- 5 months ago
They're the dynamic duo behind some of the '80s most memorable hits. Now, Nick Feldman and Jack Hues of Wang Chung are looking back on the band's more than four-decade career with their new retrospective compilation album, Clear Light/Dark Matter out now on CD, digital, and a double set on black or white vinyl. It includes a brand-new remix of their 1986 Billboard topping smash hit 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight.' The pair dropped by the LifeMinute studios to tell us all about it, as well as joining Rick Springfield for the 2025 edition of his 'I Want My '80s Tour.' This is a LifeMinute with Wang Chung.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hi, I'm Jack Hughes.
00:01And I'm Nick Feldman.
00:02Together we are Wang Chung, and you are watching...
00:05Life Minute TV.
00:07Oh yes.
00:07Ah, yeah.
00:09They're the dynamic duo behind some of the 80s' most memorable hits.
00:13Everybody have fun tonight
00:16In a dance hall
00:18Dance
00:20Let's go, baby, let's go, baby, come on
00:25Now Nick Feldman and Jack Hughes of Wang Chung
00:28Are looking back on the band's more than four-decade-long career
00:31On their new retrospective compilation album
00:34Clear Light Dark Matter
00:36On CD, digital, and black-and-white vinyl
00:39The pair dropped by the Life Minute studios recently
00:42To tell us all about it and more
00:44This is a Life Minute with Wang Chung
00:47Clear Light Dark Matter is a new album that we released
00:51Came out May 9th
00:52We wanted to make a physical product
00:54Rather than just having a download scenario
00:57So we designed it to be two vinyl albums or two CDs
01:00Album one is the hits, as we know and love them
01:04From Don't Let Go, our first American single
01:06Oh, if you need me, don't let go
01:11I'm a won't give up on you
01:13Through to Space Junk, which was a single we released in the 90s
01:17Let us fill in space junk
01:20And then second album is Rarity's Outtakes, that sort of stuff
01:27And that takes you from the very first single we released in the UK
01:30Called Isn't It About Time We Were On TV
01:32Up to a new remix of Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Eric Kuppa
01:41Everybody Have Fun Tonight
01:45And in between there are things like the demo to Dance All Day
01:49In a dance hall
01:51Dying
01:53To Live and Die in LA
01:55To Live and Die in LA
01:58A track called Ornamental Elephant
02:00The Ornamental Elephant
02:02Elements in a soul
02:05All kinds of stuff
02:06There's some rarities on it, stuff that we've never released
02:09In fact, one of the hits that we had, Fire in the Twilight
02:14Which was in Breakfast Club
02:16We decided to put a live version of that
02:19Because we're releasing a live album that we recorded last year in Toronto
02:24And it's a really good version of it
02:26So we thought that might be cool just to widen things out even more
02:30So it covers a lot of ground, Clear Light, Dark Matter
02:34I guess we've been working on that for four or five years really
02:37Looking at re-releasing the back catalogue
02:38And it was like, well how do we introduce it?
02:41Because to do things chronologically
02:43Although that's very neat
02:44Doesn't really work commercially
02:45So we thought if we do a sort of overview of our career
02:48That would be a good way to start
02:50And re-introduce people to Wang Chung
02:51And also get people to see that
02:54Because for a lot of people
02:55Wang Chung is everybody have fun tonight
02:57Everybody Wang Chung tonight
02:58And really, so it's to sort of say
03:00Well yeah, it is that
03:01But it's also Dance All Days
03:03It's also To Live and Die in LA, the soundtrack
03:05It's also Wang Chung, the first album we did
03:08Yeah, trying to give a sense of the scope of the band
03:11I guess with Everybody Have Fun Tonight
03:18We wrote that together more or less
03:20You know, not in the room together exactly
03:22But it kind of became constructed in the studio
03:24We were definitely in a position
03:26Where we had to come up with a number one record
03:29You know, otherwise it was game over
03:30So we did that
03:32But I think practically everything else
03:34Comes out of just
03:35You know, as a songwriter
03:37You're constantly switched on
03:39And so you're trying to take in stuff from everywhere
03:42You know, whether that be
03:43Phrases people say
03:45Or from TV or whatever
03:46You know, musical ideas
03:48You know, and you just sort of
03:50Try and bring it together as best you can
03:52So with Dance All Days, for example
03:54I remember writing that
03:55When I was still teaching guitar
03:57In a school in South East London
04:01I taught in various schools
04:02You know, just like one-on-one lessons
04:04You know, and came up with the ideas for the song
04:06Played it to Nick
04:07And he was kind of like
04:08This is really good
04:09And I was like
04:10Is it?
04:10You know
04:11But everybody we played it to
04:13We did a demo together
04:14And developed it between us
04:16And everybody we played it to
04:17Was really into the song
04:19You know, so
04:19I don't know what it is
04:20That makes a hit song
04:22But somehow we'd struck on it
04:24With that
04:24And everybody knew it from the beginning
04:26You know, so
04:27It seemed interesting
04:28It all happened
04:29Things come to you in different ways
04:32Don't they?
