Ten Years Gone

There are limits. In all things, there are limits. With music, they're often malleable - more malleable than many generally presume. There have been bands who have survived for decades on the basis of a single sound. Conversely, innovators have burst through and burned out over a mere handful of albums. In some instances, within the course of a song. Regardless; there are always limits.

Speaking with Jamie Stewart, one becomes increasingly aware of that reality. His band Xiu Xiu are, in multiple aspects, a portrait of intensity. Their aesthetic is one of sexual perversion, kink and violence. Their music combines the innate ideological fury of ongoing experimentation, spanning from synth-pop and electronica through to avant-garde composition and rock, with the visceral intensity of extreme volume and texture.

Perhaps most notably, their lyrical sentiments are a storm – an ongoing excavation and evisceration of Stewart's depressive, paranoid, anxious neuroses carved from the darkest recesses of both his imagination and shame. Tallied and totalled, Xiu Xiu's music is some of the most exhausting and challenging work in contemporary popular music. So how on earth has the band managed a tenth anniversary?

“It went by incredibly quickly. It doesn't feel like it's been ten years at all,” Stewart admits. “I suppose, if it felt like ten years, I'd be more surprised we made it so far. As it is, I'm only really surprised by the fact that it just seemed to appear out of nowhere. I think, for some reason – and it's completely preposterous – I thought it would feel different or I would feel different. It doesn't, though.

“I mean, all of that is completely removed from the fact that I am surprised every single year I have made a living, however tenuous, out of this band,” the frontman laughs. “I think I will never be more surprised by this band than I was the year I first made a living out of it – because I never thought that would happen. While I certainly don't take it for granted, I suppose I'm becoming used to it, for better or worse. Probably worse.”

It begs the question – how long can the band continue? It's been asked by fans and detractors alike in recent years. Particularly in light of the band's most recent album, this year's Always. Xiu Xiu have always been celebrated as innovators and iconoclasts – changing their sound from album to album – yet, even favourable reviews of Always highlighted its similarity to the band's previous works.

“You know, I rarely ever read any reviews for exactly this sort of reason. I did read that about the record and it was weird. We always said we will always write about real events and people and so that's never going to change, but I don't think we've been making the same record for ten years. I really think one reviewer wrote that and everyone else just copied it: ie. FUCK PITCHFORK. Please write that in capitals.

“I think experimentation is still a priority for an aspect of what we're doing. In terms of experimenting with timbre and experimenting with arrangement, I'd say it's definitely a priority. It is a priority to try and approach things in a different way to the way we've approached things before. I don't think we're ever going to completely reinvent everything we've done before but we like to take a different approach.

“I mean, that's not to say what we're doing is particularly innovative. Obviously, we're building off a lot of things that have come before, but that's why it's important to have a different approach, I think. I can't see much point in making a record with the exact same approach as another. I suppose that's why I take such a particular umbrage with the accusation that we've been doing the same thing for ten years.”      

Beyond issues of musicality, mere self-preservation must be taken into account. Jamie Stewart has been the sole permanent member of Xiu Xiu for their entire career. The band is very much his project (though he would almost certainly take issue with anyone referring to it as a solo outing). The despair and loathing that permeates their music is wrought from him alone. By his own admission, nothing about Xiu Xiu is fun for the frontman.

“Is being in Xiu Xiu any fun? No. It's not fun,” Stewart says bluntly – almost laughing at the question. “Other bands I play in are fun. XXL [Xiu Xiu's collaborative project with Italian experimentalists Larsen] is fun. The collaboration I did with Eugene Robinson was fun. Xiu Xiu has never been any fun – but that's not really the point. I will say it's certainly rewarding but, no, it's never been fun.”

When directly prompted about the future of the band, Stewart is circumspect. He seems to view the idea of discontinuing the project with considerable suspicion. Conversely, he seems reluctant to confirm its continued existence. It's hard to know what to expect from a man who titled his band's seventh album Dear God, I Hate Myself And I Want to Die but, years later, made an open plea to his fans to give him reasons to continue living.

“Lately, I've been thinking about the future,” Stewart begins. He pauses and laughs to himself. “Well, here's revealing too much, but here goes – I've been really on the ropes with myself about whether I can continue to do this to myself. But, that feels like a symptom of depression as much as anything else – a false emotion only felt by a part of my brain. So, I'm of two minds, really.

“A part of my brain says to me, 'You have to stop doing this or you are going to die,' while the other part kind of goes, 'No, this is just a chemical imbalance, you have to push through this and keep going.' I'm very much forcing myself to move forward as I would on any other work day – but there's a doubt in there that has never existed before, as far as I can tell. Which I very, very, very much want to have go away.

“I don't know if that's anxiety or because this year has been so difficult,” the frontman reveals slowly. “It's been quite a difficult year for Xiu Xiu in terms of a lot of interpersonal problems. Perhaps my subconscious is just completely full and just doesn't want to deal with any more bullshit. That it's time for me to just find a cab somewhere and just stop thinking about all this shit.

“But, aside from that – potentially completely false – need to escape this band,” he chuckles, “the plan is still pretty much the same as it always has been; to try and do our best all the time and to continue to challenge ourselves in how we approach things.”

Xiu Xiu will be playing the following shows:

Sunday 14 October - This Is Nowhere, Perth WA
Wednesday 17 October - GoodGod, Sydney NSW
Thursday 18 October - Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane QLD
Friday 19 October - Gasometer, Melbourne VIC