Interview
People are crying. Not a rare experience on Cowley Road, I grant you, but tonight they are crying for all the right reasons. Against all probability, a bearded hulk of a man scruffily dressed in baggy trousers and an old work t-shirt has penetrated the city's apathetic veneer and shown that the words 'Oxford' and 'emotional' can actually go together without evoking bad poetry. Indeed, it is this man's very words which have caused this most unusual state of affairs. For three songs into his band's set, Guy Garvey put down his guitar for the first time and meekly began 'Powder Blue', the sparse instrumentation promoting a vulnerable and tender beauty in his voice that betrays his physique: "They're trying to ignore us. That's ok. I'm proud to be the one you hold when the shakes begin". And, just for a minute, it seems as if the members of the packed crowd are not the only ones affected by what is going on. Just briefly it seems that Garvey himself is on the edge. And, in a world increasingly populated by irreverent bands who seem more interested in playing for the contents of the bar than the people in it, this passion adds to the beauty of the man and his music.
It's hard to believe that this is the same man encountered in the dressing room barely an hour earlier, the confident joker whose main concern seemed to be clearing the rider of mini scotch eggs while his band completed their monotonous soundcheck routines. But if Garvey seems to have few worries, usually a major sin in any musician, the position he has now found himself in more than excuses him. He not only leads England's best and most exciting 'new' band in years, made up of four other members as equally talented as himself who work together so tightly so as to seem as if they have been together for years, but he is actually being appreciated for it. They all are. The epic recent single, 'Red', was the band's first proper single and their first foray into the Top 40, while the debut album, Asleep in the Back, even if a little disappointing in the light of the live experience, has garnered widespread praise and entered the chart at number fourteen last week. The live shows are selling out and getting similarly ecstatic reviews.
It's been a long time in coming. As if to prove that hardship is a necessary stage on the path of genius, the band have almost been here before, signing to, and getting dropped by, both Island and EMI back in 1998. Needless to say, this has made their newfound success even more exciting: "It's amazing to finally be appreciated," remarks bassist Pete Turner gleefully. "It's a real two fingers to Island." Drummer Richard Jupp is equally excitable, if more, erm, philosophical: "It's great to be doing well in the charts, but we're more concerned with how we sell in Asda. Our priorities lie in making sure we're the housewives' number one."
If the reaction on Saturday night is anything to go by, however, Elbow look to have cornered an even more lucrative, not to mention conservative, market. Got The Man Who? Got Performance and Cocktails? Got Parachutes? Got Asleep in the Back? It can only be a matter of time. Indeed, Elbow have found themselves exactly where Coldplay were twelve months ago, rising above a band heavily pushed by the NME to sell out venues like the Zodiac and threaten a major breakthrough. It's a comparison apparently new to the band, but one Turner seems to appreciate: "I caught Terris quite recently, and nobody was interested. I feel so sorry for Starsailor and all the hype they're getting right now without even having an album out, poor bastards. They're a good band, and I hope the album does really well, but there's bound to be some kind of backlash. It's quite sad really, but sometimes bands can suffer from over-hype and end up disappointing people. When our City Life EP came out, people were calling us the new Stone Roses which terrified us. People were inevitably disappointed." "Not as disappointed as when we were called the next AC/DC, though," interrupts Garvey. One comparison that seems to be increasing in the light of the live shows is, inevitably, Radiohead. The Guardian, for example, recently promoted them as "Radiohead without the incessant frivolity" , oblivious to the subtle humour which permeates the lyrics and which Garvey ruefully reflects "people seldom pick up on", and also to the fact that Radiohead at least look to lack the potential to make another album as good as OK Computer. Again it's a comparison they understand, albeit with modification: "I'd say we're more Radiohead without the drama posturing. Radiohead for girls." Don't be fooled, though- Elbow are much more abrasive than all that. Garvey produced I Am Kloot's debut album Natural History "to stop anybody tweeing up it", and leant his own band an even more caustic sound. As I quickly found out, you should not be fooled by his jovial, larger than life attitude. Get too close to the Guy, and he might even make you cry.
Tom Neal
24th May 2001