00:00How would you describe the Great Western Road?
00:03Well it was a title that came to me one day, I was driving actually out the south side of Glasgow
00:10and I was thinking there are these brilliant avenues that kind of lead out of Glasgow
00:14and I always start with titles, I always think that titles, people usually ask you how you start with songs
00:20probably 90% of the time I start with a title and then I work backwards from there
00:25and it kind of fills, it just fills your imagination and I thought well what's that going to be about?
00:31When we started, Great Western Road was our hangout, we would meet in Kelving Bridge
00:37one of the guys in the band lived near there and we'd often meet there
00:42then jump into a wee mini bus and go somewhere to do a gig or whatever but that was the starting point
00:49and it was exciting, it was a place, it was the west end, it was really cool
00:52and it was where you wanted to hang out and just be seen and all the rest of it
00:57and I was thinking all these years on, it's sort of a different thing now
01:03and I suppose in this context it's a metaphor for a road that leads out of that place
01:12into, it's slightly unknown, into the wilderness and eventually up into the highlands
01:18and so it goes A82 and it just goes somewhere else
01:22and I think that became a, I suppose a metaphor for where we are now
01:27and that's in this definitely later phase of life and it's quite an exciting phase
01:34it's quite an exciting time but it's a completely different time
01:37It's 40 years since you started, what's the secret of your longevity?
01:42I think everything about Deacon Blue comes back to having a great songwriter
01:50and great songs at its heart and I think we have a great group of musicians
01:56who are very talented, who bring these songs to life
02:00and I think we work really hard at it but I think it all comes down to really the start is the songs
02:06you can't go out if you've not got great songs and do a great gig
02:10but I think with these great songs we have, I think we always were actually a really good live band
02:17but I think we've got better because we really pride ourselves on putting on a great show
02:23and giving people a great night because you're taking people's money, you're taking their time
02:30they could go and see a million other shows and they'll come and see us
02:33so I think every time we go out there's that feeling that we want to win this tonight
02:38and I think that has basically stood us in good stead over the years
02:42people come back a lot so I guess it's that all together
02:48How would you describe your sound?
02:51I kind of don't really in some ways, in the early days you used to get into a taxi
02:56if someone, oh what kind of music is it son?
02:59and once you've made a record it was easy enough to do
03:02and I kind of think that we do what we do which is, I don't bother doing it
03:08I think like lots of bands that probably from our era and beyond and before
03:14we were influenced hugely by the music that came before us
03:17and that's a really wide range of music but songs being at the heart of it
03:25songs with lyrics that mean something
03:29and I guess, people often say about for example Dignity it's become a sort of folk song
03:34and I think it is and I think that kind of folk tradition has influenced me certainly hugely
03:40the songs that people can sing
03:43Is it hard living with someone you work with and working with someone that you live with?
03:48No
03:50I think if you like each other and you enjoy spending time together
03:55then it's not, we enjoy it
03:58I mean we do go off and do other things you know
04:01so I think if we were just doing Deacon Blue I think that would maybe get a bit intense
04:07but no we love it and we value the fact now that our kids have all left home
04:13even though we missed them when they went
04:15there is a new stage and a new phase when we're actually thinking
04:18it's really nice to just have us to think about it now
04:22what we're going to eat, what we're going to do, what we're going to watch on the TV
04:26we're loving it actually, aren't we?
04:29Yeah we are
04:31Everyone will tell you the smaller the gig is the harder it is
04:34I think a small audience can be quite intimidating
04:38so I think big crowds are never really a problem
04:41I think you can maybe do a few quieter songs if we're doing a small theatre or whatever
04:49people have seats and they can sit and enjoy it
04:51and you've got to be aware if you're playing to a load of people all standing up
04:55there's only so long people are going to stand listening to really quiet songs
04:59so I think you adapt it a wee bit but not too much
05:02we just go out there and the set changes every single night
05:05every single night
05:07and keeps it fresh, keeps it scary
05:10and the small gigs are the scary gigs
05:14because people can hear you and see you
05:17when you're up there and it's all a big noise you can get away with quite a lot
05:21but not in the small ones
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