Post by jay on Apr 6, 2010 19:36:39 GMT
wolfboard Q&A 2009
(questions were taken from this thread.)[/center][/size]
RHIPEAT: WHAT ARE YOUR MOST AND LEAST FAVOURITE WORDS?The word no drives me ballistic when people say it to me, but I love to say it. So, No and No.
JAY: HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN ANY BONES?Being as accident prone as I am, bizarrely, not yet but I have cracked my skull open three times. Does that count?
ROSS LEE: DO YOU THINK THE SUGABABES SHOULD REFORM?There was only ever one Sugababes, it would have to be the original line up or nothing for me.
TASHA: DO YOU LIKE COMEDY? WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE COMEDIAN?Of course! I am not always so serious, tortured and depressing as people would have you believe.. I laugh all day long as much as possible. I like sick humour. Julia Davies is to me the comedy genius of the last ten years but my friends all count on each other to be the best comedians for each other.
YAZZ: IF YOU DIDN'T SUCCEED AT BECOMING A MUSICIAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'D BE DOING NOW?I can't begin to imagine. It's like being asked what you would do without a heart!
ERU: WHAT DOES LOVE MEAN TO YOU AND HOW DOES IT INSPIRE YOU? I will continue to discover the meaning of love for my whole life, it changes moment by moment and from relationship to relationship. I am constantly inspired by love or the absence of love in my work, it is the main fuel to my passion for making music and creating.
FIREFLYPULSE: WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE IN YOUR LIFE?Well, I think on a personal and relationship level I am not the best judge to answer that question, but I think deciding to be Patrick Wolf and start making my dreams come true by releasing that first EP that has taken me on a wonderful journey that has shown me so many adventures and a world and life I longed to experience.
HANNAH88: MAYBE YOU DON'T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THIS, BUT WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVEN'T MADE JOOLS' GUESTLIST? IS IT STILL ONE OF YOUR DREAMS TO STAND THERE, OR DO YOU NOT CARE (ANYMORE) AFTER 4 AMAZING ALBUMS? I SO WANT THIS FOR YOU... YOU, DOING YOUR THING, FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE! (I'M FROM BELGIUM AND I WATCH THIS SHOW EVERY TIME, SECRETLY WAITING PATIENTLY FOR YOUR APPEARANCE).It would be an absolute honour to play that show one day. After 4 albums I still feel like I am at the beginning of a long journey both public and personal as a musician, writer and performer.
HANNAH88: WHAT'S THE WEIRDEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU ON STAGE?Probably the C/O Pop event that was put on Youtube. I told you from the start I was a werewolf. Sometimes, like all of us, I have no control over myself. Jekyll and Hyde. Adrenaline is the ultimate poison.
HANNAH88: WHAT DO YOU DO IN THAT FINAL HOUR BEFORE GOING ON STAGE? DO YOU HAVE A FIXED ROUTINE? ARE YOU STILL NERVOUS? HOW DO YOU CALM YOUR NERVES IF NECESSARY?I have learned that drinking alcohol is not the way to calm nerves now, I try to imagine all the journeys people have made that day to come to see my show, the time and emotion invested in wanting to see a performance and be moved by music. I only have to think of what it must be like to be someone else coming to my show to make me pour all my energy into that two hours on stage.
HANNAH88: IF YOU COMPARE YOURSELF TO THE BOY WHO WROTE LYCANTHROPY, DO YOU FEEL DIFFERENT? ARE YOU STILL THAT PERSON?Of course, I am a very different person, we all evolve as human beings throughout our life but I think our core spirit and soul stays the same. I have the same soul but I'm a different person, if that makes any sense. I have experienced so much since that album came out, I would be a robot if I wasn't changed or hadn't grown from those experiences.
BIRDSHEART: WOULD YOU MAKE A TRIP INTO OUTER SPACE? ...YOU KNOW WHO'S STILL THERE.Yes, I would visit Lucia Pamela and record a duet with her.
OHMYGODTEA: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE CHILDREN'S BOOK?Le Petit Prince, an anthology of Hans Christian Andersen, lots of Roald Dahl or Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by JM Barrie, but my favourite was a book that my Jewish godmother Sally Goldfield had made for me that was my name written into a Peter Pan book so it was like “Patrick and Peter visit Neverland together”. It even had the name of my road in Wandsworth and in the illustrations there was a road sign on a cloud, one signpost pointing to Neverland and the other to South London. I have never quite been the same since.
AYLA: DO YOU HAVE ANY HIDDEN TALENTS? I can balance spoons on my ears and make a good bread and butter pudding.
RHIPEAT: WHAT KIND OF THINGS DO YOU DOODLE?I have an obsession with X, I don't know how it started, just X's everywhere.. I also draw popstars when I'm bored, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez...
COMETOJOY: WHAT DEODORANT DO YOU USE?I have been known to not bother, usually during periods of intense writing, high libido and sleeplessness.
VEROCS: IF YOU COULD PICK ANYWHERE TO GO ON A HOLIDAY, WHERE WOULD IT BE AND WHY?Easter Island. I am obsessed. I really really want to go one day. I would love to spend a night there. Or Sark.
