Meet Martyn Jacques, a white-faced depraved individual that plays the accordion, sings about smashing babies' heads, and on occasion takes photos of fucking inflatable sheep. His band, The Tiger Lillies, has shocked and offended audiences for almost 15 years, and he is now playing a Broadway rendition of Heinrich Hoffman's Shockheaded Peter, a 19th century collection of children's tales designed to scare youngens into submission. His angelic voice sings songs of perverse delusions, or at least, we hope are merely delusions...
Check out The Tiger Lillies in their run of Shockheaded Peter.
Fractal Suicide: How do you feel that the circus/punk genres have influenced your breed of music/songs?
Martyn Jacques: That's a new one, "circus punk", never heard that expression. I've been influenced over the last 15 years, I'm very inspired by the circus. We did the album Circus Songs, which is all about the history of traveling, and gypsies. It's romantic. Punk is something that I grew up in. I'm 45 now, and as a young man punks weren't really heroes, but certainly the attitude of punk influenced me - the alienation of punk rather than the cliche. Punk's not very challenging, it's like terrible copies of Sex Pistols' tapes. The spirit of anarchy, the alienation was the influential soul. "Circus Punk" is not really a conscious thing, but both are appropriate.
FS: What about the recent commercialization of the macabre? Tim Burton of The Lemony Snickett books and movie are bringing the genre closer to the surface of pop culture. Groups like the Dresden Dolls have recently gained huge followings, do you feel that The Tiger Lillies have contributed to this?
MJ: Lemony played my accordion! He was in that band The Magnetic Fields, they played in London and the producer called me and asked to borrow it.
My primary influence is the Three Penny Opera, gypsies, circus music. It's funny cause we're becoming aware, we played in Australia in a spiral tent a little while back. We walked in, and Adrian, my drummer, looked at me and said 'Martyn, why are they all dressed like us?" The audience was wearing old hats and funny suits. It's almost fashionable now.
Burlesque is another big word at the moment. We played in Boston, we were invited by the Dresden Dolls to play with them. I felt like Johnny Cash walking into a pop festival, there were all these 15 year old kids with bowler hats and white face makeup. I think a lot of this was influenced by Marilyn Manson, with the whole development of the goth thing.
We played with the Dresden Dolls in front of about 1000 young people. We're usually in front of an older crowd. We never got invited to the music festivals, we've always been considered an art band. The crowds are usually about 35-45 years old.
Credibility is very important to me. I don't want to go on stage feeling like a whore, walking on stage for the money. I want honor in the artistry.
I don't really feel The Tiger Lillies have contributed to this. Marilyn Manson definitely has, but The Tiger Lillies are an accident. We're not famous, we have no illusions of grandeur. Marilyn Manson is an accessible form of music. The Tiger Lillies are not for mass consumption. The public really has to have some kind of specialist knowledge to find us. We're never going to make it into the mainstream world, unless we had a novelty hit. So no, I don't really think we've influenced it at all.
FS: The Tiger Lillies have been around more than a decade. Do you think that Shockheaded Peter has expanded your popularity?
MJ: Shockheaded Peter maybe has had some influence, but it's really very hard to gauge.
FS: The Tiger Lillies fan base consists of names such as Matt Groening, cartoonists Edward Gorey and Jhonen Vasquez, and director Terry Gilliam, just to name a few. You released a tribute album to Edward Gorey, the Grammy nominated Gorey End. What was the collaboration with Gorey on that?
MJ: One day I was on the phone with my manager, and we were talking for about a half an hour or so, and towards the end of the conversation she mentioned that I had gotten a letter from an Edward Gorey. It was saying that he was a very big fan, and that "Banging in the Nails" was his favorite song. I was very excited, and wrote a letter back. Gorey sent back a box of unpublished work. I went through it and turned it into songs, with the intent of a theatrical collaboration.
I didn't really change much from what he sent me, and set it to music. We agreed to meet, I was going to fly out to him and meet for dinner and spend the weekend. I practiced all the songs and learned them by heart, and just prior to leaving, Edward died.
It was a bit unfortunate, the project never took off the ground. Terry Gilliam was to be the director, it was going to be his first theatrical endeavor, but it all kinda fell apart. The Gorey Estate was a bit pissed off because of the adaptation.
It was a bit frustrating, but we made the album anyway. We worked with The Kronos Quartet on it, and lost a bit of money recording. It was very amusing and absurd to have been nominated for a Grammy.
FS: Edward Gorey had referred to you as having the "voice of an angel". Despite your voice being so distinct and a hallmark of the group, did you experience any difficulty in forming a group since it is so individually styled?
MJ: I had no difficulty forming the group but I had much difficulty in becoming successful with the individuality. The music business is very much about musical categories which can be marketed and sold, not about originality, no matter how beautiful or unique or artistically valid the music is.
