Conrad Keeley is a man of many thoughts. In fact, a conversation with him cannot seem to go anywhere without references to societal progression and influence that he in part uses as a muse. In light of this, on their first tour to Australia since 2002, Trail of Dead shall once again head Down Under to grace us with their sixth and latest album, The Century of Self.
yG: What does today hold for you?
CK: I've just woken up, and I'm staring about, trying to get my bearings ... Trying to figure out which way is north I suppose?
yG: Where is the band playing at the moment?
CK: I'm in England, in Nottingham, home of the famous sheriff [Laughs]. We're now on the ongoing tour we'll be on for the rest of our lives.
yG: The Century of Self is out now. You've made a reputation for yourselves as a fairly underground band in the past, and have been relatively hyped by critics. How has the new stuff been received?
CK: People do seem to respond well to the new stuff, but I really don't put a lot of stock into critics. I don't read reviews of stuff I do like; why would I read reviews of my stuff? But the new stuff is more positive, in the last recordings I was holding onto a life that I had lived for 12 years - there was strain in the band, and in my personal life.
yG: Where did you get the name The Century of Self from?
CK: It's a documentary by ... Adam Curtis about Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud. Basically he took his uncle's views and applied them to marketing which created the world that we live in: a society that buys things out of a desire to satiate underlying emotional impulses, rather than buying things that we need out of necessity.
yG: And it turns out that you constructed the cover art yourself. Is drawing and art something you get to focus on while you're on the road?
CK: Yes, as much as I can - although it's time consuming and difficult to do on the road. I just bought a man purse that's big enough for the sketchbooks that I take around [Laughs]. I'm good at drawing rooftops. Europe has these beautiful rooftops to fill my desire for beautiful architecture.
yG: The last time you came to Australia, you got into a scuffle with the Dropkick Murphys. What happened there?
CK: [Long pause]. I don't remember ... it does sound like something we would have done in our misguided youth [Laughs]. But we loved it there. I spent some time in Sydney [and] got into the atmosphere there. I really enjoyed the sense of isolation I felt from the English-speaking world too.
yG: Is that what the songs and lyrics on The Century of Self reflect as well?
CK: 'Insatiable' definitely is. But the lyrics are diverse. I was inspired by many things this time around. Some lyrics were about mythology, [and] I have a song about the fear of performing.
yG: What do you fear about performing?
CK: At the best of times when I do perform, it's a spiritual or emotional connection with my band, at the worst I feel a strong desire to go back to bed.
yG: When you released Source Tags & Codes back in 2002, you were hailed as an underground success and were fairly hyped by critics. How do you deal with that when recording something new?
CK: Criticism is hard for anybody to take, whether you decide to pay attention. I don't necessarily agree with the tone of a lot of music writing because it judges what's going on in the context of the moment rather than the entire scope of rock history, which is very rich. I don't think numbers from one to 10 should be put on albums.
yG: You formed the band in Austin, and lived there for a good part of the band's career. What was it like growing up there in terms of the music scene?
CK: Austin is both wonderful and isolated. At the time it was really far, we were stuck playing Austin and towns in Texas, and there were all these restrictions on things like South by Southwest. It was very hard to get in to play in the past, though it's a different festival now. In Austin we were able to cement a strong originality and creativity with us and other bands we played with.
yG: " ...And you will know us by the Trail of Dead": your full name is quite lengthy. What is its origin?
CK: For the record, I like seeing the full name. It fills with me no end of amusement [Laughs]. But if I tell you where it comes from, I'll have to kill you.
yG: Definitely don't worry about it then.
CK: [Laughs]. No, it was from a newspaper article in Texas about a cattle herd that had all followed each other off a very steep cliff. 1400 head of cattle were found there.
yG: Should Australian audiences have any expectations for your return here?
CK: No, not at all. Come with an open mind.
Carrie Dennes
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