One of the pillars of British indie rock tells Gareth Grundy about influences from Donovan to Bowie
Edwyn Collins is one of the more inspirational figures in British music, and not just for his achievements on record. As a founder member of Glasgow's Orange Juice he helped establish both the sound and attitude of what would become known as indie rock, initially releasing the band's groundbreaking work through the city's influential and independent Postcard Records label during the early 80s. Solo success followed the band's demise, most notably with 1995's worldwide hit "Girl Like You" and his recent work is no less distinguished, particularly last year's Losing Sleep. The first album written since his recovery from two serious brain haemorrhages that put him in hospital for most of 2005, it also ranks among his very best. There are contributions from younger acts he's influenced, such as Franz Ferdinand and The Cribs, and the ornithology-themed sleeve art is provided by Collins himself, his work as an accomplished illustrator proving therapeutic of late. "You can't imagine how grateful I am," he says. "My songs are still there, my audience is still there. What can I say?"
THE TRACK THAT REMINDS ME OF MY PARENTS
Jennifer Juniper, Donovan (1968)
I was eight years old when my mum bought me this on seven-inch and it was the first pop single I owned. There wasn't a lot of pop music in the house ? my father preferred classical. He was an art school lecturer with something of the Gregory Peck about him. Then he tried to be trendy with it, and bought Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band when it came out. He bought flares too, and a lime green Crimplene safari suit. The 60s happened to my dad right in front of me. I wasn't impressed at all.
This single also has a good B-side, "Poor Cow", which I still really like.
THE TRACK THAT REMINDS ME OF MY TEENAGE GLAM ROCK YEARS
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie (1972)
I still have the copy of this I bought when I was 14 years old and starting to discover music. I was mad about David Bowie and I bought Aladdin Sane and Hunky Dory when they came out too. I liked a lot of glam ? I liked artists who lived in their own worlds. I didn't copy Bowie's clothes or hair though ? I wore a harrington jacket and Brutus bag trousers.
You have to remember that Bowie was pop back then, and it wasn't cool for boys to be into pop. It was girls who liked him ? boys only ever admit to liking pop music in retrospect. All the other boys at school were listening to progressive rock like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, or Led Zeppelin.
I wasn't one of the cool kids, I was one of the outsiders. Back then you could get beaten up for having the wrong haircut and it happened to me when I was 18. I was in the park with Alan Horne, who ran Postcard Records. Alan ran away. I was frightened but I stayed, and got beaten up.
THE TRACK THAT INSPIRED ME TO START A BAND
Ambition, the Subway Sect (1978)
I'd discovered the Velvet Underground and the New York Dolls, and I waiting for punk to happen. Living in Glasgow there were only one or two punks around, so they stood out. I didn't wear bin bags, spike my hair or anything like that, I was more about wearing charity shop clothes that looked right, like straight trousers. Wearing straight trousers was quite confrontational when most blokes wore flares.
I studied illustration at college but from the age of 16 I knew passionately that I wanted to form a band and it was punk that inspired me. For a while I worked as an illustrator for the Glasgow parks department and that's about the only conventional employment I had before starting up my first band, the Nu-Sonics, and then Orange Juice. It wasn't that I didn't like working, I was just more driven about the band.
THE TRACK THAT HELPED ME RECOVER FROM ILLNESS
Promised Land, Johnnie Allan (1974)
For the first six months I was in hospital I could only say the words "yes" or "no" ? that was it. I couldn't listen to music at all and I cried constantly. After nine or 10 weeks my wife, Grace, found an old compilation CD that I'd made and put my headphones on for me. This track was on it and I was so overwhelmed by emotion that I burst into tears. I care so passionately about music and rediscovering it was like falling in love with it all over again.
I couldn't imagine singing again. I had to completely re-learn how to read and write as that ability had been wiped. I'd even forgotten the words to my own songs, but after two years I was learning them once more. It was four years before I was writing music again. Now I can play chords on a guitar but my right arm doesn't work.
THE TRACK THAT HELPS MY DRAWING
Love's been Good to Me, Rod McKuen (1963)
I love drawing, particularly at our house in the Highlands. There's a record player up there and sometimes this is on in the background ? it was covered by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash. I draw Mondays to Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays are days off. When I'm drawing I feel at peace with the world, like I don't have a care. It's intuitive and relaxing and there's no pressure involved. I'm using colour again now, as opposed to just pencil. I've had four exhibitions so far and there's another couple coming up soon.
I'm still inspired by nature. I played with Teenage Fanclub at the Bowlie Weekender in Minehead recently and the day afterwards I went off for a walk along the coast with my wife. We found some people who looked liked birdwatchers and I had to ask what kind they were searching for. They were after waxwings and red-throated divers.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/23/edwyn-collins-soundtrack-life-review
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