Bryan Chow, bryan@loudcloud.com
It was a happy, relaxed and confident Bryan Ferry who strolled into the exclusive London hotel suite to talk to me about his latest album ``Bete Noire''.
The guy who once told me that he didn't like interviews because he was afraid of boring people seemed more than ready for a chat! Maybe it was because he'd just finished the album after two years of hard work - or it could be something to do with his very happy marriage to Lucy, the mother of his two sons, Otis, four, and Isaac, two.
``I love being a dad, and believe me, I never thought I would be able to say that! Family life has its own problems, but it has made a man of me! It's given me the chance to be a child again and play silly games. Basically, I'm quite a silly person!''
But come on, that's not the image we have of the cool, smooth Bryan Ferry?
``I never was cool! That's just the image people have of me. I'm quite a reserved person by nature and I would always rather be in the background observing people, than up at the front doing a song-and-dance routine. I think I must just have a naturally gloomy face which people mistake for a pose!''
Maybe it was a attempt to break away from that image which led Bryan to make ``Bete Noire'', which he describes as an ``up'' album.
``My last record, ``Boys and Girls'', had quite a melancholy flavour so I did want a change this time,'' he said.
``Altogether the new album took me about 18 months to make though when I started I thought it would be finished in three!''
People outside the record business find it hard to understand how it can take to long to produce 10 songs on a piece of plastic.
``You do become more critical as your career progresses. I try a lot harder now. My first couple of albums were quite easy to make, but now I'm aware that I have more young and hungry artists to complete with - I have to dig a bit deeper to come up with something new.
``One difference is that this time, I co-wrote the songs with several different people. Johnny Marr from ``The Smiths'' co-wrote my single ``The Right Stuff'' and I also wrote with Chester Kamen. (He's Nick's [Levis ad fame] big brother, though I'm sure he'd hate to be labelled like that.) He did Live Aid with me. And there's Guy Pratt who went on to play bass to Pink Floyd.
``Later I was introduced to Patrick Leonard, a studio wizard who used to play keyboards for Madonna, so it was a young team. I called them the Artful Dodgers! Altogether I must have used 20 or 30 different musicians, so record buyers are certainly getting value for their money.
``The trouble is that being a singer people tend to imagine that's all I do, but in fact singing is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm totally involved in all aspects of making the record. Sometimes I get so involved that I almost forget I've got to do the singing as well!''
So after all that hard work, is Bryan pleased with ``Bete Noire''?
``Don't ask me!'' he groaned. ``I'm at the stage now where I have lived with the songs for so long that I can't bear to listen to them. But sometimes I'm forced to hear bits of the album and then I think, well, it doesn't sound too bad.''
Bryan isn't easy to please - and he doesn't take success, especially chart success for granted!
``I would like to say that having hits doesn't matter to me, but I've got to admit that it does, especially for albums. I'm not the kind of artist who sells masses of records automatically, like Michael Jackson, but I do hope people will like what I've done.''
Bryan also laughs at the suggestion that someone of his age should retire gracefully from the rock-scene.
``When I was a teenage fan, the jazz greats that I liked were years and years older that I am now, and it never put me off their music. I've never pretended to be a 20 year old, or tried to sell myself as one, and there's as much passion in my music now as there ever was.
``I have never aimed to be a teenage idol. I was 25 and grown-up when Roxy Music started. I feel that if I can keep changing and making music that interests me, then listeners will be interested too.''
What about the rest of the pop scene?
Does he get put off by the likes of Prince and Michael Jackson? Bryan's quick to say no - not at all. He prefers to listen to classical music when he's not working.
``I saw Prince on stage in Paris and he was really good. He's not afraid to take risks and seems to enjoy himself, but I really don't want to be one of those people whose music is their whole life. I want to carry on being interested in other things or I'm afraid I'll get state.''
Travelling takes up a lot of Bryan's time, but he says that'll change when his sons are old enough to go to school. He and Lucy have a home in southern England, but while he was recording the album the family lived in New York, Paris and the Bahams. (What a life! - Ed.)
``Otis has travelled more at four years old than I had at 30,'' he says proudly. ``It fascinates me how adaptable children are and how different my sons are from each other. Otis is a thinker, and as sharp as two monkeys. Nothing fazes him. Not long ago I caught bronchitis and the doctor told me I should take myself off to the sun, so we went to Marrakech. There we all were in the middle of the bazaar, with snake charmers and all sorts of things, but the children just took it for granted.''
I remarked that it must be very different from Bryan's childhood as a miner's son in the north of England.
``Very different, yes. And I'm very conscious that I don't want them to grow up as spoiled brats so I have to be a strict Victorian father sometimes! When they fight, I act as referee.''
