Interview with Chris Norman, July 2010
This interview was done during Chris Norman's Russian tour in April.
Due to some long rides in between the cities we had enough time for detailed talks and Chris was kind enough to answer a lot of questions thoroughly. I appreciate his friendliness, sincerity and support very much. I also hope you'll keep sending us more questions for Chris, for his future long Russian travels :)… Enjoy reading! (Stranger)
Part 1
“I’m thinking of my kids rather than me now...”
— Chris, knowing your creative nature, we can easily assume that probably you have already written some new songs since the last album release?
— I have a few, but not many, really. Because I know that I'm not going to do another studio album with new songs for quite a while, there’s no real pressure to do that. So the next album is maybe going to be a covers album which I start recording when I sort out some problems with the record company. That’s going to be probably songs of the people I like and I’m going to make new versions of them. Because that’s what the record company thinks will sell at the moment. It’s a difficult thing – new recordings, new songs for somebody at my age now, because the kind of people who are buying records – most of them – is different. There are obviously exceptions like maybe you or people who like to listen to new studio albums. But the majority of people who are in their 40s or older, they don’t go and buy albums so much anymore, they don’t go and buy new records…
— So you have no stimuli for making new songs then?
— There are no more at the moment to do. Although I have written some songs – just for the sake of it, which I’ll keep for later. It’s not a bad thing in a way because it means I’ve got like probably a couple of years before I have to think about doing a studio album with new songs. So it means at that time maybe I’ll have got quite a collection.
But also the other thing is that I’m recording with my kids now. So I’ve been writing songs for them. So a lot of time now goes for writing them songs, and I’m thinking of them rather than me. So I’m thinking of what they can sing, what their kind of direction is, because it’s different from my stuff, it’s more rocky. And it’s more modern, Susan’s singing so it’s a girl’s voice, and rock guitars, it’s good stuff. So I’ve been writing for and with them more. We’ve got quite a few songs, some of them written already, some of them nearly written. But it’s mostly for them.
A few days later in a tour bus Chris played demo records of 2 songs to us. The songs sounded really great, with very nice singing of Susan and excellent playing of Michael on guitar and Steven on drums. Chris said he was playing bass on one of the tracks. So we can only keep our fingers crossed for the success of this project!
— And as for this cover versions album, when do you think it will come out?
— This album is on hold at the moment because of discussions with the record label.
— Recently you mentioned you’ve visited the record company, was it about that?
— I’ve done that, yes. It was their idea. These record companies in Germany and in Scandinavia, they wanted to do a cooperation and do an album with covers, it was their idea. They said, lots of people have done it and you haven’t done it and we think lots of people would want to hear it. And then I started to think about if I pick the right songs that I haven’t done before. And it might be ok, so… I would do that anyway.
— So there won’t be songs you now perform in concerts, like Sledgehammer, Summer of 69, etc?
— No, because I’ve done them on the stage for so long. They are already on DVD or whatever. This to be different. And anyway I want to do different songs on that.
— Is it yet a secret what songs will be on that record?
— Well, yes, it’s a secret because mainly I don’t know it yet myself… (laughes). But I got a list like this (shows), so far I’ve got about 25-30 songs. I mean, originally when the record company gave me an idea for songs, I had about a hundred songs… But now I’ve got it down to about 30, and I need to get it down to about 14, as it will be a single album.
— And getting back to your last album, you had a successful cooperation with Sandy Strmlyan, who is a modern composer and producer from Hamburg. Do you continue working with him?
— Not on this one record. I would like to work with him again. He sent me an e-mail actually because he heard I was going to do a new album soon. He heard it from the publishing company that we booked with. And he wrote to say he would love to get involved in it again if he could. And I rang him to say that basically it’s a different sort of things, it’s not going to be a writing thing. So it would be great to write together and do some things with him, but I’m not doing it now on this album. Also I might be working with a Scandinavian producer.
— Now let’s return to “Kindness” times.
On April, 3 it was 40 years since the first Kindness single was released on RCA. What is your attitude to those Kindness records, do you like them? Haven’t you thoughts to perform any of them live or to re-record again?
— No. I mean I like them, ok. I don’t dislike them, they are all right. I like them for what they are, like our early attempts of starting to make records. They were in some other way. I mean “Light Of Love”, which was the first one, was very typical of its time. I can’t see doing it now. And it wasn’t such a great song, it was just ok. If it would have been a great song that was worth re-doing, but it wasn’t. It was just a song of its time, I think.
And we did “Lindy Lou” which was a piece of shit, it was horrible. I mean that nobody wanted to have the name on that at all. Not even us (laughs).
