***Apologies for any typo's this was scanned using OCR I skimmed it and spell checked it. If 
any of the error's really bother you email me and I will fix them. If a line or two is missing, 
PLEASE tell me and I will get them back. OCR is not as easy as it sounds.

**The Creature's, interview taken from B-side Magazine April/May 1990
----By Sandra A. Garcia 

     Think of heat. Think of intensely searing heat coating the Spanish countryside while 
blasting the sky into the earth and scorching both into blinding whiteness. Into this heat 
blends the past and the future, as the setting of an ancient convent plays host to two modern 
music innovators, Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, a pair of exotic Creatures dancing off from a 
pack of wild Banshees to create stunning new musical textures. 

     Back from their brutal stay in the Spanish heat the two survivors of this sojourn are not 
only a pleasing sight to the eye but they're also eager to describe the atmosphere of the 
passionate, alien setting that inspired their latest album Boomerang. The album is a rich 
tautly elegant experience that veers from the feminist aggression of 'Standing There' to the 
playful tones of 'Speeding,' often haunting the air with the only the refined sounds of the 
dexterous Budgie on varied percussion and Siouxsie on vocals, making the album the lucious 
creation of a white hot merging of the Banshees' exotically erotic rhythms with its unique 
vocal soul.

      "It was much like going camping," jests Siouxsie as she relaxes back on the couch, 
resplendent in a gauzy teal blue outfit. "Like doing a field recording. It was much more of a 
brutal place, just a because it was steeped in so much history. It (La Penuela) was a '' working 
ranch, an old convent steeped in religious iconography that the owner was a collector of. And
also in conflict to this were -these trophies from his bullfighting days of the 60's: it was a 
bit like some atrocity exhibition. It was quite an odd place, but very good for churning things 
around. The actual countryside...the light was _. so bright, you had to wear shades, it hurt not 
to wear shades, "she , describes with a remembered squint. "The white buildings, the stone 
everywhere and the sand... someone mentioned the songs reminded them of J.G. Ballard, like a
science fiction film where they land on the dry sea bed, and it pretty much felt like that! 
Therewere fields of sunflowers but they looked alien and eerie, and the wheat  fields... the 
wind when it whipped up went," as she imitates a harsh buzzing noise, her long fingers 
gracefully describing the motion. 

      "It was completely desolate, very dry: not barren but very bleached looking as opposed to 
Hawaii which was so rich, so lush and green, everything dripping, where here was parched and
 dry." 

     Need a tall cool one yet? Siouxsie refers to Hawaii in contrast as it was there the 
Creatures created their initial album, the wild Feast, a complex affair of tribal rhythms and 
wailing vocals that came to be in 1982 and was released in 1983. There are many differences 
the span of years, locations, artistic differences, but in their minds what is the key factor in 
the difference? 

     Siouxsie holds with the atmosphere. "The situation of the two is extremely different. 
They're very conflicting places to be in, they aren't at all similar in what they inspired. The 
Feast album was quickly put together, it was the first time that we had been anywhere exotic 
like that. We behaved in a very hyper way," she chuckles, "I remember when we came back to
 London we had everything and it had only been two weeks!" 

     "And we couldn't wind down," describes Budgie, "We were running around for another 
week afterwards going "it's great, it's great, we've done it!"' he laughs. 

     "We almost felt like we hadn't done it, it was done so quick," remembers Siouxsie. "And I 
think everything went down as we thought of it. As with Boomerang we gave ourselves a 
couple of days," she grins with dry humor. . 

      "It's almost like after all these years we grew and wanted to be a bit more prepared...we 
considered things a bit more," notes Budgie as Siouxsie, adds: "And we picked somewhere: 
Europe, an we took a mobile desk with us so we wouldn't be in the studio." These two have an 
excellent rapport with each other, one following the others thoughts without hesitation, with 
the enthusiastic Budgie visibly restraining himself at times just waiting for Siouxsie to finish. 

     The rapport obviously came in good steed out in the makeshift studio setting in the 
Andalucian fields. But pity poor Mike Hedges, the Creatures/ Banshees producer, unknowing 
technical victim on this exotic "camping" trip; "Oh, he had his work cut out for him!" 
emphasizes Siouxsie with a wicked grin. 

      "In Hawaii we had an assistant and another guy running around, but in Spain it was just 
the three of us. We had some technician out just to set up, and then everybody left!" chuckles 
Budgie. "If anything went wrong Mike had to sort all that out before we could work. So we 
actually only recorded 18 out of the 30 days we were there!" 

