Eugene McGuinness - ClashMusic.com Q&A

In a year blessed by breakthrough singer-songwriter acts – Laura Marling, Adele, Duffy – one has truly stood out in Clash’s opinion – Eugene McGuinness.

Following up his 2007-released EP, ‘The Early Learnings Of…’, with a self-titled debut album for Domino in October, Eugene has the kind of potential about his songwriting that makes label executives weep with joy. Songs are pop-savvy and lyrically excellent, the man’s tongue-twisting verses a pleasure to hear. And, one feels, this is just the beginning – give him time to develop further and true classics are sure to come.

‘Eugene McGuinness’ is a previous Album of the Week on ClashMusic.com – find it reviewed HERE. Natasha Arico caught up with him to talk 2008…

(Clash pulls out voice recorder)
I’ve got that one.

What do you use it for?
(Lets out a long high note) Writing songs. I used to use my phone, but it would use up all the memory so I couldn’t save any text messages – I’d have to delete them all immediately so some of my sentimental friends were annoyed with that so I got one of them.

How do you find it?
It confuses me a little bit but I get by. No masterpieces have been composed on it yet though unfortunately. One day.

How often do you write songs?
Everyday I try to. It might not get finished but I try to do something every day, either lyrics or the whole sha-bang!

Do you schedule it in or…
If there is a bit of time then I do it. There’s always a bit of time, there’s always a minute here or there and I just use it. A spare moment between soundcheck and a gig. I always write songs, it’s the only thing I really like doing. Nothing really inspires me to do it; I do it because it’s just what I do. It’s my thing.

Did you study music?
Yeah I did a bit, and I wasn’t very good at it. I’m not very good at that side of it, studying, unless you are going to be a classical musician.

(Eugene orders just a Peroni for lunch.)

Are you not into food?
Well when ever I’m on tour, I’ve found it’s something to be avoided because.. ah… I’m fussy about food. When you’re touring, you get to experience the most terrible food possible, really dodgy stuff. I’m quite flaky with things like that. A wrinkly grape would possibly hospitalise me. Because I travel a lot I just try to avoid eating something dodgy. There is nothing worse than travelling and being a bit ill, so I’m really picky about it.

Can you cook?
I really enjoy it. I’m quite happy to spend half the day cooking a meal to get it right.

So when did you decide you wanted to be a musician?
When I was about 15. I was just really getting into music – The Kinks, The Beatles and stuff like that from my dad’s record collection. And then at about 17, you had things like The White Stripes and The Strokes coming through. That was really exciting. My GCSEs didn’t really happen because all that happened in that period was ‘Is This It’, the first Strokes album, on repeat. I can’t really remember anything else from that period. Everybody likes that music, and I’d become more obsessed about The Beatles and those bands than most people and I wanted to do it.

How about music as a profession, or career?
I never thought about doing it professionally I’ve just done it. I only started thinking about that when Domino Publishing came and said, “Do you want a publishing deal?” I wasn’t geared towards anything at that point; I just wanted to play lots and sing lots. So it’s not until recently I’ve started to consider it in those terms, like a job. Because it’s not really a job, there’s no way it’s a job. It would feel like a job if I thought… if I was more considered about it and more serious and more worried about it, and how I am to be portrayed. If you start thinking about it like a job, then it will be and then I think that sucks the excitement out if it. I have friends with jobs, and I’m not as miserable as them.

So how did your recording life begin?
I had just signed publishing, and Domino Publishing asked if I wanted to do a four-track EP? And I was like, Yep that’s great, first time in the studio, which was very exciting. A couple of days passed and somebody from the publishers came out to have a listen and asked if I wanted to do another four or five songs and they’d give me a bit more time in the studio, which turned into the mini-album. Though I’m quite proud about that EP/mini album thing, I wasn’t sure what I was doing at the time because I just thought I was going to record a couple of songs then it turned into a proper release. So before, I didn’t know what I was doing; there (points to the record on the table), I knew I was recording an album.

So you are pleased with your album?
Yeah I’m happy. It did everything I wanted it to. I was happy with the songs before I got into the studio. I had a lot of songs, a lot of rubbish ones and a couple of good ones, and the good ones were the ones I wanted to be on the album, and as long as we recorded them half decent, then I was going to be quite happy with it. It’s easy if you are really confident with that material. Just try and let it speak for its self, so if people don’t like it, then…

What is your favourite song on the album?
Maybe ‘Wendy Wonders’, it took about 20 minutes to write.