04:33Sometimes
04:33You know, you can sit down
04:35And just
04:35The song just comes out
04:37Without you
04:38Realising it almost
04:40You know, other times
04:41Like Everybody Have Fun Tonight
04:42That was
04:42I thought I started off
04:44With a little idea
04:45I had to record
04:46You know, I had this funky
04:47Kind of chord sequence
04:49And I was singing
04:50Everybody Have Fun Tonight
04:51And I remember playing it to Jack
04:54And thinking he would go
04:55I can't have a song called that
04:58It's completely rubbish
04:59It's pathetic
05:00And for some amazing reason
05:02He was like
05:02Oh, that's really good
05:04I couldn't believe it
05:05So then we developed it together
05:07And it sort of
05:09Was the original version
05:10Was actually a lot slower
05:11Sort of like
05:12Hey Jude
05:12Kind of
05:13Sort of tempo
05:15But it was only later on
05:16In the studio
05:17Proper
05:18That we
05:18Developed it
05:20Sped it up
05:20Rewrote it
05:21Restructured it
05:22And that line
05:23Everybody Have Fun Tonight
05:24Everybody Wang Chung Tonight
05:25Was
05:26The Wang Chung Tonight
05:27Thing was a placeholder
05:28Really
05:28It wasn't
05:29We thought we'd come up
05:30With something better than that
05:31When our producer heard it
05:32He was kind of like
05:33No, that's the chorus
05:34You know
05:34It's like
05:35Oh God, no
05:36So that was
05:37For us
05:37It was quite a spontaneous
05:38Way of
05:39Putting something together
05:41We would normally be quiet
05:42Have everything prepared
05:44Before
05:44Quite rigorous about it
05:46Before we go into the studio
05:47This was much more
05:49You know
05:49Spontaneous
05:50To the point where
05:51I personally anyway
05:52Wasn't sure
05:53If it was any good
05:54You know
05:55When we were in the studio
05:56Is this just the worst thing
05:58We've ever done
05:58Or is it really good
05:59I don't know
06:00But luckily
06:01It turned out to be pretty good
06:03Everybody Wang Chung Tonight
06:07Everybody Wang Chung Tonight
06:09It became
06:10Something quite different
06:11From where we began
06:12When we called the band
06:14Huang Chung
06:15You know
06:15Which was connected up
06:16With sort of
06:16Chinese philosophy
06:18In a way
06:18Although I don't think
06:19We ever really
06:19Brought that in
06:20You know
06:21People say
06:21What does it mean
06:22And the idea of meaning
06:24Never really
06:24The whole thing was
06:25That it doesn't really mean anything
06:26Because it's Chinese
06:28You don't understand it
06:29So it's two sounds
06:31You know
06:31And I think that's where
06:33I was at
06:33When we were working
06:34With the name
06:35But it was a very whimsical thing
06:36You know
06:36I was reading this book
06:38And we were looking
06:39For names for a band
06:40And that just struck me
06:41As kind of amusing
06:42Or something
06:43You know
06:43And I mentioned it to Nick
06:44And again surprisingly
06:46He was like
06:47Yeah that's pretty good
06:48Let's go with that
06:49You know
06:49The spelling of it
06:51Was originally
06:51H-U-A-N-G
06:53Kwang Chung
06:54Although that's just
06:55The English spelling of it
06:56But that seemed to confuse
06:57People couldn't pronounce it
06:59So they'd call us
07:00Hung Chung
07:01Well that's quite funny
07:02Yesterday when we were playing
07:04A gig in Westbury
07:05That the security guy
07:07When we arrived at the gate
07:09We were saying
07:10Oh yeah we're Wang Chung
07:11You know
07:11Can you let us in
07:12We went
07:13Wayne Johnson
07:14Yes we're Wayne Johnson
07:18The whole Wang Chung thing
07:21Has become this sort of
07:23Other
07:24Almost other cultural entity
07:25Isn't it
07:26Beyond us
07:27Us
07:28Wang and Chung
07:29There's something about
07:30The music
07:32And also
07:32Something to do with the name
07:34As well
07:34I think
07:34Wang Chung
07:35It's really
07:36Got us into a lot of
07:39Movies and commercials
07:40And computer games
07:42And video games
07:43It ends up as even
07:45Punch lines
07:46In sort of
07:47You know
07:48In TV shows
07:49Big huge TV shows
07:50And movies
07:51And stuff
07:51So I think
07:52I love the way
07:54It's kind of
07:55It's more than just being
07:57Some band from the 80s
07:58You know
07:59It's become bigger than that
08:00All of these things
08:02Came out of the blue
08:03You know
08:03Sometimes when we do interviews
08:04People are kind of like
08:05So you know
08:06When you did this
08:07And you did that
08:07It sounds like we planned it
08:09In some way
08:10You know
08:10But not at all
08:11You know
08:12So the Breakfast Club
08:12For example
08:13We just were chosen
08:15Out of a myriad
08:1680s bands
08:17I suppose
08:17You know
08:18It was Steve Schiff
08:19Was it
08:20And Keith Forsey
08:21No it was Keith Forsey
08:21Keith Forsey
08:22Yeah
08:22He was the producer
08:23Billy Idol's producer
08:24At that time principally
08:25Great drummer himself
08:26Sent us the song
08:28We in a typical way
08:29We kind of
08:30Well maybe
08:30Maybe me
08:30More than Nick
08:31That I was a bit
08:32It's okay
08:32But can we sort of
