17 minute read
Andy Bennett Interview by Alice Jones-Rodgers.
Andy Bennett
In His Element
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Interview by Alice Jones-Rodgers.
More years ago than I care to think about (okay, 1998, if you must age me), I remember seeing Ocean Colour Scene live at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Having already seen the band there on their 1996 tour in support of their second album, the all-conquering ‘Moseley Shoals’, this time around, it was their third album, 1997’s ‘Marchin’ Already’, which had toppled Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ from the top spot of the UK album charts, that was in the spotlight. Supporting the band that night was another Mod-channelling Midlands band named Sargent (sic), who I knew very little about other than they had evolved from a previous band called Shakers.
Great as Sargent were, I didn’t hear much about them again until 2004 when, following the departure of Ocean Colour Scene’s bassist Damon Minchella, Sargent’s vocalist and guitarist, Andy Bennett (who it turned out had been taught to play guitar by Steve Cradock when he was just eight years old), arrived in the ranks of the band’s rejigged line-up. Whilst Dan Sealey was hired to play bass, Bennett took on the role of second guitarist and after his baptism of fire at the Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2004, went on to appear on the band’s next three studio albums, ‘A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad’ (2005); ‘On the Leyline’ (2007) and ‘Saturday’ (2010). He was also present for three live albums, ‘Live Acoustic at the Jam House’ (2006), ‘Live at Birmingham Academy’ (2006) and ‘Live at the Town Hall’ (2008).
But what became of Sargent? Well, sometime during Bennett’s tenure with Ocean Colour Scene, that band once again changed their name, this time to The Elements and in 2008, released an eponymous debut album, which included the number 7 Indie Chart hit single ‘Caught in a Storm’. We are not exactly sure what happened to The Elements, but Bennett’s skills as a songwriter had by this point been fully recognised by Ocean Colour Scene, with whom he recorded his song ‘Old Pair of Jeans’ for the ‘Saturday’ album. Move
forward a few years and having quit Ocean Colour Scene in 2015, Bennett set out on his own, releasing his debut solo album, ‘Thinkin’, Drinkin’, Singin’’ to critical acclaim in 2016. A collection of songs written over the course of a few years, the aforementioned ‘Old Pair of Jeans’ was re-recorded with Bennett taking back control of the vocal duties from Simon Fowler.
When we recently caught up with Bennett for a chat, he was preparing for his upcoming ‘Special Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas’ show at the Holy Trinity Church in his home town of Leamington Spa on 18th December and pondering over what to name his second solo album, which is due to set the world alight in early 2022.
Firstly, hello Andy and thank you for agreeing to our interview, it is lovely to speak to you. Could we start by asking how you first came to start playing music, because we believe that you were actually taught how to play guitar by Steve Cradock?
That’s true. Yeah, I met Steve when I was about eight, maybe? I’d moved house next door but one to him and he’d not long lived there, about a couple of weeks. And I could see him out the back of my window, because it’s round the corner, and he was loading up a van, and I was intrigued, so I went round. He’s a bit older than me and he was loading up a van to go and play a gig, you know. He had a band called The Boys at the time and then, obviously, it became Ocean Colour Scene. Yeah, and he agreed to teach me on a Monday night for a fiver, for about a year-ish, something like that. And it was all around the time when The Boys were finishing and Ocean Colour Scene got started. Yeah, so it was a really exciting time!
Then came your bands Shaker and then Sargent, who supported Ocean Colour Scene on the 1998 stadium shows in support of the previous year’s ‘Marchin’ Already’ album. Sargent would later change their name to The Elements and release a 2008 eponymous debut album on the
Acid Jazz label, featuring the single ‘Caught in a Storm’, which fared well on the UK Indie Charts, peaking at number 7. For those who might be unaware of Sargent and The Elements, could you tell us a bit about those bands and what are your memories of supporting Ocean Colour Scene on those massive stadium shows?
Yeah, so, I was a school when I formed the band Shaker and it was with a couple of guys from the year above me and then they left and we got a drummer then, when they went to sixth form college. Basically, the band that ended up being Sargent started out as Shaker. It was like the drummer [Tim Jaques], the bass player [Dave Caswell] and then Sargent just added one other guy really called Lee [Burn, guitar and vocals] and that’s when we supported Ocean Colour Scene. And it was a proper eye-opener, I’d not long left school really. And I got to play with Ocean Colour Scene as well, you know, second guitar on those shows, which was fantastic. And yeah, we just changed the name eventually. Sargent was The Elements and it was the same band members as well, you know, there was no difference. And why we changed the name, I’ll tell you why, it was probably because we started doing a lot of covers gigs and foolishly ... we should have just kept the name Sargent really, but I thought it might not be a good idea to keep the same name, because everybody would think we were a tribute act or a cover band. But, really, it wouldn’t have mattered I don’t think. I think it would probably have just helped really, because we would have had more history, whereas we ended up just starting again really, didn’t we? It really didn’t do us any favours, but you know, eventually, after the ‘98 tour as Sargent, we did an album with Acid Jazz Records [‘The Elements’, 2008], its the only album I ever put out with Elements. But I’d already joined Ocean Colour Scene by that point, which was properly by 2004 and the first gig with them was the [Royal] Albert Hall [London], the Ronnie Lane Tribute Concert [8th April 2004]. Yeah, I played the Albert Hall
twice with that band, unbelievably! I’ve been very lucky!
