by Lloyd Lugsden
Echo & the Bunnymen ‘bounced’ out of the Liverpool punk scene in the late 70s and went on to have success with singles including; The Cutter, Seven Seas, The Killing Moon & Nothing lasts forever. Singer Ian McCulloch is coming to Bedford with a solo semi acoustic show which will feature stripped down versions of classic Bunnymen tracks as well as songs from his solo career.
He is known for his sharp comments during interviews, so this was something to anticipate,
C: Played Bedford before?
I: No, checked with manager and no, I just know it’s somewhere down south, what’s it like?
C: It’s nice, I know I’m biased, a little market town, with a Glenn Miller connection…
I: Glenn Miller? I love GM, everyone should love GM, what’s the connection?
C: He was based at Thurleigh during WWII, and played locally, including the Corn Exchange, where you’re playing, so a nice connection.
I: Ah, that’s great.
C: What impact did the inclusion of Killing Moon on the Donnie Darko soundtrack have?
I: Quite a big impact, a lot of Americans bought the records, in fact, internationally. A great use of a song in a film and it was a bonus that it was used in the daybreak scene, not at night. There’s connections, Richard Kelly made the film and there was a Richard drive near me in Liverpool. (Though I think he took the bunny idea from us, bit cheeky that)
C: Best Liverpool band?
I: Echo and the Bunnymen.
C: In Bedfordshire we’ve got the Clanger. What’s a classic Liverpool dish?
I: What’s a Clanger?
C: It’s like a pastie but with meat at one end and pudding, like apple at the other. People in the olden days would take it into the fields, like a packed lunch.
I: that’s great, never heard that. In Liverpool, it’s the ‘scouse’ – potatoes, squashy or beetroot, like a stew but better, don’t what came first, scouse the person or the stew?
(mentioned house husbandry and cooking and I empathised)
C: Any new bands at the moment you’re into?
I: No, they’re all crap. Seem to be less bands and less interest in music. You can see it in music magazines, they’re doing retrospectives of old acts like Bowie, cos there’s nothing new. Nothing since post punk, before Velvet Underground and Bowie were influences. Music papers like NME used to have great writers like Paul Morley but they’re aren’t any now, just a few dickheads writing a paragraph…I like Jake Bugg and Arcade Fire but they’ve been going a while now…
C: Fave book?
I: Not a great book reader but I like crossword and word puzzles, the bedroom’s full of them. Piled up at the moment, must have a clear up…and I like to do them with a quality pen – a gel pen. Money by Martin Amis is good, funny.
C: Plans for 2015?
I: Touring, with Bunnymen and solo in March ending at Liverpool…doing the solo stuff’s good, I can engage with the audience, not quite a Q&A but it’s more of an intimate vibe. Then off to further a field, America, then South America, then writing and hopefully recording the new Bunnymen album.
C: Will Gerrard lift the cup?
I: I don’t wanna put the mockers on it…but yeah! I’ts not about that, it’s what he did for Liverpool and the game, he kept things afloat. I’ll tell him when I see him. I’m meeting him in in California, when we play there.
Ian McCulloch plays Bedford Corn Exchange on Friday 20th March. Check www.padpresents.com for details.
