Me
-
Can’t Stand The Silence – An in-depth interview with the all new Rea Garvey
Music theorist and composer John Cage wrote an influential book about it, Simon & Garfunkel mused upon it’s sound. Depeche Mode attempted to enjoy it. But with a new decade of a still new millennium comes a fresh angle on it from Rea Garvey in the form of an intense personal plea: “Can’t Stand The Silence”. Garvey is himself no stranger to new beginnings. It’s something he does, like any musician worth their salt, with good timing. After moving from his native Ireland to Germany, he burst onto the scene at the beginning of the millennium with the platinum hit ‘Supergirl’. His band Reamonn spent the rest of the decade recording five studio and two live albums, scooping up a chain of music awards across Europe and records of every type of precious metal on the way. Rea started to feel the need for a change of direction. And here he is minus four letters, solo, with a new album ready to drop. True to its title, he continued his battle against the absence of sound as I caught up with him on a day off from the craziness attached to an album release to talk about past, present and future.
I find the singer in the traditional rock and roll frenzy of trying to keep up with the rollercoaster. He’s listening to the latest mixes from his new album and words like workaholic or even perfectionist may be fitting but they are definitely joined by a side salad of control freakery. While flashes of this come through while he talks, it is tempered with an equally winning abundance of passion, compassion and optimism.
But first up, the tricky bit and the obvious question – what happened to the ‘monn? “I’ve always asked the same question, why do bands stop”, emphasizing the word “Stop”, “where do they lose the attraction to what they’re doing.” He pauses. ” It just ran out… the magic that we once had, the great vibe, it just wasn’t there anymore, and it’s better to accept that and move on and try something new than to just continue ” he states matter-of-factly. However, aware of the sensitivities that surround all divorces, he’s quick to point out, “I don’t want to blame anyone or anything like that. It’s not like I’m standing on a pedestal. To be honest I didn’t have it in me,” he reflects ruefully. Other factors played a part too. He admits the band moved from a rock to a (possibly too) mainstream sound as it progressed. Despite great praise for the production team on the last self-titled album he confesses “We were aiming for a sound that we finally got [on Reamonn]. But then afterwards I realized we’d arrived about 2 or 3 years too late. It was kind of strange to realize you’ve missed the boat, but you have to recognize it. I did.” So is Reamonn over? “Who knows?” He smiles enigmatically. Then, showing typical Garvey traits of tenacity and optimism continues, “For now it’s a case of OK, time to move onto something new. Turn up early to the next party.”
Which brings us conveniently to the present. What were the circumstances that brought to making “Can’t Stand The Silence”? “I’ve been waiting to do a solo album for a long time” he admits. Collaborations with artists like Nelly Furtado and Mary J Blige and the opportunities to experience their careers seems to have inspired him and the time seemed ripe.
“I know where I’m going even if I’m not always sure what I’m doing…” He pauses. “The fact is that this transition was unavoidable for me to be happy as a musician – I had to move on and go it alone“
Initial signs are that it is paying off. “I did one warm-up show in front of a lot of friends in Berlin, all of them came up to me and said that I looked liberated, a free man!” But with freedom comes other challenges. No band, no compromise, but also no shared responsibility. Rea sums it up – “With this album I get to make all the decisions myself. That can be scary – people ask ‘What do we do next?’ and you suddenly realize ‘Fuck!’ I’m the only one with answers,” he laughs. Luckily, help was at hand in the form of the album’s producer Andy Chatterley (Muse, Kylie Minogue, Kanye West), who also co-wrote four of ‘…Silence’s songs. “It’s exciting writing with Andy because you describe a sound in your head and next thing Andy would play it and it would be exactly the way I heard it. We wrote most of the songs in three hours. Explosive, what I love about music!”
There is also one reassuring aspect of continuity (aside from his excellent voice). “I’ve always liked the idea of singing something to which somebody else says ‘that’s my story!’, finding words that will mean a lot to so many,” – i.e. exactly what initially propelled Rea into the charts with ‘Supergirl’ – a song where everyone either wanted to be the eponymous heroine or else her paramour.
“I know I tend to try and write songs for everybody…” He pauses. That could be interpreted as hubris or naivety and he knows it. “I don’t know if that sounds stupid, but…” and trails away. Nevertheless, his hope triumphs over adversity, itself a recurring Garvey lyrical meme.
