I did an interview with Kevin for my newspaper during his recent stay in Stockholm. I'd like to share it with the members of this group.
Patrik Zander
PZ: Can you tell how you met The Killers? You went to the club? KR: Yeah, I had a really great time.
PZ: You stayed until the end, I heard? KR: Oh yeah, two nights in a row.
PZ: What about these show? What can we expect to hear? KR: I’m going to do a couple of Dexys songs, about six. Killers are gonna do some more.
PZ: Which ones? KR: We’re starting with Sound of Silence. Everything I Own. What else? Geno and a few others.
PZ: Recently you told a radio station... KR: My God (smiling) PZ: ...that there will be a new Dexys-album? KR: Yeah, that's the plan.
PZ: Also you said you are going back to the songs written in 92-93? KR: Yes, some of them. You know that stuff?
PZ: I have heard the demos, and you already recorded two of the songs for the “Let’s Make This Precious” compilation that came out before the last tour. KR: We did that, but that doesn't mean they are going to be on the album.
PZ: Are those songs still special to you? KR: I don’t know. They were really, but they should have come out then. I have moved on a lot since then. I want to do the songs, but I’ve changed them a lot. And I have written some new ones.
PZ: What can you say about them? KR: I don't know what to say about them really. They’ve got a different perspective. You know kind of where I am in my life. About love. Completely different from how I felt 15 years ago. I’ve got a completely different take on it. It’s coming out in the lyrics. What I’m saying in these songs, I haven't heard anyone say, actually. What I feel about love and everything. So... I’ve got something to say.
PZ: How do you feel about love right now? Compared to when you made “My Beauty”? KR: Well, with “My Beauty” it was different. I feel different today. I think it’s a good album, but I think I was quite self-obsessed in those days. I feel a bit better now.
PZ: There was talk of a trilogy back then, with “My Beauty” as number one. KR: I know, that was the idea, yeah. “My Beauty”, “My Pain” and “My Shame”. I thought about taking these ugly ideas and put beautiful music to them, so that people would like them, you know. But that was then, and then everything went wrong. The record company went down and all that stuff. So I lost my momentum really. The first single was well received in England, but the album... was slated. Because of the clothes.
PZ: You got good reviews here in Sweden. KR: Yeah, I know, I know. It’s great.
PZ: It’s a fantastic album. KR: I really like it. Everything about it. The look... I’m not ashamed of it.
PZ: Do you know who else will be involved in making the new album? KR: I don’t know. It depends on the budget. And I don't have a deal right now. But I like to have Neil Hubbard from the last tour. He’s brilliant. He’s my number one.
PZ: The band was great on that tour. KR: Yes, it was good. You saw it?
PZ: I saw the concert in Stockholm, one of the best shows I have ever seen. I was really moved and I think everyone else was too. KR: But Stockholm was a bit quiet I think. Gothenburg was better.
PZ: Let’s talk about your old records and what you feel about them now, starting with “Searching For The Young Soul Rebels”. KR: It sounds a bit punky to me. A bit rough, but it was the best we could do at that time. We were really happy at that time. And I think that’s all you can ask for, to do your best.
PZ: The came the great success with “Geno”? But that didn't make you happy? KR: No, because I always thought that if I’m gonna get a band and do well everything is going to be happy. It’s gonna be a great life, but it made me worse, I think.
PZ: You’ve said that that song got bigger then the band? KR: Yeah, the album hadn’t come out in England when we started the tour, so everywhere we played everyone shouted “Geno, Geno”, you know. In the middle of other songs.
PZ: How do you feel about that song today? KR: It’s a pretty good song. I only wrote the words, really. Kevin Archer wrote the music.
PZ: You felt empty after that? KR: Yeah, I was not satisfied and I couldn’t handle the pressure. We had to follow up a number one single, you know. Everything less was a failure. So there was a lot of pressure.
PZ: You wrote in the liner notes for “It Was Like This” that it made you sad to think about how you were in those days. Do you still feel that way? KR: Now that was more the “My Beauty” period, when I was thinking about those days. But I think could have relaxed a bit and enjoyed life a bit more.
PZ: But you couldn’t? KR: No. I took everything so serious.
PZ: After “Keep It Part 2” most of the band left, was it because of that single? KR: No, no. They would have left anyway because I was driving them crazy. There was a rip in the band, so they were going to leave anyway. We broke up in Zurich.
PZ: Do you often think about that today? KR: No, not really. I’m a completely different person now.
PZ: How would you describe yourself now? KR: I’m searching, but not for soul rebels. No. For more meaning. Peace. I’m more mature. I understand now that making a great record’s not gonna make me happy or change the world, you know. I really want to find fulfilment.
PZ: So you’re not taking everything so serious now? KR: No, not really. Not quite so bad. But still a bit.
PZ: After some brilliant singles you released “Too-Rye-Ay”. How do you feel about that album today? KR: Disappointment.
PZ: Why? KR: After doing the first album we left the studio thinking “we did the best we could do”. We didn’t have that feeling with “To-Rye-Ay”. It wasn't right. The producers were fighting with me and the band weren’t supporting me anymore because we were breaking up.
PZ: You were inspired by the way Kevin Archer used strings on his demos with The Blue Ox Babes. KR: Yes I was. It’s important to say that. The sound. Not the songs.
