The Callstore has been plying his distinctive pop sound for some time now. With a new album out he talks to the intrepid Betty Mayonnaise about influences, nationality and the rest in another “Ten with Betty”.
1. So why “The Callstore”?
I’m not certain that there is a reason for it. This is something I scribbled on a lyrics book some years ago when traveling past a shop called “Call Store” where, as far as I could tell, people would go to in order to make international calls. I found the idea of a place existing for the sole purpose of facilitating communication, where stories travel in and out, shoulder to shoulder, quite poetic (needless to say I do not feel the same way about the internet). I eventually decided to adopt the name a few months later before joining the two words together, something I found to be aesthetically pleasing. Now, although I often find myself having to spell it in order for people to understand it, I am just very happy with the way it looks.
2. Betty understands you have been in London for around 15 years. Where before that?
Well, 16 years ago now (at the end of this month), I arrived from France hoping to visit for 3 months and make connections in the industry. Sure enough, I failed to do either and the UK became my home. I think it all happened without me realising that I had started settling in as soon as I got off the boat. The next step is for me to get a citizenship, which I plan on doing this year. Then I guess the “where are you from” question will just become a “where were you born” one, if at least for a few years before I really begin looking like asking “when” is more pertinent.
3. Betty hears echoes of Momus, Scott Walker and “Laughing” Len Cohen in your delivery and words, high praise indeed she thinks – what are your actual influences and do you rate any of these previously mentioned artists?
I certainly do rate all of the above. Whether they influenced me or not, I am unable to say. One thing I share in common with Mr Cohen is that I see the making of music as work. I am no longer the kind of musician who writes 50 songs for an album and decides afterwards which 12 of those will make it through. I definitely have an awful lot of songs in storage but only intend to produce and release them if they fit the project I am working on. For the next venture, only two of the songs I intend to put out are from the vaults. Everything else is new. I am working on some kind of a concept album so I have an awful lot to write, which takes an awful lot of time. And the lyrics have to be spot on or they just will not do. Keeping the above in mind, it may be worth considering that it took me 3 months to write ‘The Letting Go’, which was the first song I really wrote following the ethics I now apply to all of my work, so I would suggest for anybody in a hurry to hear the new material not to start holding their breath right away.
4. What is it being signed to a French label? Any upsides/downsides, without getting all Al Murray on you – do you speak any French?
On this side of the channel, and unlike bands signed to, let’s say, Swedish or Dutch labels, having an album released on a French record label definitely does have a stigma attached to it. Effectively, it makes it a little more difficult to be accepted on the UK scene but I think that this is down to History and little else. On top of that, being French does nothing to ease some of the preconceptions my work is often subjected to. If I were to have been from anywhere else, as are many bands on the label, I may have felt differently but I have to make peace with the fact that I am French (for now) and that whatever luck I have had so far is better than no luck at all. Quite the opposite in fact.
5. The sound range and quality on ‘Save No One’ is pretty amazing – any tips for recording on a budget?
Any tips? Just the one really: if your project involves bedroom recording, use two screens. One for whatever software you are recording on and the other for YouTube. I have learned so much through the making of this album and the large majority of this learning I have the internet to thank for. I was also able to surround myself with the right people when it came to mixing and mastering the album. Chris Coulter, who did both on ‘Save No One’, taught me an awful lot about a number of things. You can only do so much by yourself when you are new to engineering and, without a shadow of a doubt, I believe that it does take a professional to feed you the answers you are looking for when you are not entirely sure what the questions are.
6. ITM? is based in Scotland. Not aware of any previous forays to Scotland (you can put us right on this!) – so any planned?
I have never visited Scotland, let it be for business or leisure. Truthfully, Liverpool is as far North as I ever been. But I certainly plan on visiting someday. However, I suspect this would not be work related as I am not planning any gigs at the minute. Perhaps when the second album comes out. I am not in the know on that one yet so I am going to have to leave it at a question mark.
7. Who is your favourite Scottish recording artist, living or dead? (parochial question corner!)
Mmm, that a difficult question. I am not overly familiar with Scottish recording artists. My mother played a lot of Gerry Rafferty and Annie Lennox when I was young but the likes of Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub and Arab Strap are possibly the only ones I listened to of my own free will. And if I enjoy the idea of Chvrches, having nothing but praise for what they achieved, pretending that I listen to them on a regular basis would be telling a lie. So, to answer your question – if at least hypothetically -, I should imagine that if Kelly Macdonald made music I would definitely be keen on listening to that. But then again, she did have me at “hello”. Ha ha.
8. Do you have a view on how music should be delivered to the public, i.e. pay per disc, iTunes, streaming or totally free?
My opinions are divided about the current state of the industry. I feel as if a grey area exists between what musicians are told and the facts. That promoters are the ones cashing in instead of them if the only reason for the record labels to tell their artists that touring is the only way to earn a living. And I feel as if we are not looking at this thing from the right angle. Piracy is just a scapegoat. Let’s take 150,000 people with access to Spotify. This generates about £100 per 150,000 streams per song. For 10 songs, that’s about £1000 per album streamed by 150 000 people. At £10 per album, it would only take 100 of those 150,000 people to buy the album to generate the same amount of money. What musicians have been tricked into believing is that if the album was not available for streaming, 140,900 people would download the album for free, which is obviously nonsense. And in doing so, if Thom Yorke sold his album for £3.60, blaming the streaming industry for him doing so and knowing that people would be happy to pay this little for music instead of downloading it from a pirate website, he also devalued the making of music all together, which is easy to live with for somebody worth millions. Therefore I would answer that recording studios should stop overcharging for their services and that we should stop considering piracy as the issue, with the alternative of making premium streaming the only kind of streaming available (as for movie streaming websites).
9. Would you ever consider going on The Voice, either as a performer or a judge?
I am very much enjoying this line of questions. Ha ha. Well, for one, I would not consider going on the show as a performer because I am not exactly fond of crowds or noise. Also I do not value myself as a singer. I write music but that’s about it. If I did not feel as if I have to do it all by myself, I really would not. Unfortunately, the only person I know to possess a voice suited to my songs is the finance director of the company for which I work. And I seriously doubt he would be interested in replacing me for singing duties. Going on as a judge, perhaps. I exist very humbly so the paycheck would be welcome to say the least. Also I anticipate that with this kind of money I would be able to stay at home and write for quite some time without having to worry about the rent or the bills. That would be nice.
10. And lastly – you cut a mean jib on the cover of ‘Save No One’ – what is your favourite item of clothing you have ever owned.
My favorite item of clothing is probably the FILA hat I found in the (now defunct) Firkin pub I worked at when I first arrived to the UK. That’s the one I am wearing on the ‘The Departed’ video on YouTube. I have had this hat for over 15 years and have never seen anybody wearing the like of it. It has a hole on its top which I have been meaning to patch ever since I found it but I never got around putting a needle to work and I have since grown to believe that some things should be left alone. Also, I lost my other favorite item of clothing (a pair of Ray Ban aviators that I had had for 14 years) a year or two ago so since then I have grown even fonder of this hat, not that that I think that it looks good or anything. As a matter of fact, I recall going on a date once and being told that there would be no second date if I kept it on. There was no second date.
‘Save No One is available now on Talitres. www.facebook.com/thecallstore.