All About Manchester

Sailing on

Back in 2000, the music press annointed Wigan rockers Starsailor as the next big thing, before they had even released a record. The premature hype was followed by an eight-year rollercoaster ride of impossible highs and soul-crushing lows. The band's James Walsh tells All About Manchester about the experience.

Eight years is a long time in rock years. Do you see yourselves as veterans now?

Yes and no. In some respects we still see ourselves as a relatively new band and we try to change with every album. I think a lot of people see us like that too. It takes a long time before you get completely established and become part of the patchwork of British music. It always baffles us when we think to ourselves how long we've been going because it's gone by in a flash.

But you probably know one or two things now that you didn't know when you first started out...

Absolutely. It's been a crazy ride, the last few years, but we've learned a lot along the way. I think the thing that changes everything is when you buy a house and start a family. Then you have to start taking your work a lot more seriously. It gives you that extra incentive to do your absolute best for the band because it's what keeps your family, puts the food on the table and pays the mortgage.

Aren't you just 28?

Yes, but I've got a six-year-old daughter and another kid on the way so it's very different to when we started out and we were having a laugh, drinking beer and not a care in the world. I think the great thing about being more domesticated is that when we do get the opportunity to go out we really let rip and let our hair down because we don't get to do it as much any more.

Could you describe three defining moments in the history of the band?

The first one was when we played the Social in London in 2000. That was a massive moment for us because it was our first London gig. A journalist from the NME was in attendance and the write-up in the NME was what kick-started our career. As a result of that write-up we got a lot of interest, a lot of people wanting to get hold of demos, and that created a bit of an industry clamour to sign us.

The second one was probably meeting Phil Spector and recording the second album with him. That's something that endeared us to a lot of fellow musicians - it's something that everyone wants to know about. Although we had our ups and downs with Phil it was a pretty big moment in our lives.

And probably the most recent one was the gigs we did with the Rolling Stones. That's what kept us going and kept us in the public eye in a lot of ways. It's been a bit quiet in terms of recording albums and releasing singles so we were really glad to have something like that to do in the meantime. They are probably the best band in the world to support.

You've now finished recording your fourth album. Can you tell us a bit about it?

It's very much a back to basics record. We got the producer of Love is Here, Steve Osbourne, to work on it and as a result it's a lot more song-based and melodic. The acoustic guitar and the piano are back to the forefront of the sound.

Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones was involved with the album, as well. He came down and did a bit of guitar.

It's a reaction, I think, to the last album, On the Outside, which was a bit more alternative and rock 'n' roll. There seems to be a good response to our more downbeat and emotional moments - this is what we're good at and this is what we need to get back to. But there will also be a couple of rockier songs on there. There's a song called All the Plans We Made and one called Tell Me it's Not Over, which should hopefully get everyone's arms in the air at the [Isle of Wight] Festival.

This album has been a long time in the making, hasn't it?

We've not actually been in the studio that long. We did it over the course of many tours and various other activities as a band. We went to South America with the Killers and we were in Zurich, France and Germany with the Rolling Stones, so we've been putting recording sessions in between other things.

When is it coming out?

If it was up to us it'd be out in a couple of months, but the record company is in a bit of a turmoil at the moment - it's trying to restructure and get a lot of new staff in place. It's frustrating for us because we want to get it out as soon as possible but unfortunately it's not to be at the moment. Hopefully in September.

You are playing a gig at Manchester's Hard Rock Cafe this month. Will this be your first concert in this venue?

Yes. I was lucky enough to play with the Charlatans at the Hard Rock in London but it's gonna be great to get back up to Manchester.

Will you give the audience a taste of what's coming in your new album?

Yes, definitely. We'll play three or four songs from the new album.

You currently live in London with your wife and daughter, but how important are your Northern roots?

Massively important. Three members of the band are still in Manchester and Warrington, and I'm a Liverpool supporter so I come up and see as many of their home games as I can. And if I'm up, I'll try and get to a few gigs in Manchester as well - it's a great city for music.

Manchester and the North West have produced some great bands, so you must have had plenty of inspiration as a kid. Who were your music heroes?

I've got an older brother and he got into New Order and The Stone Roses and bands like that, and that passed down to me. But Oasis were the first band that I played to him and to my older relatives. For lads like myself, who were 15 or 16 when Oasis first came through, it felt like our band, so they were a big influence. And then they started to mention The Smiths and New Order and The Stone Roses as their influences, and you wanted to check out these bands that influenced Oasis.

And the Charlatans as well - they were one of the first bands that I went to see live, so they were another big influence.

Equally though, vocally, the American music scene was a big inspiration to me - people like Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley and Neil Young. So I was influenced by a mixture of Manchester and American artists.

In 2001, music journalists were falling over themselves to proclaim you the saviours of rock. Do you still have the hunger to develop into the great band that you were once prophesied to become?

We're really lucky and we appreciate the privileged position that we're in - making money out of music, making a living from playing shows and making albums; it's a pretty fun job to do. But equally, we're jealous of bands that are doing better than us, to be perfectly blunt.

My ultimate ambition is to headline a festival because you see the excitement on people's faces when they wait for the headline act to come on, and when the lights go off and it all goes dark it's just an amazing experience. It's something that we've been fortunate enough to do in Europe, but we'd love to do it at Glastonbury or Isle of Wight or T In The Park one day. So we'll keep going until it happens. If I have to give up music before I've done that, I'll be extremely disappointed so we are going to keep plugging away.

I believe enough in this album to say that, if all the other factors are in place, this could be the album that does it for us.

Starsailor play Hard Rock Manchester on June 19. Tickets are only available through local competitions.

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