“Lindy Lou” was a thing when we were on Decca Records. And there was a guy called Dick Rowe, who actually was a famous guy because he turned down The Beatles. Brian Epstein came to him with a Beatles demo tape, and Dick Rowe said “No, the guitar bands are finished, it’s going to be something new now”…So when we were there, he was like an executive producer. And he was an older guy, I don’t know how old he was, he seemed old to me at that time. He was probably not older than me now, I was only about 20 or 21. He went on holiday and he came back with this song, a song in Spanish. It was this “Oh Julie” and it had been a holiday hit in Spain. And he thought it could be a hit in England and he wanted us to record it. We all hated it. The producer hated it and the engineer hated it, everybody hated it, except him. And nobody wanted their name on it – nobody wanted “engineered by…” or “produced by…”. They said “No, no, that’s ok”. Because they all thought it was horrible. But anyway…
What else? We did “Let The Good Times Roll”, that wasn’t bad, that was ok. We did “Make It Better”, that was ok.
— Were there any records that hadn’t been released?
— When we first signed to RCA, we recorded a song called “And That Is Life”. And another song at that same time was called “Nodnol” which is “London” backwards. We recorded those two songs, so there must be copies or demos somewhere else, but I don’t know where.
— What about the record “My Desire” under the name Fuzzy & the Barnetts? Do you remember how that recording was?
— Oh yes, that was Ronnie Storm… or Rory Storm, which was it? One was Rory Storm from Liverpool, and he was Ronnie Storm from Wakefield.
— So you’ve played a Hammond on that record?
— I played an organ, it wasn’t a Hammond. It was a cheap little organ. But I have played it, yeah. And I was crap… (laughs) It was terrible…
— Why?
— Because I wasn’t good in it. I’m a bit better now but even now I wouldn’t do that.
— But why did you play then?
— They asked me, they wanted me to do it. I don’t know… And we did some back vocals on it, I think, too. I can’t remember it very well, it‘s been a long time… I haven’t heard that for years. That’s quite a terrible record, I think. It was recorded in a really tiny little demo studio. And then we just all got round and played. He had a band himself at the time. But they didn’t do that very good, so he asked us and we played on it. It was our early days…
— Now a few questions about instruments and songwriting.
Your famous Jaydee guitar – is it the same guitar from 1985 or another one?
— Yes, it’s from 1985 or like that. I think, at that time we all got Jaydee guitars. Alan [Silson] got a couple of Jaydee guitars and I got that one. I liked that one because it was like a Stratocaster shaped, but it sounded more like a Gibson. It was neat, I liked the look of it and it played well. So I bought it then because at that time I was playing most of the time live, and I was playing Gibson Les Paul, 55 model. Or a Telecaster sometimes, or a Strat. And I think I got it because Alan got it as well, I don’t know… And then I just used it ever since, more or less. I had times when I left it home and brought something else, but I kept going back to it because it’s so versatile, it does everything. And it’s simple, I don’t have to do anything with it, it sounds good.
— Do you repair it from time to time?
— Yeah, it’s been repaired a few times, it had holes in it and things gone wrong with it, etc. So it gets repaired and it’s ok then.
— So we all wish good life to this guitar because it’s just like kind of your symbol now!
— Yes, I hope nothing bad happens to it. It’s like Francis Rossi always is playing the same guitar. If you watch Status Quo, he always playes his little green Telecaster. And you see him on pictures for years, he always has this guitar, he still uses it, it’s a great guitar.
— By the way, these days Status Quo will perform in Moscow…
— They are a great band. Have you seen them? Great! I love Status Quo live.
— Have you met them or know them personally?
— Yes. They are from the south of England and we are from the north. But we’ve met them first about 1979. And then every now and again we met them a few times since then. When I did “Love Is A Battlefield” video Rick Parfitt’s girlfriend was a dancer in that. So he was a hanging around in his car, waiting for her. It was cold and I just sat in his car in between all that time waiting. And then I’ve seen them a few times in different situations. When I did the “Different Shades” album, Pip Williams, who was a producer, was just finishing their album. When I arrived at the studio they were still there, so. At times we were booked at the same festivals etc. But I like to see them. I don’t usually watch groups if we’re playing gigs. Hardly ever. But I always like to watch Status Quo, I go and stand at the side of stage, I just like the excitement. And the sound they make, it’s great, I love them.
— For the fans who’d like to reproduce your guitar sound – how do you choose the sound of electric guitar for certain songs? What guitar effects do you usually use?
— I don’t go for effects much, really. A bit, but not much. And on recordings I usually don’t have to do it. I don’t use recording effects, I usually put it on afterwards, in the mix then I can decide to use them or not. But the guitar sound – it’s really quite simple. If you want a kind of a thick, dirty guitar sound, then it’s just a case of plugging it directly to the amp, overdriving the amp and getting a good tone. And then how you’re miking up is important, how the sound is in the studio. And the same thing if you want a clean guitar sound, you do different things and change the tone of it, use a different guitar like a Stratocaster which always got that nice, clear, solid sound. And Gibson or my Jaydee got more a thicker sound. And then with acoustics I just use an acoustic guitar which sounds good in a room. Then you have to use a good mike in a right place in the room.