In 2004, of course, you had joined Ocean Colour Scene as rhythm guitarist and appeared on the studio albums ‘A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad’ (2005), ‘On the Leyline’ (2007) and ‘Saturday’ (2010) and three live albums, ‘Live Acoustic at the Jam House’ (2006), ‘Live at Birmingham Academy’ (2006) and ‘Live at the Town Hall’ (2008). How did you come to be a fully-fledged member of the band and what are some of your favourite memories from that eleven years that you spent with them?
Okay, so when Damon [Michella] left, the bass player, the drummer that was in The Elements, and Sargent [Tim Jaques], he’d gone to see Brian Wilson at the NIA in Birmingham and bumped into Steve [Cradock] and Steve had said to Tim that ‘Damon’s left, will you give Andy my number and tell him to give me a call tomorrow?’ Because we hadn’t spoken in about a year. He’d moved house and he’d changed his number. You know, you used to lose your phones back then, because nobody was into mobile phones back then, were they? And so, I did, I gave him a call and he said ‘Look, Damon’s left, I want you to come in the band, but I think that Simon [Fowler, vocalist], he’s already got someone for the bass, but I want you in anyway, come and play guitar’. So, I did. And the other guy happened to be Dan Sealey, who ended up playing with them as well. So I joined. I mean, I joined on guitar at first and then ended up on bass for the last couple of years of my tenure. Obviously, the Albert Halls were just fantastic. Obviously, before I joined, when I got to play Wembley and the NEC [as a member of Sargent] were fantastic, but I think the Albert Hall on the 21st anniversary of Ocean Colour Scene [10/10/10] was a pretty special show really. And also going over to do the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan [01/08/2010], you know, and going to India and places like that. We did a tour of the Hard Rock Cafés in about 2009/10 and that was to do with raising
money for ... well, the one in India, that was certainly to do with the sex slave business, you know, raising money to try and help these girls. They’d been caged and it was awful. I mean, Steve and I watched the little presentation together by this Indian chap on the stage one night and we were both, you know, shocked and almost in tears. It was terrible. But I’m glad we were able to help, you know, if we did. So there’s some great memories really from being in that band and I don’t regret any of them. It was a great experience.
Obviously, your song ‘Old Pair of Jeans’ was featured on Ocean Colour Scene’s 2010 album ‘Saturday’, before it was re-recorded for your debut solo album, 2016’s ‘Thinkin’, Drinkin’, Singin’’, so was your decision to leave the band in 2015 a case of wanting to assert your own identity as an artist and songwriter?
Yeah, pretty much and I know I had to start at the bottom again and do all that, but the thing is, I do write songs and I am a singer and guitar player really and I wasn’t doing much of that, you know, with Ocean Colour Scene. As much fun as it was, and it was great, there was no way of me getting out my songs, they were just going to be put on the side, you know, put away and forgotten about. So, I just made a decision, it’s over, it’s now or never, so it was then. February of 2015, I thought that was it.
It is obviously a decision that has worked out well for you, anyway.
Well, it’s the decision I made and I’ll stick by it! [Laughs]. I mean, it’s working out alright! I have a nice life, so I’m not doing too bad!
Are we right in thinking that all of the ten songs that made up ‘Thinkin’, ‘Drinkin’, Singin’’ had been written over a number of years?
Yeah, they had actually. Obviously, I’d just compiled a lot and there was a few more, but we just whittled them down and got them recorded. We recorded them in a barn on the border of
Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire and it didn’t cost anything to do. So, you know, it was a very cheap project and it was just something to get out as quickly as possible really, just so I didn’t stagnate. But, obviously, now, I’ve been into the studio during the lockdown, in the pandemic, and recorded in a proper recording studio and recorded the second album. I think people will think that sounds a lot better, personally.
Following the 2019 single ‘Do It All For Love’ and this year’s ‘Baby Let Me Hold You Tonight’, you are set to release your second solo album in early 2022. What do you feel are the differences between the new album and your debut?
Well, a lot of the songs were new last year, when I wrote them in 2020. I mean, a lot of musicians found themselves out of work and it was an awful time for everybody, especially the entertainment industry. We’ve not long been back to work, you know, and most of us are still booking for next year really, because it takes time to organise shows and things. But, yeah, the difference being that they’re mainly new songs. There’s a couple of old songs that I wrote a fair few years ago on this new album, but the majority of them were written during the pandemic really, in, I don’t know, about three or four months and then recorded in about a week, which was record time!
Wow, that’s good going!
Yeah! Well, there wasn’t much else on! [Laughs]. I didn’t have much else to do!
So what can you tell us about the new songs?
