Guy Chadwick

 Guy Chadwick has always felt like one of British indie’s great beautiful ghosts — a songwriter who walked into the late-’80s landscape with a tremor in his voice, a hurricane in his heart and a knack for choruses that could level entire postcodes. As the architect of The House of Love, Chadwick carved out a universe where romance was both radiant and ruinous, where guitars shimmered like broken stained glass and every lyric sounded like it had been dragged, smoking, from the wreckage of last night’s revelation.

He was the calm centre of the storm: a quiet, bookish frontman with the soul of a confessional poet and the instincts of a firestarter. While everyone else in the scene was chasing the next big noise, Chadwick was busy writing songs that would outlast the whole damn circus. A cult icon with the receipts to prove it, he remains one of the most quietly influential figures of the era — part dreamer, part disruptor, and entirely unforgettable.

Welcome to 16 Toneladas, Valencia - it’s been a year since I last saw you over at Visorfest in Murcia.

You are currently one quarter of the way through your 12 dates tour – which started in France, is taking you through Spain and finishing in Paris. How is the tour going so far?

It’s going great, we've done three dates in France already – Marseille last night in fact, and it’s going really well!

We came back to Spain last year for the first time in decades and we didn’t know what to expect, but we still got a really good audience and reception.

Then it’s straight back to the UK and you are off on tour with the Primitives.

Yes – looking forward to it!

Last September you re-released three albums from the Fontana Era and you released them on vinyl. Why is vinyl still important for you?

It’s not important to me personally, but I do really like the format, and it displays your artwork. I still play records myself, so I do like the format. But more importantly people want vinyl alongside the digital options. And it sells, not in huge quantities like the old days, but good enough to make it worthwhile to release. I have a solo album, that I released 25 years ago and that’s coming out on vinyl in October. In fact, it was never released on vinyl, so this is the first time.

Any new House Of Love releases coming next year?

Yeah, I am working on new material and hope to be releasing a record next year, it’s the early stages, all the songs are written – so I just need to record it.

Do you find when you write, you have to be in a certain place or state of mind? Or do you just write as the inspiration comes to you?

I do need to be super focused and it’s not easy as I’m not a full-time musician anymore, so to tap back into that mentality, I need to prepare myself.

It’s been 38 years since you started the band, which my mind cannot compute as for me the 90’s was 5 years ago! If you could go back to 1986, with all the knowledge you have now - what advice would you give to yourself?

Ummm….. I wouldn’t, because whatever happens, happens. Good things happen; bad things happen. I personally cannot complain, -I have no major regrets. So, I feel quite lucky to be honest. I still have an audience; I can still play. I could have done better maybe, but I’m fine and no regrets!

I’ve got a good band; they are very enthusiastic and take it seriously and we still sound good. If we didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it!

When you are not touring, or in the studio – how do you kick back and relax?

Well, I started a business which is completely outside of music about 20 years ago – it’s a joinery / window company and it was something I need to do at the time. I was happy with the way music was going, and I needed to do something completely different. It was very successful, so even though I do very little physically regarding the business, I am still involved and that is a very important part of my life, and it is quite time consuming. In think I want to keep it going for as long as I can, it’s not difficult but it is very satisfying. So, I have the two things which I enjoy. I am at a point in my life where there is going to be change coming up. For example, I live in a big house, so I want to downsize a bit and regroup and just make life easier for ourselves.

We quite fancy just getting a camper van and just driving around Italy and enjoy ourselves!

Out of all of your live performances over the last 38 years, has there been one that stays in your memory for whatever reason.

We did one at a festival in 1988 in Paris, we played at the festival with James and Julian Cope.  For me that’s probably the one that stands out.

Is it true that you once played three gigs in one night?

Yeah! We did it twice actually! I wouldn’t recommend it; it was just a nightmare! We did it first in London and it was OK then we did it in Paris and I just didn’t like it at all. I found it really hard work!  For the London one we played ULU, The Town & Country and then the Boston Arms – it was ridiculous and probably a bad idea!

And finally a message for the fans out there?

Thank you for continuing to come and see us perform and we still try our best for you!

Guy, thank you and see you onstage later tonight!

 For more information: The House Of Love