As part of our Artist of the Month celebrations, we always try to deliver an interview. The ever enthralling WE SHOW UP ON RADAR is our September Artist of the Month, so back when it was still sunny (remember those days? No, me neither), I managed to grab the delightful Andy Wright for an orange juice and a chat.
Maddie: How did WE SHOW UP ON RADAR get started?
Andy Wright: Hmm that’s tricky…I think I started it myself. I just wrote a song and went ‘ta daa’, it’s WE SHOW UP ON RADAR.
M: And you liked it so carried on?
AW: Well I’m not sure I liked it. It was necessary, a good thing to do. I guess I’ve been doing it quite a while. I’ve been writing songs for about 15 years. I mean, the first ten years, they were all appalling songs! Just terrible. But then I finally got to a level which was virtually acceptable.
M: Your music’s been described as ‘grown up nursery rhymes’. Is this a deliberate thing you go for?
AW: I’m not sure if they’re nursery rhymes or not, they’re just little things that I find significance in. Like having a little wander up to the castle could become a little fairy tale-ish I suppose. I don’t do anything exciting see. I have to make it seem a bit more fascinating than it really is.
M: Is there any particular writing process you go through?
AW: It normally starts with a nice little lyric. The melodies are easy, not easy for me to create –I’m no Mozart or summit- but they’re quite simple. As long as it’s got a nice lyrical flow to it…like hip-hop. Whimsical fairy tale Hip Hop. That’ll be my next album and it’ll be lovely. But yeah, it normally starts with a lyric, and that’s often inspired by someone else. This album’s got stuff from by Charles Bukowski and lots of poetry and stuff I’ve read in the past. I’ll take a lyric, play around with it and go off on one.
M: Your debut came out on September Tenth. What can we expect from ‘Sadness Defeated’?
AW: Oooh…more of that general fairy tale whimsy stuff! Maybe a death metal track at the end to throw people off. Actually, there is a track that goes a bit heavy at the end. I got my friend Joe in with his electric guitar and we decided to play really loud at the end of the song. Takes you from fairy tale whimsy right through to death metal.
M: You’re often described as multi-instrumentalist. Did you play most of the instruments on your new album?
AW: For this album it was a weird process. I started with something I thought was finished basically. I played everything, ukulele, guitars, keyboards-anything I could get my hands on – and recorded it. I programmed the string parts and stuff like that though. Then Jason Boshoff, a really amazing producer who’s worked with bands like Elbow, Groove Armada and other great people, approached me and was like ‘It’ll be great when it’s finished’. I thought it was finished! So we got back into the studio to do all the real-live instruments. Miles and Rob from CAPTAIN DANGEROUS and MANIERE DES BOHEMIENS arranged the strings properly for me so many people have been involved in making the album. And it’s all local too. Except for Jason. I think he’s from South Africa.
M: The Notts Scene is really kicking off at the moment. What are your thoughts on the scene?
AW: Totally amazing. I’m not sure if the quality of music being made has changed, it’s just getting nationally noticed more, especially with DOG IS DEAD and JAKE BUGG. So much great stuff out there, GEORGIE ROSE is really making a name for herself too. It’s nice that it’s finally getting some recognition.
M: Couldn’t agree more! If you could collaborate with any Nottinghamshire artist, who would it be?
AW: SLEAFORD MODS. Definitely. I’m pretty sure he’s the voice of my inner monologue anyway. He’s an angry fellow, but that would be perfect for me. He makes me laugh and go ‘yeah, I completely see where he’s coming from’. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not…
M: You seem to be well known for live sets that are comical. Is that something that you deliberately go for?
AW: I think it’s probably more of a defence thing. If I bare my soul on stage, then they might just be like ‘err..it’s alright’, whereas I know I can make people laugh, or chuckle a little bit. They go home with a little smile on their face whether they liked the songs or not. That’s the important bit.
M: A while back you did a small tour of local libraries. How was that in comparison to the ‘normal’ gigging scene?
AW: Well I can say I hate libraries now. County Council Libraries at least. I thought it would be nice, a nice place to perform music. But they’re not really music venues. That’s what I found. Also, there are as many drunk people at libraries as there are at somewhere like Rescue Rooms. A bit strange.
M: Sounds it. Gigging highlights? Since I’m guessing it wasn’t the library circuit…
AW: Supporting Bright Eyes at Rock City was amazing. I toured with The Boy Least Likely To which was lovely, supported The National too which was great. I always support people, except for Bright Eyes, when they’re not famous either so you’re all in the same boat. But then they seem to go off on the famous boat and i’m still on the non-famous boat! I’m local ‘till I die, keeping it real.
M: How about disasters? Any absolute nightmares?
AW: Festivals tend not to go so well for me. There’s a guy who just follows me round to gigs and shouts ‘GAY’. It’s happened about four times now, I’m just there on stage like ‘I’m not’. I think it’s my Mum. It’s not nice when people talk through shows either. I used to really hate it when people talked through the shows, and tell old people to shut the fuck up. I was just a bit rude. I’ve come to understand that people want to have a little chat now, it’s not a problem. More people actually seem to want to hear my music now which is nice.
Shall we go for an ice cream?
M: Yes.
WE SHOW UP ON RADAR’s album ‘Sadness Defeated’ is available HERE. And for anyone that’s really curious, Andy had mint chocolate chip ice cream whilst I opted for white chocolate with strawberries.
Yours in Love of New Music,
Maddie Hammond X
#spreadthelove