08:34Fiddle around with it a bit
08:36You know
08:36Which is what we did
08:37We changed the chorus
08:39And came up with this
08:40Fire in the twilight thing
08:41I can't remember why
08:42Came up with that
08:43But yeah
08:43We just tried to make it
08:44A little more quirky
08:46Than the more straight ahead
08:47Thing that we were given
08:48Initially
08:48You know
08:49But again
08:50We had no sense
08:51That Breakfast Club
08:52Would become this iconic
08:53Movie
08:54And so important
08:55For so many people
08:55So this year
08:56Is the 40th anniversary
08:57You know
08:58So there's a whole
08:59Sense of that movie
09:01Being you know
09:01Culturally right in the middle
09:03Of what people think of
09:05As the 80s
09:06You know
09:06And people say
09:07You know
09:07What is it about the 80s
09:08That makes people
09:09Keep coming back to it
09:10You know
09:11So I guess part of that
09:12Is the generation of people
09:13That were growing up
09:14With MTV
09:15And so the music
09:16That you listen to
09:17Between the ages of what
09:19Sort of 6 or 7
09:20Through to 18 maybe
09:22I think stays with you
09:23Whatever decade
09:24You're in
09:25You know
09:25But I think people
09:26Now come back to the 80s
09:27Is this
09:28Kind of golden age
09:29In a way
09:30Where things seem
09:31Like optimistic
09:32And of course
09:34Living through it
09:34It wasn't like that at all
09:36I mean
09:36It was you know
09:37Ronald Reagan
09:38Being president
09:40Seemed just as absurd
09:41As Donald Trump
09:42Being president
09:43You know
09:43You're kind of living with it
09:45I guess
09:45There was no social media
09:46Obviously
09:47You know
09:47So maybe there was less
09:49Of that sort of
09:50Polarisation
09:51And more of a sense
09:52That everyone was
09:53On the same page
09:53And I suppose media
09:55Was all sort of
09:56One message
09:57In a sense
09:57You know
09:57And MTV
09:58Was a massive part of that
10:00Absolutely
10:00It was the first
10:01Certainly in America
10:03Wasn't it
10:03Yeah
10:03Because radio
10:05Was all formatted
10:06Into different sort of
10:07Genres and stuff
10:08And it was different
10:09City to city
10:10As well
10:10Wasn't it
10:11Yeah
10:11But MTV brought it
10:12All together
10:13Into one
10:13Bit more like in the UK
10:15Yeah
10:15We have like a national
10:17Radio station
10:17Radio 1
10:18So it plays
10:20All different types
10:20Of stuff
10:21Or you know
10:22But in America
10:23I don't think
10:24That was the case
10:24Before MTV
10:25And we were lucky
10:26That our timing
10:28Was called
10:29The British Invasion
10:30So a lot of
10:31British bands
10:31Were doing
10:32Slightly more
10:33Quirky videos
10:34And stuff
10:34Which fitted in
10:36Perfectly with
10:36The MTV
10:38Remit
10:38You know
10:39Yeah
10:39So from
10:41From the get go
10:42When we arrived here
10:43Because we hadn't
10:43Been to America
10:44Before
10:44So you know
10:46We were sort of
10:46Getting recognised
10:47In all sorts
10:48Of
10:48On the street
10:49You know what I mean
10:50In the most obscure
10:51Places around America
10:52It was
10:53It was amazing
10:54For us
10:54Rick Springfield's
10:56I want my 80s tour
10:582025
10:58Starring Rick Springfield
11:00John Waite
11:01Wang Chung
11:03Paul Young
11:04And John Cafferty
11:06It's a really good show
11:08I think
11:08The musical journey
11:09You know
11:10From each band
11:11To band
11:12Is great
11:13I think we all
11:14Fit together really well
11:15I think we all
11:16Kind of respect each other
11:18You know
11:18I think we enjoy
11:19Watching each other's show
11:20So there's a mutual
11:22Respect there
11:22We're not the same
11:24By any means
11:24Although we all
11:25Sort of
11:26Had most of our
11:27Success
11:28In the 80s
11:29Audiences seem to really
11:31Enjoy it
11:32The bands are enjoying it
11:34It's a really good experience
11:35A good musical journey
11:36It's a sort of rock show
11:38As well I think
11:38I noticed that
11:39Some of the 80s shows
11:40We've done
11:40The audiences dress up
11:41In all the kind of
11:42What they consider
11:43To be 80s
11:44You know
11:45Funny wigs
11:46And spandex
11:47And luminous colours
11:49Whereas this is more
11:50Kind of people
11:50Who are out to see
11:51Bands perform
11:52It's more
11:53In that central
11:54American rock thing
11:56You know
11:56And certainly
11:56John Waite embodies that
11:58He's just the most
11:58Amazing singer
12:00God knows how he does
12:01What he does every night
12:02You know
12:02Yeah
12:03And then
12:03Rick has a very
12:04Kind of rock presence
12:06You know
12:06And I think
12:07Wang Chung does as well
12:08These days
12:08You know
12:09From being
12:09Perceived initially
12:11As a sort of MTV band
12:12And things being
12:13Slightly kind of
12:14Artificial in a way
12:15I think the fact
12:16That we're players
12:16Really comes to the fore
12:18You know
12:18We play
12:19Do a version of
12:20To live and die in LA
12:21Which sort of extends
12:22The last section
12:23With solos and stuff
12:24I've done some work
12:26On solo albums
12:28In the last five years
