Mick Donnelly has been passionate about music since he was a young boy. Brought up in Hartlepool, North East of England, his love affair with music started when he first picked up a recorder at the tender age of nine. By the time he was at secondary school he had progressed to the saxophone and has been addicted ever since. 

Apart from his love of music, Mick was also a keen sportsman and played semi-professional football, was a county Rugby player and a black-belt in Judo. If all that wasn't enough to pass the time away, after leaving school at 16 he began an apprenticeship to become a plumber but he continued playing in bands to earn some extra money whenever the opportunity arose. 

His life changed forever soon after being offered his first professional contract as a musician playing saxophone on a Caribbean cruise liner. After that, has never looked back. His talents led him to perform around the world with the likes of Swing Out Sister, Sting, Madness, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Sammy Davis Junior and Stevie Wonder to name but a few. He has also featured on a number of television programmes including Top of the Pops, The Tube and played at the Royal Variety Performance.

I caught up with Mick during a rare and quiet moment at the start of Lisa Stansfield's European tour before the band headed off for their soundcheck. He graciously offers to conduct our chat on the bands luxurious tour bus and I happily obliged, it would have been rude not to of course. So we made our way upstairs into one of the bands cosy living room spaces, decked out with all the latest gadgets, a wide screen TV, plenty of DVD's to watch on their travels, and surrounded with the finest leather seating area that I've ever sat myself down on,  in particular on a double-decker bus!

Bev: Good to see you again Mick and welcome back to Switzerland. How are you feeling after your overnight travels from London?
Mick: Yes…! It’s been good, I’m quite refreshed now. It's been quite hard as I left my hometown on Monday morning at 6am, so this is the first time I’ve had a really good sleep. 

Bev: It must be really crazy, preparing yourself and packing up to go on tour for a month.
Mick: Well it’s weird, coz we’ve done it so many times. I can pack in ten minutes, I know exactly what I need and you know if I forget anything, I just pick it up on the road.

Bev: What about all your tour needs such as instruments and tour clothes etc?
Mick: Well, that’s one thing that I do well before. I prep well in advance, I make sure that my music is there, all my gadgets are there, all the things I’m gonna need while I’m away and my instruments are all cleaned and repaired. Clothes-wise, I don’t really care. Whatever I forget I just pick up on the road. I just spend most of my time in my PJ’s anyway!

Mick chatting to me on the bands tour bus

Bev: You've been an established musician for many years now, when did it all begin for you?
Mick: Well I started off on the recorder when I was nine at primary school.
Bev: Did you start off with learning “London’s Burning”?
Mick: Hahaha... No I didn’t, I started off very classical with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. Luckily my recorder teacher was the woodwind teacher, then at my secondary school my teacher was an ex professional. So both myself and Johnny (Thirkell) were lucky enough to be mentored and taught by ex-professionals 

Bev: So both you and Johnny went to the same school together?
Mick: Yeah, we were school buddies. We’ve been in each-others pockets close on 40 years now. So our friendship goes back a long way and we used to live three miles away from each other.

Bev: So which part of the UK are you originally from?
Mick: I’m from Hartlepool, which is the north east of England and Johnny is from Horden (village in County Durham) which is an old colliery just outside Hartlepool.

Bev: So did you ever go into mining? 
Mick: No not me, but Johnny was in mining yeah and I was a plumber as my dad wouldn’t let me become a professional musician.

Bev: What other  instruments did you learn how to play?
Mick: They gave me a clarinet first and I couldn’t get a note out of that. I couldn’t get a note out of the flute either so then I picked up the saxophone then as soon as I got a squeak out of it, they said, "That’s it, you’re gonna be a saxophone player, no choice." At the time there were free lessons at school and we were lucky enough back then to have those professional teachers. They not just taught us the instruments, they taught us what the business would be like. So we had a really good musical upbringing.

Bev: Did you ever think at the time that one day you were going to make a career as a musician?
Mick: Well believe it or not, I was a bit of a sportsperson when I was younger! I was going to be a footballer to play for my local club. I had trials for five football teams and Manchester United being one of them. I didn’t make the grade. I was also a county rugby player, I was also a county Judo expert and a black-belt. But unfortunately I got kicked in the lip when I was fifteen years old and it split in half, so I couldn’t play the saxophone for six months, and that’s when I decided I couldn’t be without it! 

Bev: What happened next?
Mick: Being without it made me realise that’s what I wanted to do, I was addicted and had the bug. So that’s when I packed in all the sport. I just said, “that's it” to sport and “I’m gonna become a professional musician”. So I came back 6 months later, tried to get into university, couldn’t get in because at the time when I was a teenager, it was a privilege thing and my parents were very working class and didn’t have the money to put me into university, so I ended up becoming a plumber and got a phone call three years into my apprenticeship, I must have been 19, to go on my first ever professional job. And that was to go on a cruise-liner as a musician, as a saxophone player.

Bev: So you were continuously playing in bands at the time?
Mick: Yeah again, me and Johnny were playing in this working mans club called, The Ayresome Quoit club in Middlesborough, which is maybe the worst place in the world. Even the seagulls fly upside down, you know the rest to that one! 
Bev:  You mean there was nothing below worth crapping on?
Mick: Middlesborough, it’s not great,  but this working mans club had a seven piece dance band and our mentor used to play in that band and he would take us along to sit in with ex-professionals and get a feel of it. I was earning money from when I was 16 and we were doing it four nights a week. Then Johnny went off to university and then I got this call that was about to change my life to go and work on a cruise-liner. We then went our separate ways and that’s when I became a professional musician.

Bev: What happened after you served your time, so to speak on the cruise-liner?
Mick: When I came back to Hartlepool, I decided this is what I really wanted to do. I’ve got the bug, I was gonna become a professional musician. So I ended up working in a holiday camp for a whole season. Then it was London! You get that London bug and in any big city, that’s where it’s all happening. I went off to London when I was about 19 or 20 something like that and I found a band called Hollywood UK, a soul band but unfortunately they broke-up because the lead singer with the band joined another band called Heatwave. They were a famous band at the time and I was left on my own. So I stayed around London and tried to get my break. I went to every audition under the sun and eventually, I found my break with a guy called John Watts in his “Fisher-Z “ band. They were big over in mainland Europe actually with a song out called Berlin, which was a massive hit. So that was my first rock band as such and I kept on doing that for a while. Then I joined "Ian Dury and the Blockheads", we’re talking about 1981-82 then after that, for the next five years I got signed by CBS with a band called "Spear Of Destiny" and things just escalated from there and I moved on.

