And so, we pull away from The Symphony Hall in Birmingham and say farewell to the utter carnage that is Broad St on a friday night.

I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it in all my days. There were at least 5 ambulances at the top of the street, just waiting for it to kick off – which it inevitably will. Gaggles of spotty youths and orange girls teetered from pub to pub, stopping only to insult the occasional police constable (who were also, strangely, either spotty or orange??)

Sodom & Gomorrah with a silly accent….

Anyway, we were out of there and on our way to much more civilised climes.

Namely, Gateshead.

What??

Oddly enough, although I originate from that part of the world, I’ve never ever been to, seen, nor really given much thought to the Sage Gateshead. Shame on me.

There it stands by the side of the Tyne Bridge, a cultural sentinel guarding against the cap sleeved T-shirted hoards threatening to cross the bridge and engulf the place in the immutable odour of CKone and regurgitated kebabs.

Built by Norman Foster and serving as the home of the Northern Sinfonia, it is another of those halls that never quite expected such musical ruffians as us to be assaulting its acoustic properties.

Having said that, the on-stage sound was nowhere near as bad as the Symphony Hall of last night and so, true professionals that we are, we cracked on.

Mick had a large contingent from Hartlepool in tonight so we were extra careful in making sure that the show would be the best that it could be. We both specially washed our leg warmers and polished our tap shoes.

We did, however, stop short of tuning up as we both felt we had taken care of the important stuff and didn’t want to overdo it before the show.

Mickey turning the water into wine….. (we bought the Cider)

After the sound check Mick went off to the pub as he seemed very concerned that his guests wouldn’t be able to find their way to the Sage, despite it being the biggest building for twenty miles around. In fact, he was so concerned for their welfare, he went a good two hours before the show started – just to make absolutely sure they got here safely.

That’s Mick. Always thinking of others….

I, on the other hand, have sadly fallen straight into that general state of torpor that usually comes after a couple of weeks on the road.

The process of breathing recycled bus air for half the time and air conditioned public building air the other half, sends your brain into a sort of low level fug which renders you exhausted, even though you haven’t actually done anything!

In my experience there are only two things which can effectively defibrillate the brain in this circumstance:

1 A brisk walk in the fresh air
2 Vodka

OK, three things…..

3 Red Bull

In the end I opted to got to bed for an hour and then administer a combination of two of the above listed items in healthy doses.

Before we knew it, it was show time and we were ready for the last show before the Live DVD which we will be filming in Manchester tomorrow.

This was our last chance to make sure that everything was running smoothly and that the whole set flowed nicely, with each song running smoothly into the next, before the whole thing was digitally captured forever on DVD (available soon in all good stores and web sites ;-)

Except, true to form, we changed it all didn’t we?

Anyway, that’s a story for tomorrow’s blog.

Tonight it was Gateshead’s turn to feel the awesome power of the optimism-fuelled mayhem that is a Lisa Stansfield show.

We were all pleasantly surprised to find out that the whole tour is virtually sold out and, if all the crowds are as up for it as the Geordies, then we’re in for a good time all round.

It took a couple of numbers but, once they got into it, the crowd were tearing the place up (that’s tear that rhymes with There, not tear that rhymes with Here)

Lisa was on form as usual and looked absolutely amazing in a new frock. In fact, it’s prompted Mick and I to wonder if we shouldn’t follow suit and perhaps buy some new socks?

After the show, we all said hello to the Hartlepool massive and once again offered our sincerest condolences to Mick’s partner Gill. There ought to be some sort of medal….

Then it was all on to the bus for the overnight drive to Manchester and the scene of the next show – which has a few little surprises to offer!

Bis Morgen…….

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