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July 5th, 2008
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White trash European blues

Arno defies the marketing trends and keeps his rough edge
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By James Scanlon
For The Prague Post
April 16th, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Arno has become a triple threat as a rock star, composer and actor.
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Arno


When: Friday, April 18, at 7:30
Where: Palác Akropolis
Tickets: 300-350 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue
With a rough, husky voice that often sounds like a rusty old exhaust pipe about to fall off the back of a Trabant, Arno Hintjens is very much a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy. Born in 1949 in Ostende, the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, Arno is the ultimate anti-rock hero. Not one for grooming, he’s basically an untamed rock ’n’ roll hound dog on the trail of good old-fashioned American blues.
Reminiscent of Tom Waits in his darkest moments, Arno uses his voice like an instrument, albeit one that’s been battered by years of alcohol and nicotine intake. Although he admits to having recently given up smoking, he’s not ready to let go of the pleasures of booze.
“I can’t wait to have a glass of good French red wine tonight,” he enthuses over the phone from Paris. “The thought is driving me crazy!”
This is what happens when you’ve been on the road for nearly 18 months of nonstop touring.
“It means I don’t have to clean my house,” Arno says. “I’m in trouble with my cleaning lady, because she is now out of work — I’m never home. But I think it’s very positive, because the grilled chicken is flying into my mouth. I don’t have to cook it.”
Averse to talking about himself and being psychoanalyzed by journalists, Arno is of the opinion that, “There is no rock ’n’ roll anymore — it’s just marketing. I’m just a musician, and I’m free to do whatever I like.”
As a youngster, Arno set out to broaden his horizons by visiting places like Kathmandu, the Greek islands and the United States. But ultimately he concluded that his own culture reigned supreme. “I remember at the end of the 1970s, I was in the States and I thought, my European culture is bigger than the States,” he says.
Although undeniably influenced by the likes of Willie Dixon, Rufus Thomas and Sonny Boy Williamson, all of whom he has covered, Arno was also drawn to talent closer to home, such as Jaques Brel and Serge Gainsbourg. He joined his first band, Freckle Face, in 1970 before forming a duo with Paul Decoutere as Tjens-Couter. They enjoyed some success, but generally got used to leaving the stage to the sound of their own footsteps.
Things picked up with Arno’s 1980s band T C Matic, named after the Serbian surrealist poet Dušan Matić, whom Arno admired simply because “he was very realistic.” Though that band drew mostly on European influences, traces of Captain Beefheart and Gang of Four weren’t too difficult to find.
Since opting for a solo career in 1988, Arno has continued to lay down his woes about women and sour relationships with some very inspiring albums, sung in both English and French. Critics often cite his Nashville-recorded 1993 album Idiots Savants as his best effort, but the more recent Jus de Box isn’t far from snapping at its heels. Pouring out his troubles again, Arno reaches even greater depths of despair with songs like “Red Lipstick,” “From Zero To Hero” and “Help Me Mary.” Yet he still manages to slide in a thick wedge of ironic humor.
“Maybe it was a bad period for me,” he confides. “But I still think this record is a laugh and a cry. I don’t take myself so seriously. I’m just a flop-star; I’m not so perfect. I’m just lucky, because I don’t have to work.”
Maybe not, but along with recording and touring, he’s kept busy making movie soundtracks, and even tried his hand at acting. He wrote his first soundtrack for the Belgian flick Concerto for a Man Alone in 1978, and has since gone on to record a total of 35 soundtracks. In 1995, he sang the Flemish version of the main tracks for Disney’s Toy Story.
As an actor, Arno is best known for playing a homosexual swimming instructor in Jan Bucquoy’s 1996 film Camping Cosmos. And he’s just recently completed a part in a new French movie called I Always Wanted To Be A Gangster.
“I don’t know why they chose me as an actor,” he confesses. “Maybe it’s because of my smell,” he says, laughing uncontrollably before adding, “I do it because there’s a lot of money in it for me.”
The last time Arno performed in Prague was five years ago. “I can’t quite remember where, but it was near some open market space,” he says. “I met a beautiful woman there. I didn’t sleep with her. She invited me to a restaurant, and I paid.” Again, he laughs uncontrollably.
Arno is bringing a four-piece band with him to Prague, but isn’t giving away any details about his set list. “I always do it 30 minutes before I go onstage,” he admits. His sets typically last for two hours and cover both old and new materials. Expect some TC Matic songs thrown in for good measure.

James Scanlon can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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