Jake Bugg and the Stones Roses

August 2012

“I HEARD about it last week when my manager phoned me and said: ‘Do you want to support the Stone Roses?’ and I was like ‘well, I don’t know really...’ (laughs).

“The guy who put the gig on had gone to the Stones Roses and said ‘you need to check out this guy; you need to get him on’.

“I did about half an hour on my own. I was nervous beforehand. I mean, Jimmy Page was in the crowd. And as a guitarist that was a bit mad.

But once I got on the stage, all that seemed to go out the window, I didn’t feel nervous one little bit and I got on with it. I could see a few of the famous faces knocking about while I was playing. There were only about 400 people there, so it was a bit mad.

“I watched the Stones Roses after and they were great. I never thought I’d get to see them live but to be on the same stage... I could have watched it from the side of the stage but I went into the crowd and stood on a step, so I had the best view looking over everyone. It was a great gig.

“I spoke to Jimmy Page afterwards and he was a really nice guy. I didn’t want to say ‘oh you’re a great guitarist and I like all your Led Zeppelin stuff’. I know he’d played on the Donovan track Hurdy Gurdy man, when he was a session player back in the 60s, and I said ‘I love your solo on that track’. It looked like his eyes lit up a bit. It probably made a change for him not to be asked about Zeppelin.

“I went for a fag with Miles Kane then went backstage and Mani told us to grab a beer. Then Ian (Brown) came over and said: ‘You’re brave doing those songs up on the stage, aren’t you?’ I can’t tell you what he meant, it’s what he just kept saying. I don’t know if he meant the kind of songs I was playing or that I’d gone on there on my own.

“Then I met John Squire and he was really sound as well.

“And I got to hold a silver medal. I couldn’t tell you whose it was but he said he’d trained in Nottingham. He was a swimmer, I think.

“And I met Wiggy and he was cool.

“I remember it being a great night and talking to a lot of people but it was quite overwhelming and a lot of it was a blur to me. And we had free drinks so...

“The people there were saying ‘thanks for playing it’ and I was like ‘what you on about? Thanks for having me on!’

“The Stone Roses gig was a blessing really because I was nervous about the Noel Gallagher one next week in London for War Child. You know, meeting your idol.

“But now I’m not even really thinking about it.

“I thought it was going to be a bill with a few acts on but it’s just me and him.

“And I think he’s playing on his own as well.

“I’ll be going to America with him and Snow Patrol on my own. Noel’s people were worried about the logistics of taking my band. It’s not hard for us to set up; it’s only bass and drums. At least I’m not going to have to pay as much (laughs).

“I’ll be doing Europe with Noel as well before the American tour and that will be with my band.

“I’ll be in Europe when my album comes out in October. I can’t get wait to get my hands on it. After America I come back here for my headline tour which includes the Rescue Rooms.

“I think America are on about putting my album out next year, which is great because not so many UK albums get released over there.

“I always knew I wanted to be a musician and make a career of it but I never once thought that I actually would get the chance.

“It’s wicked, man. I just hope and I can do the city proud.”

Snow Patrol

January 2012

GARY Lightbody. Frontman and chief songwriter with Snow Patrol. A band which has produced chart-topping records, sold ten million albums and written songs with more airplay than most could dream of. And yet Lightbody doesn’t see himself as much of a ladies’ man, despite all that.

