Celebrating The Beautiful South and their timeless music

SussexWorld

The  South – featuring former members of The Beautiful South – plays Brighton's Concorde 2 on Friday, March 7.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to

00:06speak to Alison Wheeler, who is literally on the road, from the look of things, with

00:10The South, which brings together a number of members of The Beautiful South to perform

00:15The Beautiful South's music. And you've got a date coming up in Brighton, Concord 2, on

00:20Friday, March 7th. Lovely to speak to you. This is fabulous music that we all want to

00:24hear, isn't it?

00:26Thank you. Yeah, I love coming down to Brighton, it's such a brilliant place to gig, it's got

00:30a great vibe. Yeah, we've been doing this for years now, and people ask what can I expect,

00:36and I think it's one of those bands where I have friends who come along to support me

00:41and they're like, well, I'll come, but I don't really know many Beautiful South songs. And

00:45then at the end, their jaw's on the floor, and they're like, I had no idea I knew so

00:49many songs, because they're all there, they're under the skin, logged way back in the back

00:54of your brain. And that's what we're there to do, we're there to celebrate this wonderful

00:59music and get everybody up.

01:00Well, those songs have entered our culture, haven't they? But the point is that you were

01:02part of Beautiful South, and when it came to a conclusion, you couldn't stop, could

01:08you?

01:09No, I mean, the opportunity to continue a couple of years after the band was, the band

01:18came to an end, and yeah, it was the lifeline that I was so grateful for, because what a

01:23collection of music, and yeah, I feel very joyous and blessed that I can do this every

01:30week. And there's nothing like seeing the realisation of, recognition of a song, and

01:38the spark in the eyes, and the joy in the singing, and the swaying, and yeah, it's just

01:44really hard to put it into words what a lot of fun it is.

01:47Well, that sounds great. And as you were saying, Paul drew it to a conclusion with a pretty

01:50memorable press release, didn't he, when he said the band was folding because of?

01:56Musical similarities, yeah. I mean, that's testimony to his penmanship. He's just, his

02:01years of writing, that kind of acerbic wit that just touches and connects with people,

02:07which means these songs are going to be around forever, I hope, and I know that they will

02:11be.

02:12Absolutely, and it's those musical similarities that in a sense created the South, wasn't

02:16it?

02:17Absolutely, yeah. It's been a long journey, 18 years I think it is, and it's gone like

02:24that. It's gone so quickly, and every year we look back on the huge amount of gigs that

02:29we've done throughout the country, and we're so lucky to have the constant support, and

02:34the new people kind of exploring the beautiful South, and discovering us, and yeah, it's

02:39just brilliant to be out on the road.

02:41Fantastic, and before too long, the South will be going longer than the beautiful South,

02:45which is quite some achievement, isn't it?

02:47Two years' time, yeah, maybe we'll have to mark that in some way. I've just been away

02:51on a songwriting camp, and I'm really chuffed with one song, and I can't wait to get it

02:56worked up, because to me, it kind of encapsulates the whole feeling of the beautiful South,

03:02so I'm hoping the boys and the girls might be up for doing some fresh material as well.

03:06Fantastic, how could they not be? We're really lovely to speak to you. So the gig for us,

03:11Brighton Concord 2, Friday, March the 7th. Thanks so much for your time.

03:17Nice to speak to you, Seco.

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