     "I don't think Mike realized everything that he had to do. It was all very basic and the 
tension was just that: oh God, it's gonna blow up any minute!" Siouxsie declares with dramatic 
emphasis. "We were confronted with the crudeness of the situation we were in but again it 
worked to create something different." 

      Budgie's mouth quirks into another playful grin as he jests, "We've kept our distance from 
him since we got back!" as Siouxsie bursts into laughter, nodding in full agreement. "Yeah! It's 
almost like 'now I don't want to see you two for another year!' But no 
hard feelings!" 

      "He went right into other projects but it's taken us ages to digest what happened," relates 
Budgie, "It's not that you just come out of it with a bit of a record, you come out with a mass 
of emotions and mixed feelings, and we still have to figure out what went on." Siouxsie: "It's a
lot to take in, and then you replay things when you're back and go 'did this really happen?"' 
Budgie adds, "And you end up doubting everything: at first it's all great and then the doubt sets
in. And then things begin to develop again in a different light." 

     Siouxsie points out, "Also, when we got back to London we decided that sole of the tracks 
needed something else."
 
      These exotic interview participants are such excellent conversationalists that topics 
come up effortlessly. This was a point I had in my mind, given that there is instrumentation 
on the album that goes beyond what happened with just the two Creatures in Spain. "Yes, we 
called in the brass players," notes Siouxsie. "They sort of put a bridge between what we did 
last as the Creatures and somehow linked it to the present day. And just a few things we 
enhanced, and we also mixed it: we didn't mix it out there. We just spent three weeks back in 
the studio on that."
 
     Budgie notes, "The record was like two halves in the making." But there's the magic in it... 
Boomerang is seamless, as the parts come together without songs declaring their mixed 
origins. The flavor from the initial experience saturated the whole with a glowing warmth.
 
      "Yes, they came together, the two physical working areas," agrees Budgie. 

      "Well, all the drumbeats to the songs done in London were done in Spain," reasons 
Siouxsie, she explainis, "Cause we had to work like the devil cause the last few days there 
they started processing the wheat they had collected and there were power surges! So it was 
like," as she once more gives a demonstration, imitating a buzzing vibrating machine, "like 
Frankenstein but the machine was going bzzzt cause the lightening wasn't hitting right!" 
she laughs. "So we said let's quickly finish and let's not do anything crucial otherwise we may 
loose it all!" 

      "So we did the photographs instead and nearly died!" deadpans Budgie, "110 degrees at 
half past ten in the morning!" 

      So these wicked Creatures not only tortured their poor producer but they also took their 
premier photographer Anton Corbjin through a little hell on earth. 

      "Oh poor: Anton! He came out and he's always worked in black and white, he's never like
color. And we had such a shock cause he's going on 'oh yes, I want to work in color, I've 
discovered color". And it was great, as he had started painting and had a good eye which was a 
surprise. We thought it'd be a shame if he dulled the colors, but instead they were almost 
poster-like," enthuses Siouxsie. 

      Here he is with a bleached, parched setting saturated with intense light perfect for high 
contrast black and white and he wants to use color which prefers dull light! But the shots do 
look very rich,.. so that's the two of you on the front cover in those alien sunflower fields! 
"Yes, these are the real sunflower fields!" grins Siouxsie as Budgie describes, "The colors are 
like just blue, yellow, the color of us and green flower stems."

      "But you couldn't see these colors cause you were like that," as Siouxsie screws her face
up in an elaborate squint, "all the time! But we saw the proofs and went great colors!" 

      "It filled your field of vision... phenomenal acres and acres of sunflowers and massive 
blocks of color, all going white due to the sun," emphasizes Budgie. 

       I certainly am glad I have a soda before me! I can feel the grit in my throat and the glare 
in my eyes! But was the all the music done in this barren setting or were there reference 
points drawn up in England? It was mentioned earlier that time was given beforehand on this 
album for some pre-production. 

      "It was pretty much done there," begins Siouxsie but Budgie interrupts politely to 
sidetrack. "My lyrical input to me was something I've had in notebooks and on little jots of 
paper and due to having time and being able to think clearly I actually made an effort to do 
something with them, as some of them have been around for six years. I made the effort to 
control the words and express myself that way as well. That was a big deal for me," he states 
with justified pride. "So in that sense for me it feels like a long time growing album for me. 
It's got a lot more depth to it." 

