Interviews

Stephen Fretwell

Bill Cummings 24/01/2008

Off the back of his recent critically acclaimed second album "Man On The Roof" I rudely interrupted self effacing Scunthorpe song writer Stephen Fretwell's afternoon drinking for a chat about his music, Elbow, his songwriting, Tom Waits, Manchester and his previous job in a pig abattoir…

How are things at the moment?

Everything's good man, stood in the sun its sunny in Manchester today, stood outside my local pub…

Getting ready for your next tour?

Yeah, I was just going to do two dates in Manchester in the night and day and my manager said you may as well play two dates in London too.

What kind of venues do you prefer more intimate or lager venues?

I prefer more intimate when I'm playing on my own, with my last album we ended up playing quite big gigs and that was a lot of fun as well. It's a skill to put across stuff in a big venue; I haven't done that for so long man. It would be quite worrying to play a big place, especially if you're supporting people - you're like a TV that's just on, coz no one's there to see you.

You had this Christmas download out with Elbow in December, was that a spur of the moment thing?

Yeah, I live on the next street to Pete, he lived in my old flat. I said “I've gotta do this bloody Christmas single so can I come to the studio with you?” thinking “I can't do a Christmas single, what am I going to sing, Little Donkey or something?" I just got them to sing Oh Christmas Tree. I went to the shop and got a bottle of whiskey and some mince pies and we just had a Christmas laugh, I thought the “label are never gonna issue this” and I sent it them and they did.

Elbow have an album coming out soon…

Yeah they've got an album coming out in March it's looking good… In fact I probably know more about what they're doing than what I am…

You recorded the new album in New York, was that city a big influence on the album?

I went over there to live really, and then I started to write the songs quite naturally, I didn't rush it you know. I think I annoyed a few people by not having an album ready or for not rushing one. The place definitely influenced the songs, just being away from home or what I'd known as home for a long time, so I guess its more Englishy than if I was here.

You worked with the producer Eli Jenny(Garbage, Ryan Adams) on this one what did he bring to it?

He brought a lot of get up and go; he kicked my ass he was like "you've gotta fucking get on with this," at the time it was the last thing I was interested in doing, I just thought maybe I should get a job or do something else…

So a bit of writers block then….

I don't know what that is; I was just incapable of writing anything decent. I could say to him "I wanna fuck this bit up here or this bit to sound a bit mucky" whereas some producers buckle to some kind of pressure of thinking that everything has to sound very mainstream or something, so I'm pleased I went with him now…

Was it quite a quick recording process in the end?

Four or five months I wrote it, only took two and half weeks to record. I handed it in at the end of 2006. They seem to take a bit of time don't they…



So it's a bit of an autumn record in a way. It's very different to your first album "Magpie"…

With the first one I wanted it to sound very much like four people in a room playing songs you know the Tom Waits album Closing Time? I just wanted to make that classic sound, with this one I was more excited about bein' able to fuck around with different things. I thought I'd get a lot of flak critically but it seems to have been very well received, I'm kind of pleased with that…

I guess sometimes when your first album is successful there's a pressure from the critics and fans to follow it up with something similar…

The new (unrecorded) one sounds even weirder so I'll probably get some stick about that, yeah. I've pretty much finished writing it, I've just got to book the studio and record it. It sounds pretty weird, I always like it when it sounds weird.

So with "Magpie" how far did those songs date back?

About two years really, they say you get your life to write your first one and the second one can be difficult, but the second one, I wrote in about four months in the end.



In terms of the lyrics would you say they were more personal or character narratives?

I'd say they were more character narratives. I usually just try and bodge the words together as quickly as I can to make them rhyme, but I don't really know what they mean, its only when I look back I think “shit you were probably writing about that…”

Almost like subconscious song writing...

Yeah I never just sit down to think "I've got to bare my soul"…

It often sounds a bit clichéd when people try to do that anyway…

Yeah I think so…

The song “The Ground Beneath Your Feet” is that a love song?

It's a song about romance and disaster.

I guess they're closely linked.

Yeah, really closely…

What other songwriters do you listen to?

I got into a lot more into Tom Waits than I was before, Billy Joel, a little bit of Springsteen, Arcade Fire...

Why did you choose "Now" as the next single?

Well the label pick it really, I don't know what to do with singles, I just hand the album into them and they then say "right we're gonna do this, are you alright with it?" I say yes and I end up doing interviews and stuff…I guess I'm still getting used to how the music business works, It's the last thing I'd ever expect myself to be doing, music…

What were you doing before you were in the music scene?

I was working in a hotel, before that I was working in a chicken factory and a pig abattoir while I tried to write songs …

You did an Xfm show recently how was that?

Yeah I did the winter wonderland, it was one of them just pop down and play three songs and leave in a cab…

You played between a lot of hotly tipped acts like the Courteeners and the Ting Tings, you stick out a bit in that line up…

I've know the Courteeners for ages, the Ting Tings are pretty cool, it was a bit of a tough crowd, I went on just after The Courteeners with just my guitar so it was a funny one, but it's Manchester so you can get away with it

So would you say there's a good music scene in Manchester at the moment?

It's always good, everyone knows everyone else and they're all quite different, I guess in some other places everyone's quite competitive, but there's a nice scene here.

So when are you looking to get the next (unrecorded) album out then?

It just depends when the label wanna put another one out. I'm not complaining it just depends when they wanna issue it…

The single 'Now', was released January 14th, available on 7" and download only, taken from the album "Man On The Roof."