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• Official Site • "I Didn't Get Where I Am"
• Kweevak.com Main Page
• Alan Morphew
• SHOW 106: - Great indie music with Nils Lofgren and Glenn Tilbrook
• SHOW 105: - Great indie music with Candice Night and Mick Box
• SHOW 104: - Great indie music with Warrant and Trixter
• SHOW 103: - Great indie music with Eric Bazilian of The Hooters
• SHOW 102: - With Davy Knowles and Geoff Achison
• SHOW 101: - Great indie music with Leo Moran of The Saw Doctors
• SHOW 100: - Great indie music with Cy Curnin of The Fixx
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An Artist Interview by Richard J. Lynch He is one-half of the legendary Difford/Tilbrook writing team and he penned the lyrics for some of the best known power-pop songs of the 70's, 80's & 90's including "If I Didn't Love You", "Another Nail in My Heart", "Tempted", "Black Coffee in Bed", "Hits of the Year", "If It's Love" and many others. Now, Chris Difford who is back with his first solo album, I Didn't Get Where I Am, has taken the time to talk with Kweevak.com founder Richard J. Lynch about his new CD, songwriting, a possible Squeeze reunion and much more.
 Chris Difford during the recording sessions of his first solo CD. KT: Thanks to the kindness of your record company we have just received at our office your first solo record, I Didn't Get Where I Am. Can you tell us a bit about the new record? CD: Well it was recorded last year with my friend Francis Dunnery. It was hard work learning to sing and to stay in the room for more than one hour at a time. It was fun to record thanks to the love of the people who helped make it with me. KT: Learning how to sing??? Your coarse baritone was featured as the lead vocal on many Squeeze songs and it was heard on a ton of tracks as a secondary lead and harmony vocal. However, it has been said that you became "mic-shy" as a lead vocalist on later Squeeze records. So, was it a matter of actually receiving voice training for your new record and was it a conscious decision of yours to be less prominently featured as a lead vocalist in Squeeze as the years went by? CD: Singing is all about have the confidence to do so in the first place, and working with Francis Dunnery gave me this. Glenn also made me feel welcome at the mic I just chose at the time to bite the hand that was feeding me. I feel better about it now and like the lead singer role, though I am away off standing with one leg on the stage monitor. KT: The first single, "No Show Jones", is one of my favorites from the CD and it seems to be about your partnership with Glenn Tilbrook, the glory days of Squeeze and your decision to leave the band following the release of the Domino record. Can you detail the reasons for your departure and how tough of a decision was that for you to make? CD: Very tough, I love Glenn and I love the band but sometimes you have to follow your gut feeling and at the time I felt that I should stop my life, stand outside and look in for awhile... its worked for me. KT: "No Show Jones" talks about a relationship that was a strong partnership like "The Captain and Tennile", "Simon & Garfunkfel", and "Lennon & McCartney". The Difford/Tilbrook writing team was compared Lennon and McCartney early on in your career—I remember seeing the reference to that quoted on the flip-out jacket on the cover of the Sweets from a Stranger album. How much pressure was there to live up to this comparison and the critics high expectations? CD: For me very little. I know that it bothered Glenn, we could of been compared with much worse, let's face it. I feel proud of my life and I feel [proud] of my time with Squeeze, comparisons aside. I think I was more like George... I wish. KT: Another track off the new CD is a reworking of the Squeeze song "Electric Trains" off of the Ridiculous CD. Why did you choose to remake this song, now called "Playing with Electric Trains" on your CD, and could fans expect to possibly see other remakes of Squeeze classics on future solo records? CD: I would love to do a Chris sings Glenn album, and may well do, after all they are my songs as well. The definitive versions will remain in tact however, firmly placed in my heart. With this song all I can say is that this was the original version and therefore I felt I needed to record it as it is such a personal story. I love both versions with equal amounts of passion. KT: The song "Electric Trains/Playing with Electric Trains" has a reference to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead in the chorus. In my own experience I've had "Deadheads" tell me they know of the band (Squeeze) through that song. I was wondering if you have heard similar feedback from the Deadhead nation? CD: I flew once on a plane full of dead heads, nice people full of love for music. I was a dead head once myself... then I came down. KT: So, this is your fist solo CD away from the band Squeeze apart from the Difford/Tilbrook solo project in the mid-80's. Glenn released his first solo CD in 2001—The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook—did you get a chance to hear it and what were your thoughts on it? CD: I heard it and wished I was on it for some reason. Like all albums it has its moments of brilliance. Glenn writes great lyrics and it proves he needs me like he needs a fart in a sleeping bag... KT: That's not true... it's my understanding that you wrote or co-wrote the lyrics to virtually every Squeeze song ever recorded, including all the hits that fans know and love... we love you man! But, that gets me to my next question. I'm always fascinated with the different ways songwriters approach their craft. What was the main writing process with Squeeze like... would you have the words ready for a tune or would Glenn have music that needed lyrics... or, would you two sit in a room a create a song from scratch. I'm sure it