History recalls those who leave joy in the hearts of others with fondness, a certain measure of tipped hat in acknowledgement of the good times provided and the sense of serenity they leave, almost freely, in their wake. History used to view such things perhaps as being unimportant, of being secondary to the writing of events, of generals and kings, of warfare and queens, politicians and plagues; thankfully since the 1950s it has also in abundance properly recorded the thoughts of artists, of musicians, of the drama witnessed from those whose words speak volumes, whose music stirs the passions we wish to see raised.
One such man whose words, lyrical stance and observations have thrilled the fans of the band he has fronted and driven, formally with his writing and music partner, the superb Stephen Luscombe and latterly with an array of musicians who have captured his thoughts with the same intense fury, fervour and fortitude, Blancmange’s Neil Arthur.
Blancmange return to Liverpool’s Art Club on March 24th, a return that have the fans reminiscing of the last few years of outstanding gigs in the city as they have supported synth-pop stable mates Heaven 17 and wowed a new generation of fans with an absolute towering performance at Hanger 34 late last year.
Neil Arthur is one of the genre’s colossus; although he would deny it, his humility, the sheer depth of his honest candour and humble approach would restrict him completely from saying such, so it to the fans that such words spoken must be loudly praised. It is the coming together of those fans and their vocal support, especially after the famous Hanger 34 gig, that we should trust and for the man who has seen a resurrection of Blancmange, with albums such as last year’s Unfurnished Rooms, 2015’s Nil By Mouth, and the outstanding 2011 release of Blanc Burn join the ranks of Happy Families, Mange Tout and Believe You Me from the 1980s sojourn into popular adoration, that support has always been gratefully received.
To spend time, even in the brief interlude of a phone call, in the company of Neil Arthur is one of life’s great pleasures; it is the quiet introspective, of the boundless enthusiasm and perhaps the moments in which the deep thinking musician is just talking about what he loves, in which the spirit of the man can be found; and it is one that anyone would savour.
How are you?
NA: “I’m not too bad at all! It’s a pleasure to have a chat with you. The last time I saw you it was down at Hangar 34 I think it was?”
I’m going to say welcome back to Liverpool in a few months’ time and it’s great that you’re coming back to Liverpool.
NA: ”I’m to looking forward it as always.”
You seem to have a great affinity with the place?
NA: “I’ve got a big, soft spot for Liverpool, you know I’m a Lancashire lad and where I come from is not too far away from there as the crow flies and I’ve got quite a few mates. One mate in particular from my home town whose mother was very, very Scouse indeed and they all supported Liverpool and used to tell me lots and lots of stories. In more recent times, fantastic memories of good times there, not just doing gigs but actually time out in Liverpool and wondering around the city and so on. I have a big connection, I used to watch football there and like I said, I’ve got mates from there.”
Funny you should say about the gigs, because it’s obviously with you coming back you seem to have come back to Liverpool an awful lot lately which is great for fans of Blancmange, each time it just seems to get more and more powerful. The nights seem to become so electric in the atmosphere, have you noticed that at all?
NA: “It’s kind of you to say so, the last time we were there we were playing with our mates Heaven 17, weren’t we? They were great fun to be on tour with, quite a contrast in terms of electronic acts, we are quite different from each other but we come from similar origins. Although they are from Sheffield and we started out in London, I’m talking about timescales, we started at similar times though Martyn was part of the Human League before that. It was good fun but its hard work, it’s enjoyable hard work. When we played at Hangar 34 last time, what was nice was to obviously see people who probably had seen us the first time round but there’s also those inquisitive people who were a bit younger who didn’t have the opportunity to see us because we weren’t around then, so there was a younger audience in there as well.”
It was absolutely buzzing at Hangar 34 as it was when you played the Arts Club, again with Heaven 17 a couple of years’ back.
NA: “Again, I ‘m glad that we’re getting a good reaction but the they’re here to see us and Heaven 17 so we’ll just have to see what happens when we play on our own though we are playing with a good friend of ours who’s supporting us. As you may know, we’ve got an album of our own coming out in the near future – in late April/early May and we’re just finalising the artwork at the moment. I don’t know, it’s humbling when you get that reaction – going back to what you were saying, that electric atmosphere. We can respond; what’s most lovely is when an audience that you can feed off and they feed off you and it builds into something else, without the two parts it wouldn’t be possible so we’re very aware of how important the audience for us, big or small, whatever they bring to the party, we react to them, of course you do.”
It was very noticeable, and especially when you were obviously playing tracks from the latest album but then my particular favourite has always been your reading of ABBA’s The Day Before You Came. It’s a sublime piece of music that you did with that. The reaction to that song for example and the way you subtly changed it in the performance and then the reaction to Unfurnished Rooms was equal, they came across as both by the fans, they were just as giving to that night as it would have been as if you’d just played a set of the old hits as it were.
