Interviews

March 2004

The first thing Ainslie said when he called was: "Listen I’m on the train so it might cut out at some point."

Indeed we got cut off several times but despite that, what follows is our most in-depth interview to date.

I started by asking him about his trip to America…

"I had a real ball, it was great, I had a lovely time. I was probably there for a bit too long. By the time it had finished, I was keen to get home." Ainslie said. "But it was a lot of fun, I kind of travelled around on my own a lot and took my guitar, it was great.

"I was in Miami for a week. It stinks; I didn’t really like that place. I was meant to be meeting two mates out there. They’d rented a car and we were going to travel around, drive around in a big car around America.

"But the day I arrived I got a phone call from them and they said, ‘Aah, our car went on fire, we’re in New York, we’re about to fly back to England’. I was like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?! I’m in Miami on my own, what the hell am I going to do?’ It was ridiculous. So I spent a week there and then disappeared to Los Angeles."

During his time in the US, Ains also went to the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, then to Wyoming, and spent his birthday in Las Vegas. I asked if he made any money…

"I lost a hundred dollars at the roulette table," he replied. "I’ve never been in a casino before and there was something about the weight of those chips and all the sexy women walking about. There’s something just really exciting about being in casinos, I really loved it."

Having spent time in America, could he ever see himself relocating there?

"I don’t think so. I like it, it’s cool for a holiday. It’s like a big silly game or something being in LA, but I couldn’t live there. It’s too big, you feel you’re trampled. I feel tiny and kind of stupid in America, it’s just a big fucking advertisement, Los Angeles especially. And living in an advert, it’s too unreal. My brain would probably melt if I lived in Los Angeles."

He told me he did quite a bit of songwriting while he was out there… some stuff on his own and he also wrote with Peter Stuart: "He was great. He was a really, really funny guy. I spent quite a bit of time with him." The material is for Ainslie’s own use.

I asked if he’d written with Jason Mraz at all…

"A little bit, but we’re so different, Jason and I. He’s very kind of funky and very cool. Have you got his album yet?" Ains asked. I have and said I’d noticed Ainslie gets a thank you on the album sleeve notes, something that came as a big surprise to him…

"Where? On Jason’s album? Really? I had no idea! Oh, that’s superb! That’s totally made my day, a thank you on Jason’s album!" was his delighted response.

How did they first meet?

"I met him first about four years ago. It was when I was in Suburbia and we were in Los Angeles. Jason was just playing little shows then and getting his act together, he was just signing a deal when I was there. He’s a lovely guy.

"I was with Jason on my birthday, Jason and another mate of ours, and three of us rented a big car and drove from Wyoming to Los Angeles the day before my birthday. We drove for sixteen hours and spent my birthday in Las Vegas."

Ainslie was thrilled when I mentioned that he’d also made an appearance in Jason’s journal on jasonmraz.com and loved Jason’s description of him as ‘a UK songwriter who is all accent and everything but average’: "That’s fucking excellent. Ah, he’s a little darling."

And did he enjoy the breaded bull balls Jason treated them to in Wyoming? "It was fucking horrible."

Next I asked if he was happy to be out of Mercury’s clutches…

"Aye, I am happy, it’s nice." he said. I told him that the reaction from the fans to the news had been mainly
positive because we felt Mercury had arsed him about…

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but I’ve got the album back and I really thank them for everything they did. I appreciate there were people in the company who really believed in it, and I can understand why what happened, happened. It’s a difficult thing to come off a show like that and getting it right."

So he doesn’t feel the last year has been wasted?

"No, not at all. I’ve written loads of songs and I’ve met quite a lot of my heroes and I’ve made some stuff I’m really proud of and I’ve had a great year. Well, it’s been a weird, weird year and bad in some ways, but no, I don’t regret it for a second, it was great."

When asked whether he would have done Fame Academy given the chance again, Ains told me he doesn’t think there’s any point going back and thinking about it, but conceded: "Yeah, I probably would do it, why not? I like where I am now."

