A: How different is it, being in the
music industry now, compared to how
it was?
J: Not quite like jumping in the back
of a van and all sleeping amongst the
instruments?
CD: As I said, there’s this Spotify culture
and I can’t see the enthusiasm anymore.
When I was a kid I used to queue up to
buy records.
CD: Not as bad as that, but in America
just last month we had an RV each, you
know, like a campervan that was surreal.
It was completely mental, but it worked.
We all get our own space and that’s the
important thing.
J: I was the same. You knew when the
date was coming out and you went to
buy the record straight away
CD: You got a bus into London and
you waited outside HMV for it to open
and you bought the record. Now,
because it’s so easy to access music
and it’s generally quite free that culture’s
gone. So for me what’s different is the
audience is what’s important now, so
our shop front is the stage. We’re lucky
enough to be able to go to America,
which we’ve just done for six weeks,
and sell out a completely massive
American theatre and then come and do
a sell-out tour here, so that’s our shop
window.
J: Do you still like touring?
CD: Yes, I do enjoy the camaraderie
that you can get within the band; I think
that’s wonderful, I like just discovering
that after all these years. The travelling
bit in between is annoying, but the gigs
are great and it’s quite healthy.
A: What advice would you give to
someone who wants to start a career in
music now?
CD: Just to be extremely focused on
what you want, what your end goal is,
and to head towards it with abandon,
and be confident even if you’re wrong.
It’s really important to be confident
if you’re wrong, because you’ll build
confidence from doing that and it’s a very
hungry game and, it’s diminishing by the
year.
I think if you’re determined enough and
focused enough you can make it work.
A: So did you always have an end goal
in sight?
CD: Well, I had a real obnoxious belief
that I was going to be on Top of the
Pops when I was 14, and it happened,
and a belief that I would play Madison
Square Garden, and I did. And I had a
belief that we would play Wembley and
the Albert Hall and we did, so you’ve
got to believe, it’s almost like a religion,
you’ve got to believe in the music and
the writing and – the camaraderie within
the band, the chemical reactions that go
on between personalities to make that
work. It’s like being in a football team.
You’ve got to be collectively heading in
the right direction.
J: What was the process of getting
your first record contract?
CD: We had a manager who was very
determined to get us a record deal
and he got us several and then we
got dropped after about three months
from RCA. We then got signed to
Island and got dropped from there, and
then eventually A&M signed us, and
thankfully, because they were the best
of the bunch at the time and they said
if you don’t make it with the first album
we’ll stick with you. They had Joan
Armatrading, who had had five albums
out and no hits, so I just thought, well,
that’s great. That’s confidence, you
know? We were lucky.
J: And the second album delivered?
CD: Yeah, it delivered, so we were with
them for nine or ten albums, I think. Do
they still exist any more? I’m not sure
that they do. It was a golden period.
Photograph: James Boyes
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