.Sorry about the late posting folks, just didn’t have time to write this any earlier!
This was a wonderful evening with Guy Garvey and Phil Chadwick, the band’s manager.
It took place in a gorgeous temporary structure which looked like something of a cross between a fairground-stand and a circus tent and the inside had been set up to look like a sitting room.
IMHO, this was a more enjoyable night than the one in Manchester. It was less formal and Guy was much more relaxed, probably because he had Phil there with him.
It was obvious that some whiskey had been consumed; Guy was very merry but unfortunately the girl doing the interview was quite hammered which made for some very longwinded and rambling questions!
Anyway, she started off by asking about the early days of the band.
Guy explained that he went to the same school as the others but never really hung out with them. The others already knew each other long before he joined them and even now, after 20 years, he still sometimes feels like the ‘new boy’! In fact, at school, himself and Mark didn’t really like the look of each other at all, as Mark was a ‘Raver’ with a pudding bowl haircut and Guy went for the more ‘Hippie’-look wearing a rainbow coloured poncho. They had exchanged dirty looks on a number of occasions but had never spoken. At that time Guy and a friend of his, Alan Hibberd (who taught him to write lyrics) used to write songs and try them out in the Rec Room at College. Mark, who had been looking for a singer for his band, had heard him there and one day offered him a lift home in his sky-blue VW Beetle. The rest, as they say, is history.
Phil was then asked about how he started out and he told us that, as a kid, himself and this guy called Damon (now known as Badly Drawn Boy) used to work in a recording studio in Manchester (the name of which now escapes me, sorry). Most of the job was just making coffee for bands but if he was working nights and he was on his own, he would secretly sneak into the studio and make remixes, when he was supposed to be minding the phone in reception! He also had the tremendous honour once of walking George Michael’s dog!
He then moved to London to work for Trevor Horne’s ZTT records as an A&R Scout. He became Elbow’s manager (or Soft, as they were called then) by turning up to rehearsals one day with a couple of A&R people whom he had told he was the band’s manager. After rehearsals, as Phil was introducing everybody in the band to the record company people, Mark very deliberately turned to Phil and asked: “and you are…?”
Notwithstanding that, he obviously did become their manager and has been with them since.
They were then asked about the name ‘Elbow’ and the usual reference was made to The Singing Detective and about how sensuous the word ‘elbow’ feels in the mouth when you say it. Guy then told us that actually, the name was eventually picked by just sticking a pin into a whole list of names!
He recounted the story that Phil had been peddling ‘Soft’ to record companies for a while and just couldn’t get anyone to sign them. Phil then suggested changing the name of the band and they were all told to go home and come back the next week with suggestions for a name. However, not only was Guy the only one who had put in the work and come up with a list of suggestions, the others, who hadn’t bothered at all, then proceeded to ridicule everything he had come up with! Guy said he became more and more defensive and quite a bit p*ssed off with them, so eventually he just closed his eyes, stuck a pin in the list and said “Right. We’re called Elbow!”
The interviewer then mentioned the beauty of his lyrics and asked him to tell us some more about where that came from. He told us how, growing up in a large family, language always played a very important part in his life. You always had to shout if you wanted to get yourself heard over the dinner table and then when you did, you’d better had something good to say! He also discovered that being good with words was a great way to get yourself out of all sorts of trouble! He then went on to tell us a number of hilarious stories about his sisters and how his Grandfather, who was a wonderful story teller, used to tell one story in particular at the end of which he would always say; “I just can’t christen it! I just can’t christen it!”
Guy also said that writing lyrics is completely different from writing anything else. It’s not like writing poetry, or writing a novel. You have to keep in mind that ‘lyrics are for song’ and only for song.
He also told us that they had had a song called ‘About Time’ which was supposed to have been the opening track for AITB. The lyrics were about how nothing ever really changes and how this was inspired by what turned out to be the non-event which was the new Millennium. That there had been all this talk about how the world was going to end, all computers were going to crash, things were going to stop working, planes were going to fall out of the sky etc. etc. and then… nothing happened! Nothing changed!
