Return of the Good Souls: Starsailor Talk Past, Present and Future

The music business is nothing if not fickle. Few bands know that better than Starsailor, a group whose million-selling debut album ‘Love Is Here’ catapulted them into the limelight seemingly overnight before they crashed back to earth almost as fast.

After three well regarded follow up records that were nevertheless increasingly ignored, the foursome finally waved the white flag in 2009. But their story felt incomplete. Something was missing. We are, of course, talking about the archetypal comeback.

Following a successful reunion tour in ’14 and ‘15, the group released a Greatest Hits album and slowly began crafting what would become the recently released ‘All This Life’: a superb return that gave the band’s trademark sound a modern coating.

Starsailor are currently touring the UK before heading over to Europe, so we took the opportunity to ask frontman and guitarist James Walsh about the band’s rise, fall and impressive rebirth.

What was the catalyst for your reunion and how did things grow from there?

We started meeting up again socially to start with. We’d stayed in touch, but I’d gone off doing solo stuff and songwriting, Stel [bassist James Stelfox] had gone off with Spiritualized doing tours and Ben [Byrne] and Barry [Westhead] – the drummer and keyboard player – were teaching. We’d had a few one off gig offers, but thought it’s not the right thing to come back with...just take the money and run.

We got the opportunity to support James on their arena tour and it seemed like the right way to get back in the rehearsal room and on the tour bus. And then Cooking Vinyl came in with an offer for us to do a new album. They’re a good label, particularly with established acts. We’d all sat down and decided that we weren’t going to do anything if the demand, audience and label wasn’t there. Thankfully they were.  

‘All This Life’ is definitely a Starsailor record, but also feels fresh. Did that develop naturally while making it, or did you discuss how you wanted the album to sound?

I think it came as we were writing it. I’ve not consciously thought about it, but I’m sure working with the diverse range of artists I have over the years – from Professor Green to Melanie C and Christina Perri – had some impact on the more direct, almost pop, style of songs like Take A Little Time. But we wanted to make sure that was balanced by the likes of Blood and All This Life, which offer more of the soulful, emotive stuff we’re known for.

Was your producer, Embrace’s Richard McNamara, helpful in negotiating that kind of contemporary rebirth, because his band were faced with a similar situation when they returned after a long hiatus?

Rick was great. We were both going through a break up so it was a bit like joint therapy. Obviously he’s a great guitarist and knows his way around the studio. Usually the producer’s the boss, they’re generally a little bit older, sat behind the desk telling you what to do to, whereas Rick definitely felt like part of the gang. He was quite instrumental on FIA (Fuck It All).

I’d come up with the chords and the general vibe of the song and he went into his computer and came out with all these amazing sounds. That was enjoyable to put together because it was done in a much less traditional way than other tracks, building a soundscape and a song over the top.  Sonically his influence was pivotal. I think it helped make the record a little different than the last few Starsailor albums.

I’d say Sunday Best is one of the finest tracks you’ve ever written. What can you say about it?

That’s one of the most personal songs on the album. I was in quite a bad place when I wrote that. It’s about how people have different priorities and lose communication on what one person or the other thinks should be important in life. I’m proud because it shows a vulnerability. There’s a few lines where I thought ‘I don’t come across the best in this or that line’. I thought ‘Well, that’s what makes it human and relatable’. We can’t always put our best foot forward and write beautiful love songs. Sometimes you have to go, ‘I’m as flawed as everyone else’.

That song, along with Blood and Fallout, have some epic instrumental work at the end. Arrangements-wise, this feels like the most accomplished record you guys have made.

Yeah, definitely. I think it’s influenced by the music we’ve been listening to: the Beatles, the Beach Boys. I’ve been obsessed with revisiting the Verve as well. ‘Urban Hymns’ is a pretty epic and expansive album that was a big inspiration. And I guess going away from the band and working in other areas of music, film and TV, that’s probably influenced the more expansive, adventurous sound.  

Best Of Me has a big euphoric hook, but it’s in contrast to the opening line about not being able to cope, but not having enough rope.

That’s another that’s slightly humorous. It’s a sort of relationship song, be it romantic or mates, where you’ve got two people who maybe aren’t a 100% compatible, but what can you do? You’ve got to make the best of each other. That first line, you can either end it or carry on, make the best of it, make the best of each other.  

It sounds like quite a lot of the songs were inspired by the breakdown of your relationship. Is it hard to write about that when you’re going through it?

Unfortunately it’s quite easy because it’s cathartic and obviously an emotionally driven issue. It all comes out and, listening back, you think ‘That’s pretty close to the bone’. But that’s what people have been writing about since the beginning of time. I think there’s a responsibility, or sometimes I feel a responsibility, to make it about my take on things, about my faults, instead of hanging another person out to dry.

There are darker moments on the record, but there are also positive cuts like Listen To Your Heart and the title track. It feels different to when you were younger and more intense, so how has your outlook changed since those early days?

Music is almost a comfort now, whereas before it reflected my mood completely. Now, if I’m in a dark place, writing a song can make me feel better and the song can come out more euphoric and positive.  So I guess that’s what’s happened with the album. On ‘Love Is Here’ I was a typical angsty 20-year-old and I’d over exaggerate situations and how little things would affect me quite intensely.

Whereas the songs on ‘All This Life’, I’ve actually lived through a lot of real heartbreak, good times and bad. So it’s more, I don’t like to say real, but more based on experience rather than taking these tiny scenarios and making them huge, cinematic and epic.

When you perform songs from your debut now, do they take on new meaning with all those experiences you’ve lived through?

