A dark, somber vibe permeates 'The Death of The Paperboy,' the new CD from Richard Morel. The one-man producer/singer/songwriter is perhaps best known for his work with Deep Dish and remixes under the alias Pink Noise. Fans of Morissey, The Killers, The Magnetic Fields, and Cut Copy should seek out 'Paperboy' as it is a perfect fusion of dance and rock (there's a CD of each). If you're in Washington DC, watch out for the infamous Blowoff parties that Richard throws with Bob Mould.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: So let's see, we've got this new album here, The
Death of The Paperboy. What was in your mind when you were writing
this album?
Richard Morel: Well, the nature of the songs deal with similar themes
that my other records have dealt with, as far as basic relationships
and events that trigger different emotions as you go through life. The
difference with this record is that I was pulling from some earlier
events, like when I was a teenager, and following that period, but
they were parallel in emotions that I was currently going through.
The overall theme of it was one of representing an event that causes a
change, something that happens that suddenly, instantaneously changes
everything – what happens in your life or the way you see everything
in your life. So on the lyrical front, that was the overriding theme I
tried to wrap up in all of the songs. The title of it was from an
event when I was a kid and my next-door neighbor was run over by my
other next-door neighbor. The one next-door neighbor was the paperboy,
and the other was just my neighbor. That sort of shattered everything
in our small town.
RS: Listening to the first CD, sonically and lyrically it sounds
like a Magnetic Fields CD.
Richard Morel: Yes, that's very cool. I really appreciate that, as I
am a fan of Magnetic Fields. I take that as a very high compliment.
RS: Did your previous CDs start off with the CD of the original
versions and the CD of the dance mixes also?
Richard Morel: With 'Queen of The Highway,' which was the first CD I
put out on Yoshitoshi, both elements were in there – some of the songs
were house-y electronic songs and some of the songs were more
band-oriented rock songs. Although that record was much more
consistently on the electronic tip. On the 'Lucky Strike CD,' I did a
couple of songs where I would have version one and version two; I
began to explore the idea of taking a song in a totally rock vein and
also taking a totally club vein. And then when I set out to do this, I
really wanted to separate them so that the two discs could be more
true to their own genre, basically so I could go deeper into one and
then deeper into the other.