Well, I don’t know really. I can just tell you that they’re catchy. I think they’re catchy. I think they’re good, I think you’ll like them. If you’re into guitar-based Rock music, Pop music, then you’ll like them. If you like The Beatles or anybody like that, you’ll like this stuff! And I think it sounds a lot
clearer and cleaner than the first album I put out, and I just think the overall sonic quality of it is just a lot better.
Do you have a title for the album yet?
I don’t, but it could be called ‘World on Fire’. There’s a song on the album called ‘World on Fire’. That really summed up the pandemic and all that, so it could be called that, we’ll see. If my wife has her way, that’s what it’ll be called! She usually does!
Well, I think that is a great title!
Alright, I’ll let her know, yeah!
On 18th December, you take to the stage at the Holy Trinity Church in Leamington Spa for the ‘Andy Bennett’s Special Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas’ gig. Obviously, this is a homecoming gig for you, but for those who might never have seen you performing on stage before, what can they expect from this show?
Well, I’ve got a fantastic band and a lovely string quartet, so I can’t wait! Rehearsals don’t start until December, which we’re nearly at now. So, I’m really looking forward to it. I mean, the band is just top quality, but also, the best thing about it is sixty-years ago, Rock ‘n’ Roll was ‘the devil’s music’, but now churches have opened their doors to Rock ‘n’ Roll! It’s going to be ... and because it’s such an old church, it’s an old hived ceiling, beamed ... it’s like a mini cathedral, I just think, I’m hoping anyway, the acoustics should be fantastic in there! We do have to take amps and PAs in and stuff, but we’ve got a great sound engineer, so it should alright! But, yeah, I’m just really looking forward to playing in that kind of environment, to be honest with you. Never done it before, so hopefully, you never know, churches have opened their doors to Rock ‘n’ Roll, so maybe that’s the new venues we can all go to! Are you coming?
We would love to, but we’re all the way up in Blackpool. Hopefully you will get up here soon though!
Yeah, I think, hopefully next year, there’ll be an acoustic tour, I would have thought; just me and a guitar. And then I’ll pick up some festivals hopefully and I’ll add a band then and then probably do a tour with the band towards the end of the year, I would have thought. I’ve got to come up there, such a great audience up there! I’ve played in Blackpool before, but not on my own, I don’t think, only with The Elements and Sargent, back in the day. We played at the Winter Gardens in ‘98 [on the ‘Marchin’ Already’ tour]. I was a lot thinner and younger then! [Laughs] I’m going to have to get some exercises done before this gig in December! I’ll have to get the running shoes back on!
Leading on from that last question, as this interview will be featured in our Christmas issue, what does Christmas mean to you and how will you be spending it this year?
You know, just spending with my wife and kids this year and we’re having a very small Christmas. I think we’re going to visit the rest of the family, you know, mums and dads and things over Boxing Day and the days after Christmas. I think it’s just going to be my wife, my kids and my brother-inlaw ... he’s in the Army, he’s going to come, he’s got leave for Christmas, so he’ll be here. Well, my wife, actually, and my brother-in-law and my son, they’re Hindu, but they do celebrate Christmas, with me, obviously. It means, I don’t know, I get a good feeling around Christmas. It’s the one time during the cold weather I actually feel kind of warm inside. So, I don’t know, I’ve always liked the feeling of Christmas. It does feel like a warm and ... without sounding a bit girly, it’s a magical time! [Laughs]. Don’t write that down, for God’s sake! I’ll just say, yeah, I get a warm feeling around Christmas. It’s probably the brandy!
Finally, as somebody who continues to make a sizeable impression with their songwriting ability, what is it that makes you tick as a songwriter and what do you consider to make a great song?
Right, well, that’s a good question! But, you know, I have no idea really. I mean, I’ve heard it compared to fishing and I’ve heard it compared to being an aerial and I’ve heard it compared to ... you’re just a receiver, you see. The songs are already out there in the aether and you receive them like you’re the antenna or something. But, with me, I don’t chase the songs anymore. I used to sit there every day trying to write a song, but you end up just screwing up lots of paper and putting it in the bin. Nowadays, they come in bouts and, you know, in a week, you end up writing about four or five and out of them five, a good three or four will stick and become finished products really. So, I’ve changed my stance on it really. Whereas I used to chase songwriting, I don’t anymore and I just wait for it to come. Something usually happens, like a pandemic or maybe an argument with somebody or maybe something will happen with a family member ... whatever, some emotional thing will happen and that’s what will spark off a batch of songwriting. And I don’t really think they’re about that subject matter, whatever happens. I mean, songs have different meanings to everybody. I could write a song about a certain thing, then you could hear it and interpret it in another way. And that’s exactly what I want out of my songs, to be honest with you. I don’t want people to know to necessarily think about what I’ve written about, you know, it’s more about whether they listen to the song and it resonates with them about something and that’s me, a job well done really, isn’t it? Do you know what I mean? That means more to me really.
Thank you for a wonderful interview, it has been really lovely talking to you. Good luck with the upcoming Christmas show, the new album and for the future.
For tickets to ‘Andy Bennett’s Special Rock ‘n’ Roll Christmas’, please visit the links below.