CHRIS: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GET INVOLVED WITH MUSIC? HOW DID FOLK MUSIC COME TO INFLUENCE YOUR SONGS?Well, folk music is really music that is passed on through generations, music of the people, songs that are in the public domain, I am more fascinated with the instrumentation used in folk music than folk songs to tell the truth. I wouldn't call the work of Joni Mitchell or Buffy Sainte-Marie folk as they are original compositions and I am just a sucker for a great song that feels like a confession, hearing Ladies of the Canyon for the first time by Joni or Illuminations by Buffy, I just realised that I could work out a lot of problems in my life by writing songs and music about them. Bjork's Homogenic album really fuelled me up to want to be an inventor with sound and production, to experiment and always explore new sonic textures and mediums. I was lucky to be born into a very musical and artistic family, it would have been very odd if I turned out to be a stockbroker....
LEMON BLOODY COLA: YOU PROMISED ME A SHEPHERD'S BUSH GREEN HOOKER OVER TWO YEARS AGO ON THIS VERY SITE... HELLO? WHERE IS IT? BROKEN PROMISES MAKE BABY JESUS CRY, STAND AND DELIVER.She's still waiting for you, she calls me every day.. where is baby Jesus? She says she'll see you there next Saturday by Chicken Cottage, please bring a condom and a copy of the JLS album to get her in the mood.
MIMICRY: ON THAT NOTE, IF YOU COULD BE A DANDY HIGHWAYMAN, WHO WOULD YOU ROB, WHAT WOULD YOU TAKE, AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH IT?What's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
OHMYGODTEA: SO IT COMES THAT YOU CAN BE INVISIBLE FOR A DAY. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? I've had to think really hard about that, I don't think I would ever like to be invisible...
LOUISEXPW: DO YOU LIKE TEA? WHAT TYPE AND WHAT KINDA BISCUITS DO YOU DUNK IF YOU DO?Yes, love tea... already answered this question, but red bush tea and ginger nuts are my late night writing fuel.
JAZZY JEFF: WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH ALEC EMPIRE? HE JUST ANSWERED THE SAME QUESTION ABOUT YOU. IS IT WEIRD TO BE WORKING WITH SOMEONE WHOSE MUSIC YOU HAVE BEEN INTO BEFORE MEETING THEM?It was like working with a long lost brother.
JAZZY JEFF: DO YOU EVER HAVE DAYS WHERE YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO?Of course, we all do now and again, but I always make sure I do something, experience something or I feel like a corpse.
JAZZY JEFF: DO YOU EVER GET BORED OF PLAYING THE SAME SONGS EVERY NIGHT?Not anymore, I have the exciting luxury of having a big catalogue of songs to choose from now, so I choose a setlist to suit my emotion that evening.
WASABI87: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BISCUIT?I just said ginger nuts, but I like party rings, custard creams, iced gems, jammie dodgers, caramel hobnobs... I got to stop this now.
LEMON BLOODY COLA: DO YOU LIKE IT UP THE SHITTER? Y/N?Is that an offer Y/N?
TIARASTRIPES: ARE YOU FREAKED OUT BY ANY CREEPY CRAWLIES?Silverfish, fruit flies and cockroaches.. I don't get scared by them, they just remind me of living in hell with no money.
HOMICIDAL PUDDING: IF IT WAS NOW THAT YOU HAD TO CHOOSE A STAGE NAME, WOULD YOU STILL MAKE IT 'WOLF'? AFTER ALL THESE YEARS HAVE PASSED, DO YOU FEEL LIKE A WOLF-BOY? DOES THIS NAME AFFECT YOU, MAKE YOU BEHAVE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER? HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU LAST THOUGHT ABOUT YOURSELF AS 'PATRICK APPS'? AND IF SOMEONE SHOUTED 'APPS' IN THE STREET, WOULD YOU TURN ROUND? THANK YOU, LOTS OF LOVE, ANNA & OLGA.It's so strange for my family now that Apple have this APPS thing everywhere. When I grew up, it was the weirdest surname ever, it actually stems from Scandinavia and means “dweller under the aspen tree”. Now it's all apps this and apps that on the computer... bizarre. I'm glad I changed my name... I would never have been able to have been found on the internet! What's even stranger is this iPad now, Pad Apps was a nickname at school.... it's like being called iPod or something... it's a strange world... I'm much happier as a wolf than an application.
OHMYGODTEA: YOU OFTEN GET ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR STAGE OUTFITS AND FASHION ITSELF SINCE YOU SEEM TO BE A VERY VISUAL PERSON. DO YOU SOMETIMES GET TIRED OF THESE QUESTIONS AND WISH FOR MORE MUSIC RELATED ONES OR ARE THEY EQUAL TO YOU? IN SHORT: DO YOU WANT TO BE SEEN AS PATRICK THE MUSICIAN OR PATRICK WITH THE OUTFITS WHO ALSO DOES MUSIC?Yes! I do get so so so (times by infinity) tired of these questions.. because I don't think that I look any different to anybody else.. that's my problem, I'm not making any fashion statements, it's just how I look. I wonder, should I change my appearance so that I am taken more seriously? Of course not. Perhaps journalists should change their appearance so that I take their questions more seriously.
LEMON BLOODY COLA: WHO DO YOU HATE LEAST? THE MUSLIMS OR THE JEWS? AND WHY...I don't hate either... each to their own. Live and let live. I only wish I was not hated in the eyes of other religions. I have a trace of Jewish blood so I understand Jewish culture more than Muslim. I think the Jewish religion is more equalitarian than Muslim but I think all faiths should learn to have a better understanding of each other. There is space for every one on this planet.