Mick (back, top left) in Spear of Destiny

Mick & 80's Dave comparing heights

Here's Mick proving to Lisa and the rest of the band that he's not the shortest, at least without heels anyway!

Bev: What about your musical influences growing up?
Mick: I was brought up on Jazz and big bands. So it was really really weird for me to diverse into the rock thing. I dunno though, I just liked the lifestyle that the rock-bands had. I loved the togetherness of the big band, you know twenty musicians making a sound together. But I like soloing, just being more of an individual and I liked being on my own, so the rock-bands gave me that.

Bev: Having diversified musically, has your musical influences changed too?
Mick: It’s gone back, "Big Bands" yeah. I now have my own twenty piece big band in Hartlepool called "Musicians Unlimited". I love teaching, I love giving back what I was given. I love doing that. So I do an awful lot of teaching. So now I have my own big band I just do what I want to do. I’m in a very privileged place to be, where I can pick and choose where I want to be.

Bev: What about if you were not a musician, would you go back to becoming a plumber?
Mick: No no, this is it…! I haven’t had any other job since I was nineteen.
Bev: What if you get a burst pipe or a water leak at home?
Mick: No, I buy it in. I buy a plumber and he will come and fix it for me. This is all I know, I don’t know anything else.

Bev: After "Spear Of Destiny" what other groups did you play with?
Mick: After them, I joined The Armoury Show who were signed to a record label. I was with Richard Jobson and The Skids, so I sort of kept in that punk era.
Bev: I remember Richard, wasn’t he also a journalist and TV presenter?
Mick: Yeah he was a journalist and became a model actually. He used to work for MTV a lot. Anyway, after he left the Armoury Show I joined them and it was all about being signed and I realised that I didn’t want to be signed anymore. I wanted to go and work for some other bands and people and did session work.

Bev: You must have had some very interesting hairstyles back in the day.
Mick: I did! I had some very interesting haircuts indeed. In fact I think my hair has been every colour under the sun. I looked like a skunk at one point, white on the top, black down the side, ponytail down my backside.I don’t even know what colour it is now!
Bev: And you obviously had the clothes to match, right?
Mick: Yep, yeah…I was a proper punk! I was best mates with all of the Sex Pistols and all of that crowd.
Bev: When you were in London, did you used to troop off down to the Kings Road and hang around Worlds End in Chelsea?
Mick: All the time. I used to live in Chelsea, hanging outside Worlds End. In fact Spear Of Destiny's, Kirk Brandon was best mates with Boy George and my first ever meeting with Kirk Brandon, was when I went to a sort of audition and they said, “right you’re in”. Then I went for a meal down the Kings Road with Kirk, their management and Boy George. See ,I didn’t know who Boy George was back then.

Bev: How did you manage to break-away from being in the bands and being signed to a record label?
Mick: It was mainly a thing called “The Session Connection” I think, they decided to take one of every instrument and they just happened to choose me as the sax player. They just use to fly me out anywhere to play.

It's always fun when Mick and John get together Photo: Bev Nathan / Italy 2013

Bev: So the leading question, how did you get the initial opportunity to work with Lisa?
Mick: Well myself and Johnny have worked with so many people together over the years, Swing Out sister, The Three Degrees and we used to do the Belgium Grammy awards together and there was Barry White, Kool And The Gang.

Bev: Wow, you’ve really worked with some incredible artists.
Mick: Oh, we’ve been very privileged to do so as well...! Johnny and I, we've been on tour together, we've known each-other and being in this confined space. You know only 50% of it is your play, and the other 50% is,  "just make sure you get on". So with Lisa, it was just initially six gigs in London, club gigs, which was right at the beginning that you probably know as you came to some of those gigs. So Johnny said to me “ Listen Mick, Lisa wants to give it a go, do you fancy doing it for a while?” I said,“Yeah, yeah!” and here we are again two years later and an album down the road and a major European tour, it's been great and we’ve kept it going with the same band.

Bev: How do you deal with the pressures of being away from home and from your loved ones? Are you used to it after all these years?
Mick: It’s much easier now, coz we’ve got Skype, text, internet. That’s a “have to have”. You know we’re not youngsters anymore, when your dragged away on tour, we’re gonna have family back at home, we’re gonna have responsibilities, so wifi it’s almost a “have-to-have” at some point. There’s got to be some way that we need to get in touch and you never know whats gonna happen.

Bev: Tell us a little bit about your family? 
Mick: I’m not married anymore,  although I have a girlfriend of five years and I've two boys. One who is actually a professional trumpet player and he’s on the ships at the moment as he just left university. So he’s doing almost everything that I did, except for the university  bit.
Bev: Who taught your son how to play the trumpet?
Mick: Some guy at school. His influence was pretty much "John Thirkell" and the funny thing is that he didn’t even know that I knew John, until one day I introduced him, "meet my mate John!"

Mick with Lisa and Ian outside the first ever CO-OP store (Rochdale) after a session at Gracieland studios just before an important drinking session at the pub next door!

Bev: Do you manage to find time to break away from the rest of the band and have your time when you’re on tour? If so what do you tend to do on your time off?
Mick: Well there are times where we all need a break, Lisa needs a break, her voice needs a break. You couldn’t do twenty-eight dates flat-out, no one can physically do that, although we probably can do that instrumentally. But she can’t do that with her voice and Andrea can’t either. So they have to take breaks. When Lisa has a break we have a day off, we get a hotel. Usually you find that we don’t see each other. We hole up in the hotel or we go out in pairs, or we’ll go and have a lunch or a few drinks. Usually we try to find a hotel that has somewhere where we can relax, a spa, swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym. I think we can keep fit that way. But to tell you the truth, this is the best way to keep fit anyway, it's when you’re on stage. The amount of perspiration that seeps out your body, with the light, its unbelievable. It’s so hot on stage and you know you’re we're on the move all the time and you know about mine and Johnny’s dancing….so we’re fit as a lop!

