August 2001
'There's a fever, on the freeway', sings James Walsh from Starsailor with a kind of world-weariness that suggests he has clocked a few emotional miles. Combining Kerouac style lyrics with strung out acoustics, cloud bursting choruses and gut wrenching musicality, once heard Starsailor are never forgotten. Check out what they've got to say on worldpop...
1. The new album, Love is Here.
worldpop: What can we expect from the new album?
James: With the debut album we want to catch the simplicity and sparseness
of the first single, which was Fever and the production values of Good
Souls. We want it to be really natural and live.
worldpop: Where did the name come from?
James: The name came from an old Tim Buckley album. We're very influenced
by Tim and Jeff Buckley. We thought that it was a good tribute to their
work.
worldpop: What did you think about the reaction to Good Souls?
James: Originally Good Souls was going to be a B-side, so we were quite
surprised when everyone really liked it. We recorded it with the same sort
of ethic of trying to keep everything as live as possible. When we got
into the studio we just mucked around and had fun, and never really intended
it to be released as a single.
worldpop:What do you think about the hype built around the band?
James: We're quietly confident because the hype has built up around
us without it being of our own making. We don't want to have to worry about
reviews and all of the hype. We just want to keep our feet on the ground
and concentrate on the music.
worldpop: What do you think about the current pop scene?
James: I think the climate of music today is changing more in favour
of songwriters and bands now. A couple of years ago a band like us, Manic
Street Preachers and Stereophonics would never have played on a show like
cd:uk. People were far more tribalist about the music and could only be
allowed to be into one particular thing. Things have changed now.
The rough and ready life of a rock n' roll troubadour!
worldpop: How will you deal with the fame?
James: I take the fame thing with a pinch of salt really and remember
that music is why we're in the business 'so to speak' and that's the priority
really.
worldpop: What's been your most nerve-racking experience in the fame
game?
James: We stood inches away from Bono which was quite nerve wracking.
But I've always been more nervous about people who have influenced my music
like Tim from The Charlatans and I can't wait to meet Neil Young.
worldpop: What festivals do you have booked?
James: We're booked to play the Fleadh, which Neil Young is headlining,
V2001 and T -in The Park.
worldpop: What do you think of the pressure put on bands to churn out
material by record companies?
James: The idea of growing a band as naturally as possible is something
that the record companies are seeing as being the way forward. I think
we have confidence with the label we're on that there are people dealing
with things on every level so we can just concentrate on the music.
worldpop: What do you think about the pressure to perform well in the
charts?
James: I think that for bands like us and bands that are playing music
for the love it then chart position is a great bonus. The top 40 is reflected
in the business side of pop, not the musical side. We don't really care
about chart position. I think with that kind of relaxed attitude people
find us endearing.
worldpop: Would you ever catch Starsailor chucking a diva wobbly in
the diva style of Jenifer Lopez?
James: I don't think we could throw a tantrum of any enormity, we're
quite grounded young lads really, we come from a house in Wigan and we've
been in the game for only a year so we just enjoy every minute. I could
never get used to it so much that I'd complain about dressing rooms and
stuff. That's not about music and if it's not about music these people
should really just give up.
