Guy Garvey interview: 'Young musicians need to be given enough money to quit their jobs'

We spoke to the Elbow frontman ahead of new Manchester music event Off the Record

(Getty)

The artists due to perform have been nominated by 30 of the country's national treasures - one of which includes Elbow's effervescently-talented frontman, Guy Garvey.

We spoke with the musician about the worrying obstacles thrown the way of emerging musicians, what these acts can do to get by and whether we can expect to see his band return to the Pyramid Stage at next year's Glastonbury Festival.

What’s the story behind your involvement with Off the Record?

They just asked me to recommend some new acts that I was into. It sounded like an interesting way of finding some new talent. I've been a beneficiary of the In the City Festival twice; Elbow’s first two record deals were as a direct result of playing that. Nick Angel from Island Records - who to this day is our publisher - heard us play at the Night and Day which is one of the venues putting on some of our new talent during Off the Record, and he decided to sign us - this is a million years ago in 1998. When we lost our deal due to Island being brought by Universal, we got a second deal at the In the City Festival with V2 - we did the first three albums with them. So we benefited from Manchester's unsigned and new bands festivals so I was very honoured to be asked to curate something similar.

It must be great to be in a position to help out.

Yeah, it’s really not lost on me and it’s a two-way street as well; if I bleat on about a fantastic new act like Laura Groves or Josephine Oniyama or C Duncan and you put their names next to mine in The Independent, it makes me look cool! So everybody’s happy.

What's your key way of discovering these emerging acts?

My weekly radio programme on BBC 6 Music. I get sent all the interesting new releases and I get to filter through them and play the ones I like. I'm also a strong believer in reminding people of music they’ve forgotten. I have a thing called 'Song for Guy' and basically it’s listeners' recommended music - not requested, but recommended. I'll say: "Tell me about a song that you’ve never heard on the radio that only you think you know about and I'll dig it out and, if I like it, I'll play it." That’s led me to some of my favourite artists. Quite often they’re new artists as well. I'm a spoilt boy.

What's the one thing that's damaging the opportunities of emerging artists in the music industry?

Streaming culture isn’t great for getting to know who your artists are. Quite often, people will have automatic playlists - particularly in restaurants, cafes and bars. I've said: "Who's this? It's a great playlist." They never know. So not only do you not find the musician, but you wouldn’t know to go and see them live if they came through town because you don’t know who you're listening to - you’re letting an algorithm choose your tunes. It's tempting to wring your hands in despair and give up but I think change is coming. It's got to. Off the Record is the right kind of thing - we’ve got to keep celebrating new music because it needs to be valued. We are close to losing a generation of new music.

What can we expect from the three acts you've nominated?

Innovative music. The lovely thing about being slightly older in British music is listening to influences come round with the next generation of musicians. It’s great because all the synth sounds that are currently in vogue are my favourite from the 80s. It's really magical evocative stuff right from when they were coming out of the period where they were supposed to be mimicking organic instruments. Suddenly, now we've got amazing stuff being done with synthesizers. I absolutely love all that stuff being used by a new generation of people in a fantastic way - they can only do what they’re doing with this stuff because they're coming at it fresh with no preconceptions.

I'm hearing dog bark samples again, and jazz voice samples that I know for a fact comes off a VK-8 organ emulator. Elbow used to mess about with this jazz vocal synth for a laugh because it was such a silly noise and then I've recently heard it used really creatively on a Bon Iver tune. It's always shifting and it’s a privilege to be working for a station at the BBC that genuinely cares and supports new music. But, emergency on planet earth: we really do need to change the law and make sure that, not old fat cats like Elbow, but young musicians coming through at least have enough money to quit their jobs and do music full time. Or we will all suffer culturally.

It seems like it's easier to break through in European countries.

Yeah, it’s really not cool. There's not anything here decent to subsidise it for musicians like there is in other European countries. In fact, sorry - correction: we’re not a European country anymore. What a fucking joke that is - not helpful in the slightest. It's one of them things. This festival is about celebrating what we have. In all of this stuff, if one band gets supported and noticed to the point where they decide to make another EP or stick at it another year, then it’ll be worth all the organiser’s efforts.

What would your advice to these emerging talents be?

I would say don't join a band with the best musicians you know; join them with your best friends and become the best musicians you know.

Don't underestimate the role of a producer; you don't necessarily know what’s best for your own music. The producer is a job that’s now very underpaid because you can’t make a release-quality record on your laptop but you never know what can be done with your music or what can be done as a musician without getting a fresh set of ears on it. So don’t undervalue a producer’s role even if you're really good at home recording - it’s still a home recording. That’s one bit of advice.

But I will say, creative role aside, do as much as you can yourself and don’t have achievable goals all the itme. If you sit around waiting for someone with a cheque book, you’ll be sat around forever. There's never been a better time to make music because recording is affordable - you can get directly to your audience through the internet.

Also, there was a territorialism where music was concerned when I was growing up: you were either a mod or you were ska or were into reggae - and particularly in the north of england, you dressed what you listened to. Young people don't listen to music in that way anymore. they're as likely to listen to something from the 60s as they are a new release. There isn’t that same level of ownership and that’s really healthy

You would not believe how much further into your writing you’d go in a residential studio - in an environment built solely for the purpose of eating, sleeping and doing it. You could spend six months working on a record at home in your free time and would not have anything like the impact of two weeks in a res studio because it's having your head in the game. Imagine walking into a room that's purpose built for the making of sound, fully equipped and staffed and everything;s her because of what's going on in your head, you’re immediately elevated before you’ve plugged a guitar in. Use the old ways but don't go as far as using tape - it’s a load of bollocks that; they are troublesome.

Is there a certain way you should act in terms of personality?

There’s a certain amount of us-against-the-world that’s necessary for a band to get off the floor. Certainly back in my day. But you can make the mistake of carrying that bloody mindedness into your career once it starts happening for you. It's ungentlemanly to name names but there was a band from Liverpool that sounded a lot like Love who were on Later with Jools Holland with us. They were really quite rude to Jools; refused to have their picture taken with him around the piano like all the guests do, and were just pretty childish and pretty "fuck you" about everything. I saw them six months later after some hard touring and one of them came up and apologised. He said: "Sorry we were such dicks last time we met, it was all a bit intimating and we were overawed."

Pretty much the same thing happened with a Californian group who were quite into slow harmony singing. When we met them the first time, arseholes. When we met them a second time, [we got] an apology for the way they behaved and they were really lovely people. Particularly in this game you’re so tempted to think 'fuck you, rock 'n' roll, I'm the real thing,' but I’ve see it happen - particularly in Manchester: if you act too much like a dick, people don't want to work with you and you'll never get anywhere. Don't be a 'rock star' arsehole and I would say don’t join a band with the best musicians you know; join them with your best friends and become the best musicians you know.

How's everything going with Elbow?

We've been together for 25 years now. Our drummer [Richard Jupp] left the group in January which is a shame, you know. But we're still having a right laugh and really good time - bit too much of a good time if I'm honest with you.

How's album number seven going?

Can we expect another Elbow Glastonbury moment in 2017?

Watch the skies, man. To be honest with you, I have no idea. I’ve been in the studio. You drum up that support, man, see what you can do.

Off the Record takes place in Manchester this Friday (4 November)