Press and Interviews

A bit of a trouble-maker is Marc Riley, who, by his own admission is "pointing a finger", parodying, caricaturing and sniping -at the people around him. In his own way he can make us laugh, or make us worry, exhilarate or exasperate. He makes no bones about it; what we get in his songs is his opinions. You can't help likening this attitude of dogged idiosyncratic vision with the attitude of the venerable Mark E Smith himself. I thought perhaps we wouldn't talk about him during this interview, as Marc Riley is always introduced as an ex-member of the Fall and asked to tell all about his dealings with Mark Smith, but Marc admits that "Smith's going to be with me for the rest of my life. He might as well move into the flat next to mine".

Marc Riley was born in a house out near Manchester University which was knocked down to make way for more university buildings. He started his life as a good Catholic at the Holy Name church. His adolescence doesn't seem to have been as bleak or tortured as Morrissey's who was growing up over in old Hulme; "I lost my virginity at six, you see; so I've got nothing in common with him! No, not at all. A very stable upbringing thank you. I went to St. Greg's with Craig (Scanlon) and that's where it all began. We started playing stuff together in a band when I was about fifteen, and then I sort of wormed my way into the Fall when I was sixteen". The latest stage in his career started about 17 months ago as singer and songwriter with the Creepers. He's only ever "barely" made a living out of pop music; "it's certainly not been any great shakes on the money stakes". With the Creepers he's had to start building a following, and carving a niche out for himself all over again and with the LP 'Gross Out' and another called 'Cull' (made up of previously released singles),and the recent 'Shadow Figure' EP, he's gone some way towards doing that.

The hard-hitting humour of Marc Riley and the Creepers, live and on record, is an important part of what makes them special; "You've not heard the best of it yet. People tend to misjudge our records. They all thought 'Shadow Figure' was a really soft song but in fact if you listen to the words, you couldn't have a harder song. It's just my personality; I've always been one for taking things to extremes to prove a point. Rather than just moan, I'd like half to entertain as well.

It's not just sarcasm, or put-down, is it? "I take the piss out of myself as well; before anyone else can get there". Does he find it easier to write songs that snipe rather than songs that celebrate. "It's true that. But I think it's a bit of a rut really, it's something I want to change. I want another side. I've had loads of lyrics recently which I've had to rip up. I can't go on in the same. direction. I don't necessarily want to write anything positive, but just less 'snipe'. There's a new song called 'Harry's Chin' which is like a short story with a bit of a moral in it. And there's lots of imagery in it, though nothing 'cosmic'!"

He always seems to write in a direct and opinionated way. "It's the way I am; at least it's honest writing. It's not like the Inca Babies and all this. I can't relate to all that gear; leave it to the people who know what they're on about. That's just my opinion".

Isn't it easy to sit on the sidelines and just take the piss out of people; Mark Smith does it as well. "Yes it is. The biggest cop-out about Mark is that he never stands by his words. When he made a personal attack on somebody he never stood by what he said. He wrote a song called 'Middle Mass' (on the 'Slates' LP) about me and some of the people I was hanging around with at the time. It's a great song, but it does cut through me when I listen to it. I went up to him one day in the studio and said it's about me this song isn't it? And he started fumbling and said 'Oh no, it's about somebody else called Marc'. My respect for him went right down. I always stand by what I write. Having said all that, Smith is one of the beat lyricists that I've ever encountered".

In Tape, the label that brings you Marc Riley and the Creepers is run by Jim Khambatta, who also plays keyboards, manages and dances with the Creepers. The glory of In Tape is that Marc only has to release the records he's most proud of. "It's something that I think is great. Jim never stops working. He's worked well for Yeah Yeah No and we've got Terry and Gerry as well now". There's a sort of common attitude among the In Tape bands but "there's no real musical criterion for being on In Tape".

