CPI Archive 2008: Andrew Hamilton spoke to Dave Rotheray of The Beautiful South about his new project, Homespun.
IF 20 odd years in the music business has taught Dave Rotheray anything, it’s the importance of control. Since the summer of 1989, when Paul Heaton asked him to join the fledgling Beautiful South, Dave has been one part of a big team, a musical company-man. It’s the natural order of things. Bands by definition are often more about compromise and conciliation than full creative freedom. And in bands, more often than not, you’re going to lose more battles than you win — doubly so when you’re the chief songwriter in a a band with two chief songwriters. Now, as a resurgent Rotheray prepares to launch his third album under the Homespun moniker, he holds all the cards. Despite the presence of heavyweight musicians such as Tony Robinson (Super Furry Animals), Claire Mactaggart (Portishead) and Gary Hammond (the Nina Simone band), things are finally getting done Dave’s way. “It starts with me on my own. I have a mate called Alan, who lives down the street from me, and when I’ve written something new, I play it for him on tape or whatever. That tends to be the song. I get all the others up for a weekend and they get all their bits down, including the singing of course,” he says.
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