New music
Dexys frontman and stylistic bon viveur Kevin Rowland.
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SAY SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO YOU
Have something to say. There’s no point otherwise. I can’t muster the enthusiasm to just be a journeyman. I can’t make music if I don’t have anything to say. Quite often, I feel like I’m finished with music. But then, I’ll have some life experiences… and I’ll recognise that change, and I’ll have to write about it. This is the way it is – I’m passionate about it.
DEALING WITH SUCCESS TAKES TIME
I mean, I didn’t cope with success in the past. I didn’t cope with it at all. Like the Commodores said: before success, you couldn’t tear us apart; after success, you could cut us open with a butterknife. But, having said that, we made three good albums… with three different bands. I’m better at dealing with it now, but I’m very much a work in progress.
TAKE CARE OF EACH TINY DETAIL
Perfectionism isn’t a problem. It’s about getting the album as good as you can get it. With music, if you have 16 musicians then each aspect has to be right. You need to do a lot of preparation to get to that. It’s an awful lot of work. It can be exhausting.
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SONGS ARE LITTLE MIRACLES
I’m always learning from other people. I don’t even know how it all works! When we finish a song it’s like, how did that happen? I dunno how we’ll do the next one. No idea. It’s all a bit of a miracle, really. I work from inspiration – that’s why there’s been so few albums.
FIGHT FOR YOUR CREATIVE FREEDOM
We used to fight terribly with our record labels in the early days. Big fights. And people don’t say that. People would say, oh it’s alright for you, you’ve got creative freedom! But we fought for that. Labels don’t just give you that. You have to fight for that. And what felt like a negative thing in the beginning, came out being something positive.
ALLOW CREATIVITY TO FLOW
I think the more relaxed you are, the more luck you get. Things flow. When you’re uptight, trying to control everything – and I can get like that – then you miss serendipity.
DO YOUR BEST
I’m better at dealing with criticism now. But it gets to you. The reaction from the media to ‘My Beauty’ for example felt very similar to ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’. There was a lot about clothes… and we were only wearing suits! But it was the 80s, and the press had bought into this rock ‘n’ roll thing. And they were really triggered by it! The way I look at it now – and I hope I can retain this – is that you do your best, you do the work, and you can hope people like it. If they even hear it! And if they don’t, there isn’t a lot you can do.
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AN ALBUM IS A STATEMENT
I see it as this amazing opportunity. You have this opportunity to make this statement. It’s not just writing eight or nine songs, and throwing out an album. It says something, in ways I often can’t even describe. It’s a journey.
STYLE IS SUBSTANCE
Style rather than fashion. Fashion is for the young; style is for everybody. It’s inspiration. It’s not mechanical – I just kind of go with it. I’ve learned over the years that if I get inspiration, just go with it. No matter what it is, just go with it. It’s just intuition. I can get really excited by a particular look. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night thinking about a pair of shoes! What is it my friend Jason Jules says? Style is substance. It’s not ‘style over substance’. Style is substance.
DO THE WORK
I get nerves before I go onstage. Always. I’m worried right now – about whether I’ll get a cold, if I have the stamina. But we’re working on it. It’s like Alex Ferguson said: if you put the work in, there’s a good chance it’ll go well. And we’re putting the work in.
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Dexys’ new album ‘The Feminine Divine’ is out now.
Interview: Robin Murray