SARAH: DO I STILL HAVE TIME TO ASK WHAT HIS FAVOURITE FRUIT IS?Watermelon.
JAZZY JEFF: DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE A 'SOUL-CITY'? LIKE... A PLACE TO PERFORM OR EVEN JUST BE IN THAT YOU FEEL SOME SORT OF CONNECTION WITH? AND ALSO, WHICH COUNTRY HAS THE BEST CROWDS, WHAT MAKES A STAND-OUT SHOW FOR YOU, AND WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO PLAY THAT YOU HAVEN'T YET?From all the travelling I have done, I honestly can say that I have no preference. I thrive on the energy of the city or country I get to perform in day by day, I adapt myself and work out how I can be as close to the audience as I can be every night.
KELLKOAN: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON AND WHY?Autumn in England is my favourite, the location would be Battersea Park, which is a park I wrote Bluebells in. Autumn is such an inspiration, life changes, life slows down, the extrovert becomes introvert, we enter darker days.
KELLKOAN: I'VE ATTEMPTED TO SNOWBOARD FOR 4 YEARS NOW AND OBTAINED 4 INJURIES TO PROVE IT. DO YOU DO ANYTHING REMOTELY SPORT-RELATED IN THE WINTER? SKI? FIGURE SKATE? HUNT CARIBOU?I have been skiing only once. I remember it being very liberating, apart from the altitude sickness vomiting, I felt like I was flying. I am a fish/crustacean at the end of the day, I am actually writing this answer while in the mountains down in southern Spain, but I long for the sea and land. I am a good skater, I used to ice skate every week when I was a teenager, I can pirouette! I would love to the toboggan one day, that looks fun...
VEROCS: ARE YOU A MAC OR A PC?MAC 4 LIFE
RHIPEAT: WHAT KINDS OF THINGS DO YOU DO TO CALM DOWN?Watch The Golden Girls, listen to Meredith Monk, be with close friends, laughter and more laughter...
KELLKOAN: HOW DID IT COME ABOUT THAT YOU CHOSE GWENDOLINE CHRISTIE FOR THE NEW VIDEO? SHE'S LOVELY... AND AS TALL AS YOU, WHICH MAKES FOR EASIER KISSING, I SUPPOSE. HOW WAS IT DOING YOUR FIRST ON-SCREEN KISS?Gwendoline and I were raised by the same nightlife wildlife people in London, her disco-mother was Sybil Rouge and my disco-Father was Matthew Glammore. I thought that choosing an obvious gypsy dark and mysterious stereotype would be too obvious for the video. I thought it was more interesting getting two people that mirrored each other as a representation of true love. The subtext of Damaris being a gypsy is in the lyrics enough, but the message of the song is that love exists outside of gender and religion. That it is a meeting of two souls regardless of creed or colour.
LASTGOODBYE: I'VE GOT A LONG, COMPLEX ONE, WHICH I'VE BEEN WANTING TO ASK FOR A WHILE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NASTY NEGATIVE PRESS YOU SOMETIMES RECEIVE (E.G. PEREZ HILTON), AND ALSO ABOUT THE TIMES WHEN PHOTOS OF YOU AT PARTIES APPEAR ON GOSSIP-TYPE MUSIC SITES, THAT KIND OF PRESS? DID YOU EVER IMAGINE THAT YOU'D HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THAT KIND OF THING WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED OUT, AND WHEN YOU SCORNED THE CELEBRITY CULTURE (I.E. THE LIBERTINE) IN THE PAST? IS THIS HOW YOU EXPECTED IT TO BE, AND DO YOU RESENT THAT TYPE OF MEDIA SPOTLIGHT? DOES IT MAKE YOU SYMPATHISE MORE NOW WITH THE “PETE DOHERTY” TYPE MUSICIAN, OR STILL NOT AT ALL?The simplest answer I have to this is that all this bananas media misconception of me over the years has made me extremely resilient to any negative attention. Not that I started out being someone that needed to be anymore tough or fierce, but what I learnt at being bullied in the playground, I learnt on a whole new level as the “FLAMBOYANT” pop star and the little patronizing digs from different sources of media over the years. I'm happy that it all happened before I was 25 because I can safely say that I am pretty much invincible to anything.... And now I plan to use this resilience to be in a strong place to share my love and positivity around.
JAZZY JEFF: HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU'D GET IF YOU ENTERED THE X FACTOR?I would win of course, but I would refuse to cover any songs... just howl and roll around onstage and play theremin. TV is too boring nowadays. I am here to entertain and inspire, not conform.
FUNN O))): OBVIOUS QUESTION BUT... WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SWEDEN?I love it, my godmother and cousin run a pub in Gothenburg, I really enjoyed my early touring experiences there back in the days, I just had my big old suitcase filled with clothes and small instruments, I remember playing the royal theatre in Stockholm in the snow, it was gorgeous, I felt so free back then.
ANNA PEENEIGHDOUGH: BIT OF A SELFISH QUESTION HERE BUT I MADE YOU SOME PAPER PATRICKS (FOUR ON BLACK PAPER, WITH GOLD WRITING ON IT) AND WAS WONDERING DID YOU GET THEM? IF SO, DID YOU LIKE THEM?I never got them! I wish I could magic back all those gifts that have gone missing during delivery over the years, I'm still so sad that the birthday book got lost by Polydor. They lost about 2 hours of Super 8 footage I shot during Wind in the Wires writing period down in Cornwall. Please send all letters or pictures to my management in the future.. they always send me every little and large thing that is sent.
