Page 78 - ION Indie Magazine SeptOct 2019 Issue

APD: That's why I like to read around it to find out what it was all about…what were they feeling.
Dylan, for example, has always been a bit mysterious about it. A particular example I can think of is
one of my favourites, ‘Visions Of Johanna.’ He's never really revealed what it's about, but if you look
on the internet, there are so many theories of exactly what it's about; what he's feeling. But then,
why would you reveal what it's about when people are still talking about it over fifty years later, trying
to decipher it?

MW: I think people give their own interpretations to songs, but a great song will always stand
the test of time. You know what they say, diamonds are forever and all that.

APD: Well, that's it. I think that's what art is, isn't it? Your own interpretation of it. I've definitely found
that people -- now that I'm playing with a more stripped back set-up -- can hear the lyrics better, but
I've always concentrated on them. Some of the regulars that come to gigs say, ‘We can hear what
you're singing now,’ which is good. But it's not that I concentrate more on the lyrics these days, it's
just that the music that accompanies them is different and so it makes them more accessible. Funnily
enough, I always write the music first. I know some people will do it the other way, but where I got
that from was because I was into grunge back in the day. I was a massive Kurt Cobain fan and I
remember an interview from him when I was younger and he said that he always wrote the music
first rather than the lyrics. So, that stuck with me and I never really questioned it.

MW: Who would you say were your main influences from the twenties and thirties era?

APD: I'm a humongous Robert Johnson fan. My favourite bluesmen are all from the Mississippi area.
Also, Blind Willie Johnson and RL Burnside – although he was around a bit later, he's in that kind of
style with the hill country blues. It's all acoustic based and very raw, with slide guitar and harmonica
and songs about your soul. They're the songs I love. There is that whole electric side, you know, the
Chicago blues style which influenced the British blues of the sixties, which I like, but my influences
are from the Mississippi/Delta area. Yep, the songs on this album are massively influenced by
twenties and thirties Mississippi Blues, which I know is not going to be commercially popular but I
didn't want to discard those songs. I wanted to use them and that's when Andy came in…and I'm
glad we got a chance to record them properly.

MW: So, hang on…you're going for that rootsy blues sound, but you've put a double bass
and drums on it?

APD: I've always loved the double bass. It sounds amazing and it looks great and it suited the sound
more than just electrifying it.

MW: I usually associate that sort of music with being solo acoustic, with maybe some added
harp.

APD: I think the double bass gives the sound a bit more depth and the drums fills it out, too. Ewan
doesn't pound the drums, he strokes them, so it's a more subtle sound. I think it all works together
really well.

MW: Cheers, Andy! Thanks for your time!

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