Bev: Tell us about the recording sessions that you did for the Lisa’s album?
Mick: It was brilliant! We did our bit, which was five tracks recorded in just two days.

Bev: I understand that you did some of the horn arrangements on with Johnny, such as "So Be It" which by the way, is my favourite track on the album.
Mick: Oh, that’s my favourite track as well. It is a superb song and it was from the very first time I heard it. And you know we never heard that song until we went into the studio. The song was written, the vocals were down and it just needed some brass to smooth it out even more. It was initially a much more aggressive song, not on the vocal side of it though.Then the flute and flugelhorn, baritone sax, tenor and trumpet, being that there is five or six layers of instruments on there, it sort of smoothed it all out and it just worked. And you know what, the whole album is just superb. 

Bev: What was the atmosphere like in the studio? Did Lisa come in joke around and and blow kisses at you from behind the mixing deck?
Mick: Yeah, you know it was fantastic because the tracks were already done, Ian came in, he kind of put his ideas over, said “do you like that?” We’d go in, then do a track, he’d go “thank you very much” and then he'd disappear and just leave it to me and Johnny.

Bev: They both sound so easy to work with.
Mick: Yeah you know, when they find musicians they trust, they do trust them implicitly. That’s it, they just go “I’m happy with whatever you wanna do”.

Bev: Having personally seen every tour of Lisa's since 1990, there have been a number of  changes with musicians along the way. However it seems to me, that this band have gelled really well together. Do you think that makes Lisa's job easier?
Mick: By a mile! Lisa knows everything… if she knows everything is to how she wants it, she’s just gonna walk into the band room, she doesn’t get anxious, she goes on and does a great show! She comes off stage and she’ll travel on the coach with us no problem, chat with us and have a glass of wine with us and everyones happy!

Bev: Would you say that she’s one of the most down to earth people you’ve worked with?
Mick: Oh yeah, totally! Absolutely…you know there’s some lovely people out there, but there’s an awful lot of people who you just couldn’t get that close to.

Bev: Do you feel like it’s become like a big family for you?
Mick: By a mile! When we finish the tour, I miss everyone but I always miss Johnny anyway. Yeah, every time we see each-other, it is like, “here we go again”

Bev: When you’ve not seen each-other for a while and then when you do get back together again, does it feel like getting back on a bike that you've not ridden for a while?
Mick: Yeah, as if we’ve never been away. It’s been funny recently as there’s been quite a bit of promo, but Lisa’s used different sort of combinations of instruments and musicians. Like Dave’s been away with Lisa doing promo' in Germany.Terry was brought in, walks straight in to do this TV show and they tell us we’re going to do a TV blog. Then myself and Terry who had never played the number together before with Lisa sat right between us. Terry has just fitted right in with us, he’s great! Everyone gets on…!

Bev: As far as this band is concerned, you've got your partner in crime, Johnny. However, do the others guys mix it up too, or do they tend to keep themselves to themselves?
Mick: You know what, the Italian mob the Davide's, they’re funny as, and you would also think that Andrea being the only girl in the band, that there might be some of that. But no, she's straight in there as everyone else is, everyone gets on great!

Bev: What do you have in store for the fans, can you give me a clue whats on the set-list?
Mick: It’s a longer set, not because it’s longer in time, but there’s more songs we’re talking about 20 or 21 songs. We’ve actually just put the set list together.We’ve got nearly all of the new album on there, I don’t think we’ve ditched anything, maybe one or two, and we’ve brought back in some of the really old ones as well, so its gonna be good. We’ve also really condensed it, we’ve made it a lot more segued, a lot more slicker.

Bev:  Some new dance moves...?
Mick: Oh Bev... our feet will be a blur…!

Mick Donnelly was interviewed by - © Bev Nathan for www.lisastansfield.net on the European Tour of Seven - 
Photos and video clip courtesy of Mick Donnelly and John Thirkell

Interview with  nativemonster.com By Elizabeth Joyce

When I was younger, I was always aware that people were looking at me,” says Lisa Stansfield in her amazing can’t-take-Rochdale-out-of-the-girl accent. 

“I used to worry what people thought of me.”

A pause. And then a glorious northern cackle.

“But these days I couldn’t give a s**t!”

This theme of self-acceptance runs through her latest hit album, Seven as a glistening defiant thread. Songs such as So Be It and Carry On are all about strength and belief – clearly something that’s important to the 48-year-old soul singer.

“Everyone has the right to that,” she continues. “As long as you’re not hurting anyone, you should be yourself. You should have room to do what you really want to do and feel the way you do.”

See also: My perfect weekend: Lisa Stansfield 

But does she think that today’s fame-obsessed popstrels, the likes of Rihanna and Miley, are truly being themselves? Or are they just lost in a sea of selfies and social media? After all, Lisa herself has always had a very healthy, almost take-it-or-leave-it approach to the limelight.

“Well, there has always been different types of artists – X Factor types, very manufactured types, very poppy artists – and some you admire and some you don’t. But they’re all doing different things for different types of people.

“Artists like Rihanna or Beyoncé –  who, by the way, I think is incredible – are just enjoying themselves and I think as long as they’re not hurting anyone, then that’s fine. And I’m on social media myself, I like to keep an eye on things; see what my fans are thinking, what they like and what they don’t. It’s amazing to look at your demographic closer.”

And it was looking at this demographic, and the other artists out there who catered to it, that inspired Lisa to make Seven – a full decade after the release of her last album.

“I waited for the right time for getting in there and getting into it. Music changes all the time but trends always come round again and I looked out at the other artists out there – the likes of Amy Winehouse, Emeli Sandé and Adele – and thought ‘these are my sort of artists, there is room for me out there’. 

And the reaction I’ve received since has been amazing, incredible.” Famed for telling stories through song, Ivor Novello-winning Lisa has stayed true to her talents for this record.

“A lot of the album is about the trap that a woman has got herself into – an unrequited, doomed or mismatched love – and how to get herself out of it if she can,” she explains.

“I think we all suffer the same pain, all feel the same happiness and we all have the same emotions within us. My life isn’t very racy or exciting so I make things up, tell stories. I like telling stories.”

