Arj Barker will fight anyone who doesn’t like Radiohead

Posted on January 27th, 2006.

Our journalist from down under, Scott McLennan, handed some uncut interviews over, soon to be published in one of Australia’s magazines. One of them is an interview with comedian Arj Barker. When asked if he’s a Radiohead fan he said:

“Oh yeah, they’re my fucking favourite,” Arj enthused. “I’ve seen them five times in concert and I’ve never got to meet them or hang out, but that doesn’t matter. Just because you like their music doesn’t mean you have to be buddies with them, but it would be cool I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever really met many famous rock stars, but I’m friends with Primus and they’re nice guys. If I ever ran into Thom Yorke though I’d probably be a little star-struck, because I just think that band fucking rules and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t think so.”

Another interview was with pianist Christopher O’Riley. The whole thing is available below.

Christopher O’Riley
by Scott McLennan
You could say that Los Angeles pianist Christopher O’Riley is a bit of a Radiohead fan. Not only does he own elusive early Radiohead rarities such as Drill and voraciously lap up internet leaks of unreleased material, but he even met his fiancé Michelle on the popular Radiohead fan forum . Then there is the small case of his two albums Hold Me To This and True Love Waits, which find the gifted musician rearranging the output of the acclaimed Oxford quintet for classical piano.
O’Riley’s performance of Radiohead songs originally began as a personal hobby that saw him posting early versions on the internet for like-minded fans. His subsequent Radiohead recitals on his US classical radio show drew widespread response.
“It was a funny thing about playing them to a classical audience,” O’Riley noted. “People who didn’t know Radiohead would send emails asking, ‘who is this Mr Head and where can I buy his beautiful music?’.”
Spurred on by positive feedback, O’Riley released his first collection of Radiohead compositions, True Love Waits, in 2003. A chat to Radiohead bass player Colin Greenwood and songwriter Thom Yorke backstage at one of their shows proved the band were intrigued by what O’Riley was doing with their songs.
“We were keen on getting something into print when we first put out True Love Waits,” O’Riley notes of the positive feedback, “but it’s the last thing a band like Radiohead would do. I was pleased that Colin and Thom said some very nice things but I can’t expect anything more than that.”
O’Riley first became enraptured by Radiohead when he heard their 1997 opus OK Computer.
“As soon as I heard OK Computer I just started collecting their back catalogue, buying Japanese versions for extra tracks then moving onto the unreleased stuff,” O’Riley explains. “I was absolutely insane. I’ve actually recorded two songs – Lift and Good Morning Mr Magpie - which I haven’t been able to release, because they’ve never been officially released by Radiohead. I was shocked when I sent my demos to Radiohead management and they said, ‘thank you for keeping us informed, but two of these songs can’t appear on the record’. They’re good pieces though and I’ll probably end up playing them in Adelaide.”
On the back of his Radiohead albums O’Riley’s reputation spread swiftly through the Radiohead fan community, with the pianist enduring a surreal taste of fame in Italy.
“I’ve had Radiohead fans in Sicily wanting me to sign real Radiohead ticket stubs,” O’Riley recalled. “They’re saying, ‘sign this’ and I’ve looked down and seen [Radiohead drummer] Phil Selway’s signature. I appreciate when they do something like that but I could never sign it!”
Christopher O’Riley’s career stretches far beyond just his Radiohead albums, with the gifted musician having worked with the New York Philharmonic, played with James Galway and performed at the funeral of Andy Warhol.
“I knew Andy Warhol for a bit,” O’Riley explained. “A friend of mine is an art collector in New York City who used to pal around with Andy at the auctions. Stuart has lots of musical instruments in his apartment and 40 of us would gather and play chamber music in this Addams Family setting. Andy started coming to those things and put me in Interview magazine. I attended his birthday dinner about a month before he died and when Stuart put the music together for the funeral I played some Mozart and Ravel.”
Warhol’s links to rock acts such as The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed and David Bowie, make his interest in classical music all the more interesting.
“He liked the sexiness of it,” O’Riley outlined. “He really thought it was cool to watch. If it was music designed to be played in a room as opposed to a concert hall then it had a resonance, but per se he had no interest in classical music whatsoever.
“But he’d be like ‘oh yeah, that band’s got some really cute kids in it and they look great,” O’Riley added with a fine Warhol accent.
With his classical recreation of Elliott Smith songs now available and Nick Drake pinpointed as his next project, O’Riley acknowledged the fact that some critics downplay his abilities by labelling him a cover artist.
“I think that it’s basically specifically in rock music that if you play someone else’s music it’s a cover band,” O’Riley suggested. “Even jazz artists could make their names playing other people’s music constantly and I don’t think they were ever called a cover band. This is the type of playing I do naturally - I play music because I enjoy the idea first and foremost.
“The Radiohead and Elliott Smith pieces I’ve done are the hardest technical pieces I play,” O’Riley added. “I know what it’s like to play Beethoven and Rachmaninov, but after practicing eight to 10 hours a day it feels like I’ve been weightlifting with my fingers.
“Radiohead’s a real workout.”