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Read Michael's recent interview with
leading German journalist Ullrich Maurer
Ullrich Maurer (UM): Who is playing on the new album, "A New Kind Of Loneliness"?
Michael Weston King (MWK) : A LOT OF THE SAME MUSICIANS WHO MADE THE "A DECENT MAN" ALBUM, MIKE COSGRAVE, STEVE JACKSON, KEVIN FOSTER, JACKIE LEVEN ON GUITAR AND BACKING
VOCALS, ALAN COOK ON PEDAL STEEL AND MANDOLIN, LOU DALGLEISH ADDED SOME
GREAT HARMONIES AND INDIVIDUAL VOCALS, A NEW PLAYER FOR ME, MATT HOWDEN ON
VIOLIN, WHO TOOK SOME OF THE SONGS IN A WHOLE NEW , WONDERFUL DIRECTION. PLUS,
THE SPECIAL GUESTS, CHRIS HILLMAN ON MANDOLIN AND HARMONIES, HERB PEDERSEN ON
BANJO AND HARMONIES, RON SEXSMITH AND DON KERR - VOCALS, WHICH WAS A REAL THRILL
FOR ME TO HAVE THEM INVOLVED.
UM: What´s the idea behind the title?
MWK: THERE SEEMED TO BE A THEME AMONGST SOME OF THE SONGS OF BEING
LONELY, ALTHOUGH NOT BEING ALONE. SOME OF THE BUSIEST MOST OVER-CROWDED
TOWNS AND CITIES CAN BE THE MOST LONELY PLACES, AS CAN SOME OF THE BUSIEST MOST
OVER-CROWDED PROFESSIONS! I WAS STILL IN TWO MINDS ABOUT MAKING "A New Kind Of Loneliness"THE TITLE, "THE LAST HURRAH" WAS ALSO AN OPTION BUT WHEN MY MOTHER DIED IN
JULY, "A NEW KIND OF LONELINESS" JUST SEEMED SO PERFECT. THE TITLE NOW
WORKS ONE A NUMBER OF LEVELS
UM: Why do you think The Last Hurrah is one of your best songs yet?
MWK: "THE LAST HURRAH", I FEEL, IS A VERY MATURE SONG, NOT JUST LYRICALLY BUT MELODICALLY TOO, AND I WAS IMMEDIATELY VERY EXCITED WHEN I HAD WRITTEN IT. AND ALTHOUGH I WROTE IT OVER
A YEAR AGO, IT ALSO BECAME EVEN MORE RELEVANT AFTER I LOST MY MUM.
UM: Why is "Lost" (my favorite) so short, doesn´t have a third verse and
ends before the great finale? (I had a similar issue with Steve Wynn
about one of his songs and he really had no answer)
MWK: WELL IT DOES HAVE A 3RD VERSE BUT DOES NOT HAVE A MIDDLE 8. IT JUST
FELT RIGHT TO ME FOR IT TO BE SHORT AND END WHERE IT DOES. I ALSO REALLY
WANTED TO HAVE MORE SHORTER SONGS ON THIS ALBUM GENERALLY. LOOK AT ALL
THOSE GREAT TIM HARDIN SONGS, ALL UNDER 3 MINUTES. YOU CAN ALWAYS
PROGRAMME THAT TRACK TO BE PLAYED TWICE!
UM: How do you see yourself as a musician nowadays?
MWK: CONTENT AND FRUSTRATED, RICH AND POOR, HAPPY AND SAD. I FEEL I AM
STILL GETTING BETTER AS A WRITER WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT. I THINK IF YOU
START TO GET WORSE YOU SHOULD STOP, UNLESS OF COURSE YOU CAN STILL MAKE A
GOOD LIVING OUT OF IT, WHICH IS THEN YOUR PREROGATIVE (THE STONES, THE WHO),
BUT THEY SHOULD JUST PLAY LIVE, .........PLEASE DON'T MAKE NEW RECORDS.
UM: And how do you see your musical future?