Ainslie said his publishing deal is nearly finalised, adding: "I’m actually just on my way back from Manchester. I’ve been meeting with BMG again and there’s a girl called Caroline Elleray, who’s just an absolute darling of a woman and I seem to be getting on very well with her so it looks like it might come together."

The publishing deal is to protect the rights to his work rather than that he would be writing for other artists, but I asked if this was something he would consider…

"I don’t know. I really enjoyed the whole Lullaby experience with Lemar, that was such a pleasure, sitting back and watching MTV and seeing someone else sing a song I’d helped write. I enjoyed that a lot more than I thought I would. I’m not really thinking about it, but I like the thought that maybe I’ll write something and it won’t feel quite right for me and I’ll give it to somebody else."

Ainslie doesn’t think it’s likely the album will be released on Modest!’s own label and hasn’t started looking for a new recording deal yet. He loves the album and is very proud of it as it stands but whether it gets released in its current form when he gets a new deal depends on many things like how long it is until that happens and what he writes and records in the meantime. He might end up changing about tracks, discarding some tracks or could even end up with two albums. I told him we want it all!

So where would he like to be as an artist this time next year?

"I would like to have a body of work together that I’m really, really proud of, and to have signed another deal by this time next year would be fine. I’m quite happy if I don’t get to release anything this year, I just want to find the right record company, that’s what I want to do." A record company that actually understands him? "Exactly."

Having once described the album as having been made in a very unique way, I asked him to elaborate…

"It wasn’t so much the writing, but the actual recording of it was quite unusual in that we had the opportunity to use a big studio in London, have somebody else produce it and use a lot of musicians but we kinda just chose to, between me, Mark and Saul, do everything ourselves," he explained. "We did it in a big chateau in France and set up a studio on our own and it was kinda done in a very makeshift way."

What about gigs, anything planned?

"I’m really tempted to do some acoustic gigs again, really quiet ones." I told him I thought that was a good idea, to get out there, album or not, to which he replied: "Yeah. I’m really missing it and I don’t have a band together or anything but it’s like starting to really eat at me that I haven’t performed live for so long and I fancy a couple of little acoustic gigs round London. I might try to get onto that soon."

I asked about the work he did with Mark and Saul in November… "We wrote and we recorded stuff. We wrote another song called ‘Talking In Your Sleep’. It’s absolutely lovely, I was really, really pleased with the way that came out." He confirmed that he’ll be working with them again and was actually going to meet them when he got off the train. (Read what else Ainslie had to say about working with Mark and Saul on One of the Three)

He was also in Cornwall in November working with a guy called Jamie who has his own dance music project that he’s written all himself and was looking for guest vocalists. Ains told me: "He’s a great guy. The stuff he’s written is brilliant. He sent me a CD and I really loved it, I thought it was fantastic. I don’t really know what’s going to happen with it but I’m going to do a bit of singing for him."

In reply to whether there are any music video directors Ains would like to work with, he said: "Chris Cunningham. I love his videos, the stuff he did with Bjork on ‘All Is Full Of Love’, and his Aphex Twin stuff and all that, is brilliant. I like Chris Cunningham’s work. I don’t know if he’d be right for me actually, but I just love the style his has, he’s a really great video director."

And would he like to incorporate his own ideas into videos in future? "I’d love to, oh yeah. I’ve lots of ideas visually I think, the way things look. Music videos make a lot of sense to me as well, they seem quite easy."

Ainslie also said he’d really love to do some acting, adding: "I’ve no aspirations to be a big actor but I would love just a little part in a film, that would suit me. I really get off on acting, the whole thing of just throwing yourself at it and being someone else and something different. It’s really exciting for me. It’s kind of wrapped up in singing and performing, it’s a similar thing, I think. Whether it’s getting into a song or the character of the song or the character of the person, it’s a similar thing."

