Waiting for Neil

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Keith asked me if I'd conduct another interview for The Song Sommelier's 'The Art Of Longevity' podcast, this time with Neil Arthur from Blancmange.

Last year I did an interview with Gary Numan, which turned out well, despite my reservations about meeting a musical hero of mine, and I wasn't immediately sure that I wanted to take that risk again, and yet, and yet...

I've always loved Blancmange's first album and many of their subsequent singles from the eighties, but I've particularly enjoyed Neil Arthur's prolific output over the last eight years: sixteen albums! So I said yes.

It was only last night that I realised I'd not seen anything from Keith to set up the actual Zoom meeting, so I set one up and sent the link to Zoe from the PR company. But I didn't hear anything back. 

So there I was at ten o'clock, this morning, sat alone, looking at myself on my laptop. I (apologetically) chased things up with Zoe, who did the same with Neil, and in the end the interview went ahead.

Well, he was a lovely, lovely man. He apologised for forgetting the interview, even though I was the one at fault, and we proceeded from there. We talked about his writing process, his large and still rapidly growing body of work, collaborations, touring, playing live with his son, and lots more. He was completely charming and wonderful to talk to.

Perhaps the hardest thing for an inexperienced interviewer like me is ensuring that there is some narrative to the conversation. I worked out OK with Gary, and I think it did this time, too. Let's see how it sounds when it's published!