Minibus Pimps Interview

John Paul Jone's avante-garde "soundscape" Minibus Pimps is set to release their debut album, Cloud to the Ground, in a few days (go to bottom for ordering information). In advance of this release, Jones and his Minibus Pimps partner Helge Sten, did an interview with The Quietus.

From the interview:

Quetus: This really does sound like it would be a great album to drop some mushrooms to and watch the Aurora Borealis. What do you think would be the ideal location and conditions for listening to this?  

John Paul Jones: A really good sound system!
 ---------------
JPJ: We do (have quite high standards)! And when we’re doing the sound design part and then designing the processes, most of the time we work separately but occasionally we work together and someone will come up with something and say, "Listen to this" and you’ll go, "Ah, that’s really good!" or we come with something and then look at each other say, "Nah, not really…" But that’s the same with all bands and all music. I mean, in Zeppelin nobody had to tell anybody else if something wasn’t working. It’s just something that you get to know. We trust each other musically. It goes back to what we were saying earlier. Without actually knowing each other personally for that long we both know what we know. We know that we’re both very experienced and that we know that we’ve got two pairs of good ears involved with this and that’s all that really matters.
---------------
Quetus: Now, I’ve got to ask you the obligatory Led Zeppelin question…

JPJ: Well he can answer it!
Quetus: Well, it is aimed at both of you but what do you think is the most avant-garde moment in Led Zeppelin’s catalogue?

JPJ: Er, probably ‘The Crunge’! I don’t know! What do you say?

Helge Sten: Well, if I could, I’d put the intro to ‘In The Evening’ in a 20-minute loop.

JPJ: Oh, thank you! That was me! Jimmy put some guitars on it, too, but I did that on the Yamaha GX-1. I found this programme where you have all the filters on the edge where they break up and keep trying to do something else and they keep coming back again. Yeah, that was great, that.
---------------
Quetus: I love that photograph of you posing with a passed out fan backstage who was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt…

JPJ: That wasn’t a drunk fan; that was the drunk drummer of The Maccabees! His band mates put us up to it – me and Dave Grohl. They said, "Our drummer’s asleep – would you come and take a photo with him?" They did ask other bands to do it but he was wearing a Zeppelin T-shirt so it seemed kind of appropriate! But it was funny and then Dave followed me and did his one! 

As for the album, Cloud to the Ground, of which Quietus says: "(it is) Recorded live at a variety of venues and driven by the use of the Kyma computer system, an aural design environment that allows users infinite possibilities to create and bend sound, the pair have conjured a formidable collection of music that allows for personal interpretation and visual stimuli."

It will be released Friday and can be pre-ordered in LP/CD format (both together) for £14.99 from Boomkat,  £18.99 for the LP from Rough Trade and for £8.99 from iTunes or $10.99 here in Canada.