Interview: The Prodigy
by Scott Stegenga
liveDaily Contributor
When Liam Howlett started The Prodigy in the late '80s, the teen from Essex, U.K., wanted to mix the sound of the growing breakbeat/electronic scene with the music of bands that influenced him: ska groups like The Specials, rap acts like Public Enemy and punk bands like The Sex Pistols.
Fortunately, he found three other mates--dancers/MCs Keith Flint, Maxim Reality and Leeroy Thornhill--who shared the same interests. After some remix work by Howlett in his basement, The Prodigy emerged at the right time, with the right sound and attitude.
The group's first album, 1992's "Experience," was released at the peak of rave culture, and featured electronic dance anthem after anthem. Its second release, 1995's "Music for the Jilted Generation," wasn't as warmly received, despite The Prodigy's breakthrough integration of punk samples and breakbeats.
It was 1997's "The Fat of The Land," with its many singles blending punk-rock and rave energies into one exciting combination--that lifted The Prodigy out of cult status. The band suddenly received backing from MTV for its classic-yet-controversial video for "Smack My Bitch Up," which carried the album to a No. 1 debut on Billboard's U.S. album chart.
As the band reached peak momentum, Howlett released the mix album "The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1," showcasing his wide variety of influences. Soon after, the band seemed to disappear. Dance-music culture was slowly waning, and The Prodigy became a 3-piece with the departure of Thornhill. Though the trio released the single "Baby's Got a Temper" in 2002, the song was soon renounced by Howlett himself.
In 2004, Howlett returned with a new Prodigy album, "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned," turning his focus back to beats, energy and samples. Flint and Maxim weren't present for the recording of the set, which relies on cameo vocals from Kool Keith, Juliette Lewis and Liam Gallagher (to name a few).
Flint and Maxim are still official members of The Prodigy, and the group recently made an appearance at Southern California's Coachella festival, playing to a welcoming, high-energy crowd. liveDaily interviewed all three members of the group at their hotel prior to their show.
So, is Coachella a warm-up to a full-on tour?Liam Howlett: Well, from last year--when we released the new record--we just got back on the road again. We're not like a normal band where we tour for a period of time and then we stop. We'll do two or three gigs, go back home, then do two or three gigs somewhere else--that type of thing.
Is there an American tour coming soon?LH: We need to get a new record label sorted out before we do any more tours over here, because Maverick has sort of screwed us over.
Keith Flint: We've got lack of support over here. It's hard for us to come across to the states when your label does not support you. We're men enough to do it ourselves, but we need some form of support. It's the other entire infrastructure around it, like the right press, etc.
Maxim Reality: We really want to come here, you know? We really want to bring the music back to America.
How is the live show this time around?MR: I think the show has really developed compared to a few years ago. It's really good. I think we've improved.
KF: We don't do stuff that's really planned, other than making sure it sounds as good as we can. We want to give the audience as much as we possibly can, sonically and with our energy. We don't think we should come on in some big pink Cadillac that explodes and then turns into a mirror ball where some chicks come out fiddling with their t---. That's not our vibe. We're the core elements, and we gotta make sure our roles within it are at its top. That's the main thing that goes into it. Having a new album and new songs for us is really refreshing. In the past, we're touring and new songs are put in as we go along, and it's a really good testing ground. Now we're into a whole new album and a whole new set. It's really exciting to be rocking back out on the road. The people are still there, and we've still got the new blood coming in. For us, to see the look of people experiencing The Prodigy for the first time is really cool, and it fills you full of enthusiasm. This is why I do it--so people go home and say, "That was well worth my night out," instead of, "Why did I do that? I may as well have got a burrito."
MR: There are still so many places in the states we haven't been where we'd love to take our music and the show. For me, it's taking the performance around the world so people see what the band's all about.
Where would you like to go in the U.S.?LH: Albuquerque [laughs]
MR: I mean, we have played a majority of the states in America to properly penetrate it.
LH: When we released our last record, we did six gigs and the album went to No. 1 because we had MTV behind us. We really felt like we had taken the p---. Another band lately, Kasabian, has been here for two months just to try and make some impact. It's just a shame we haven't gotten any support from a label.
Electronic music has evolved over the years from rave to techno to the latest trend of mash-ups and electro-clash. How do you feel the music has moved on?LH: It's always been moving along so quickly. We don't really get that involved in the music-trend thing. I mean, the whole bootleg/mash-up did slightly inspire me with the new record, along with electro-clash, but I never did get entirely into it. I just took pieces here and there, and tried to be original. We've kind of got our own sound, and it's not a pure sound--its Prodigy, which is a mixture of English punk rock and American hip-hop beats.
MR: I mean, if you're following trends, you're just following sheep. When they change to something else, what are you going to do, follow them? It's not what we're about.
