The Opposition

* Below are the answers to questions that some fans from the mailinglist have asked Mark Long. He has promised to answer them all in time but he will sent his answers 1 by 1 in order to save precious time and I will put them on the site when they arrive. enjoy! Rients

* last updated 28-06-2003

1. When will the new cd be released?
MARK LONG: A very good question. We have been working on a new Opposition album for a few years. (not full time) Marcus has a studio production company in Paris called mrs jones and they are involved in a number of projects. I have a small studio at home and I have a 4 year old daughter called Kate, so I decided to take some time off and just be at home with her, but over the last few years I've been going over to Paris and recording songs, ideas and guitarbits with Marcus and Jean-Daniel (the drummer) I then come back to London and Marcus and JD work night and day making them into Opposition songs. We have recorded a number of songs, I have no idea how many but I should imagine 20-30 songs in some form, not all complete. I think we have finally put 10 or so songs together and we are at this moment working on a cover. The idea is to release it later in the year, autumn, and a working title is BLINDER. The mixing is finished, I can say it isnt as low key as the last 2 albums, it has lots of energy and Marcus and JD have put so much work into it, it will be great to have something new out.

2. When will the old Opposition albums be re-released on cd?
MARK LONG: Well I was very pleased that Breaking The Silence was released on cd on Rients' label Red Sun Records, a big thanks for that and I think we were all a little suprised by the interest, I personally would love to hear Intimacy on cd as it is one of the albums I really love. I remember lots of creative energy, lots of arguments, lots of ideas from Kenny Jones, the bass is very important on this album and Marcus had so many ideas. Sometimes we had to sort of pull him back, also I think a lot of the songs had been played live which sort of hardend them up, I remember late nights in a studio in central London, coming up for air at dawn, sleeping during the day and going back underground at night. So at the moment we have no plans to re-release Intimacy but I hope we do in the future.

3. Will there be any live gigs in Holland?
MARK LONG: Ah, another good question which I'm not sure how to answer. If when we get the new album released, if there's interest in us playing live and if we can get it together. We loved playing live, I loved playing live, although I found it a nerve wrecking experience, not being on stage, I could relax in a strange sort of way when I finally got on the stage, but the build up was always very difficult. I think the Opposition were a very powerfull live band, as a 3 piece we could make a huge powerfull loud sound, lots of passion and drive pushing each other a little further. If we do get back together as a live band we will play Holland.

4. Do you know something about other reprints of Opposition albums. What about Intimacy & Promises?
MARK LONG: I think the only album that hasn't been out on cd is Intimacy, and as I said earlier I'm hoping that some time in the near future that will be out on cd. All the rest have been available. I think we may look in the future to bringing out all the albums on cd in a kind of limited edition format, perhaps with extra tracks etc.

5. All this time without an album. How do you make ends meet?
MARK LONG: Well Marcus has the studio and production company in Paris that he runs with JD called mrs jones and I've been working with Terry Devine King on media music ie t.v etc. Also I've worked on a couple of albums by other artists and as I don't spend any money I get by.

6. Are you doing any music apart from the Opposition and what is available of possible production?
MARK LONG: I've just completed my first solo project, which I recorded at home. It's very basic, kind of note book, in my head I imagined somebody sitting in the room while I wrote so the songs are in a very pure form. And because they feel very personal I think I've been a little reluctant to play them to anyone. But at the moment I'm getting a cover together and see if anyones interested in releasing it in such a basic form. You can even hear my chair creaking on one song and the phone ringing in the background on another.

7. Why is the band so silent after the long tours in the 80's?
MARK LONG: The 90's kind of slipped by, Blue Alice Blue came out in 1990 and War Begins At Home in 1994. We played a gig in Poland I think between those albums and we did a small tour of France when War Begins At Home was released. In fact we did a couple of very small acoustic gigs as well. The tour got cut short because my father was very ill at the time so I came back to England to be with him and Marcus sorted out the mess of cancelled gigs etc. (thank you). It took me a while to get over the death of my father... I dont think I touched the guitar in over a year. I just sat on the sofa and watched tv. Meanwhile in Paris Marcus got the studio up and running and after some time I sent him a couple of things I was writing and he played around with them until he had written a couple of songs. So i went over to Paris and added some vocals and a new Opposition album had started. I don't remember us sitting down and deciding to start a new album, it just kind of evolved, and I don't ever remember us sitting down and deciding not to play live. So who knows? Marcus has got together some great players for this album, so it would be interesting to see what would happen live.

8. What part do you have in the Opposition musically wise and "politically" wise?
MARK LONG: Ah, thats a difficult question to answer (again). I think that has changed over the years, different line ups etc. the original Opposition, me, Marcus and Ralph, we would sit in our basement jamming and trying ideas. I would come with some lyrics or some chords, Marcus would play a bass line he had in his head and Ralph would try to get us to sound like the Police (only joking Ralph!) Me and Marcus would then try to make the song as unpoppy as we could, no, we were both interested in sounds and things that sounded a little different. When we got to record, Kenny Jones was added to that mix and we would all throw our ideas in (and we would shout a lot) I always wrote the lyrics and the music was us the Opposition. SO was me and Marcus as a writting team. We sat in Marcus' front room in the Elephant and Castle with a 4 track tape machine where we wrote some songs which grew and grew until we found ourselves with a 7 piece band and 10 road crew touring the USA watching ourselves on mtv. In the American charts etc. etc. (an interesting couple of years!) We then went back to the Opposition and wrote Blue Alice Blue and War Begins At Home (both i think studio albums) With the new album I've written the lyrics and some of the vocal melody and Marcus and JD the music and vocal melody and they have produced and mixed it. So each album has a different dynamic but I think that keeps things interesting for all of us. We aren't great at planning or meetings etc. although in the past I remember us sitting in meeting after meeting in EMI or publishers offices or CHARISMAS office in Wardour Street wanting to get back to the rehersal room so we could clear our heads and make some noise.

