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MVRemix: Momus.
Tom Ellard: Ice cream.
MVRemix: Eminem.
Tom Ellard: Melts in your mouth, not your hand.
MVRemix: Close Lobsters.
Tom Ellard: Pickles don't go with fish cakes, dear.
MVRemix: The Beautiful South.
Tom Ellard: Hogs.
MVRemix: Radiohead.
Tom Ellard: Thomas Dolby.
MVRemix: The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Tom Ellard: Body number 996.
MVRemix: De La Soul.
Tom Ellard: Rubbermaid.
MVRemix: Jimi Hendrix.
Tom Ellard: N.A.S.A.
MVRemix: Spank Rock.
Tom Ellard: Elvis.
MVRemix: The Lovetones.
Tom Ellard: The Deltones.
MVRemix: New Order.
Tom Ellard: Queensland.
MVRemix: The Dandy Warhols.
Tom Ellard: Advertising.
MVRemix: The Fall.
Tom Ellard: Teeth.
MVRemix: Denim.
Tom Ellard: Crimson King.
MVRemix: My Bloody Valentine.
Tom Ellard: Rosebud.
MVRemix: Trisomie 21.
Tom Ellard: Mongoloid.
MVRemix: Gil-Scott Heron.
Tom Ellard: Tablets.
MVRemix: George Bush.
Tom Ellard: Asphalt.
MVRemix: Who are your biggest influences?
Tom Ellard: Flatulence. Oh sorry, not playing words anymore. I would rather acknowledge influence from every single thing I have ever heard. There is no music that springs from nowhere and it's a constant flow. I'd say Steve Reich, except I was already mucking around with tape ideas. Then, I found that he'd explored it beforehand. Severed Heads is not as an innovator, but a conduit from experimental music to pop music.
MVRemix: What is the biggest lesson you have learned in your career?
Tom Ellard: Everything you do will be forgotten one day, so don't get all la-de-da.
MVRemix: What are some of your favorite films?
Tom Ellard: Right this moment, I'm antagonistic to feature films. It's simply a ploy to clear my mind, to try and bring about clarity in what I would like to do myself. I agree with George Lucas, who recently stated that the blockbuster is dead. What will replace it? I'd say that I appreciate the films in which Walter Murch did, the sound design. I learned a lot from him. I was a little disappointed by 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', but Gondry still rocks.
MVRemix: These days, what is a typical day like for you?
Tom Ellard: I wish I had a typical day. But, casual workers don't get one. I guess, teaching is like doing a gig every day. I might spend as much as 9 hours lecturing in one day. Then, sit dazed at home, dribbling quietly in the corner.
MVRemix: What are some major misconceptions do you think people have of you?
Tom Ellard: That we're 'Industrial'. That we did everything in the 80's then died. That 'Dead Eyes Opened' is a good song. That I am a zany wacky guy who hand builds cyclotrons. That I am arrogant, because I can't smile at everybody 24-7.
MVRemix: Are you in a romantic relationship these days? Are you a heterosexual? How have touring, recording, and the music lifestyle affected relationships?
Tom Ellard: Yes and yes. It can lead to false expectations from shallow people. There's nothing more repulsive than people who see you as 'a musician', like the ones they read about in Jackie Collins books. They look at you like a tradesman looks at a ladder.
MVRemix: What do you look for in a lover?
Tom Ellard: All their own teeth.
MVRemix: Did you get along with your parents? What do they think about your music?
Tom Ellard: They were okay once I was mentioned in the newspaper. Obviously, then I was good enough at what I did, which was all that mattered. If I was crap, then they would have worried. As for the music, well, I like their tastes more than they like mine.
MVRemix: When you pass away, would you like to be buried or cremated?
Tom Ellard: Flung from a trebuchet.
MVRemix: What would you want on your epitaph (your gravestone)?
Tom Ellard: All permanence is illusionary.
MVRemix: Are there any collaborations fans should look out for?
Tom Ellard: I hope that one day, there will be another Co Kla Coma recording. But, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting. Also, slowly working at another collaboration, with a very silly name, but again, it would be foolish to mention just yet. Don't worry, it'll come. Got some more film work too.
MVRemix: Will you release more upgrade versions of your Severed Heads classic albums?
Tom Ellard: I think we did them all when 'Clean' was re-made. Maybe LTM Records will have to rearrange things a little, just to keep from treading the same water. As when they took on 'Rotund For Success', it wasn't different enough for most listeners. But right now, all the important, well relatively, stuff has been re-issued as digital media.
MVRemix: Have you been approached by record labels to release your new Severed Heads work? Which ones? Why did this not happen?
Tom Ellard: We have a variety of labels contact us, most often to reissue an old song on a compilation, some want to do what LTM does, which would be redundant. Some are interested in special projects, like Vinyl On Demand in Germany. But they don't ask for new CD albums, which is not surprising, given that such albums are on the way out. AWAL have our stuff for download, which is the current model. If Sevcom stopped, the stuff would come out some other way.
MVRemix: What's next for Severed Heads?
Tom Ellard: Tom Ellard has to do some academic work, which might involve audio recordings for a thesis. Severed Heads might just have to take a back seat for a while. Given the barrage of releases this year, that won't hurt. Besides, the only good artist is a dead artist."
MVRemix: Will there be other releases on Sevcom?
Tom Ellard: That's an interesting question. Maybe some annexes to existing titles, 'Op 3'. But, no new projects for a while. Really, there is an awful lot already available and sometimes, I think that absence is the new media.
MVRemix: Any final words?
Tom Ellard: Gang of Four: 'Nostalgia, it's not enough. It is just a habit'.
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