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40 illinoisentertainer.com march 2015
At least a couple decades have passed since
Mike + The Mechanics last visited America,
but the group started by guitar great Mike
Rutherford (also a founding and continuous
member of Genesis) is rapidly making up for
the absence. In addition to releasing Living
Years Deluxe Edition (Rhino) on February 10
in honor of its 25th anniversary (featuring a
remastered edition of the groundbreaking
album, a new version of the chart-topping title
tune and a ten track live recording from the
original tour), the same date also bears the
leader’s fittingly titled autobiography The
Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir
(Thomas Dunne).
Given that surge of attention, coupled with
the fact the Mechanics collectively turn 30 this
year, Mike and company are finally mounting a
new U.S. tour (concluding with two Park West
performances March 20 and 21) supported by
longtime Genesis concert collaborator/Phil
Collins axe-slinger Daryl Stuermer. Here are
some abridged highlights from a transatlantic
telephone conversation between IE and the
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, including flashbacks and updates about both of his groundbreaking bands.
Illinois Entertainer: The Mechanics
haven’t come to the States since the 1980s.
What accounted for such a lengthy break?
Mike Rutherford: First of all, I miss
America. I spent a lot of my life touring
there, have wonderful memories there and
lately I haven’t come that much…I guess
the main thing with the Mechanics is we
never toured much. We did two American
tours- we did '86 and '89- because [around
1991's Word Of Mouth], I also did a Genesis
record [We Can't Dance], which took about
a year, followed by a long Genesis
tour…We hardly toured, it wasn't in our
make-up, and then basically the Mechanics
kind of ground to a halt when
[vocalist/percussionist] Paul Young died
[in 2000] and [fellow vocalist/keyboard
player] Paul Carrack and I split amicably
and sort of stopped. And then I wrote
some songs and thought 'hang on, these
are Mechanics songs,' so I found two different singers again – Andrew Roachford,
which would be the R&B voice, and Tim
Howar, the rock voice – and I started doing
some live shows. I was kind of blown
away by how many old songs there were:
"All I Need Is A Miracle," "The Living
Years," "Word Of Mouth.” There were so
many songs and I thought we could create
more songs [starting with 2011's The Road].
There's a certain energy now in the live
show. It's more relevant and more happening. I can't really explain how it's working,
but here we are.
By Andy Argyrakis
IE: How does the latest line-up compare
and contrast to the Paul Carrack/Paul
Young era?
MR: The funny thing is the songs are the
songs and that's the real selling point. The
other thing is the Mechanics always had
two lead singers, which has always been a
plus, energy-wise, on stage. You can't compare it…You can just tell it really works.
IE: What are the similarities and differences in playing to home versus playing to
here?
MR: I actually don't know. I'm about to
find out. In a sense, I'm wondering if some
songs are known better over here [in the
UK], so I'm trying to work out what to do
song wise [in the U.S.] But I do feel like the
Mechanics are at this stage now where we
could play songs that no one's ever heard
before and make it work. We've really
gained confidence to make a song come to
life. I think a good live song is a good live
song even if it isn't very well known, so we
will see.
IE: Will the two shows in Chicago be the
same or will you be shuffling up the set list
each night?
MR: I have no idea. Good question.
Basically I've got some new songs and I'm
going to use the American leg of the tour's
sound checks to try them out, work them
in, and maybe try a new song a night to
test them out. So when we come to
Chicago, we'll be twice in the same place to