12:29And there's a magazine
12:30In the UK
12:31Called Prog magazine
12:32Which has reviewed
12:33My work there
12:33And always very supportive
12:35You know
12:35But they reviewed
12:36Clear light
12:37Dark matter recently
12:38And called Wang Chung
12:40The prog adjacent
12:41Band Wang Chung
12:43And we like that
12:44You know
12:44So I think
12:45Again
12:45Because of the
12:46Different projects
12:47We did
12:47And especially
12:47To live and die in LA
12:48Which kind of
12:49Enabled us
12:50To create these
12:51Biggest
12:51Or longer form
12:53Soundscapes
12:53And the instrumental stuff
12:55You know
12:55You know
12:56That's one of the areas
12:57Where people can
12:58Come to us
12:59Do you know
12:59And then there's
13:00The party side
13:01With everybody
13:01Had fun tonight
13:02And then
13:02The more kind of
13:03Art rock stuff
13:04Of Dance for Days
13:05And points on the curve
13:06That sort of thing
13:07You know
13:07We are
13:08I mean
13:08We're lots of
13:09Different things
13:09Wang Chung
13:10We've always been that
13:11Which in some ways
13:13Has confused people
13:14I think when people hear us
13:16Doing everything together
13:18In one set
13:19They're kind of
13:20Oh yeah
13:20They did that
13:21And I think it's
13:22As Jack just said
13:24It goes from
13:25Quite sort of
13:26Left field stuff
13:27Through to the real big hits
13:28And I think it's a good
13:30Interesting set
13:31And I think we take it
13:33We want to do a good show
13:34And we're taking it
13:35Seriously
13:36Although we're having fun
13:37At the same time
13:38We're not just phoning it in
13:40I think
13:40Which maybe some
13:41Heritage bands can do
13:42So
13:44Yeah
13:44It's good
13:45I think we're
13:45I think at the time
13:47You know
13:47This sort of
13:49Points on the curve
13:50To Live and Die
13:51And Mosaic
13:52To Warmer Side of Court
13:53Each of those albums
13:55Was quite different
13:55In character
13:56And for Geffen
13:57Our record label
13:58At the time
13:58I think it was hard
13:59To market us
14:00As one thing
14:00But from this
14:01More distant perspective
14:03In time
14:03You know
14:04The 80s
14:05Now is
14:06This large umbrella
14:07That actually covers
14:08A lot of different
14:09Styles of music
14:10You know
14:10So we fit into
14:11All these different places
14:12I guess because
14:13We have a very
14:14Distinctive sound
14:15That's what sort of
14:16Makes it all hang together
14:17Basically
14:17Because it's not like
14:18Four different bands
14:19On those four different albums
14:20It's definitely us
14:22But we're approaching
14:23The music from a
14:24Slightly different direction
14:25You know
14:25And that all works better
14:26From this point in time
14:27Than perhaps it did
14:28At the time
14:29We took about
14:3020 years off
14:31To think about
14:34The 80s
14:34Early 90s
14:35To recover
14:35We've been doing it together
14:37So to speak
14:38Since 2005
14:39Yeah
14:40We've done other things
14:42Too as well
14:43But yeah
14:44No it feels good
14:45And I think
14:45We're sort of
14:46As we get older
14:48I think we've got better
14:49Dare I say
14:50You know
14:50I think that the show
14:51We're doing now
14:52Is kind of matured well
14:54And there's lots of energy
14:56And we're really having a go
14:58At something
14:58You know
14:59We're not complacent about it
15:00How did I get into music?
15:04I went to school
15:06With John Moss
15:07From Culture Club
15:08The drummer
15:09It was Culture Club
15:10And then we sort of
15:11Got a band together
15:12When we were
15:13About 17, 18
15:15So we just learnt to play
15:19Sort of by messing around
15:20You know
15:20So that's how I got into it
15:22I mean I always wanted
15:23To get into it
15:24But I was a sort of
15:25Fairly late starter
15:26But yeah
15:27Once I got going
15:28It was great
15:29I mean my parents
15:30Thought maybe
15:31That I would be better off
15:32Going to university
15:33And sort of having
15:34This fanciful idea
15:35Of being a successful musician
15:38But so I did go to university
15:40But got thrown out
15:41After two years
15:42Which is the best thing
15:44That ever happened to me
15:45So that propelled me
15:47Into taking a career
15:50More seriously
15:51And I saw the Beatles
15:53On TV
15:54And well
15:55I think it was
15:55The Royal Variety performance
15:57That I probably
15:58Sexy saw them
15:58But I heard the music
16:00On the radio
16:00But that's what
16:01Sort of like
16:01Was like suddenly
16:02My world went into colour
16:05For that brief
16:06A few minutes
16:07They were on
16:07And then back
16:08Into black and white again
16:09And I thought
16:10That's definitely
16:10What I want to do
16:11So my dad was a musician
16:13A saxophone player
16:14A jazz musician really
16:15So I said
16:16I want a guitar
16:17And he said
16:18Okay
16:18But the deal is
16:19You have to have
16:20Proper lessons
16:20So I always had
16:22This dual thing
16:23In a sense of
16:23Like loving pop music
16:24And the Beatles
16:25But having classical
16:26Guitar lessons
16:27You know
16:27Classical music