There is an exception to the aforementioned rule of thumb however in the form of the more specific ‘Hole in My Heart’ which, unlike the rest of album, is five years old. “I wrote it with Jam El Mar about Markus Spoon (both of Jam & Spoon), a good friend of mine who died too soon. It didn’t fit the band – it was too personal – but I’m glad that it enjoys a private place on “Can’t Stand…”. The private and personal has had a subtle influence on this album in other ways. Like most of us, Garvey juggles private and business lives. “My family come foremost. I work to make a home.”
Being his solo project, are there any quintessentially Irish aspects to the album? “I think in one song, ‘Colour Me In’ is Irish, at least the way I think about being Irish – it’s uplifting, romantic and a beat that makes you want to get up and dance!” I proffer another, more oblique, aspect of Irishness to his career is that of the exile, exemplified by that fact that despite being a nearly all-conquering presence on the Continent, his previous band made little impact in the English-speaking world. So, having recorded in LA, written songs in Nashville and performed in Miami and London, does he want to change that? “Everything is an opportunity. People would go ‘ah, this didn’t happen, and why didn’t that happen’, but at the end of the day music decides where it wants to go. I really am a great believer that you can’t hide great music”.
So what other influences are there on the new album? “The people that I work with influence me the most. I went to write with Iain Archer who wrote one of the best songs ever called ‘Run’ from Snow Patrol. It was amazing to work with him”. The collaboration bore fruit on ‘Sorry Days’ on the album, which Garvey describes in typically ebullient fashion as “fantastic”. Apart from that he doesn’t have too much time to listen around, professing a liking for Athlete and “new on his radar” a certain Arcade Fire (did I mention he is a busy man?!). And, given his solo outings with electronic musicians such as Jam & Spoon and Paul van Dyk, any influence from their quarter? “Sure, I love the amazing feel of dance music, fantastic – it’s like an ocean.” He praises Andy Chatterley once again, this time for using his experience as a former DJ in providing a club dynamic to the album, “a lift” as Rea puts it, which he thinks is most effective on the opening on the title track. But he is also prepared to admit the process wasn’t all straight forward. “There was soul-searching too, having to find the right words, the right melodies, sounds, and not giving up until you really found what you’re exactly looking for” – shades of the workaholic perfectionist.
Garvey explains how he relishes the chance to blur the boundaries between guitar-based and electronic music. “You don’t want to be going ‘oh we can’t do that because that would be too electronic’,” he remarks but the removal of 4 letters seems to have left space for other musical direction.
Now the album is ready to go, what’s next? ”The most important thing now is to get on stage and play as much as possible.” So, with that aim in mind there’ll be a new group of musicians to recreate the songs live. Based on the few warm-up gigs he’s given thus far, this includes a female backing singer, one with intriguingly similar features to Rea. Minus the beard of course. “Yeah, my sister is in the band which I’m very excited about. I’ve missed out on a lot of her life, she’s a great singer and I just saw the opportunity to spend some time together. A smart move on my part.” He breaks into self-depreciative laughter. “There’s not a lot of situations where I could say that!” The Garvey siblings are joined by Australian drummer Damon Wilson, Londoner Jason Tarver on bass, guitarist Thorsten Sala (ex-touring partner from the Reamonn days) and keys specialist Maik Schott, who Rea admits has the toughest job of recreating Andy Chatterley’s world of sound.
While the music industry in general is in flux and its future tough to discern, about his own career Rea is typically focussed, setting those huge goals he speaks of yet still aware of their challenges. “Believe me, I’m not that arrogant to claim that everyone will think this is a great album. But to me it is fucking phenomenal album,” he’s states, then chuckling slightly, “But after it was finished I got on my knees and then hoped that the rest of the world would think the same!” Once again earnest he continues, “I’m prepared to work as hard as needs be to put it in front of pretty much anybody and give them the opportunity to say they like it, or don’t. I won’t be happy until that has happened.” Having survived and prospered as a major label artist for a decade he demonstrates this is no idle boast. Regardless of how one deems his music, it is impossible not to get a sense of the integrity with which Rea Garvey goes about, well, everything really. He concludes with something about “Can’t Stand The Silence” that could be seen as a sort of Rea credo for life generally.
“With everything I do really it’s to get to a point where you can honestly say ‘I’ve done my best’.”
Which bodes well for all. Well, except for silence, of which there might be somewhat less of after this album takes up residence on the public’s stereos.
- Wow!!!!!!!! 170,000 friends on Facebook!!! Nice wake up call:-) for all football fans here's hoping FCB claim the... http://t.co/7lnU3FFt 3 hours ago
NewsLetter
-
The New Single “Can’t Stand The Silence”
out now
-
The New Album “Can’t Stand The Silence”
out now