I still couldn't quite picture Bryan changing nappies, and he looked faintly horrified when I mentioned it.
``I can't be bothered with all that or I'd never get any work done! We have to have help, but I see as much of the children as I can and they're very much a part of my life. I find that having a family takes away some of the pressure of work.''
What most of Bryan's fans want to know is when we're going to see him on stage again. His world tour back in 1981 which included Australian dates, eventually landed him in hospital, and not long after that he considered giving up live concerts.
``The rock'n'roll lifestyle was never really me,'' he said. ``Sometimes I think that I've grown out of all the rigmarole of touring, but now I'm finding that I really miss being on stage. I do occasional TV appearances, singing one song, and when I see real people responding I start to think that it would be interesting to go on the road again. The feedback you get from an audience is very good for your morale.
``When I'd love to do is the occasional concert. The trouble is that it takes month to rehearse. You have to make sure all your musicians are free, and you have to find lights and a stage crew. Maybe next time I'll tour with a smaller band. Johnny Marr seemed keen on the idea. For me, the most important thing is that a concert should feel like a special occasion.''
When we spoke Bryan said he hoped to visit Australia soon.
``It's years since I was there and I know it struck me like the Promised Land the first time. Australia is a new country and that means there are lots of options. It's not rooted in the past like Europian countries are, and the people always seem so open-minded and optimistic. I like being a foreigner and experiencing different cultures.
``I'd also like to get more of a chance to look around. Would you believe I'd been to Sydney three times before I got to see the Opera House? I liked Perth, too. Cities by the sea always seem to have something extra going for them.''
Did he ever get the urge to be a surfie?
``I didn't even learn to swim till I was 21, so I'm not exactly the iron man, although I do enjoy swimming,'' he said. ``I recently finished reading a book about Aborigines which was very interesting. One day I would like to see the Outback, perhaps take the family and really do it properly.''
At the moment, Bryan can just about handle the occasional game of tennis! When he was a teenager he was a keen cyclist so he was over the top about being in Paris at the end of the latest Tour de France race.
``I later met Stephen Roache, the Irish cyclist who won, when we both appeared on the same TV show,'' he said.
While Bryan was out of the limelight during the last few years, there were rumours that his career was about to take a very different turn - in fact, that he'd been approached as a possible successor to Roger Moore as the new James Bond! Mmm - but according to Bryan, he was never really in the running.
``Actually, the idea has been mentioned before, quite a few times. I suppose it was because I had sing in the black tie and tuxedo. The idea just filled me with mild amusement, I'm afraid. People always look disappointed when I say that I have absolutely no plans for a movie career.I honestly don't want to be an actor!
``Just making records fulfils my artistic urges and I don't feel I have anything left to give. I do get sent film scripts, but I've never seen anything that temped me at all. Besides, the film business always seems to be more about making money than anything else.
``I'm interested in the cinema, though. I prefer old films to modern ones, and European movies to American. The Italians make the best films of all. Maybe as an ex-art student I see films from an artist's point of view. I did think ``Platoon'' was very good, but I usually come out of films feeling disappointed. I sometimes envy actors for their fantastic earnings, though!''
Now hold on - Bryan Ferry on the breadline??!!
``I really and truly don't feel rich,'' he said. ``The freedom I have matters far more for me than money. I do what I like and get paid for it, that's what's really amazing! It would be easy for me to take that freedom for granted and forget what it was like to wake up in the morning with a terrible hangover and know you had to be at work be nine.
``But money has never been my movie for working. Once you have made record you want people to like it, and financial rewards come from that. Sometimes I buy myself a treat like a nice picture - but I pay a lot of taxes too.
``What gives me the most pleasure is owning land, having the space to walk around without anyone bothering me. If I didn't have to live near London to work, I wouldn't mind buying a place up north or in Ireland where I could get away from it all.''
Although he says he doesn't have a lot of contact with fans, Bryan is far from a recluse.
``I like people and would never be rude to autograph hunters. If there are hundreds outside a gig I worry a bit, but generally people are very nice and polite.
``When you've been around as long as I have you have to accept being a `celebrity'. People tend to behave in an artificial way when they meet someone they've seen on TV. I probably do it too, whenever I meet anyone famous! You can't help wondering what the person will be like and if all the things you've read about them are true. It's not always exciting meeting celebrities either. Ordinary people are just as interesting to talk to.
``The important thing is not to get too self-conscious about it all. I don't want to have to worry about my street credibility. I read somewhere that '30s star Joan Crawford always dressed immaculately when she went out so as not to let her fans down. I couldn't possibly be like that!''
Yes, Bryan Ferry is back - in top form. In some ways, it seems as though he's never been away!
Bryan Chow, bryan@loudcloud.com