How did "Rotate" come together?
JW: In a word - dramatically! A journey of false-starts and blind-alleys, peppered with angst, frustration and tragedy - spiced up on occasions with a little rock 'n' roll excess. In 1994 - having recovered from a nervous breakdown I'd suffered during the mid to late eighties - frustrated with my life in the U.K., I made the decision to sell my house and move to the U.S. This move proved to be the beginning of the long road back and laid the foundations for "Rotate". Having written a considerable amount of new material, I felt that things had come full circle, and the time was right to record a brand new record. However, my ambitions were thwarted when the studio I was recording the tracks in was shut down by the F.B.I. A whole litany of unfortunate events followed, (way too many to go into in detail here) which all ultimately caused the project even further delay. During the time the recording was finally coming to fruition, with the deaths of several friends, plus the untimely passing of one of my webmasters, and my father's terminal illness, the lyrics to the title song - "Rotate" - took on an even deeper meaning - being essentially about the life-cycle and the issues of coming to terms with one's inevitable mortality.
Taking into account my strong sense that there was some kind of higher reason for all the delays, and the material subsequently chosen spanning over a decade, the decision was made to add - "An Anthology" - to the title of the disc.
Tell me more about "The Lost Years" - did singing about the pain in the past bring a closure to that period in your life?
JW: I wrote - "The Lost Years" - in late 1994 - shortly after arriving in the States. Strumming an acoustic guitar, reflecting on my past back in England, I vividly recall feeling a deep sense of melancholy. The riff manifested itself initially, followed by the title, then the lyrics just poured out of me like a torrent of pent up emotions. So to answer the second part of your question, yes, I definitely think singing that song really did help to bring closure to a particularly dark period of my life. Even now when I listen to the song it stirs strong emotions in me. I'm just very thankful that they're not quite so raw anymore!
How does the music you are creating today solo compare to your life with The Records?
JW: Well whilst there are definite parallels, now I'm older (and hopefully a little wiser!) obviously I have a different perspective on things/life in general. For instance, back in the day, I unconsciously tended towards the superficial - singing the songs without paying enough attention to the lyrics, whereas now when singing those same songs, also the new ones, I think way more about the importance of the synergy of the music to the lyrics, their meaning and so forth. So basically there's more depth to the whole experience these days.
At this stage of the game I hope for you that it is more about the music than it is the money and the fame. Someone asked me if I had a favorite track on Rotate, and I could not nail down just one. Do you have a favorite?
JW: LOL!! Well during the eighties - my "Lost Years" period, I remember staring at the walls in my house, pondering my fate, when all of a sudden I had an epiphany of sorts. It suddenly occurred to me that artists like The Rolling Stones, etc., who were hugely successful and presumably had all the money and fame one could wish for, clearly didn't tour just for the financial rewards since they were already rich - rather they still performed because of the music. The same was true for me I reasoned, (except of course that I was at the other end of the financial spectrum!) because here I was still making music, in spite of not reaping the financial rewards. Sounds pretty obvious I suppose, but I came to the realization that even though being rich and famous most certainly seemed like a great concept, when all was said and done, at the end of the day, it really boiled down to being all about the love and passion for the music.
As for a favorite track, like you, I find it hard to single out just one. I have to admit to liking the title track, and "Desert Sky". But then I also like "Oh Yeah!" - "So Close to Home" and "That Girl Is Emily".
What do you find works best for your creative process when bringing a song together? Does it evolve from jams, riffs, lyrics?
JW: Just strumming a guitar, or playing piano, whilst allowing my mind to wander basically, with apparently no expectations about an 'end result'. I find that very liberating for the creative process, as opposed to sitting down and consciously telling myself that I'm 'going to write a song'. Sometimes a riff will just come together out of nowhere, as in the case of "Oh Yeah!" - then if I'm lucky, the rest of the pieces fall into place. Very often a lyric and/or a melody comes to mind. Basically I have no set way of facilitating the process, but I do love it when something just kind of manifests, it's really quite magical when that happens.
As an artist who is still creating new music how hard is it to come by radio play and record sales in this day and age, especially when it seems like you’re competing with the record companies who are only interested in "the newest" pop sensations?
JW: In the old days it was pretty much down to the record company to ensure that an artist got airplay. To some extent that's still the case nowadays as far as bands signed to the majors at least. With indie artists on the other hand, for the most part, it's really not realistic to expect to garner heavy rotation on major stations' playlists nationwide, but there are still smaller stations that will give you airplay if they like the music. Add Internet and Satellite radio into the mix, and you have an ever-evolving scenario.
As for record sales, whilst CD sales in general are down and bricks 'n' mortar stores are closing, at the same time other avenues are opening up, digital downloads iTunes and such. I think one just has to be open to ever more creative ways of marketing product. As far as the majors are concerned, I really think their business model has run its course and they're at a loss quite honestly. Without the middle-man, I think to a large extent the playing field has been leveled - now the focus is on good music and great songs, accordingly I doubt those 'flavor-of-the-month' type artists will survive in the long run.
Any interesting stories about yourself while on tour?
JW: Oh boy! That's a Pandora's box if ever there was one! There's the time back in December 1978 - on the Stiff tour when we played 8 shows in four nights at New York's Bottom Line, as The Records in addition to backing Rachel Sweet. There were 5 or six acts on the bill - which translated to a couple of tourbus-loads of musicians, all suffering the effects of jet lag. Anyway, one night after the shows, dog-tired, in readiness for the ride back to the hotel, I climbed on to one of the tourbuses, hunkered down on one of the bunk beds, closed the curtains and promptly fell into a deep slumber! The next thing I knew, I woke up in the darkness, only to discover that the driver had dropped everyone off at the hotel, unknowingly leaving me asleep in the bunk bed with the drapes drawn! I ran to the front of the bus, scaring the living shit out of the poor driver in the process! Flatly refusing to turn the bus around, he dropped me off in the middle of an extremely dubious neighborhood at 5 in the morning. After about a half hour or so of trying to hail a cab, finally one actually stopped, whisked me back to the comfort and safety of the Mayflower Hotel, where I was greeted with the nods and winks of a horde of drunk musicians, who were all convinced that I'd somehow - "got lucky!" If only... Ah... If only indeed!
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