Colin Greenwood on capturing “the middle era” of Radiohead – and what’s next for the band

Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood has spoken to NME about putting together his new photo book How To Disappear, and what might lay ahead for the band after their recent reunion.

Published this week via John Murray Press, How To Disappear marks Greenwood’s first book and was two decades in the making – capturing candid moments of Radiohead’s journey from 2003 up until their latest album, 2016’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘. Alongside the bassists’ images, the book also features a lengthy essay telling the band’s story and reflecting on their journey so far.

“It’s a really beautiful object, and I think people will appreciate that because it’s made to the same exacting standard as books by some of my favourite fine art photographers – people like Paul Graham,” Greenwood told NME. “I think it tells a nice story about how five guys from Oxfordshire got together and worked on songs in various village halls, then managed to get that to stages around the world.”

Naturally, Colin’s brother Jonny is the member that appears in the book the most – with the bassist arguing that as well as their relationship lending itself to a natural shoot, the Radiohead guitarist was always the most willing of all to have his photo taken.

“My brother is a craven lens seeker! Not just with me – with anyone!” said Colin. “We’ll sometimes do group photos for magazines and they’ll put Thom [Yorke] at the front, but my brother has quite sharp elbows and will just make sure that everyone can see him. I don’t know why he lets me take his picture so much. I don’t think he really cares, either way.”

And would his brother argue with that?

“Poor Colin,” Jonny told NME, while recently telling us about The Smile‘s new album ‘Cutouts‘. “It’s true, but only because I’ve pulled the same stupid face – one of panic/alarm – in 99 per cent of photos he’s taken of me over the years. So he just has lots of those. He could easily do a whole excruciating exhibit of that face.

“Luckily, he has hundreds of actually great photos (mostly not of his idiot brother). The book is brilliant. It shows how it really is to be in a band.”

As well as telling us about the “true privilege” of his new gig as a touring member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (having contributed to new album ‘Wild God‘) the bassist also sat down with us to give the lowdown on his new book. Check out the rest of our interview with Colin Greenwood below, where he shared what it’s really like to be onstage, backstage and in the studio with Radiohead, and would could be next for the band after their recent reunion rehearsals over the summer.

NME: Hello Colin. As well as being an homage to the ‘Kid A’ classic, How To Disappear  is also a nod to your photographer role as an invisible witness and documentarian – right?

Colin Greenwood: “Yes, well I didn’t know if I was going to be in the book because I was taking the pictures. Then I found one with a reflection of me in Thom’s piano and another one that my brother took. I think about all the photos that I’ve taken of my brother over the years, and he’s probably taken only two photographs of me. I think that tells you everything you need to know about our relationship. I don’t know if he remembers my name!

“I think people who like Radiohead are going to love the book, and I think people who perhaps don’t know about the band but have an interest in photography and a good story will enjoy it too.”

The book starts with the making of 2003’s ‘Hail To The Thief’ and then really picks up around the making of ‘In Rainbows’ and takes us through to ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’. You refer to these images as showing the “middle era” of a band. What’s unique and special about that period? 

“I was talking to Nick [Cave] about this when we were doing his solo piano tour last year. That’s when I was thinking about putting it together. He said, ‘When were the photographs taken?’ and I replied, ‘Well, they weren’t at the beginning, and not really at the end’. He asked, ‘What’s it like to be in a band when you’ve had all this success and the future’s uncertain?’ The future is always uncertain when you make a record, but what does that feel like – that cloud of unknowing that comes after you’ve made records like ‘OK Computer’, ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’?

“I always wonder what that’s like. When you’re in a band, you’re not always riding the crest of a wave of wild success; you’re also paddling about in a pond of unknowingness. You don’t know what direction it’s going to take you in. That’s what the book is about, really. It’s a bit like The Beatles’ documentary [Get Back].”

Get Back really showed how much time a band really spend waiting, bickering and arsing about…

“And drinking tea!”

What’s the mood like in Radiohead during those periods of gestation?

“I’m not comparing us to The Beatles – only in the sense that it really reminded me of all the time we’d spent together. I don’t think we had anyone to make toast for us, but there was a lot of tea drinking and talking about what was on the TV the night before and what was in the paper. Anyone in a band will tell you that The Beatles’ documentary is exactly what it’s really like – only Peter Sellers never pops in!”

You have your resident artist Stanley Donwood instead…

“That’s right! But yes, these are the ‘middle years’ – you’ve had success but you don’t want to repeat things. That’s why I took more photographs over that period, because there was a different kind of intensity and focus compared to ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’. That might have felt more intense to be a part of.”

Fans would have devoured all the band’s press shots, magazine images and the classic live pictures – but what will they learn from these hidden moments? 

“The photographs are very unique in terms of the access that only I had. When you look at this book, you’re seeing the band in places that photographers wouldn’t get access to; like our recording studio, dressing rooms, tour buses. They’re all special, private places where people can perhaps let their guard down and reveal a bit more of themselves than they would do in front of a press photographer.”