The pop-star mentality comes in for some stick on a track called 'Location Bangladesh' ('this is video location Bangladesh/We went to Sri-Lanka last year;/We didn't like the beer'); "You get so many pop stars who take themselves seriously. You get people like Gary Kemp saying he's a socialist and all this crap".

But that world of the pop star survives unscathed however much indie bands or upstarts from the provinces criticise it. "Yeah! But so do the upstarts. The word 'upstart' is good. But in the end I don't think us upstarts are ever going to make any money out of it, we'll eventually have to go and get a proper job".

There's always been a sort of Peel-ghetto of those sorts of band. "Peel's another upstart, and I like him for that. We always get lumped in with people like the Nightingales and the Membranes. Even though those bands put out good things, I can't draw any parallels really".

Would he agree that the Peel sessions are better musically than the LP 'Gross Out'. The session version of 'Snipe' for instance? "No, not at all. The LP version is a lot more important than the session one. It was the second time we'd done it, and it was recorded on a Sony Walkman. It was an idea I got from the way 'New Puritans' was recorded with the Fall. I think these things are really valuable".

You can buy the Collected works of the Creepers for around 12 pounds. It's got to be a good investment. "I think so, but it's just a matter of persuading that lot out there. We've done all we can by making great records. I can only keep going for so long, so if people want to pick up on it they'd better do it soon. Someone told me they thought that in ten years time 'Gross out' would be held up as a classic. What will I be doing then? Under some car, draining it of oil or something but it'll be alright; I'll do a comeback".

When the conversation turned to the Redskins Marc voiced his disdain for the way the Redskins have achieved commercial success through sloganeering in support of the miners strike. "I get the feeling that people like the Redskins are living off the backs of the situation. What happens if the miners go back to work; they'll have to find another cause. Their sloganeering treats the audience like children, it's moronic".

I disagreed with him, feeling that the people he should criticise are those who play safe and sit on the fence, not those who shout so loudly on behalf of a positive cause. But his criticism of them seems more to do with the fact that they presume to have all the answers, and ram them down our throats. He agreed to do the miners benefit in December because he agreed with the cause, but he said that doesn't mean you should "draw a black line under the obvious all the time". He can't stand those who treat politics like a self-satisfying hobby.

'Baby Paints' off the 'Creeping at Maida Vale' EP is an attack on wet-liberal types with "their Citroen and their ban the bomb sticker". Marc Riley is a cynical bastard, and that's alright by me, but I accused him, in attacking CND (he also claimed to have just written "the first anti-CND song") of aligning himself with the Tories, or any others complacent or supportive of nuclear weapons. He claims CND have never achieved anything, and that hopes of disarmament are just illusions. He says that they ignore commonsense.

I said that it doesn't much seem common sense to spend billions of pounds updating Trident when apparently there wasn't enough money to keep hospitals and schools in proper repair or whatever. Does he think we all ought to accept the situation?. "It means you have to get on with your lives. These people spend their whole lives wearing badges and being ineffectual. Nuclear weapons exist. I've got this line 'the Gatling gun took all the fun out of the duel'; I'd be that bastard with the gun; I wouldn't want the other person to get me".

'Baby Paints' is a sarky view of the Citroen-driving tendency in CND, and it's a brilliant song. It's a weak person who can't laugh at himself. The viciousness of Marc Riley's lyrics is perhaps a reflection of what he earlier described as his liking for "taking things to extremes to prove a point"; this is, after all, what good caricature is.

His words, smirking and sneering, can always be guaranteed to provoke and entertain, but Marc Riley and the Creepers will surely remain a great but largely ignored corner of the big bad pop music world. Does he ever think the Creepers will have their pictures in 'Smash Hits'? "It could happen; all you need is some kids with some suss".

Would you prefer to be on 'Spitting Image'?. I thought about this the other day; they could certainly do a great job on me! Yeah, I'd love to be that infamous".

(Jimmy Dare - Debris Magazine Issue 6, January 1985)