MWK: WHEN A NEW ALBUM IS RELEASED THERE IS ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY THAT
THIS WILL BE "THE ONE" TO MOVE THINGS UP A LEVEL OR 2, (NOT ARTISTICALLY,
BUT PURELY IN TERMS OF SALES AND INCREASED POPULARITY AND PROFILE), AND I
STILL FEEL THAT CAN BE THE CASE, AND THAT THIS COULD BE THE ALBUM TO DO
IT. IF NOT, THEN ANKOL WILL BE ANOTHER ALBUM I AM VERY HAPPY WITH BUT IT
WILL BE FRUSTRATING BECAUSE I FEEL IT SHOULD BE OUT-SELLING COLDPLAY
UM: What's your definition of "good music"?
MWK: SOMETHING THAT REMOVES YOU FROM WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING
AND TRANSPORTS YOU TO SOMEWHERE ELSE ENTIRELY. SOMETHING THAT STOPS YOU
THINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT AND TRANSPORTED YOUR HEAD
SOMEWHERE ELSE. FOR ME THAT IS OFTEN A GREAT LYRIC AND A GREAT MELODY BUT
OFTEN IT CAN BEAN EMOTIONAL, MOVING INSTRUMENTAL PIECE.
UM: What has been the main influence on your new album?
MWK: MUSICALLY - BURT BACCARACH, BOB DYLAN, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD, RILO
KILEY, EARLY TOM WAITS, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, COSTELLO'S "DELIVERY MAN" ALBUM,
RON SEXSMITH. LYRICALLY - THE FEELING OF BEING COMPLETELY LOST AND ALONG
AND IGNORED BY MY PROFESSION AND , AT TIMES, BY THE PEOPLE AROUND ME. WHICH
IS CRAZY AS I AM VERY LUCKY TO BE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO LOVE ME DEARLY,
ESPECIALLY MY WIFE AND MY 5 CHILDREN, SOMETHING WHICH IS WORTH MORE THAN
ANYTHING, SO IT IS PUZZLING WHY, AT TIMES, OF REAL DARKNESS, I SHOULD FEEL
SO UTTERLY ALONE, DESPITE THE COMPANY.
UM: Why should everybody buy the new album? Promote it in your own words,
please.
MWK: IT IS AN ALBUM OF GREAT VARIETY, IT ROCKS, IT SWINGS, IT WILL MAKE YOU
LAUGH IN PLACES AND CERTAINLY MAKE YOU CRY IN OTHERS. THE SONGS, WHICH I
FEEL ARE MY STRONGEST COLLECTION SO FAR, ARE STRONG IN MELODY AND HIGH IN
EMOTION. THERE IS ALSO SOME AMAZING PLAYING ON THE RECORD, ESPECIALLY FROM
MIKE COSGRAVE ON PIANO, ORGAN AND HORNS. WE HAVE ALSO TAKEN AN OLD
CLASSIC, "ALONE AGAIN NATURALLY" AND DONE SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT TO IT. IF
ANY ONE READING THIS HAS ENJOYED THE RECENT MUSIC OF RYAN ADAMS, RON
SEXSMITH, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, ELVIS COSTELLO, RODDY FRAME AND NICK CAVE, I
URGE THEM TO BUY IT, IT WILL NOT BE OUT OF PLACE. IN FACT, I AM TIRED OF
BEING HUMBLE, I WOULD SAY "A NEW KIND OF LONELINESS" EXCEEDS THE RECENT
RELEASES BY THOSE GREAT ARTISTS. BUY IT AND TELL ME IF I AM WRONG
UM: What did you buy from the first money you earned as a musician?
MWK: PROBABLY A ROUND OF DRINKS
UM: Was there a specific incident that made you become a musician? If so,
what was it?
MWK: IF THERE WAS ONE SPECIFIC THING THEN PROBABLY SEEING MARC BOLAN AND
T.REX ON TOP OF THE POPS, BUT ALSO SEEING A LOT OF GREAT LIVE BANDS AT THE
END OF THE 70'S (THE CLASH, DR FEELGOOD, COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS),
AND THEN IN THE 80'S, BANDS LIKE R.E.M., GREEN ON RED, RAIN PARADE ETC. IF I
AM HONEST THERE IS AN EVEN EARLIER INFLUENCE AND THAT WAS MY MUM'S RECORD
COLLECTION OF ELVIS AND BUDDY HOLLY AND...CLIFF RICHARD! AND HEARING HER
PLAY THOSE RECORDS WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG DREW ME INTO MUSIC.
