PROBE

Saint Etienne       
Interview by Rada Djurica      

Serbian freelance journalist Rada Djurica interviewed Saint Etienne while they were on tour in Europe.

Three hearts beat together as one within Saint Etienne. Their 1994 album "Tiger Bay" proves the point with posh glittery pop and a guest appearance from Stephen Duffy.

Saint Etienne continued remixing and DJing, in the legendary Heavenly Sunday Social, the club in a pub basement that celebrated the Chemical Brothers, inspired Fatboy Slim and gave birth to big beat.

When Saint Etienne returned in 1998, they sounded distinctly different, lured by the sweet tones of Swedish pop to a studio in Malmo. The resulting album, "Good Humour," was warm and woody, with a pop heart still beating, as proven by the singles "Sylvie" and "The Bad Photographer."

Saint Etienne then engaged themselves in recording a soundtrack for the movie "The Misadventures Of Margaret." Following that was the "Sound Of Water," a record unlike anything before. At once concise and thrilling, the album balances the mainstream and the avant-garde.

Rada: How was your gig tonight in Belgrade?

Sarah Crockwell: This is my first time in Belgrade. My mom was 16 and Dad was 10 years older and they have been working on the film called "The Long Shift," which was a film with Richard Barton, and that was very long time ago, they were both very young. And that was in Belgrade. My mother was the actress in the film and my father was assistant director. And I was born about a few years later.

Rada: What was the audience like?

Sarah Crockwell: Amazing. We were very happy with the warm welcome of the audience. And they knew all the songs and it was a shame that we couldn't see the audience. I couldn't see anybody, which is a shame. But I thought it was great, we really, really enjoyed it.

Pete and Bob: We were enjoying ourselves; we like doing our music.

Rada: Are you happy with your European tour?

Sarah Crockwell: I think that we are all very pleased with how everything went. It means a lot to us to go around the world, doing gigs in different countries, and people like it so much elsewhere and that's really good.

Pete and Bob: We liked the idea, when we saw the opportunity to come over here.

Rada: Do you like the idea that some people are comparing you with big bands like Depeche Mode?

Sarah Crockwell: Well…We are not wealthy, we can not be compared with Depeche Mode. They are.

Rada: Ten years passed since Saint-Etienne started. How do you feel now? What's your favorite band today?

Sarah Crockwell: Ten years passed very quickly I really like Flaming Lips; they sound very good to me.

Rada: Who's in charge?

Sarah Crockwell: We are actually, like, democratic, we are all in charge. We are all united when it comes to that. I mean, this is really nice and I don't have to think on my own, we have three of us, three hearts to be one gang, you know. Sometimes we are working on one sentence, all of us.

Rada: How about Saint Etienne's music connection with hip hop music?

Sarah Crockwell: We like hip-hop, really, but our stuff is very much pop.