Strength of the heart, the mind, body and soul - Ginger Interview

To those that have sat under a rock for the past fifteen or so years, Ginger has been in The Letters, The Cups, Zig Zag, Ipanema Katz, Avenger, Peter Panics, Beki Bondage (Vice Squad), The Quireboys and The Throbs before the Wildhearts. We won’t go through the whole details, but all you need to know is that it was a rock n’ roll ride that would send shockwaves up and down your spine and seduce your senses with songs full of feeling and riffs to rock the crap out of you.

Receiving great reviews from the mainstream press, Ginger’s new solo album “Valor Del Corazón” (loosely translated ‘Strength of the Heart’) is an emotional journey through heartbreak and frustration. Just finishing a tour which included Download Festival with the quirkily named band - the Sonic Circus - Ginger, Jason (guitar) and Jon (bass) took to the road doing acoustic sets for the past week or so.

I got up to the venue quite early to make sure I could do the chat with Ginger. The Imperial Vipers and Chris Catalyst (from Sisters of Mercy) who were touring with Ginger on his acoustic run were sound checking. While Chris Catalyst was setting up, Ash from the Imperial Vipers was wandering about and I had a small chat to him about supporting Ginger. Ash told me what was to be something that I’d find out from talking to Ginger, despite all the releases, bands, gigs and merits, Ginger isn’t a man who rolls around in his own success and is a normal guy who believes in what he does. I was quite surprised that Ginger was setting up his own merchandise stall after his sound check. He said he wasn’t bothered, he knew it’d get done then. Which seems to be the attitude that he’s taken to most things when I had a chat with him, especially his music production.

Nix sat in the dressing room pre gig with Ginger while Jason (guitarist for GSC) tuned his guitar and strummed away for a bit. On the agenda was finding out the elements that went into Valor Del Corazón, how it started for Ginger, troubles along the way, what he’s got in the pipe line and Chumbawumba ...

N: With Valor Del Corazón, you’ve got such a wide variety of music? Why did you chose to do your solo album in that way?
G: I don’t know, it just came out like that. I’d never done it before really. I’d never out and out done instrumentals and country stuff and things like that. I’d quite fancied it. I’d always planned to do an album of instrumentals and an album of country like you always plan to do and it seemed fitting to just do it on one record. I thought with all the different emotions on there I thought different music styles lent itself to the subject matter.
N: What was your main inspiration for it?
G: Heartbreak I guess. That’s the only way to put it. Splitting up with my partner was the only inspiration for it really. That and a bit of, I don’t want to sound wacky - but a bit of divine inspiration going on as well. It was a bit weird. It was a strange time. I’d kind of lost all myself and opened some weird portal and kept getting weird stuff - like ghosts - just weird stuff going on. Some bad stuff, some evil stuff going on. I was just in a mixed up kind of place, I was in a mixed up place emotionally anyway. Then spiritually I was in a mixed up place and I ended up getting a little bit of faith back through all of that. The main inspiration for that was, like I say, splitting up but the road to finding yourself again and getting over it and carrying on.
N: Did you anticipate the reception you’ve had to the album?
G: No, not really. I expected people to hate it! I really did. Especially the rock crowd. I thought that the rock press were definitely going to hate it. I didn’t think it was going to get into Metal Hammer and Kerrang! let alone get good reviews. They must just like me!
N: What’s your favourite track on there?
G: I don’t know, what’s my favourite track on there Jas?
J: I don’t know, about favourite but you could say songs like “Yeah Yeah Yeah” were the most surprising weren’t they? Because they weren’t designed to be on the album.
G: They weren’t! “Yeah Yeah Yeah” was going to be the single and that wasn’t supposed to go on the album. It’s just everyone that came into the studio liked it so we said, oh - stick it on. GTT is my favourite, I like that one.

N: How easy do you find it to write lyrics?
G: Dead easy. The inspiration to write any new songs is always like from a situation or something happened to me or someone I know. I don’t know - it just becomes a song in my head. The lyrics are relatively easy. I do spend a lot of time trying to think of good words or good rhymes that you wouldn’t normally hear but that’s mostly for me because most people don’t really listen to the lyrics anyway!
N: That kind of leads me onto the next question. How do you feel when people cite you as their greatest influence or the best British songwriter?
G: There’s not really that many that do that. It’s nice. I always see from talking to some young bands - they say that they have been inspired by the Wildhearts. I’m still inspired by people and they still carry on inspiring me. People like Steve Earl, Maria McKee, Proclaimers - I could go on forever. People that are still alive and making music - writing it. Its great seeing kids saying that. You’re going to have people coming up to you’re an inspiration so take it seriously. No messing about and try and stay off heroin!

N: How did it all start for you and how did you get into music in the first place?
G: I remember I saw the Sweet on the telly and the guitarist had a sticker with an inverted smiley face and it had ‘S***’ written on the bottom and I thought that was amazing how that could be on the telly. I found it dead exciting and the fact that my parents hated it! I just thought, this was really good. I was always going to do music - not singing, never singing - but I always had tunes and I always had ideas long before I could play. It was always going to happen - I’ve always been stubborn so its taken me longer because I refused to go for guitar lessons or anything so it took me longer to play the guitar. Yeah, I’ve always wanted to do it!

