Blancmange
Outline’s Steve Plunkett caught up with Neil Arthur, the very welcoming, chatty, long standing front man and co-founder now flying solo since Stephen Luscombe sadly retired from duties. They discussed many topics including family life, football and of course his musical career and the new album.
SP: You must feel incredibly proud of your achievements since forming Blancmange back in 1978, could you ever have imagined, hoped or dreamt that it would last this long?
NA: No not at all, I feel extremely humbled to still be making music, it’s what I do. I need to work and I also still want to work. We have a real hard core set of fans, our music is of their time and it makes me really very proud that they are still with us. It’s like a legacy, I often need to pinch myself when I see their support and commitment at gigs. Following quite a break of some twenty years, I really did enjoy coming back in 2011 it gave us another chance and then Stephen left unfortunately. But I found that I had the drive and motivation once again for the whole creative process, which then gave me the opportunity to record and tour again. I think that our music has stood the test of time quite well, there is a lot of electronic music around still these days.
SP: What were your aspirations when you first formed the band with Stephen and how did it all come together at that time?
NA: Our musical influences when we started were bands like the Young Marble Giants, Captain Beefheart and Can. We were both illustrators and graphic designers before we started the band, but we could both play and music was just an outlet for our energy and emotions at that time. But the more time we spent on it the more we thought that we could give it a go, we then progressed into the studio and started recording and it kind of went from there. We started to put some structure behind what we were doing then we ultimately released Sad Day which ended up on Happy Families. Luckily when we got some interest and signed for London Records it meant we could quit the day jobs.
SP:Are you still in touch with each other and is there ever any chance of him (Stephen) taking part in the band in any capacity?
NA: Sadly it won’t be happening, but we just get on with it, we are in touch, we get on really well still. I will be sending him a copy of the new album to get his blessing. He is fine with everything that I am doing. I came across some old demo tapes which I sent to him and I got him to check the sleeve notes to okay them once the record and PR Company had completed them their end. It was important for me to get him involved in that process to ensure that it was all correct before it was released. .
SP: I have really been enjoying the new album (Wanderlust), its sounding great. What has been the process for writing and recording it? How and where did it all come together?
NA: I really went off piste, it started life with me analysing what it feels like when your babies grow up and you know that there comes a point where they need to go and there is a time to let go, but it’s also very painful but of course crucial that everyone moves on at the same time. All of my songs normally start on the guitar, I find that I am always writing lyrics down or putting something down in the studio. We released Unfurnished Rooms in 2017 and from there on that really started the process for Wanderlust, it was just a continuation of the last album and after the tour I started to put some songs down with Benge in Cornwall, he has recently been producing John Grant who himself also featured on UR. He is a real master and genius with analogue synths and when all the songs were written we used a VST to put it all together and finished it in June this year, were really very happy with the finished record.
SP: I particularly enjoyed Distant Storm and In Your Room from Wanderlust, what can you tell me about those two songs?
NA: Distant Storm has been kicking around for years, it was in an unfinished state for absolutely ages, it’s just that I only just managed to get round to building and finishing the song in recent times, I added a chorus and then Benge took it all a stage further to completion to where it is now on the record. I can’t praise him enough as a collaborator we really do push each other’s boundaries. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I had heard a distant storm, then I realised that it was my partners deep breathing in her sleep, it had a real beauty to it like the rain sounds in the middle of the night. In Your Room, has really brought out our sonic side, I originally started playing it on a of Fender bass guitar, it reminded me of a song by the Cure that had a strong moody bass line to it, I really love them as a band, it was Plainsong and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Within the song’s lyrics it’s about two people, two characters acting out a film, play or book watching someone else’s life playing out in a simple environment in the sun, it’s about two people that want to be together in the here and now, but it’s difficult for them in reality on the outside.
SP: I have to ask you, is I Smashed Your Phone a true story? If so did you pay for a replacement phone?
NA: No it’s not, it’s more about verging on the edge of a domestic when everyone is tied to their phones as all of us are these days, we are all guilty of it.
SP: What continues to inspire you to write and perform? How do you search for influence and inspiration?
NA: I never really like being in too much of a comfort zone, I am continually pushing and urging myself on. I always have a mix of some happy humour and dark all around me. I am always looking for some future song / album ideas and inspirations and this comes from many areas, from around the home, maybe even from something that I am thinking of or seeing when I am out walking the dog. I am regularly sending myself an idea or a sound from my phone to my pc in my studio.
SP: Do you have any recollections of playing in Norwich from past tours?
NA:Yes of course I certainly remember playing at the UEA, we supported Depeche Mode there in the early eighties, in fact I spoke to Vince Clarke quite recently, we are still in touch and if Vince was still in the band that must’ve been really very early Depeche Mode days. We had some great bands support and play with us on tours including the Housemartins, they had a couple of really good footballers in the band, including Paul Heaton, and yeah he was really good. I am sure that I have played at the Arts centre too, in fact I know that I have, that’s a great venue and it will be good to be back there and in Norwich too. From memory there are some good pubs along that area of the City.
SP: If my memory serves me well I am sure that I remember you saying at one of your gigs back in the day that you are a Blackburn Rovers FC?! Are you happy with your football team’s start to the season?
NA: Yes I am delighted with what Tony Mowbray has done, I think he has done a really great job. He inherited a lot of the clubs troubles and dead wood players and a team with no spirit or fight. They are playing some very good football just now in a really tough league, it’s great to see. At last the good times have returned to Ewood Park after far too many years in the wilderness. Elliott Bennett the ex-Norwich is playing brilliantly for us, he is so versatile, and I really do like him a lot. I still play football myself, even though I have arthritic knees and a dodgy back from doing lots of marathons, 10k’s and football over the years. I still cycle though and I have been lucky enough to play veterans for Blackburn, I even played in the master’s world cup.
SP: Tell us about the musicians that will be playing with you on the tour, who have you got with you?
NA: We have got Adam Fuest who also works with me as an engineer and also Oogoo Maia and since 2011 Liam Hutton has been on electronic percussion, he has recently been playing and working with Neneh Cherry and Kate Tempest to name but a few.
SP: What can we expect from you when you play at the Norwich Arts Centre next month?
NA: Definitely some songs from the new album and of course some surprises from the back catalogue including some of the classics. After many years of not playing Don’t Tell Me, we have been doing that again and really enjoying it. We just love it when we see the audience enjoying the music it’s very uplifting when they are singing our songs louder than us.
SP: How much does the music business differ now to what you encountered when you first started out in the late seventies / eighties?
NA: There is really no comparison, it’s just totally unrecognisable from what it was back then. We are now in control of recording, distribution and touring, in fact all of it, we do things when and how we want. We have had a French label purchase our back catalogue recently and they are working with me to do something special with it in the near future, that wouldn’t have happened with the previous record company. They probably didn’t even know that they had it still in the vaults!
SP: Is there one song or moment that you feel best defines / sums up Blancmange / your career to date?
NA: Yes, it would be a track called Sad Day that ended up on the Some Bizarre Records sampler’s album. It also featured Soft Cell and Depeche Mode amongst others and of course Stevo (Pearce) also coming and finding us up after Stephen had taken some copies of our debut Irene & Mavis e.p down to Rough Trade in London, I think it was something like twenty five copies that we gave them on a sale or return basis and he liked it and luckily Stephen had put his address down, so he tracked us down, that was a very big moment for us, it was great, that was how all of this started and I will always be grateful for the opportunities that it brought us both, It was a very significant moment.
