Which one of you came up with the idea of the reunion? Was there a specific moment?
I don’t remember, I think we both just decided we wanted to do something to celebrate our anniversary last year, and playing the old songs is the natural thing to do. These days, whenever a band splits up, there’s an unspoken suggestion that they might reform some day, so I suppose it was always at the back of our minds somewhere, we just need a good reason to do it, so our 20th birthday made sense.
Did you keep in touch while the band was split up?
Of course! There were no fall-outs or dramas when we disbanded, just a feeling we needed to move on. We got along much better after the band split up too, the pressure of a work relationship was gone.
What has changed and what has essentially remained identical, in terms of spirit and music?
The obvious difference is that we – me, Malcolm, and all the band – are all much better at what we do now, from the guitar to the vocals to the drums, we’ve all got ten years’ more experience. I don’t think Arab Strap ever sounded as good as we do now, which is what we were hoping for.
How did you manage to choose the songs for these concerts? Was it by chance that you chose many songs with long instrumental parts, such as Turbulence, Girls of Summer, New Birds, etc?
You have to try and guess what the audience want to hear – there’s no point reforming and doing a b-sides tour! – so we concentrated on the songs that we remember being vaguely crowd-pleasing from the first time round. But they had to be fun for us to play too, of course, so something like Girls of Summer, which wasn’t on any album but always went down well live, is perfect. It doesn’t matter how long or instrumental they are, that was never a consideration – although I did buy a new keyboard to keep my hands busy during the longer ones!
Are there any songs (or parts of them) that you are not keen on anymore, but still you have to play them anyways?
There are a few lyrics here and there that I’m not entirely proud of now, but I just change them and hope nobody notices!
You are an authentic cult for many people. Did you feel this air of legend about your music while you were not together as a band?
Ha ha, no! We don’t think of ourselves like that at all, but it was clear that people were still continuing to discover the old songs after we split up, which is what you always hope for with music – that it can live on beyond its time.
Is this 20th anniversary tour a preamble for new music?
Nothing’s planned, no. We might try it and see how it goes, but we’ve got got solo work to move onto next year so it would be a while away if it happens.
What have you been listening to in the last ten years?
I can’t even remember what I’ve been listening to in the last ten days! Mostly my children arguing with each other.
Are there any other reformed bands whose reunion really impressed you?
Seeing Slint was great when it happened – they’d never played outside the USA before, so to finally see Spiderland live was amazing. I really loved the last Suede album, Night Thoughts, too, and they’re always great live.
What are your impressions about the latest general election in UK?
The UK has been thrown into chaos by a vain, power-hungry Prime Minister and she should resign immediately. And Brexit can fuck off too.
You formed the band in 1996, you split up in 2006, you reformed in 2016. Where do you see yourselves in 2026?
I’ll be 53 in 2026, so I’m not sure I’ll still want to be singing songs about taking drugs and shagging girls at that age, so I imagine Arab Strap will be dead by then. That said, at the way we work these days, it might be 2026 before we finish a new album, so you never know.
