Why Siouxsie Sioux completely “ignored” rock ‘n’ roll
A lot of the most famous bands in the world are those who have followed trends and capitalised on what’s popular. This is all well and good; however, the true greats are bands who defy the odds and stray away from a trend, such as Siouxsie and the Banshees.
It’s always a revelation for bands when they realise that they are able to push music outside of the confines of whatever currently exists. Sure, it might be nice to write songs which mirror popular records of the day in a bid to gain commercial success, but those who have true artistic merit, who seek to use music as a creative release rather than just a money-making scheme, are those who push boundaries without looking back.
This isn’t just something which was done by bands in the 1960s who we now call legendary, though. Artistic innovation is still happening. Look at the noughties, and the strange artistic lull that took place before bands like The Strokes and The Libertines started setting the groundwork for the indie boom. Britpop was dead, and budding artists were left wondering what kind of music they should go on to make.
In an exclusive interview with Far Out, James Skelly from The Coral spoke about this strange period and how it led to his band’s legendary and groundbreaking debut. “It was a moment of revelation, really, that we had,” he said. “I remember we were down the beach where we used to go and smoke weed, and I remember looking. You could see the docks of Liverpool, and Wales was on your left, and we just had this loose idea that we were gunna combine the beat thing of Liverpool and the harmonies and the eccentric psychedelic thing of the Welsh bands like Gorky’s and Super Furry’s. I think that night we wrote ‘Simon Diamond’, and we were off then.”
While this kind of musical innovation is impressive, some bands took it one step further and distanced themselves from specific genres altogether. Siouxsie Sioux is a great example of this, as they were less intent on writing “songs” and instead wanted to build artistic pieces based on various elements of sound. There were no musical influences going into their style as far as artists and genres were concerned, and instead, the band focused on minor elements and grew them from seeds.
When she was asked to define the band, she was abstract in her initial description. “As non-musicians. Sound innovators,” she said, before elaborating, “As non-musicians. Sound innovators.” A comprehensible term? “It’s an interesting… interesting noises… certain songs that rely on the drum beat… some relying on voice… some on guitar… experimenting, not just using a voice to say baby, baby… It’s making different sounds with what you’ve got. We go out of our way not to be musicians… we don’t rehearse till our fingers bleed.”
She continued, “We can play rock ‘n’ roll, but we ignore it, shove it in a corner. We don’t see ourselves in the same context as rock’n’roll groups. We’re out on a limb. It is dangerous, but it excites us, makes it worthwhile.”
This is using music as a true form of artistic release, not just putting chords together in a bid to make something that sounds nice. The end result might divide audiences, but without minds like this, music wouldn’t be able to evolve.