UM: Do you still have dreams or are you living your dream right now?
MWK: I AM LIVING MY DREAM BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN,
AND THAT IS WHAT I AM AND HAVE BEEN FOR A LONG TIME. I HAVE WORKED WITH
SOME GREAT PEOPLE, AND SUNG LIVE ON STAGE WITH SOME OF THEM, SOME OF WHICH WERE
HEROES. HOWEVER, I STILL HAVE DREAMS, OF COURSE. LIFE AS A MUSICIAN IS
FINANCIALLY SO VERY HARD, SO I STILL DREAM OF THE BIG COVER VERSION OF ONE
OF MY SONGS, OR THE SONG IN A MAJOR FILM WHICH WOULD EASE MY MONEY
TROUBLES. ARTISTICALLY I STILL DREAM OF CO-WRITING WITH COSTELLO, MAKING
AN ALBUM PRODUCED BY T BONE BURNETT, GOING DRINKING WITH KEEF RICHARDS,
SHARING A MIC WITH SPRINGSTEEN AND, JUST NOW, MORE REALISTICALLY MAYBE, I
AM HOPING THIS NEW PLAY I AM INVOLVED IN, BECOMES A HIT
UM: What has been your biggest defeat?
MWK: I FEEL "A DECENT MAN" SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE SUCCESSFUL, IN TERMS OF
SALES AND ALSO ON THE RADIO. THE SONG CELESTIAL CITY I FELT COULD HAVE
REALLY BEEN PLAYED A LOT ON THE RADIO AND WAS DISAPPOINTED WHEN IT WAS
NOT, OT NOT VERY MUCH. I KNOW THE BUSINESS, AND I KNOW THE LABEL DID NOT
HAVE MUCH MONEY FOR ENSURING IT GOT PLAYED ON THE RADIO BUT YOU STILL
HOPE THAT ONE DJ WILL HEAR IT AND JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH THAT HE PLAYED IT
UNTIL EVERYONE GETS INVOLVED. ...MAYBE NEXT TIME EH?
UM: What do you think, at this point in your career is making you the
happiest?
MWK: MY WRITING, EVEN THOUGH THE ALBUM AND TICKET SALES HAVE BEEN THE SAME
FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, I DO FEEL I AM STILL GETTING BETTER AS A WRITER
AND THAT MAKES HAPPY,.... THOUGH I WOULD BE EVEN HAPPIER IF THIS NEW ALBUM
SOLD BETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES, AND STARTED TO CHALLENGE COLDPLAY!
UM: What's the worst song that's ever been written?
MWK: HAT IS PURELY SUBJECTIVE, ONE MANS MEAT IS ANOTHER MANS POISON ETC.,
BUT PERSONALLY , MOST THINGS BY SIMPLE MINDS, PHIL COLLINS OR STING WOULD BE HIGH
ON MY LIST. IN FACT BELFAST CHILD BY SIMPLE MINDS HAS GOT TO BE NEAR THE
TOP OF THE WORST SONGS OF ALL TIME
UM: Which person(s) would you like to have on your guest list and why? (Could be dead or alive)
MWK: WELL, THERE ARE MANY, AND GLADLY, SOME PEOPLE I WOULD HAVE CHOSEN HAVE BEEN AT MY SHOWS (NICK CAVE, ROGER MCGUINN, TOWNES), BUT OF THE ONES NOT TO HAVE BEEN ONMY LIST,........ PETE TOWNESHEND, TOM WAITS, ELVIS COSTELLO, EMMYLOU HARRIS (SO I
COULD ASK HER UP TO SING), ROY ORBISON, AND TOWNES, AGAIN, AS I WOULD LOVE TO
SEE HIM ONCE MORE. IN FACT I AM DOING THIS INTERVIEW FROM MILANWHERE I
AM PLAYING A TOWNES TRIBUTE SHOW TONIGHT. HE IS NEVER VERY FAR FROM MY
MUSICAL ACTIVITIES.
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