How would you say the people – the crowd, the audience – who turn up to see you play has changed over the course of time?
“As Razanov would say: ‘The show was over, the audience used to leave their seats, collect their coats and go home…But then they turned round…No more coats and no more home.’ I don’t think that happens anymore.”
“Being self-reliant and uncompromising are not qualities exclusive to the ‘Underground’.”
To someone approaching the Regis corpus for the first time, what advice would you offer? What would you direct a novice to?
“If anyone was looking to make a sound investment – in life, love or art – then I would advise them to buy the lot.”
You’re often cited as one of the last true underground heroes, in that you’re uncompromising, you’re self-reliant, and you’ve stuck to your principles over a long career. What does ‘underground’ mean to you, and how has its meaning changed over the years? You once described yourself as ‘a parody of underground’, which I liked…
“I even think someone disagreed, which was sweet of them. I have a fair idea of what other artists might think they mean when they use the term ‘Underground’, but of course the notion of someone or something being ‘Underground’ is complete nonsense. The meaning has never really changed much over the years, it’s all about degrees of success: ‘commerce alone decrees whether something is mainstream or relegated to the underground.’ Being self-reliant and uncompromising are not qualities exclusive to the ‘Underground’.”
What would you like to be asked that I haven’t asked, and what’s the answer?
Q. Club or Country ?
A. “Black Country.”
Kiran Sande
downwards.tumblr.com
Download: CUB – C U 1 (UST Mix)
- from CUB001 12″ (O’Connor/Harris, 2010)
Download: Sandra Electronics – It Slipped Her Mind
- from Downwards DO4 10″ (O’Connor/Mendez, 2010)
Download: Regis – Accidents In The Workplace
- 2008 edit of track from Downwards LINO009 (O’Connor, 1994)
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