Twas a sad day indeed last year when the announcement came to us that the Boo Radleys were packing it in. One of the last shining stars of the fading Creation Records roster, the Boos spent most of the 90's proving to us time and again that great music can push the envelope of creativity AND still come from the heart namely, the heart of guitarist and songwriter Martin Carr.

Well, the Boos may be gone, but Carr's far from history. Reinventing himself under the guise of Brave Captain, he's about to release his first new material since the breakup of the band. The 6-track mini-album, "The Fingertip Saint Sessions Volume 1" is due August 14 on Carr's newfound label, Wichita Recordings (formed by former Creation exec Dick Green and Carr's best friend, Mark Bowen.) All six tracks were recorded with the help of SFA and Gorky's producer Gorwel Owen, and the two are almost wholly responsible for every lick of music on the record - and that includes Carr's first stab at lead vocals.

Martin's been a supporter and acquaintance of Excellent Online for years, and we're pleased and proud to have been given the opportunity to conduct an interview with him just two weeks before the release of the new record.

Interview by Shane Brown

EO: A LOOK AT THE FUTURE MUST ALWAYS BEGIN WITH A FLEETING GLIMPSE TO THE PAST. THAT SAID, WHAT WAS BEHIND THE END OF THE BOOS?

Carr: We always said that we would finish when we became just another band or when we reached ten years -- whichever happened first. I always believed ten years was enough for a band, and I personally don't know of any band that has gone on longer and was able to generate the same excitement or originality that they had in those first few years -- most lose it after less than half that. With "C'mon Kids," I honestly thought we had created something special that people would appreciate and applaud. To me, it sounds warm and inventive, a playground of sound -- and it was a great shock when it was, although critically acclaimed, loathed in the main. I was accused of sabotaging our 'career', and even though I have denied it for nearly four years, that it was some kind of reaction against the 'pop' of "Wake Up." The question still gets asked, until finally, in 20 years time, I break down and admit that, yes, it was a cynical, destructive step away from the success we were having, made by a lad who got what he always wanted but didn't want what he had been given, and they will smile kindly and hold me, wiping the tears from my whiskey mottled cheeks, going, "There, there, son. It's ok, we always knew." They listen but they hear nothing. Some people take great delight in telling me, in graphic detail, just what a piece of shit record it is. And that's something I don't really think I got over. And when it came to write and record "Kingsize," my confidence was shattered. I took little interest in the recording, preferring to drift on marijuana clouds -- running away, as Sly would say, to get away. Sice had had enough as well -- well before I did -- seeing through the bullshit and facade of the industry, uninterested in drugs, unwilling to be away from his home for long periods of time. I can recall sitting in the Blue Post pub on Hanway Street just off the Tottenham Court Road (it's not there any more, it's now Boots the chemist) at Christmas 1997, halfway through recording, with my best friend Mark, fighting back tears as I told him that I was quitting and didn't even want to finish the record. He advised that I take my holiday, chill, then come back fresh. I took his advice, spent Christmas and New Year in Morocco, heard many new and beautiful sounds, wrote 'Monuments For A Dead Century,' and came back refreshed and eager to start work again. But after a week or so, I felt the same way I had before. I made myself ill with the stress of knowing that it was the end and that I was going to be the one to end it.

EO: DID YOU FEEL IN THE END THAT YOU'D ACCOMPLISHED ALL THAT THE GROUP HAD SET OUT TO DO?

Carr: I think we achieved, musically, everything that we wanted to do. It would have been nice to have sold a few more records, made a bit more money for the others, as we were left with little to show for all those years. I'm proud of the records, proud of the fact that we did whatever the fuck we liked music-wise, never used our music to sell anything, and advocated nothing but love. We made great records and had a fuckin' great time doing it.

EO: WHAT'S THE TRANSITION BEEN LIKE FROM WORKING IN THE CONFINES OF A BAND TO BECOMING A 'SOLO ARTIST'?

