Do you regret that campaign?
I wouldn't say that it was a mistake, I think at the end of the day the music stands up. It was a strange situation where we did feel the music was a bit overshadowed but I think that's the only time where that's happened.
Over the last 20 years there's been numerous line-up changes. How do you go about recruiting new members?
It's been different every time but generally it's more of a word of mouth kinda thing. There have been times where we've put out adverts and auditioned people, but in all the years I think that's happened about twice. Usually, although we have auditioned people, it's tended to be friends of friends, people who are interested in doing it or we've just asked people 'So and so is leaving, do you fancy a shot?' It always seem like quite a natural, organic process.
How has it affected the band creatively?
I think it's probably helped the group survive. It's always sad when people have to leave. Being on tour, being in the studio, it's quite intimate and you build up relationships with people - then suddenly they're gone. But at the same time their replacement comes in - it's someone who has a new enthusiasm and new and different influences and it's someone who's determined to prove they're as good, or better, then the person they've replaced. Every line up we've had is always competing with previous line ups, and I think it moves the band on. I didn't really plan it but I don't think it's done The Wedding Present any harm.
Many bands struggle to keeping going for even 2 years, how do you think you've kept The Wedding Present together for over 20?
Basically I think I'm obsessed with it! And I work really hard at it. Some people do think it's a bit weird, but I don't really do anything else. Other people I'm working with are in the group, or involved with it. I don't have a lot a friends outside the band so yeah I think I am slightly obsessed with it. Bands that have lasted usually have someone behind them who is driven. Driven to....well...obsession.
On a practical point we were lucky signing to RCA when we did (1989) when major labels were still paying bands stupidly big advances, I think the unrecouped balance outstanding at RCA is still in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. That kind of investment allowed me to do things, like buy a house without a mortgage. That's meant that during the leaner times I've had some security, I didn't have to think about getting another job to pay the rent.
The Wedding Present have always been very much a live band – you seem to have almost been touring constantly for the past 20 years. How’s that been?
On the surface it seems straight forward, you travel the world playing your songs to people and get paid for it – it's all great fun. But I think people do become disenchanted. Some of the line up changes we've had over the years are because people have been sick of touring, of being away from home and their families for long periods of time. The novelty of touring America or Europe, once you've done it once or twice, does wear off - and it is tiring and hard work. But I wouldn't miss it for the world – I love touring and I feel privileged that I can travel to all these places and get paid for it. It's not always cost effective touring, and I think we play lots of place where, financially speaking, we really shouldn't, but we enjoy doing it.
How does the songwriting process work within the band?
What tend to happen is that I'll write a song, which from my point of views means the something you can sing and play on guitar – it has lyrics, chords and melody. Then the rest of the band arrange that track, the bass player will add the bass, the drummer the drums etc. it is, to a certain extent, a collaboration, but I'd say I'm the chief songwriter. It is different for different songs, sometimes I've written all the parts, especially with Cinerama (Gedge's band from 1998 – 2004) where I wrote all the singles. And there have been times when I've had less input and other people have contributed more. Every song is different, to be honest.
The new single is coming out as a download only - what opportunities and difficulties do you think the internet offer to bands and labels?
It's a weird situation, I haven't got my head round it and I certainly don't profess to have any solutions. There’s definitely less money to be made by labels and artists. That's partly because of illegal downloading of music and people burning their mates CDs I suppose we used to tape music illegally off LPs, so I guess we can't complain that much but I think it's becoming more and more of a struggle for artists to make any money. I'm from a previous generation, I think it's gonna take a whole new mindset to come up to a solution to this problem. People are trying new ideas like Prince (he gave his new album away free with a British newspaper) and Radiohead (who had a honest box type approach letting people pay what they wanted to download them album, anything from 1 penny upwards) but they are major artists who can try that sort of thing. And I guess it's great for bands starting out, with MySpace and all that it's a good way to get your name around. For us, well it's weird it all changes so quickly. Our last single came out on CD, 7” and DVD, this new one, well 6 months ago it was gonna come out on 7” and download but over the course of the last few months that's changed and now it's just coming out as a download. Most shops won't even stock singles anymore so you can't justify the expense on pressing, mastering, printing sleeves and the other costs of doing a 7” single. Which I think is sad because to me pop music is the 7” single, there's something quite romantic about it. There's not the same romance associated with downloading an MP3 onto your computer.