Definitely. I’m really proud of how Good Souls has stood the test of time. It’s what you aim for as a songwriter, to find a lyric and message that resonates and lasts. That’s one that definitely has.  People still love that song and the message that started off as one thing, as a 20-year-old, has taken on a new meaning as a 37-year-old.

How do you look back on the release of that record and the huge success you had? Is there anything you would, or should, have done differently?

It was just madness, really. A complete rollercoaster of emotions.  I’d have probably done more. Maybe been less uptight about going on certain TV shows. It’s difficult to say because, at the time, we were on the NME front cover and thought we were going to be this effortlessly cool band. We tried to play that role to a certain degree, whereas now I just love music. For example, I wrote the theme tune to John Bishop’s new chat show.

That’s something I wouldn’t have gone near as a Neil Young, Jeff Buckley obsessed 20-year-old. I really enjoy songwriting and working with other artists and think if I’d started that back then I’d probably be in a great place now, because obviously we had the spotlight on us. But the things you do and don’t do make you who you are at the time. We might not have got the front covers and the exposure if we’d been more open and willing to do stuff. It’s a difficult one.

Being the face of Starsailor, that spotlight was on you more than the rest of the band. How hard was it to deal with all the attention?

It was quite difficult because it was surreal, really, going from having Oasis posters on the wall to them slagging us off in the NME.  And your mum and dad are opening the Daily Mirror and seeing their son in the headlines, falling out with this person or Mogwai have slagged them off. It was all a bit mental, that period.

Back then, you knew you’d made it if Oasis started taking shots at you.

In hindsight, it was the ultimate flattery really because they don’t slag off bands that no one’s heard of. They slag off bands that they think, I wouldn’t say a threat because Oasis are on a plain of their own, but they slag off bands that are on the up.

Would it have been better to have achieved that early success with, say, your third album? Because when bands rise sharply it’s often thanks to the fickle radio audience who chase the latest trends, whereas if you steadily build a devoted fan base they’ll stick with you for longer?  

Yeah. I’m envious of Elbow’s success, who had a slower build and rise. First album did alright but their second put them on the map and I think that’s a healthier way to get a fan base that sticks with you. I think we’ve done alright. Like you say, the masses went for ‘Love Is Here’ but a decent element of them have stuck with us.

Before I would think, because we’d gone from headlining two nights at Brixton Academy to one night at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, ‘This is a bit depressing, how far have we fallen?’ Whereas now we’re still selling out KOKO or Shepherd’s Bush Empire 17 years later and that’s something to be proud of. We’ve got a fanbase that keeps on giving us a career and an opportunity to get out on the road. We should be thankful for that instead of worrying why we’re not playing arenas.

But it must have been very hard to have the rug pulled out from under you after such early achievements?

For me I found, although it was enjoyable recording it, the reaction to ‘All The Plans’ incredibly, emotionally draining. In my head it was ‘If we put absolutely everything into this record, write the best songs we possibly can….’ And everyone’s telling me Tell Me It’s Not over is a track that will launch [the album] and we managed to get Brandon Flowers to sing on a version of that. Then that fell through, there were some legal issues, and the album and track went nowhere.

I was gutted and thought, ‘Being in a band and making music for it all to hang on a radio head of playlists, whether you can pay your mortgage or not, this isn’t why I got into music. I’m going to find other ways to make money and everything from it. And I’ve come back to the band and rediscovered the spark. It’s done us all good.  We’ve got other things going on in our lives so the band’s a much more enjoyable aspect rather than the be all and end all it was before.

Many groups have experienced a similar fall but have stuck around and success has come full circle.

I think it’s about digging your heels in and sticking with it. If I was more pragmatic and logical I’d have probably given up loads of times and found a more stable and solid way of making a living. But I love music and songwriting too much. It’s probably the reason why things have gone wrong in my life to certain degrees, but also why things have gone right. It’s a perverse contradiction in those terms but I can’t do anything else and I wouldn’t change it.

‘All This Life’ went into the Charts at number 23. Did that meet your expectations?

We’d been away for such a long time we didn’t have too many expectations. The only slightly disappointing thing was it was in the top 20 until the last minute. With the nature of the charts now, people can go and stream Ed Sheeran or Drake’s album on a weekend and that completely skews the charts.

But the charts are just the icing on the cake. It’s just great to have an album out there and the good thing about releasing one now is social media. Getting Twitter and Instagram messages from people saying how much they love the album, and what their favourite songs are, makes it all worthwhile.

And what’s the plan for Starsailor now - is this a permanent reunion with more new releases in future?

I think there’ll be more new stuff in the pipeline. It’s just about finding the time to get back in the room and get more stuff together. However the tour goes in the UK and Europe will be a good gauge for what the appetite is for us to do more stuff. A lot of bands say ‘We just do it for ourselves and we don’t really care what the audience thinks’. Whereas I definitely care what the audience thinks and I do it for that reaction to a song, when people relate and enjoy it. So we’ll see how the tour goes and maybe do some new stuff after that.  

Starsailor Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Thu October 12 2017 - CAMBRIDGE Cambridge Junction
Fri October 13 2017 - NORWICH Waterfront
Sat October 14 2017 - BRISTOL Bierkeller Bristol
Mon October 16 2017 - LEEDS Beckett Students Union
Tue October 17 2017 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute2
Wed October 18 2017 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Thu October 19 2017 - LIVERPOOL O2 Academy
Sat October 21 2017 - NEWCASTLE Boiler Shop
Sun October 22 2017 - GLASGOW O2 ABC
Tue October 24 2017 - MANCHESTER O2 Ritz
Wed October 25 2017 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Thu October 26 2017 - LONDON KOKO

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