RS: We’d like to hear a few more of those disco rants in the future.
Neil Tennant: OK, we can sort that out.
Getting Techy
RS: For the geeks out there, what software do you use, what
hardware do you use when you're producing?
Chris Lowe: For writing, it’s all basically in the Apple now, all virtual
keyboards and plug-ins. There's so much in there now, it’s amazing
really. But that's for the writing - we’re not being purist
electronic artists like Depeche Mode or Kraftwerk or anything like
that, we’ll just use anything. If a track needs an orchestra, we’ll
just book an orchestra, if it needs a guitar we’ll get Johnny Marr,
we’ll use whatever’s available. That’s why we’re not producers,
really, because sometimes we’re a bit slapdash on the actual sounds we
use, we just want to get it all done as quickly as possible. You need
the producer to make sure that the drum sounds are as good as
possible, all that kind of thing, so we’re not actually that geeky.
RS: Are you in Logic or ProTools?
Chris Lowe: Logic. Because it seems so simple to use.
RS: You won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution To Music,
what was your reaction when you heard about that?
Chris Lowe: We don't live for awards, obviously. We were very happy to
receive this award, and the fact that we’re a pop group and we’d been
around for a while and yes, it is nice to be acknowledged really by
the music industry. But it's also that we were really looking forward
to performing a medley of our songs on live television and putting a
bit of a big production on and having a big finale to the show. That
was probably the real reason we were excited by it.
Going Gaga
RS: Speaking about that, very few artists have had the honor of a
Pet Shop Boys’ remix – Madonna, the Killers, Sam Taylor-Wood and MGMT.
How did Lady Gaga become part of the group?
Chris Lowe: We knew we were going to perform “What Have I Done To Deserve
This” and Lady Gaga was just happening with “Just Dance.” We loved the
way she looked, she's an incredible visual artist and we love the
songs she's written. We thought that she would look fantastic on the
stage with us. We phoned her up and she was really up for it, and so
we were thrilled to pieces. It was a great honor, really, that she
would do that and come and sing with us, and also she put a lot of
thought into how she was going to come to us. She actually came as a
teapot and she designed the outfit out of porcelain. It was actually
made of porcelain and she stood there as teapot, which I thought was
rather fantastic.
RS: Speaking about the other artists you’ve worked with, have you
seen Sam Taylor-Wood’s short film Love You More?
Neil Tennant: Yes, of course. I thought it was great, very sexy. You know,
she's making this film now about John Lennon’s adolescence called
Nowhere Boy.
RS: You've collaborated with lots of high-profile people in the
past and it’s been amazing. Is there any likelihood of a best of CD
collection of all these collaborations together?
Neil Tennant: Not really, because you can get them all on iTunes, you could
do it yourself. Otherwise, if it weren’t for that, yes, we probably
would have done, if it was twenty years ago we would have, but now
there's no point.
RS: How would you describe the song that you wrote for Shirley
Bassey’s new album?
Neil Tennant: It’s very Shirley Bassey. It’s one of those 'looking back on
your career and life' things.