Ben Ottewell: The 13th Floor Interview 2017

With his band Gomez on an extended hiatus, Ben Ottewell refuses to slow down, releasing his third solo album, A Man Apart just a few weeks ago and setting out on the road, with a show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork scheduled for Friday, June 23rd.

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda chatted with the gravelly-voiced musician recently. The conversation began with talk of the new album…and then the future of Gomez.

Click here to listen to the interview with Ben Ottewell:

Or, read a transcription of the interview here:

MD: The thing I noticed about the album, that’s set itself… apart from the other two,  it sounds more like a band album than a solo album. Would that be a fair comment?

BO: Yeah; although, interestingly – apart from a couple of guys – it’s pretty much the same backing guys as on the other two records. I don’t know, maybe I was a bit confident with the arrangement. The guy on the electric guitar is bringing a lot – John Smith – he’s really good. I never thought about it like that, but I suppose you’re right, in a way; even though, bizarrely, there are three tunes that are, pretty much, unaccompanied: there’s one with two guitars, and then one with cello, and one that’s just a guitar; but I do know what you mean. Perhaps I’m just used to playing with those guys. Certainly, the rhythm section – … semi-recording wise – they’re my rhythm section: the last two things that I did were with those guys – it’s Michael Jerome and Will Golden in LA – so, I’ve played much more recently with those two, than I have with Ian and Olly and Blacky from Gomez; although, I will be playing solo! It will be just me and the acoustic guitar!

MD: The album itself was recorded in LA and Sheffield; is that right?

BO: That’s right, yeah. I thought I’d go for the yin and yang. No, they’re just two places that I’m comfortable with, and I know people from both places – great studios, great engineers in both places – and it made sense to have a period away from home in LA, and then come back and finish it, at more of my own pace, over here. It’s quite a way from LA, just a hop on a plane…”I’ve got an idea!”…whereas Sheffield’s just a few hours away on a train.

MD: I noticed the first track, Own It, seems rather reflective and looking at life and the big questions. Is there an overarching theme to anything going on the songs…?

BO: It’s not really overarching. The thing is, a lot of these songs were written long before Brexit, and a few of them were written after; that thing: I think it’s been quite profound for everybody over here.

MD: Really?

BO: Oh yeah, definitely. A great portion of the population is terrified…. If you talk to people around Brighton, and most urban areas, they experience diversity: people have a shadow looming… because urban areas in the UK …

MD: What is the main fear that… you think is going to happen?

BO: People’s lives are going to get worse. Our children’s lives are going to get worse. Essentially, it’s an agenda for rich people to get richer; which is a broad political agenda right now, I don’t know why ordinary people keep buying into it…

MD: Yes, it seems to be a trend all over the place.

BO: Yeah! I’m starting to wonder whether it was my fault, because it was my fortieth birthday with Brexit, and I went over to the stage, and there was an election party there, and everyone there was thinking it was going to be Hillary, and I was like, “Er, don’t know, guys,” and then it was Trump… I hope there’s no election in New Zealand.

MD: We do have an election coming up later this year, actually.

BO: Yeah, it’s not while I’m there, though, right? … Because I could really mess things up.

MD: Well, I won’t get into my political views, but I’m hoping that the current government is gone; that would be nice…. So, how does all that affect the song writing then? Is that just something that permeates the feeling?

BO: I think there are definitely three songs on there…. A Man Apart was initially about a TV evangelist… who got found out – he was wearing a wire – so, we started off about that… it’s about a snake oil salesman, basically, trading on people’s fears and dreams. This could be about Boris Johnson; it could be about Donald Trump…. Cradle is another one. I try to keep things fairly ambiguous…. It’s probably my most political record; even if it doesn’t sound it is.

MD: It has more of an Americana sound than even the other two. Is that on purpose, or is that just what comes through?

BO: I don’t know. I think Rattlebag may well be a little bit ‘bluesier’ than this one, if I go back and listen to it. I find it really hard to reflect on something that I’ve done; to view, objectively, something that I’ve spent so much time trying to get… how I wanted it to sound: if you’re in it, dealing with the minute details of it, rather than the overarching piece. I like it! I think it’s good. I don’t really care if it’s Americana… I’m happy with it.