Carr: I think the main difference is that it's harder work! Recording was much more tiring than before -- singing, playing bass, guitar, and various other things as opposed to sitting at the back of the studio, skinning up and shouting oblique instructions. I was drained at the end. That's why the diary [which Carr was writing meticulously on his website,] stopped suddenly. I was fucked -- but in a good way, a work way, rather than any self inflicted damage. The downside, of course, was that I missed my friends desperately. I was lonesome. Angelsea is a very quiet, remote place, and though I had a great time and Gorwel and Fiona (it was their house where I recorded the album) were wonderful and treated me like a brother, I really wished that Sice, Tim or Bob were there with me. I was relieved when Daf [Super Furry Animals drummer] turned up to play. The writing is different now as well, I feel a lot freer. The songs don't have to go through lots of critical stages before they are recorded. I write 'em, and if I like 'em, I do 'em.

EO: WHICH ALSO BEGS THE QUESTION, WHY THE BRAVE CAPTAIN NOM-DE-PLUME AS OPPOSED TO 'HI, I'M MARTIN CARR, AND THESE ARE MY MUSINGS.'?

Carr: I don't like the name Martin Carr. If I had a name like Jimmy Angeldust or Frankie Voltage then I would have used my own name, but Martin Carr is, y'know, crap. I also wanted it to sound as if it were a band -- it might be in the future, who knows? It enables me to do what I want, to work with who I want. When [the Boos] were offered a Peel Session, which we didn't do as we had already decided to split up, we talked about doing 'Brave Captain' (from the FIREHOSE album, "Ragin' Full On,") which was always a favourite of ours. The idea for using the name came from there, I guess. I got in touch with Mike Watt -- which was a thrill, as he truly is one of the greats -- and he wrote to me, telling me the story of the song and offering to play bass on the record, which, sadly, he was unable to do because of illness, but which he's made up for by writing the sleevenotes for the album.

EO: IS THERE A MISSION STATEMENT TO THE BRAVE CAPTAIN? A MASTERPLAN, SO TO SPEAK?

Carr: There is no masterplan. Music is a vehicle for self-expression. I don't need any marketing strategy or five-year plan. I just write songs and hopefully they get released, spend a few weeks trying to make the whole process sound interesting for the press, play a few shows, then record some more. If I didn't have a deal, if nobody wanted to hear these songs that I write, I would still write them. I have to. If you make music to get rich then you are a fucking fraud and you will be exposed. At the same time I want to touch people and communicate something to them, what that something is I don't know... yet.

EO: YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN FOR YOUR STRIKINGLY HONEST AND PERSONAL LYRICS. I'VE HEARD MANY A BOO FAN SAY THEY FEEL LIKE 'THEY KNOW YOU' JUST FROM YOUR SONGS. IS/WAS THAT EVER A CONSCIOUS DECISION, OR DO YOUR LYRICS JUST COME NATURALLY? WILL THE BRAVE CAPTAIN RELEASES CONTINUE IN THE SAME PERSONAL VEIN, OR WILL YOU VENTURE IN A NEW DIRECTION?

Carr: When I started to write songs, I was going for this kinda Dylan/Ginsberg thing -- this imagery which was very self- conscious and pretty much indecipherable nonsense to everybody except myself. I still know what they all mean, but they are pretty fucking awful. When I wrote Lazarus, that was the first time I had ever sat there and thought, "Okay, what is happening to me now? What is going on around me?" and wrote it down. It just started there, I guess. I can say things in songs that I cannot say in person. I am inarticulate in speech, nervous and tongue tied (unless drunk, of course, when I become incredibly articulate - which, unfortunately, I use for abuse and endless rants about football.) But put me in front of a computer screen and I come out with things that even I did not really know about, things that are dormant within my conscious. So the Brave Captain stuff will carry this on. I have to try and introduce a few more topics, though, as all my songs are basically variations on three or four themes.

THE BRAVE CAPTAIN & THE COWARDLY INTERVIEWER: Martin & Shane, Chicago, 1999

EO: WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO WORK WITH GORWEL? IN THE END, DID YOU FIND HIM A GOOD CREATIVE MATCH?

Carr: It was my manager's idea for me to work with Gorwel. He'd heard my demos at a friend's house, loved them, and thought that Gorwel would be perfect for them. I owe him much, he restored my confidence in myself, and his instinct was spot on, as Gorwel and I were very good for, and with, one another. I had met him once before, at Rockfield, while we were recording "From The Bench At Belvedere," and he was visiting the studios with SFA. I remember thinking he was really old and strange, and it was a surprise when I met him again late last year and he's only about eight or nine years older than me! He's very shy until you get to know him, but once you do, he's ace. We used to have little swearing marathons over lunch. He's a big fan of profanity as I am, it's a wholly misunderstood and underrated art form. We both loved the Furries and things like Aphex Twin and Grandaddy. He brought along this kinda minimalist aesthetic -- Cage and Ussachevsky -- while I had hip hop and dub. Whether or not the record reflects any of this is open to question, but I think that if we do record together again, now that we're friends, we could create something very special indeed.

