Collect Call From: Guy Garvey of Elbow

Now on the line: Manchester native and Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, phoning in from a rare U.S. tour behind 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid.

Mike Errico

Blender May 13 2008

Day 1
April 29, 3 P.M.
Now in Chicago, Garvey rings from the green room at the evening's venue, Park West.

I would say after New York, Chicago's my favorite city in the U.S. It's got the same sort of ethic as New York, a little bit of the community vibe — I would imagine being part of a city like that. We've been before, and Mark [Potter] and Pete [Turner] did some DJing with friends of ours at an after party. I'm not a DJ, you know, and wouldn't be ideal at selling dance floors. Depending on the dance floor, of course. Maybe a 1930s dance floor ...

Yesterday we had a day off in Cleveland, Ohio. It's Mark's birthday today, so we started a little bit early. We got the tequilas in and it got a bit messy. Not to sound too Mariah, but different songs are harder to sing than others, so despite the fact that I can drink more than anybody in the band or crew, I actually behaved myself in the name of our art. My drummer [Richard Jupp] is particularly a pussy when it comes to drinking. That's because his body is a temple. Yeah.

The set that we played in Washington [two days earlier] was in a historic synagogue, which was completely seated. We did more of the gentle tunes, "Scattered Black and Whites" (from 2001's Asleep in the Back) and "Switching Off" (from 2004's Cast of Thousands). It's been different every night, and to be honest with you, we've yet to have a conversation about what we're going to do tonight. You can change two songs in a set and change the atmosphere of the concert quite dramatically. And different places have different traditions when it comes to responding. In Germany, for instance, they fold their arms, expectantly it seems, as they do in Manchester. But what I realized was that in Manchester it's rudeness, while in Germany they're giving music the same respect as they would ballet or theater. The audience's response here has been incredibly enthusiastic. Despite the soft ending, "The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver" is getting the biggest reaction.

I'm listening to: "Alley Flowers" by Jolie Holland
I put it on this morning. I've got a little unit for my iPod with its own little case, like a vanity case or something, and you stick your iPod in the middle and it fills the room with music. This morning we listened to Bill Evans and Catalpa by Jolie Holland, and "Alley Flowers" is the song that jumped out. She's got an exquisite voice.

I'm reading: Everyman by Philip Roth
I like reading American authors when we're in America, and Philip Roth I think is the best living one, though he doesn't write women very well. He's like this sort of doomy social analyst in his novels. I found out he's got a bad back and writes all of these books stood upright at a fucking lectern, like he's writing the word of God, because he can't actually sit in a chair. So with all this venom about American culture sort of spewing forth, he's actually stood at a lectern. Fantastic.

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