A Quick Q&A With Andy Bell
Having a career spanning over thirty years, Andy Bell, is recognised for a wide variety of projects, including RIDE, Hurricane #1, Oasis, Beady Eye and GLOK. However, at the humble age of fifty, ‘The View From Halfway Down’ is Bell’s first solo offering. We caught up with Andy, ahead of the release of ‘I Was Alone’, the second release taken from his debut solo record… Image: Shiarra Bell
The record was completed over a gradual four-year process. Did you begin with the intentions of completing a solo record or did you have a body of work which naturally developed into that?
Yeah, I did start with the intention of making my own record. This was at the start of 2016. I had some songs that were all kind of folky, and I wanted to record them really minimally, just drums, bass and an acoustic guitar. Most of them had no vocals written yet. I recorded about 15 or 20 songs at Gem Archers studio that way. The material had been gathering naturally for a while, some of the songs dated back years in rough demo form. But these sessions gave all these tracks a new starting point, they were like the bare bones of definitive versions, which I then gradually built up, with breaks here and there while I was working on Ride and GLOK records. The minimal idea went out the window at some point, this all happened naturally, I kind of forgot about it, the songs just had room to become what they became.
You laid some tracks down with Gem Archer, who engineered the record. You’ve obviously worked together in the past on several records, many of our readers will not know him for his role behind the desk. How was working with Gem in a production sense?
Working with Gem in the studio is something that comes easily because we know each other so well. He’s known mainly as a guitarist and he’s one of the best there is, but there’s a lot more to Gem, he’s a man of many talents. His studio skills may not be as known to people yet, but they should be. He gets fantastic sounds, especially drum sounds, he’s really into it, obsessed with mic placement and the right sound damping and stuff. More importantly, he has great taste in music and he’s just a good person to be around. So yeah, it just went easily, we got a lot more than what’s on this album, so the follow up may not be far behind.
The name of the record ‘The View From Half Way Down’ is taken from a particularly dark episode of BoJack Horseman. Can you discuss why that title resonated with you and can you elaborate upon the message behind the episode which had a profound effect on yourself?
I can only talk about my own interpretation of it, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers. But the phrase relates to a suicide. Someone is jumping to their death, but the view from halfway down makes them realise they don’t want to go through with ending their life. Of course, it’s too late if you’re already halfway down. But, what I took from this is, if you could think about the view from halfway down, I would hope that you wouldn’t do anything to end your life, you would realise all the things you have to live for. So, for me, it is a hopeful message.
Your first single release, ‘Love Comes In Waves’, coincided with your fiftieth birthday (we hope you had a great day!) Not to make you feel old, but you’ve had a career spanning over thirty years now. If we were to speak to an eighteen-year-old version of you, do you think he could envisage the career you’ve had and what advice would you give him?
Thank you! I did. Hmm. When I turned 18, there were still 2 months to go until Ride started. I had just done my A-levels and I was about to go to Art School along with Mark Gardener. I made a couple of demo’s with Steve Queralt over that Summer. I was dreaming of a life in music, and already thinking that we’d end up starting a band at Art School. In my head we’d form a band and be bigger than the Beatles. What ended up happening wasn’t quite that, but it wasn’t too bad.
There is a clear (wild) honey pot of influences on this record, can you talk more about the inspiration behind this record?
David Bowie’s Blackstar album, specifically the song Lazarus, was a direct inspiration for me to hit the studio in the first place. Starting from the basic tracks recorded with Gem, the folky, fingerpicking guitar style which runs through the record comes from listening to music like John Fahey, Simon & Garfunkel and some of The La’s B-sides. The drumming was influenced by Jaki Liebezeit of CAN and Klaus Dinger of Neu! On bass I mostly used a Hofner Violin bass and tried to do my best Paul McCartney. Then as the tracks developed, other influences came through, a lot of Krautrock, The Beatles, a lot of Stone Roses, especially with vocals and production. Arthur Russell, A.R Kane, early Tame Impala, Sault, Spacemen 3. Most of the electric guitar on the album was played on a Vox Invader that I bought from the late, great, Andrew Weatherall a few years ago.
Is there any new/old music you’ve discovered in lockdown that we should be checking out?
Nothing you wouldn’t have heard probably - but here are some of the tunes I’ve been enjoying...
Sonic Boom - Just Imagine
Bdrmm - Happy
Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini - Illusion of Time
Ezra Furman - I’m Coming Clean
Bon Voyage - High Power
Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge
Khruangbin - Time
Michael Kiwanuka - You Ain’t The Problem
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Arthur Russell - Barefoot In New York
Aside from completing your record during lockdown and presumably watching BoJack Horseman, how have you occupied yourself?
Home schooling an 8 year old and a 6 year old, and plenty of DIY.
Lastly, can you summarise ‘The View From Halfway Down’ in three words?
Shoegaze Barbecue Music
Bonus psychedelia round: You’re driving your own version of the Magical Mystery Bus. This could be a psychedelic Prius, a forty-man tandem, or simply a flying carpet made to look like a Mercedes Splitter van. You’re heading to your own festival, which is in the sky. For marketing purposes, let’s call this ‘Bellstock’. Who are you taking to play the gig and why? And are the Hells Angels on security?
Haha I like it. I am going to go all out and have: The Beatles, the Velvets and Hendrix play this thing, who else… let’s have: CAN, Neu! maybe Kraftwerk… And we need a dance tent, it’s got to be Weatherall all night long!