Do Rick and Karl actually like each other?

[richardacre]

So I've been bothered for a while by something I heard in a radio interview a while back where Karl was talking about Rick saying "we don't have to like each other to work together". Their Radio 6 interview the other morning seemed a bit weird too, the way Karl passed off a question for Rick to answer. An of course, while Rick was doing the Olympics Karl was off doing a solo album and hanging out with Brian Eno.

Then there's the fact that Rick said the new track is something dredged up from 2016, and it seems to me that less and less new stuff actually has Karls vocals on - apart from the odd sample, and with the exception of S.T.A.R. Did you see their body language on stage at the end of the RAH gig? They wondered around opposite ends of the stage for a bit before doing a bow together and then quickly ran off in different directions.

I'm glad that they're gigging and putting out new music, and I'll keep throwing my money at the pair, but the cynic in me thinks they're just doing Underworld for the paycheck and their hearts really aren't in it.

[negative1]

when you've been with someone that long.

it can seem that way.

i doubt it. i've seen married people act that way too. ha ha.

later
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negative 1

[TheBang]

If you read a lot of the interviews around the release of Drift Series 1, they talk about their relationship quite a bit. A low point they talk about was from after Barking until they went back into the studio together in mid-2014, when they basically weren't speaking to each other. Things were better for the Barbara Barbara recording sessions, and then Karl disengaged again near the release of that album. However, for Drift Series 1, in those interviews, they repeatedly said they were closer than ever.

It's been a few years since then, and who knows what happened during the pandemic, but they still sounded like they were in a good place during that interview. Like a marriage, their relationship has had ups and downs, but they have said that they're committed to never breaking up, and so far for 43+ years they've kept to that.

[iamneorev]

Look at Orbital. They've gone back and forth numerous times, broke up multiple times. Now they claim to be in the best place they've ever been. But it seems like musically they worked separately when it came to Optical Delusion if you look at the writing credits.

[taotsu]

Last year in Tokyo they seemed quite happily close. But yes, like an old couple. If you know someone that long you can work and be friends and still shoot the crap at each other a lot. And they have gone through a lot together (success and failure, alcoholism and so on), but they still produce art.
To be honest, I don’t think it’s important how well they come along. It’s their life and I will be always grateful just how much their music has carried my life since 1996 and still does. In the end that’s all that matters.

[botkiller]

Wow man, this was a lot to read at 330am. I can only hope that they do indeed still love one another, but, being in a band is weird, man. It changes you.

I had no idea that the new track was a rehash?

[markreed]

They've known each other over 40 years. There's always going to be an ebb and flow. I noticed at RAH that there were a couple of times Karl and Rick were talking, laughing, and playing with each other in a silly way. I've seen bands that hate each other, and if you know what you're looking for, it's obvious : and I didn't get that vibe last month.

They've long worked together, and separately. There were weeks when Rick might go on holiday and it was Karl and Darren P in the studio working on things Rick has taken up to a certain point. And vice versa, where Karl is travelling and Rick is working alone on material in the Pigshed.

The well known 'low point' was 2011-2014 where the setlists were static and boring, and they weren't writing songs anymore. I think "Frankenstein" and "Isle Of Wonder" were attempts to keep writing, but it wasn't really successful. "Barking" was largely reheated older tracks, moulded into shape with collaborators anyway, much of it had been played live up to 5 years before. The band will frequently come back to older songs that didn't make it, and see if they can finish them. There's stuff on "Barbara, Barbara" that's a decade old and was revisited and updated for that album.

Financially, they don't need the money and haven't for a long time. They are financially prudent and secure, unless they do something really daft. Even if they want to stop, they've had 30 great years (and 10 not great ones before), which is far far longer than most bands have ever had.

[valentingalea]

I think you're reading too much into it...


At RAH they seemed close and playful during the set


Also it doesn't matter how close they are if they continue putting up amazing music like they do

[aphasein]

Just watch the recent Coachella video below if any doubts as to how they are doing - so much smiling and touching and laughing with each other, Karl hanging onto Rick's shoulder many times and them singing along together.

Best I've ever seen them interact - can't believe two retirement age lads are putting on a show that energetic, makes me vicariously tired just watching. Amazing.

https://vimeo.com/818174338/8cf3f463...&owner=6216553

[botkiller]

As someone who was a "career" musician for a long time... I can say without a doubt that every single musical project I ever became a part of changed the relationships within it in an irrevocable fashion.

Not always in a bad way, but certainly many times over in a bad way.

I cannot imagine getting to where the boys have gotten and having been doing it together for so long, there can only be frustrations many times over while doing so.

Regardless, it always seems to me that they've managed to get past differences and continue to make what is most certainly some of the most influential music in my lifetime.