29 Sep, 2011 Victoria Road
Exactly 35 years ago I would have been scurrying along Victoria Rd in Glasgow excitedly anticipating the outcome of that days rehearsal and pretty much in a state of bliss with regards to what new song writing ideas that we might have come up with during the afternoon´s rehearsals.
Situated back then in the basement room of our drummer´s parents big old house, there really was nothing else that I could think of other than making music and performing what in effect would turn out to be our first few gigs.
There was absolutely nothing else that I wanted to do with my still young life and that was the case with all of us in the room in those days. Our commitment was total, obsessive even.
Yesterday afternoon, almost some three and a half decades later, I was back in that same city and walking along that same road. It is the area that I went to school in, near where my extended family lived, and in the case of my grandfather, well, how could I not think of him as I passed the bus garage where he worked.
The strong early autumn sun was shining gold and although obviously no longer young I was nevertheless still filled with the same sense of purpose as I made my way to yet another basement studio that coincidentally was only minutes walk from the site of that aforementioned big old house. As a result and by the time that daylight was fading, yet more new song ideas had been completed and in doing so added to an increasing stockpiled list of song that might be considered for inclusion during the recording of our next album. (And if not, perhaps the one after. Or the one after that even. Nothing goes to waste, sometimes ideas just have to wait their time!)
And the point I wish to make? Well, the point is that although most things in my life have changed dramatically since those formative days, my core activity has remained exactly the same. I was a hungry and slightly obsessive songwriter back then and it would seem that I still am. Proof if needed then, that while almost everything changes, some things genuinely stay just as they once were.
Talking of which! Prior to a few weeks ago, the last time Simple Minds worked with producer Steve Hillage was back when the world was yet to see such technological wonders as the CD, mobile phones, the internet, mp3´s and so much more gadgetry that we have all grown up with. Come to think of it, last time we worked with Steve, MTV itself was not even remotely ready to come into play. Oh, and Brian Mc Gee was not only playing drums with SM, he was also our minibus driver. Last time we worked to with Hillage a ticket to see SM in concert would have been around two quid and my wage was around £35 per week. Yippee!
Jeez, that was so long ago! And yet he we were – end of August and thru September 2011 – in a tiny workroom off of Ladbroke Grove in West London, mysteriously once again working with the producer of Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, and possibly continuing – without any fuss – from where we left off all those years ago.
So what is it with all this nostalgia? Is this a concerted and purposeful effort to drift backwards through time? And are we so hung up in careering back to a spirit of the past because it is more comforting to consider than the uncertainty that envelopes our (and everybody else´s) future? The answer to those is undoubtedly no!
After all if we put the names of faces and places to the side and consider instead that core to this activity is the creation of “new songs” – then that alone surely tells us that what is been done is the laying of new tracks that will determine a future. One that we are determined to keep on growing!
Jim Kerr