Loved Up - Colin Moulding talks to Bassist Magazine, January 1997
Contributed by Andy Ashfield

For over two decades, they've simultaneously charmed, annoyed, irked and impressed a record-buying population. Gibson Keddie finds out why XTC is good for you.

Unconventional. Do you think that would be a fair word to use when describing XTC, Colin? "Well, I don't know. I suppose the fact that we don't tour is relatively unconventional. Apart from that, we're... regular guys, you know." The spoken 'Rs' are pleasantly burred, betraying the West Country roots of Colin Moulding, bass player and songwriter with clever-pop supremos and Swindon's finest, XTC.

A new compilation, Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles Collection (Virgin), demonstrates with consummate ease the wealth of abilities which have supported XTC throughout their 21-year career. Supported, that is, and cursed them simultaneously, amidst mutterings about MENSA- style trickiness which pervades both their lyrics and their arrangements. However, the idea of a 'singles collection' represents some commercial thinking somewhere, given that this is a collectively mainstream as XTC songs will ever get.

Colin Moulding has mixed feelings about this...

"I wanted a mish-mash of everything, but the record company will always tend to go for tracks they think the public might find more 'conventional' to use that word again, or more commercial. I think those sort of song collections are not representative of any band, really. But it'd about time we had something out, so we'll go with it. Something to tide the fans over until the next recording comes out.

"I think the term is 'between engagements' for XTC at the moment. For the last two years we've been trying to get out of our old contract with EMI/Virgin, and now we're finally out of it, we're scouting around for a deal at the moment. There are a few offers on the table, so we're weighing up the options."

In the beginning, they were four. Guitarist and main songsmith Andy Partridge; bassist and supporting songsmith Colin Moulding; keyboardist Barry Andrews; and drummer Terry Chambers.

Barry departed in 1979, after the first couple of albums, for the similarly cerebral pastures of Robert Fripp's League Of Gentlemen. The guitar element of XTC was subsequently reinforced by the arrival of Dave Gregory, and eclectic stylist and acknowledged guitar-head (unlike the other band members, who consciously railed against any such gear 'name and numbers' swottiness). Gregory's arrival was immediately heralded by XTC's first major hit, the infectious 'Making Plans For Nigel', written and sung by the bass player - a situation which created a precedent in the group. Whereas Partridge's left-of-centre pop craftings were often released to very mixed reactions (his follow-up to 'Nigel' was a bouncy reggae-ish bop called 'Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down' which flopped dismally, almost terminating the band's progress), Colin possessed a much steadier hand in tunesmithery terms.

For the following few years they went out on world tours, despatched by the record company to promote their wares in every dive and juke joint across the face of God's earth. Until, that is, the sudden onset of one of the most celebrated cases of stage fright to afflict any musician, when Andy Partridge crumbled inwards during a gig in Los Angeles in 1982.

"For a while, we were the Vasco Da Gamas of the 80s, really. It was largely through uncaring and unthinking management - with whom we eventually had a huge bust-up. We were just going anywhere and everywhere for no apparent reason; just to earn funds for other people. But then, as a side issue, Andy got stage fright and couldn't really handle it any more, so that was probably the right time to stop."

(Don't) Go 2

Touring was indeed struck off the new agenda and eventually drummer Terry Chambers, sensing redundancy in the new, non-touring, studio-oriented XTC, decided to quit.

"And then there were three, yes. With Terry, touring was the best part of this game. Since then, it's suited our needs, obviously, not to get a drummer in, not to take somebody into the fold, but to use session guys - or anybody who's hanging about - to play on our albums, and the keep the three of us as the band. Because we weren't touring, we didn't need to take on anybody else. We thought we'd keep it as a cottage industry."

Wasn't the decision to cease touring a cause of some frustration for Colin, and certainly for Dave Gregory, who appeared to enjoy that side of things much more?

"You'd have to ask Dave for his opinion on that, but personally, I initially though: 'Christ, this is what bands do, they make a record and tour. How are we going to exist, and carry on?' But once the initial shock was over, it was more a case of 'Well, we can do more recording now," we found out that we'd enjoyed more of that side of it all along. We slotted into the 'studio years' and felt comfortable with it; we didn't feel we were missing out on anything by not going around the world and playing working men's clubs in Brisbane, for instance.

