"When we were younger there
was so much navel-gazing
going on. We wondered
whether we wanted to be doing this.
"Now we are older the most important thing is to be playing live and keep travelling and playing music. I don't have a lot of other interests or skills to do anything else!"
That's how cult indie songwriter Lou Barlow defines the change in attitude in the newly re-formed original line-up of Sebadoh.
So the legend goes, Lou turned to his side-project Sebadoh in 1989 after a bust-up with
J Mascis, from his former group Dinosaur Jr.
Starting out as a lo-fi tape idea with
fellow songwriter Eric Gaffney, Sebadoh's
song-writing slowly filtered out into
the wider world, especially after the
addition of third band member Jason Lowenstein in the summer of 1989.
The scene-defining single, Gimme Indie Rock, is rightly regarded as a classic, as are the albums Sebadoh III, Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock and Bubble And Scrape which followed, and are now all being expanded and re-released by the band's label, Domino.
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It was Bubble And Scrape that proved
to be the line-up's undoing, as Eric decided
to leave the band following its release in 1993.
A schizophrenic piece, it veered between Lou's developing talent for producing
beautiful acoustic-tinged melancholy melodies and Eric's psychedelic freak-outs.
But it is around this album that the re-formed line-up's first UK tour in 15 years revolves.
They are set to perform the record in full
at London's Koko as part of indie festival, All Tomorrow's Parties' Don't Look Back series.
"Some of Eric's songs are so...I can't even describe them, never mind actually play them," says Lou from a tour van in Dublin.
"We are currently going in and puzzling out what he played on those songs. It's a trip for him as well. We know most of the songs but
we are still figuring out the last 20%."
For the Brighton show, fans will be glad
to hear the set tracks will be drawn from throughout Sebadoh's ten-year history, including songs from the trio of albums the band recorded after Eric's departure.
"Eric's a much more inventive and spontaneous drummer," says Lou. "He really seems to be into playing the newer songs, and it does add different dimensions. I realise that was probably missing from the later records."
The last three Sebadoh records, Bakesale, Harmacy and final album, 1999's The Sebadoh, saw Lou's songs almost take over, heralding his future work in bands The Folk Implosion, the acoustic Sentridoh and as a solo artist.
As well as touring with Sebadoh
he is working on another solo album and plans to continue his reunion with J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr, who got back together in 2005.
"I guess, in a way, the Sebadoh reunion was influenced by the Dinosaur Jr reunion," says Lou. "Eric and I have been emailing each other for the past three years, debating the pros and cons of getting back together again, and it all kind of dovetailed around the same time as the Dinosaur Jr happened."
The reunion was heralded by the start of Domino's back catalogue reissue series, which continues with Bubble And Scrape next month and a tour of America last year.
The US shows covered a wide breadth of Sebadoh's song library, giving each writer a chance to shine.
"I can't say we have ever had trouble splitting the singing chores between us," says Lou. "We all like the opportunity to play other instruments and shift around.
"I think we influenced a lot of people
by having lots of different songwriting
within the band. It's not an idea
we introduced. It's something we took
from The Beatles, where you had
three great songwriters."
He believed that, like his experience with the reunited Dinosaur Jr, the attitudes of the musicians have changed as they got older.
"We know what's important now
I think," he says. "We weigh everyone's opinion and work from there.
"That is the thing about this band for
me. It makes it interesting and fun because
we make the effort to balance our own
desires with the desires of the other
two members. We work together and
I find that uniquely satisfying.
"It's a lot like it used to be, but almost lighter, because I think the spirit of it is a lot more positive. I think we can all agree we're having a pretty good time."
Support from Air Formation.
Starts 7.30pm, tickets £12.50.
Call Resident, in Kensington Gardens,
on 01273 606312, or Rounder Records,
in Brighton Square, 01273 325440.
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