MD: I was wondering if part of the reason that it sounded more like a group record to me, is because you haven’t been playing with Gomez in such a long time; that it was making up for that. Is there any possibility that that could be part of it?

BO: I think it’s possible, yeah. But I think – like I said – I’ve been playing with these guys a long time; so, perhaps we’ve just figured each other out…. I always work better in collaboration anyway…. I just find that that’s the best way to be; maybe that’s from being in the band, and always having that. I didn’t actually write a song before I joined Gomez: it’s the only writing I’ve done, or any musical activity I’ve done…

MD: I think the last, proper Gomez show… was here in Auckland at The Powerstation in 2012. I know you did two shows in 2014, but they seemed to be one off things. What is the status of the band?

BO: Yeah, they were the last ones. Coming up, next year, is the twentieth year anniversary of Bring It Home… so, maybe it’s time; we’ll see.

MD: Has there been any particular reason why nothing has been going on in the Gomez camp, or is it that everybody’s got something else to do?

BO: Everyone’s got stuff happening, and we’ve all had kids. We were a band a little bit before we got signed, we didn’t play any gigs, but we were a bunch of mates who recorded together and that’s what we did. After a year it didn’t really feel like a break and after a couple of yearsa it didn’t really feel like a break either but after three years we have to do something; you can’t just not do anything…. I’m still just doing gigs. I’ve got no one else to do with myself, basically.

MD: I guess it’s the way of being in a band these days, as opposed to thirty – forty years ago: it doesn’t matter, you take five years off, and it’s no big deal, and come back together, and nobody’s going to stress out and think everybody hates each other…

BO: Yeah, well that’s it: there was never any acrimony between us; it was all fairly amiable. Basically, I think we all felt we were treading water a little bit, and I think we’d come to the end of touring Whatever’s On Your Mind, and it just felt like we’d been going through the motions. It was time to get back in the studio, basically. We had people writing, but no one was really feeling it, and I think we would have been lying to ourselves and, also, lying to the fans, if we’d done it, and half-heartedly turned out a record – which we’d never done before, in our careers – but it felt like that’s where it was heading, and I think we were all smart enough to recognise that and just say, “Alright, we should put the bags under the bed,” which I was happy about, because I wanted to get into another solo record; but I still see the guys now and then. I don’t think Gomez is a done deal.

MD: Do you keep up on current music – contemporary pop, and things like that? What kind of listening habits do you have, when you’re not making music yourself?

JJ Cale

BO: I listen to a lot of J.J. Cale.

MD: Actually, that kind of comes through in the music, I think.

BO: Yeah, he’s amazing. I’ve been listening to a bit of new stuff. My wife: she buys a lot of new band vinyl… I enjoy them, but I don’t know what I’m listening to. It’s actually The Great Escape here, which is, kind of, Brighton’s South by South West…

MD: Have you heard a guy named Benjamin Booker?

BO: I’ve heard that name!

MD: The reason I ask, is his second album is about to come out – his voice has a similar quality to yours. When I heard his album, I thought of you.

BO: Okay. Is he ripping me off…?

MD: No, I don’t think so! I think it’s just the way he is. He’s a black man from New Orleans.

BO: Oh, is he? Okay, right…

MD: It’s just interesting how one thing builds on the other…. Do you miss being in the band, or are you quite happy heading out on the road, like this, and doing solo shows?

BO: I’m happy. It’s very different. A lot of the time, I’m literally on my own, but I’ve gotten used to it. The shows are very different as well: there’s no safety net. I’m starting to learn that thing which takes a long time to learn – which I don’t think you can learn in a band – which is trying to hold the dynamic by yourself; it’s just you and a guitar I used to strum furiously through the songs, kind of race towards the end of them, you know, wishing it was over. Which is good…a little bit of that is good. The more you do it, you learn the ‘ins and outs’, and it’s much more difficult.

MD: I noticed the song, Cradle, where there’s a little bit of whistling at the end, and it has an easy going vibe to it – kind of like a J.J. Cale song.

BO: I played that song live in Brighton – first time I’d played it – and I start whistling at the end, and my wife spat her drink out, and called me a rude word after the show… “Okay, the whistling is staying.”

MD: It’s probably not the ideal reaction, but yeah, what the heck!

BO: No, it’s good! That’s what I was after!

Click here for tickets and information to see Ben Ottewell at The Tuning Fork.