Hugh Cornwell Interview

By Sue 'Rock Chick' Lewis

Photo Credit: (c) Christie Goodwin
 

Former Stranglers front-man Hugh Cornwell (http://www.hughcornwell.com/) hits the road for a series of UK dates from April 6th 2011.

Sue and Nicki caught up with Hugh Cornwell towards the end of his US and Canadian tour in Austin, Texas.

Hugh Cornwell’s nationwide UK tour kicks off on April 6^th at the Portsmouth South Parade Pier. Very special guest at all shows is The Boys From Brazil. For a full listing of Hugh’s UK tour dates, please visit www.hughcornwell.com.

Hi Hugh you’re coming to the end of your tour of the US and Canada which started on the 3rd March in Las Vegas and finishes in Long Beach, California on the 27th March – how’s it going?

Yes good thanks, but a lot of miles - I think 7000 miles – quite bruising! Everything’s being going good – just done 3 days of snow covered plains across Canada, I’ve never done that before, lots of different types of weather – some sunshine – beautiful here in Texas there’s lots of sunshine and I’ve just been for a swim. Going on to Dallas later, then Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday and then back to California on Sunday night

Then you’re heading back here to commence a Nationwide Spring tour of the UK kicking off in Portsmouth, on South Parade Pier on April 6th in which you will be performing your solo album ‘Guilty’ in its entirety plus The Stranglers epic tracks ‘The Raven’, ‘School maam’, ‘Down In The Sewer’, ‘Toiler on the Sea’, ‘Walk on By’ and ‘Feel Like a XXX’. Where did this idea come from and which is your favourite track from ‘Guilty’ and also from The Stranglers epic tracks and why?

Yes, yes that’s right the whole album. It’s a completely different kind of tour – me and my bass player have got to get our heads down and practice some of these tracks. Last year I did a tour playing the whole of Hooverdam album as you hear it and also as it was recorded. We recorded the songs in a certain order and it seemed like a natural way to play songs after that, so we decided to go out and do the whole new album which I’d never done before. The record company said, well you can always play Rattus Norvegicus anyway so why don’t you gen up on the last couple of tracks then you can do your first album and your latest album, and that went down well. Then people thought we were going to do another Stranglers album, are you going to do ‘No More Heroes’ next or whatever but that seemed too a bit to obvious and I never want to do what’s obvious so my manager suggested a solo album – why don’t you do ‘Guilty’ instead of a Stranglers album and it’s not available anymore so we can try and make it available again. So I thought that’s a good idea and then we thought well what can we do about the Stranglers part of the show what would we do for that and a lot of the fans had said they wanted hear all these tracks and I knew I could play Walk on By and Down In The Sewer. We’ve been playing from Rattus Norvegicus for many years so it was just a matter of picking these other ones that I’ve never played before.

Do you have a particular favourite from the ‘Guilty’ album or the Stranglers tracks?


Well I’m playing a couple from the ‘Guilty’ album in America ‘Black hair, black eyes’ has been a personal favourite and I’ve been playing that for many years as part of my show and I’ve just started been playing ‘One Burning Desire’ which is going down very well in America so that’s good . So looking back I’m relearning the songs now and I’m memorising and remembering them. I forgot how many good songs there are on the album and I’m not sure what I’ll be playing yet. I’ll be playing ‘Hot Head’ which I’ve never done before. There’s a few there I’ve never played before. ‘Toiler on the Sea’ I’ve never played since I left the band. ‘Raven’, I’ve never played that before so it will be fun.

You played ‘Rattus Norvegicus IV’ on the US and Canadian part of the tour but not here - why was the set different over there? Is it because you covered this album on your last UK tour?

Oh, I see yeah well, we thought it would go down well in America as well you don’t know how it’s going to come out – we did it at home first and if it works well we think well why don’t we do that in the States. So it’s quite possible if ‘Guilty’ and the Stranglers epics goes down well in the UK we’ll probably bring it over to the States later in the year.

So we’re your guinea pigs over here? (Laughs) You are also offering a special VIP bonus for 250 fans in the UK where they can choose which encores you play via the website. Was this your idea or was it suggested by your fans.

That was our idea – me and my manager’s idea. I’ve seen other bands with the VIP tickets idea before and people normally give away t-shirts and I thought that’s not very good so I thought I’d do this special album, this is something a bit more special.
 

These VIP fans will also receive an “ultra exclusive” recorded 10-track album entitled ‘Your Covered’ signed by you – of which you say:
"Over the years I've heard certain songs which have stayed with me and will suddenly pop up into my head for no apparent reason. They range from 'Things' - which I heard as a kid - to 'Hear Me Calling Your Name' which I only heard a few years ago for the first time. This selection is by no means comprehensive but is a cross section of influences."

