The TV arbiter would approve of Irish pop experimentalist Babybeef, aka Sarah Carroll, thinks TONY CLAYTON LEA– though she might frown at the Jean Michel Jarre appreciation
Who or what is Babybeef?
Essentially I’m a creative person, and the form that my creativity takes changes. I went to art college and studied sculpture, and worked as a fine artist for a couple of years. Then I went back to college and did a Master’s in digital media, and around 1998 I ended up in Windmill Lane doing multimedia design. I worked in the multimedia sector and now I lecture in that area, but on the side I do digital projects, be they art or visuals.
I also did some experimental art projects some time back. I had a track on an album called The Best Sound Art Album in the World . .. Ever. It was pretty wacky, a bit pretentious, but it was experimenting, which is good.
When you're a tutor, you can work to your own timetable. You choose between constructive, experimental work and watching Judge Judy. I'm a big Judge Judyfan – she always calls it right.
Would you regard your Babybeef music as being as experimental as the kind you’ve worked on in the past?
When you’re making music like that you don’t really think of the end product. You work on each song, and they evolve in the way they evolve. People say Babybeef music has a real ’80s sound, but that could be down to what I’m influenced by as well as by some of the equipment I have. I also got really sick of going to lads’ prog rock gigs, and I wanted to create something with an offbeat vibe.
Something more feminine?
Yes, and lighter. There are a couple of sad songs on the album. It’s actually easier to write a sad song. It’s because we’re Irish! I consciously tried to write uptempo stuff, because I didn’t want to be crying into the songs.
Sonic influences?
I suppose I should say someone like Brian Eno, but it’s actually someone like Laurie Anderson, who is fantastic, and Jean Michelle Jarre. I had a room in a Georgian house once – I moved in, opened the wardrobe, and there, looking back at me, were four of his albums. I know Jarre is quite unhip, but I don’t think people really know his music. He has a look about him that puts people off, but I think he’s really something else. And then, of course, there’s New Order and poppy stuff like Duran Duran.
In Irish terms, would you be in a class of one? There aren’t really many women here doing what you do
There’s a couple, and Meljoann is also doing something. I’m not sure if they’re doing exactly what I’m doing, writing it and building it all by themselves, but that might be more of a silly idea of mine than anything else.
You do everything yourself. Are a control freak?
I like to work alone, because if you don’t find someone who’s an equal match it’s just not going to marry. And it causes conflict. Also, I like to move forward fast and intuitively – I can’t stand humming and hawing. Sometimes if things are open to discussion it just takes forever.
You like to work alone, you like to move fast, some things aren’t open to discussion – are you difficult to get on with?
I don’t think so. If you have a specific vision about what you want to do, then it’s easier not to involve other people. I just wanted to make the music sound a certain way. There’s also no point in having someone in a band if you’re not going to give them some kind of creative input.
Nobody wants to be a session guy, do they?
A lot of musicians are, but are they happy with that? Do they not go home and feel a bit sad when they’re brushing their teeth? They might say they have equal creative control, but so many don’t.
You had a vision for Babybeef, the album?
Bright, different, not Europop, and an aim that it would sound like it was made in either New York or Barcelona rather than in Drimnagh! It’s to be played in the bedroom before you go out, on your iPod, or in a gay club, where people aren’t afraid to dance. Music to go with my Joanne Hynes costumes.
Babybeef is on After the Quake Records. The I Am the Cosmos remix of Tell Me is currently on Babybeef’s Myspace page