9. No regrets at not being more famous? You should deserve a career such as the Police had?
MARK LONG: Ha ha, you're not Ralph are you? Ralph really wanted us to be rich and famous, like the Police. I'm not sure we would have all survived, I'm not sure I could cope with all those houses, where do you put your fav. albums? With SO we had a taste, lots of money flying around, lots of attention from the press and record companies and there are things about that kind of success which are, unlimited recording budget, money, wealth, power. I think we were a little uncomfortable with it and giving up so much of ourself. Also we hate giving up controll of the music, that has always been very important to both of us. We've sat for hours in meetings trying to keep hold of "artistic controll". (But a house by the sea would be nice) The other thing to think about is that we've made an okay living doing what we love, playing/making music, making albums, having people come to our gigs, making videos (well maybe not), travelling around the world, etc. etc. I'm not complaining, I've been very lucky.

10. What's your favorite track off each LP?
MARK LONG: I'm trying to avoid saying thats a difficult question again. I'm going to have to go downstairs and get my copies of the albums and have a look. (pause...) Ok I don't seem to have a copy of Blue Alice Blue. From Breaking The Silence; Very Little Glory, because it was the first song we worked on, and I loved playing this song live. But I also like Black & White from this album, again I loved playing this live. I remember playing this at a Reading Festival and the sound was huge (loud) on stage and it seemed to fly off the stage across the fields. I also think that the song Breaking The Silence still sounds really good, it was so well recorded. (by Kenny Jones). Intimacy; I like this album, if I had to choose one, Lifes Blood . Promises; This album left me feeling a little incomplete, I think because we had been touring in Europe and we had just come back from an American tour, we didn't have time to write or think about it so we had lots of ideas flying off in all directions. I Dream In Colour and Don't Forget To Leave The light On In The Hall. Empire Days; We had more time with this album, Kenny Jones and John Porter worked on this album with us, I love the song Empire Days, that track features some Syrian musicians who sat up all night drinking something very strange. Kenny recorded them on his walkman , we were on a tour of Algeria, yes 2 or 3 gigs in algeria, with lots of musicians from around the world. I'm not sure why, I dont think we ever asked why or is this good for our career, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Blue Alice Blue; A different Oppos, I really like this album even though I haven't got a copy. War Begins At Home; Hold Me Tonight, I think Marcus' production on this song is perfect. My list may be different next week but today these are my favourite songs.

11. Do you have any tour plans?
MARK LONG: Ah, well the band on the new album sound really powerfull, and personally I would love to hear them play some of the old songs just to see what would happen, and if we did that we might as well play them in front of an audience but I can't answer that question at the moment. I suppose a lot depends on what happens to the new album. I think one of the strenghts of the Oppos as a live band was that each night was different, we never had a typed set list, we would sit on the floor of the dressing room with bits of paper 10 minutes before we went on writing a set list, and a three piece is a very mobile unit. We could change the mood very easily, if we wanted the middle section to go on it was easy we would just follow each other.

12. Where do you live in Paris?
MARK LONG: Marcus and family live in Paris, I live with my family in South London.

13. What are your favorite other bands?
MARK LONG: Phew, the only 2 artists that me and Marcus both like are The Blue Nile and Joni Mitchell. We argue about all the rest, I once threw a cassette out of a tourbus window because I couln't listen to the crap he was playing and he then produced another one from his bag. I listen to lots of music, I like bands first albums, fresh new stuff, Ii have a mate Andy who plays harmonica on some of my solo stuff, he writes for T.V. and he is always buying new stuff of which he gives me lists. Vic Chesnutt, Damien Rice, Lambchop, I'm just listening to the new Radiohead album. Last year I loved the Turin Brakes album. I buy all the music mags in Britain and collect the free cd's. Lots and lots of new stuff. I don't listen to dance music although I loved the Streets album. I bought a Led Zeppelin collection the other day. I suppose I like songs, voices and lyrics.

14. What's in the car cd player right now or cd player at home?
MARK LONG: I played a Jimi Hendrix album to my 4 year old daughter in the car the other day. I think she liked it....

15. If you played a final Opposition gig and you could only play three tracks which would you do?
MARK LONG: Three songs? That's a bit unfair, Very Little Glory, because it was our first song. Black & White because I always love it when the bass pedals come in and a new song...

16. What's your favorite place to get away to?
MARK LONG: To relax ... the studio and Croyde Bay in North Devon. I went there as a child with my parents and grandparents and now the new generation is playing on the same beach. In fact this time last week (Sunday) I was walking by the sea at Croyde...