Brief Encounters — Wire
Celebrating their 40th year as a band, Colin Newman tells us about Wire’s live debut in 1977, daft interview questions and how come he doesn’t produce other bands
So, 40 years as a band, eh? That’s a long time. How long did you think it’d last?
“To be honest, no idea! Especially at the beginning. However, by the time we released ‘Chairs Missing’ in 1978, only a year later, Wire already felt established. It didn’t feel like it was going to stop any time soon. However, 40 years is a long time, but it has to be seen in context. In the 60s, when I was growing up, the idea that music made more than five years previously could have any relevance seemed ridiculous. Even by the mid-70s the culture of pop and rock was barely 10 years old. Nowadays we are surrounded by music from every age and it’s not at all age specific.”
The latest Wire album, ‘Silver/Lead’, is released on the actual 40th anniversary of your live debut proper at The Roxy in Covent Garden in April 1977…
“One day before in fact as all releases these days are on Fridays, worldwide. The date is no coincidence. If Wire is to celebrate 40 years then it makes sense to do it with a new album.”
When was your actual live debut?
“There was a band called Wire that existed in 1976, but it was someone else’s band. We mainly played that person’s songs. Very little about it would have related to the band that made ‘Pink Flag’. It was the act of throwing out the founder member and starting again from the ground up, this time with material mainly written by myself and Graham [Lewis] that actually created the band we are able to celebrate the anniversary of. I doubt the earlier incarnation would have survived much beyond April 1977.”
“Our founder had broken his leg and was hospitalised. We continued rehearsing without him. Even his songs sounded better without him”
What do you remember about that first show on 1 April 1977?
“The previous incarnation of Wire had actually played the Roxy in early 1977 and we’d been told we weren’t good enough. You don’t necessarily think that logically when you are young, but I guess we must have realised that the writing was on the wall. I remember Graham and I went to see the Damned at The Roxy and we met up in The White Lion, which is still there, with a friend from college called Paul Lowe who insisted we were going nowhere fast with our founder member and we should get rid of him ASAP.
“I think Paul probably crystallised something because my response was that there was no way we could get rid him without new material and I volunteered my songwriting skills. Graham meanwhile said he could write some lyrics and promptly handed me the words to ‘Lowdown’. Meanwhile, our founder had in fact broken his leg and was hospitalised. We, of course, continued rehearsing without him. Even his songs sounded better without him! It was obvious his days with us were numbered.
“We then secured a gig at the Roxy in the February having given them a rehearsal tape of our improved sound. This proved to be our founder’s last gig with us. He had become superfluous. Bands are brutal. Barry Jones [from The Roxy] was especially impressed and we got invited to play at both nights their ‘punk festival’. We were bottom of the bill on that first night, but it didn’t matter because it was recorded.”
“We’ve always been happy to talk about the past, we just don’t want to live in it or trade off it”
And appeared as ‘The Roxy London WC2’ live album…
“It was recorded on the Virgin mobile studio, which was parked in the street outside, and produced by Mike Thorne who went on to produce our first three albums. We released both nights on our ‘Live At The Roxy, London (1977) / Live At CBGB Theatre, New York (1978)’.” Link
Wire have always been a forward looking band, and yet now all this is firmly embedded in social history. Do you mind looking back?
“We’ve always been happy to talk about the past, we just don’t want to live in it or trade off it. 1977 was an awful long time ago. This is also a battle we don’t have to fight any more for the most part. Nobody expects us to be suddenly trotting out all the hits we never had, we are quite free in that respect. True, we have excited a high expectation for our new releases, but that’s a pressure any artist should revel in.”
Do you feel as ground-breaking as people say?
“To be honest, I don’t really know what that means any more. Pop and rock music is eternally self-referential and technologies have been, for 20 years at least, all about refinement rather that revolution. It’s very hard to make something that sounds really new. If such a thing exists I’d love to hear it. Having said that there is no limitation on unique style and Wire, more than most artists, have pushed the envelope about how our records sound. I discovered a long time ago that Wire sounds like Wire which ever combination you throw it in. So the idea is basically not to care too much about style just make it as good as it can be.”
Are there any bands you’ve influenced who you wish you hadn’t?
“Yes. Am I going to name them? No!”
“I don’t get so many journalists trying to prove ‘they are just as smart as I am’ these days”
You must have done a mountain of interviews in the last 40 years, what’s the most common question you’re asked?
“Actually they change all the time. The thing is that if you take an active rather than a passive role on your projection then what you get asked a lot of the time relates to what is in the press release, which is a piece of writing we have commissioned to publicise our release. So in many ways we are leading the conversation. Our actions also dictate these things. Every interview this time round mentions the sheer quantity of releases we have made in recent years. I don’t mind that at all. It’s true, even if it wasn’t entirely by plan.”
… and what’s the most the stupid question you’ve been asked?
“You know what, I think people think twice before asking stupid questions. They are liable to get shown up very badly. At least I don’t get so many journalists trying to prove ‘they are just as smart as I am’ these days. I mean what’s all that about? Anyway, half the time they just want some kind of thematic list of records you like. Although I refuse to answer the question, ‘What’s the best record ever made?’.”
Is there a question you’d like to be asked but never have been?
“I rarely get asked about production and I never get asked how come I don’t produce other artists.”
Why don’t you?
“It’s a question of time and money. If I’m going to do a proper job, then it pretty much means I’m locked into a production for at least six months if it’s an album. Of course, that has a cost attached and my presumption is that I’m way too expensive for the kind of artist that might benefit from my ‘touch’. Still, I would like a little more recognition in that area!”