16:28Really didn't mean
16:30Much to me
16:30For many years
16:31Until I left school
16:33And then it was
16:34Rather like Nick
16:35I think my parents
16:36Had not been to university
16:37You know
16:37And so
16:39They wanted me to go
16:40And I sort of thought
16:41Maybe it was a good idea
16:43You know
16:43So I
16:43But let's do music
16:44You know
16:45But I knew
16:45Nothing about classical music
16:46So I had to sort of
16:47Catch up on all of that
16:48But for me
16:49That three years
16:50Was the time
16:51When I suddenly realised
16:52That Bach and Mozart
16:53And Stravinsky
16:56You know
16:56Were like this sort of
16:57Three dimensional pinball
16:59And I think
16:59Some of that stood me
17:01In good stead
17:01For a career
17:02In the rock business
17:03And some of it didn't
17:04You know
17:05But yeah
17:06That's where I got into music
17:08And I think
17:08When I left
17:09The Royal College of Music
17:10I had heartily sick
17:13Of sort of learning
17:14About music by that time
17:16You know
17:16But punk was just
17:17Coming into the mainstream
17:18Really I suppose
17:19You know
17:19And that was a real
17:20Inspiration
17:21You know
17:22That you could just
17:23Kind of stand there
17:24And do your thing
17:25And it didn't require
17:26All of this technique
17:28And learning
17:29And stuff
17:29You could bring
17:30Total spontaneity to it
17:31And that's when I met Nick
17:32And I knocked it all out of him
17:34I had to unlearn everything
17:36I mean I was doing
17:39All this sort of punky stuff
17:40With all these weird
17:42Kind of chords
17:42Well that's the thing
17:43It's punky stuff
17:43Yeah
17:44But you had C major 7 chords
17:46And stuff
17:46You know
17:46Which I
17:46That's what I thought
17:48Well this is cool
17:48You know
17:49Because I was really into
17:50Frank Zappa
17:51And people like that
17:52So
17:53So I'd come
17:54But then we both got
17:55Inspired by punk
17:56You know
17:57And the possibilities
17:58Of actually getting something
18:01Past the sort of
18:03Gatekeepers
18:03Of the music industry
18:05So it was very
18:06Motivating time
18:07So I'd done these demos
18:09And then that's when
18:10I sort of advertised
18:11For a guitar player
18:14I put an ad in
18:15Melody Maker
18:16The music magazine
18:18And made myself look
18:20Kind of important
18:21Which I totally wasn't
18:23Then Jack was one of the
18:24People who turned up
18:25For the audition
18:26And that's when we met
18:28And he stood out
18:29From everyone else
18:30So that's when we started
18:31Working together
18:32And then we both
18:34Realised we had
18:35Sort of quite
18:36Coming from different
18:37Directions
18:38But a similar
18:39Common
18:40Kind of view
18:41Of music
18:42And I guess a lot of that
18:43Was an interest in
18:43American rock
18:45And funk
18:47And soul
18:48And that sort of thing
18:48Because I think at that time
18:50Punk was great
18:51And everything
18:51It was quite insular
18:52And it was also quite
18:54UK oriented
18:55In a sense
18:56And I think
18:57We were listening to
18:58The Tubes
18:59And the Ramones
19:00And Television
19:02And Blondie
19:03And these sort of
19:03Bands
19:04They probably meant
19:05More to us
19:06In a sense
19:06Than the Pistols
19:07And the Clash
19:08You know
19:08So it was that
19:09More diverse thing
19:10And again
19:10Wang Chung
19:11Is all about
19:12That diversity
19:12We sort of
19:13Operate on
19:14All different levels
19:15And different areas
19:16Of music
19:16And we sort of
19:17Somehow
19:17Hybridise it
19:19All into this
19:19Thing called
19:20Wang Chung
19:21So
19:23And I think
19:23All those things
19:24You can sort of
19:25Hear them in the musics
19:26Even you know
19:27Things like
19:28Even things like
19:28Everybody are fun tonight
19:29That covers quite a lot
19:31Of ground actually
19:32That song
19:32And I think
19:34What you were saying
19:34Before about
19:35How
19:36The 80s now
19:38People
19:38Sort of
19:39They're much more
19:40Prepared to embrace
19:42The 80s
19:43As a sort of
19:44Overall thing
19:45Rather than
19:46I'm just into
19:47Goth music
19:48Or just into
19:48Electronic synth pop
19:50Or
19:50There's a much more
19:52Acceptance of
19:52A sort of
19:53Community
19:53You know
19:54And I think
19:55That's
19:55It's really good
19:56For us
19:56Now
19:57I think
19:58That we can
19:58Operate on
19:59All those
19:59Different areas
20:00And I think
20:01That's partly
20:02To do with
20:02The culture
20:03Of streaming
20:04And you know
20:05That it's
20:06No longer
20:06You just buy
20:07An album
20:08And play it
20:09To death
20:09Sort of thing
20:10You know
20:10You've got this
20:11Kind of
20:12Cosmic jukebox
20:13You know
20:14At your fingertips
20:15You know
20:15And so
20:16And I think
20:16At that point
20:17Wang Chung
20:17Becomes really
20:18Interesting
20:18You know
20:19Because there are
20:19All these influences
20:20From the Beatles
20:21Through to
20:22I don't know
20:23Prince
20:24And kind of
20:25The stuff that
20:25Was going on
20:26At the time
20:26You know
20:26But via
20:27Funk