EO: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SUDDENLY BECOME 'LEAD VOCALIST'?

Carr: It was hard, as it was something I very much wanted to do. I was dreading opening my mouth and something rotten coming out, because it would mean I would have had to find a singer, and the only person I would ever want singing my songs, besides myself, would be Sice. So it was a relief to find that my voice is ok, not brilliant, but as long as I can get it across without making people wince, then that will do me just fine. It means I have to write songs differently. I honestly believed Sice could sing anything I wanted him to, but with me, I have to write within certain confines, in certain keys, which is limiting -- but as long as I can sing what I write then I am a very happy man indeed.

EO: CAN WE EXPECT ANY LIVE GIGS ON THE HORIZON? IF SO, WHO'LL BE WITH YOU ONSTAGE?

Carr: I hope to start rehearsing in September. I am currently looking for people to play with. I don't want to rush things as I want to play with people who I trust and who can do anything I ask of them and people who hopefully I will play with for a long time. I'm very much looking forward to playing live again, it's been nearly three years since we played our last proper gig at Reading '97 and I've missed it, being with the fans, and I miss the travel.

EO: WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THE DEMISE OF CREATION? WAS IT TIME TO PUT A LAME HORSE TO PASTURE?

Carr: It was an emotional day the day it was announced that they were folding. I loved Creation Records. I don't think that we would have been allowed to do what we did on any other label, and though I know that Alan McGee cared nothing for our music, I am proud to have played a part in the company. Creation Records to me is Primal Scream, JAMC, The House Of Love, Biff Bang Pow, SFA, Ed Ball, Oasis, etc. Great times, great friends, love, love, love.

EO: APART FROM THE FRIEND FACTOR, WHAT LED YOU TO WICHITA VS. TRYING TO SIGN WITH A MAJOR? DOES CHOOSING THE 'ROAD LESS TRAVELLED' LEAD TO MORE CREATIVE OUTPUT?

Carr: There was never any question of me going to a major label. It would have been Creation or with somebody involved with Creation. Having the chance to make records with my best friend and with Dick Green who was our biggest supporter and friend from when we joined the label is great. I couldn't work with a major label. I'm not a product. I don't have a desperate need to be famous like other bands I could mention, so there are no advantages to my being on a major. Record companies are intrusive, meddlesome, and condescending by definition. Wichita will be no different, but at least I know they are doing it out of love.

EO: WHAT'S YOUR TAKE ON THE CURRENT 'MUSIC SCENE.' IT SEEMS THAT WE'RE IN A TRANSITIONAL PHASE RIGHT NOW, WHEREIN IF YOU'RE NOT NAMED BRITNEY OR KORN, THERE'S LITTLE PLACE FOR YOU. ARE GREAT BANDS BEING IGNORED BY THE CHARTS? AND IS THAT NECESSARILY A BAD THING?

Carr: I find the fact that you think there is only Britney and Korn bewildering. What about Pole and Mapstation and Sizzla and Dead Prez and Kid 606 and Anti Pop Consortium and the bands on Wichita, Bright Eyes and Her Space Holiday? What about Teebone and Queens Of The Stone Age and SFA and Gorkys? If you get yr musical information and education from MTV and Top 40 radio, then you'll miss out on so much -- all you will hear is what major record companies want you to hear. That's why shite like Muse and Coldplay and Robbie Williams and Travis are so popular. They get pushed down our throats because they are safe and bland and sound a bit like other guaranteed moneymakers (usually Radiohead.) They belong in that cold, antiseptic, sterile world where MTV is king. Look at the Mercury Music Awards over here. Something like "Exterminator" could never win an award like that, an award that celebrates mediocrity and blatant tokenism. I would be offended to be even nominated for a piece of shit award like that. I don't need some dickheads with musical degrees telling me that I'm good, and anyone who does must have a serious confidence problem. Music isn't about awards and charts -- it's about self-expression and liberation about defiance and individuality (and not the individuality that is used to sell us almost everything on the TV these days.) It's about soul and vision. Fuck the charts, I've been in the charts and it changes nothing. Music has been around for thousands of years, forever. Music charts have been here for 60/70 years. They are just an excuse for record companies to twitch the corpse, to sell and re-sell, re-make, re-model, the same crap over and over again.

