ramshackle beauty
david blue interviews danny wylie

 

DB - As the former frontman of the Cosmic Rough Riders, how does it feel to be out on your own, as it were?

DW - I've never been happier. I've regained control of my music. I got into music to sing my own songs and I never really wanted to be in a 'band' as such. With the Cosmics I started to lose control of the overall feel of the songs and I felt that the time was right to go out on my own. I think that it was the right decision to go my own way and recover the artistic freedom that I had sought over the past few years.

DB - The new album, Ramshackle Beauty, is, in my opinion, full of great songs played by a tight unit. Will you be using the same musicians from the studio in your live act?

DW - Some of them will be joining me on tour. Ex-Laura Cantrell guitarist Zachary Ware and bassist Tom McGarrigle play on the album and are in the touring set-up and the others on the album were the Pearlfishers Jim Gash on drums and Michael Connaghan and Raymond Mead on guitar.

DB - The album seems to appeal to a wide age group - I've played it to seventeen and forty year olds and both enjoyed it so I think that you're onto a good thing.

DW - I wanted to make a record that was timeless and to appeal to people that are into music for more than five minutes at a time.

DB - There's a happy, summery feeling to the album, even down to the honeybees and sun on the cover, so was it a conscious decision to release it just as spring was about to burst out?

DW - Yes. I thought about releasing it earlier but decide against it. Why remind people about the summer when they're in the depths of winter - it may well depress them even further. I like to produce good melodies, words are important of course but there are some great poets out there that can conjure up amazing images with words so I want people to enjoy themselves listening to my tunes.

DB - There's certainly good tunes in there and I can hear some Byrds, Neil Young and REM influences in the background.

DW - You're very perceptive. I'm a major follower of Neil Young and I've loved REM since the early days. It's interesting that you mention the Byrds because I hadn't heard of them as such until I recorded the first Cosmic Rough Riders album, Deliverance, and then I started to get the reviews saying that I must have Byrds influence. So I went out a bought eight Byrds albums and heard the similarities for myself. I'm now buying a lot of older albums such as Jethro Tull, Tom Petty and many others.

DB - There are a few candidates for singles on the album - what are the plans?

DW - 'Make Love To The World' was released the other week but there's been no decision as yet about the follow up.

DB - Do you still live in Scotland or have you had to move down to London?

DW - I still live in Glasgow and it's an excellent place to live. After all, London's only an hour away nowadays.

DB - What's the best thing about living in Glasgow, and in general, Scotland?

DW - There's such a vibrant music scene up here at the moment. I try to get out and see as many bands as possible.
DB - Who's hot at the moment?

DW - There's a band called The Golden Hour - they play 60s style pop and if they get the backing of a major label then they're going to be big.

DB - Getting back to the album, what was the inspiration for 'Michael The Butterfly'?

DW - That was about Michael Connaghan who played guitar on the album. He's so elusive and hard to pin down. It's like if Michael put together all of his good hours he would have one good day, just like the lifespan of a butterfly.

DB - 'If You Stay A While' and 'The Grapevine' are the only two slightly downbeat songs on the album. Was this to stop people getting too happy?

DW - 'The Grapevine' is about gossip and Chinese whispers and basically I'm telling people to listen and make up their own minds about things. On the last album, Enjoy The Melodic Beauty' I think that a lot of people missed the irony in the lyrics that were there to counterbalance the happy melodies so I've included the lyrics on this one so that folks can read what I'm trying to put over.

DB - As I've said before, I think that this is a fine body of work. Do you consider it to be on a par or better than your work with Cosmic Rough Riders?

DW - I think that it's better. I've expanded things a little and I'm now influenced by contemporary artists as well as those from the past. I don't want to be classed as a retro artist forever but that doesn't mean to say that I want to leave behind those that have followed me so far. Maybe the next album will be a double, one could be the familiar stuff and the other could be more experimental.

DB - You say that contemporary artists influence you, so who is exciting you at the moment?

DW - Coldplay, they are excellent lyrically and deserve their success both here and in America. Others are January, The Stands, The Stills and Snow Patrol. I still like the older stuff and I have to thank my parents for my favourite album, Barnstorm by Joe Walsh.

DB - Finally, give me five words to describe the album.

DW - Melodic, sensitive, noisy, guitar pop.

Daniel Wylie's Ramshackle Beauty is released on 29th March 2004 on Measured Records.

David Blue.

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DAVID CHILDERS

1.. WHERE WERE YOU BORN, WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?

I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina; and grew up in the small textile
town of Mount Holly, North Carolina, 10 miles from Charlotte. I went off to
Military School and college after that when I was fifteen, then graduate
school and different jobs; wound up back in Mount Holly with my wife Linda,
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