Tonight (26th July) , Spector start a two night stand in Manchester, where they’ll play both their albums in full at the Deaf Institute. They’ll follow it up on Thursday and Friday by doing the same at London’s Moth Club. With work underway on album three, we caught up with the band’s frontman Fred Macpherson for a chinwag about what it’s all about.
What made you want to play both albums in full live?
It felt like it would be an interesting artistic process, and as it’s become so popular for legendary bands to play their classic albums in full, I thought it would be funny to jump the gun and create the experience while the records are still both quite recent. You have to make your own rules.
Do you have standout memories from the recording sessions for both albums?
Trevor Horn’s anecdotes about recording with Malcolm McClaren blew my mind the first time round, along with our old guitarist Chris Burman walking past Roots Manuva and asking if he’d record an anti-piracy message for it. On the second album it was ‘All The Sad Young Men’ finally coming together (it took about two months!) and realising we’d written our best song.
What’s your personal favourite track from each record?
Hmm, it changes all the time but right now maybe ‘Upset Boulevard’ (mainly for the “true romantics sleep alone” lyric) from ‘EIWIL’ and ‘Don’t Make Me Try’ from ‘Moth Boys’.
What’s the strangest live show experience you’ve had?
We’ve had on stage marriage proposals in Sheffield, a gun pulled back stage in San Francisco, and Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce come to see us at the barfly, but a goldfish dying in Leicester was probably the darkest moment. Someone had brought two in a glass bowl and thought crowdsurfing goldfish would be a good idea.
What albums would you like to hear in full by another artist?
Nick Cave – Murder Ballads. Roxy Music – Stranded. Drake – Take Care. Talk Talk – The Spirit of Eden. Robbie Williams – Life thru a Lens.
(Yep. Definitely the last one for us – Ed)
London vs Manchester – who wins?
They’re obviously both two of the best cities to play. Manchester always loses its shit a little more but winning over a London audience can feel like a triumph because they can be hard so please. Shout out Leeds and Glasgow though. And Newcastle. Every UK city brings something different to the table.
What’s the reception to your EU song been like?
Really positive, and slightly divisive amongst some of our fans. We’ve had that demo knocking round since 2013 and were never really planning on releasing but the referendum felt like the perfect time. It’s just a shame the result didn’t go the other way.
What’s the future looking like for Spector?
We’re writing our third album at the moment which we’re quite excited about (even though everyone always says that). Since releasing ‘Moth Boys’ we have a much clearer sense of identity and feel like there’s something worth developing. We’re lucky that we get along and all have lots of other interests alongside the band. I think it means we’ll keep working together and touring as long as it interests us – which right now it is more than ever.