Christian Savill Interview | The Slowdive Souvlaki Demos

[@souvlakiss_]

This is a great interview, thanks for doing it. I can add some information that might be helpful. In the late '90s, Christian made cassette tapes for a small number of people who emailed him asking about unreleased Slowdive songs. I emailed him in 1999 and he was kind enough to send me two tapes, which I still have, with his handwritten notes and tracklisting. Most of the Slowdive demos on the internet today can be traced back to these tapes Christian sent out. I'm not sure why he didn't mention this, since Slowdive have discussed it in prior interviews. Before this there was a tape of three songs that apparently a friend of Simon Scott received (from Simon). It included 'I saw the sun', 'joy' and 'bleed'. These were circulated among Slowdive fans in the mid-90s. There were some demos Christian did not tape for people (afaik). I obtained these over 20 years ago from someone named Nick who was friends with Slowdive in the early 90s. He received a 90min tape of demos from one of the band members (I can't remember which one) while they were recording 'Souvlaki', with a handwritten tracklisting. I found him by chance on a message list, and for some reason he sent me a copy of this tape (with a scan of the tracklisting), plus Chapterhouse demos (he was friends with them too) and his recording of the Eternal live concert from 1990, which I posted on my youtube channel. This tape included 'let's go away', 'one hundred times', and other songs not on the tapes from Christian. These did not become available online until after the Pitchfork Souvlaki documentary released. The people making the documentary contacted me and said Slowdive were fine with any demos being released at that time. I resisted releasing them earlier because I was unsure of Slowdive's stance on them. But, after receiving the "OK", I uploaded these other songs in low-bitrate mp3 format to my old website (souvlakispacestation.com), through Soundcloud. People have since posted them here on KZbin. A few of the songs only involve Christian, Simon and Nick (Christian did not mention any of these in this interview). I have not released these because I have been informed that Christian is not keen on having them out there. I still have all of these original tapes and I have digitized them in 48khz .wav files. They sound much better than anything available online, since they are low analog generation (2nd or 3rd) and not mp3-sourced. Although the tapes from Christian sound great, the tape from Nick sounds even better. I'd be happy to send these to Slowdive if they would release them officially, or if they'd just like to have them for posterity. They would sound better than the officially-released Pygmalion demos, which used poor-quality mp3-sourced files. But maybe they aren't keen on releasing the Souvlaki demos unless they are sourced from the master tapes (if so, that's a mistake IMHO, since demos aren't expected to sound 'album perfect'. Also, even if they find the original DAT studio master tapes, I can tell you from experience DAT tapes from 30+ years ago are probably going to be full of digital sound errors that are impossible to fix). A final note: the 'Hide Yer Eyes' bootleg is quite bad, and the files are mp3-sourced yet again. Not sure why anyone would want to pay money for that!

[@ISawTheSun_]

Thats one of a crazy story. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@souvlakiuzayistasyonu]

that was shocking. you have the FILES? is there a chance for me to listen them in a better quality? can you share them please, i mean the .wav files? no place where have the demos is of high quality and i've been searching for them

[@abluestreetscene]

Please share them if you have the occasion! Or just send the files/cassettes to the band, hoping we will get an official release someday

[@RobGordon35]

Yeah please offer them to the band! they could remaster them and they could see an official release.

[@DarkMichael194]

Are there any songs that we haven't heard before?

[@ceoavenger9500]

Slowdive demos are something special, it’s great teenage music

[@Vulmen311]

I'm 36 and still enjoy it, lol.

[@geraldpawlish6775]

Hide Yer Eyes (both versions), Sleep, I Saw the Sun, Silver Screen (both versions) are all top 5 Slowdive songs for me.

[@davidtollefson8411]

It continues to fascinate me that Slowdive has finally gained the respect and recognition they deserve after all these years. So much influence and great music. Saw them open for Ride in the early 90’s and a few years back with Low, stunning both times. So glad people hear a bit of shoegaze in my current music, I just love that sound so much. Souvlaki is THE shoegaze album for me.

[@DarkMichael194]

The song 'Remember' (also known as 'I cant remember') which was released on Eternal's (Christian's former band) Breathe EP reissue in 2013, is also a song recorded for Souvlaki.