N: What would you say to summarising the music that you play in a nutshell?
G: Can’t - someone else would have to do that!

N: You’re quite open on the Wildhearts site about your previous drug use and past problems, how would you say you are now? Has there been any sign of going back to it?
G: Oh no, I’ve been brilliant.
N: So how have you felt after not taking anything anymore?
G: It’s great - giving up drugs is easy. Anything is easy. It’s just the initial start. I usually find that telling people to give up is a good idea - especially if you’re stubborn like myself. If you tell someone they’ve got to do it. That’s why I put stuff on the website like that, its always like a full stop. It’s right cathartic. I do that more for myself than to let the fans know what colour my underpants are! Not that I wear any. Giving up drugs is easy. Well, it’s not easy but its not that hard. I like goals. I like doing things that scare me. I think its healthy for people to do things that scare them at least once a day!

N: With the Sonic Circus, how did you assemble the line up that you’ve got?
G: Just all the people that I knew I’d always wanted to play with. Just the best players - the nicest people and the coolest people - like Jas and John and Connie and Vix. People like that, that I have just known for ages. If you were going to pick people to play with, them. Then a few new people came about just through word of mouth and meeting them. Luis, who’s our percussion player and keyboard player - he played on the album so I knew him and got on well with him. A friend of his, Ralph came and played sax. A friend of Vix’s, Tenisha - she was singing with Vix. A drummer who just came at the last moment - who now has got a bad back so we’ve got another who’s an awesome drummer called Denzil Pearson - who’s another friend of Luis. It’s just been very organic - good people. The only other rule apart from being able to play well, because there is a lot of jamming, is that you can’t moan. Thankfully no one does.

N: What about the Psycho Cyborgs?
G: They’re in, they’ve just joined as well.
N: How did they come about and why did you get them?
G: Ooh, I don’t know. It’s like asking where did you meet your friends - and its like, where did we meet? When we’re on tour, it doesn’t seem that I’ve known some people longer than others. The Psycho Cyborgs are exactly the same, we got in touch with them and they came on tour with us - got on really well, stayed in touch. I’m sure its got something to do with the fact that they pierced my arms, I’m sure there was a bit of bonding that went on! After Download they got in touch and said “ah, we really miss it - we think it would be a really good idea if you let us join”. Yeah man! It’s always good to have two psychopaths in your band (laughs).

N: Round Records is the label that you’re starting up isn’t it? What’s the progress with that?
G: At the moment its just to release my records. We’ve got a great thing going. When you’ve got a major label they tell you how often you’re going to record an album which is why we had so many B sides for the Wildhearts. Now we get to do albums whenever we want. We just finished one and we’re starting another one just when we’re doing the finishing touches on the one we just done. As soon as we’ve finished that one, we’re going to start another one. We can do albums whenever we want - that’s the dream right there. It’s what you always really want to do and you’re kind of frustrated with a big label, like some of the ones that I’ve been on. Especially when they say, ‘oh you can’t record an album for another three years’. It’s never going to work. I need to do three albums a year not one album every three years!
N: As it progresses, what type of artists would you be looking for?
G: I wouldn’t know at the moment. I’d know when I hear it. I like so many different styles of music the only thing I wouldn’t want anything to do with is these new metal bands. The ones that just go ‘waaaaaaarrrrghhhh!’ (death metal scream raw) then there’s another guy going ‘waaaaaarrrrrrgghhhh!’. I love heavy music but that whiney screechy, whatever you call it - stupid noises they’re making. It’s even stupider than the Cookie Monster. In fact, the Cookie Monster stuff sounds cool now next to these little kids screaming. Nothing like that. Emo it’s probably called. Or Screamo. Something that just sounds like they mean it. As long as it doesn’t sound like they’re copying something. I get an awful lot of CD’s and they sound like the Wildhearts and they just go straight in the bin. I’m not interested.

N: You’re worked with Neil Leyton on his “Dead Fashion Brigade” EP (which is out on Fading Ways) how did that come about and do you have any more plans to work with anyone else?
G: I’d love to work with a number of people. It’s all down to time and if it seems right. The new thing is that I got a credit for producing it and I didn’t produce it. I was going to and the band decided that they weren’t going to finish it off and Neil went back to Canada. The next thing I knew, Neil finished off the vocals - him and Rich Hero did the vocals and got someone else to mix it and they put my name as producer! I was like thanks guys but I didn’t produce it so its not entirely how I’d of done it. But its always nice to work with people. I’ve got a lot of experience in the studio and it does come in handy when people haven’t got tons of experience. Neil is very experienced in the studio and he knows what he wants so I was probably the wrong person for him to work with. He knows vocally what he wants and that’s what I would mainly get involved in is the vocal side as well as everything else.

N: This is probably quite a hard one for you, but what is your favourite album that you’ve done or had a hand in?
G: Endless Nameless by the Wildhearts.

