How do The Beatles still inform your musical style today? Because it was so nerve-wracking, so “get on, get off” in its vibe, and so many people milling about backstage, that you couldn’t really pick a moment out. And my friends and I were just like, “Wow, this is amazing.” I don’t remember anything much about Live Aid though. And it was so fucking loud, I’d never heard songs that loud. But Status Quo was the first proper concert I ever saw. They were the first spark that lit everything. If any band inspired me, it was The Beatles. I don’t know about starting The Jam because of Status Quo. What was that like for you, considering Status Quo was apparently a huge inspiration for you to form your first band, The Jam? Regarding you and Mick-I read that you both played Live Aid and were on the same bill as elder English band Status Quo. Now I look at what the song needs, and I do that. Is that a tendency you both have in common? Or did you have to learn that from him over time?įor me, that’s most definitely been something I had to learn over time. That’s what a good musician does: serves the song, rather than showing off. By the second take, they’ll give you something usable. What do you admire most about him as a musician?Ī lot of people do shit first takes and get carried away.
I shouldn’t speak for him, but we weren’t trying to relive anything-we were just people working on a song. We didn’t spend time talking about the old days. What about keyboardist Mick Talbot’s contribution? Was he sending you music digitally as well? If so, did that make you pine for the days when you two worked on hits together as The Style Council duo in the ’80s? But the actual recording process is always fun. The later process, of mixing and finalizing, is more painstaking. And I also enjoy when the music veers into unexpected places as you work on it. I like creating the music I set out to make, realizing that vision. It’s like a blank canvas, and you’re just slapping coats of paint on, enjoying the colors.
What was it like to create On Sunset live with your band? Most of the tracks on the album just had the backing track down, and then I played live together with my band. But if you have a band playing together, that’s different. And we had the track down anyway, so his part was just a nice embellishment. It was pretty quick for him to just send it. So, to travel down to my studio from somewhere in the midlands, wherever he was, just to play that part, to carry on like that would be completely inconvenient for everyone. It’s only one part of the song that he’s playing on. The minute I heard what he played for On Sunset I excitedly thought to myself “Ahh I remember that!”ĭid working apart from him make you nostalgic for the old days, when everyone recorded together in the same studio? Well, if you’re British and of a certain age, you’ll remember hearing that violin playing of his at every dance you’d go to throughout the ’70s. Paul Weller: He played his part and sent it to me, and that was it. Kyle Mullin ( Under the Radar): On Sunset has lots of lovely surprises, including Jim Lea of the veteran British band Slade playing violin on “Equanimity.” What was it like to work with him? He also tells us about reuniting with his old The Style Council bandmate, Mick Talbot, for On Sunset, recalling The Britpop team-ups that revived his career in the ’90s and revealing how he reacted to his Oasis mates’ beliefs on being better than The Beatles. He also pretty much stuck to the original release date (apart from a slight adjustment), even as throngs of other musicians continue to delay their new albums until the pandemic dies down, in an effort to safeguard their touring grosses.īelow, Weller tells us why live music will always live on, despite temporary social distancing rules and a looming, concert hobbling economic crash. However, Weller has remained determined to brighten up these grim and gloomy times with On Sunset’s radiant synths and stadium-sized choruses. Instead, much of the world is overcast by a pandemic. The summer release of his fifteenth solo album, On Sunset, was meant to capitalize on the warm weather that would match his new music’s equally sunny vibes.
Yet the ever-debonair, silver-haired elder English rock statesman, with a penchant for blue-eyed soul and a fixation on The Beatles, currently faces an unprecedented predicament. From collaborating with Oasis to playing Live Aid, it might seem like Paul Weller has seen and done it all in his near 50-year career.
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