SOLEX

Seeing Solex live was seeing something new to me.

Hi, how are you and what are you doing right now?
[de C&D] I'm o.k.. Have a few days off now,...enjoying a very late breakfast.

How did you enjoy playing in England (Matador show and Brighton Crawl)?
[de C&D] I had a great time. My bandmembers too by the way. The 10th anniversary Matador party in London was very well-organized and every night they had a very good set of bands on the bill.
The Brighton crawl is a very charming festival. Organized by a small, but very enthusiastic group of people. Brighton itself is very nice.

Live Solex is a three piece. How different is playing live to recording?
[de C&D] VERY. For me recording takes place the same moment as the making of the song. Quite the opposite of a normal recording session of a conventional band where the recording is a matter of copying something that's already there. When I finish a song I ask my musicians to join me in a rehearsal room and than we try to find the best form to play the song live.

How does the second album differ from the first?
[de C&D] The source of the samples is different. For the first album I took samples from very cheap unsellable cd's from the 2nd hand recordshop I co-own in Amsterdam. The challenge was to find good little fragments on awful cd's. When I made these songs I never had an idea of actually releasing them, ....that is untill I got signed by Matador. So the first album is more or less my demo tape. It's a low-budget album. So in order to try and avoid paying any clearancies for the samples, I asked some musicians to play the sample for me so I could resample and rerecord them. The second album is quite low-budget too. But I tried to come up with a different way to avoid paying clearancies. During the first few months of '99 I went to a lot of concerts (from pop too classical too jazz too metal) in and around Amsterdam and secretly made bootlegs. Because there are no copyrights on bootlegs you can sample from them without having to pay clearancies. Of course it's still ilegal to make bootlegs but it's always better getting caught making a bootleg instead of getting caught for an uncleared sample.  Apart from this I also used a 16-track digital recorder instead of my analog 8-track. So I could experiment a lot more with songstructures 'cause of edit-possibillities. I also asked a clarinetplayer, a guitarist and a drummer to jam along with a drumloop and only one or two samples. They needed the loop for speed and rhythm ofcourse, and the sample for key. I recorded their jams and edited them afterwards,..tried to integrate them in a song.

Why did you include the word Solex in every song title on the first album?
[de C&D] It's a rip off from comicstrip book titles. They also always have the main character in the title. So Solex is the main character of every song on the Hitmeister,...but it's not nessesarily me. If it would be me I might as well use my own name instead of the word Solex, and present myself as a singer-songwriter,....which I'm not. Or not like the standard: guitar-on-lap-singer-songwriter-girl.

Who is your favourite comicbook character?
[de C&D] Heinz (probably not known outside of Holland),....it's a cat.

Is Solex your alter ego or just your band?
[de C&D] My alter ego.

How many of your songs about sex?
[de C&D] Depends on your imagination....

Who are you influenced by?
[de C&D] Dance musicians.

But what does "[de C&D]"?
[de C&D] 'De C&D' is the second hand recordshop of which I'm the co-owner.

What is it like owning your own record shop?
[de C&D] I need independence,...and that's exactly what it gives.

Is the story about Randy Costanza being a distant cousin of George from Seinfeld true?
[de C&D] No.

George from Seinfeld always has dates. What do you think his secret is?
[de C&D] He probably smells really really nice.

Who are the Letdowns?
[de C&D] It's a nice band from Pittsburg in which Randy Costanza is the amazing drummer.

I have heard that you do not use a sequencer. If so, why not?
[de C&D] Using a sequencer is more like programming music instead of making music.

What is your favourite sample?
[de C&D] The little guitarpiece in Randy Costanza.

Is the guitarpiece on Randy Costanza by Jon Spencer?
[de C&D] No way,....and even if it was,....I would never tell anyone.

did you get signed to Matador Records?
[de C&D] I had send them a demotape with 4 songs on it. Along with it I'd written a note saying; "If you want to hear more, give me a call" And so they did....

What records have you released so far, Solex or otherwise?
[de C&D] I released one mini-cd and an E.P. with my former band 'Sonetic Vet'. It was a Benelux release only and completely flopped. Not to our surprise by the way,...I mean who wants to hear Hectic noisy guitar music....???

Solex: Solex vs. the Hitmeister (CD, LP)
Solex all licketysplitt (single)
Pick Up (CD, LP)
Randy Costanza (single)

How do you relax?
[de C&D] Watching television,...or going to the movies and drink a lot.

What's your favourite movie?
[de C&D] Rosemary's baby.

What has been the highlight of your career to date?
[de C&D] The Peelsessions

Do you have any pets?
[de C&D] Two cats,...one is called Koekie and the other one is called Solex,...and she is longer around than the Solex YOU know. Koekie is smart and fat,....Solex is thin and stupid.

What makes you laugh?
[de C&D] Everything,....it's all a joke.

Anything else?
[de C&D] Apart from everything ????