EO: YOU'VE BEEN A VERY ACTIVE CAPTAIN IN TERMS OF THE INTERNET. HOW DO YOU THINK FANSITES AND INTERNET COMMUNITIES AFFECT THE FANBASE OF ARTISTS? WHAT'S BEEN ITS MOST DIRECT IMPACT ON YOU?

Carr: I think the most direct influence on me was being able to keep in touch with people. After the Boo's split, my confidence was very low, and it seemed like there was nobody who had ever liked us, it really did feel like that. But by being able to see the fans who still wrote the websites, their support and encouragement gave me the stimuli to carry on. I think it's incredibly exciting. I love working on my website and that's just going to get better and better. I have met some inspiring people through the 'net and discovered some incredible things. I guess it depends what you do with it. I have an inquisitive mind, so it's perfect for me. Some people like to just download porn all day, which is cool, too, if that's where you are at -- it's just a waste, I guess.

EO: WHAT - AND NOT JUST MUSIC, BUT PERHAPS LIFE IN GENERAL -- INSPIRES MARTIN CARR?

Carr: I think books are still my greatest inspiration. My Dad taught me to read before I started school and I have never stopped. I read mainly biogs and factual books and stuff like Jung and the I Ching -- lots of stuff I don't claim to fully understand but read to keep the old mind ticking over. I am very lazy and I think if I didn't read I would rapidly vegetate. Fante, Hunter S. Thompson, Meltzer, books on the Panthers, Che Guevara, Descartes, Auster, Brautigan, "Kaddish" by Ginsberg, I love that. "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot. That was one of the things I hated about school. We just read crap, and when we did read something good, such as Steinbeck or "To Kill A Mockingbird," they were treated more like tales, rather than dwelling on the historical social implications and how they were still relevant today. I read to learn, I don't want to read any "High Fidelity" crap. Politics inspires me, or rather disgusts me. The fact that it is the year 2000 and we still cannot feed or clothe all the people in the world even though we have more than enough resources for everyone to live peacefully and happily... that racism still thrives (and on some levels is encouraged) in the form of economic warfare... that laws are passed to illegalise any attempt by schools to educate kids on homosexuality, thinking, in their manifest ignorance, that a person can be somehow made homosexual, that it is not something as natural and as beautiful as heterosexuality -- this is open fascism.

Bill Hicks has probably inspired my way of thinking more than any other human, the teachings of Lao Tzu and Jesus, whether you believe in these people or not (and I don't most of the time) is irrelevant. Anyone who preaches love and tolerance and is against greed and war is cool by me. Oh, and people who swear a lot, those cunts are fucking great!

EO: IN 1993 - "I'M ONLY 23, MY HAIR IS THIN, MY SIZE IS LARGE, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO ME." IN 1995 - "25, DON'T RECALL A TIME I FELT THIS ALIVE." IN 1999 - "NOW I'M SCARED OF DEATH FOR THE 1ST TIME. ALL MY FRIENDS SAY I LOOK BETTER, BUT MY HEALTH IS GONE." IN 2000 -- ?

Carr: Wow! I sound like a miserable fucker, don't I? I do have really bad days but don't question them any more. It's the way I am and I cannot change that. There are black shapes at my shoulder, but I have a good life and a beautiful wife, so I wouldn't insult you by complaining about anything. I'm 31 now and have a certain contentment. I never totally relax, and tend to feel caged if I don't get out or go away for a while, but songs and words float in on the breeze and I am truly grateful.

EO: IS THERE HOPE FOR HUMANITY?

Carr: No.

You can contact Martin via his new website, www.bravecaptain.com, and be sure to find out more about the great new Wichita label at www.witchita-recordings.com. Be sure to pick up a copy of the debut Brave Captain release, "The Fingertip Saint Sessions Volume 1," when it's released by Wichita on August 14th.