FS: The Tiger Lillies have a bit of a cult following. Do you think that new comers seeing Shockheaded Peter would be shocked or appalled at your other recordings?
MJ: It's definitely a mixture. There are people who see SHP who are normal and respectable people and they would probably choked, but generally they attract an alternative who appreciate my other work .
FS: Songs like "Banging in the Nails" or "Why Am I Alone?" could be considered incredibly offensive by the Broadway patron who is not sure what to expect. Do you think that people attending SHP really know what to expect when they take their seats?
MJ: When we came and played in NY in Halloween last year, all the sponsors and producers of the show came to see us . It certainly gives me a mischievous delight singing song like "Hamster up the Rectum" in these situations . I do get a subversive delight of shocking my audiences and we always seems to lose few when we perform.
FS: Shockheaded Peter received incredible critical acclaim after its opening night in NYC. After its run is over, do you plan on returning to The Tiger Lillies' Circus or playing smaller venues again, or do you think you will find another theater run to become involved with?
MJ: We're starting a new theatre production in the summer, Hans Christian Anderson the Little Match Girl, which we will do with an an Paris based theatre director called Dan Jemmet.
FS: Do you find more allowance for outlandish behavior or spontaneity on stage due to your creative involvement in the show's development?
MJ: I've always been the master of my own outlandish behavior and have never really controlled or followed any direction from others . For me, the songs of SHP are just one chapter in my career though obviously it's the chapter which has attracted much more attention than some of the others.
FS: Did your run with The Tiger Lillies Circus prep you for work in theater? What was your involvement with the Circus?
MJ: The Circus and SHP started at the same time, so obviously my performance style continued to developed in tandem between the two. Basically the Circus involves the TL performing a collection of songs, some on their own and some with a variety of circus performers.
FS: You've said before that living on top of a brothel in England influenced your lyrics. Do you actively seek out the depravity of humanity, or do you think it just comes naturally?
MJ: I do actually seek out depravity. I'm much more interested in writing about it than for example the beauty of the country side. As I said before, I do take delight in challenging my audience.
FS: Your music conveys images of a Sweeney Todd-esque London - bring out yer dead, buckets of shit and piss flung from the windows onto the street, not really of modern times. If you could, what time period would you want to live in, while doing what you do?
MJ: I'm very happy living in the 21 Century. I think it's interesting to think and write music and lyrics referring to 19th/early 20th centuries, yet give them a slant which resonates for the 21st Century .
We're part of the time we live in. In the 80s, everyone had shaved heads and black bodystockings, and probably 10 years from now, we'll all look terribly dated.
Check out The Tiger Lillies in their run of Shockheaded Peter.
Fractal Suicide: How do you feel that the circus/punk genres have influenced your breed of music/songs?
Martyn Jacques: That's a new one, "circus punk", never heard that expression. I've been influenced over the last 15 years, I'm very inspired by the circus. We did the album Circus Songs, which is all about the history of traveling, and gypsies. It's romantic. Punk is something that I grew up in. I'm 45 now, and as a young man punks weren't really heroes, but certainly the attitude of punk influenced me - the alienation of punk rather than the cliche. Punk's not very challenging, it's like terrible copies of Sex Pistols' tapes. The spirit of anarchy, the alienation was the influential soul. "Circus Punk" is not really a conscious thing, but both are appropriate.
FS: What about the recent commercialization of the macabre? Tim Burton of The Lemony Snickett books and movie are bringing the genre closer to the surface of pop culture. Groups like the Dresden Dolls have recently gained huge followings, do you feel that The Tiger Lillies have contributed to this?
MJ: Lemony played my accordion! He was in that band The Magnetic Fields, they played in London and the producer called me and asked to borrow it.
My primary influence is the Three Penny Opera, gypsies, circus music. It's funny cause we're becoming aware, we played in Australia in a spiral tent a little while back. We walked in, and Adrian, my drummer, looked at me and said 'Martyn, why are they all dressed like us?" The audience was wearing old hats and funny suits. It's almost fashionable now.
Burlesque is another big word at the moment. We played in Boston, we were invited by the Dresden Dolls to play with them. I felt like Johnny Cash walking into a pop festival, there were all these 15 year old kids with bowler hats and white face makeup. I think a lot of this was influenced by Marilyn Manson, with the whole development of the goth thing.
We played with the Dresden Dolls in front of about 1000 young people. We're usually in front of an older crowd. We never got invited to the music festivals, we've always been considered an art band. The crowds are usually about 35-45 years old.
Credibility is very important to me. I don't want to go on stage feeling like a whore, walking on stage for the money. I want honor in the artistry.