LEMON BLOODY COLA: WHAT WOULD YOU FEEL LIKE IF ONE OF YOUR FANS MADE A FONT OF YOUR HANDWRITING?Well of course, you can never beat the original of anything! But of course I find (and found) a tribute such as that extremely flattering and was very honoured someone thought my bad education handwriting was something worth reproducing. I think handwriting is very much linked to our emotions, so my handwriting changes when I am in a good mood or bad, so I think you all have my handwriting from Wind in the Wires as a font which is when I was in a very lonely and melancholy mood...
TARANTELLA: HOW AND WHEN DID YOU COME TO IDENTIFY AS A FEMINIST OR PRO-FEMINISM? I'D LIKE TO THANK YOU, BY THE WAY, FOR BEING SO VOCAL ABOUT IT – HEARING YOU TALK ABOUT IT SOME YEARS AGO INSPIRED ME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FEMINISMS, WHICH HAS HAD A HUGE PART IN MAKING ME THE PERSON I AM TODAY.My awareness and passion for female equal rights developed initially from being only a year and a half apart in age from my sister and what a wonderful sister I grew up with. She educated me about feminism and really empowered me as a boy to not act like a stereotypical male. My mother is an amazing artist who too is a real rebel against convention and in my eyes a true creative visionary, so it was just the language that was being spoken as I grew up. So I was so confused when I went to an all boys school and the boys were talking about girls as if they owned them or would one day possess one or they were better than. It didn't make any sense and it still doesn't.
TARANTELLA: ARE YOU STILL INTERESTED IN MOVING TO SAN FRANCISCO? I'M SORRY FOR YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE POLICE HERE, AND I HOPE THEY HAVEN'T TARNISHED YOUR IMPRESSION OF THE CITY.I love San Francisco so much, my sister of spirit Kiddy lives there. I blame more my Twitter addiction at the time and bad evil door-whore vibes at a goth club. That's all, and a very old Patrick 16 year old UK anarchist attitude of mine in terms of dealing with such situations. It's no excuse, but back during the days of Maison Crimineaux, Fanny and I used to have punch up fights with bouncers, it was just the laws of Soho and being a small time band that had an element of controversy to the performance.
TARANTELLA: WOULD YOU PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE ANOTHER LIST OF RECOMMENDED SONGS ALONG THE LINES OF 'TEN SONGS TO BANISH THE DEATHLY SENSE OF BOREDOM'? THAT MADE A REALLY AWESOME MIXTAPE.I'm thinking of starting a blog around the time of the new album on my site that has more of my favourite music and books, something more personal than the random online media that popstars are asked to do when it's “promotion” time.. so a regular playlist or something would be very exciting for me. I'm always making mix CDs for my friends.. and you are all my friends, so it's time I made you another!
TARANTELLA: I'M NOT SURE IF THIS QUESTION IS INAPPROPRIATE, AND I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE IF IT IS, BUT HAS JO STOPPED MAKING MUSIC? I WAS SAD WHEN SHE DELETED HER MYSPACE.Jo Apps is now focusing on being a super hot music video director, she has just signed up to Partizan films and will be reinventing your MTV screens very soon... she's a genius, her music will be heard one day soon when she feels it's ready....
MADONNA/WHORE: THERE ARE SEVERAL COUPLES ON THE WOLFBOARD – WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF TWO PEOPLE WHO ONLY KNEW EACH OTHER BECAUSE OF YOUR MUSIC GOT MARRIED OR HAD A CHILD?I would be so so happy, it's only now I start to realise that people are making friendships and gangs and love affairs around my work and it still is hard for me to believe that my music has helped people in this way, I would probably sing at the wedding!
JAY: WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE COMFORT FOOD?My mother's cooking, when I go visit in the country, grounds me and reminds me of how far I have come since childhood.
BURNCHI: IS THERE ANY INSTRUMENT THAT YOU'D LOVE TO PLAY BUT NEVER GOTTEN A CHANCE?There was an instrument in Zurich I found that cost an absolute fortune that I would love to make my main instrument, It was a wheel of zithers all tuned to different notes on the scale. Perhaps one day I will go back once I've had a number one record and buy this.
VICTORIA: FAVOURITE DESIGNERS AT THE MOMENT?The people I collaborating with currently are top secret, but this would be a good time to tip my hat to the late Alexander McQueen who was a huge inspiration to me as a teenager and will continue to be. He was one of those rare breed of people working in the fashion world that was truly an artist first, the kind that I love to only work with and champion in collaboration for my work.
VEROCS: YOU'VE DONE A LOT OF PHOTO SHOOTS, WHICH ONE DID YOU ENJOY THE MOST? WHO WAS THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER TO WORK WITH? WHAT CONCEPT DO YOU THINK WAS THE MOST INTERESTING AND FINALLY, WHICH PHOTO FROM THE MANY TAKEN OF YOU DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST/THE MOST INTERESTING/MAKES YOU LOOK BEST LOOKING, AND WHICH IS/ARE YOUR FAVOURITES?Well, I must be diplomatic because I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with some absolute legendary photographers in my time. I think each photographer makes their own portrait of me, they capture the character they see on the day or in the moment. Sometimes I don't recognize myself at the time of seeing the photograph back, but later in life I look back and see something of myself I didn't see at the time. I always throw my all into the portrait experience. Somedays I don't feel like having my photo taken and that sometimes shows through too as an emotion.