N: Your favourite artist of all time?
G: Cheap Trick and the Ramones. I can’t pick one between them two. I listen to Cheap Trick more because they’ve got a new album out. I mostly listen to other stuff because I’ve been listening to the Ramones since I was 13 or something. I know everything that’s going to happen on the Ramones records. I like hearing new stuff that’s fresh but Cheap Trick and the Ramones are my favourite two bands of all time.

N: Do you have a favourite gig of all time?
G: Ooh, I don’t know. I really liked Download. I thought it was a bit short but I really enjoyed that. Kerrang! obviously didn’t because they gave us three out of five. Which they gave to the s*** New York one that we did which was appalling. Go figure. Off the top of my head I’d say Download because it was just magic.
N: Not only that, I guess you’d have had access to a lot of people that haven’t heard of your newer stuff?
G: Yeah, when the Wildhearts turned up at festivals like Leeds and Reading the other year the tent was full. You’re like - yeah - about time. People had f***in’ cottoned on to the fact that it’s a good band. With this, it was from one album and a band that tons of people don’t know and I was amazed that the tent was full. I really was not expecting more than a few people at the front. They all started shouting me name and I was like ‘oh man!, this was f***in’ cool!’. The Psycho Cyborgs went on and started hammering nails into their head. It doesn’t get better than that!

N: Can you bring a best support act to memory, a band that you’ve played with that really rocked?
G: Bands that we’ve played with. We always pick good bands to play with. I mean Therapy? and Cardiac have played with us and who’s better than them? We’ve picked some fantastic ones. Deckard, are just unbelievably good. I miss them because they’re not going anymore but Group Dogdrill, even though people didn’t get them as much as I wanted. I’d say Group Dogdrill because they were just an awesome, awesome group. When they split up, everybody started getting into them! (shakes fist) motherf***ers!

N: Pure Rawk generally specialises in unsigned and break through bands. What advice would you give to a band trying to make it?
G: Don’t get signed! Do it yourself! It’s scary but borrow some money, make a record and sell it at your gigs - you’d be amazed how much money you make. You make more money off CD’s than you do T Shirts because they’re about half the price to manufacture. Do as much as you can yourself. Do it through the internet, do it through MySpace. Don’t sign a record deal.

N: Bit of trivia here, a little fact that not a lot of people know about you?
G: There’s not really much that people don’t know about me! I’d say I love country but everyone knows that! I really like Chumbawumba (starts singing with Jason). It’s not one that’s really cool. Not like I keep snakes - in my trousers ...

N: Back to the serious stuff, what do you think of the UK music scene?
G: It’s brilliant. There’s so many great groups. People are getting really good at playing now. It’s not essential because some of my favourite bands could barely string chords together but they just really meant it. There’s more of a determination now and I love the Futureheads. I absolutely adore the Futureheads. I love the fact that people are copying off that spiky, kind of angular music. That’s really good. I love the fact that people are using harmonies, that’s great. I just think this metal stuff, I don’t get it at all. I just don’t get what the fuss is. I get tons of bands from friends that read Kerrang! and I get recommended that I listen to them and it sounds exactly like the last band they recommended. What’s happening with bands like the Arctic Monkeys and The Academy Is, is that they were doing it all through the internet and all through MySpace - that’s just excellent! It’s the most exciting thing that’s happened since punk. I think if all bands just take that really seriously they’ll do what I wished people would do since I started this music and they will scare the s*** out of record companies. Record companies don’t have any ‘big’ bands because they effectively killed them all off because they were too expensive to keep so they got a load of little bands. If they just kept some dinosaurs instead of killing them all off the dinosaurs would need them because they wouldn’t understand the internet but because they were so obsessed with signing teenage bands - the teenage bands are going ‘we don’t need you’ and the record companies are going ‘what?!, we’re not used to having people tell us that!’. If all of the new bands did that, apart from the fact that they’d make a fortune in the process it’d be a big finger to the industry who are starting to need them much more than bands are needing the industry. It’s the most exciting time ever.

N: I’ve heard on the grapevine that you’re planning on doing an album - whether it be another solo one or even a Wildhearts one.
G: I’ve just done an album by an artist called Howling Willy C**t which is really offensive, obscene and brilliant. I’ve started on a new solo album. As soon as we finish the Howling Willy C**t final touches we start the solo album. When we finish that there will be gigs in Japan and stuff like that and then we’re doing a Sonic Circus album. So my solo album, it’s really mad this time, it’s just all over the place. If you think the other one has got lots of different styles in, this other one might make you think he’s got a bit too much going on in there! But it’s all really good and digestible. The Sonic Circus album can make more of a rock n’ roll, soul, gospelly blues tinge kind of thing. Then a Wildhearts album at the end of the year if they can be arsed to do it! I’m not promising anything because they’re four very independent characters but we all talk about it and say we want to do it. Talks the easiest bit. I’d be nice to think that there could be a Wildhearts album. I reserve judgement. I’m sure we’ll start one but just don’t know if we’ll finish it!

Valor Del Corazón, Ginger’s solo album is available to buy in all good music retailers.
Words and images by Nicola “Nix” Crichton.

© Pure Rawk 2006