And she’ll be bringing those stories to life when she hits the road for a UK tour later this year, performing at Birmingham Symphony Hall on September 5.

“It will be all about the songs, all about the music. It’s no big extravaganza, no dancers bursting out and doing routines. People just want to hear me sing and I don’t want them to feel cheated or short-changed so that’s what they’ll get.”

The gigs will be a mixture of old and new songs, including the hits All Woman, The Real Thing and, of course, the monster that is All Around the World.

“I see these songs as really old friends: sometimes you get on with them and sometimes you don’t. But if it wasn’t for these songs, I wouldn’t be here doing what I’m doing so I’m always appreciative – they’ve helped me on the way, they’ve moulded me.”

Lisa, whose career started after winning the Manchester Evening News’ Search for a Star contest and then forming Blue Zone with school pal and now hubby, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, will be hitting the road for 10 dates up and down the country with her trusty band.

“After all these years on the road together you just learn when not to speak to someone on the bus and when you can have a laugh with them,” she chuckles. “You learn who’s grumpy in the mornings and who’s moody at night. And I’m including me in that – trust me, I can be grumpy.”

In between albums, it’s been acting that’s kept Lisa satisfied, with roles in The Edge Of Love, Miss Marple and Goldplated.

As well as a high-profile stage debut in the West End production of The Vagina Monologues with Anita Dobson and Cecilia Noble, she was also offered the role of Corrie’s Rovers Return landlady Stella Price in 2010, which was eventually taken on by Michelle Collins.

She turned it down because it was a three-year commitment, saying at the time: “You get into a role and people see you as that character, so they’d be confused because they know me as Lisa Stansfield. It would freak them out if I was pulling pints at the Rovers.”

Music, she tells Native Monster, will always come first.

“You get acting offers all the time and, if the quality is there, you’ve got to go for it. But music will always be the priority. If there was an acting job that came up but clashed with a tour, there is no way I would do it.”

That said, Lisa is part of a major film due to be released later this year: Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul, starring Steve Coogan and Ricky Tomlinson.

“I’ve known Elaine for ages – she grew up in the next town to me,” she says. “It was sort of a given that I’d be in the film, although only when I saw the script did I discover I was to be the naggy old mum! It’s a new role for me because I don’t have kids, but I enjoyed bossing my screen son, Elliott around. And I get to shout at my dad, Ricky Tomlinson, which was fun. He was hilarious, he never stopped telling jokes and we found out at the end of one of the days it was his birthday and he hadn’t told anyone – we got him a cake though.

“It’s such a great film, I’m only in three or four scenes but I feel really lucky to be a part of it. The film looks incredible but I knew it would. Elaine has wanted to make a film about Northern Soul since she was 14. She says she doesn’t know what she’ll do with her life when it’s finished, but when the film wins lots of awards, she’ll make another one. Well, I hope she does because she’s a great director. Her attention to detail is stunning and the emotion she captures is amazing.”

And for Lisa? What next for her?

“Simple really,” she smiles. “More touring, more acting and, hopefully, a new album out in the spring. It’s all go.”

Andrea Grant knew from a young age that she always wanted to be a singer. She attending the UK's BRIT School, now famous for the likes of Jessie J. and Adele. Then in her late teens and into her early 20's, Andrea secured two UK major label record deals as well as spending several years recording radio jingles. Her experience led her to session work for amazing artists such as the late James Brown, Patti Labelle, Queen, Roger Daltrey, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys, Will Young, Cliff Richard, Joss Stone, Charlotte Church, Shirley Bassey, Paloma Faith, Gloria Gaynor to name but a few. Additionally, she was a backing singer for Tony Hadley (of Spandau Ballet) for  many years and toured the world with none other than Robbie Williams. Furthermore, Andrea is one of the UK's finest backing singers and  has been a member of The Strictly Come Dancing Band on UK's popular BBC TV show, "Strictly Come Dancing" for several years.

Andrea in The Strictly come Dancing Band

I first heard Andrea's unique vocal talents at Lisa's XOYO London gig back in the Autumn of 2012 and I had one of those "wow! moments on hearing her belt out the opening intro' line to "Can't Dance".  Her vocal performance simply blew me away and throughout the concert I was like, "who's that voice?"

Eventually, after 18 months of seeing Andrea on tour with Lisa, I was about to find out a little bit more of what life was really like for her as a backing singer and touring in general. I managed to catch up with Andrea whilst the band were in Zurich, in between their sound-check and I started off by asking her how long she had been singing for?

Andrea: Oh, pretty much all my life, probably since I was about 4 or 5. At first, I wanted to be a dancer but then I realised that was too much hard work. So I decided that singing was a lot easier.

Bev: Were you from a musical family?
Andrea: No, not at all…! But my mum listened to a lot of  music when I was growing up, different styles. We used to listen to Bob Marley and she loved Gladys Knight And The Pips,Tina Turner and that sort of stuff . And on Saturdays we would sing and dance around the living room.

Bev: When you were a kid, did you ever used stand in-front of your bedroom mirror singing into a hairbrush pretending it was a microphone? 

Andrea: Hahaha...yeah! When I was a bit older I used to do that all the time and I remembered my mum telling me to shut-up from downstairs.

With Lisa and the band at the 2013 Java Jazz Festival

Bev: How did you get to that point of turning singing from a hobby, into full-time career?

Andrea: Well when I turned 16 I left school , then I went to a performing arts college called 
“The Brit School”, which the likes of Adele, Jessie J and people like that have come out of. 

Bev: Was that around the same time when Amy Winehouse was there?

Andrea: No, I went when it was in its second intake, so it was very,very new then.

 Bev: So how did you get into Brit School and where did that lead you to next?

Andrea: I just did an interview and I got accepted. Back then it was a lot easier to get in to. Then I did a performing arts course there for two years. After I left, I got a record deal which was cool.

Bev: Which record company were you signed to?

Andrea: That first one was with BMG. It was a label within BMG called Deconstruction which was at the same time when Kylie Minogue and M People were signed to that label as well.

Bev: What year was that?

Andrea: Oh God, I'ld say around ’93, ’94, yeah something like that.

Bev: Which style of music were you recording back then?