20:28And stuff like
20:30That you know
20:30And I think
20:31The funk element
20:31In what we did
20:32Was probably
20:32Quite unusual
20:33In English bands
20:34And getting signed
20:35To an American
20:36Record label
20:36Was probably
20:37The most important
20:38Thing
20:38You know
20:38So that rather
20:40Than like most
20:40UK bands
20:41Have a UK record
20:42Deal
20:42And then they
20:44Break America
20:45Or they don't
20:46You know
20:46Whereas for us
20:47We were signed
20:48Directly to
20:48Geffind Records
20:49In Los Angeles
20:49So in fact
20:51Our reputation
20:52In the UK
20:53Is sketchy
20:54To say the least
20:55You know
20:55Because we were
20:56Never really marketed
20:57In the UK
20:57You know
20:58For an American
20:59Record label
21:00Effectively to try
21:01And break us
21:02In the UK
21:02They consider
21:03To be a waste
21:04Of money
21:05If not time
21:06You know
21:06So yeah
21:07Which is great
21:08Yes
21:08We love America
21:10And we love
21:10Working here
21:11Well I live here now
21:12So yeah
21:13And he lives here now
21:14So
21:14I got married
21:15Last year
21:16And my wife
21:17Lives in Austin
21:18Texas
21:18So I have moved
21:20From Canterbury
21:21In the UK
21:21To Austin
21:22I mean we spent
21:23A lot of time
21:23In the States
21:24Over the years
21:24Touring
21:25But to actually
21:26Live here
21:26Is really quite
21:27Different
21:28You know
21:28But real life
21:29In Austin
21:30Is great
21:30I love the climate
21:31My son is married
21:32To an Italian girl
21:33From Naples
21:35So I spent
21:36Quite a lot of time
21:37In southern Italy
21:38There's something
21:39About the climate
21:40In Austin
21:40That's very similar
21:41To southern Italy
21:42You know
21:42And people are
21:43Different
21:43But
21:44That the landscape
21:46Is similar
21:46And some of
21:47You know
21:48The hill country
21:49Outside of Austin
21:49Is very beautiful
21:50And of course
21:51There's lots of
21:51Fascinating musicians
21:52There as well
21:53Seems to be a lot
21:54Going on there
21:55Yeah I know
21:55If you're going to
21:56Live in America
21:56It seems like
21:57A good place
21:58To live
21:58Right now
21:59I think it is
21:59Yeah
22:00I mean he abandoned me
22:02But I'm very upset
22:03But there we go
22:05Okay why don't we shoot
22:06He's upset
22:07I've got the slate
22:07I think working
22:11With Bill Freakin
22:12On To Live and Die in LA
22:13Was one of the great
22:15Career highlights
22:16I remember us going to see
22:18The first rough cut of the movie
22:20Because we did the music
22:22The instrumental music
22:23Without seeing the movie
22:25And to see those two things
22:26Come together
22:26The music and the visuals
22:27Was just an incredible experience
22:30You know
22:30That was a high point
22:31Yeah really amazing
22:33Points on the Curve album
22:35The one with Dance All Days on
22:36We recorded that
22:38At Abbey Road Studios
22:40But we're both
22:41As Jack said
22:42You know we're big
22:43Huge Beatles fans
22:44So to record it
22:46In Studio 2
22:47At Abbey Road
22:48Before it had all been renovated
22:50So it still had this
22:51Sort of authentic
22:52Sense of the Beatles there
22:54It was just amazing for us
22:56You know
22:57We had quite an extraordinary moment
22:59There as well
23:01Because I'm a left-handed bass player
23:04And when we were recording
23:06Dance All Days
23:07The bass sound
23:09Wasn't quite right for that song
23:10So the engineer
23:12Who was our engineer
23:13Ross Cullum
23:14Said I think I can get you
23:16Another instrument
23:17Just sort of wait there
23:18Guys
23:19So he disappeared
23:20For 15 minutes
23:21And then this guy walks in
23:22With a left-handed bass guitar
23:24Saying he's from
23:25The bass rental company
23:27And we're like
23:29Oh great
23:30And then
23:30Turned out to be
23:31Paul McCartney
23:32So he lent us his bass
23:35To
23:36Which we used to record
23:38On Dance All Days
23:39So that was a huge moment
23:41For us all
23:42You know
23:43Another career highlight
23:45Working with Peter Wolfe
23:46In LA
23:47On Everybody Have Fun Tonight
23:48That album
23:49And the one after
23:50He knew all the sort of
23:51Session players in LA
23:53Because he had been in
23:54Frank Zappa's band
23:55So he brought all kinds of
23:56People in to play
23:58And sing on the record
23:59And particularly
23:59Saida Garrett
24:00Saida at that time
24:02Was working with Michael Jackson
24:03She wrote
24:04Man in the Mirror
24:04For him
24:05And she's singing
24:07On Everybody Have Fun Tonight
24:08And she used to sort of
24:09Hang out in the studio
24:10And she did some shows with us
24:12Yeah she did
24:12Or TV shows with us
24:13Yeah
24:13So that was great
24:15And we
24:16Well we toured with
24:17Tina Turner in 87
24:20Yeah
24:20Which is
24:21That's pretty amazing
24:22Yeah
24:23And the cars in 84
24:25We were doing these huge places
24:27Yeah
24:27We were their sort of opening act
24:29So those were pretty amazing moments
24:31Wow
24:33We got approached by
24:36These people
24:37How many years ago?
24:39Four or five years ago?