Is that quick?
For me, very quick yeah! It just came fully, was really easy, really easy. For 20 minutes to pass and then all of a sudden you are staring at it going, “Great!” It’s weird, innit? Very strange, and a very nice thing, it always makes my day when that happens, the whole thing.

Where did the idea start?
I wrote down the first line and knew exactly where it was going to go afterwards. Sometimes I write down the first line and I’m like, How do I follow that up? Or, What do I say now? It’s usually crap. It won’t always happen like that with me.

Which song do you think will resonate most with people?
I would hope ‘Moscow State Circus’ would. I’m not expecting it to go to number one with a bullet or anything, but I’d like people to identify with that song, it’s quite a strange one. I’m quite glad it’s been released as a single as I’ve always imagined it to be a bit of a call to arms, as to everything that I’m about. And if you don’t like that then you’re not going to like anything else that I do.

What is it about?
I don’t know really. It’s about travelling lots and everything being a bit chaotic and exciting. There’s no real sense in it. It’s all a bit random, blurrish stuff.

But I also gauged from the record that much of your inspiration is from ordinary life. I think people will relate to the simpler images and ideas, as some of the greatest pop music in the world, think ‘Love Me Do’, is simple. Does pop music have to be simple to be good?
No, not at all – look at David Bowie. He’s from space, isn’t he?! He’s from outer space and he’s still really good. I think good pop music can come from anywhere and anything. There is no rulebook, otherwise you wouldn’t keep getting these new bands or people that surprise you. You always have to do your own thing.

Which was the hardest song to write?
I think the first one (‘Rings Around Rosa’). It wasn’t really hard – I had a story and some words and I knew I wanted it to open the album, but I wasn’t sure how the song was going to turn out. It was a weird one because I never usually have words sitting around for ages before I get a melody; usually melody comes really easy, and it’s usually words that are more tricky. But I had these words and I was really picky about the melody. It just took its time a bit more than the others, but it’s a weird one because I knew I wanted it to be on the album and I didn’t want to disregard it as I throw away so much stuff. There is lots of material that we recorded that has never seen the light of da,y and never really got finished. My energy is always focused on whatever has the most instant impact; if I ever think, “Oh there might be something there,” it just vanishes.

Do you come from a musical family?
My little brother plays on the album; piano, guitar and you can hear him shouting in the background a few times.

Why did you choose to work solo and not in a band?
I started out doing solo things because getting a band together comes with all that hassle and worry, and you get this thing where bands are almost like... Ah… There are a lot of politics involved sometimes. The best bands seemed to be the ones that are relaxed and don’t give a shit, just going along with it. I never got the opportunity to have a band like that because I know a lot of musicians that are great and they are very serious about what they do and considered but that can really strangle excitement about a band. A band should really waltz into a venue and set it alight, half pissed. Those are the best bands. I’d like to start some ridiculous band in the future, definitely, but at the moment it’s just easier to do what I want. There is a lot of freedom in that. It can be a bit lonely travelling around, so I’ve been doing more gigs with a band recently. Just keep doing whatever I’m excited about.

What makes a great Eugene McGuinness gig?
Just a bit of atmosphere, really, and people being relaxed. When I play by myself, there is this kind of tendency for people to assume that they are sitting at a mass or something. This one time there were these people talking at the back, and I don’t care about people talking – whenever I’m watching people play I’m always chatting. Then this promoter started screaming, “Will you please shut up?!” He’s telling all these people to shut up, while I was singing a song and I was about to burst out laughing half way through and I was like, “Don’t worry about it!”

Are your mum and dad proud?
Yeah, yeah… Well, I haven’t really done anything yet, have I? I’m sure they will be.

And finally, what are your top five favourite songs?
‘Autumn Almanac’ by The Kinks. It’s a really crazy song. The chords are really unusual, the whole structure is a complete car crash, but it doesn’t sound like that at all, it just sounds like it’s seamless. To do that without sounding like you are trying to be crazy – that’s what it’s all about.” ‘Bombs Over Baghdad’ by OutKast I like ecause I could never have written it, because I can’t rap. Then ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ by The Rolling Stones, something by The Smiths and ‘Juice Box’ by The Strokes.

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‘Eugene McGuinness’ is out now on Domino. Find more information on Eugene on MySpace and catch him live at the Pure Groove Christmas party on December 16.