Andrea: It was my own stuff. It was very sort of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston type of thing. Coz, Whitney and Mariah was what I grew up listening to and that was what I loved to sing. It was all very ballad heavy, that kinda vibe.

Bev: Did you ever have a chance to meet or see either Whitney or Mariah perform live?

Andrea: I never got to see Whitney in concert, but I always wanted to work with her. I know Johnny (Thirkell) has, so he’s told me lots of stories.

Bev: What happened from there with your recording career?

Andrea: Well that record deal didn't work out as the record company didn't really get behind me as an artist. They didn't really push my career or do their job and did not promote my single enough, so it didn't chart and eventually I left.

Bev: What about getting out of the contract?

Andrea: It was slightly difficult, but eventually they let me go.

Bev: Do you still have a desire to perhaps be out there, as an individual artist?

Andrea: Ohhhh NO, NOT AT  ALL... not at all..!

Bev: How did you get to the point of becoming a backing vocalist?

Andrea: Well after a year of doing a normal job, after getting out of that first deal, I then got a second deal, which was with Warner Brothers. Which again lasted a couple of years, and again didn’t work out, for the same reason as the first deal. Then I just kind of fell into the session singing world. A friend of mine was signed to Warners as well at the same time and he was just getting out of his deal and he joined a session agency. He rang me up one day and said “I’ve been doing some radio jingles for this company down in Essex and theyre looking for some new younger singers. I was about 25 or 26 at the time and he said “are you up for it?” And I was sort of “yeah alright, I’ll give it a go.” I thought I had nothing else to do and I was about to start looking for a “normal job” and so I went down there and did some sessions and they loved it. So I basically spent the first three years of my session career solely and only doing radio jingles for a living.

Bev: A cheeky question, was it well paid?
Andrea: Yeah, it kept me going. It definitely was decent enough to live on. Then just going through that route, I met other singers and that’s when he started putting me forward for tours with major artists. 

Bev: Who was your first gig for back then?

Andrea: My first gig as a backing singer which was obviously something that I had never done before, was for Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet). I did that for about eight years and that was a really good experience because it taught me a lot. Also I was the only girl in the band so it can be tough. But I was thrown in at the deep end and it was either sink or swim you know.

Bev: Back in the 80’s, Tony Hadley had a massive career with Spandau Ballet. 
Music-wise, was that really your cup-of-tea, or did you just see that as a great opportunity to be recognised? 

Andrea: Oh no, I quite liked his stuff. But because I was quite young when Spandau were out, when I had to start learning the songs, it was like, “OK, so they did that song and I remember that one, yeah OK!" So I remembered a lot more songs than I thought I knew, which was good. It was a great opportunity to start  as a backing vocalist.

Bev: Eight years performing backing vocals was a good gig. Where did you go from there?

Andrea: Well I was still doing radio jingles in between and I was still doing other studio sessions and I met a singer on a session one day called Tommy Blaize. He had just started doing “Strictly Come Dancing” at the time I think he had done two series and they were putting together a sister show called “Strictly Dance Fever” and they were looking for another singer. So Tommy contacted me and said “are you interested in auditioning for it?” and I said, "yeah OK, you know I’ve got nothing else to do at the moment, yep sure.” At the time I had been really ill for about six months, but I decided to go for the audition when I just sang acapella. I didn’t think I did very well, so I cried all the way home and I just thought to myself, "Oh just forget all about it, you haven’t got it. It’s fine, you’ll still do other things.” Then two weeks later, they rang me for a call back which I was really really surprised at. I think something like 100 girls had gone for this audition and I went for the call back as they couldn’t decide whether they wanted three singers or four, then in the end they went with four.

Bev: Who were the other singers?

Andrea:  At the time it was me, Tommy Blaize, Lance Ellington and a girl called Tara McDonald. So I continued with Strictly Dance Fever and from that they offered me Strictly Come Dancing. I did one series of that and then I was offered the Robbie Williams gig. I was still quite young at the time and I thought “well, I just prayed for a big-gig, with a big artist"  and I just used to say to myself “Just one big-gig and I’ll be happy!”

Bev: Your prayers obviously came true, because you probably couldn't have got much bigger than Robbie as far as UK artists were concerned.

Andrea: Yeah, at the time it was probably the number one tour in the world, so I had to decide. "Do I stick with Strictly, or do I do this world tour on such a big level?" It was stadiums and the biggest audience was 95,000 people and I just couldn't turn it down. So I left Strictly and I did Robbie’s world tour and which lasted nine months. It was such an amazing experience.

Bev: How did you get on with Robbie?

Andrea: I'm the kind of person who keeps myself to myself when it comes to artists. I like to give them their space because usually everybody wants to have a piece of them. And you know I'm courteous with like, “Hi, how you doing?” But I leave it as that. I don’t ever try to be their friend, you know, I work for them, so that’s just how I am.  He socialised a little bit, but not a lot because I think at that time he had a lot of demons and issues going on. But he was cool,  he was a nice guy.

Bev: So after the Robbie tour did you have some other gigs lined up?

Andrea: I went back and did some more gigs with Tony Hadley. I did various other sessions. I think I did bits with Lisa (Stansfield) a couple of corporate gigs in Moscow yeah that was good.

Bev: How did you initially get the call to work with Lisa?

Andrea: Well with Strictly, because I left, they replaced me with someone else at the time. But then decided they we're going to put on an arena tour of Strictly"and at the time the girl who had replaced me was pregnant and she couldn't do the tour. So how it worked out was that she did the TV and I did the tour. And whilst being on the first tour I met Steve Geere. He was the keyboard player on the Strictly tour and so he asked me if I wanted to do some gigs with Lisa and I was like, “yeah!"

Bev: Were you familiar with Lisa’s back-catalogue?

Andrea: Oh yeah, most definitely. More so than with Spandau Ballet! I knew a lot more of her songs.

Bev: How did you find meeting Lisa for the first time? What was your initial impression.

Andrea: She was just really cool and down-to-earth in rehearsal. She was really lovely.

Bev: Many people who get to meet or work with Lisa say that she’s just so easy-going.

Andrea: Yeah, she is! She really doesn't give a shit to be honest. She’s just really cool and she’s about togetherness. It’s never “Us" as a band”and her on her own. She likes us all to be together as much as we can be.