And the band never told you to put the camera away?

“It’s funny because they’ve been very supportive of me taking their photographs, and I’m very grateful. As a band, we’ve always all supported the things that we’ve all been into – whether it’s solo projects or Thom doing the artwork with Dan [Stanley Donwood], or my brother’s insane basket-weaving project, or Ed’s [O’Brien, guitarist]… I don’t know what Ed does!

“When we’re on tour and backstage in Chicago or wherever, everyone likes to spend time by themselves. We’re quite protective of our time before we play so I don’t have much time to photograph anyone. I have more time and freedom to photograph my band on stage when they’re being stared at 30,000 people.”

It’s very rare to see photos from the artist performing on stage. 

“That’s right. I should be doing something else with my time, like playing the bass. What am I doing?”

Are you currently taking photos of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds? 

“Yes, he’s very relaxed about all of that. He and Warren [Ellis] are just endlessly photographable. They all are, actually. They’re all fantastic characters and amazing dressers with brilliant personalities. Larry Mullen the drummer has this amazing western denim look going on and Jim [Sclavunos, percussion] wears these really stiff workwear suits, the backing singers look amazing too.

“All of the Bad Seeds are at an age where they’ve settled into their own style and couldn’t care less about what what anyone else thinks. It’s just such a joy to be amongst all those people.”

In the book, you compare getting back together with Radiohead to plunging midway into the box set of a long-running TV show…

“It’s true! We spent so much time together that we don’t see each other that often, so when we do everyone has got a lot older! It’s nothing crazy. It’s like one person has shaved all their hair off and joined a cult. It’s more like a bit of salt and pepper in the beard and making a noise when you sit down or stand up.

“I’m playing with the Bad Seeds who are about 10 years older than us, so I can see what we would look like then – which would be fine. I’m striking out what it will be like for Radiohead in the future, and I’ll report back!”

Could Thom go full vampire like Nick Cave? 

“Yeah! Or start wearing suits. Can I tell you a funny story? When we first started in Radiohead and made a video for ‘Pop Is Dead’ in 1993 (which was quite strange), for the first and last time in our career, we were given some money from the record company to buy clothes. A stylist was assigned to me from EMI, and they gave us £300 each to buy clothes.

“We got the bus to London and all bought different things. Thom and Jonny went to this vintage store in Covent Garden called Flip, Phil bought a white denim suit, Ed bought a sparkly silver jacket, and I bought a suit that made me feel like I was going to a job interview. We looked like we were in four different bands. I wish I’d been taking photos back then, but there’s plenty of that on the internet.”

Back to the Radiohead ‘box set’: you recently put disc five in the DVD player and reunited with the band for some rehearsals?

“We got together in the summer just for a couple of days and just ran through all the songs and picked up where we left off in 2018. It was really fun and nice to see everyone. We were going to do three or four days but knocked it on the head after two because it was fine and we could still do it. My brother said that we’d just need a couple of weeks’ rehearsal and we could go on the road, no problem.

“Beyond that, everyone’s heads are focussed on finishing up what they’ve been doing. My brother has been unwell and is still recovering. Rehearsals were really fun and amicable, though. We rehearsed in this studio called The Church where we ended up finishing up ‘OK Computer’, so the last time I was there was 1996 recording the bass for ‘Airbag’. There we were, back in Crouch End. It was great, but beyond that get together, I’m sure we’ll get together and make plans – but for what, I don’t know.”

This doesn’t mean a Radiohead tour is imminent then?

“No, it doesn’t mean a tour is imminent!”

One imagines it takes a lot of effort to get the Radiohead machine up and running for something like that. 

“Oh my god, tell me about it! It’s like an army. I don’t know how people are out on the Bad Seeds tour right now, but it’s loads. They’re playing all these huge arenas, but I love it because you get used to it and it becomes your home from home. The stage becomes your home, so when you walk out there if feels like your safe space.”

What kind of conversations do Radiohead have about finding a reason and time to return?

“I don’t know, because I haven’t had it! But I was talking to Nick [Cave] about this too. He’s just such an amazing listener, and he was saying that Radiohead would be in a position to go and do whatever we wanted in terms of when we play, what we play and how we play.

“He was talking about Bob Dylan, who can just be on the road for two years or not at all and play all the hits or something different each night. You can put out a new album or you can do crazy projects. There’s a freedom that we have that we should appreciate. It’s not like we’ve reached a point where people are only interested in listening to something from the first three albums.

“I think we’re still a band where people might want to know what might happen next. We’re very lucky to have that.”

How To Disappear is out now and available here. Colin Greenwood’s tour with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds continues through Europe before arriving in the UK. You can buy tickets here (UK and Ireland) and here (Europe).

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