I asked what inspires him lyrically: "Things people say, a lot of the time. I nick a lot of things from conversation, people come out with great lyrics all the time and don’t realise it." He also said that sometimes someone will say something, just a line or a couple of words strung together and he’ll disappear into the toilets to write stuff down, adding: "I pick things up all day as I’m going along, I carry a pad around with me all the time and keep scribbling stuff down."

Moving onto Suburbia… ‘Always’ featuring on the multi-million selling FIFA 2004 game, that’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?

"That’s pretty fun, pretty weird. It’s kinda cool, I like that," he said. "It was really funny actually cos the day after you told me, I had a phone call and it’s David Sneddon. David’s a big football fan and he was phoning me going, [cue excellent impersonation of David] ‘Hey, what’s this, by the way? Is that you singing on my computer, man? I just turned the computer on and there’s you singing on my computer and I was like ‘what the fuck’s going on here, Ainslie?’’ That was good."

I told him about Ruth finding out about a band called PA3 doing an adapted cover of ‘Life Takes Away My Drive’… Ains was very interested to hear about it and said he’d love to hear it, someone doing a cover of one of his songs. Although Chris wrote ‘Always’, Ainslie wrote the lyrics to most of the other Suburbia songs.

He was also interested to hear that ‘mohip’, who directed the ‘Mother Please’ video had posted about it on the site (AO). I mentioned that ‘mohip’ had recorded a gig they did at a fashion show in Dundee that year, too…

"Ah, that’s right. Yeah, we did a song at that, I remember. We were all dressed in suits, it was cool and loads of beautiful women around us, that was a good night."

On the subject of ‘Mother Please’, I discovered that Rex Sargeant produced the other version of the song, available from Peoplesound… Ainslie had forgotten that version even existed!

Tony Visconti produced the version of ‘Half’ that’s on Vitaminic. I asked what it was like working with him…
" We only got to spend a day with him so we didn’t really get to know him very well, but he was cool, he was nice. It was in New York, in a very cool apartment that David Bowie had been in and he had loads of big picture discs on the wall with him and Marc Bolan and David Bowie and all those people. As I say we only spent a day with him so you don’t really get to know somebody in that time. It was great, it was exciting meeting him and stuff."

Staying in the past, I asked if he was still in contact with Joe McAdam, who was the other half of the acoustic duo the Caravan Club…

"I was speaking to Joe yesterday," Ains said. "He’s doing great. He’s in a band now called Cherry Falls and they’re absolutely fucking brilliant, they’re really good. They’ve just signed to Island, so he’s just finished recording an album with his band. I’m a big, big fan, I really like them."

Did the Caravan Club do any songs other than ‘Daddy’s Love’ and ‘I’m In Love?

"That was the only two songs of mine we did, we only actually did four songs together. We did those two and we did a couple of his songs called ‘Buy Yourself A Dream’ and another one I can’t remember the name of."

Bringing things back to the present, I asked if he’d been to any gigs recently…

"I saw Jason a couple of times when I was in America, though that’s not the same. I saw a guy called Tietur when I was in America, he was great. I’ve only been back in London for four days so I haven’t been able to see anybody over here. I tried to get tickets to the Morrissey gig in Manchester but it was all sold out."

He said he’d tried pulling a few strings to get tickets and nothing’s come back, then suggested jokingly: "You could put it on the website if anyone wants to send me some tickets for the Morrissey gig in Manchester at the end of May, I’d be really, really happy. If there’s any nice obsessive fan would like to get me a birthday present, that’s what to send."

And what is he listening to just now? Old stuff, new stuff, a mixture…

"I’ve formed a kind of obsession with female artists, I think I prefer female artists to male ones, I listen to a lot of Kate Bush just now, and Tori Amos. I got a few cool CDs from America. Postal Service I really like, Death Cab For Cutie and a guy called Bright Eyes, who’s just lyrically so, so beautiful. I was listening to a lot of him.