PZ: You got a cassette from him? KR: “Kevin have a listen”, he said, “come back to me and tell me what you think”. I didn't go “oh, I’m gonna steal this”. I was already working with strings, one cello and one violin. I didn't take one note, one melody, one chord or one lyric. I used to feel much worse about that, you know. The way I look at it now is "I wrote those songs".
PZ: Once again you got to Number 1, this time with “Eileen”. KR: Yes, in a lot of countries. Once again we had this song overshadowing the band. I thought I was a millionaire by then, only I wasn't I found out later. I was told that, but...
PZ: “Reminisce Part 1” was something of a new direction. KR: Yeah, I was really happy with that one. For the first time I started to feel that I could go somewhere. It was something creative after just going around touring, doing interviews. Too much. The others in the band left so we hired session musicians in and they weren’t really that... good, Big Jim wasn’t there, you know.
PZ: Then you made “Don't Stand Me Down”. KR: Yeah, the best album.
PZ: The best album ever made by anyone. KR: Oh, that's nice of you.
PZ: Can you tell something about making that album? KR: It was a nightmare. I thought it was never going to be made. It took two years and we almost gave up on it. The record company thought it was overproduced. With “Too-Rye-Ay” I felt shit. I had all these new people around me going “hey, it’s great, just keep it going”. Keep this pop-machine going. I wasn't enjoying it. So, what should I do? I put down my emotions on “Don't Stand Me Down”. I didn't want that pop-audience that we had. I wanted to do a great album. So we wrote some really good songs. Helen O´Hara was really instrumental, very important. Played a big part. She never gave up, Helen was strong at that time. So we did everything right and we had some good mixing at the end. The best album Dexys made.
PZ: Billy Adams said in a Swedish TV-interview that it took forever to record just one song. KR: We spent a month recording “I Love You (Listen To This)” in Switzerland, yes.
PZ: He also said he was really happy that the album got made. KR: But he wasn't happy at that time. He was fed up. He used to disappear. I don't know where, but I think he went home.
PZ: But the album didn't get good reviews when it was released. KR: No, everybody said it was self-indulgent. And those times. Live-Aid and stuff and "now The Dexys are coming in suits". But you know: the suits were outrageous in the 80’s, the press just wrote about the suits.
PZ: Then came “Because Of You” and the end of the band. After that you made the solo album, “The Wanderer”. I’ve heard that you are not too fond of it. KR: I haven't heard it for a long time. But no, not really.
PZ: There are some really good songs on it, like “Young Man”. KR: Yeah, but I think that after “Don’t Stand Me Down” had failed, nobody was telling me it was a good record. Everybody said I’d fucked up, made a self-indulged record. So my confidence was low and I didn't really care. Just sat at home for a year and half an hour a week I wrote a song.
PZ: In the liner notes to the new edition of “Don't Stand Me Down” you wrote that you couldn't have handled success at that time. KR: I wrote that, but I don’t know. That was like eight years ago.
PZ: You also said that you spoiled any chance of success. KR: Yeah, I did, by not putting out a single. Stupid.
PZ: You wanted the album to speak for itself? KR: Exactly.
PZ: Then came nothing, but in the early 90's you were approached by Heavenly Records. Were there plans for an album? KR: There were, but I don’t really know what happened. I think I was a little bit crazy at that time.
PZ: “My Beauty”. A great record but a commercial failure. KR: Yeah, but it didn't sell 500 copies like the papers said in the UK said. It sold about 20 000. That's much better. I asked Alan McGee and he said "20 000".
PZ: How many songs did you chose from? KR: 3 or 4 more.
PZ: You said somewhere that you became really obsessed with making that record. What happened? KR: I was being over demanding. Big Jim got fed up. I can understand him.
PZ: You couldn’t put “Thunder Road” on the record. KR: No, you know what happened? A lawyer should have sent a letter to get permission to change the lyrics, but he didn't. When they finally got the letter they said no. Automatically. We should have sent the version and let Bruce listen to it, but...
PZ: After that: the Dexys Tour of 2003. The shared lead vocals with Pete Williams worked really well, when did you decide on doing that? KR: When we got together. At first I wanted three lead singers, me, Pete Williams and Kevin Archer with one microphone each.
PZ: There was a great moment at the end of “Soon”, when you sang ”and I’ll keep coming back, I promise”… KR: …and I will!
PZ: The new album, has it got a title? KR: No, I don't know.
PZ: A song title maybe? KR: “I Had To Go”. It's about growing up.
Wow... that's a brilliant interview - thanks so much for sharing it with us. Well done for getting a new song title out of him!!!
I have to say it's been great to see the various items (interviews, pictures and video files) posted on this site over the last week from individuals to share with the wider 'Dexys community' - gives me a warm feeling inside!
"PZ: You wrote in the liner notes for “It Was Like This” that it made you sad to think about how you were in those days. Do you still feel that way? KR: Now that was more the “My Beauty” period, when I was thinking about those days. But I think could have relaxed a bit and enjoyed life a bit more. "
did you notice that that is exactly what he's singing about in "Young Man"? Interesting!
I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that Young Man is written for a family member, a nephew or someone like that but even so the explaination isn't entirely convincing, is it? The other theory is the one that you've suggested. That Kevin Rowland is singing to a younger version of himself. Even if it is the case that someone else is the subject matter of Youg Man, it's hard to be convinced that Kev isn't at the very least passing on the benefit of his own experience.
