Interview The Wedding Present
The final concert of the year at the O2 Academy sees The Wedding Present making a welcome return to the city – we caught up with David Gedge to chat about the new album and the upcoming show.
Interview: The Wedding Present
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The Wedding Present have had a quiet year so far, but Gedge outlines that they have been busy behind the scenes. “We just recorded a new album, which is not totally finished yet. The people who have heard it say it has a kind of rockier sound. The good thing for me was that we had a couple of line-up changes. We had our bass player Terry leave and got a new bass player. Our drummer became the guitarist, because he was a drummer as well. So it is a fairly major shift in personnel, which all kind of added to it. People always want to make it as good as the previous or historic line-up. It was almost like starting a new group in a way.”
Gedge compares the new material to the last album, “El Ray, was quite a poppy sound. It’s weird in a way; we recorded it with Steve Albini, who is known more for a darker, grungy sound. He is a great engineer, but we like to change who we work with. It’s nice to try different people and ideas. This one, we recorded ourselves in a studio in France. It has a more rock’n’roll feel.”
The appearance at the O2 Academywill mark a return to Gedge’s home town. Gedge recalls his time in Leeds fondly, “I was born in Leeds, and went back to University in Leeds. Eventually I was the last person in the band who lived there. I left in 2004 and moved to America. It’s a nice place though, I still feel like it’s a home to me though.”
Gedge also talked about what to expect from the shows: “The band is back to a classic rock’n’roll line-up now, with bass, drums and two guitars. It’s going to be good for the mini-tour - we just want to put on a good night out.” He also talked about the problems of putting a set together, “we just have so much stuff these days. It’s not just the most popular songs we want to play. It is much easier to put an album together, because that is just the songs we have recorded. We have 250 or so of our own songs to choose from. We sometimes like to play a cover song or two as well.”
Speaking of the New Year, we asked Gedge whether there would be anything that he would like for The Wedding Present in 2012. He focuses on the new recording, saying “I just want the new record to do well”. Although after a moment’s thought he adds, “I would like Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the Bond films, to ask me to write them a theme tune. The music is so brilliant on those things. My other band Cinerama has a filmic theme. I would happily write them a new one. I get approached quite a lot to do music for films, but I have so little time I don’t get to do it. I would definitely make time for a Bond theme though.”
The Wedding Present appear at the O2 Academy Leeds on 30th December. Tickets are priced at £13 in advance
Posted on Monday 5th December 2011
Neil Chapman
O2 Academy Leeds
55 Cookridge Street, Leeds, LS2 3AW
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