, some of the really good stuff we'd written (A Bank In Brazil, The Boy In The Bookshop, Every day Is A Black Day) simply didn't fit on the album, so we held them over for the third album, which ultimately got so delayed that the same process happened again, with half of the material I wrote never making it onto our album Deep Inside The Sound Of Sadness.
"The upshot of all this is that we have about two albums worth of great material that we simply never released, so I'm addressing that now, for myself as a songwriter, as well as the many people who were on that journey with us, and also for the legacy of Blink, who I loved playing in and being a part of, alongside so many great friends, supporters and colleagues."
A full album of previously unreleased Blink material from this era is scheduled for winter release, and the band are asking fans for suggestions for a name for the upcoming LP.
Tell us three things about yourself?
My kids are taller than me.
I have no fashion sense.
I always seem to end up bringing out new music, and luckily I'm not driven by money (that's four, I know).
How would you describe your music?
Well I always try to go with a story, and then I create music around that story. Lately I've been thinking that I just should have been writing stories, although I do like the way my music turns out sometimes. I love fiddling with a line or a riff for ages, sometimes it's very frustrating, but I'm very happy with the body of work I've created over the past 30 or more years.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I started off as an angry little punk rocker, hated music completely until I saw the Sex Pistols on Top of The Pops in 1977, but that's a long time ago. Certainly, the early electronic music energised my imagination (Gary Numan and co), and then later I discovered Neil Young and Bob Dylan. I'm really trying hard to be a Beatles fan so that I can one day sit and watch endless documentaries about how great George Harrison was, I'm working on it. I do like Moby too, and Flaming Lips.
How did you occupy yourself during the coronavirus lockdown?
I actually managed to use this time very well, I think. I spent tons of time with my wife Clara and the two kids, lots of hikes up the mountains, and trips into Dublin when we were allowed, then got to spend time with family on Zoom a good bit. We had a Friday quiz - there's 10 of us Lambert brothers and sisters still here, scattered across the planet, so that was nice. I did little bits of work; I work a lot with young people in music. And, of course, I got to finish some material I've been working on, as well as releasing Blink previously unreleased catalogue.
What's your favourite song right now?
Celebrity Skin by Hole - it's just stuck there in the ceann, for weeks now, and it's never not brilliant.
Favourite lyric of all time?
'Headlights pointed at the dawn' – 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. Sometimes, like anybody I'm sure, I hear a line and think 'how did he/she come up with that? Wow!' Sums up so much of my life.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?
What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Where can people find your music/more information?
I'm on all the platforms (Spotify, Apple etc) as Dermot Lambert, and also Blink is pretty well available now too - if anybody wants to say hello or send some random insults, then get me on.
www.garageland.ie, Mondays at 7pm on RTÉ 2XM
