For 13 years now, Neil Hannon has been plugging away at producing beautiful, sweeping albums that have led everyone from Air to movie execs asking if he will be a part of their projects. Hannon is now out with his tenth album, Victory for the Comic Muse, and tells us about the muse for Comic Muse, letting nothing stand in the way of your music and Celebrity Big Brother being his own personal ring of hell.Q: What I like about the new album is the classical and beautiful music to airy and often humourous lyrics. What was your reasoning behind the juxtaposition?
A: I suppose the juxtaposition was actually that genres skip widely from one style to the next. Either that or the action/stories in the songs are very different from one another.
Reason is that I didn’t have any overarching theme to the record. In fact, I wasn’t actually planning to make a record, to be honest, and I was doing lots of other projects last year but alongside those projects I just wrote lots of music really and soon enough I realized I had far too many songs and I ought to make a record.
The fact that I didn’t really think about it too much is the reason for its jumpy-about nature.
Q: Victory for the Comic Muse references your first album, Fanfare for the Comic Muse. Was the album a reflection back to that time? Maybe thinking about youth, especially with the track 'Too Young to Die’?
A: No– I only realized after the event that journalists would make a big deal about the similarities. Victory for the Comic Muse comes from a quote from my favorite book– A Room With A View– and I changed it slightly for that little mini album (Fanfare for the Comic Muse) all those years ago as a witty play on [Aaron Copeland’s] Fanfare for the Common Man. Wasn’t very witty but– nevermind.
I watched the movie for the 1500th time and thought it fit what I’m doing now. I suppose the main victory is that I’m still here making records after all that time.
Q: I recently watched a program about the revival of crooners featuring Adam Green, Robbie Williams and yourself. Do you think it is important to keep up this musical tradition? Do you find yourself trying to play a role in that? Do you have any specific musical influences in that arena?
A: What program was this? I don’t remember that documentary but not to say I don’t have a good memory.
Jen: It was one I saw in Barcelona on a music station. It was all in Spanish but I could hear a bit of what you said under the announcer translating.
Crooners– well, you see, I never sort of really thought about myself as a crooner. I think it’s just as how I sing. And I suppose it comes from listening to Scott Walker among other things. I’m a moderate fan of Rat Pack-y type stuff– but not vastly.
I think the reason it seems I’m crooning is more of I’m just trying to sing in tune and enunciate properly. And I try to enunciate because I want people to know what I’m singing about– untready.
Q: Working on the Charlotte Gainsbourg album must have been an amazing experience. What is it like collaborating with such industry heavyweights as Air and Jarvis Cocker? How did you get involved with the project?
A: Well Nigel Godrich produced my 2001 effort and he’s just a really good friend and I think he was already making the record for about six months with Charlotte and Air and it was just a problem that Jean-Benoit from Air – his English lyrics sound great when he sings with a cute French accent but Charlotte doesn’t have accent– sounded odd. So Nigel asked me to come over and write words [and] I said yeah because it’s just too cool.
I only ended up doing five days in total and it’s quite full on. Nice to challenge yourself to do something you never tried before.
Q: You have been very prolific over the years, is it more exciting to work on your own work or be involved in different projects (Dr Who, Hitchhikers, Father Ted etc)?
A: In the end it’s more satisfying to do your own thing because nobody can tell you what to do really but you can get very narrow minded when its just you, you, you. So it’s really nice to be asked to do other vastly different things. Widens the envelope.
Q: We have a lot of musicians who are just starting out who read this site, especially ones who may be critically acclaimed but haven’t seen that translate to widespread success. Any advice to give anyone out there struggling to make a name for themselves?
A: Always a tricky one. You don’t want to come across patronizing. You have to absolutely 100% believe you are as good as you think and are, not that you sort of think ‘these are my humble offerings– see if you like them– they are probably rubbish.’ [That] doesn’t work.
You have to let nothing stand in your way. I don’t mean by trampling over other people though– [It’s] important to keep doing it if you get knocked back.
Q: Ok, enough with the serious: The Divine Comedy talks about the different circles of hell. What would your own circle of hell be like?
A: Easy– really if I woke up one morning and found myself on “Celebrity Big Brother”. When most of celebrities are celebrities because they are on “Big Brother” in the first place– sort of celebrities famous for nothing. Famous for having face in magazines and on TV but you can’t remember why they are there in the first place.
Q: And lastly, have you really read The Divine Comedy? Be honest now.
A: I’m always honest to a fault– I got to about the fourth circle of hell and thought ‘oh shag it I can’t be bothered’. I know what happened– I read the synopsis on the back. Have you tried? It’s bloody difficult.
Jen: Yes I have Neil and yes it is. I think that is my circle of hell.
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