LH: The thing about trying to do something different all the time is, like, you ride a wave where you're always good with the press, then bad with the press. It's especially in England, where everyone's cynical. It's like, when we released our second album, people were like, "It's f---ing s---," and then we come out with a couple of hits. It's the same with this album, where you're riding a wave, and you battle through it and come out the other side, and write another album.
The latest album sounds like it's got more of an organic feel to it. How was it building that?LH: It's cool, man. It was probably the most enjoyable album I've ever written. I guess it was more of a personal album to me than a band album. When I was done, I felt we had to perform at least 60-70% of the songs live, and the other tracks--which were more of the collaboration tracks--just kind of stay home.
KF: We always knew where Liam was. He always kept us up to speed with where it was going. Some people wonder, since we're not on the album, what that's all about. This album didn't just appear and we thought, "Hey, we're not on it." We understood the importance of making this right, and as Liam said it's his influence and what he's all about.
LH: It's also going back to the roots of what The Prodigy is all about, and the sample culture. We didn't want to make "The Fat of The Land: Part 2." We could have done that two years after we released the last album. I wanted to reset and go back to what it was originally about, then put the band back together [and] go on tour with the DJ roots, like what we had in the beginning. It's like a fresh start. The next record will be the three of us together. It's given each of us some breathing space.
You released the single "Baby's Got a Temper," and it never made the new record. Is it because it sounded too much like a track from "The Fat of The Land"?LH: Yeah, that record was in sort of a time period when my head was in "The Fat of the Land' times. I feel I've given myself a hard time with that record. Listening to it now, I feel it doesn't have the kind of energy of my stuff right now, but it reflected the mood of the band at the time.
KF: The lyrics sat within the time frame, and it got the spotlight it didn't really deserve. It's just the [timing] of that record was not right, more than anything else.
The latest record has some vocal help from Juliette Lewis, Liam Gallagher and Kool Keith. Is there anyone else you wanted to collaborate with?LH: Well, the collaboration days are almost over, you know? Basically, when I did this album I didn't really think I wanted to collaborate with this person or that person. I was thinking of it more like collecting samples for a record. I'd take my record collection out and try for this voice and that lyric for that song. I wasn't necessarily trying to create whole songs with artists. That's why Kool Keith was used in a minimal way--and Juliette on "Spitfire"--[their] vocals almost add a secondary part to the song. I think the collaboration thing in the future will be minimal because we're back together as a unit. The collaboration thing makes it difficult to perform the tracks live.
Most electronic music these days is being composed on laptops rather than old-school decks. Do you have a preference?LH: Laptops, absolutely. I mean, the whole album was written on a laptop. That was my problem--why I was mucking around for two years at home, sitting in this room and feeling the pressure that I had to write music. It was the same old walls, same old equipment, and it got really claustrophobic. My mate said, "You've got to get a laptop and get out of there." So then I'd sit in the garden in London or anywhere with this laptop and be really free to put ideas down. I'm not really into the technology side of things, but I found this program that let me put my ideas down in 15 minutes. That's my way forward now. I've brought that element into the live show, with two laptops on stage. It looks a bit geeky; it's not very rock and roll. [Smiles]
MR: It's definitely improved and brought the band to the next level. I remember the stage when Liam was toying with different technology, and I'm like, "You've got to learn this, you've got to do that." He wasn't much of a technology person. Getting a laptop has gotten him out of the studio.
Some electronic acts, like Moby, have lately released albums that weren't much electronic at all, and more of a rock style. How do you feel about that?KF: I heard [Moby] on the TV the other day and I just didn't understand. It's not that I liked it or didn't like it. It was nothing. I would have liked to have hated it and given a proper response, but it was like a flat line.
LH: It was kind of like, "Whatever." It's not like we're taking things too seriously. We can't be accused of that. I just think he's thrown away what was good about him. He's sort of normalized himself. We're not scared if electronic music is going into the pan.
What's the album title ("Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned") all about?LH: It's typical, defiant Prodigy style. We feel like we're still in a gang. When I saw The Specials and the album cover on the back when I was 12 in a record shop, I said, "I've got to be in a band like that." It's that gang mentality … "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" .. this nobody can stop us feeling. It's this defiant camaraderie.
Will there be another 7 years between albums?LH: We've got a couple of songs already for the new album. We just need to carry on and sort a new deal in America. End of next year, I'm thinking.
How has music changed since you started 15 years ago?LH: It's changed so much since our last record. A band's life is shortened by one-half. It's harder for bands to come out now than when we came out.
KF: Today, Coca-Cola and McDonalds, with "Pop Idol" (the British equivalent of "American Idol"), control the music business. It's s---, and it's bad for your health.
MR: Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame. They've made music into this fast-food industry.
LH: You've got to kind of ride with it, because that's what we're in. We've just got to concentrate on making good music and playing live to the best of our ability.
KF: When you're playing live, that's when it becomes more real than ever. That's when it's true and undiluted, and totally up to us to present it exactly how it should be.
MR: There are people who make fast food, and then there are good chefs who make good food. Celtic, Don Edwards, Katy Moffat.
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