The Close-Ups

We didn't really know how to approach the Close-Ups, a cartoon band hailing from Teesside with three excellent seven inches under their belts: in the space of six songs and with the aid of a well crafted website they have indeed managed to create a small universe, so shiny and real we didn't really want to take a look behind the scenes. Did each characters had a corresponding player in the real world? Who did what inside the band? How can Abby Kirkella be so damn cute? Still, we had to know, and so here we are talking to Carl Green - the man behind The Close-Ups - eager to explain what it takes to lead a virtual band and what plans he has in store for his creations...

Where exactly is Teesside and what is good about it?

Teesside is in North East England. Unlike our more celebrated neighbours (Sunderland and Newcastle), there is no scene or music industry focus here. Teesside bands tend to exist in isolation, and that suits The Close-Ups fine. What's good about Teesside? Not much I'm afraid.

Since you are "the person behind" the Close-Ups I guess we'll have to talk about the band like it's you alone. But first: would you like to introduce the band to our readers?

The Close-Ups are Abby Kirkella on vocals and bass, Rake on guitar, Zack
MacKenzie on keyboards and Newton "Newt" Aycliffe on drums.

Did you have any musical experiences previous to the Close-Ups?

Plenty of musical experience! I've been in one band or another for most of my life. Nobody you'll have heard of though. My musical career is one of obscurity, near misses and what ifs.

Ok. Just how much of the Close-Ups is Carl Green? Who is involved in the studio beside yourself?

The REAL Close-Ups is actually a duo, just me and singer Abby Connor (see the pictures page on
the website). I write the songs and we record with two old friends (Paul Smith on drums and Adam Sayers on keyboards). I play the guitar and bass and do most of the backing vocals too.

Is it the same four musicians on every record??

It's the same four musicians on all Close-Ups recordings. Using the same personnel helps creates a band
sound and that's important. Each song sounds different but it all sounds like the work of one band.
We won't be going live though...performing is not something we have any interest in.

I've read you choose to have animated people by your side in order to have "The perfect popband". What's the perfect popband to you?

The Close-Ups are pop perfection to me. They look great, sound cool and will stay young forever! As a concept, it allows me to work out of sight in the background which is where I'd rather be. By letting four groovy cartoon characters take the limelight, all attention is on them and not me. And besides, they want to be pop stars. Me and Abby C definitely don't!

And why did you choose to have an indiepop band? Was it the style that fitted best the cartoonish carachters or was it just the music you felt like playing? Don't you feel indiepop music it's not getting on the media half the attention it deserves nowadays?

Indiepop is our type of music...me and Abby C are not rock n rollers in any sense. We love melody, quirk, naivety and innocence. We're big fans of bands like Dressy Bessy, The Shop Assistants and Juniper Moon, as well as 60's girls like Marianne Faithful, Sandy Shaw and Petula Clark. Abby C really likes Doris Day too!
Indiepop isn't in vogue right now, so the music media largely ignore it. It doesn't matter to us. The Close-Ups will always be an underground band doing things we love, regardless of fashion. Indiepop's time will come I think, and it would be good to be seen as being part of any movement.

Your idea of making an animated popgroup seems to be linked to the sixties and to Hanna-Barbera cartoons more than to recent attempt like Gorillas. What was the music that influenced you the most? And what cartoons did catch your imagination? (Nobody ever mentions "Josie and the pussicats"!)

Yeah, we're Archies fans as opposed to Gorillaz fans...we don't really like Gorillaz to be honest. We don't get hip hop at all.We've already mentioned some of our musical influences, but on the animation front I love early Disney films like Lady And The Tramp, Fantasia and especially Alice In Wonderland. Plus the old TV favourites like Top Cat, Scooby Doo, Wacky Races...and yes, Josie And The Pussycats!!

Who is responsible for the artwork?

A very talented artist/animator from Manchester called Jez Hall created the band characters based on my brief and wishes. I wanted cartoons that were both cute and sexy, and had plenty of attitude! I think he succeeded admirably!
Your wish is to have an animated series, if the band gets enough attention. How's the response been till now?

I'd love The Close-Ups to become a kind of cartoon Monkees TV series with surreal plots and plenty of cool tunes. However, it's a long way off happening. We've had no real response from TV companies, and they are the people with the power and funds to make it a reality.

"Saturday girl in bedworld" is absolutely stunning, but. did you write the song? Was it difficult ot enter the mind of a young girl?

"Saturday Girl In Bedworld" was quite an easy song to write actually. I used to work in a shop when I was younger and spent most of my time dreaming of a better life. Escape is a universal theme, whatever your age or sex.

This song also shows a different musical direction fro the bouncy-bubblegum songs of the A-sides. Where do you want to bring the Close-Ups? What will we hear on the first album?

It is different to some of our more bubblegum moments, but it's still essentially pretty pop. The debut album will be full of these different strands of indiepop and I'm hoping it will surprise and delight people who love classic, timeless pop music.

Salvatore

Links:

The Close-Ups Website: www.theclose-ups.com