Hang onto your hats, Bedford! This month we’ve got not one (Stereo MCs), not two (Ash), but three (Happy Mondays) HUGE musical acts appearing at ParkLive in Bedford Park on Friday 31 July. To celebrate, we gave friend of the stars, Lloyd Lugsden the phone numbers of Rob Birch from Stereo MCs and top telly swearer and Madchester legend, Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays. Luckily, they both took his call, so here are those interviews in full:
Bedford Clanger: Have you been to Bedford before?
Shaun Ryder: I don’t know! Where is it?
BC: In between Cambridge & Oxford, a bit south of Northampton?
SR: I’ve been to all of those places loads of times but I don’t think Bedford…
BC: How is straddling two tours; Black Grape & Happy Mondays?
SR: Great! We’ve been playing new material with Black Grape, the band are great.
BC: You’re quite into UFOs? (Shaun even did a show on National Geographic about them) have you seen one?
SR: Yes! I was a postboy when I was 15, I went to the bus stop at 7am to go work. A few other people were there and ZOOM! This thing went zig-zagging through the sky at over 1000mph. It went down, then shot off! That was 1978.
BC: How has Ryder’s tour rider* changed over the years?
SR: We don’t ask for anything anymore really – just pop & crisps for the kids.
BC: Any new bands you can recommend ?
SR: Alias Kid – a group on Alan McGee’s label. They’re touring with Black Grape. All of the money they make from the tour they donate to the homeless.
BC: Have you got a favourite Monday’s song?
SR: Oh God! The ‘Bummed’ album from 1988. We recorded it at the time, then toured and promoted it and that was the last time I’d heard it. Then we practiced it for a ‘Bummed’ tour recently and I thought ‘pat yourself on the back’ that’s good!
BC: Last film you saw?
SR: American Sniper – a good film directed by Clint Eastwood…he must be 103 by now…Other than that it’s all kids’ films; Big Hero 6, stuff like that.
BC: What’s the most sensible thing you’ve done?
SR: Being a dad. I’ve done it all again in my late 40’s, I’ve got 6-7 year olds. I really enjoy it – they think I’m a superhero! I was a stranger to my older kids, as I was always on tour first time around.
BC: You’re on TFI Friday this time round. How about a shout-out for Bedford Clanger?
SR: Yeah! I like that name, Clanger… [Aw, thanks Shaun! – Ed]
* A tour rider is a shopping list from a band for a gig. This can range from organic foodstuffs to orange Smarties to copious amounts of alcohol.
Tickets £32.50 from padpresents.com & lphconcerts.co.uk
Everyone and their mum seemed to have a copy of Stereo MCs Connected album in the 1990s. Lest we forget they did some other pretty decent albums plus remixes and shows. Ahead of the ParkLive gig we managed to get ahem, ‘connected’ with MC’s mainman Rob Birch…
Bedford Clanger: What do you know about Bedford, if anything?
Rob Birch: Not a lot. It’s about the event as much as the place, though this time around I’ve been enjoying different English places whilst touring.
BC: What do you want to know about Bedford?
RB: I don’t know, you tell me!
BC: Well, John Bunyan is from Bedford, as are Paula Radcliffe & Ronnie Barker, off the top of my head.
RB: John Bunyan? That’s interesting, he wrote Pilgrims Progress…was he in prison?
BC: Yes, that’s him, because of his beliefs
RB: Ha! Not much changes then…
BC: Fave rapper/ MC?
RB: All time? Hmm, Rakim (of Eric B & Rakim)
BC: Earliest musical memory?
RB: My mum singing to me (at bedtime) and my dad playing the piano, he sung to me too. Dad wanted to be a concert pianist.
BC: Favourite place you’ve toured?
RB: I’ve had nice experiences everywhere, let me think. I’d have to say Glastonbury in ’93, which was awe inspiring and also a tiny club we played in Frankfurt to about 200 people, rammed and sweaty, both great but both with a different feel.
BC: Any new material or projects lined up?
RB: Yes, We’ve just finished a track ‘Restless’ on the German Kompact label plus a track with Terranova – and we’ve got our own label ‘Connected’ with stuff out in October.
BC: What might you be doing if you weren’t in music?
RB: In a dream world I’d play full back for Man United. I also quite like nature, I’d like to live in the middle of a park. [You’ll feel at home at ParkLive then! – Ed]
BC: Recommend a book?
RB: When my son was a bit younger I re-read George Orwells ‘1984’ to him and was amazed at how powerful it still was. I was surprised how hardcore it was and how things are happening that happened in the book.
BC: Whats your screen saver?
RB: It’s a photo I look of 2 shops next to each other in Sweden, one’s a porn shop and the other is a religious shop – I like the juxtaposition of it – and it’s just funny!