Bryan Glancy was then mentioned and how his passing had such a big influence on the lyrics of the last album. The huge success of TSSK was discussed and Guy said how he had always hated talk of money. That money, to him, was like ‘an unfaithful slave’. When asked what he meant by that he burst out laughing and said “Actually, I have no idea why I said that! I haven’t a clue what that means!”
He did say that, with regards to success, thankfully, his family keep him grounded and also that his friends and the people he hangs out with are still the same people he’s always hung out with.
Of course, our very own local boys U2 had to get a mention and Guy said how much he admired their team work, their friendship and how, even though they took their music extremely seriously and were involved with every tiny detail of their shows, they still managed to have a lot of fun together as friends.
Phil then said how the relationship between U2 and Paul McGuinness (their manager) was like the model band/manager relationship which should be aspired to. How Paul was regarded by U2 as the 5th member of the band and how he is heavily involved in everything they do.
Phil also said that he feels lucky that he has always been able to be completely honest with the band whether the news was good or bad. He said that obviously, it’s easy to give out any good news but when you have to break bad news, you just have to grit your teeth and do it. Thankfully the band were always receptive to what he had to say and never blamed or took their frustration out on him.
(Unfortunately, at this point, while Phil was still talking, Guy decided to start handing out some cakes to the audience, so I got distracted and didn’t hear some of the other stuff he said! Sorry! )
After much hilarity, Phil then proceeded to tell a very funny story about something that happened at the Ivors: Elbow had just won one of the awards and next up on stage was Edwyn Collins who was receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. While he was making his acceptance speech Mark was at the table trying to open a bottle of champagne, when the cork shot off across the room with a loud bang and hit Edwyn Colins’ son in the back of the head. He was not impressed.
The interviewer then tried to get us all to sing a rousing rendition of the famous Grace Under Pressure line (well, she was quite drunk!), which failed miserably. There was a lot of laughing, though!
At this stage one of the organisers of the event was standing in the corner frantically waving to get the whole thing wrapped up, so we went to some audience questions.
There was of course the ‘Hovis-ad question’ with Guy joking that he had mentioned turning it down to Peter Jobson from I Am Kloot, who then said “You mean the Hovis music??? Christ man! Why not? Nobody’s calling Dvorak a c*nt!!!”
Someone else then asked Guy about TSSK. That he felt that, compared to the other albums, this one seemed to be their happiest and most upbeat one. Guy congratulated him on his astute observation and that yes, they had made a conscious effort not to let any negative experiences filter down into the album. That in the back of their minds they thought this could well be their last one and they wanted it to be celebratory and also of course because a lot of it was inspired by Bryan, who was such a wonderful man.
The next question was from a girl who said that she felt she had had some kind of spiritual experience during Newborn last year at The Electric Picnic and wondered if Guy had ever experienced something similar. -Guy explained that very rarely, maybe once every couple of years, when they do a gig, something really special happens. The only way he could describe it is that, they get this feeling that if they were to stop and put their instruments down, the music would just carry on regardless. That the music is more like riding a runaway horse, rather than operating it like a machine, if that makes sense.
The evening finished with a question about the new album which we were told would not be forthcoming until 2011 at least! (Gutted!) There was a big round of applause and that was that!
Now, I think I have mentioned just about everything but if anyone else who was there remembers something I didn’t mention, please do add it. Also, it is very possible that I may have misheard things or have noted things down incorrectly. If this is so, I am open to correction!
Like I said, this was a truly wonderful evening with an awful lot of laughter. Really, really good fun!
Afterwards, I also had the pleasure of meeting another forum member; Qwerty102 and we went off for a little drink and had a lovely chat.
All in all, it was a very successful and very, very enjoyable evening!
Here’s some pictures I took on the night and I have also scabbed a few off The Dublin Fringe Fest Page on Facebook. The Facebook ones obviously being of superior quality!
(Mods, feel free to resize if necessary!)
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Subject: Another 'Evening with Guy Garvey' ... - in Dublin! 
Tue 25 Aug 2009, 21:05
