:: Spotlight :: Interview with Roachford

By: Saeed Saeed

Andrew Roachford is a name synoymous with musical quality. It this quality that caught the attention of the enigmatic Terrence Trent Darby, who upon listening to Roachford‘s demos demanded that he be signed immediately. Now nearly two decades later, with millions of records sold and packed out shows worldwide, Roachford is still going strong. He is back in Australia for his first major since 96 and with a dazzling new album 'Word of Mouth’. In his chat with Mediasearch, Roachford talks about what drives him as a muscian and how he managed to maintain independent of changes and trends in a fickle music scene.

You were the first artist to sign a seven album deal with Colombia Records. What made you want to commit yourself to such a long contract at the time?

Ignorance! (laughs) I think that things have changed since then. The thing is once you sign one of those deals it becomes a bit one sided because if you want to leave them you can’t, and if they want to get rid of you they can. I think I was just really happy to be able to do what I wanted to do and that’s to make records and not worry about how I’m gonna do it financially. I really didn’t have that long term planning in my life.

You’d been discovered by Terence Trent Darby. Can you tell us something about that and how that came about.

That was basically because he was already at Sony and he was established at Colombia. His first album was a hit. He heard them playing my demos in the label and said ‘you need to sign this guy, this the best thing I ever heard since whatever blah,blah,blah, and he kept singing my praises and at the end I think he swayed the decision. And I did my first major tour with him, which was cool.

This is your first Australian tour since 96, and Australia is one of your biggest selling territories. I take it you enjoy yourself whenever you come down here.

It’s always great to come here, man. It’s always a good crowd and a very interactive show (laughs). It’s a very enthusiastic crowd and I always have a good time here or I wouldn’t come really.

I understand that you co-wrote with Australian Idol contestant Shannon Noll. How was that session?

He wasn’t actually there. I wrote with a couple of guys for his album. It was cool. I’m really into the co-writing thing and enjoy it so much. Each time when you are with different people you are learning something new and it’s a different experience. It's cool man.

As a singer/songwriter, what do you think of the whole Australian Idol, American Idol phenomenon?

It’s cool when they find artists that are really talented and passionate about music, that’s a good thing because it gives them a platform. I just think people that get up there just to be famous and haven’t got that really big passion for music… I just find it a bit of a shame. In the English equivalent, a couple of really good artists came out of it but you don’t find a lot of album selling artist from that genre.

Your latest album Word of Mouth has a very comfortable feel to it. It feels very loose. What were the recording sessions like?

I think the big challenge is to bring the audience closer to what the live experience is about, which is what I am all about. It’s difficult because whenever you go to the studio you are putting this hat on and trying to make every thing sound correct and right and as sparkly as you can. I just wanted to bring forward the vocals and make it sound as effortless and natural as possible.

The lyrics in Crazy Days seems so appropriate in describing the world that we are living today, but at the same time it really is an optimistic song. Is that way you feel about life in general, always looking ahead optimistically despite the hard times?

I don’t think we have a choice. I think the vision for the future…the way you look at it and what’s it gonna be is partly shaping what it is anyway, so it might as well be positive! That song is partly about in London we have this thing about crime going on and there is this increase in young offenders and stuff. And every one is like ‘this is really bad, what are we gonna do?’ And I still really believe that it starts at the home. I think that parents have to set the right example. Now I am not a parent and I know it’s not an easy thing but when you get parents putting their hands up saying, ‘I don’t know where that’s from’, well, I don’t think all kids want to go out and shoot people! So there must be something going on somewhere along the line that is creating kids that have no respect or regard for authority.

One of my favourite lyrical lines in the album, ‘Say goodbye to bitterness that is living in your heart’, with the journey that you taken as an artist, the highs and lows. Did you ever experience any bitterness, cynicism with the music industry and the song writing craft itself?

I think that the thing that kept me away from that was I never took the industry that seriously. When things weren’t that great I never blamed the industry because they never made me in the first place. And I know a lot of artists who hold the industry responsible for their happiness and their life and that’s a dangerous turf to be on because it’s a crazy game. It’s a fickle industry and you can become a casualty of it and look back and go, ‘it messed me up!’ But no man, you take responsibility for what you feel.

What are your thoughts on the UK R&B scene at the moment? Do you feel that it sounds to Americanised and is it hard trying to push your stuff over there?

Well there is a whole world that is going on in the underground of the British R&B scene which is hip hop without the American accent. They rap with cockney accents and using English slang terms. And slowly it’s getting support from British DJs. The problem is that if it’s not getting played, it isn't getting supported, but it’s now slowly changing. It's difficult because America has a whole history of where it came from and outside America there are people that are influenced by it but don’t have the same history. But they are starting to learn from it in Europe and trying to tell their own story and not copy the American story.

You released your first record in 1988. Now, nearly two decades later you are still going strong. How hard is it trying to maintain that longevity as an artist and did you ever worry that you might not be relevant in an every changing music scene?

I never worried about that. Because I always been trying different things. I am always evolving and always trying to do something different. I listen to what is going on and I am inspired by that and also I get where they are coming from. A lot of artists who are just starting out now are derivative of stuff from way back when. So I don’t think there is music that is so startlingly new that I can’t get my head around. It’s all still notes and melodies and still based on what you are saying. A good song is a good song and that will always be the case.

‘Word of Mouth’ is now available at all good record stores through CD Suite

See Roachford at the following dates:

November 28 - The Zoo, Birsbane.
November 29 - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne.
November 30 - The Governer Hindmarsh, Adelaide.