Roddy Frame Interview: A Roddy Frame of mind

From a sixteen year old in Aztec Camera to the fifty year old who just released his fourth solo album and first in eight years, Roddy Frame has seen a career that has thrived despite his somewhat limited output. Now with Seven Dials garnering critical acclaim and Frame touring to sold out audiences, Frame talks to Hot Press about the album, balancing the classics and new work on tour and a life where music isn't always the main focus.

Hot Press: Tell me about Seven Dials

Roddy Frame: Seven Dials is the first album I've made in eight years. It's very much an analogue album. I'm very happy with the sound of it and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it was recorded on ancient, not great equipment.

HP: What made you decide to record in that manner?

RF: As a musician I've worked over the years in all kinds of different studios. At this point the main thing is to capture my voice and guitar in as authentic a manner as possible. I think with the advent of MP3s and everything, I think people are getting used to a sound which is not high fidelity. I think that when these songs come up on shuffle you can hear the difference between this and a lot of the other stuff that's been recorded in the past ten years.

HP: Was there any reason for such a delay between albums?

RF: I think that I'm not always inspired to make music. I don't even listen to a lot of music sometimes. I think often people who are getting on in years like me make too many records. A lot of my favorite artists have made too many records. I think I've benefitted from it. I think the songs stand out. You need to live a life in order to have something to put in your songs.

HP: When making an album, do you typically record many songs and pick the best or constantly polish a small amount.

RF: I'm not a prolific songwriter. If something is not happening I abandon it. I take quite a while over my songs. I would come back to it quite a few times before I even try to record it. I think that's the dilemma, the sort of thing that consumes me really. The balance between being picky and being certain about the songs in the writing process and spontaneity in the recording process.

HP: How does Seven Frames sound in comparison to your previous work?

RF: I think you can see an arc in my solo albums. I've made four: The North Star was when I just finished with Aztec Camera. I think it's very similar to Aztec Camera in its feel. Then the Surf album is completely acoustic. It was recorded at home and it was all in one take. It's about and raw and bare as it can get. Western Skies was kind of getting back into a band format, still kind of an acoustic album, kind of reflective. This is really getting back into electric guitars, it's all Telecasters and Les Pauls and all that.

HP: Any reason for this move?

RF: I put a band together a couple of years ago and did a bit of touring with a good little rock band and it just really turned me on.

HP: There's definitely a melancholy, reflective vibe in your music. Where did it come from?

RF: That's my vibe. That's how I write. I think it's just because I grew up in the west of Scotland. I heard a lot of Soul music and a lot of Country Western music when I was growing up. Also, when I was 13, 14 I would go and play guitar in the social clubs, working men's clubs. Those were the kind of songs I heard. I've got that melancholy streak.

HP: Your work with Aztec Camera has been gaining new relevance in the past few years, with reissues and your High Land, Hard Rain anniversary concerts. How has it been to revisit these albums, and how have you grown since then?

RF: I think that musically and personally I have grown kind of in parallel. I think that revisiting those songs really brought home how complicated those early songs were, the lyrics were very cryptic and the chords... well to put it this way, there were a lot of chords. Now it's all about simplicity and I think life is like that. I think when you're young life is intense and passionate and idealistic. You can argue all night about anything. I think that's kind of replaced with a reflectiveness and hopefully a little magnanimity and a little more kindness.

HP: You could say you have more to prove when you're younger.

RF: Absolutely! You're fighting to be the best. I think as you get older you become happier not to be the best. You're happy just to still be kicking around.

HP: Are there any new artists that you're a fan of?

RF: I hear the odd thing which I like. People play me things and I hear things that I like. I think Mogwai do some interesting things, but I'm not that driven to hear new music. Without getting too deep into it, I think that every kind of generation has their own take on what is essentially the same thing. I don't want to sound cynical, but for instance when I got into the Sex Pistols when I was 13, people who were 21 would tell me to go back to the roots. If I liked the Sex Pistols, I should be listening to The Stooges or MC5 or The New York Dolls. I thought they were nothing like the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols are new, unique and original, and it was my time and my thing. I think every generation has their own take on those rock and roll ethos. It's for them, it's not for me.

HP: You could say that the themes and ideas are the same, it's just the tune that changes.

RF: Exactly. It's all too apparent when you're older. That's fine, because it's not for us old farts. That's the other thing about not making too many records, I think we shouldn't clutter up too much. Generally speaking, the rock music scene is for younger people, and they're kind enough to let us stick our nose in occasionally and that's fine. It's very kind of them.

HP: So if you're not interested into newer music, what do you listen to?

RF: I listen to weird stuff. Recently I've been listening to '70s McCartney stuff, stuff like that. Even in the car I've been listening to lots of '70s west coast stuff like The Eagles, Jackson Brown and lots of Steely Dan. I only learned to drive in my forties and I realized pretty soon that when you're driving your car, especially in the middle of London, you don't want to be listening to Mark E. Smith or something. So I've been listening to laid back, even slightly bland west coast stuff.

HP: Any thoughts on the Scottish referendum for independence?

RF: I strongly feel that it should be decided by people who live there, they're going to be most affected by it. I don't have a strong feeling, I think Scottish people should do what they want. I haven't lived there for 30 years.

HP: Do you have any plans to tour, maybe with some Irish dates?

RF: I'm doing some dates in December. I don't believe I'm doing any Irish dates. The last time I played in Ireland was about ten years ago. Maybe that's something for the Irish promoters to figure out, I don't know. I am playing in England and Scotland in December. I'm looking forward to that. I just played in London the other night and that was brilliant. I think because I don't overdo it, there's a sense of occasion when I play, which is brilliant.

HP: During your concerts how do you balance your new stuff with your older work?

RF: It's a funny thing, I feel very privileged. Generally speaking, when I go to see bands, when the bands announced they were playing a new song it was usually time to go to the bar. I don't blame people for that because I want to hear what's familiar. I'd be disappointed if people didn't play the hits. But I'm very lucky because my fans tend to want to hear what i'm doing now, they want to hear new songs, which is really kind of amazing to me. Then paradoxically it's a kind of ritualistic thing where if I don't finish the gig with a certain few songs, then people feel a bit cheated. It's a very lucky thing that I'm 50 years old, and I've been making records since I was sixteen, and that people still want to hear new songs. I think that's kind of extraordinary really.

HP: Yes, even the biggest legends are a bit of a slave to their legacy.

RF: I must admit that I'm guilty of that. When I went to see Springsteen, I'd be a bit disappointed if he didn't do 'Born in the USA' and 'Born to Run' and all of that. That's kind of what I want to hear, even though his new stuff is very interesting. I get it. When I was putting the set together the other night I put on five songs from the new album and thought it might have been too much and people were expecting more new songs. It's kind of amazing really. I don't think that happens to that many people.

HP: So how was it performing your old material during those High Land, Hard Rain anniversary concerts?

RF: It was amazing. The guy with the hardest job was the guitar tech. To have to get a different guitar for every song. It was just like a celebration, that we were all in it together. It wasn't like they were performing and I was listening. It was like we were all revisiting our youth. The beautiful thing to me was there were quite a lot of people who were there who weren't around when that record was out. It was obviously touching people now who were the same age I was when I wrote it, which I think is really beautiful.