       Siouxsie nods, commenting, "I think that is why it is so diverse, much more diverse then 
Feast. I just rediscovered Feast, and enjoy playing it. And it's very much of the place that we 
were. I think it soaked up a lot more." Feast is far more unbalanced, almost out of control 
with chants and primitive rhythms. 

     "It goes with where we were, that exoticness about it, whereas this is more exposed, more 
like an exposed nerve, very glaring," is Siouxsie's point. 

     "And this setting allowed us to find those feelings between us and get them out," reveals 
Budgie. 

      So anything that was done in England aside from the lyrical bits were mainly a sorting out 
of ideas. "Emptying of the brain!" agrees Siouxsie as she drops her head to one side, 
pantomiming her brain falling out with a soft plopping noise. It is a wonderfully curious 
gesture coming from someone who always seems so... elegant! 

     Budgie takes the descriptions further after grinning at Siouxsie's actions. "We set up 
drums and got a drum machine clicking and a mike in the middle of the room set on tape and I 
let the machine go and altered tempos and rhythms. There weren't too many words at that 
point but ideas mainly, phrases and melodies. And then we played that tape back and worked 
on top of that." He is clearly excited about his descriptions, Siouxsie relaxing with a smile as 
he rapidly continues, "'You' was an idea which came out of Siouxsie singing to a taped feed 
with the speakers loud. She had a little Dictaphone thing with a compressor microphone. So 
each time Siouxsie went "you" the sound," as he imitates Siouxsie singing, concluding, "it was 
like Captain Beefheart!" 

     "I said I really like that, as far as voice recording goes!" agrees Siouxsie. "You think God, 
that's awful, it's all condensed but I really like the sound of it." It turned out perfectly on the 
album, being so tense and eerie, conveying an obsessive clasustrophobic quality. 

     "We wanted to retain that quality, and it's things like that where we retained the initial 
impetus of the idea," declares Budgie. 

     Recording in special settings obviously had an heavy impact on the Creatures. Both 
Siouxsie and Budgie agree that it would be impossible to drag the Banshees into a such unique
recording situations. 

     "We found it difficult to keep everyone within 20 miles of London even with writing 
Peepshow!" ridicules Siouxsie, she falling practical. "And actually we would never be allowed 
into that situation with guitars and amplifiers. When we described what we were and how we 
would do it they thought 'oh yes, no problem because there was no element of 'what, a group?' 
They didn't want that kind of thing there, but as soon as they realized it was only voice and 
drums..." 

      Budgie can't help but interrupt here. "But they got a shock! They thought it was like bongo 
drums! And I arrived with this 22 piece drum kit, a huge thing which is SO LOUD, and there 
was no sound proofing, it was just a stone barn, so it was phenomenally loud! 

     They probably heard it 20 miles away over in the next village!" he laughs. 

     They probably thought it weird thunder rolling across the sunflower fields! Siouxsie grins, 
acknowledging, "But the people were really great, although they were very curious.' "But then 
technically..." begins Budgie, Siouxsie exclaiming, "We found it hard technically with just two 
people.." 

     Budgie cuts her off, pointing out, "But definitely there are some ways of working which we 
could carry through, like the new positivity in the way we approached things now, which we 
started with Through the Looking Class and carried into Peep Show, really the kind of 
impatience, of wanting to retain the germ of an idea..." as he laughs, "like a wheat germ, not a 
virus! The smallest first idea you get, and to try and hold onto that as much as possible. It 
happened with 'Peek-a-Boo' and that really benefited from that. And 'Burn Up' as well, the 
essence of the beginning of the song, although..." as he looks a bit put off, "the group always 
wants to add more and more." 

      That is a main difference with the Creatures and the Banshees... the simplicity in the 
direction and the music itself being less layered and entangling. 

      "Right! And if you've got a guitar...and I'm not just picking on the guitarist cause it always
seem to be the poor old guitarist getting it with us..." as he begins to laugh, Siouxsie 
snickering along with him, waving for him to get on with it. "But even I've found when I played
most of the instruments on the record. I did a marimba part which I was quite proud of and 
Siouxsie went 'Well, it doesn't really need that right there...loose the marimba part!' and I 
went 'Hold on, I spent two days on that!"' he self-mocks with an indignant bristle. "So I can 
understand what a guitarist can feel like when all he's got is guitar and the song is written 
on' bass and piano and we decide 'we don't need guitar on this one!"' Siouxsie wants to clarify, 
stating, "Or more importantly, we don't need it right there!" 

