MUSIC PREVIEW
SCOT BOOK
The Del boys
Brian Donaldson catches up with the latest news, gossip and facial hair tips with Del Amitri.
if you've been wondering why you have heard nothing of Del Amitri for a while then it's because they have spent the majority of this year touring the land of the free. Lack of television exposure and that elusive all-conquering hit are the only things preventing Del Amitri from making that leap from mid-table respectability to title contenders over the Atlantic. But Justin Currie. The Dels‘ hirsute frontman. remains humourously optimistic about their chances. ‘In certain places the audiences have got bigger and bigger and in others they haven’t.’ says Currie. ‘The last time we toured America it went under the hilarious euphemism of Touring Secondary Markets, which was the equivalent of doing Kilmarnock every night. which was quite frightening. it was back to playing to a couple of guys in wheelchairs.’
Since arriving on the scene in 1989 with the terribly fine Waking Hours. Glasgow-based Del Amitri have assembled a reputation for themselves as an accomplished. mature. reliable combo. For some this has been perceived as dullness personified. All very dandy, but all a bit safe and dignified, each outpouring appearing to be a carbon copy of the previous one. Between now and starting a new round of American touring in January. the Dels will be holed up in a studio, putting the finishing touches to
Some sldebums. And Del Amitri
‘We always set out to make a radically different record from the last one because it‘s a bit boring making the same record every time,‘ confesses Currie. ‘And then. of course. we finish up and it sounds exactly the same as the other ones.‘ What can it all mean? ‘I don't know what that means. Perhaps it means that we have integrity or that we have no other ideas than the first three we started with. We think the next one will be totally different but I'm sure it won’t
American extravaganza, it showed a band on the brink. the pressures of constant touring getting too much with one band member handing in his notice. This could have been read as the signal for a split and the green light for a Currie solo assault.
‘Never do a solo album. that ‘s my motto.‘ states Currie. ‘It just seems like a lonely arduous task. Why would you want to be a solo artist? I‘ve always wanted to be part of a band. the gang mentality. i suppose at the age of 32 you should be getting all
‘Never do a solo album, that’s my motto. It just seems like a lonely arduous task. Why would you want to be a solo artist? I’ve always wanted to be part oi a band, the gang mentallty.’
artistic and serious but. personally. I cringe when pop singers look desperately for artistic credibility and want to look serious. Besides you have to record so many B-sides these days that if you want to do something a bit different and everyone in the band hates it. you can stick it on the B-side.‘
Aside from a spot as guest band on Glasgow Green in the summer, the Dels have been absent from Scottish stages since June 1995. They will mark their live return with a brace of shows over the festive period.
‘They‘re kind of anti-Christmas shows because we‘re a godless bunch.‘ confirms Currie. ‘We'd do Barrowland every time but the geezer who promotes us in Scotland had just got fed up promoting us there so as a kind of trade-off we agreed to do the Concert Hall for another Barrowland. Theatre shows are a bit weird for us but it does give you an opportunity to play all the good songs which are worth listening to in that environment. So we'll play a couple ofthings we don‘t normally do while Barrowland will be more
plead?
their fourth album. Radical reinvention of the Dels' sound or carbon copy? Justin Currie. how do you
w 9
In last year's Ex-S documentary, Legends Of The Mail. which followed the lads on their latest
of a greatest hits live kind of vibe.’ Del Amitri play Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Thurs 26 Dec; Barrowland. Glasgow. Fri 2 7 Dec.
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Formed in 1989 to periorm the wind played on less irequently heard as part oi a 15th century orchestra Sat 14 Dec.
«The'usi '13—-De'c 19’96-9 Jan 1997