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Cerys
Matthews Interview
By Fiona Shepherd
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IN
LATE 1999 there were signs that all was not well in the Catatonia
camp. The band cut short a US tour and scrapped dates in the
UK. Later, singer Cerys Matthews alluded to a breakdown of
sorts. After years of constant graft, followed by sudden,
explosive success with the single, Mulder & Scully and the
album International Velvet, followed by the more glamorous
graft and Tom Jones duets that go with new-found celebrity,
it was time-out time for Catatonia - especially Matthews,
the inevitable focus of attention.
"It
takes a strong personality to deal with fame very quickly,
so it was necessary to take a step back and just go home,"
Matthews says. "I’m not one of those singers that do yoga
or have therapy or a special diet to keep you on an equilibrium.
Sometimes, it’s like walking the dog on a yo-yo - you have
to wind up the string and put the yo-yo in the cupboard, d’you
know what I mean?" I say yes, but I’m lying. "You don’t know
where the stop begins and the start ends," she adds helpfully,
if obliquely.
Except
that Matthews’s idea of a restful break involved hanging out
with her pals in Cardiff, singing for Bill Clinton at the
Hay-On-Wye literary festival, performing with Larry Adler,
resuming ballet lessons, working with Wombles composer Mike
Batt on music for the Watership Down series, contributing
to the soundtrack of the film Very Annie Mary (in which she
has a small role), performing karaoke with Dane Bowers (Summer
Loving, since you ask) and yet more karaoke at a local hostelry
where she has been known to sing along to her own songs. "Well,
I am the queen of post-modern, post-ironic, anti-fashion cool,"
she says.
So,
is that all, Cerys? "I haven’t been resting on my laurels,"
she understates, before launching into another eccentric analogy.
"It’s been good fun to be free to zip about like a bee in
different flower trees. You can have a nibble in other fields
and still be at home. You always think that the family next
door has got a better life than yours but there comes a point
where you realise you’ve got the best house in the street."
Which
is her way of saying that fame changed the relationships within
the band but not, ultimately, to the detriment of the music
they have produced since reconvening.
"Everyone
in the band thinks that what they bring to the band is the
reason the band succeeds," she says. "So it means the arguments
are much more heated and powerful. But tension brings about
a good, tight album, I’d hope. It would be a really flabby
album if nobody gave a shit."
Matthews
is right. The forthcoming Paper, Scissors, Stone reintroduces
Catatonia with a firm handshake. The band’s set at T In The
Park this weekend will be an ideal opportunity to get acquainted
with its instantly memorable melodies. "I’m very proud of
this album and I don’t really care if it doesn’t do as well
as the others," she says. "That’s how strong I feel."
Fiona
Shepherd.
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