Lorraine (left) and Andrea (right) - Lisa's favourite backing singers

Andrea Grant

Bev: You've done quite a few gigs with Lisa now. Some dates in 2012, 2013 and then last year she mixed it up a bit between you and Elle (Lorraine Cato-Price).

Andrea: Yeah, well the deal with me and Elle is that we both went to school together and we are the best of friends and very close. In this game it’s really difficult to trust people to cover you on a gig  when you can’t do the gig yourself. But I'm really lucky that I have Elle.

Bev: I remember last  year at the last minute you were unable to make a couple of Lisa gigs abroad in Russia and Turkey due to some family reasons.

Andrea: Yeah, luckily Elle stepped in for me last minute and flew over to fill in for me.
Bev: Fantastic. But now it would appear that Lisa has found some further singing talent within the band with Johnny (Thirkell). 

Andrea: Yes! Amazing vocal talents of Mr Johnny Thirkell . He is now harmonising with us. You will be nicely surprised hahaha! Actually, I was surprised in rehearsals. I was like “where did that come from?” Hahaha, no but he’s great!

Bev: By now you must be quite used to touring with the rest of this band. Saying that, do you at times ever get that black-cloud hanging over you when you're missing being away from home?

Andrea: I have a love-hate thing with touring. There are times when you just want your own space and it can be difficult  being the only girl , because Lisa’s not always on the bus. But  in general I love it,  I love the whole thing about it. You know there’s Skype and internet nowadays so we can catch up with  loved ones and they come to whichever gigs they're able to can come to.

Bev: I've heard that Lisa is a genuine trooper with everyone. Does she ever come over to cheer you up, joke around and give out free hugs?
Andrea: Oh yeah all the time. Yeah, she’s great like that!

Andrea and Lisa during rehearsals

Lisa and Andrea sharing some free hugs

Bev: What is it like travelling on a tour bus with all these guys and who's generally the most untidiest?

Andrea: Oh, I’ld say Davide (Bass) hahaha!He sometimes has no self-awareness of other peoples space and he’ll just dump a suitcase over there or his clothing is placed here and there, and its like, we’re in a dressing room that’s a size of a shoebox and at times he just doesn't seem to realise it.

Bev: I imagine it could be quite difficult to keep yourself organised on tour. Do you or the others tend to lose or forget things when moving from place to place?

Andrea: Erm…I know that Johnny’s left his glasses behind a few times, but someone in the crew has ended up picking them up. I’m really careful with my stuff, because a lot of people when they get to a hotel, unpack. I don’t unpack. I just take out what I need, because I’m so scared of leaving something behind.

Bev: Concerning rehearsals, do you give your input with the band concerning the song choices?

Andrea: I tend to leave that to 80’s Dave, because he’s the MD (musical director) and that's his job. You know, if I'm asked my opinion I give my opinion but I don’t generally like to interfere.

Bev: When you’re on stage with Lisa, are there ever moments when you’re required to step in to take over her vocal parts?

Andrea: That doesn’t happen very often, but there are times when she might  give me a look or some kind of signal, like "you do the top and I’ll do the lower".

Bev: What is the best part for you, being in this band? 

Andrea: It’s just fun! Its down to earth, it’s laid back, there’s no diva’s. Usually in every band there’s someone who’s really irritating (giggles)  But in this band there isn't, which is really nice. I also love the fact there’s not an “Us" and "Them” thing. It’s not the band and then Lisa on her own. So it’s just like one big happy family!


Andrea Grant was interviewed by - © Bev Nathan for www.lisastansfield.net on the European Tour of Seven

Keyboardist Dave Oliver, is better known to his Mamas Gun band mates as "Dave Eighties" and to confuse you further is nicknamed by his Lisa Stansfield band mates as "80's Dave".   
Originally from Hertfordshire in the UK, his musical influences have embraced everything from barbershop singing to French horn and now includes jazz, soul and Cuban playing to add to his uniqueness.

Dave played his first live shows for Lisa Stansfield back in late autumn 2012 which included dates in London, Manchester, Zurich and Kitzbuhel. He continued to tour with Lisa throughout 2013, as well as spending time up in Rochdale last summer where he recorded several tracks on Lisa's most recent album "Seven"  at her Gracieland studio.

Over the past year or so, I was fortunate enough to meet Dave at a few gigs and on each occasion I found him to be extremely friendly, courteous and comes across as an easy going kind of guy. So seeing that we got on like a house-on-fire, I suggested we try to arrange an interview  and perhaps with the rest of the band as well. Eventually, after a little persuasion and organising, we all agree to meet up in Zurich, Switzerland which is about a 3 hour drive away from where I am now based. Furthermore, it just so happened to be the very first day of Lisa's European "Seven" tour,  which was a perfect excuse of meeting up again.

With Lorraine (bv's) myself & Dave at London's Indigo 02 in November 2013

I approached the tour-bus (which was easy to spot as it stood out  from the rest)  being pistachio green, double-decker with tinted black windows and the give-away clue was that it was parked-up directly outside the venue. I tapped on window and to my surprise the side-door automatically slides open. Down steps John Thirkell (Trumpet). We exchange pleasantries and he greets me with a typical Swiss, three cheek kiss.

Knowing that the band had travelled 16 hours overnight from London, I had the impression that they would all feel a little tired and a tad anxious before their first show. However, to my surprise they all seemed relatively cheerful and raring to go. 

As I made my way onto the bus to say my hello's to a few other members of the band, "80's Dave" made his way down the stairs from the upper deck tucking his head in as low as possible as not to knock it on what would seem relatively low ceiling for his extremely tall  frame. He greeted me with a big smile and a friendly hug. We stand there for a moment assessing where would be the best place to conduct our interview and settle for some fresh air and head off across the road towards  the sunny plaza opposite the venue.

80's Dave giving Mick a friendly cuddle and giving you an idea on who's the tallest in the band!

I start off  by asking Dave about the journey over to Switzerland and what it was like to be on the road again with Lisa and the rest of the band? 

Dave: Well we just arrived here (Zurich) on the bus about 8 o'clock this morning actually. Personally I find it difficult sleeping on a bus which is moving. So as soon as it got here, I was like, "Oh I can sleep now". So we literally parked up outside the venue and got access like around 10 o'clock, had breakfast and now just chilling.