"All the talk of the 'glamour' of touring... I think if I was offered a year on the road, I wouldn't take it. All that living out of a suitcase, hunting around on a Sunday, in a strange town, looking for a laundrette... I couldn't handle that now."

Which brings us to the infamous XTC gig at the Windsor Zillmere Football Club in Brisbane, Australia, in 1979, when XTC were at the height of their commercial powers. A triumphant gig the previous night at the town's Cloudland Ballroom was followed by "the gig that should not have been," according to Colin.

The Aussie equivalent of a UK British Legion club billed XTC as 'Cabaret from England,' and no more than 30 uninterested youngsters turned up. Loud fruit machines played continuously as the fast food bar barked orders through the house PA, which was louder than the band's; "Burgers and fries twice; pepperoni pizza..." Just before the musicians took to the stage, a punter shoved a piece of paper into Andy Partridge's hand, saying: "I've got some furniture to sell - woodja announce it over the mike?"

"We're the four beefburgers Mr Jones ordered," Partridge announced as the band took the stage...

Stratosphear

Towards the end of the 80s, the band responded more directly to their influences and musical inspirations by recording an album of blatant 'tribute' tracks as a kind of side project. Though the same period saw them release the already beautifully derivative Oranges And Lemons, their 'other' project was consequently not put out under the XTC banner. Instead, XTC adopted a band 'nom de studio' of The Dukes Of Stratosphear. Why?

"We all had a great love for those late 60s Syd Barret-style ravings," explains Colin, "and thought it would be good to do a send-up of it. Others who'd done that seemed to take it so seriously. We thought it would be nice, if we had a few songs hanging about, to tailor them to suit certain groups of that time. If you go through the Dukes' album, you can hear one track as a Hollies sort of send-up, another track is a Syd Barrett thing... all geared towards certain artists - Beach Boys, Small Faces... and it was just good fun to do in between albums.

"That they sound so good is because of the help we had from various people - not least John Leckie, who'd worked on the first two XTC albums. During the late '60s he was an up-and- coming tape op and worked on early Pink Floyd albums, so he was up for it. We had to do it on the cheap, as well, which made it better, really, because we couldn't spend too much time on it. The first project we had to do in about two weeks, the second in three weeks - which made it probably even more enjoyable and productive."

The Dukes albums were also, no doubt, an attempt to diffuse the more anorakish elements which the band's previous recordings seem to have encouraged. (*cough* I can't think what kind of people he's referring to here. Simon)

"We often get letters saying: 'Really admired that note you put in the middle eight. A marvellous note,' you know," comments a rather bemused bass player. "But that's not really our bag, analysing what we do like that."

Trainspotting

Wouldn't he agree that XTC's music inspires that kind of reaction in many ways?

"Oh, yes, it obviously brings out the trainspotting in people, I think, but I'm glad we're known for something. If we're known for that, then fair enough."

To get slightly trainspotty ourselves for a second or two - this won't take too long, honestly - in a song like 'The Mayor Of Simpleton' (originally on Oranges And Lemons, and now also on Fossil Fuel) the bass line is positively inspirational as it bubbles along beautifully under the track. A lovely, lively bass line - if you've never heard it, treat yourself.

At what point in the proceedings would Colin have recorded that bass line? The impression is similar to McCartney's style of recording in later Beatles tracks, where he would often record the important final bass part last, when all the other parts were finalised. Did XTC work in a similar manner?

"Andy's demo of that song already had a 16-note bass figure on it," remembers Colin, "and he said: 'If you do something along these lines, play a 16 note figure, the rest of the song you can do what you want'. I took the basic idea of that 16-note urgency, and it just evolved. I wasn't a case of working anything out totally, then going in and doing it. A lot of the bass lines I do work out to where the basic thing is there, but you leave little corners till something happens on tape. I'm all for capturing the moment. Obviously you've got to do a little but of homework, but it's nice to have something spontaneous for the actual take."