ANNIJA_AJINNA: DEAR PATRICK, IF ONE DAY A GIGANTIC OCTOPUS CAME TO YOU, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE HIM TO GIVE YOU WITH EACH OF HIS LEGS? ILZE, FOR EXAMPLE, ANSWERED THE FOLLOWING: A CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE, 210 LVL SO WE COULD GO TO YOUR CONCERT, AN ALREADY FINISHED PAPER ABOUT POST-MODERN LITERATURE, SOME SNACKS, WITH HIS FIFTH LEG HE COULD GIVE HER A GENTLE STROKE, WITH HIS SIXTH LEG HE COULD TUCK HER UP, A NEW ISSUE OF HARRY POTTER AND THE EIGHTH LEG SHOULD GIVE HER A HUG. AND BECAUSE WE HAVE THE CHANCE, WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE TWO OBVIOUS STATEMENTS: YOUR MUSIC IS BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY! ANNIJA, ANNA & ILZE.A writing retreat chalet in west Cornwall, a wedding ring from my true love, a Turner Prize for my mother, BBC6 music to be saved, a time machine to go back in time and see a Klaus Nomi concert and see my grandparents again, an island for all my friends across the world to move to when we are 50 and be in the same place, a house with a recording studio so that I don't have to travel so much in the future, a new Joni Mitchell album, a new Kate Bush album.
ANNIJA_AJINNA: PS – AND AGAIN JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE A CHANCE... THOSE MITTENS YOU GOT AT BOTANIQUE IN BRUSSELS, THEY JUST APPEAR TO BE SUPER SMALL. ACTUALLY, THEY'RE QUITE CAPABLE OF STRETCHING.I will keep that in mind, thank you again!
MICHAEL BUSH: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE TV/MOVIE/LITERARY WEREWOLF AND WHY?The original Wolf Man is a beautiful film, I would love to live in that film and be friends or lovers with the werewolf. Wolf Alice is my favourite literary wolf, another Angela Carter classic and TV wolf must be Tabatha Coffee. She is definitely a werewolf, I've become her hugest fan since my recording sessions in L.A. I can sense there's an animal in there waiting to get out...
ANNA PEENEIGHDOUGH: WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE BIRTHDAY BOOK?I have two birthday books and I cherish them, it's beyond belief to me when I read these books and I'm instantly humbled, I would save them from a fire in my house. Thank you, thank you, thank you, I almost feel like it's such an intimate communication between you (plural) and me that it feels odd talking about it in public.
BLUEBIRD: WHEN CAN WE BUY A PATRICK-WOLF-DVD? =DI often ask myself this question regularly and trust me, my management and I have been trying to get this project off the ground for a long long time with various companies. When the record sales go up and this horrible era of taking everything for free starts to change, then money comes in to my business and I can re-invest this into protecting and re-releasing the back catalogue and getting some unheard and unseen archive footage/recordings of concerts and albums into public domain.
BIRDSHEART: WHAT TALE WOULD YOU READ OUT EVERY NIGHT AT THE BEDSIDE OF YOUR CHILDREN TILL THEY FALL ASLEEP?It would depend on the child and their character, everybody deserves their own story.
MYNAMEISHUGHGRANT: SAY YOU HAD WRITTEN THE STORY OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT?You will have to wait until it's published.. I already have the name for my perfume prepared... but again this must stay a secret. Intellectual copyright!
KURE: I READ THAT YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A COLLABORATION PROJECT FOR AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. DO YOU THINK THAT AMNESTY OR SIMILAR ORGANISATIONS CAN MAKE A CHANGE? PEOPLE OFTEN THINK THAT WE ARE JUST LUNATICS WHEN WE WANT THEM TO SIGN A PETITION.Amnesty has been very close to my heart for many years as a charity, I have a huge passion for human rights issues especially for development and change within fiercely religious nations where society is still inflicting death on people due to antiquated inhumane religious laws. Amnesty seem to be the only people that give a shit in the UK. Whenever the story of a young gay man or woman being hung or stoned to death in other countries comes overseas, it is brushed under the carpet or given a small column in the Guardian newspaper. If the money raised by the download of my song helps Amnesty in any way financially to continue to help change in the world, to stop more murder of innocent people, then I would be able to sleep a little better sometimes knowing I had tried to help change too. No petition that we sign is futile, no vote that you or I make to any party is pointless and no money you donate to any charity is worthless.
DOT: IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND AND YOU WERE ONLY ALLOWED ONE ALBUM, ONE BOOK AND ONE INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?I would take a grand piano, Ladies of the Canyon by Joni Mitchell and perhaps an anthology of W.B Yeats poetry.
AFTERHOURS: YOU WIN FIVE MILLION DOLLARS FROM THE SWEEPSTAKES AND THE SAME DAY THAT BIG ED GUY GIVES YOU THE CHEQUE, ALIENS LAND ON THE EARTH AND SAY THEY'RE GONNA BLOW UP THE WORLD IN TWO DAYS. WHAT DO YOU DO?Biggest party in the world for my friends, all you guys and girls and my family.
EMOTIONALFREAKOUT: DO YOU EVER FEEL NERVOUS AFTER AN ALBUM THAT YOU WON'T GET INSPIRATION FOR ANOTHER?Never, if there has been one constant in my life, it has been songwriting.