Bev: So how many of you are travelling on the tour-bus?
Dave: There’s 10 of us in the band but Lisa and Ian don’t always travel with us, neither does Suzy (Lisa's tour assistant). So there will be 8 of us plus Walt, Mead and Cuzzy, so 11.
Bev: These are the guys who work behind the scenes right? It must be hard for everyone travelling around, with not much rest or time to yourself, then straight into work-mode?
Dave: They work incredibly hard, it’s just non-stop for them. But they’re all lovely guys, easy to get on with which is so important you know.

Bev: So on the tour-bus you’re all sharing a very small space…
Dave: Yes, so we have to get on!
Bev: It must be quite stifling, as it’s not just a few days, it's like a month on the road!
Dave: Yeahh, if we have this conversation after the tour and with the band we’ll see, it could be a whole new story. We've been on tour for a couple of weeks with this lot as well and it was fine. It’s like one big happy family.
Bev: Well I know it’s just the first night, but who’s the untidiest person on the bus?
Dave: Oh…hahahaha I dunno really! Again ask me that in three weeks…hahahaha 

Bev: Tell us how did you get started with Lisa’s band?
Dave: Well everyone knows Snowboy, who’s been playing with Lisa or about 25 years. Basically I play with Snowboy in his own Latin outfit he has in London and he basically recommended me back in 2012 for the MD spot and I agreed when I got the call, so yeah, the rest is history.

Bev: I understand you've got your own band "Mamas Gun" so how do you manage juggling playing in different bands?
Dave: Well, yeah, it’s all pretty busy and trying to balance everything. It is busy, especially as I've got children and a family as well. I mean with Lisa it’s not a full time thing being a MD and everything,  as there will be months when she’s not doing anything and then there will be times when we go on tour, like this one. There's a bit of preparation to do like rehearsals and get everyone together, sort out set-lists. So there’s a lot going on in my mind for about a month before the first rehearsal. I start thinking, “Ooh I better get myself together and sort out what we’re gonna play this time around.”

Bev: Switching back to Mamas Gun. You've had a couple of albums out, "Routes to Riches" in 2009 and in 2011, " The Life And Soul" . So I understand you'll also be releasing a new album soon, that must be exciting!
Dave: Yeah  it is! That’ll be coming out in September, fingers crossed.
Bev: Do you have an album title yet?
Dave: Yeah we've got a title called “Cheap Hotel”  hopefully we will stick to that title! (plug, plug)!!!

Bev: You  also recently played a gig a couple of weeks ago and previewed some new stuff at Under The Bridge in London. How did that go?
Dave:Yeah, Under The Bridge, yeah that was good. Great turnout for that. Played a whole lot of new tunes which was a bit scary. 
Bev: I heard it was a great gig. Did Lisa and Ian go?
Dave: Yeah it was a full house…. ! No, well I asked them to, but they’re so busy, so no they couldn't make it. But one day! But now there are two of us in the band (Terry) from Mamas Gun so it could be  good next time.

Bev: Talking of Terry, how did you draw him into the live set up with you and Lisa's band?
Dave: Well, we needed a guitarist and I thought, well there’s loads of guitarists I know, but Terry’s such a talented guitarist anyway and he’s so easy to get on with, you know he’s just one of those guys who can just fit in anywhere. He’s kinda got the whole package for the tour and plus he’s a great mate of mine as well. It makes my life nice and easy.

Bev: Getting back to Lisa, everyone says she's a really down to earth person. How do you find working with her?
Dave: Really easy actually. Because at the beginning of this tour, before the first rehearsals I was thinking, “What am I gonna play, what am I gonna play?” and actually she’s been busy so it’s not been easy for her to think about that kinda thing. So she kind of leaves it up to me. I came with some ideas of some new stuff for this tour and I was thinking, "Oh, I hope she’s gonna like it when she turns up to rehearsals" and she was great, like with all the new bits we put in and that.

Bev: So how do you manage and prep' for a setlist?
Dave:  I  use a program called Logic and I play my ideas in . Then I send it around the band and see if I get any feedback from them. They might go, ”Oh Dave this is rubbish, what are you thinking of ?” Or they might got, "this sounds good, let's try it out.” Saying that, the tunes from Lisa’s new album are great. But there's some tunes where you think, crikey the horn arrangements are ridiculous. As there’s only two horns playing, so with Johnny and Mick they were thinking “Dave, you’re insane, you can’t possibly think this will work.” But as soon as we got into the rehearsals practising them, they were actually, “It sounds cool, we can get away with this.”

Bev: Are we talking about "The Rain" here?
Dave: Well, we could be talking about that one...hahaha, yeah it’s gonna be good.
Bev: Well I can't wait to hear that one live, the orchestration on that particular track is just outstanding!
Dave: Well actually, we hadn't needed to change the arrangements on that one, it’s just how we play it, you know. There’s no Hammond on that tune on the record, but there is going to be tonight…hahahahaha there’s a little hint for you!

Bev: What sort of things could go wrong during the night, on stage etc....?
Dave: There’s a lot of electrical stuff on stage, anything can go wrong with electrical stuff. You know like keyboards can suddenly pack in. Hopefully that won’t happen. But generally there's are few glitches on every gig. With Ian, he uses his MainStage for all his sounds, which is a computer software application and he gets his sounds from that. So if that crashes, everyone's waiting around for that to be rebooted, so we would have to go acoustic. We have some back-up plans, as we have two keyboard players. So if Ian’s goes, I can do his part, that’s not a problem.

Bev: You've got your set list together, which I've heard has changed several times, even up until the final rehearsals a few days ago.
Dave: Yeah well that was funny, set lists are the hardest things. Even with Mamas Gun we spend hours trying to get the right tunes ”what speeds that…oh that’s the same speed as that, the same key" trying to find loads of songs in the same key” you know.

Bev: How familiar were you with Lisa’s back-catalogue before you had worked together?
Dave: I wasn't a fan actually! (shock horror). When I was younger I was more into Kim Wilde and Belinda Carlise. I never really thought of Lisa Stansfield. I knew she was around, but I think with Kim Wilde I probably fancied her more…(wild laughter hahaha). But like with Lisa, it hadn't really crossed my mind.  But then I got this call from Snowboy asking “Do you wanna be MD on the Lisa Stansfield tour”? Then I thought, "My God, LISA STANSFIELD!!!! Crikey, yeah, why not, let's do this"!