Certainly. One of the elements of XTC's success had surely always been that spontaneity; if 'unpredictable' was invented by anybody, it was surely XTC...

"The fiver's in the post young man."

Did Colin think there was any substance in the comment that he had the more 'mainstream' commercial songwriting ear in the band? He was certainly responsible for the more immediate hits - 'Life Begins At The Hop', 'Nigel', 'Generals and majors'.

The answer is typically diplomatic.

"Oh, I don't know. Did I? You see, our career sort of went off at a tangent in the mid-80s because we had some hits in Britain in the late 70s/early 80s, stuff like 'Nigel' and 'Generals And Majors', and then our career took off in America more, and Britain largely gave up on us. I think the style changed more then anyway, so you couldn't categorise 'hits' like that. I can't really comment on other people's opinions; if people think I wrote the hits, then I guess I wrote the hits! But saying that, I haven't had a hit for quite a while, anyway..."

Web Site

Those who surf the Internet may like to know that XTC have a truly exemplary fan-based web site, Chalkhills. Analysis, comment, reviews, lyrics, TAB (contributed by fans, with continual corrections concerning those typically tricky XTC arrangements)... there's such detailed knowledge in the web site, surely the band has some direct input? The answer is blunt.

"I know nothing about the Internet; in fact I know very little about computers, full stop. I gather that there's a whole lot of information about us, a lot of chit-chat on the Internet about us.

"Dave, the guitarist in the band, sent me through a great big thick wodge of computer paper, saying: 'This is what people are saying about us on the Internet'. It's a shock, really, listening in on people's computer conversations; they're not always complimentary. They talk about a certain track - 'It's really shit, you shouldn't have done that'.

"It's there for public consumption, and it's quite intriguing, but sometimes it just pays not to listen in."

Basses In XTC

Still got the basses - the Wal and the Epiphone Newport?

"You've been doing your research! I've still got the Wal and the Epi ("It goes 'poun'", is Partridge's sonic description) but I don't use them now, because I've acquired a new bass - well, an old bass actually.

About three or four years ago I did a session for T-Bone Burnett, the American producer; it was a project for his wife, Sam Phillips. I got the job because they lived next door to the actor River Phoenix - or did until he died - and he was a big XTC fan who recommended me... 'If you're looking for a bass player for Sam's record, give Colin a ring'. And so I went to America for the session, taking my Wal bass, but he wasn't all that enamoured of it, and wanted a more old fashioned sound.

"He went to a local music shop and brought back all these old basses. We tried them all, but it was the last one that sounded great, that very old-fashioned, sort of McCartney-esque sound, and it was this old Vox, an Apollo from about '69 - hence the name 'Apollo', from the moon landings.

"It sounded great, and after the session he said: 'If you like it that much, I'll buy it for you'. I've been using it ever since, and I've strayed away from that active circuit 'bourrpp' sound which the Wal is famous for, and gone for the more stringy, natural sound. More old-fashioned, I suppose. I haven't used it on an XTC album yet, but when we do this album shortly, I'm looking forward to using it. But I've still got the Wal, though it's gathering dust at the moment."

You dabbled with fretless for a while, too...

"Yes, though I didn't get on with that at all. It was round the time of the English Settlement album; the guys were saying that the direction we were going, we should get acoustic guitars, electric folk style. I thought: 'Hmm, where do I fit in all this?' and decided to check out a fretless, a Fender Precision, to see how that fitted in.

"I played it on one album and didn't really get on with it, to tell the truth; I was worrying more about where I was putting my fingers than feeling the playing and that was too stifling."

Demos

"My song demos are very, very basic; I don't like doing intricate demos because I think it closes people in," Colin explains, to finish our chat on a practical note. "An acoustic guitar, some sort of drums and percussion, and obviously the voice, and if it's needed, perhaps, just the outline of some bass - that's it.

"Record companies want polished performance demos so they can make a choice of single. It makes you think, 'Haven't they got the talent to spot a good tune in its naked form?' Ideally you'll want other people to play on the tune who might take it in a direction you hadn't thought of. If you want to play everything on 'finished' songs, then you may as well be a solo artist."

All original work is acknowledged as being the copyright of the originator.