Interview with Mark Burgess from January 2005.
Out of all of the songs that you have written which one do you feel was the most personal?
"I would say probably 'Verboten' from the 'Venus album', which is the last studio album before the Chameleons reformation.. That whole album was cathartic really in terms of the lyrical themes.. My marriage was breaking up at the time, I was questioning everything and preparing to finally leave the Uk for good and all of that was kind of laid bare on that record."
Who would you rate as the single greatest lyricist of the eighties?
"Well I'd have to say Morrissey to be honest.. I mean you can say what you like about his persona and his eccentricities but there's no denying he's a brilliant lyricist.. Maybe its because, having pretty the same cultural background you know, growing up amongst the working class of north west England, I can relate to a lot of The Smiths stuff so much. Having said that Mark. E Smith of The Fall gives him a run for his money, which would probably be more widely recognised if anyone outside Manchester were able to actually understand what the fuck he's going on about."
How does it feel to have your band listed among coldplay and interpol's main influences?
"It's nice to get name checked from bands that are themselves turning a lot of other people onto guitars.. I mean in that respect it kind of makes me feel that we were a valid link in that long chain of artists that made us want to make records ourselves.. I think it probably means more to us because we didn't break in the commercial sense, you know, we stayed very much underground, slagged off by most of the press since we started, so it's a sort of a compensation that a lot of exceptionally talented guitar bands reference us. I think that's where the influences are for these people, in the guitars really. Dave's ethereal guitar melodies and Reg's weird progressions.."
Which active bands today do you feel would appeal to those that listen to The Chameleons?
"It's hard to say really because to be honest I don't feel I have that much in common with the general base of our audience.. I mean I really like the first couple of Coldplay albums, but the general consensus on the band's forum site is that they're rubbish, which totally mystifies me.. At the same time a lot of people said to me "oh, you have to hear Interpol, they're SO like The Chameleons." And then when I did I couldn't hear what they were going on about, they didn't remind me of us at all, which is a good thing I think. No matter how influenced you are by a band you still want to forge something that is totally your own.. I used to hate it when reviewers used to say "Oh this band are obviously influenced by blah blah.. Especially as, half the time, it wasn't even true. I'd expect that people who loved us would really like Radiohead.. I think that's the kind of direction we were heading in ourselves when we split up in 87.. I think they'd dig Mercury Rev for sure.. Mogwai ... Early Sigur Ros... But like I say you can't ever tell. I mean I read an NME article some years ago with Moby. They asked him about being single and what he was looking for in woman and he said "well for one thing, 'Script of The Bridge would have to be her all time favourite album." Which totally stunned me, I mean I would never have suspected that he loved that record so much given his direction. Pleased too though 'cause I really love his records..."
