David Sylvian Virtuetv.com 2000 interview part 1

internet broadcast by virtuetv.com on September 26th, 2000 with David Sylvian.
This special Eden (now EMI) interview with distinguished writer and broadcaster Robert Sandall is about the release of Everything & Nothing and David answers questions by fan submissions. The streaming video was hosted by virtuetv.com.
Converted for KZbin by davidsylvian.net
This is part 1 out of 4.

[@EnnuiOn]

Man, I've been searching KZbin for Sylvian's interviews and watching every single one of them that's available for the last couple of days, and its interesting to see the shift in the comment section here compared to the previous, earlier interviews. From "the most beautiful man and the most sublime original artist" to "ew I can't believe this ugly uggo once used to be Japan's pretty-faced frontman! such a self absorbed twerp with his head far up his arse!" I think I can now understand why David values his originality and artistic freedom above anything else. For someone who is aggressively critical of himself, he couldn't give two fucks of what others have to say about his work. And good for him. I prefer an artist like this than someone who is out there to people please and suck up to record labels and management.

[@morganyoungisplayingdrums]

The shift probably comes from many people reading Mick's book and really getting the definitive answer on just how much Sylvian is just a backstabbing, greedy, narcissistic megalomaniac. The shit that he put Mick and the band through is preposterous. After I finished Mick's book it took me a while before I could even listen to Sylvian's solo work again. I rarely do at all anymore. In some cases, I can separate the art from the artist, but this was different.

[@EnnuiOn]

@@morganyoungisplayingdrums David really was a difficult man to work with, but to be fair, so was Mick. Richard had said that as much as Mick was talented and a joy to know, he was also deeply troubled and a liability. And if you had read what David had to say about the whole thing, then you might be able to see both sides - how Simon Napier-Bell exploited the weaknesses of Mick and ultimately led to tensions in the band because he was a greedy little shit. It wasn't a simple Mick vs David conflict to put the whole blame on a single person solely. And as for listening to his music, he's nowhere near the kind of person who's flawed enough to the point that I'd completely shun all his work. If I required all my artists to be the epitome of perfection in their personal lives, I'd have to stop listening to almost all of them.

[@23sugarcane]

Thank you so much for posting these interviews

[@kevcatnip7589]

r i p

[@richardichard4237]

probably had chemo....chemo kills, cancer doesn't.

[@millybops113]

@@richardichard4237 what a stupid, uninformed and ignorant thing to say, please do some research before coming out and saying something as idiotic as that and making yourself look stupid!!

[@kevinmyuen]

Just at the end, I found it really moving to hear what he hopes people gain from his music. We all must have heard so many musicians talk about music - but Sylvian's description seems the truest, the most profound of them.

[@Bhodisatvas]

Yes, this new fangled world wide web thing will never take off.......

[@spiritualparadise4887]

Very thoughtful, intelligent and Bowie -esk interview. Most interesting.

[@musicmad1]

RIP Robert Sandall.

[@garyjohnson7628]

His speaking voice has changed so much he sounds like Peter Sellers in this interview. Love all his early stuff but struggle with later stuff.

[@siientsinger6637]

Funny you say that , pre Tin Drum , I'd have had a Beer with him , but I'd be looking at my watch ere in 2001 ? He went far Darker, I felt suicidal at The Blemish Tour

[@siientsinger6637]

It was all over for me until Rain Tree Crow Project and 2 tracks after Brilliant trees, Orpheus and Heartbeat with RS , must admit I loved Ingrid C his ex DS wrote "Who's Trip is It "( or this) after that ,I'm 100% Japan, I don't mind not ""Letting go "" as DS puts it

[@ggkitchener1122]

İts become mid Atlantic accent

[@MellorDR]

i wait every day for new work as we neeed it

[@jackromero7554]

I saw this live, back in the day.

[@RosePetal17]

He is incredibly Zen!

[@aimeemcbride7676]

He is such a beautiful person and will always be!

[@steffanhoffmann]

He's not aged well. He's not attractive here either

[@peternagy-im4be]

​@@steffanhoffmannplease don't be silly pal.

[@kevdop]

Love him.

[@michaelpotts2964]

Not completely sure why people dislike DS for walking away with the writing credits and hence royalties, when he wrote 90% of Japan's music! "Ooo! Why don't we try it this way?" - does not necessarily mean you are entitled to a writing credit and ultimately the cash!! As I understand it, Mick Karn didn't follow through with the enormous talent he clearly had! Potential ain't worth anything, unfortunately, as we all have it, but few of us pursue it and some are fortunate enough to be successful.... whatever that means!!