If you believe what you read.
In advance of a chat with the 35-year-old, I found this quote attributed to him on Twitter:
“I have the gift to make women mad. Not like Tom Jones does, but rather so that they go to the kitchen and pick up a knife.”
What did he mean?
“What was this quote?” says Lightbody, clearly confused.
I repeat it.
“Not like Tom James?”
Tom Jones.
“Oh Tom Jones. I won’t have said that. But I’m sure there is plenty of stuff I’ve never said... which is why I don’t go looking on the internet.”
He’s not one for Twitter. Probably a good job as I sent a tweet for questions to ask him and had a cascade of anti-Snow Patrol messages: “Happy Shopper Coldplay” and the like.
It wasn’t all bad. One woman said that if she had three wishes, one would be to meet Lightbody.
“Wow, what a waste of a wish,” he deadpans.
He’s in London and it’s been an easy day so far; a run in the park, lunch with a friend... but it’s a well-earned rest day after a spell in the US. The band has been promoting latest album, Fallen Empires, with a series of network TV appearances. It included The Ellen Show, where fellow guests were Meryl Streep and Ricky Gervais.
“I didn’t get to hang out with Meryl Streep but I met Ricky Gervais for the first time and he was lovely,” he says.
“I’m a big fan of his. Meryl Streep we were just all too intimidated to speak to. I can’t walk up to someone like that and go ‘oooh, hellooo’. I’m too much of a fan.”
Starstruck pop stars? You must meet plenty of famous folk?
“If I’m sitting at a table with them at an awards thing or something like that I’ll talk to them but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go and bother someone.”
Lightbody is from Bangor in Northern Ireland but formed Snow Patrol while at university in Dundee.
It is 15 years since their first EP release but nine since one of their records had any impact.
Final Straw, their first album for Polydor, which produced the major hit single Run, went on to sell three million copies.
The follow-up in 2006, Eyes Open, sold double that – the best selling UK album of that year. That and the single, Chasing Cars, propelled Snow Patrol to international fame.
They are now on album number six, their first since the best of compilation, Up To Now, two years ago.
The album shows them breaking new ground, echoing LCD Soundsystem, U2 and Arcade Fire.
“We wanted this record to be different,” says Lightbody.
“Musically different and lyrically I wanted to broaden my horizons. I’ve written about relationships now for... forever. To then want to talk about family and the world and my journey and the people that I’ve met along the way... it took a while to get me in the right mood.
“It’s still centred on relationships but it’s very different to what I’ve done before.”
He adds: “And it was a challenge, which is what we wanted. We’ve been 17 years together and it’s easy to enter a period of treading water. And you’ve no one else to blame for that but yourself.
“So attacking things in different ways is a really good way of jarring yourself loose.
“And going to Malibu helped,” he laughs.
“We set up in a house there rather than a studio. I think the record company thought it was going to bankrupt the company but it didn’t cost much more than any other record.”
He adds: “It gave us more time because we went in to that environment. We took the longest we’ve ever taken over a record.
“We had complete freedom to do anything. To scrap the song completely or take it in a different way, going from country/folk to dance music. If there is any kind of graph that charted this album, it wouldn’t make any sense to scientists.”
Being in California also meant they could call on a few guests, including Troy Van Leuwen from Queens Of The Stone Age and LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir.
“People would just call in. We’d get them to sing, to play guitar. A few friends came in and formed a choir for a few of the tracks. It was much more relaxed than ever before.”
And more fun?
“After I got over the writer’s block I had a ball.”
Writer’s block?
“Before we started recording I was writing for a bit... well, I wasn’t writing. I was rocking back and forward like a patient at Arkham.
“But once we were all in the studio we were absolutely rocking it. It was a really pleasurable experience. Lots of great ideas were being thrown around. It’s definitely the best way to make records.”
So that’s how you’ll do the next one?
“I don’t think any of us would be particularly averse to doing exactly the same thing again but it isn’t the place you are, it’s the place that you are in your head.”
So you may well have the urge to record it in a garden shed in Nottingham?
“Absolutely, Nottingham next.”
He adds: “I think the last time we played there was Rock City and I remember that being awesome. I’m really looking forward to getting back and doing a bigger show.”
Actually, their last visit here was to the Arena three years ago.
You see, you can’t believe everything you read...

Snow Patrol play the Capital FM Arena on Wednesday February 1 from 7.30pm. Extra tickets recently went on sale priced at £22.50 and £32.50. For availability visit the box office, call 08444 124624 or go online at www.capitalfmarena.com

Snow Patrol

March 2009

SCOTLAND'S biggest band may have taken the soppy indie baton off Coldplay and run with it, but hard-partying rockers Motley Crue are fan of Snow Patrol
"We've had some unusual fans along the way, especially in America," says keyboard player Tom Simpson, when I mention the recent acknowledgement by Crue frontman Nikki Sixx.
"We've had Tommy Lee at gigs and we're going 'well this is a bit weird'. And I remember Danny DeVito wanting to meet us at a gig. Which was interesting because Gary (Lightbody, singer) is 6ft 4. I'm half the size of that and Danny DeVito is half the size of me. We looked like Russian dolls."
Tom is in London when we speak, rehearsing for the tour that comes to Nottingham's Trent FM Arena next week.
"Everybody's working hard six days a week," he says.
It's been full-on since they went into the studio to record album number five, A Hundred Million Suns.
"Once that engine starts that's when the sacrifices start happening. You accept you're not going to have much of a home life."
Not that he's complaining.
"You get your heads down and enjoy it. You've basically one of the best jobs in the world."
Snow Patrol have, in his words "been around the block" and are enjoying their arena status.
"We cut our teeth on the smaller gig circuit of the UK for many years. So we're well used to the hard work and long tours.
"I'm glad it did happen to us over a long period of time because we were a bit wilder in our earlier years. We were pretty boozy and certainly enjoyed a party. Any amount of success then may have ruined us."
Are they still caning it?
"Nowadays you choose your battles sensibly," says Tom, who is in his mid-30s.
"You're maybe not going out and getting totally drunk every night. You tend to look to where your days off are and think 'that'll be my Saturday night'. The hangovers are much more unbearable now."
He isn't married but has a tolerant long-term girlfriend with whom he's in the process of buying a house. She also tolerates his fanaticism for computer games.
"I met some of my oldest friends in arcades when I was a kid. My girlfriend hates it. It's like a little dirty secret."
She has won the battle with his vast vinyl collection, however.
"Before I was in a band I was a DJ so I've a massive vinyl collection. I'm always looking for new stuff because I still go out and DJ. I've a cottage up in Scotland where I keep it all."
The album was recorded, in part, at the Hansa Studios in Berlin, where the likes of Bowie's Heroes and Lodger were crafted, along with the better cuts from Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. Sounds romantic but does it really make any difference?
"You're always hoping there might be a ghost in the machine that overrides what you're doing. There are glimpses of Heroes on there."
He is hoping Snow Patrol's Arena date on Thursday will be better received than one of their earlier shows in the city.
"I remember we did a tour with Alfie and Appliance and we ended up playing The Social. The problem was the World Cup was on at the time and England were playing that night. They had a massive screen with the football on behind us. We were on first and there were three men and a dog watching England players bigger than us on a screen behind us.

Snow Patrol, Trent FM Arena, Thursday March 12.