Where It's Hot
April 20, 1993
Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians Unplug For Respect
by Randy Rocker
After performing and recording together for 17 years, the members of Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians can probably read each others' minds.
"It's true, we can," laughs drummer Morris Windsor during a phone interview from his England home. "But we try not to."
The Soft Boys (Hitchcock's first band with Windsor and current Egyptians bassist Andy Metcalfe) was launched in 1976 after the three met while attending the same art university (for Hitchcock, the love of art has always remained, using some of his portraits for Egyptian album covers).
Their nearly two decades together helps set the atmosphere for much of The Egyptians' material.
The pleasure, Windsor says, of maintaining such a long-term band relationship is to "always have something to fall back on, and to always do what you want to do."
"We have a certain, kind of, stubborn determination," Windsor said, trying to pinpoint the trio's relationship. "The fact that we haven't been all that successful helps. After how-many-years, we're still quite hungry."
The Egyptians have never been a Top 40 favorite, but they have captured the gush of even the toughest critics and have maintained a steady base of devoted fans. How has the band reacted to never achieving household-name status?
"You always want to go further," says Windsor. "We've never really striven madly for success. We haven't been clawing for achievement. Every plateau that you arrive at you see something further ahead."
While the music of The Soft Boys was a sample of the early Punk that England introduced to the rest of the world, the '80s and '90s have found Hitchcock as a more introspective writer.
Hitchcock has developed his most creative recording to date in Respect, a classy mix of Rock and Pop. The band set up a 40-foot mobile unit at Hitchcock's home in England and opted for simplicity, using mostly acoustic instruments and a small drum kit.
Experimenting was a big part of Respect. Many "instruments" -- such as a cheese grater, water jugs, Coke tins, frying pans, and wine glasses -- were brought in from Hitchcock's own kitchen, where some of the songs were even recorded.
Windsor has mixed feeling about the recording of Respect. It was personally and artistically satisfying, but Windsor admits that "we had difficult moments on the new record."
"Doing the record in Robyn's house made it more experimental. There were a few moments when we wondered if we were doing the right thing."
The acoustic, almost around-the-campfire style of Respect, gives it a live, earthy feel. Occasional instruments -- such as piano, violin, cello, and trumpet -- were recorded at a separate studio. Influenced by an acoustic tour the group performed during 1991, The Egyptians now face the challenge of maintaining the same up-front feel during their current shows.
"We've been stripped down for a while," Windsor says of the live show. "It's basically acoustic with lots of electronic add-ons. It's clearer than it used to be. We can hear ourselves better than it used to be. We can hear ourselves better, and I think the audience can hear us better."
As a drummer, Windsor has had to adapt to being in full view of the audience after sitting behind a large drum kit for so long. "It's all quite new, the way we're doing it now," Windsor remarks. "I suppose I'm enjoying it more at the moment, because it's still fresh. It's a big change for me, because I stand at the front. It's quite exhilarating sometimes."
Before recording Respect, the band did very little pre-planning. "We never spend very much doing anything, really," Windsor admitted. "Everything we do, we do in a hurry. I didn't have any great preconceptions about making this record."
Finding creative ways to record was the biggest challenge of making Respect, wich Windsor calls the "most satisfying record of his career."
"It was a limited environment. We couldn't really let go as much," he said.
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