[@kevcatnip7589]

Yes ,,and brothers involved ,,,

[@jake-fj2zi]

man people were not lying when they said his accent changed, i haven't heard him speak all that much, but its a huge change o_O

[@andrewparke1764]

He seems to have settled on mid-Atlantic.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Isn't he from South London?

[@julianmbrown]

I took a lot away from this interview. One slightly trivial thing being how strange it is that David is starting to look, maybe even sound a bit like Bill Nelson in this video. It could be just me of course..

[@davidbence7229]

Sound like Bob Fripp to me!

[@jake-fj2zi]

also, these comments are overly mean. you've never met the man, dont act like you know him

[@matako07]

Oil On Canvas...EPIC .

[@elliottmoore8240]

Quiet life ❤, what an album 👌

[@peternagy-im4be]

They had split up before it was released

[@OPTIMISPOOH]

That's a grizzled old Gnome?? I see a need for reality check here . HE LOOKS BLOODY GOOD FOR A 42 YEAR OLD MAN!!. Which is what he was here.

[@liverawkstar]

I love all things todo with him from mid 90s and backward. Like a lot, and very very special. But it wasn't till youtube came around that I very much found he is sort of "up his own ass". Sometimes maybe better to not hear interviews with certain folks.

[@kevcatnip7589]

How can creativity come from low esteem? I want artists to mean it ,,then i can live it

[@dermotoblong]

@23sugarcane yeah he was a great journalist. (hence the mercury music prize) david sylvian frustrates me tho. i wish he wasnt so aloof and cold. the music he made with japan shouldnt be so dismissed by him. it was fantastic. i understand artists dont want to look back, but it really was the greatest era of his career for me. (and his first three solo albums)

[@clearviewmind]

Now that's an impossibility.

[@cloggy010]

brilliant trees is my swan song for cremation

[@Stephen15740]

I guess he was having problems with his marriage at the time. I have heard the interview in 1987 posted by magus1805 and have some clues about the split with Mick Karn. Their music is great even they split.

[@patrickduffy2744]

David Sylvian more Bowie than Bowie

[@angiecuteass]

I have such difficulty relating this guy to the David Sylvian from Japan who was so beautiful...is it really the same guy?

[@HectorLopez-ct3kq]

The same ! More great musician than handsome Guy !

[@alwaysinseptember11]

i think he still looks great! i mean, he'd look the same as the 70s him if he just got the same haircut and brought back the makeup! even nowadays in his mid sixties he would.

[@paulkazjack]

Fuck me im falling asleep here!

[@anthonyscully2998]

He was very camp in the seventies. I wonder if was teased

[@dragonsmythical16]

I think he was just very self-critical. I don’t necessarily think he was picked on by anyone (but maybe he was too?) as strongly as he felt towards himself. He seems to be pretty stubborn and serious in how he approaches his work.

[@evad520]

Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Mick Karn worked together a lot, so I guess we know who the real problem is.

[@KarlHainer]

Behave.

[@plasticweapon]

well...no. we don't really know anything, because we weren't there.

[@brokarisbelmico]

It doesn't really mean much, Sylvian always wanted to work with new people and make new music that he was passionate about, that's why he worked very little with Fripp although the two got along very well, I guess it's a bit the same with Rich, Steve and Mick....

[@Thedirtinyoureye]

The main reason for why they dissolved the band was not only for their fights with David, was also because they were starting to have different ideas and they also felt that the discography was constantly "Making them" do things they didn't wanted and it was sad but the best they could do was move on and work with other artists. But still all of them worked with each other together either way. For example David on one or more occasions invited Richard or Steve to work on his albums but he didn't want to credit them because it was supposed to be his solo career, not Japan again. But he did like to work with them, only that they had a lot of different ideas. David even gave his voice for 2 songs on Mick's album "Dreams of reason produce monsters", when they went their own ways.

[@flashtheoriginal]

Disagree. Steve Jansen is David's brother. The only real schism was with Rob Dean - they collectively treated him with total distain

[@cloggy010]

for me its trees

[@ariesscorpiorising]

@lunaboomboom Ants in pants. ;D

[@cooljapanguys]

Why DS always wearing sunglasses on TV program ?

[@rosieday3259]

Private man

[@mybookfacetube]

Why do you care?

[@gavinreid5387]

Too cool for tv

[@jake-fj2zi]

swag

[@andreysma3798]

After reading Sylvian has dealt with a lot of social phobia throughout his life, and I suffering that myself as well, I can totally see the possibility of him wearing sunglasses to bring some sense of concealment. Using the face masks during the pandemic worked wonders for me in that regard.

[@korkyk6901]

David really takes himself quite seriously

[@ajs41]

I preferred David around 1982 or 1983.

[@mikrophonie5633]

Too bad no one else does.

