The Week That Was

Interviewed By: Chris DePaul

Date: 2009-03-08

The Week That Was, written and recorded in late 2007 at Field Music’s 8 Studio in Sunderland, emerged from an imagined crime thriller dreamt up by Peter and inspired by Paul Auster’s labyrinthine storytelling. Peter started writing the songs as if they were moments, instances of perspectives within this story. The story was left to fall away, leaving a puzzle of musical snapshots. The songs are the evidence in this particular mystery and the victims, perpetrators and onlookers raise questions with concerns familiar to us all. How do we deal with the fragments of information we receive through the television, radio, the internet? How do we balance the distrust we feel for mass media with our dependence on it? How does this relationship influence our hopes and actions in our real lives? And finally, what would happen if we decided not to deal with it anymore and switched off the information flow by throwing away our TVs, radios and newspapers? The anger, confusion and sorrow details the week of Peter’s own enforced switch off. This may be about as conceptual as Peter will ever get.

Peter Brewis talked with Found in the Margins about Auster and the other books he has been reading.

What is it about Auster’s storytelling that resonates with you?
I’ve liked the idea of reading great books but I’m not a very good reader. I think my attention span is too short (It took me a year to read Eyeless in Gaza). Paul Auster’s books were great for me because they weren’t difficult to read yet the stories and themes had lots of layers to really get into. Like my favourite pop music, he’s accessible yet experimental at the same time. At least from my point of view.

Auster’s characters always seem to be lost, perusing a task simply for an occupation of time.  Do you think these themes correlate with society’s relationship with the media?
Certainly. Time in general seems to be a pre-occupation of Auster. Sometimes time is microscopic in his books, the level of detail is in microseconds, then it explodes into months or years. This is much like the time-collage that the media presents to us. Morsels of information about huge blocks of time. Then skipping years in to the past or the future. I for one find it very confusing. Records are like that too because they stockpile time...even though The Week That Was is only 33mins it contains morsels of recorded time from a period of six months...and memories from a lot longer than that. Anyway, I’ve lost my thread but I’m not going to edit myself.

What are some of your favorite Auster books?
I’m no student of literature so I don’t know what would be seen as his best but Moon Palace, Mr Vertigo, and the New York Trilogy are all etched into my mind...actually add Leviathan, and the Music of Chance to that list.

What other books are you reading?
I’m reading a book at the moment called The Recording Angel by Evan Eisenberg. In short it’s a study of the history of recorded sound and how it has affected us humans. I’ve just finished Noise: The Political Economy of Music by Jacques Atalli. It’s looks at how music has been produced over history and suggests that it sort of anticipates the economic structures to come. I found it hard going but very rewarding. I’m going to have another go.

Are you reading any non-fiction books?  Particularly, anything that addresses the themes of media and information?
The thing is I’m not reading any fiction books at the moment. My fun book at the moment is Rip it Up And Start Again by Simon Reynolds, which chronicles the post-punk era.

Do lyrics always take a front seat in your song writing?
Lyrics and music kind of share the driving. Music turns the ignition key but lyrics plan the route. Then they both argue with each other about where to stop for coffee.

During your enforced switch off week, did you remove yourself from all forms of information?  Or only TV/Internet/Newspaper?  What did you do?
I didn’t really do it on purpose really. I just wanted to get the album written because the time was right. I just didn’t really go out. I did put the radio on a couple of times in the morning but there were some strange and horrible things going on in the world so it didn’t stay on. When I went outside it was odd because I felt people knew things I didn’t. I was very jealous and suspicious. That’ll teach me to pull a stunt like that again eh?

These Artists Liked the Same Books As The Week That Was:

Gretta Cohn
Psapp
Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene

Purchase Books
You can purchase the books recommended by The Week That Was here.

Links:
www.myspace.com/theweekthatwas