“Voices”, Monkeys with cymbals, talking can openers and a sly love of The Bee Gees… SUPERSWEET’S Steeve Gizlam is given a tiny glimpse into the strange and scary world of The Chinese Star’s Eric Paul.
SS: “The Chinese Stars vow to reinvent what they have already invented”. What’s the plan?
Eric: Take lots of drugs, talk to a lot of dead people, spend lots of time in hospitals, never take showers, never pay bills, never listen to music, never read books, and in the middle of it all somehow squeeze together a few songs that have never been heard before.
SS: So what prompted the to formation of The Chinese Stars after Arab On Radar disbanded?
Eric: This one is easy, me and Craig like playing music and because Arab On Radar broke up and we couldn't play music with them anymore we started a new band to keep playing music.
SS: Your new album is called Listen To Your Left Brain. What’s the name about?
Eric: Well the voices in the right brain are "bad voices", they tell us to do very, very bad things. So to stay out of jail and stay out of hell, we titled the record Listen To Your Left Brain as a reminder that the left brain has the "good voices".
SS: Does the TV still whisper in your ear? Or did you get a new one to be on the safe side?
Eric: I donated the television to the old folk's home up the street but now my fucking can opener’s talking to me...
SS: Your biography says that “mental illness is still your driving force”. To what extent is that true?
Eric: Well, if I was healthy I certainly wouldn't be living this lifestyle... I would have good job, a big house, 7 cars, a wife, 17 healthy kids, life insurance, 401 k, a boat maybe...all that... I wouldn't be where I am now - broke, in and out of rehabs, hospitals, car washes, funeral homes and bowling alleys...living out of a van...on tour or at home...but yeah, at this point it is my driving force. The only way I can eat is to get on stage and act like an asshole for a bunch of idiots...What a life...
SS: You have a kind of twisted but danceable sound, notably different from that of the New York scene. What artists influence you as a band? Any contemporaries you want to big up?
Eric: Oh man, a serious question… I don't wanna answer this...Well, unless I can say the Bee Gees…
SS: And what of the mysterious Paul Vieira, the final and unaccounted for member of the band? Can you divulge any further information?
Eric: No way, if I did THEY would know where to find him.
SS: How do you feel about performing live?
Eric: I already mentioned that… Like an asshole, like a monkey with little gold cymbals on the shoulder of a homeless guy in front of a crowd of tourists on La
Rambla in Barcelona.
SS: What’s the story behind the cancellation of the US tour?
Eric: I ended up back in the hospital… Sorry...
SS: Any plans for a UK tour?
Eric: If somebody will buy us plane tickets we would come over in a heartbeat.
SS: How would you describe the album?
Eric: Drug induced nonsense, shamefully confessional, lazy, heavenly, 911, and very very, very unhip.
"Listen To Your Left Brain" is out now on Three One G records.