_ Unofficial Xenomania fansite. Facebook Twitter RSS
Neil Tennant: "I could disappear into a room upstairs at Xenomania and become part of the factory"
Posted at 10:38 PM, 06 September 2008 -


The latest issue of POP Magazine includes an interview with the Pet Shop Boys, where they talk about Xenomania. Neil Tennant reveals that the group were already considering working with them for their last album, but New Order beat them to it. He also compares Xenomania to Smash Hits magazine (where Neil worked as a journalist in the 1980s), and praises "Biology", saying that the song «exists in its own world».

Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

NEIL TENNANT : We considered approaching Xenomania for the last album, Fundamental. Then we read that New Order were working with them.
There's always been this synchronicity between the record collections of Bernard Sumner and the Pet Shop Boys, right from the word go. People have often thought mistakenly that we were influenced by "Blue Monday" but actually Bernard was just influenced by the same records we were. Eurobeat, Italodisco, ermerging New York hip hop... So we thought damn, can't believe it he's already got there. So we did that with Trevor Horn. But the tracks we started writing this year, most of them were pop, so we thought it was worth approaching Xenomania.

(...) We really didn't know that much about them. I very much liked the single "Biology" by Girls Aloud. I think that was an amazing single. It's funny 'cause it's nothing like anything Xenomania or Girls Aloud have ever done. It exists in its own world. It's quite sixties isn't it? Like so much of pop now.

POP MAGAZINE : You never know what Xenomania are going to do next. Which is unique for a production house. They don't have a formula.

NEIL TENNANT : No they don't. They're based out in Kent - that's quite important because it's a world of its own. It reminds me of Smash Hits. We used to be over the road from failing circulations. We had an article about New York hip hop before NME did. We used to lean out of the window to watch Nick Kent walking down the street. Secretly of course we were all thrilled to see him. We used to HATE Number One Magazine. We felt we got it, and those people didn't really get it. Well, Xenomania feels like that. Personally, I could disappear into a room upstairs at Xenomania and become part of the factory writing songs for Girls Aloud. I'd be quite happy, actually

CHRIS LOWE : It'd be a lot of fun !

POP MAGAZINE : Brian Higgins who set up Xenomania, his first success was "Believe" by Cher, wasn't it?

CHRIS LOWE : We didn't know that when we first met him! We discovered that. So impressed. "You wrote that ?!"

(...)

[Speaking about Justin Timberlake recording a song with the title "Cry Me A River"]

NEIL TENNANT : We keep having a discussion with Brian Higgins about... I maintain it's WEAK to write a new song called "Cry Me A River" when there's already a famous one. But he says it doesn't matter 'cause it's sincere.


Labels: ,

1 Comments:

Blogger daavid said...

I've always thought that's the sort of thing that would be perfect for Neil and Chris to do after they decide to call it quits: becoming songwriters/producers for other acts. Now them joining Xenomania sounds almost too good to work.

September 9, 2008 at 5:29 AM  



x Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

Older posts: May 2008 . June 2008 . July 2008 . August 2008 . September 2008 . October 2008 . January 2009 . February 2009 . March 2009 . April 2009 . May 2009 . June 2009 . July 2009 . August 2009 . September 2009 . October 2009 . November 2009 . December 2009 . January 2010 . February 2010 . March 2010 . April 2010 . May 2010 . June 2010 . July 2010 . August 2010 . September 2010 . October 2010 . June 2011 . July 2011 . August 2011 . December 2011 .