I don't really feel The Tiger Lillies have contributed to this. Marilyn Manson definitely has, but The Tiger Lillies are an accident. We're not famous, we have no illusions of grandeur. Marilyn Manson is an accessible form of music. The Tiger Lillies are not for mass consumption. The public really has to have some kind of specialist knowledge to find us. We're never going to make it into the mainstream world, unless we had a novelty hit. So no, I don't really think we've influenced it at all.
FS: The Tiger Lillies have been around more than a decade. Do you think that Shockheaded Peter has expanded your popularity?
MJ: Shockheaded Peter maybe has had some influence, but it's really very hard to gauge.
FS: The Tiger Lillies fan base consists of names such as Matt Groening, cartoonists Edward Gorey and Jhonen Vasquez, and director Terry Gilliam, just to name a few. You released a tribute album to Edward Gorey, the Grammy nominated Gorey End. What was the collaboration with Gorey on that?
MJ: One day I was on the phone with my manager, and we were talking for about a half an hour or so, and towards the end of the conversation she mentioned that I had gotten a letter from an Edward Gorey. It was saying that he was a very big fan, and that "Banging in the Nails" was his favorite song. I was very excited, and wrote a letter back. Gorey sent back a box of unpublished work. I went through it and turned it into songs, with the intent of a theatrical collaboration.
I didn't really change much from what he sent me, and set it to music. We agreed to meet, I was going to fly out to him and meet for dinner and spend the weekend. I practiced all the songs and learned them by heart, and just prior to leaving, Edward died.
It was a bit unfortunate, the project never took off the ground. Terry Gilliam was to be the director, it was going to be his first theatrical endeavor, but it all kinda fell apart. The Gorey Estate was a bit pissed off because of the adaptation.
It was a bit frustrating, but we made the album anyway. We worked with The Kronos Quartet on it, and lost a bit of money recording. It was very amusing and absurd to have been nominated for a Grammy.
FS: Edward Gorey had referred to you as having the "voice of an angel". Despite your voice being so distinct and a hallmark of the group, did you experience any difficulty in forming a group since it is so individually styled?
MJ: I had no difficulty forming the group but I had much difficulty in becoming successful with the individuality. The music business is very much about musical categories which can be marketed and sold, not about originality, no matter how beautiful or unique or artistically valid the music is.
FS: The Tiger Lillies have a bit of a cult following. Do you think that new comers seeing Shockheaded Peter would be shocked or appalled at your other recordings?
MJ: It's definitely a mixture. There are people who see SHP who are normal and respectable people and they would probably choked, but generally they attract an alternative who appreciate my other work .
FS: Songs like "Banging in the Nails" or "Why Am I Alone?" could be considered incredibly offensive by the Broadway patron who is not sure what to expect. Do you think that people attending SHP really know what to expect when they take their seats?
MJ: When we came and played in NY in Halloween last year, all the sponsors and producers of the show came to see us . It certainly gives me a mischievous delight singing song like "Hamster up the Rectum" in these situations . I do get a subversive delight of shocking my audiences and we always seems to lose few when we perform.
FS: Shockheaded Peter received incredible critical acclaim after its opening night in NYC. After its run is over, do you plan on returning to The Tiger Lillies' Circus or playing smaller venues again, or do you think you will find another theater run to become involved with?
MJ: We're starting a new theatre production in the summer, Hans Christian Anderson the Little Match Girl, which we will do with an an Paris based theatre director called Dan Jemmet.
FS: Do you find more allowance for outlandish behavior or spontaneity on stage due to your creative involvement in the show's development?
MJ: I've always been the master of my own outlandish behavior and have never really controlled or followed any direction from others . For me, the songs of SHP are just one chapter in my career though obviously it's the chapter which has attracted much more attention than some of the others.
FS: Did your run with The Tiger Lillies Circus prep you for work in theater? What was your involvement with the Circus?
MJ: The Circus and SHP started at the same time, so obviously my performance style continued to developed in tandem between the two. Basically the Circus involves the TL performing a collection of songs, some on their own and some with a variety of circus performers.
FS: You've said before that living on top of a brothel in England influenced your lyrics. Do you actively seek out the depravity of humanity, or do you think it just comes naturally?
MJ: I do actually seek out depravity. I'm much more interested in writing about it than for example the beauty of the country side. As I said before, I do take delight in challenging my audience.
FS: Your music conveys images of a Sweeney Todd-esque London - bring out yer dead, buckets of shit and piss flung from the windows onto the street, not really of modern times. If you could, what time period would you want to live in, while doing what you do?
MJ: I'm very happy living in the 21 Century. I think it's interesting to think and write music and lyrics referring to 19th/early 20th centuries, yet give them a slant which resonates for the 21st Century .
We're part of the time we live in. In the 80s, everyone had shaved heads and black bodystockings, and probably 10 years from now, we'll all look terribly dated.
VIEW 15 of 15 COMMENTS
satanica:
Nice interview, Fractal.
wenzdai:
Fractal, i have to say i love you right now.