|
|
 |
|
Andy White
 Irish-born singer-songwriter Andy White has been recording for over 20 years and in that time has released eight solo albums, two compilations and a live record, as well as also worked with the likes of Tim Finn and Peter Gabriel.
Now living in Melbourne, White is about to hit town to celebrate the release of his latest album, 'Garageband' - recorded, at first, at his home, using the Apple audio program of the same name. The rest of the album was recorded in various places; over the space of a year. There were two days spent in London, at Real World Studios, in a session produced by long-term friend John Leckie - best known for his work on Radiohead's 'The Bends' - followed by a trip back to Melbourne to record at Laundry Goat, before the album was finally mixed by Leckie in Italy.
"It's just luck really," chuckles White. "A lot of my life and musical career is luck and coincidence and trying to find what the best vibe is and following it. It's not really planned out or logical, but it kind of worked with this record. You can never tell what's going to happen, or if something is going to come out at all."
In fact, the record almost didn't make it out in its current form. White presented two sets of songs to Leckie: the tracks he'd written and recorded at home in ten days and a collection of tracks co-written over a number of years with Gabriel, the Finn brothers, Christine Anu and Angela McCluskey. "Instantly, he chose the Melbourne ones," White says. "He was really excited about that."
The other tracks may still be recorded, though White notes it's a case of being about to "Find a story for each record.
"In the UK, that's what you're trying to do - make every record different," he explains. "But in some countries, people would prefer you to always do the same record and you can hear it in artists' records where they just write the same album over and over. In England and Ireland, everything is so changeable all the time and competitive."
'Garageband' is very much an album of its surroundings, he adds. "I reread [Jack Kerouac's] 'On The Road' before I wrote it. It's not a 'beat record' but it has that 'first thought is the best thought' kind of idea behind it. I'd spent a lot of time co-writing, where you have to work really hard on words and make sure they're exactly what both people are going to be happy with. This is the opposite of that one - I took the time with the instruments and putting all the musical ideas down.
The songs on the album discuss varying topics, from White's disappointment at the Australian media missing the point of Live 8 and presenting it as a celebrity event, to global warming, to "Tiny things like being given a number by a girl who appears to be more interested in another girl.
"There are many, many variations of that on the record," White muses. "It's just full of that time that I was living. The music, I always think, has the Irish soul and passion and if you can ally that with great words about relationships or social stuff, then that's what it's really all about. That's what I'm trying to do."
While he notes that his work has always had an element of duality, White comments that the element of social concern has always been a big part of his work, as a result of his upbringing in the volatile atmosphere of Belfast in the '60s and '70s. "That's one of the reasons I came here," he laughs, "I didn't want to think about it anymore! I'd had enough of thinking about terrorism and then I moved to a country where the leader is trying to keep everybody on their toes about terrorism all the time. I find it astonishing."
However, he adds, he also sees hope in the current situation. "It feels at the moment like the last days of [Margaret] Thatcher, where she went insane and imploded. I'm sure it's the same thing - when you're too corrupt and you've had power for too long, it just falls apart in the end. It's very Shakespearean."
Andy White plays at the Garden Of Unearthly Delights for
the Fringe Festival on Wed
7 March. 'Garageband' is out now through MGM
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
