238-248 WARREN ELLIS / PLENTY OF SPACE TO GET LOST IN

[...MONIKA BIELSKYTE / HOW DID MUSIC ENTER YOU LIFE?

WARREN ELLIS / MUSIC WAS ALWAYS IN THE HOUSE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP. MY FATHER WAS A COUNTRY & WESTERN SINGER WHO HAD MADE SEVERAL 78 RECORDINGS & WROTE HIS OWN SONGS, & HE WAS ALWAYS PLAYING THE GUITAR AT HOME. HE HAD THE MOST ECLECTIC RECORD COLLECTION, WHICH I USED TO LISTEN TO, BUT HIS MAIN PASSION WAS HANK WILLIAMS; I THINK HE HAD EVERY RECORD HE RECORDED. LATER HE TOLD ME HE USED TO ORDER THEM FROM A BICYCLE SHOP, BECAUSE THE PROPRIETOR LIKED 'HILL BILLY' MUSIC AS WELL, SO HE ORDERED THEM IN. MY FATHER NEVER EMBRACED ELECTRONIC MUSIC. MY FIRST INSTRUMENT WAS A PIANO ACCORDION I FOUND AT A LOCAL RUBBISH DUMP. MY TEACHER GAVE ME LESSONS & I DEVELOPED A REPERTOIRE OF HITS FROM THE WAR YEARS. THEN WHEN I WAS 10 YEARS OLD A GUY VISITED THE SCHOOL TO SEE IF ANYONE WANTED TO LEARN THE VIOLIN. I NOTICED ALL THE GIRLS PUT THEIR HANDS UP SO I PUT MINE UP AS WELL. I ARRIVED AT THE LESSON WITH A VIOLIN & THERE WERE NO GIRLS. FIRST HARD LESSON IN MUSIC LEARNED. FROM THE VERY START, LISTENING TO MUSIC PROVIDED AN ESCAPE FROM THE REAL WORLD, WHICH ALLOWED ME TO DREAM. AS I GOT OLDER, I FOUND I WAS ABLE TO IMMERSE MYSELF IN SOUNDS TO THE EXTENT THAT I HAD FELT WHEN TAKING DRUGS & BEING IN ALTERED STATES. I WAS AWARE OF MUSIC'S ABILITY TO MODIFY REALITY FROM AN EARLY AGE & USED IT AS AN ESCAPE. I ALWAYS CONSIDERED MYSELF A MUSIC LISTENER; IT WASN'T SOMETHING I THOUGHT WOULD BE A VOCATION.

[...]

MB / YOU HAVE QUITE A WILD STORY...

WE / I DON'T VIEW IT AS WILD, IT'S JUST WHAT I DID. I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH MY PAST IN THAT RESPECT. WE DO THINGS FOR REASONS, EVEN IF THEY AREN'T APPARENT AT THE TIME. OUR ACTIONS HAVE THEIR REPERCUSSIONS & YOU LIVE WITH THEM. FOR A WHILE THE DRUGS SEEM TO WORK WITH YOU THEN THE TIDE TURNS. THE TRICK IS REALISING WHEN THE BALANCE HAS TIPPED. I DON'T REALLY REFLECT ON MY LIFE IN SUCH A WAY, MAYBE THAT COMES LATER. INITIALLY, WHEN I STARTED PLAYING, MY LIFESTYLE PROVIDED ME WITH A NECESSARY 'EDGE' FROM WHICH I COULD SUSPEND REALITY & LEAP INTO SOME ABYSS OF MY OWN MAKING. CERTAINLY LIVE IT WAS THE CASE & PROBABLY TO A LESSER EXTENT IN THE STUDIO. BUT I NEVER FELT IT WAS A DEFINING PART OF MY CHARACTER. & I WAS HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE FOR A WHILE. IF I DO LOOK BACK ON IT IN ANY WAY, IT IS WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF THAT IT'S NO LONGER A PART OF MY LIFE ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS. THROWING CAUTION TO THE WIND GOT ME INTO SOME GREAT SITUATIONS IN MY PERSONAL & CREATIVE LIFE. IT'S PROBABLY WHEN I HAVE BEEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL IN MY CREATIVE LIFE...]

/ EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH WARREN ELLIS BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE















all images Warren Ellis PHOTOGRAPHED in his paris home july 2010 BY MONIKA BIELSKYTE

ENTIRE ARTICLE ONLY IN PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE003 / FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE