Transcripts

by Mark Prendergast Originally published in two parts; Record Collector April and May 1990.

Since DAVID SYLVIAN split Japan at their zenith nearly a decade ago his fans have been praying they’d got back together. And now they have, under the name of RAIN TREE CROW. STEVE SUTHERLAND meets Sylvian to discover the impetus behind the band’s re-emergence.

Exorcising Ghosts (Rain Tree Crow) by Mark J. Prendergast (Lime Lizard, May 1991) From surrealist parrots to the japan reunion, Mark J. Prendergast gets ambient with David Sylvian who explains why it’s o.k. to shout insults at bricks.

Spurning Japanese by Simon Dudfield and A.J. Barratt (NME, Sep. 1991) David Sylvian has little time for his last group, glam rockers made good JAPAN, so why has he chosen to team up with his old cohorts again as ambient moodies Rain Tree Crow? Simon Dudfield puts it down to the peculiar flight path of `true art’. Seconding that emulsion:

by Sue Peters

INTERVIEW / It can’t be him . . . surely not . . .: David Sylvian was a big success as Japan’s bottle-blond, mascara-heavy crooner. After that, as Jim White found out, he went natural

Sylvian’s Fripperies by Steve Malins (Vox, July 1993) David Sylvian and Robert Fripp have combined forces to produce a new album, The First Time , but collaboration for the former Japan frontman and “aggressive perfectionist” hasn’t always run smoothly.

by Josef Woodard

SYLVIAN / FRIPP by Steve Holtje (Creem Magazine September ’93) “There is no one structure which is universally appropriate,” wrote Robert Fripp in the liner notes to his 1981 album, Let the Power Fall. That bit of wisdom goes a long way towards explaining the far-ranging careers of both Fripp and David Sylvian. Both are respected musicians whose reputations were

MIRACLES AND GRACIOUSNESS David Sylvian in Glasgow, December 1993 An interview with Bill Drover (with a little help from Robert Fripp)

  “The Day After” by John Diliberto (Jazziz Magazine May 1994) Crisis as a source of art has always been romanticized in the West. You’ve got to suffer if you want to sing the blues, cut off your ear if you want your art to bleed, and endure the pits of depression if you want to leave something behind when

Originally published by Sound On Sound at June 17th 1994. Despite having spent more than 15 years in the public eye, David Sylvian remains an enigmatic figure who has reinvented his own musical style constantly, both within his solo work and in his collaborations with musicians as diverse as Holger Czukay and Robert Fripp. PAUL TINGEN charts the history of

by Craig Peacock The following interview took place in October 1994 at the P-3 Gallery  near Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s many shopping and business centres. The  gallery itself is located in the basement of a temple. This is not as  spiritual as one would expect, as it’s surrounded by ugly office and  residential buildings. The clatter of modern life in

David Sylvian is one of the world’s most enigmatic musicians. He rarely gives interviews, but Mark Prendergast exchanges these exclusive words with the musical shaman.

Four years in the making, and twelve years after his last solo album Secrets of the Beehive, David Sylvian offers us another opportunity to immerse ourselves in his unique aural landscape with his long-awaited new solo album, entitled Dead Bees on a Cake. The album offers us a sonic experience that is both familiar and refreshingly new. A truly contemporary album, but one that is not guided by the current fashion of the day. A pop album by all...

The South African Radio -David Sylvian Interview by Derek Richardson (10.98) with permission transcribed by Mark Shanahan

D A V I D S Y L V I A NQ U E S T I O N S & A N S W E R S20th November 1998 With thanks to Lenin Imports who first published this interview.

Interview by Tom Lanham. David Sylvian is talking about advertising, about how he, his wife and three children skirt consumer-aimed pressure and stay true to their spartan, spiritual lifestyle.

by Mike Gee. Originally published online on www.thei.aust.com.