The Desert Sun
Put the women and children to sleep. The Prodigy is back by Adam GrahamApril 27th 2002
At the weekend of Coachella Festival, the newspaper The Desert Sun also published an interview with Keith Flint about The Prodigy's live show. We've got it here for you:
"Put the women and children to sleep. The Prodigy is back.
After an extended hiatus - the furiously madcap electronic music pioneers have been absent from the public eye since the release of 1997's genre-exploding "The Fat of the Land" - The Prodigy is back with a new single, "Baby's Got a Temper," and an accompanying LP, "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. "
Prodigy vocalist Keith Flint - a napalm
bomb of attitude, complete with reverse negative Mohawk
and a look that recalled the killer clown from Stephen
King's "It" - became the face of techno music,
a genre that had been previously criticized for having
no face at all, after "Fat" took off. Frankly,
it wasn't a pretty sight.Now he says he's sporting a
mullet (though we don't exactly believe him), but he
says that he - and The Prodigy - are as furious as ever,
and the essence of The Prodigy remains in tact.
Bolt your doors.
The Desert Sun:You performed
your first shows in a number of years late last year
in Europe. How'd they come off?
Keith Flint: They were fantastic, they were superb.
They were just really good. The first show that we did
we had a few new songs that we just sort of like trying
out just sort of testing them live like we always have
done, and it was like (expletive) A, what do we do?
TDS: How'd it feel to be back onstage?
KF: When you do it for 10 years constantly, you always
know what you're doing, you develop what you do as you
sort of go along. But when you've been away for so long
and you don't rehearse, it really helps to just walk
out on stage. So the first show was like sort of a testing
ground, and it all sort of seemed to come back nice
and easy, and off we went with the crowd, and then we
did another two dates. We ended up in Holland where
it's always been really really good for us, and it was
like the crowd was no different, the show was no different
than like from any point of view and it came off (expletive)
superb. All I know is it didn't seem any different at
all. It seemed as good as it's always been, as far as
like people and their reaction.
TDS: Could you feel a release of
energy from the crowd that they were so happy to have
you guys back?
KF: You can't really judge that they're pleased to
have you back, if it goes like a good show goes, you
can't mistake that they're enjoying it.
TDS: What were you thinking being
back out there?
KF: To be quite honest, there was too much thinking
going on. When I perform I don't really think, I just
try and enjoy myself and it all comes naturally. If
there's a little too much thinking involved with anything,
you lose a lot of your spontaneity.
TDS: What do you remember about your last tour of
the States, in summer '98?
KF: A lot of the old venues are seated aren't they,
and you're very strict about what people can do, the
way they can do it and how they can do it. But it's
just awesome as a performer or as a band to have the
crowd out there before you and having fun. If bouncing
is what they do, then bounce away.
TDS: What was your time off like?
KF: It was good. Well, it was bad and it was ugly.
It was partying, it was motor cross, and yeah, it was
OK. At first it was like, the first year was like I
need this year. It was partying, catching up with friends,
just the doing normal things which are your life. And
then the next year was finally going in the studio and
wanting to and not wanting to, and forcing the issue
which makes it sort of unnatural and not that fun. And
the next year was 'right, let's do this album,' and
it takes a year to do an album. You know. We've been
touring for 10 years, and we needed the time to just
sort of kick back and relax.
TDS: How did the departure of Leeroy
Thornhill affect the band?
KF: It was sad to lose him. It was his decision;
he went off to write an album and become a producer
and do a lot of his own stuff, which he needed the time
for. It was good because it was what Leeroy wanted to
do, but it wasn't good because I lost someone who makes
me laugh on the road and was a companion. But he still
comes away with us, he came away recently and DJ'd with
us, and we're just best mates anyway and the band would
never change you as friends, so it's also good.
TDS: Do you still have the hunger,
the anger, the urgency that is the essence of The Prodigy?
KF: Of course. We'll always have that anger. That
is what we are, isn't it?"
