On the new album, your guitar playing has way more of presence. Very soulful, I have to say. Who are your influences, in terms of guitar players?
I hate guitarists. (laughs) I’m not very good at the guitar. Yes, I play it on stage but I’m not very good at it. So with this album I just wanted to sit down and write a couple of songs with the guitar. There’s a couple of songs like Never Wanted and The Most Immaculate Haircut where I sat down and learned how to play it. And I don’t have any guitar idols. Sorry, I’m not good with names. Let’s say… Elton John.
Yes, who could forget his great Woodstock performance?
Exactly. (laughs)
Are there any general influences for the album? When I first heard the title track I instantly thought of ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA…
Yeah, that’s good. Before I recorded it – and I knew that I would record it in an analogue studio – I thought about that. There’s this effect that E.L.O. used to have. You know, having the piano sound a bit more mysterious and more chorus-like. THE BEACH BOYS did this as well on records like Wild Honey. I loved that effect and I really wanted to do a song with it and Love Letters was written around that idea. But you’re right, its got that hints on E.L.O.
Photo by Gregoire Alexandre
You just said you only recorded half of the written songs. Are there any plans to record the other ones? Like a quick follow-up album?
Basically we recorded all of these songs. For a long time I wanted to quickly release the other half. But in the end it’s a bit like the same spirit of what the album itself is. It’s ten tracks long and got forty-five minutes and that’s it. The songs speak for themselves and so does the album. And I think it’s a way better move to clear all the other songs up. They are not on the record for a reason, they are on their own and so I think there’s no need to force it. I’m not doing it like JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE or whoever…
Yeah, that was crap. I always wondered why people make double albums. I always think it would be better to just take the 10 or 12 good songs and let them be the album instead of having 24 tracks.
There you go. And that’s basically what I did and I’m so happy I made that decision. Genuinely I really thought about doing a double LP. And I told everybody: “Don’t let anyone convince me that this is a bad idea.” And at the end I realized it by myself.
The English Riviera was inspired by you moving away from the big city. You’ve became a father before recording Love Letters. In which way did this event inspired and influenced you?
Not that much. I already started writing the songs when I heard the news. And in such a case you don’t want to let anything influence your writing. But I knew the baby would come in March. So we finished touring in September 2012 and that basically gave me a time schedule to record an album. And everybody says a child changes you, and it actually does. But it was good to have that schedule and it didn’t affect the quality or the album itself. And strangely it helped me to be much more focussed. But didn’t let the emotional aspect onto the album, maybe on the next one. I’m in a position where I like to do more of this songwriter stuff.
Your fans are desperately waiting for your live comeback. What can we expect from the upcoming tour?
The usual people. (laughs) We’ve been rehearsing for the last three weeks. We’ve managed to banish the computer from our set. For a long time we’ve always used the computer for several sounds on stage. So, I’m really looking forward to this tour. And I’ve never looked forward to a tour before. (laughs) It sounds quite good. A friend of mine, Michael, is helping out on keyboards. The sound will be richer and we also got a nice little stage set we’re working on. It’s gonna be good fun since the new record transfers quite well to the stage. Feels quite natural.
We’ve come to the end which always means that we’re asking about hope and passion. What’s your opinion on those terms?
I’m more of a realistic person but I don’t see why this isn’t some sort of optimistic in the end. I’m realizing things through being realistic. And I’m definitely hopeful.
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