[@RinnRuannan]

I found the best bit of best bits (the demo versions are wonderful) of this was when Christian said they were finishing-up the new album. That is a smile.

[@danielcarvalho1599]

Beautiful collaboration project and interview!! It's fantastic, and the whole elements of lost recordings, parallel tape sharing and cult following of these demos make this theme so amazing. Thank you so much!!

[@adam3647]

One of the best videos I've seen in months, what a gem. I applaud you both, your passion really shines through.

[@marvinm.messier1120]

Christian's such a cool guy & I love his guitar work.

[@rempy9529]

thank you so much for making this video and getting christian to talk about some of the songs!!

[@RobGordon35]

Thank you so much for posting this, really enjoyed it. ~peace

[@weezadam]

This is manna from the heavens! Thank you for putting this together, great to finally hear Christian’s voice in Slowdive lore.

[@shifty220]

Top stuff, thanks for interviewing and sharing with us

[@scottanthonyweidner8692]

To me, the Souvlaki demos rank third amidst the various groupings of their music, behind only 1) the initial 3 ep’s, and 2) the Souvlaki album. And many Slowdive fans would say that’s too low for the demos. Master tapes or no, put them out. They’re canon to the fandom, key to how the fandom grew during the band’s 19-year hiatus, and a major part of why the band is revered today. Oh, and I think their arc, and their strong popularity with Gen Z, shows that the reason they weren’t well-received in their time was that their music was 20-30 years ahead of its time. Alan wanted them to be Ride. They were so much more valuable than that artistically.

[@dpclerks09]

hell yeah dude.

[@MoKabary]

thanks for the vid man

[@StainedGlassStories]

You're very welcome!

[@ozmarichardson6524]

hey. thank you for making all these videos about this genre

[@danielle78730]

whoa! finishing a new album NEXT WEEK…?!?!?!???? ;) yay!!!!!

[@chrisknowlton9460]

Silver Screen is my all time favorite Slowdive track. Two versions, slightly different, to be exact. It's a shame the sound quality is not as good as other polished studio tracks. The guy who has the best tapes of the demos should contact Cherry Red.

[@theanonymouscat5062]

Christian and Nick fooling around in the studio and making Creation go ape shit is absolutely hilarious.

[@michaelthompson5252]

Great channel. I have to wonder if Radiohead's "Pablo Honey" album was named after the Jerky Boys prank phone call of the same name.

[@deepfocus888]

Absolutely

[@ISawTheSun_]

Thank you so much for making this video!

[@chefhawk]

Great info. Many thanks

[@steffspook]

What do you think of the songs "Richard" and "Summer Daze"?

[@jumantetris]

awesome video!! thx for provide subtitles also :))

[@ozmarichardson6524]

It bums me out that Slowdive (and other shoegazers like Cocteau Twins and MBV) were so hard on themselves. Their music is soooo fucking special. They thought their music was derivative.. but I prefer their work over the people they were worried they sounded like. Also Goths hating on shoegaze makes no sense to me.

[@MartyFisket]

great video guys :)

[@roxanaaurus]

Thank u so much for this

[@leoscoo6135]

Wish you could have asked about Geisha or Richard :(

[@Bummerdude78]

Love this, thanks!

[@andromeda41169]

yo man id love it if u made a documentary on whirr or alisons halo they're considered my absolute favourite when it comes to the shoegaze genre

[@lemurdream]

Joy is a banger.

[@merca_00]

pog

[@deepfocus888]

HOW DID THIS SLIP BY ME??? Oh man....whoa

[@birdworldist]

Swag

[@TheAverageGuy12]

Drippy

[@WatanabeDarko]

"Bleed" is way better than a lot of Cure's tracks. It is derivative, but still much better. They should have included that in the official recordings. Also "Joy" is one of the best Slowdive songs, and should definitely have been on the album instead of one of the minor tracks in Souvlaki, such as "Altogether", "Sing" or "Some Velvet Morning".

[@Godloveszaza]

Their demos are amazing but so are their albums. Must be a bore for them to hear people consistently yap about their demos.

[@TheVioletBunny]

Silly haircuts