Magnus Kristiansen

Hi, Sussudioers & Paperlaters.

I finally got to type up the radio interview with Phil which was
broadcast on the Norwegian channel P4 on Tuesday.

I found the interview very interesting. A reporter from P4 (I believe)
had come to visit Phil in Switzerland. Notice that everything quoted as
P4 is NOT quotes, but some lightly compressed summaries of what the
reporters said in Norwegian. The questions weren't actually asked in
English, and they weren't asked directly (you), but rather "has HE....".

I missed the first, say, 15 seconds, but I think they are talking about
the press in the beginning here.

Oh well, here's the interview.
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PC: "...my private life, it shouldn't be. But in England they seem to
love it, and they won't let you walk around the streets without sort of
photographing you and telling people what you're doing. My last record
'Both Sides' was kind of a little sad, although I loved the record and I
think it's my best record, really, for my past records, anyway. But it
was a little sad, I guess, so, and that I can't, I think, well, I KNOW,
was written, I mean, when you listen to that record you can tell there
were problems in my personal life. And therefore, you know, it should
have been no surprise, I suppose, about a year later when my marriage
broke up. At the same time as that, I met someone here, Orianne her name
is, and we've been living together for two and a half years and, you
know, I don't see myself going anywhere else. I have a lovely home here,
I love life here, I love skiing, I love the water. I have a boat. You
know, I mean, life is very good.

P4: "But why care, really? He said that he was glad that not so many
people knew so much about his private life, because that was not what was
important. What was important was the music. But still he said that it CAN
be reflected in his music, like on the last album 'Both Sides' which was a
sad album, even if it was the best album.

But the question is, why settle in Geneve of all places?"

PC: "The beautiful woman. I fell in love here. I fell in love with a
very beautiful woman who was very, very clever, very smart, and I've
been living with her for two and a half years. And she is half Swiss,
half tie [???], and she was born and raised in Switzerland. So I moved
here. That's the reason I live in Switzerland, there's no other reason.
It's not for the money, not for the tax, and not for the Swiss bank
accounts, not for the chocolate, not for the cuckoo-clocks, it's because
I fell in love here."

[P4 plays DITL]

P4: "When Phil has held it going as long as he has now, even the kind of
profession that he has must become boring?"

PC: "You feel differently about it when you're twenty, you feel
differently about it when you're twenty-five, thirty. Here I am, I'm
forty-five, you know. There are certain things that I would like to be
able to do in my life and not be told that I have to do. But I suppose,
there's a routine that you get into. You make the record, and the record
comes out, and you go around the world telling everybody what it's
about, and promotion and radio and TV and press, you know. And then you
do the tour. And I'm making d*mn sure that my tour is not too long, you
know. So sometimes me being Phil Collins now is different from me being
Phil Collins, em, before I made the record, you know, I was very
optimistic. I thought 'this record is fantastic,' I thought, 'this is a
great record.' And then it comes out and you find some countries don't
go for it, and some people end up critisizing (sp?), you think 'why did
I think that suddenly, the critics would like me? WHY DID I THINK THAT?
YOU ARE SO STUPID!' [raises his voice] You know, you think that. So I say
this all with a smile on my face for those of you, you know..."

P4: "With a little smile on his face, he admits that yes, this can also
become a routine. But then you sit there, then, and work on something,
and you think that 'this time, this time it'll be different.' But then
it's released, and the negative critics still come, and he thinks 'how
stupid can you be, really?' 
Oh well, even if he gets a lot of critisism, don't we still agree that
he's a great artist?"

PC: "I would never sit down and say I'm a great songwriter, I would
never sit down and say I'm a great singer. Would never do that. I've
written some good songs, a couple of great songs, maybe. I'm a good
singer, sometimes I'm pretty good. But I'm a really good drummer. I know
I'm a really great drummer, you know, I mean I have no bones about that
[was that a pun, Phil? :-)], I mean, I'm fed up sitting on the back seat
being modest. I'm a f*cking great drummer... you know, and I don't know
why, I've been playing for a long time, I've put everything where I
think it should be put, and it's probably where I'm the most happiest,
because I'm driving, you know. If you're a singer you're kind of, you're
the headlights, but you're not driving. You know, the drummer is driving
the band. And, and I don't really like being the passenger much, I much
prefer to be driving, you know. So for me I'm most comfortable behind a
set of drums."

P4: "A f*cking great drummer, he says [actually the Norwegian
translation was a bit censored, 'adapted to Norwegian listeners' as it
was called], it's behind a drum set he's most comfortable. Then it might
seem strange that he left Genesis, because it was as a drummer he really
began in the band. We can't let him go without asking him why Genesis
ended [!]."

PC: "Had enough, that's two words. Twenty-five years, you know.
Twenty-five years. Loved the guys, I love some of the things we did, I
hate some of the things we did, and, you know, I just wanted to do other
things. And, you know, I couldn't fit anything else into my life, AND do
Genesis, AND do my own things AND live a normal life, so I decided that
it was time, time to move on. And twenty-five years is a good innings
[???], as they say."

P4: "Had enough. Yes, that's just the way it is. Sometimes
you've just had enough."

[babble about the radio program on Sunday....]

P4 (regarding the program): "we might give you some hints already and
say that something you might hear more about is that he can't promise
how long he'll keep it going. He is starting to see the advantages of
having loads of money, a nice house, a sweet girl, and not having to
work that much. So, who knows, buy Phil Collins when you still have the
opportunity."

[P4 plays "That's All", Shapes version].
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Well, that's all :-). Hope someone enjoys this interview, my fingers
apparently didn't :-). If you've got some time to kill, count the number
of times Phil says "you know"...

Oh, btw, I think everyone out there who can watch the Swedish TV channel
should have a look at SVT1 (or SVT2, although I think it was SVT1) at
8pm (20:00) on Saturday. I saw a commercial when they said something
about Phil Collins (don't remember exactly what, they showed a part of
the DITL video with PHIL COLLINS written over the screen).

Cheers,
Magnus.