Bev: I guess it must be a huge thrill for any musician getting an opportunity to tour with someone like Lisa, but especially as she doesn't come across as this big diva-ish OTT artist.
Dave: Yeah, that’s right and because of that, you know the band are nice and relaxed and happy and just enjoying what they do and what they’re good at, rather than clamming up. Because the front person is this person who keeps looking around and saying “if you keep making that mistake I’m gonna charge you £5.00 or whatever you know… she’s just like, “Yeah, whatever!” and because of her great attitude we’re all like… “We’re gonna do this, we’re gonna make it great”.

Bev: So coming back to the shows, will there be any surprises in store for us fans then? 
Dave: You mean, am I doing a costume change or anything like that…? Hahaha, If I had my way, we would all be in bright sparkly suits…(cracks into more laughter).
Bev: Now wouldn't that be great, it would be like an Elton John gig! Hahaha

Let's talk about you for a moment Dave. You've got a wife and kids, so it must be quite tough for you being away from home for such a long time. How do you cope with stuff like that?
Dave: I know, give it a week and I’ll be going, “Oh I wanna go home now”. See I'm a real family man. I love spending time at home with my family and playing with my children.
Bev: How old are your kids?
Dave: They’re 4, 8 and 11
Bev: So they must really miss you…and vice versa.
Dave: Yeah my middle ones a boy, Samuel, he’s very clingy to me. He just looks up to me the whole time at the moment and never wants me to leave and doesn't want me to go to work. So when I dropped the bombshell that I was coming out here for a month he wasn't happy. But he’ll be good!

Bev: How do you prepare yourself  to go on tour for a month? Like who sorts out what you’re taking  and who packs your suitcase ?
Dave: Oh that's easy, It’s like 30 pairs of pants, 30 pairs of socks and about 50 shirts
Bev:  So who does all the washing?
Dave: What here or at home? Hahahaha… You know what, I don’t know what's gonna happen when I run out of clothes to wear. I assume there will be a runner who will go and take it all to the laundry or dry cleaners. It does go around your head, coz eventually you’re gonna run out of clean clothes to wear.

Bev: I saw one of Suzy's Tweets the other day, something like "oh my, I just realised I’ve gotta pack for a whole month" and added, "I think I’ll take a Febreze  freshener spray and a couple of T-shirts" that really made me smile.
Dave: That’s it… yeah I get that, we can only take so much away when we go on tour. Otherwise we’ll be taking three suitcases away with months worth of clothes.

80's Dave, celebrating his big 4- 0 whilst on the road with Lisa and the rest of the band

Bev: When do you start working again with your own band, Mamas Gun?
Dave: Well hopefully as soon as we get back. We've got some stuff coming up in June. But the main focus is September I think, when we start getting out there touring ourselves. We’ll be rehearsing in June and July. 

Bev: So you’re gonna be touring again with Lisa in September and then you’re going to also be doing you’re own tour as well?
Dave: The main focus for us is September… we will be on the road with Lisa. But we’ll be, (Mamas Gun) rehearsing in June/July to keep it fresh. Lisa’s tour of the UK is not as extensive as the European dates, so we should be OK.

Bev: Lisa mentioned  recently that she’s looking to start recording the new album after the autumn tour and towards finishing the promotion of this current album. I can only assume she’s gonna bring you guys back in on the next one too!
Dave: Yeah I've heard about that… but that’s all I know about it at the moment!
Bev: Do you hope to be involved in that one as well?
Dave: I hope so, I’ld like to be involved with that one. I really enjoyed being involved with "Seven" and going up to Rochdale. That was a real experience, seeing the Rochdale locals. Going into the Baum (Rochdale's finest pub), yeah, we had a few nights down there. Also the recording atmosphere was so relaxed.

Bev: Well you can tell that and the album reflects that mood. Do you think that had anything to do with Lisa and Ian being based back in Rochdale surrounded with family and friends?
Dave: Well yeah, Lisa obviously hasn't  had an album out for a  number of years now and I think she just wanted to get back out there and sing again. Whether she wants to make money or not that’s her business. But I just get the feeling she just wants to get out there and perform. She’s obviously got a massive back-catalogue of songs that she hasn't recorded yet and she really wants to get them recorded.

Bev: I imagine for every album made there's going to be a lot of songs that never make it onto the final cut. I would love to get into that vault and hear what's there. It all sounds so positive right now.
Dave: Yeah yeah, all very positive, lets see what happens. But I certainly hope that she asks me again to be on it.
Bev: Well I hope so too, because I've really enjoyed seeing you on the road with the Lisa, Ian and the band .You also seem to be a pretty cool and laid back person to be around and no doubt, someone who they really appreciate to work with. 
Dave: I think it's important and being the MD it's quite a loose empathy. I don’t tell everyone what to do or say stuff like,  “this is what’s happening”. I let everyone have a say and say what they think. Then we find a common ground and work it out and come to a compromise on the ground and then we go with that you know. Like even with the set list and everything, I was struggling on my own and  needed some help. Davidé was suggesting stuff, so it’s great.

Bev: Is it true that you changed the initial set-list on the very last day of rehearsals just a couple of hours before you were winding up?
Dave: Well yeah, it’s a long story but we played the intro that I wrote and it didn't kinda work with the first song that we thought about having. Well it did, but Ian wasn't too keen. You know, of course Ian has a say, in a way, he has the LAST say. So we kinda moved things around a bit, so it would fit the intro that I wrote. You’ll recognise the intro of the tune. I'm sure!
Bev: Can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to the show later. 
Dave: Yeah it’s gonna be great. 
Bev: Well, it’s been lovely catching up. Good luck for tonight's show  and the rest of the tour.
Dave: Thanks Bev, Yeah I better get off, I’m probably needed around about now…. 

So with the sun beating down, that's where we wrapped it up and the ever so happy go lucky "80's Dave" wandered back over to the venue to check out where he was needed as I wandered back to the tour bus to gather up my next interviewee victim!

Mamas Gun