Interview Guy Garvey
“There’s always an element of spontaneity in my writing but my first drafts are nearly always a pile of toss.”
With two Ivor Novello Awards on elbow’s mantelpiece (the band won Best Contemporary Song and Best Song Musically and Lyrically for the singles Grounds for Divorce and One Day Like This in 2009) and having previously taken part on a judging panel, Guy Garvey is almost an Ivors veteran. The much-loved and well-respected singer talks here about his inspirations and what 2013 means for him musically.
Guy Garvey What are your memories of the 2009 Ivor Novello Awards and what does winning an Ivor mean to you? Apart from being the best statue in the music trophy world, winning an Ivor is the approval of your peers, it’s the approval of people who make music and so we were incredibly proud when we won a second one a few minutes later – I nearly lost a button on my shirt. We had a great party afterwards as well. Do you feel The Ivors is different to other award ceremonies? The heritage of the award makes it feel really special and having been on an Ivor’s panel for the Album Award in 2008, I know exactly how much time, care and deliberation is put in to decide who wins. Were you ready for the huge success of The Seldom Seen Kid? The band were used to the level we reached on previous records, so nothing could have prepared us for how well Seldom did. The fact that it was the record that was dedicated to our dear friend Bryan Glancy made it even more special for us. We’ve always been proud that we ever made a living doing the thing we love but the loveliest thing about the success of the The Seldom Seen Kid was the unanimous congratulations from the British music press. Everybody seemed genuinely happy for us. Very touching. Which songwriters most inspired you when you started writing? I’ve always been a huge fan of the lyrics of Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and John Lennon. Musically, the whole trip-hop scene and everything that came out of Bristol in the 90s really influenced elbow, which made it incredibly satisfying when Rob Del Naja from Massive Attack asked me to contribute some of the songs on Heligoland. Talk Talk are probably the biggest influence musically on the band. Is your songwriting mostly instinctive? There’s always an element of spontaneity in my writing but my first drafts are nearly always a pile of toss, it takes me ages and loads of drafts to get the lyrics up to the standard that my colleagues in elbow demand. They all have t-shirts with ‘not good enough’ written on them and they stand around me tutting until it’s right. What are you currently working on and what are your goals for the rest of the year? I’ve collaborated with Rob Del Naja and Marius de Vries on songs for King Kong the Musical, I found it surprisingly easy and I really enjoyed the experience. And elbow are always writing the next record. We are just about to spend some time at Peter Gabriel’s Real World which is still the best residential studio in the land. The writing we do there we would never do at home, there’s so much to be said for beautiful purpose built rooms. Home recording is a joy and affordable for all but places like Real World allow you to almost live inside your record.
The 2013 Ivor Novello Awards 56
The 2013 Ivor Novello Awards 57
