Pure Promo
The editor has asked me to interview After the Fire. Great, I thought not anticipating the hassle involved. I suppose I should have said I was from NME. Anyway, I eventually met Andy Piercy before the Aylesbury gig of the 1980-F tour (I was even given a Harvey Goldsmith back stage pass!) There's no point in telling you their history n'all that, so let's leap right into it.
To anyone who's seen the band lately or heard the new album (as I'm sure most of you will have by the time this comes out), it's blatently obvious that there's a change in lyrical content. Andy sees this as the result of the band more and more coming into contact with people who have no Christian background at all; a move the band wish to encourage. Andy:
"Unless we start appealing to a lot more non-Christians we're not going to expand anymore, I'm the first one to acknowledge that really a lot of our record sales and a lot of the people who go to our gigs are christians. Some of that is not just 'how many ways can you say the same thing?' You know you've got to start branching out, but also I'm finding with my own lyrics, as I can get to grips with them, that I want to talk about other things in the song."
Taking one song as an example Andy answers some of the criticism already being levelled at them.
"There's this one called Joanne that's about someone who wants to do themselves in. People say it's a bit weak because I'm just saying 'Yes there is something you can do'. Why don't I say it as an answer? Then again I thought about someone in that situation; they're sitting there saying 'OK. tell me something to make me want to live, otherwise I'll just jack it in'. It's no good just pointing to a verse, you've got to give them encouragement just to live."
Picking up on the point Andy made about their audience being predominently Christian we discussed two inconsistencies. Firstly there are some kids who's parents allow them to go to ATF gigs and buy their records but the other music they're allowed to listen to is, say, The King Singers. And secondly there are some people who's following of ATF is not in keeping with his/her regular taste; in other words people who like ATF for their Christianity and not their music. But, folks, Andy Piercy understands you. He knows that there's such a drastic shortage of christian talent, that you all jump on the first lot that appears. In acknowledging this I uncovered a dilemma that this fancy foursome came across when One Rule charted.
"Andy Peebles said to us 'I really like your record but can you do anything about these weird letters I keep getting?' I think this is to do with Christians attitudes, they're far to easily satisfied, so they think that if After the Fire have a record at No.40 that gives them the right fo bombard people with evangelical literature."
Changing the subject completely I asked Andy about the shift in the music; the set now includes some slower songs and even a guitar solo!
"The new songs open up a bit more. We've started moving to bigger stages so you have to expand the music a bit. In clubs you never give them a chance to think about whether they're enjoying it or not, I mean we never used to do intros or anything, in that tight environment it works really well."
A combination of circumstances has meant that the band have been laid off for an awful long time, which was 'really horrible', though it has given them plenty of time to practice. So how does it feel nearly two years into a recording contract? After a lot of humming and harring this was his answer:
"Our situation hasn't really been the usual one. Personnel and other things could have made things different. But then again I'm a great believer in what's been has been. You've just got to move on."
Leading on from this I got a comment on hyping:
"The hyping situation is a funny one 'cos everybody does it but what gets in the press are the ones that worked. For everything hyped into the charts you can list a story of twenty others that were hyped and didn't get into the charts."
With the economic depression rearing its ugly head in Britain for the second time this century the record business is certainly not exempt. Here is Andy's behind the scenes look at a record company:
"This year we definitely suffered from everybody being very nervous at their jobs. It's instead of like, 'This is a nice song lets put it out as a single, lt doesn't matter if it doesn't happen - we'll just put out another one.' Now it's like, '0K, right, we've got 10 songs on an album - which one's gonna be the hit?' They'll get it down to like three or four and you'll go in and they say, 'Right we're gonna release that one.' and we say, 'Well we'd rather do this one', so they say, 'Are you sure? Do you think that'll be a hit?' It's like that all the time. '0K,' we say, 'let's go with that one'. And then you go in a week later and they say, 'We've changed our minds. We think this is the right one for this market'. They're very paranoid. It's a lot to do with people coming back to their offices at CBS in New York and finding someone else's name on the door. (That's a true story!)"
The future was the next subject on my agenda, Andy found this hard. At first he couldn't bring himself to think beyond that evening. I suspect that the momentum lost by the lay off has made predictions seem almost blasphemous. Thus he ended up commenting on a wide range of subjects, punctuating each with a
"The future, well, I just don't know".
He spoke of the video for Wild West Show where the band, dressed as cowboys, are found in a saloon drinking, smoking and gambling, where they smash the place up and kill everybody:
"Pure promo".
From here we somehow back-tracked to the hassle I had getting this interview, Lindsey, their publicist by way of an excuse unknowingly quoted almost everything Steve Fairnie said in the Famous Names article in the Greenbelt programme. Publicity-wise the band suffer from their faith being known. When first interviewed by the regular press they were treated as 'this freak Christian outfit' with little mention of their music. They're not afraid of people knowing but equally don't seek to flaunt it. Problems arise for instance, when they are asked to do a radio show and turn up to find it's not for the rock programme but the Sunday morning religious one.
So what does Andy see as his role in all this?
"I can't say, 'Right I'm a Christian who's a musician. Therefore, if I make problems you have to lump it'. I have to be aware of the responsibilities that I have. Whether I like it or not, kids look up to After the Fire. Also I don't believe that I'm a musician using music to evangelise. Those are the two posts taken. But I'm neither, and the band's neither. We're somewhere in between."
After six years in ATF have any of his opinions on this changed?
"No ... I really came into the band when it was just a case of something we really felt we should be doing; something God wanted us to do. We just took it one step at a time, and allowed ourselves to develop in the direction we were being taken. I don't mean the direction we were being sucked."
He spoke of his position as lyricist where he is:
"Trying to let everything I believe in affect what I'm saying in a three minute song. So I really have to think about it. I have to say 'Hang on a minute that doesn't make sense'. So the process of learning continues."
Now what did he say as regards the future? The paranoia at CBS along with their seeming lack of commitment could result in the band being dropped, but this is not a problem for them as a new deal could be negotiated in no time. They've even had offers! Following this he did say that if chart success continued to elude them they'd have to consider jacking it in (cue sobbing).
What can I say? Up until now the lack of product from this band has lead me among others to write them off. But I must say that the interview cheered me up no end they seem very much alive and kicking. With that in mind I took my place in the hall.
The long months of rehearsing have certainly paid off and the set was performed admirably. But no amount of technique / musicianship can detract from the fact that something was missing. They don't seem to have progressed from the Laser Love set (except to give jonny a bigger part to play - or did they just turn his volume up?).
It was all nice fun, but there were no surprises. Even the faithful hadn't learned any new tricks. ATF's music is of the sing-along kind but below that there's nothing. Yes, I did enjoy the gig, but in a passive, nostalgic way. And seeing them the following night at Dingwalls, they were just plain boring. But perhaps the moral here is don't go and see ATF two nights in a row.