24:40Plus
24:40And one of them
24:41It was an astronaut
24:43A famous astronaut
24:44Called Nicole Stott
24:45And it was her husband's
24:4750th birthday
24:49Chris Stott
24:50They both are big fans
24:52Of Wang Shang
24:52And I think they wanted us
24:54To do a sort of
24:55A little acoustic show
24:56For their
24:57For this 50th birthday party
24:59Just to them
25:01And a couple
25:02Like three or four other
25:03Members of their family
25:04So we were like
25:05Oh that's interesting
25:05So we did that
25:06And in that process
25:08We became friends with them
25:09And they were telling us
25:12Their plans for a mission
25:14To the moon
25:15Chris is one of the most
25:17Sort of positive
25:18Can-do people
25:19You're ever going to meet
25:20Yeah
25:20And his company
25:21Is I think
25:21Is a sort of
25:22Data storage type company
25:24So his little bit of the project
25:26Was running these data storage units
25:28On this flight
25:29Private commercial flight
25:32To the moon
25:32And he uploaded
25:34A bunch of photographs
25:37Of us
25:38Album covers
25:39Some family photographs
25:40As well
25:40On the first mission
25:41And that landed on the moon
25:43Like early last year
25:44It was a year before
25:46And then this year
25:47And then this year
25:48They sent a second one up
25:49Which apparently broadcast
25:50Everybody have fun tonight
25:51From the moon
25:51Back to earth
25:52To conclude the mission
25:54From lunar orbit
25:55But when he told us about it
25:57We were just like
25:57That's not going to happen
25:58But it did
26:00And we've become
26:01Really good friends
26:02With them
26:02And he's just a mess
26:04They're just big advocates
26:05For Wang Chung
26:06And there does seem
26:07To be this odd connection
26:09Between Wang Chung
26:10And the space industry
26:11And which suits me
26:13Down to the ground
26:13Because well Nick's
26:14Into the space thing
26:15And I'm into the
26:16Whole UFO thing
26:17As well
26:17And apparently
26:18That community
26:19Is quite Wang Chung
26:20Adjacent as well
26:21Very much so
26:22So that's all good
26:24It's mind-blowing
26:25Actually
26:25So
26:26Every time you look
26:27Up at the moon
26:28It's like
26:29We're up there
26:31Music operates
26:36On so many different levels
26:37From a sort of
26:38Social level
26:39To a just pure
26:41Sort of entertainment level
26:42To something very
26:44Sort of quite spiritual
26:45And it's a kind of
26:47Universal language
26:48Isn't it
26:48So it's got
26:49Enormously powerful
26:51Rich experience
26:53And I think it has
26:54A very, very, very strong
26:56Almost stronger than anything else
26:58Type effect on humans
27:00I mean for me
27:01I mean for me
27:01It sort of opened up
27:02My eyes to a completely
27:03Different world
27:04From the one I lived in
27:05You know
27:05So that was I guess
27:06In the late 60s
27:08Early 70s
27:09You know
27:09Rock music was this
27:12Kind of gateway
27:12In a sense
27:13Into a much more
27:14Colourful world
27:15You know
27:16And I think at that time
27:17As well
27:17Especially early 70s
27:19Rock musicians
27:20Were very unfettered
27:22By
27:22The sort of
27:24Considerations of
27:25Knowing your place
27:26If you like
27:27Which I think
27:27Sort of came in a bit
27:28With punk
27:29In a sense
27:29It was kind of like
27:30It narrowed things down a lot
27:32But I think in the 70s
27:34You had a band like
27:34Soft Machine
27:35For example
27:36Who were
27:36Playing at the Albert Hall
27:38In London
27:38And you know
27:39Playing in this
27:40Ostensibly classical
27:41Music festival
27:43But they had their own
27:44Night
27:44And the music
27:45Was given a lot of respect
27:46You know
27:47And the Beatles
27:48Were regarded as
27:49The greatest songwriter
27:49Since Schubert
27:50And that sort of thing
27:51So at that point
27:53I think rock music
27:53Was a real cultural force
27:56In right
27:57Well right in the centre
27:58Of the cultural machine
27:59If you like
28:00You know
28:00Not just the sort of
28:01Sense of decades
28:02And pop music
28:03And all of that stuff
28:03So it was a fascinating time
28:05To grow up
28:06With all of that stuff
28:07It actually
28:08You know
28:08Instigated a social revolution
28:11If you start playing music
28:13Learning an instrument
28:14And then hanging out
28:15With musicians
28:16And it does change
28:18Your world
28:19You know
28:19Certainly broadens it
28:21And gives you access
28:21To a whole sort of
28:22World of ideas
28:23And culture
28:23And stuff
28:24You know
28:24And if you start
28:25Really getting into it
28:26And going back into
28:27The roots of the music
28:28Whether that be in
28:29Mississippi
28:30Or Vienna
28:32You know
28:33It keys you into
28:35Different ways of thinking
28:36And transformation
28:38I think that's
28:39What it's about
28:39Really
28:39You know
28:40Something I'm very interested
28:41In is education
28:42You know
28:42Music education
28:43I think is a very important
28:44Part of your overall education
28:46You know
28:46As is
28:47Visual arts
28:48And literature
28:49But all of those things
28:50Really are empowering
28:51Subjects
28:53You know
28:53They encourage you to think
28:55And ask questions
28:56You know
28:57And I get that education
28:58These days
28:58Is not geared up
29:00Around those qualities
29:01You know
29:01But we need to
29:03Keep music high
29:04On the list of
29:05Subjects
29:05For kids
29:06You know
29:06Just don't hang out
29:07With musicians
29:08Terrible
29:09I get played
29:12All sorts of stuff
29:13Like I taught
29:14Songwriting
29:14For a while
29:15At the University
29:15In Canterbury
29:17And so
29:17Some of my students
29:18Will bring me stuff
29:19So I remember
29:20Listening to the books
29:22There's a band
29:23Called Dungan
29:24As well
29:24There's one of their albums
29:25It's got two
29:26Owls on the front
29:27But really fantastic
29:29And they're a sort of
29:30Modern proggy
29:31Kind of band
29:32You know
29:32So all kinds of stuff
29:34You know
29:34Nick is really into
29:35Lewis Cole
29:36I love Lewis Cole
29:37And we had a bit of a
29:38On one of the drives
29:39We had
29:40Because there's a lot
29:40Of travelling on this tour
29:41We had a bit of a
29:42Lewis Cole evening
29:43And that was great
29:45Although it wasn't
29:45Travelling was it
29:46Where were we
29:47Well we did
29:47We took over a bar
29:48We did do it
29:48Travelling
29:49And we did it in a bar
29:50So we come up
29:52Commenteered the bar
29:52The guy just gave us
29:53The TV remote
29:54And then I love
29:56Kendrick Lamar
29:57Actually
29:57I've loved
29:58To Pimp a Butterfly album
30:00I think it's just brilliant
30:01One of his songs
30:02We used for my
30:04Dance at my wedding
30:05Actually
30:06So that's proof
30:07That I like him
30:08How do you relax?