COMETOJOY: IF YOU COULD'VE BEEN ANYONE IN HISTORY, WHO WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN?Lady Ottoline Morrel.
ANNABEL: ARE YOU EVER SCARED BY YOUR SUCCESS?I don't feel like I have achieved anywhere near what I want to achieve in my life, that is my only fear, that I will not get to do the things I want to do in my life.
HOMICIDAL PUDDING: IS THERE A QUESTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ASKED WHILE BEING INTERVIEWED ('CAUSE YOU HAVE A WITTY OR MAYBE WISE ANSWER) OR A QUESTION YOU'LL NEVER GET TIRED OF ANSWERING EVEN IF IT IS ASKED BY EVERY SECOND INTERVIEWER?I would love to be asked more about my productions and arrangements and the actual creative process. It's so confusing to me that I spend two or three years working every day long hours in the studio and writing round the clock, working with huge string sections and choirs to be quizzed for half an hour about how “weird” or “unique” the way I look is to a journalist. The mind boggles.
LOUISEXPW: I HAD MY HAIR DYED RED (INSPIRED BY YOU) BUT AT SCHOOL THEY'RE MAKING ME DYE IT BACK TO BROWN AND I HAVE TO DO IT NEXT WEEKEND AND I'VE ALREADY GOT INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE BECAUSE OF IT WHICH I THINK IS UNFAIR BECAUSE APPARENTLY I STAND OUT TOO MUCH, WHICH IS KINDA THE POINT, BUT... WHAT COLOUR ARE YOU PLANNING ON DYEING YOUR HAIR NEXT? AND WHAT'S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR YOU'VE HAD IT?I remember the trouble really kicked off at school when my red hair turned to pink after a long summer of self discovery, I was like a red rag to a bull to that bunch of conservatives! Spread those colours my dear! If it's in your heart then always stand out.. never fade. Never fade! xxxx
FIREFLYPULSE: WOULD YOU EVER GO ON CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER?I was actually offered one year after The Magic Position. I think I would suit a reality show more like the Anna Nicole Smith show..
JAZZY JEFF: COULD YOU SING A SONG ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE, THAT WASN'T AT ALL AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL OR APPLYING TO YOU? WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO FEEL THAT? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PEOPLE WHO DON'T WRITE THEIR OWN SONGS? WOULD YOU EVER WRITE FOR SOMEONE ELSE?Many of my songs have been written from another person's perspective of course, but the person I write about has to relate to something I have felt or experienced emotionally, take Damaris for instance, I write from the perspective of Lewis, but I related so much to the story of Lewis because I had recently broken up with someone I really loved but couldn't be with and was still very much mourning for her, so I sing this as first person because I felt so extremely close to his story. Damaris became my ex-love in my heart. I have been approached to write for other people but I have been so busy writing my own work. I once co-wrote with Bishi and that experience was so natural as we had been the closest friends for many years before we actually started writing.
TARA: DO YOU HAVE A RITUAL BEFORE GOING ON STAGE?That's my magic secret, it's certainly a transformative experience, I feel like I grow a new skin and shed an old one before I go onstage. Night after night!
TARA: HOW DID YOU MEET VICTORIA [SUTHERLAND]?Well I first met Victoria when I was 15 when I had to change schools half way through the year and the only school in the UK that would take me was a music/theatre school in the middle of the countryside and when I joined the orchestra there I was transfixed by one of the best violin players I had ever heard! She was the first violinist and we shared the same violin teacher. We have been friends now since then and have played together since I was 18. She really is to me the meaning of the word “virtuoso”. She has studied the craft of this instrument since she was about 5 and has dedicated her life to this instrument. I would love her one day to have her own album of classic performance, she really is one of the best violinists of my generation. Hands down.
BLUEBIRD: WHAT EYE COLOUR DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL?The colour of the eyes of whoever I am in love with!
ANDYAYRE: DEAR PATRICK... WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BLACKBIRD? I QUITE MISS IT'S INCREDIBLY SEXY BASS LINE.I miss that song, I think it will join the ranks of a classic live moment never to be released, alongside Bestiality and Midnight (the one you all call abolish confusion!!) But you never know, the blackbird may one day be resurrected, but not for now.
ANNA PEENEIGHDOUGH: ISN'T JAY FAB? Jay is certainly fab, I also love that she is from Corby. There are quite a few Midlands inspired lyrics on the new album. I am so so so grateful for all the effort and passion Jay and you wonderful wolf gang have for my work and that you all feel there is somewhere you can come to feel like you belong.
VOMITED: DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO CONTINUE THE VIDEO JOURNALS ON YOUTUBE? DID MAKING THE JOURNALS HELP INSPIRE YOU TO DIRECT YOUR OWN MUSIC VIDEOS?I have always created visually, painting, drawing and photography, making the journals was very exciting but sometimes distracting. I also really loved making my own videos, but for now I am taking my director hat off as I feel I explored two very different characters and stories as a director between Vulture and Damaris and I feel it's time to work closely with a director again.