      "So the guitarist goes 'Well, what am I supposed to do!' That's the hardest thing to deal 
with and you know it's going to upset a little bit. But you eventually realize it's for the better 
of the song. And it's easier to realize that when it's just the two of you, as you both have the 
idea together. That's the hard thing about the group, when you stop being the four piece group
 that plays together," he remarks, "when you start to be a bit more subtle, to do things in a 
simpler way that's when it becomes less bravado and much more subversive." 

      So that translates into the Creatures are more subversive then the Banshees. An 
interesting point. And from the sound of what you're telling me the album was recorded very 
quickly, with just the two of you holding onto those initial ideas. 

     Siouxsie nods, admitting, "Well, I'm very impatient, I'm forever saying 'come on, come 
on, come on!' I really am...that's something I need to get better at, because everyone needs to 
take it easy." 

     Budgie can't resist this one, he murmuring with sweet sincerely, "Oh don't change, please 
don't change: it drives us all mad but don't change!" as Siouxsie playfully aims for him with a 
clenched fist, laughing as he continues, "The only time that Siouxsie is not impatient is the 
morning." 

     Ah ha! I knew there had to be a time when she turned down that fierce energy! She 
defends, "I just think that...I mean once I get up I 80! PM up till three or four in the morning! 
But I'm not the sort of person that soon as the light has risen I'm "la-la-la...not me!" Budgie 
keeps up his gentle needling. "Not me.. I bounce out! You can't keep me still!" Siouxsie gives 
him a fond smile, declaring, "He's like Tigger," laughing as he begins to bounce about, chanting,
 "Let's go, let's go!" I love watching these two act like little kids. 

     But since we actually have a genuine pause I should act business-like and bring up 
something relevant. Would the Creatures have suffered a further set back if the Banshees had 
come back for another few months of touring America as planned? I won't go into why they 
didn't come back because it isn't appealing: record company politics and that rot. Siouxsie 
claims, "I sort of forced the Creatures to happen. But also, there were a few things we were 
wanting to do and they sort of fell through. We wanted to film Peep Show, cause of what it 
looked like.." 

      This time I am the one doing the interrupting... don't say it, Siouxsie, that marvelous 
spectacle never made it to film? 

     A grim frown appears as she describes, "Well, we had a great live in concert thing for 
Radio One, and it sounded great, and we said can we use that, and they said no!" 

"That was because we were going to erect the stage posthumously and do a show but maybe 
what we'll do is the next time we go out we'll combine elements of that and other ideas we 
have..." muses Budgie hopefully. 

     A bitter glance from Siouxsie lends doubt to his words. "I don't know, it's really a shame. 
I was so up for it being documented cause it was a good show and in reality we probably won't
 go back to it," she states resignedly. 

     "It's very frustrating, to come up against a brick wall like that. Suddenly after that they 
said yes we could use it but for ridiculous money and we couldn't afford it! It was mean, 
really mean!'' she complains angrily. 

     That is really mean, considering it is the band's artistry they taped. 

      "There was a big management fuck-up as well at that point," admits Budgie. 

      That sounds typical. But hopefully the Creature's own tour will be more fairly documented.
 Budgie describes the intricate technical end of his part on-stage for a few minutes. He begins 
to bounce anew, finally admitting, "I'm getting nervous already!" 

     "Oh yeah, Tigger' s just raring to go!" mocks Siouxsie playfully, thumping imaginary drums 
on the couch for emphasis. 

     I wonder what other Banshees think of this tour, one main Banshee in particular. They both
 laugh, Budgie mock whispering "I don't think Steve knows yet! 

     No, seriously, he was prepared for it. I spoke to him over Christmas and he thought that 
people would want this." 

     "Also to do it with just the two of us... again, that's the right way to do it. And it's
 possible so... 

      Budgie had met up with someone who's taught him how to use sequencers in a very 
responsive way describe Siouxsie. "And it's great coming into all that technical area...we used
a bit of it on Peep Show, to add to the brass parts, and it's allowing me to grow with it," 
Budgie explains. 

     The Creatures are exciting for Budgie in that not only are his lyrics utilized but what a 
responsibility his job is on-stage! It's a challenge! 