[@jcBurton2094]

He's an artist

[@damiangriffiths7801]

I am struck by the parallels between David Sylvian and that other, less musical, more political David - Miliband. Like Miliband, Sylvian had a similarly good looking brother, with whom he had a rivalry. Like Miliband, Sylvian broke away from the organisation he was associated with, in his case not the Labour party, but the "New Wave", or "New Romantic" band, Japan, possibly hoping that greater things were ahead of him. Both Davids disappeared into relative obscurity, Sylvian writing albums such as "Brilliant Trees" and "Voice of the Beehive", (or something like that. I can't be bothered to look it up), Miliband becoming CEO of the International Rescue Committee. I mean, do you know anyone that they have actually ever rescued? Looking back at the body of work they have done over the last 20 years, can either David feel it justifies those 20 years? However, hard those Davids look, it seems unlikely that those 40 years can possibly look justified. Both of them lurk in the dark. Angry, bitter Davids, fondling their ear lobes. To be honest, there isn't much more similarity that I can see. Steve Jansen didn't take over Japan like his brother, Ed did the Labour party. And the Labour party didn't change it's name to "Rain Tree Crow". It might be time to consider bold moves if you want to win a general election though. I suppose Steve did hang out more with the other members, which Ed also did, so maybe it is similar. However, the main thing is that I think David Sylvian looks a bit like David Miliband. There is also quite a striking parallel with Bros, having watched that documentary they did. I never had a brother. It seems intense

[@peternagy-im4be]

I gotta brudda

[@Captain_Rhodes]

japan would probably not have survived today. they would have been dropped after the 2nd album and never had the chance to progress.

[@kevcatnip7589]

They didnt have to,,,, did they?

[@v-town1980]

Of course they wouldn't have. They have/had true talent.

[@Captain_Rhodes]

@@v-town1980 your missing the point. a lot of the best bands took a few albums to get going and these days labels dont give them enough time

[@alwaysinseptember11]

@@Captain_Rhodesohhh, i understand! i thought you were picking on them by saying that they weren't good enough compared to nowadays music but now i get what ur saying and i totally agree. record labels will pay no attention to their artists after a year or two of working with them.

[@tkshots]

david.i like you...but please stop lying

[@lunaboomboom]

@ariesscorpiorising troll

[@kennyRumbles]

I’m not digging his hair .

[@makalu69]

This is probably because Sylvian was the only one who walked away from Japan with any money... I've never warmed to Sylvian and reading Karn's book confirmed all my thoughts about him. Now I simply detest the guy.

[@LeviTate2000]

He hates you too.

[@pihoihoi]

Why bring 'hate' into it? Do you have personal issues?

[@v-town1980]

@@LeviTate2000 don't get salty; they made a valid point.

[@gavinreid5387]

Song writing credits earn the most money in a band.

[@dragonsmythical16]

Well there are things I don’t particularly like about him either, but I also enjoy his music. I hold a pretty balanced view on him. He’s quite a questionable person, but has some amazing work.

[@clearviewmind]

I was only drawn here cos'I heard on the radio how weird he was in another interview. I don't think he's weird at all. Shit singer thou.

[@Wilantonjakov]

such a good singer mate

[@alwaysinseptember11]

one of the best singers ever, along with pete burns

[@shamsoni]

All stuff before tin drum brilliant then went fuckin arty

[@ariesscorpiorising]

Hard to believe this grizzled old gnome was once the ubercool singer of Japan. Ah well, what can ya do?? ;)

[@v-town1980]

Grizzled old gnome?! Huh? He looks good. Plus, when you're in your early forties, you're not gonna look 20.

[@jake-fj2zi]

and you're a model? grizzled old gnome....funny, he looks great here but ok

[@alwaysinseptember11]

let's see how grizzled YOU are! i think he looks great here, especially for a 42 year old man..

[@MowgliX]

He's so pretentious and artificial.

[@KarlHainer]

He is the most unpretentious artist ever.

[@blackmore4]

@Mowgli Pretentious?! With such humble titles as 'When Loud Weather Buffeted Naoshima', Flux and Mutability' or 'Plight and Premonition'?? Surely not? ;)

[@crystalc1ear]

That’s not how the song goes

[@DonHaka]

@@KarlHainer exactly. I mean he knew that Blemish was gonna be a hard listen for many but said that he was extremely grateful that so many people enjoyed it. Pretty sure it was free on Samadhisound at first release because of how different it was.

[@DonHaka]

@@KarlHainer Some people just dont understand Sylvian. Im not claiming to understand everything that Sylvian is, but with every interview i listen to i seem to get closer and closer to understanding him. I've become more open to spiritualism, buddhism and hinduism thanks to Sylvian and his music. I take more care of the moments when i am at peace with myself, which do not come very often.