— And what microphone brand do you prefer?
— First of all, for microphones in the studio I usually use Neumann U87 for guitars. Also I got another Neumann mic, which is a tube mic, they are great for vocals. Or any good condenser mike for vocal, like AKG – they’re doing some ones as well. You can get a good sound on AKG 414, and they are not so expensive, you can get a good vocal sound with that. And with electric guitars I usually use one of those Shure SM57. I’ve tried also other ones while being in studios where engineers bring in all these fancy mikes. Basically you put an SM57 in front of where you get a good guitar sound, it sounds good straight away, you don’t have to do anything with it. So it’s just right for guitars.
And on the drums I’ve got all kinds of mikes for the drums.
— Do you play drums?
— Me? A bit, not much. I can play but my kids wouldn’t say so (smiles). They laugh at me when I play drums. But I can play a bit. Michael and Steven can both play, and Paul.
— Yeah, we saw them playing much in the Youtube videos ;). And, by the way, recently we saw there also the Beatles picture which we have presented to you 2 years ago…
— Oh yeah, on the studio wall?
— Yes, on the studio wall. We were so proud, so thank you very much for such an honour!..
— Have you any string instruments besides guitars in your home collection?
— Yeah, I got a mandolin and a ukulele… I got one of those things given as a present in Mongolia, it’s like a cello but it’s square – but I can’t play it anyway. And I got Spanish classic and acoustic guitars, steel guitars, all kinds of guitars.
— A banjo?
— No, I don’t have a banjo. Pete [Spencer] has got a banjo, he is used to it. I‘m not really into banjos.
And I've got a clarinet, I used to play clarinet for a bit, but I’ve forgotten how, now so long since.
— On the previous 2 albums you have used a mouth organ, it sounded really good!
— I am not a very good mouth organ player really. If there was somebody else who was good at it, I would have taken him. But if there’s nobody else there to do it – ok, I do it then. For my style is more kind of like a folk style, like Bob Dylan or something, rather than blues harp.
— Don’t you plan to use a mouth organ on your future recordings?
— Not really, I never planned to do mouth organ. It always happens just by accident. Like I’m thinking “What can I put on this?” And I think “it sounds like it needs something like a… Doesn’t want a guitar, doesn’t want this or that, I think only mouth organ can do it then”. Or when I needed something like that, something more mellow. And then I played it because there’s nobody else there who could play it…
— Chris, would you consider yourself a perfectionist in studio? I mean, do you usually end up by being impressed by what you’ve played or sung?
— That’s a good question. I think, sometimes I can be like a perfectionist, trying to be. And then I get sometimes into a point when I think “That’s all right” and later on I wished to had done it again. So really I wasn’t a perfectionist cos I couldn’t do more with it. Sometimes I‘m quite happy with it and sometimes I’m really frustrated, but it never really sounds just exactly how I hear it in my head. So it can be both, sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t.
— So when you re-listen to it next day, you can take a decision to change it?
— Yes, and I do that. And sometimes you change stuff and then you wish you didn’t, you wish to go back to the one you did before. Well, it’s like mixing, it’s one of those things when you can mix it one day and it sounds great. And you come down listen to it – and think “it’s not really right, is it?”. And then you do it again, you can end up disappearing up into thin air because you come backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. Some of the best mixes I ever did were just done like on the fly. Cos sometimes I go through it just a couple of times and then go ok, that’s it, and the next day I come and listen to it and think “Wow, it sounds alright as it is, I’m not gonna do something else to it”. Because sometimes you can play with it too long and then it ends up with sounding crap.
— What is the most perfect surrounding for you to write songs – studio, nature, a sofa at last?
— There is no real one perfect place. It could be anywhere. I’ve written songs in studios which have turned out well – maybe in between, when something’s going on in a control room and I’ve been waiting for them to set something up, maybe I go out and play a piano, and I like this sound of their piano because at a big studio there’s a great sounding piano. And I can sometimes straight grab an idea and then I’ve written a song like that. Or sometimes sitting in the room behind the studio while I’m waiting… just being around in between, I’ve written songs like that. I’ve written songs when I‘ve been in the bath. Or when in the middle of the night I’ve woken up with a song thinking is that already a song or have I just thought of it? You like have dreamed the song. I’ve dreamed I was in a situation when somebody played a song. And I woke up remembering it. And then I have to get out of bed and sing it on to tape… So it can be anything. Mostly, it’s just really when I sit down with a guitar and say – ok, I would to try to write some songs now…
— Have you written any songs while being on tour?
