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Mick: Well that is frustrating. if that is overshadowing the music. Speaking personally. if that is the case then I‘m not pleased that that is what we‘re known for.
Q: Where did the album title I'D/(l Your Hands (‘lll/(l. You Walk Like xi Peasant come from? Stuart: The album title actually came from a piece of graffiti written on the back of a toilet door. It was 1986 and l was new to the college and new to the city and I thought: "why should somebody write that'.’ Is that from a book that I should have read?" I was very impressionable at the time and it seemed like a really smart and serious thing: it really stuck in my head. Q: What‘s the get up in the new press shots‘.’ Stuart: Well we spent quite a long time making the LP and recorded it in a fairly plush studio in a posh area of (llasgow and sometimes l‘d pinch myself on my way to work in the morning. I feel incredibly privileged and ask what am I doing in this place that looks like Slur 'I‘n'k. We all feel privileged so that‘s maybe why I suggested everybody dress up in weird aristocratic gear. A fan: There is a song on the new album. ‘(‘halet l.ines‘. and perhaps I‘m being idealistic. but is it right that you as a man should sing a song in first person about a woman being raped'.’
Stuart: It‘s a story about somebody I worked with at Butlins years ago. 1 try to empathise. to fit it into a song. There‘s no more or less drama within the song. I think. 'l‘hat‘s as much as I can really say.
Q: What about live dates'.’
Richard: We‘re working on that just now. we‘re taking our time. we‘ve got to get the sound of it right y‘know. 'l‘here‘s no definite dates right now. We want it to be spot on. Mick: It‘ll be late summer.
Q: Did you hear Steps. when receiving some
award for selling the most tickets or
something. make a crack about ‘at least it wasn‘t Belle And Sebastian‘. What did you think of that'.’
Stuart: It‘s a bit of a laugh really. I haven‘t heard many of their records. but it strikes me they come from an older entertainment than the average boy or girl band. You‘ll probably take me out of context. but they‘re sort of freaks. They‘re a strange sort of holiday camp type thing. But y‘know. good for them. They sell zillions more records than us.
Q: If Steps are just entertainment does that mean you aspire to producing something higher'.’
Chris: Well. when you spend a year. a year and a half. working on a record. you maybe hope that it‘s a bit less disposable than Steps. but
that‘s no disrespect to the fine productions of Pete Waterman. If you put that amount of your
life into something you hope it‘s ol‘ some value. Obviously. you can‘t judge that yourself.
Stuart: It‘s kind of up to you to decide what you prefer. because we do what we do because we enjoy it. We feel we have to do it. at least at some points we have to do it. we have to write songs. and of course for Steps it means as much to them. It‘s just you have to decide what you think.
Q: Where does your obsession with buses come from'.’
Stuart: Glasgow‘s got a great public transport system. the best in the world. lispecially since First Bus took over from Strathclyde buses it‘s
been even better. You‘ve got to experience it. If
I‘ve written about buses in songs in the past it‘s because I‘ve spent a lot of time on buses.
school of
or I have done. It changed my life when I got my first bus pass. [Roars of laughter around the room] You may laugh. but at the time 1 was on the dole and it made a big difference. Q: Why as a band do you come over as so fey and underachieving‘.’
Richard: Leave it out with the underachieving: we‘ve got a Brit Award. mate. Mind. we probably shambled into that in an indie—like fashion. It‘s people reading into the music and people think that‘s what we‘re like. Which is fair enough. but personally. I‘m not like that.
Q: I heard a rumour you‘ve been pictured in a leopard skin catsuit. Is this a homage to Rod Stewart‘.’
Stuart: Yes. it was. I was thinking of making personalised (‘hristmas cards. It was years ago. 'l‘here‘s a lovely picture of Rod.
Mick: It‘s on [flour/cs /l(lt‘(’ .llm‘r' l'llll. Stuart: I‘ve only seen a postcard of it. It‘s all this [gesturing the contours of a catsuitl with the horse and stuff. (il’c‘tll picture. y‘know. So me and my friend Andrew trudged out on a freezing day. I had on leopard skin trousers and a denim jacket. We took pictures but they were all out of focus. I never made the (‘hristmas cards.
Q: There was an article in The Face recently saying contemporary music has little substance and nothing to say of social relevance. Do you think you have a responsibility to speak for people'.’
Stuart: The only responsibility we have is to make good records.
The album Fold Your Arms Child, You Walk Like A Peasant is out on Mon 5 Jun. It is preceded by a single ‘Legal Man' on Mon 22 May, both are released on Jeepster Recordings.
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