NA: “We are fortunate in that, I think we’ve talked about this before, Ian, without having had what might be classed as the legacy, having that available for us to delve into that back catalogue then I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make something special with the new stuff. I’m interested in what tomorrow brings, for better or worse and that’s the type of person that I am, I’m happy to play any old stuff.
I’m in the Unfurnished Rooms world now, that’s where I am but I’m absolutely happy to play the legacy. It’s fantastic for us as you’ve just described better than I could I suppose. What happens when we play for example, The Day Before You Came, it’s not our song as you know, without ABBA, we wouldn’t be able to do it but we do an interpretation of it and then to start a brand new song that many people in the audience, when you actually start it, particularly on the first leg of the tour, wouldn’t have known it, it’s absolutely brand new to them because some people wouldn’t have at that point heard anything off the album.
At the end of it, to get a reaction the way we did, people had four and a half minutes to get used to a new song, at the end of it, they go we like that one as well, that means the world to me because you’ve got that, as I said earlier, I’m absolutely happy to play the old music but in terms of creativity, I’m locked into Unfurnished Rooms and more recent albums and what the next album will be.”
On the latest album, there’s some really terrific tracks – Anna Dine, Share It Out, Wiping The Chair, Gratitude and We Are The Chemicals? There’s some great stuff in all that and I think I remember saying at the time that there’s this sublime feeling of – and I don’t mean this in a bad way – of ordinariness and loneliness that wanders through the chords and there’s like the ghost of humanity walking perfectly through it. They are wonderful songs.
NA: “Well, that’s very kind of you, that means an awful lot because you put yourself a lot into your songs and I’m well aware that they are great songs but that’s what I do, I put myself into every single one of them. It’s interesting to hear what people’s interpretations of them are and not answer questions directly because I like the idea of ambiguity!”
As a good poet should! I don’t know if you have the same feeling as when people ask you to explain this particular song – I don’t believe that it’s ever up to the writer or the musician to explain the song, it’s the interpretation inside that person’s head.?
NA: “Yes, it would be like standing in front of a painting and the artist explaining what it is all about, you wouldn’t look at it then, would you? You’re absolutely right, for each listener and in the case of a book, the reader, or with a film; everyone can make their mind up. If you went to the last page of a book, you probably wouldn’t read the rest of it. I’m still learning about them myself – we’re all on a voyage of discovery and as you’re creating it, you’re learning.”
That comes across you know, when I think back to the past and I know it’s difficult not to talk about the past in some respects, when you think about the stuff you’ve produced with obviously the wonderful Steven but then you come to this 25 year break between recordings and you came back so strongly with Blanc Burn and again another terrific album but steeped in – unlike, say for example, however much I love Heaven 17, Human League and Erasure and those bands of your ilk or genre, there’s a distinct ordinariness that would be very, very at home in the works of Alan Bennett.
NA: “Talking Heads!”
You know when you’re talking about say about Woolworths – “I’ll meet you outside Woolies”, I can’t see other bands of your genre coming up with something as incredibly cool as that as a motif!
NA: “Well, again, that’s very kind of you to say so! Blimey! That was great to hear that!”
I can only say what I hear at the end of the day!
NA: “Alan Bennett singing that would be something else!”
I’d rather see you doing the Talking Heads!
NA: “Not the David Byrne Talking Heads!“
What are the plans for this next album that you’ve got coming up?
NA: “We’re going to come out and so more dates to promote Unfurnished Rooms, we want to play places that we didn’t do in our own right so it will be lovely to be back in Liverpool this time but as a headline act and do a slightly different show, there’s a possibility that you might hear a new song as well but we’ll talk about that and then beyond that we’ve got a new album under the name New Future and the album’s called Ideal Home and that’s going to be out end of April/beginning of May on my label as the Blancmange thing did and we’ll see where that goes.
I’m very excited about that and then beyond that I’m at the moment, I’m writing a new Blancmange album, well recording actually as it’s largely written and I’m doing that with Benge again so that hopefully will see the light of day in the not too distant future but for now it’s very much Unfurnished Rooms. I’ve plans, there will be another Fader album and I’ve got another couple of projects that I’m working on. I’m probably the happiest when I’m writing; I enjoy the stage bit and going on performing, doing the songs but I can’t say that I enjoy touring! I need teleportation to get me there!”
There is a sense of comfort in just being able to record, I get the same thing with my poetry, I found it easier to record my poems and put them online especially with the position I’m in health-wise by constantly going poetry nights. The more comfortable you are, the better probably the stuff comes across.
NA: “Of course, it’s great to have interaction and get feedback but as long as it’s constructive criticism – I’m all ears but if it’s destructive criticism I find as difficult as anyone else would, we’re all human. I really do enjoy the gig, the gig is great – big or small, I really enjoy that and it’s wonderful to meet people but I what I don’t like is the travelling and being away from my family and all that.”
Especially in this day and age when family is more important than ever; it’s very cool. Thank you so much for taking time out to talk!
Blancmange play Liverpool’s Arts Club on March 24th.
Ian D. Hall