Maximo Park’s Paul Smith had just released his new solo album ‘Diagrams’ so Lee Allcock caught up with him to find out more.
You seem to be constantly either playing live or releasing some new material. Would you say you’re a bit of a workaholic…
In terms of music, absolutely. I feel very lucky in the fact that people seem to love the music I make, whether that’s in Maximo Park or my solo material. If I didn’t work hard I feel like I’d be throwing away a great opportunity to reach people. I’m extremely proud of what I do so I end up making more tracks and I’m always trying to evolve my music.
You have a string of intimate dates coming up, including The Cluny in Newcastle. Would you say that you prefer the types of venues where you can see the whites of peoples’ eyes?
In some ways, yeah. I’m pretty lucky to have access to both worlds where I can play in somewhere like The Cluny in Newcastle and The Georgian Theatre in Stockton as well as Academy’s across the country. Intimates venues are brilliant – you can have a bit of a laugh with the audience which I really like to do.
First release ‘Silver Rabbit’ has a grunge-inspired essence to it and feels extremely personal (there are feelings of self-doubt running through the track). Will the lyrics running throughout the album reflect your own stories and experiences rather than the politically-fuelled ‘Risk to Exist’ Maximo Park album…
It’s definitely more personal. Even though we’ve always had that political edge to the band, I felt like it was the right time to make a statement musically with ‘Risk to Exist’. Those political themes, however, will always intertwine with music and sure enough, on the new record, it’s almost like where we live – I still live in the North East – you can’t ignore the things that are going on around you. So I would say that some of the new songs reflect post-Brexit Britain, post-referendum and feeling a little bit disillusioned by the way that things are, but there are also love songs about designing a capital city for somebody else, for example.
You still live in the North East, but what makes you feel proud to say that you were born and raised in this region…
There’s an old Maximo Park B-side called ‘Pride Before a Fall’ that relates to this and I think, sometimes, people can be too proud of where they come from and they can be blind to the negative aspects. I mean, how can we improve and move forward if you’re clinging to an old idea of how things are or how you think things are. Geographically speaking, we’re near the coast and it’s a beautiful part of the world surrounded by industry. I feel a kinship with a lot of people in the region and people do support each other when they’re down – that’s in day-to-day life and in the music scene.
Paul Smith heads to The Cluny, Newcastle on Saturday 24th November and the event is now sold out.
