The Proclaimers Interview

INTERVIEW WITH THE PROCLAIMERS FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES

An interview with Craig Reid of The Proclaimers, famous for their song, 'I would walk 500 miles.'

DM) Craig, everybody knows you from "500 Miles." Tell us what's different about this newer album.

CR) I think this new album is some of the difference between the "Sunshine on Leith," which was the album "500 Miles" was on, and on this album, I think the songs are more direct. Lyrically, the songs are more direct. Hopefully, they're more easily understood, and I feel that the music has a harder edge to it than before.

DM) I noticed there was a lot of gospel feel on this album... a lot about religion. Was that a basic theme throughout the album?

CR) No, it wasn't. It was just, well, this album was written over a period five years. So I don't see myself as a particularly religious person, and I wouldn't call myself a Christian. I am almost convinced by Christianity, but I have too much doubt to call myself a Christian. I would certainly say, however, that we've got a spiritual dimension to what we do that's always been there. And I think probably given that how long this album was, and the period it was written over, that's probably the reason why there's two or three spiritual songs on it.

DM) A lot of artists feel that if a song does well as a single through a movie, like "500 Miles", they feel that they're selling out, or that they're not well represented. Do you feel that same way, too?

CR) No, no, it wasn't selling out, because in the sense that I mean, the song would still exist, even had it not been recorded for the film. The song was recorded in '88 for an album, and it was simply picked up. And through the end of the film, they asked me if we could use it, and we said, "Yes, no problem with that." We never envisioned it would be a hit; we thought it would just be something on a soundtrack album and for maybe ten seconds in the movie. So it was surprising to us, as to everybody else, that it was a hit, But I hope that we're not judged the rest of our life by just one song. To be quite honest with you, if we were, I'd rather have that than not have anything. I'd rather have one song that people find memorable than never do anything people really like. So, I think what we've got... I think we've written that song in "500 Miles," and I'm certain we'll write other ones that are much better. You've just got to keep working, and the more work we do, the more people who will like the general feel of our music and not just one song.

DM) Now, if you could choose one song (on this album), which one would you call your best?

CR) I would say the best song on this album was probably "The Light." That's my personal opinion, and maybe it wouldn't be shared by everybody. Also, I think "What Makes You Cry" is a good song. Let's think, "A Long Time Ago" is a good song, but I think "The Light" was probably the best one on this album.

DM) Why's that?

CR) 'Cause I think it's the best combination of words and music and it's the most concise of all the songs. The words sit well with the music and convey the feeling, better than some others; the production stage is particularly good on that song. Also, the playing is particularly good from the band.

DM) Who would you consider your biggest influences?

CR) The biggest influences are such artists as The Beatles, Elvis Presley, James Brown, some country musicians, George Jones, High Bones, and Mel Haggard... probably people like Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beach Boys, the Band, and Prince.

DM) So, it's a pretty diverse range you have?

CR) Pretty diverse, yeah.

DM) Now, when you started with your brother, did you ever envision that you'd get as big as you are now?

CR) No, I didn't. We really set our sights on just making a living on music, and to be able to play live, and to do it for a living. That's what we wanted to do. We thought that obviously to do that, we certainly needed to get a record contract, so that's what we aimed for. To get the contract and to play live, and to sell a few records. We didn't really do it. It's always nice to have singles, but we didn't really do it before that. We did for the long term, so we could have a long time career just playing music, which we enjoy doing most.

DM) What can people expect from your live shows?

CR) I think you can expect a similar show from what you might remember last time, which was '89. We played much better then. You might not remember last time. The show will be about one and a half hours long, with a four -piece backing band. Also, there will be two or three acoustic numbers, just the two of us. As a set, separately presented, very forceful, very emotional, and it would just give the audience everything we have on the stage. It's not acting out a role, or great light shows or anything. It's sort of getting up and giving the shows as much as you can, when you're performing.

DM) You and your brother both write the songs together?

CR) We have written together but we now tend to write separately. The way it used to be was, one of us would write the words and the music, so the song is pretty much complete, and then we'll come together and make any changes which are necessary. And then we'd rehearse the song, and it's only then that it's fully complete. Three of four times when you rehearse it, you start changing things around and molding it. That's when the song is complete. So all the songs are co-credit, but generally they're 95% mine or 95% Charlie's.

DM) Do you ever have any conflicts working with your brother when you see him so often?

CR) No, about the music, really. We argue about really minor things every day and always get on each other's nerves, 'cause we are always together, but given that we're twins and we've always been in each other's company, it's not so bad. We have very few arguments about the music. That's the one thing we really tend to agree on 90% of the time.

DM) When you're performing in concert, do you often get requests for "500 Miles"?

CR) Yes, we always get requests and we'll always do that song. People want to hear the songs that've been hits, especially if they've bought the single. It's meant a lot to many people and we're quite happy to play it, as long as we get to play everything else!