"The Aqualung album totally blows my mind, it’s so, so gorgeous. It’s stunning. It’s a go to sleep album. I put that on every night when I’m going to bed and you just drop off to sleep to it, it’s so pretty, so pretty. I got an Arab Strap album for my birthday that I really like. That’s pretty much what I’m listening to just now.

"And of course the Cure as usual. They’re my favourite band, I think. They’re the ones."

I asked if he would like to work with them…

"Oh god no, I’d be so terrified. I’d be pathetic, it would just be embarrassing to meet them. They’ve done it all and made their mark and stuff."

I finished with a series of questions ranging from deep and meaningful, to downright trivial…

Asked whether he’s religious, Ainslie replied: "I’d say spiritual. I would say that I think there’s a lot that we don’t understand but I haven’t found a religion that makes total sense to me yet."

What inspires him, in life in general?

"Oh I dunno… I’m on an empty train in the sunshine at the moment, that’s one of my favourite things. An empty train and sunshine seems to be pretty nice. And travelling. I find that moving around a lot feels good for me."

Who or what is the biggest influence on who he is?

"Fuck, that’s quite a question," he said, pausing for thought. "Probably where I grew up, probably where I’m from. I’m from a really quiet little place that’s kind of slow and friendly, it’s a really easygoing place. That’s probably a lot of the core of who I am."

Ains doesn’t really have any phobias, but said: "Rats fucking freak me right out but I don’t know if you could call it a phobia, I’m just disgusted by them."

The old Desert Island Discs chestnut... which five CDs could he not do without and what would his luxury item be?

After much deliberation, "It’s so hard, there’s so many… can I not burn a big compilation CD?" Ainslie decided on ‘Little Earthquakes’ by Tori Amos, The Best of the Smiths, ‘Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me’ by the Cure, ‘August and Everything After’ by the Counting Crows and ‘Debut’ by Bjork.

And his luxury item?

"A guitar (wanker)."

Ains doesn’t want to think about where sees himself in five years time as he doesn’t like thinking that far ahead… He considers himself a pretty good judge of character and honest…

Is he vain? "Yeah, I’m pretty vain. I’m pretty self-obsessed, I think about myself a lot. Not so much in appearance but I do think about myself a hell of a lot."

Speaking of appearance, Ainslie hasn’t had his hair cut for about two months and it’s at that awkward "shit" stage of nearly two centimetres. He only sometimes wears his glasses now.

I asked what makes him smile, laugh, cry… after careful thought he replied: "Making someone else smile or laugh is the best feeling, innit?"

And what makes him cry? "I’m so happy at the moment, I haven’t cried for a while."

So he’s not lost and confused anymore?

"No I’m not, definitely not lost and confused anymore. I’ve just kind of got my head together. The last half of last year was just so kind of lost and messy and I didn’t know where I was and what I was doing. I just feel really kind of focused and positive, and I feel great about it now.

"I haven’t really done any drinking for about two months and I’m kind of enjoying some strange time called the morning, I haven’t seen much of for a long time. I love the morning, I absolutely love it. I get up at seven o’clock every day. I bounce around and put music on, I love it. I love being sober and seeing mornings and like having my mind sharp and awake and alert. I feel so much better.

"What makes me cry? I find myself really freaked out on New Year’s day. I remembered last year’s New Year’s day morning on this New Year’s day, and then knowing that next year’s New Year’s day I’ll remember this one. It’s hard to explain why. Time passing just kind of kills me somehow."

Finally, does Ainslie still have his lucky red pants?

"Do you know what, I tore them off and threw them away. They became so worn that they were all frayed and thin and I was able to just grab them with my jeans still on and just yank them off. They were torn and left behind, so they’re gone. I’ve another pair now though, I did buy another pair of red pants."

And have they been lucky for him?

"Too fucking right!"

Interview by Heather aka 'Secret', 02 March 2004 for Ainslie Online & Ainslie Music