was some combination of all of the above, but how was a typical Difford/Tilbrook Squeeze song created? CD: Thanks for your thoughts above. I wrote all the lyrics for the band and each song writing session would start with me turning up with a bunch of words, about 20/25 full sheets of finished song lyrics with no tunes. Glenn would then spend some time working out the better ones and putting tunes to them. Glenn always helped me with the final drafts, that's what partnerships are all about... though we often found it hard to agree. KT: Chris, I would have to say my favorite Squeeze "albums" are Argy Bargy, Cool for Cats and East Side Story. But some of my favorite Squeeze "songs" come from the later albums like 'The Truth' from Play or the title track of Some Fantastic Place. You have had such a long, storied and diverse career that if I was asked to recommend Squeeze material to a neophyte I'm not sure I would know where to begin. So, I ask you—what albums would you recommend to a new fan just getting involved in the band, and why? CD: Some Fantastic Place is the album I would run to, its fresh sounding and each song has its place, along with East Side Story these are my two desert island Squeeze albums. KT: It's interesting that you picked both albums that featured Paul Carrack on keyboards. Squeeze became notorious for their almost constant line-up changes over the years and as a fan it sometimes became frustrating to follow the band because of this. As a principle member of the writing team what effect did the changing shape of the unit have on you? What creative challenges or opportunities arose because of the constant influx/departure of band members? CD: It was good to have an ever revolving keyboard stool, working with Paul Carrack was a lovely thing, what a voice, what a keyboard player. But each of our keyboard players brought something new to the flavour of the band. Each of them added a new spice to the music Glenn and I provided. KT: I remember the first time I saw Squeeze on TV in 1979. You made an appearance on the then "underground" Uncle Floyd Show based out of my home state of New Jersey. To me the band's image was alluring and the pop sound of the music was infectious... I was hooked. What other outlets helped the band "break out" big in the States in the early days. CD: We worked hard for our American following, many tours and many months of road work, that's how its done. These days things have changed and I would not like to try it again in the same way. Touring is fun when you are single and free as a bird, otherwise you think all the time about your home, you miss the world of children and it all becomes like being in the army. Having said that....where's the tour bus? KT: So, where IS the tour bus? What are your plans to support the new CD? Will you go out solo or with a band and what can fans expect to hear at Chris Difford solo show? CD: I would love to tour in the US but I can not justify losing money at my grand old age, so I'm hoping for a support on a tour at some point... fingers crossed. Otherwise, I will play a few clubs in the Summer. KT: We've already talked about the song "Electric Trains" but in the there you wrote about your "records stacked up in a pile collected from the charts and top of the pops" and naming Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead and Julie Andrews among those artists. Who else influenced you musically and particularly lyrically as you were coming of age? CD: Dylan, Donovan, Lennon, Costello... Lou Reed and many more. KT: Many of your songs are complete narratives encapsulated within 3-minute pop gems. Your lyrics are full of imagery, wit, humor & charm and at least two of your albums with Squeeze were conceptualized as complete stories—Play and Frank. Have you done any screen writing or authoring to date or is that something you would like to pursue more in the future? CD: I would love to write for film, book, TV... it's having the time, the time to sit and develop and to wonder in your imagination. Time that I lack right now due to other commitments. But I'm hoping this will change in the coming months as I learn to risk more with my life... KT: What's your take on pop music today? Who are you yourself listening to at the moment? What artists do you think have carried the torch for the art of songwriting in recent years? CD: I have gone back in time, when I was young I did not understand the love and nature of James Taylor/Joni Mitchell and now I find I have reached the age of understanding. I love to go back to the great albums of the 70's and 60's and just perch on their freedom. Today music comes and goes... I like a few things and have respect for many. KT: What are some of your fondest memories or best achievements from the Squeeze days? CD: Playing our first gigs in pubs around London not knowing much about anything and hoping for everything in return. Playing guitar with all the finesse of a Rhino and being young and spirited. And then there was Madison Square Garden... KT: Chris, a lot of our readers are independent musicians themselves—writing, producing and releasing CDs on their websites. What advice do you have for those trying to make it in the music industry today? CD: Don't be lonely with your thoughts, share your experience and dare to be yourself...keep away from the mold of others... KT: The 25th anniversary of the release of Argy Bargy—the band's break-out album in the U.S.—is coming up in 2004. Is there a possibility that fans could see a reunion of Squeeze anytime in the future? CD: I hope so... maybe next year. KT: Thank you, Chris, for taking the time out to talk with us at Kweevak.com. We're honored, it was a pleasure, and thank you as well for your fantastic musical legacy! CD: I thank you too... keep coming back. Originally Published: 03/20/03 on Kweevak.com
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