CityLife

R.E.M. return in rude health

THE changes the music business has undergone have been undeniably seismic in the 28 years since rock outfit R.E.M. first burst out of the college scene of their adopted home town of Athens, Georgia.

There was no MTV, let alone downloads or iPods - which have been the catalyst for the noughties musical revolution in the same way the music video channel made the business a visual phenomenon in the eighties.

So, having to get to grips with a myriad of different mediums where by a new album can be promoted when you are on the cusp of your 50s - must be quite bemusing at times for R.E.M.

Of course, if the last record you put out was decorated with praise, you can cherry pick the means by which you showcase a new body of work, but Around The Sun was no Automatic For The People, Monster or even New Adventures in Hi-Fi. In fact it was their lowest-selling LP in years - hence for the release of their 14th studio offering, the trio are pressing flesh and holing up in hotel rooms for vacuum-packed sessions of phoners more intensely than perhaps ever before.

When I catch up with genial bassist Mike Mills, although pressed for time and perhaps a little beleaguered after a Radio 2 broadcasted show the night before, he is happy to fight the band and their new record's corner - clearly still glowing from the veteran three-piece's first ever show at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

"What a beautiful place, it's definitely one to be checked off the list - we'd played very well and the crowd seemed to like to the new songs too."

They are not the only ones. Accelerate has been garnered with a plethora of buoyant reviews from critics too, apparently delighted to have the 'old' REM back in their midst.

Seemingly, the band has also finally figure out to operate like "the three-legged dog" their oracular frontman Michael Stipe always said they would when drummer Bill Berry chose to hang up his sticks back in 1997.

Hard slog

It has undoubtedly been a long hard slog since the affable Berry's exit later prompted the now fabled 'Idaho crisis meeting', but Mills agrees the band are in their healthiest state since his exit.

"I'd say it's true. It's taken us a while to figure out what our dynamic was without Bill, but on the 2005 tour it really came together - so we're all feeling very good about where we are."

Aside from the obvious loss of kinship that Berry provided, his exit left a democratic imbalance, which took a while to adjust to as well, as Mills concurs.

"We all very opinionated and stubborn people and without that balance and dynamic it's taken us a while as the equilibrium was upset - having said that I'm quite proud of everything we've done since he left, but in terms of cohesiveness it's better than it has been."

Mills confirms it was the band's steadily improving tours (with Bill Rieflin now behind the kit) that helped buoy the confidence, not that he wasn't close to the exit door himself though.

"As with any relationship - business or personal - you have ups and down, and I think we've all probably considered walking away at one time or another.

"You realise though that the band is more important than hurt feelings or anything else, this is our life's work and you have to consider very carefully before you walk away from that."

Now a resident of Los Angeles and Athens, with bear of a guitarist Peter Buck in Seattle and Stipe a long-time New Yorker, the band relocated to Dublin with producer Jacknife Lee - who did so much in enabling U2's 'return to their roots' resurgence - and set about kick-starting their studio career too.

A string of live shows at the city's intimate Olympia theatre proved a masterstroke of separating the wheat from the chaff, with Mills happy to use the Irish crowd as a barometer.

"I think that was one of several positive checkpoints, to play the songs in Dublin in their unfinished form and still see the energy exchanged was very exciting.

"We're thrilled with the overall outcome, Jacknife Lee said he wanted to make a thrilling album and we all think we've achieved that - he seemed to understand exactly what we wanted and he was the absolute right man to get us there."

Tagged

Accelerate may have been tagged by many as the rockier Buck regaining control of the reigns to deliver a visceral, frenetic finished product which harked back to days of old, but there's no doubt Mills' deeply melodic basslines are still evident, whose genesis can be traced back to his piano playing mother and performer father's inspiration.

"Yeah when he was in the marines he was part of the glee club and he and his partners escorted the Miss America candidates to the Ed Sullivan show before singing on the show - I haven't seen footage, I don't know if it exists," giggles Mills, "but I should get my mum looking for that!"

One of the business true musicians' musicians, Mills cannot remember a time when it wasn't in his life.

"Both my parents were very musical, my dad died in 2001, but they both sang and played piano - I always knew I'd play music no matter what else I did, it never gets boring for me and I still love performing."

And with the big 50 looming large in December, is there a checklist Mills is steadily working through before his 40s draw to a close?

"You know I've done so much that I'd ever wanted to do, there's nothing else I want to check off before I get to 50 other than to have a great summer."

Ambition

With a scheduled August 24 return to Old Trafford Cricket Ground hopefully playing a part in that ambition, Mills is a big fan of the European outdoor dates.

"The British and the European festivals are so well done, we love playing them.

"Old Trafford's always been fun for us, I think this will be our third or fourth time there - it's always been a great gig."

And while playing live is clearly Mills' musical lifeblood, it must help having a record to take on the road they are all chomping at the bit to play live - hence the publicity drive.

"If you make a good record and you're proud of it, you want people to know it's out there - it's a record full of short, fast songs, which are already working great live and I see no reason why we shouldn't continue - as long as it's fun and we're doing great work."

With the band's pearl anniversary now just two years away, R.E.M. - inconceivable a decade ago - appear to be approaching it in rude health, the three-leg dog evidently still has plenty to bark about.

REM play Old Trafford on Sunday, August 24. Editors and Guillemots support. Tickets are priced £45. Click here to book. Accelerate is out now on WEA. Click here to buy it.

Click here to read a review of their last show here.

YOU can also listen to audio clips from this interview below.