know ? My attitude has always been ‘ Well that was a good record , let ’ s crack on with the next one and try and make something a bit different .’ That ’ s always been in me , but I think the older I get , the less cautious I am about trying different things or seeing what works . There was a similar ethos in The Style Council , I just don ’ t think I had the chops to bring it off successfully at times , either vocally or as a musician . It ’ s just the passage of time , really .
I ’ ve always felt comfortable about making new stuff though , if that ’ s what I ’ m into at the time , then that ’ s what I want people to hear . That ’ s what I want to play to you , so that ’ s what I do . Saying that , there ’ s also loads of old songs that I play live , whether it ’ s the ones that people want to hear , I don ’ t know . People want all different things , but I do try to cover most points in my history , but the new record will always be the most important thing to me . Unless it ’ s a piece of sh * t , then I wouldn ’ t care , but if that was the case I wouldn ’ t be out there doing it anyway . If I believe in something though , I want people to hear it .”
Fat Pop ( Volume 1 ) features some stellar guest collaborations , such as Amen Corner legend Andy Fairweather Low on the strutting groove that is Testify and Paul ’ s own daughter Leah , who co-wrote and performed on Shades Of Blue , the classic slice of 3-minute kitchen sink pop that was the first single released off the album .
Paul said : “ It was so easy and natural doing the track with Leah . We were just sitting around the night before and I was playing this song to her on the piano . I had the verses and the arrangement , but I couldn ’ t find the chorus , so she just wrote the melody and words for it and that was it done . We recorded the vocals the next day , so it was really easy . She ’ s been playing for some years now and she ’ s really got her chops together , especially with her writing . She ’ s doing an album just now that Steve Cradock is producing . Even without doing the proud dad thing , I can see she ’ s coming up with some really good songs . She ’ s really come on these last couple of years .
Andy Fairweather Low ? Well , it was just a joy to have him on board , man . He ’ s a lovely fella . I ’ ve met him a few times and he ’ s come to the gigs when we ’ ve played Cardiff . We sang together a couple of years ago on a charity thing round my way in Guilford and our voices went really well together , so we ’ ve often said we should try and do something together . I had this backing track around for a while , but
again I couldn ’ t find my way into the song , but I really liked it . So I sent it to Andy and he wrote the top line and the words , then we got together after the lockdown ended last summer and just sang it live . I ’ m really pleased with how it turned out . I ’ ve always been a fan of his voice . I told him I could remember watching him with Amen Corner on Top Of The Pops when I was a kid , so I ’ ve been a fan for a long time .”
Away from his recorded output , Weller has been a constant presence on the live circuit all these years , but his usually relentless touring schedule ground to a halt last year along with the entire live music industry . Naturally his first concern was people ’ s lives and health , but not being able to do the thing that he has spent his entire adult life doing ( and loving ) took a bit of getting used to .
He said : “ It ’ s really , really weird . It ’ s the longest I ’ ve gone without playing live since I started making music . We ’ re hopefully doing this tour in November , which has been rescheduled several times already , which will make it nearly two-and-a-half years since we ’ ve played live . That ’ s an awful long time to be off . I think I might have taken a year off before , but nothing near that amount . It felt weird to be sort of redundant in this last year , which I ’ m sure applies to a lot of people , whatever job you do . You get so used to touring and playing live though , it ’ s the lifeblood of all of it , so not being able to do it is a very strange feeling . I ’ ve done a couple of things recently , but without an audience obviously . I did a show with Madness in the London Palladium there , which was weird not to have a crowd in front of you , but it was just such a f ** king joy to be onstage and play with a band . Regardless of the lack of audience , just having that vibe again was amazing , so I ’ m really looking forward to getting back properly .”
As for what the future might bring , Weller doesn ’ t have any big plans or desires . For him , he ’ s content with what he has already , because when it comes down to it , that ’ s all he really needs .
He said : “ My only ambition is to have more of what I ’ m having now ; life , music , family , children and all that . I don ’ t really have any longterm plans because , as we ’ ve discovered in the last year , there ain ’ t no plan . As long as I get a bit more of this , I ’ m a happy man .”
For the latest news on tour dates see www . paulweller . com
20 wirrallife . com