MAYA: HI PATRICK! HOW MANY LANGUAGES DO YOU SPEAK? WHICH LANGUAGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SING IN THE FUTURE IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE, OR MAKE VERSIONS OF YOUR PAST SONGS? I LOVE BEING ABLE TO EXPRESS MYSELF IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING. I KNOW ENGLISH IS KNOWN IN THE WHOLE WORLD, BUT WHEN YOU TALK A LITTLE IN OTHER PEOPLE'S LANGUAGES (AS YOU DO IN SHOWS) I THINK IT'S A GOOD WAY TO TOUCH THEIR HEARTS AND STRENGTHEN YOUR RELATION WITH FANS, ISN'T IT? LOVE FROM SPAIN.Well, I left school too early to really get a grip on these languages but Spanish is my main foreign tongue and French is also a big passion. I would love to one day be able to get back to some state of fluency again.
COMETOJOY: WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE GOLDEN GIRLS EPISODE?The Christmas special!
JAZZY JEFF: A QUESTION FROM MY FRIEND – EVEN THOUGH THIS TOTALLY MAKES IT SOUND LIKE IT'S ONE OF THOSE 'OH YEAH... MY, UH, FRIEND HAS A PROBLEM... I- I MEAN, HE REALLY NEEDS ADVICE...' THIS IS ACTUALLY FROM MY FRIEND WHO WANTS TO KNOW – DOES PATRICK HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR A MUDDLED BISEXUAL?The only way to stop feeling muddled I guess is to be true to your desire and to be honest with the world around you and the people that love you about your sense of romance and sexuality. Try to gain more awareness of the difference between your love and your lust and enjoy the moments of intimacy with what ever gender you find pleasure with. Don't worry if sometimes you find yourself in love with a gender or person you have no lust for and also don't get scared when you have lust for a person or gender you have no love with. Be free, keep your mind and heart open and enjoy your body and all the pleasure love and desire can bring you.
VICTORIA: I'VE LOVED BEING ABLE TO HEAR THE DEMOS FOR WOLF SONG AND TEIGNMOUTH RECENTLY... ANY CHANCE FOR MORE TO BE RELEASED IN THE FUTURE? Some of the old demos date back to when my voice had not broken, some of the new demos have very unfinished lyrics, I would like to perhaps put a demo CD together one day, but for now there is enough work to be done on my albums. This Conqueror album is swallowing me and my spare time whole as we speak!
MIMICRY: MANY OF YOUR WORKS THERE SEEMS TO BE A DICHOTOMY BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT PLACES – HOME AND THE ROAD. HOW WOULD YOU ARTICULATE YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS BOTH? HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT? COULD THEY EVER BE THE SAME?I guess I articulate this exploration through my lyrics. My life is a constant wrestle between being extremely domestic and travelling for my work. After a lot of travel I start to get nomadic and realize that my home is wherever I am, no matter the country or circumstance, but when I am in my house I never want to leave, I would quite happily lock the door and spend the rest of my years playing my piano and gardening. But my music must be heard and there are people that want to hear it around the world and it is my duty to my songs and my audience while I am still alive that I play live and tour.
IRIDACEAE: WHAT ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?My greatest honour to date was the artist Nan Goldin asking me to compose and perform the music to her seminal artwork “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency” in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. Also the opportunity to be collaborate a few times with Patti Smith has been a real honour over the last couple of years.
TRIXIE: HI PATRICK! THANX FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL OPPORTUNITY YOU GIVE YOUR FANS. DO YOU LIKE COMICS AND/OR MANGA? IF YES, ARE THERE SOME OF THEM THAT YOU USUALLY READ?I used to read Ren and Stimpy for a while. But comics were really my sister's thing. I used to read The Dandy when I was 7-ish. My sister was always reading manga, and Tank Girl was a big staple diet of the Apps household. I was obsessed with fanzines, I guess they were a bit like my comic books as a teenager. I went on to make my own called “Breeding the Different Race”.
VEROCS: IF YOU WERE GIVEN FREE REIGN TO DESIGN YOUR DREAM BONFIRE NIGHT WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE? WHAT EFFIGY WOULD YOU BURN/WHAT COSTUMES OR THEME WOULD THE PROCESSION HAVE/WHAT MUSIC WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO GO WITH THE DISPLAY, ETC... WOULD YOU GO FOR THE BIG FLOWERBOMB TYPES OR THE SHRIEKING SPERM-LIKE ONES OR THE ONES THAT LOOK LIKE GOLDEN RAIN?I love big blossoming fireworks, not the shrieking ones, they remind me of banshees, and banshees make me terrified since childhood summers in Ireland. In my procession everyone would be semi-naked draped in wool, old fur, taxidermy and leather. Getting really pagan and lots of big fountains and big Brazilian marching drums. Lots of violas and hurdy-gurdys. Everyone must make an effigy of themselves to burn on the bonfire, to encourage us to forget the past and embrace the future.
