An album partly conceived in San Francisco and which came together in the shadow of a rather different structure, Chris Flew's album 'Kingston Bridge' is a complex collection of songs, even with a concept tying these together. Or, looked at in simpler terms, a fine release from one of Scotland's most promising songwriters. Chris takes up the story...
"The first sound you hear on the album is a jet engine. All the songs in between are dreams and backflashes encapsulated by a journey - images of drowning, water, circuses and clowns, 30s Hollywood, Christmas lights and the theatre - and the last song ends with a plane crash, so that all the loose ends you left behind, the ones that haunted or were held dear, remain.
The bridge itself was the physical backdrop for most of the recording. To have the city go back and forth in front of your eyes can be quite hypnotic and special: it never really left. The car noise you hear at the end of the album actually came from two mics I set against the open windows of my flat, so it's exactly what the bridge sounded like late at night."
Lyrically as much as musically, Chris Flew's output is consistently of quality - and with no problems about tackling tricky areas. 'Christmas On Ward #7' is a prime example of soul-bearing.
"The songs are personal, but I've never really been able to find another way of writing. People relate to the themes though, so in that sense they can be universal. But the main thing is to be honest, or to show something you believe to be honest. 'Christmas On Ward #7' is a bit more personal, though it touches on mental illness which is not something I have a huge knowledge of (it's a big fear though). I got pretty drunk one night after a bad break-up, it was just before Christmas and I ended up flat on my back in the middle of an empty shopping centre. In the cold, outside, got hit in the face in a club, went home on my own - it was pretty tragic, but these things tend to happen from time to time, especially when drink and lost love is involved."
From 'Interviewing For Beginners' - your inspirations in songwriting? How about 'The Truth About Cats + Dogs' from previous album Corporate Love Song - are you a film buff?
" '...Cats + Dogs' was actually nothing to do with the movie! I haven't seen it and only found out about it, I think, when i was looking through DVDs in Fopp one day. A friend of mine gave me three song titles (that one, 'A Red Square' and 'A Halo Amongst Hollow Smiles') and told me to come up with at least one song. 'Truth...' came about naturally after that. I got an idea in my head of cats and dogs not actually hating each other but instead having secret love affairs. An 'opposites attract' kind of thing."
Despite the universally good reviews, this album is self-released, like its predecessor, so we presume that The Man's cloth ears have prevented him from hearing Chris Flew. Or maybe Chris has set the dogs on him?
"There has been no effort to avoid 'The Man'. For some strange reason, it's a lot easier to get press coverage if you have a little logo on the back of your cd hinting at you being signed somewhere. That kind of thing frustrated me after a while, it shows the short-sightedness of an industry only interested in 'the next big thing'. An article on me recently suggested I was 'one of Scotland's best kept secrets', but I don't remember ever trying to keep it a secret from anyone.
The way I see it, I am doing it professionally, it's just no-one has come along with enough money to let me do it full-time! When I buy a cd or a t-shirt at a local gig, I want to get the same quality I would get from a signed artist. I have been luck to work with some talented people, mostly local, who could do this kind of thing for a living if someone gave them a chance."
Stuart McHugh - is this music? (Feb 2006)