Lewis Ford, lead singer and guitarist of Haunted Stereo answered The Fox questionnaire
A song that has saved your life?
Not sure it saved my life but Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Fire’ recorded live at Monterrey Pop Festival in ’67 (from my Dad’s humble collection) certainly turned me onto guitars. My Rave 92 compilation tape felt fairly life changing at the time but I was young and learning to stomp for the first time. More recently ‘In My Arms’ by Rufus Wainwright or ‘Strange Powers’ by Magnetic Fields probably saved my life a couple times a piece.
You’re an instrument. What are you and who’s playing you?
I’m a flute and I’m being played by Marion Cotillard. Or maybe a sample/ loop station getting my record button pressed by Bjork…it’d be cool to be there first on the scene when she first discovers all her unique sound ideas for her next project.
You make music because
I like to muck around with the guitar coming up with tunes and forgetting them and getting frustrated and then remembering them againand feeling an enormous sense of self-satisfaction only to decide I don’t like them after all. It’s a personal growth thing. I also like performing I guess. I like being in a total trance to other people’s music (e.g. My Bloody Valentine, Deerhunter etc) and hope I can help someone else zone out with music that I helped create too one day.
Plus, girls like it too, don’t they?
Which song is stuck in your head right now?
‘Soca Del Eclipse’ by El Guincho. It’s really fun – it wears its Tropicalia influence on its sleeve, which is fine by me and it has a mandolin part in the chorus that repeats and overlaps like a drum that fulfils part of my answer in the previous question.
What makes you mad, what calms you down?
Bad manners, discourtesy, unnecessary rudeness. And the rain of late. Table tennis calms me down, so does listening to Nick Cave’s ‘No More Shall we Part’ with the close harmony violin and viola slurrs and the McGarrigle sisters on backing vocals. ‘Hallelujah’ indeed!!!
The most beautiful sound to your ears?
How to answer this without sounding pretentious…? I won’t try. Tight brass harmonies and Otis Redding‘s voice or a tight drum beat ala Caribou‘s opening to ‘Cherry Bomb’ and the whole of ‘Point‘ by Cornelius. I really like the sound
of softly spoken people’s voices too, doesn’t matter who the bad news is coming
from, be them a doctor or a financial advisor, I’d happily listen and drift
off. Added bonus if they can walk on gravel whilst saying their piece.
And the ugliest one?
Robbie Williams. It irks me a lot when people say he’s a good performer and charismatic and all. So are lap dancers, but I’m sure the latter have a harder life.
You can ask anyone one question. What is it?
Why did you buy that album?
Your best live memory?
Jumping off stage in two minds as whether or not to dance with or attack with my guitar an aggressive racist pill-popping skin head giving me the angry eye during our
last song of our last set. Fortunately I chose the latter and people from the audience joined in. Andy spitting his false tooth into mid air during his vocal at our first gig
was pretty good too. For the record, my worst live experience was singing ‘What’s Going On?’ to a theatre’s worth of Uni students’ parents. I don’t think I did Mr Gaye
justice!!!