— Yes, sometimes. Not recently, but I had before, yeah. I’ve written songs on planes, when just sitting on an airplane… (shows and laughs)
— Now some personal questions from the fans.
What is your favourite perfume?
— I’ve already said this once to the German fan club sometime ago. I use Eau Savage all the time, I think everybody knows that now. It has been my favourite for a long time. I don’t like everything else that smells always too sweet, so that’s ok for me.
— Do you have a tattoo or did you ever wanted to have one?
— No, I haven’t any. I once thought about tattooing some hairs on my chest, but I changed my mind (laughs). No, I was never gonna do that.
— We know you as a singer, as a great artist and very kind and friendly person. But what are you as a father?
— Well, these days it’s different now, because they are all grown-up, the kids. And it’s not the same thing – being a father as when they’re little. I think I was a decent father. You know, I was away quite a lot sometimes, so… Sometimes I was not with them for everything which is a shame. But there was a period, especially with Michael, Steven and Susan between about 1988 and 1994 when I didn’t tour, so I wasn’t away much. And I was there for them pretty much for everything – for school plays, for school sports and everything. So I think I was ok then. And I was a loving father, especially when they were little I really adored the kids, doing for them all things. So I was very loving, very sentimental, very soft. But at the same time I could be quite strict and heavy as well.
— And nowadays?
— Nowadays they don’t take any notice of whatever I say, take no notice of me at all (laughes). No, now it’s different, now it’s like they are grown up. There’s a period with your kids when they get to be teenagers, and they get through this 15-18 kind of period. And then you have a lot of trouble – you’re always: “do this, don’t do this, what you’re doing, why you’re doing”. And then it is difficult. And gradually, as they get passed that age, you get to a different relationship, which is different from the one before they became that. So up to be in about 13-14 you have one kind of relationship and after being in 18 and up you have a different relationship, and I’m at that now. So we have a different relationship with more like friends and equals. So I can talk to Michael, Steven or Susan, Paul and Sharon as to equals. And the older they get the more equal you got. I still try to give them advice of my experience I’ve got about things, but I don’t know whether they listen. But that’s normal. And I love them anyway whatever they decide to do.
— What was the happiest day in your life?
— I don’t know really, that’s really hard to say. Because I could say watching any of my kids get born would be the happiest day, but then it’s so many. So it’s not like one happy day. And if I was to say the happiest day was watching how Susan get born, but that would be unfair on Michael and Steven. So I couldn’t say that. But probably something like that, that’s all was great. It’s nothing to do with music really. I mean I had some happy days with music. But the happiest days would be more to do with personal things.
— Chris, what do you like and do not like in audience’s behavior on your concerts? Maybe you can use this opportunity to make it clear for the fans… :)
— It’s different in different places. In Germany, for instance, there's a tendency now for the fans to get up immediately I go on stage. They all come to the front and that pisses everybody who are sitting down, pisses them off. Understandably, because they have paid like 40 euros or whatever it is per ticket, and then they can't see, like from the first minute. So that I don't like really. I like people to get up, don't get me wrong, I love it. But I think it's better if they wait until the show develops, so that everybody is in the mood to standing up.
— So they should wait until you usually give them the signs?
— Yeah-yeah, I think that’s the time. Because by that time everybody could start to get up and dance a bit, so nobody’s going to be sitting… I know for me, if I go to a concert, I don’t necessarily want to get up and start dancing straight away or whatever, I want to get into it, enjoy it... And then if it starts to get me going, maybe then I get up, play it around and I think that’s the right way to do it. So that’s one thing.
The other thing is, it’s annoying when you first go on stage.. it doesn’t happen very often but occasionally, if you go straight on stage and you just start to speak the first time… I never speak till I've done 3-4 songs anyway. And then I say “hello, good evening…”. And as soon as you start to talk to the audience, before you can establish some kind of a relationship, somebody shouts something out already!.. And I think – “wait, give me a second!” You can do it later on, I don’t mind having a bit of banter. But to do it immediately sometimes!… Specifically this shout out as a request for a song straightaway. You've just done 3 songs.. you say “hello, good evening, how are you…” and somebody shouts “Living next door to Alice!” , and you think “my God, give me a chance!”. It's usually when they are drunk, otherwise they wouldn’t do it.
— I think you are perfect in the way of going well with and leading the audience, you are great in this.
— Well, it’s hard sometimes, it gets difficult if you don’t get a chance just to settle in and everything else, then it’s not simple.
— And what about positive things from the audience?
— I mean most of it is positive. That was just me trying to think for a long time to find things that could be better. But most of it is positive. I mean the fact that they come along, the fact that they are so appreciative of the music, that they listen and they dance and they sing, and they get into it, that’s so great. I mean that whole thing is wonderful.
To the Part 2 >>>
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