      He shrugs lightly with a smite, reasoning, "But nobody said oh, you have to use all this 
stuff, cause I've always steered clear of it before. Until a need arose to use it, and you want 
to use it, cause you know how you're going to use it, and not let it use you. So I am really up 
for it, and it will be good! It will be more like Suicide then the Pet Shop Boys!" 

We chat about Suicide a bit, as they opened for the Banshees on their last British dates. 
Budgie manages to go from how bad the weather was to how bad the British press is in a 
dexterous feat of conversation, he finally he'd stabilizing his ideas. "We wanted to go a  
straight back toAmerica cause we loved it so here,' he claims. "And for example one of the 
first things you said was how different this album was from Feast, where as in England some 
of the journalists came at us with 'so, it's pretty much the same as the first one, isn't it'. 

     They didn't even listen!" he decries with vehement disgust, his annoyance mounting as he 
exclaims, "It's so dead! No incentive, no feedback. There's only a handful of journalists who 
really have anything to say and there's no outlet for it. Radio is terrible!" "They're just so 
wrapped up in their own little star trips ..it's all very boring. They always go for the surface, 
that's as far as it goes," dismisses Siouxsie. 

     Well, here come a topic that isn't just skin deep. Sorry Budgie, this one's largely for 
Siouxsie. Her stance on women has been most interesting throughout the years. In initial 
songs like 'Hong Kong Garden', 'Red Light', 'Circle' 'Obsession' or 'Carnival' women's trauma's 
were documented and described, but now with 'Peek-a-Boo' and 'Standing There' there's a 
strongly accusing tone, with a more aggressive stance taken. 

     "Well, I suppose I should!" she declares. "With more women being involved in music there's
 almost a resurgence of women singing songs that are written from a male point of view: the 
men are back writing for the women. Although there is a great section of women doing it for 
themselves, the thing is now, with dance music, this mini-skirted image, very transparent. 
And with the younger female singers, and this is what is really lacking in them, they're very 
soft. I won't name any names but there's a bunch of new bands with female fronting singers 
who are very fey. It's the thing where they should make me look like a ninny! They should be 
really socking something into someone's face and really assert themselves like 'we're the new 
overlords. There should be some pride going on here. But again they're playing the female 
game and I think it's a real shame. That's why I like someone like Michele Shocked and there 
are other women that are doing good things but they're not in the pop context. 

     That's all too true. I won't name any names either but there are too many cliched female 
images for the letchs to drool on. 

     "And I love pop music, and I thought, say with a song like 'Standing There', it should be a 
pop song that has an onslaught!" is her strong statement. 

     "It's a battle in itself," muses Budgie. 

     "And with 'Peek-a-Boo' it should be a pop song and it should be heard on the charts not just
on an album where people already in the know will agree with it" she continues. It's like you 
discussed before about "indie; bands, how they relate to the-same audience over and over with
out taking their message to the public at large. But that development in your lyrics is 
obvious,with your frustration making those songs quite effective. 

     "I think I that we'll admit, someone has td do it! And I am still shocked. When you travel a 
lot and you return to London, you're not prepared' with it reverting back to the same thing 
you were trying to escape. Coming back from. America last time I was going out shopping and 
I was getting abuse screamed at me just because I was a girl not walking around with a sack 
on her head. And they think everyone is there to attract some comment on 'how sexually 
provocative they look and I said fuck this!' she spits out, her voice breaking in anger. "I was so
 angry, God, it really pissed me off! And there was an instant when my cab had stopped at a 
traffic light and over the road were these villains and I thought 'why should I be taking this' 
so I started yelling 'fuck you!"' as she demonstrates her scenario complete with hand gestures.
"The cab driver went 'hey, that was great what you did!' 

     "And I thought this is something that needs to be said, and they really need to be made 
that small. Don't make a big deal but let them know they're so pathetic," she sneers. 

     Ridicule always works best. That's why the context of the video for 'Standing There' is so 
fascinating: setting it in Spanish culture which is incredibly repressive and degrading towards 
independent women. 

      "Yes, but the amusing thing is in the dance it's very equal...it's almost like the women are 
practically beating their chests and going 'I'm going to come over and bite your nose off!'" she 
laughs, lightening up her serious mein. 

     If Siouxsie begins stamping those heels and clicking her nails in a Spanish fury the unwary 
male who dares to heckle her better run for cover with his hand over his nose! And elsewhere!
 These Creatures mean business!