Photo Credit: (c) Christie Goodwin
 

Hugh Cornwell
"You’re Covered!" - Album Track Listing:

"Things" (Bobby Darin)
"She Smiled Sweetly" (Jagger/Richards)
"Message To Pretty" (Arthur Lee)
"His Latest Flame" (Doc Pumus/Mort Shuman)
"The Shrine on the Second Floor" (Heneker/Moore/Norman/Mankowitz)
"Just A Little Too Much" (Johnny Burnette)
"Take A Message To Mary" (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant)
"Hear Me Calling Your Name" (Jack Bruce)
"Full Moon and Empty Arms" (Mossman/Kaye/Rachmaninoff)
"The Way Young Lovers Do" (Van Morrison)

Who do you think of all the above listed, has been the biggest influence on you musically?

It’s just a selection, there were so many decent songs that I heard when I was growing up and they become you in the end and these influences make you what you are. These songs portray what sort of a person I am and what made me what I am. Just like the clothes you wear say something about who you are they give away clues to your character. It’s very much a fingerprint of me.

Who has been the biggest influence or that you have admired the most from all the musicians, artists and bands you have played with either as a solo artist or with The Stranglers, throughout your very long career?

I just feel that what I’ve done is a very small contribution to the world of music, when you come over to American you realise how small your contribution is because it’s such a vast place. They all write their own music. It’s very humbling I find being in America because it puts things in perspective as to your position in the scheme of things. I love coming over to America. Everyone I’ve played with I’ve played with them because I wanted to play with them and I’ve learned something, the people that are well known and the people who are not so well known and I find it’s a growing number of people I’ve played with. Some people say its a disadvantage but I say it’s an advantage cos when you play with It gets a bit staid a bit dull when you play with the same people all the time, that’s why I left The Stranglers. Now I’ve got Clem Burke on drums over here in America, that’s great and he’s got his commitments with Blondie – and I’ve got Chris Bell on drums in the UK, who actually played on ‘Guilty’ in the first place and Steve Lawrence, the bass player and we’ll all be going to Australia after the UK . I’m looking forward to playing with Clem and I’m looking forward to going off and playing with Chris afterwards. It means you’ve constantly got something to look forward to. Music becomes a way of keeping in touch with other people. It means you’ve constantly got something to look forward to and these people become your friends.

What are your plans after this tour?

Well we’re going over to Australia after the UK and the first set will feature my solo classics and Stranglers hits, followed by Rattus Norvegicus IV then I’ve got my first novel coming out in May and I’ve got to start doing some promo stuff for that. I’m also just finishing my second one and I’ve got to do some writing for that and hopefully there will be some festivals in the summer to do, and then I’m planning to come back to the US in October, and so life goes on.

Your latest album ‘Hooverdam’ is available as a high-quality free download in twelve languages from your own website, bringing your music free to the world’s population. What made you do this and was it your idea?


No It wasn’t my idea it was the idea of two young guys from my record company who wanted to bring my music to a wider audience, wanted to attract new people to the music and they suggested we give away an album free and it worked and we’re getting a lot of younger people listening now and they go and see the show live, but I won’t be doing it again though cos I can’t afford to keep doing that (Laughs).
It’s available as a triple-sleeved digipak featuring both CD and live studio performance DVD ‘Blueprint’, in one exclusive package. The album is also issued on vinyl.

Do you plan to do more albums like this?

Well Hooverdam is still available and it will always be as a free download and so I don’t see why I can’t charge for my next one. You get one for free and the next one you’ll pay for.

You also have ‘New Songs for King Kong’, a limited edition “live” double CD and vinyl recorded on the last UK tour, featuring ‘Hooverdam’ and The Stranglers first album ‘Rattus Norvegicus IV’ in their entirety, and is available exclusively from your website, is this the way you are planning to go forward with all your new or re-issued material?

I’m not sure about that, I know it’s available on the website but I’m not sure where it’s going to be available. Oh and by the way we’ve managed to get ‘Guilty’ reprinted so it’s going to be available for when we’re touring in the UK.

Wow, well that’s good because this interview WILL be online in Soundcheck Magazine before your UK tour starts so hopefully some of your new fans will know that they will be able to go and get the album after they’ve seen you play if they like what they hear. So is there anything else you haven’t done so far or would really like to do that you haven’t done so far?

(Laughs) Well I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to do but it’s all down to doing it at the right time and when you’ve got the time. At the moment I’m running with the touring of the States and that’s going well, and I’m running with the writing and enjoying that and I’ve got a new album to do for next year, so it’s just done to time really and there’s not much of that.

Well thank you so much for talking to us Hugh it’s been brilliant. We won’t hold you up any longer cos we know you’ve got to get on your way to Dallas now, so good luck with the tour and everything else you’ve got planned and have a safe journey. Look forward to catching up with you in the UK.

Yes thank you (Sue) and so sorry for the mix up yesterday trying to get hold of me. For sure it would be great to see you at one of the venues in the UK. Thank you very much. Bye bye.

Photo Credit: (c) Christie Goodwin
 

 

 

Sue Lewis