Dirk Polak: The death of a close friend (the film director Theo van Gogh) was the main reason for a restart.

        What kind of personal artistic needs led you to make music with this project again, after remaining in silence for about 20 years? I know that your sentimental expression didn't stop all these years, you make sculptures, paintings, and of course the fascinating paintings with Mecano. How do you explain that musical and lyrical expression stopped while the other forms flourished?

        Many legendary post punk / new wave bands reunited and played some concerts or even made a new album during the last few years. Is there a mutual reason for this phenomenon?

Dirk Polak: No there is not a mutual reason. I even prefer to play the new material, but since we are obliged to our fans, we have to play old stuff.

       What would you answer if someone accused you of reviving Mecano just for economic reasons?

        The conclusion that someone could easily draw from the half inch universe compilation, is the fast progress in your music. Angular and choppy guitar playing gave its place in a more sophisticated and experimental way of creating. What kind of changes contributed to such an evolution?

       Have you ever thought which could possibly be the imaginary sound of Mecano, if they weren't disbanded in 1983?

        In days of "Autoportrait" and of the numerous landmarking ep's, many bands were making strict and clear political statements in their songs. Apart from a mass of punk bands, the Clash, Gang of Four, Au Pairs, were inspired by the current political situation. Mecano, in my opinion, symbolised the idealistic aspect either of a social or a personal revolution, the romanticism in reacting. Nowadays, this kind of motivation is very hard to find in rock music. Do you believe that people are more realistic now, or political and social context had much more urgency back then?

Dirk Polak: People are more realistic nowadays but only became more lonely as individual in society. The political and social contexts became even more urgent than ever!

        Many songs created by Mecano, can be described as elegant manifests against sentimental inertia and human tendency to injustice or exploitation of others. Did you ever think of these songs as hopeful motivations in order to improve life or do they include irony for an unchangeable situation? Do you believe that the problems been criticized will ever be solved?

Dirk Polak: The problems being criticized never will be solved completely, that's the motivation to create art. I hope there will be hopeful motivations to improve live, although sometimes some mild in any is necessary to balance one and other.

          In your lyrics you use many meaningful words, creating a density of somehow complicated pictures. They seem to be written in a literary way, like a procession of enforcing a particular meaning. That was for sure revolutionary in days of post punk music. How did the audience react at first to this originality? I'm sure that many just saw you as a group blindly dedicated to the left field.

Dirk Polak: Some people admired it and hailed it as a substantial part of our music and sure many people just saw us as a group of blindly dedicated to the left field. But if I read then well, the mild irony is taking parts.

         Well in some way, post – punk is a matter of decentralization. I mean, geographically, cities like Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh and countries like France and Australia challenged the hegemony of large cities and countries. Perhaps the main characteristic of some bands not coming from motherlands of post punk is authenticity. One could bring in mind Mecano, the Birthday Party, Tuxedomoon, Nits. In your opinion, is this connected to cultural and social differences, or in essence, the story of great music is the story of outsiders, in every sense?  

       That's a quite famous and pure punk story : " I was listening to country music but then someday a friend of mine put a Ramones record to play and I said, 'what the hell is this?' and my life went totally different ." Do you have your own similar story?

Dirk Polak: My life never changed by shock of musical experience. I was always attached to a wide spectre of music in all its forms.. Although Pere Ubu's first singles can be mentioned as "what the hell is this?" phase.

       'The mutant jasz' is one of my favourites. The dark combination of violin, strong drum beat, threatening vocals, shapes a cold industrial feeling. You were melancholic without being melodramatic. What led so many musicians back then to explore the claustrophobic part of life, and which ideals survived through the years and stand today as place of inspiration for your recent songwriting?

      I was always thinking that "vista", the second Flue album, could be the follow up to "autoportrait". I mean, except the fact that is a truly great record, everything sounds like what Mecano would be if there was a third album at that time. Of course it's Bolten on it, but even Edward Gijsen sounds like you … What happened to that guy? Is there any chance "vista" will be re-released on cd like the first Flue record?

Dirk Polak: After recording Autoportrait, where Cor plays a crucial role, Vista was recorded in the same studio with the wisdom gathered from Autoportrait. Edward worked for tv as an audio technical guy and was a dedicated fan of Mecano. While I recorded the first album, (one and a half) Edward and Cor produced Vista themselves. Small chance Vista will be re recorded, because the masters disappeared.

         You have produced the two first albums of Minimal Compact. How did you feel at that time trying to guide other musicians to express themselves musically?

Dirk Polak: It was a main goal then to help fellow musicians and create a kind of statement of our times. I helped starting Minimal Compact (they lived in my house for a while), produced them and played accordion, extra drums and backing vocals (two songs, lead voc)

      The songs of Mecano were always infused with an essence of nostalgia. With the introduction of the verses by the Puerto Rican poetess Karen Joglar , the new material presented in " those revolutionary days" is reflecting beautifully a burden of nostalgia coupled with a pressing need for a radical change. Mr. Polak can you please talk to us a little bit about your new album and the group nowadays?

Dirk Polak: Listen to your copy. You are the one that finds the right words to describe. I like your questions a lot. You know about details, have clear thoughts, so I trust you.

         Despite the fact that the title of the album provokes and urges by bringing to mind rebellious images, there is an absence of rawness that was dominant in the first two albums. The sound is more elegant, your voice warmer and words seem more straightforward and mature. Maybe that means that you feel the same way?

Dirk Polak:  It's all about maturity and re –discovery. I try to use the things that happened in my life to set the songs and then reflect with its listeners. It gives me a feeling to be sane, when I can express. It makes me rich! Especially when it makes people happy or wiser.

      How do you choose the depiction of the man made of Mecano pieces on your album covers? Why did the beautiful scenery with the grass and the river change to a guillotine within 2 years?

         Are you familiar with the current music scene and bands like Interpol, Editors or even Sigur Ros? Any fresh music that gives you shivers down your spine ?

Dirk Polak: I listened sparsely. Nothing new in my opinion. I get the shivers of old 60's albums I purchased who are forgotten now.. Or never had a proper release/distribution. For instance Karen Dalton, Fred Neil, Collectors, Bergen Whites.

        The movie "Control", picturing the life of Ian Curtis, leader of the legendary Joy Division, is typically the second movie for this band. Many fans dig in all sources of information to learn more and more details about their hidden stories, the relations between the members and the people that surrounded the band. Meanwhile, a lot of bands try to look and sound like the Joy Division. What's that special element that everybody tries to capture and why has this continuous mystery grown even so many time since then?

Dirk Polak:  Idolization is that element people seem to need. For me personal the strongest side of Joy Division is their producer Martin Hannet. Warsaw was average but since Martin Hannet appeared on the scene, the band got that touch that makes them invaluable.

      Is there any space left for musical experimentation in the future? Are we going to enjoy any new territories in the soundscapes of Mecano?

Dirk Polak: Always we are an art movement, so everything is possible. We won't repeat ourselves, new territories will be found.

        Now, in a few days it's the Gagarin concert. I suppose that you will play a lot of your new record, but people asking…Are we going to hear "links" this time?

Dirk Polak: Yes you are going to hear links.

       You've been in Greece for quite some time now…In particular, what scents and images do you associate with the streets of Athens?  What would you keep in your heart with love and what would you throw in the dustbin?

Dirk Polak: The potential keeps me here. I can bring some kind of structure. The only thing I throw in the dustbin is the urge for fashion and the vanity I come across.