YELLOWBELLY1945: THE QUESTION IS A BIT COMPLEX. IF WE JUST LOOK AT THE UK THERE IS STILL, IN THE 21ST CENTURY, LOADS OF PREJUDICE AND IGNORANCE. PEOPLE ARE TOO OFTEN JUDGED BY THEIR OUTWARD APPEARANCE. THERE ARE TOO MANY RULES AND CONVENTIONS. YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE TO WEAR UNIFORMS AT SCHOOL AS SCHOOLS SAY IT LEADS TO THEM LEARNING BETTER, BUT OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE NO SCHOOL UNIFORMS AND BETTER EDUCATIONAL RESULTS. I RECENTLY TOLD SOME FRIENDS, AFTER ANOTHER FRIEND'S FUNERAL, THAT I WAS GETTING MY HAIR DYED AN UNNATURAL COLOUR (I'M 64). SEVERAL OF THEM SAID “BUT WHAT IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO ANOTHER FUNERAL WHEN YOU HAVE RED OR BLUE HAIR?”, AS IF THE COLOUR OF MY HAIR IS OF ANY IMPORTANCE. IF, AS A GAY GUY, I KISS ANOTHER GUY IN OLD COMPTON STREET, NO ONE WOULD BAT AN EYELID. IF I DID THE SAME IN MY VILLAGE STREET, I'D CERTAINLY BE VERBALLY ABUSED, MY HOUSE WOULD BE EGGED, AND I MAY BE THE VICTIM OF PHYSICAL ABUSE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE CAN'T ALL STOP JUDGING PEOPLE BY THEIR OUTWARD APPEARANCE AND LIFESTYLE (AS LONG AS THAT DOESN'T ENCROACH ON OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES, E.G. BY PLAYING LOUD MUSIC ALL NIGHT TO THE DETRIMENT OF YOUR NEIGHBOUR'S SLEEP), AND WHY WE HAVE TO HAVE STUPID RULES AND CONVENTIONS. HERE COMES THE QUESTION: WHAT ONE THING CAN WE DO AS INDIVIDUALS TO CHANGE MINDS, SO WE CAN BE OURSELVES, CARING FOR EACH OTHER OUT OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND LOVE FOR OUR NEIGHBOURS? WHAT CAUSES ME THE GREATEST OFFENCE IS PREJUDICE, HATRED, WAR, HUNGER, DISEASE, POVERTY, IGNORANCE, GREED AND EXPLOITATION, ALL OF WHICH COULD BE ERADICATED IF THERE WAS MORE LOVE AND RESPECT IN THE WORLD. I have reached the point where I feel that perhaps the human race will never be at peace with itself. The little time we have created for our future generations on this planet means that we will only have time to experience peace in part and respect in glimpses of empathy and compassion that will surprise us as we go along our way. I say this as I feel I have been subject to too much of this kind of negative energy to believe in a public utopia for the human race. All I can say is that we shouldn't all second guess where the compassion and evolved human sense of society comes from, you may find yourself in a big city getting constant abuse for being “other” but then suddenly find yourself in a small village being accepted and loved for being “unique”. It's important not to get misanthropic. This is a big question through, I would prefer to discuss and debate this topic rather than answer!
JAY: HOW DO YOU THINK OF POSES FOR PHOTOSHOOTS?It's always purely spontaneous but I always pretend that I'm doing a performance.. it makes it less boring for me. I did also have a lot of training from my mentors when I was part of The Offset performance art group about makeup, lighting, posture and good angles. Being so tall, I have to play a lot of games with the cameraman so that we are in the same altitude even!
GLOSSY_FUCKER: WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR IDEAL PLACE FOR CREATIVITY AND WORKING? IS THERE PARADISE ON EARTH? OR CAN IT ONLY EXIST IN YOUR DREAMS?My dear, there is indeed a paradise on earth. I find it these days with my loved one but when I was single I would be searching for it and finding it often in my solitude. Dreams are there to inspire us to make the most of the time we have on this planet. These days I travel so much I have become very used to creating on the road, but once I am home for a couple of months, I am totally fertile and creative in a very different way.
ANNIJA_AJINNA: A SHORT QUESTION. WHY SHORTS?Since I had my growth spurt at the age of 12, no trousers fit me apart from really ugly ones made specifically for tall people, so I remember seeing a pair of Vivienne Westwood 3/4 length pirate trousers in my sister's Dazed and Confused and realized that was my only option. Now I don't worry about the length of trousers, I just cut the bottom off and wear knee socks. I feel very comfortable this way, I think my legs are giant, they need some kind of dissection visually. P.S I don't like shorts even... Hot pants are my bag in the tropical climates and breeches or 3/4 lengths are my thing in colder climates. Sorry for the long answer for the short question!
PYHAI: DID YOU COME FROM THE QUENTIN BLAKE PICTURE BOOK CALLED PATRICK? IT'S THE STORY OF AN IRISH BOY CALLED PATRICK WITH A MAGICAL VIOLIN WHO MAKES THE WORLD MORE BEAUTIFUL! ON A SIDENOTE, WILL YOU SOME DAY WRITE A CHILDREN'S BOOK FOR THE WORLD?Well, I still have the same copy of this book from when I was a child. I must have read it so many times but I didn't rediscover it until when I was 15 and had already been playing the violin for many years. It really is a gorgeous little story, and yes, I have sometimes felt as though it was written about me. I would love one day to have my book published that I have been writing since Lycanthropy days. But I find I can't write literature while I am in the middle of writing lyrics for an album. One thing at a time done well is my policy these days rather than 12 things at a time done badly.
VICTORIA: WHAT'S THE WORST JOB YOU'VE EVER HAD? Ah, when the biography comes you'll get the real juice on my jobs I took when I left home... pretty hilarious seeing as I would get fired every two weeks... I remember being a sushi waiter and constantly getting food poisoning, or sewing buttons on old leather jackets in Camden market and my fingers constantly bleeding.
ALLANAH: DO YOU LIKE BEAKS?Yes of course, you know I am a bird lover, but the toucan beak is perhaps my favourite.
thanks to everyone who asked their questions, and, of course: many thanks to patrick for answering them! xxx
), but I enjoyed reading all of the others. 
