Richard Ashcroft
Lonely Souls And Solo Albums
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It took four years and all the drama of a full-fledged breakup and reunion, but the world finally woke up in 1997, thanks to the uplifting single "Bittersweet Symphony." It propelled The Verve to new heights, but it soon tore the group into pieces. On one side: guitarist Nick McCabe, so instrumental in the music's visceral thrills, perhaps content to jam for hours. On the other: Ashcroft, edging ever closer to the stripped down, emotional songcraft of his idols from another era.
And so The Verve split again, with Ashcroft retreating into a private war with a myriad of insecurities and personal issues. However, Alone With Everybody, the music that emerged from the fight, is as far removed from his old band's free-form rock extravaganzas as one could possibly imagine. Simmering his melodies in American country and soul and repeatedly professing love in ways he never had before, Ashcroft stepped into a brave new world, whether his critics like it or not.
During a recent stop in New York, the artist talked it over with NATN Associate Editor Jonathan Cohen.
NATN: In your mind, what was the most challenging aspect of recording this album?
Richard Ashcroft: I think obviously going in there without a band to start off with. I was actually in Olympic Studios with a guitar at one point, just me. [Eventually] it became far clearer of what I needed to do. Probably the biggest challenge was communicating with the musicians really, and being able to be confident enough to influence exactly what they play, but also finding the right ones who can also express themselves as well, having the confidence to take on the task. It was going to be a big album, purely in the recording, because of some of the sounds and ways we wanted to do things -- taking instruments out of their context and putting them in new ones. That’s what was really enjoyable out it.
NATN: Would you say you are satisfied with the way everything turned out?
RA: You know, it’s a cliche, but you can’t be satisfied. I’ll never say I’m truly satisfied, you know what I mean? It’s like, for a first solo album, obviously I’ve written all the songs, and I’ve been totally and utterly involved in it from day one. I think I’ve managed to get more moments of joy in it. There’s a lot of beauty in the record.
NATN: Which songs were written once you went into the studio?
RA: I wrote "On The Beach," and worked a lot on "I Get My Beat," arranging that and getting the right mix underneath. "Crazy World" came up later on, and "Money To Burn."
NATN: Were any of these songs ever considered for recording by The Verve?
RA: Yeah, um, I wrote "A Song For The Lovers" there, and "New York." "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)," there was version of that at one point. So, I attempted them again and I got something amazing. I want to get them out so I can move on to the next record.
NATN: So have you already written new songs?
RA: I have, yeah. It’s going to be sensational, but I shouldn’t be selling that one right now [laughs].
NATN: It's been quite a long time since you've toured. Are you looking forward to playing live?
RA: Oh yeah. I’m totally looking forward to that. I’ve spoken to other people today and said it’s kind of a duality thing about my personality. Playing live is quite a yo-yo kind of lifestyle. But it’s something I forget how much I enjoy it when I’ve not done if for a year. I forget how good at it I am. I kinda surpass my own expectations.
NATN: The current North American tour features only three other players. Do you know yet who will be in the full live band?
RA: Um, I know Pete [Salisbury] from The Verve is going to be playing drums. [Ashcroft's wife] Kate [radley] is going to be playing on keyboards. There’s going to be horn players, two guys who played in Death In Vegas and Primal Scream. There will be a guy playing percussion and samplers. I think it will be a pretty large-scale thing. It doesn’t matter what size the venues are. I think still the album needs to be represented. It will be rawer and live and elastic, and it can go wherever it needs to go, but I think the body of sound has to be pretty sonically heavy and up there, you know what I mean? It’s going to take quite a few musicians to get that on.
NATN: Have you decided to rework any old songs?
RA: Yeah, I have. Definitely. The only [old] songs I’ll play are the ones I wrote entirely on my own. Fortunately, those are "The Drugs Don’t Work," "Lucky Man," and "Sonnet." You know, it gives me the opportunity to go back to "So Sister," and "See You In The Next One," and breathe a new life into some of the older songs that I’ve written. I think it will be an interesting set. I’ve got a feeling that once I’ve got this album out, and the next one’s out, I’ll have two solo albums under my belt, plus the songs I wrote on Urban Hymns, it’s going to be song after song, you know.
You know, the lucky thing Elvis had is that he didn’t write his tunes. But what he could do so amazingly well was infuse other people’s words with his own spirit and his own soul. These older solo artists from different eras had different pressures.
NATN: You really have been out of the public eye for a long period of time.
RA: Yeah. It’s quite strange, but I do need to give people the little opportunity they’ll get in America to hear about my record. You know, I’m not concerned in the slightest about how it’s accepted in America as far as anyone else other than the people who are into my music. The people who’ve been into it have always been really into it. We picked a few people up with the Verve, but perhaps they think my name is the Verve, you know.
Perhaps they think that’s what it was all about, a pair of trainers and knocking someone over on the street. But there’s a lot more depth to it than that. So, you know, you just see what happens. I think a lot of the mediums in which music can travel have been corrupted. There’s conservatives making decisions in these large corporations, be it major radio stations or video corporations, because everybody is scared of the real thing.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"