30:11God I never relax
30:12Well I've just moved home
30:14And I've been doing
30:16Huge renovations
30:17On this house
30:18Which nearly
30:19Drove me insane
30:21So that was about
30:23A year of
30:24Renovations
30:25And my builder
30:28Was just a complete nightmare
30:29But we got through it
30:31And it's lovely now
30:32So I was like
30:33Wow I've got a bit of time
30:35To actually live my life
30:36You know
30:36Which is great
30:37Then that's all full of touring
30:39So I haven't had a chance to
30:41I haven't seen your house
30:43For the last six months
30:44Exactly
30:44But on this tour
30:48So the schedule
30:50Of playing shows
30:52Is pretty heavy
30:53But the travelling
30:54Is very arduous
30:56Well I've found it
30:57So I've got more used to it
30:59But in those first few shows
31:01I sort of lost my voice
31:02And I had to kind of
31:03Odile my way through
31:04Everybody have fun tonight
31:05A bit
31:05You know
31:06You do a bit of
31:16Vocal warm-ups
31:17Yeah
31:18You know
31:18Very basic sort of way
31:19I have a few whiskies
31:21That's his warm-up
31:22But only a little
31:23Just to take
31:24You know
31:24Medicine
31:25It's medicine isn't it
31:27It's medicine yeah
31:27Thank you
31:28I think this tour
31:30Is a sort of
31:31Step up for us
31:33And we've been
31:34Gigging for
31:34You know
31:35Consistently for quite a while
31:37But I think we're
31:38Sort of evolving
31:39In a good way
31:40And I think we're
31:41Becoming more
31:42Sort of
31:43Potent I suppose
31:45As we go
31:45Good word
31:46Yeah
31:47So as far as I'm concerned
31:50I think we should
31:51Sort of keep
31:52Going forward
31:53And we've both got
31:55You know
31:55We write all the time
31:57We've got new stuff
31:57Jack's got
31:58His solo stuff as well
32:00But I think we should
32:01Continue this curve
32:03Upwards
32:03I've done two solo albums
32:05There's a third one
32:06That I'm mixing
32:07At the moment
32:08Trying to do a bit of mixing
32:09On the road actually
32:10About that
32:11So yeah
32:12So we're still
32:12Very creative
32:14I think
32:14We'll do something together
32:16At some point
32:17When we've got the stuff
32:18Out of our system
32:19For me
32:19You know
32:20Creativity is all about
32:21Being refreshed
32:22All the time
32:23You know
32:23So working with
32:24Nick
32:25And doing the
32:26Wayne Chung thing
32:26For a while
32:27Right now
32:28Touring is a very intensive
32:29Sort of physical
32:30Expression of that
32:31You know
32:31So as I then
32:32Go back into a more
32:33Reflective musical space
32:35For me is great
32:36That's you know
32:37How that gets refreshed
32:38And that in turn
32:39Will create a space
32:40For us to maybe do some
32:41Some recording together
32:42Again as Wayne Chung
32:43Which in turn
32:44Will generate the necessity
32:45To go out and tour
32:46So it's keeping all these
32:48Things in play
32:48Really
32:49You know
32:49I feel very inspired
32:51You know
32:51I've got a lot of songs
32:53I've been writing
32:54So I really want to get
32:55Those recorded
32:56You know
32:56Some with Jack
32:57And some myself
32:59Much like he's done
33:00I think we're both
33:02Very alive creatively
33:03And I think you know
33:05Compared with the 80s
33:06If you wanted to record a song
33:08As it were
33:08With a professional sound
33:09For want of a better word
33:10You needed to be in a studio
33:12You needed to have an engineer
33:13And all the paraphernalia
33:14Whereas now
33:15You can do stuff on a laptop
33:16And it's so much easier
33:19To get ideas from here
33:21You know
33:22Sort of realised
33:22Also the means of distribution
33:24Where
33:25Yeah
33:25I mean you had to
33:26Basically have a record deal
33:27Now you could put your stuff up
33:30On Spotify
33:30Or whatever it is
33:31And you're sort of
33:32Distributed to the whole world
33:34You know
33:34There is a
33:36You know
33:36A major worldwide outlet
33:38You know
33:39Which is
33:39And the paradox I think
33:41Is that
33:41You know
33:42It seems like
33:42You know
33:43People are obsessed with
33:44Like yeah
33:44You can record a song
33:45In the afternoon
33:45And have it up online
33:46That evening
33:47But I think the fact
33:48That there's this
33:49Permanent repository
33:50Of all the songs
33:51Means that people
33:52Come to the music
33:53Much more slowly
33:54In a sense
33:55Than they used to
33:55You know
33:55So when everything
33:57Was going through
33:57This bottleneck
33:58And releasing a single
34:00Was a big deal
34:00You know
34:01Now I think the release
34:02Isn't such a big deal
34:03It's how it then develops
34:05And how you sort of
34:06Encourage people
34:07To come to that space
34:08And I think people
34:09Are curious still
34:10About music
34:11And you know
34:12Wang Chung's a great
34:13Kind of beacon
34:14In a sense
34:14That draws them
34:15To us
34:16To our solo things
34:18But also to other
34:19Related bands
34:20And so on
34:20To hear more
34:23Of this interview
34:23Visit our podcast
34:24Life Minute TV
34:25On iTunes
34:26And all streaming
34:27Podcast platforms
34:28And all streaming
34:29And all streaming
34:30In a sense
Be the first to comment