Megastar of the 80s, MTV Europe’s Best Act Ever, and internet idol, Rick Astley is bringing an unlikely brand of music to the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Charles Raspin finds out more
Rick Astley and the Luddites covering REM at the Rose in 2011
With a new album and an international tour on the way, you might be forgiven for surprise at seeing Rick Astley’s name on the lineup for the Rose Theatre later this week. When it emerges that the famous crooner is going to be playing the drums in a garage rock band, a suspicion that you’re being pranked starts to emerge.
“I’m looking forward to it, to be honest”, Rick confides. “It’s not my day job!”
Rick Astley & The Luddites are described as Rick’s “weekend hobby band” – in his own words, a “mid-life crisis power trio” of three friends out to rock until they drop – and their material is a little outside Rick’s usual image.
“Oh, yeah, The Luddites are in a different universe. That’s the rich tapestry of music. It’s really simplistic, just three guys rocking out, but it takes us right back to where we started – and why we started. It’s rock, it’s punk, it’s a bit nasty, a bit rough around the edges – and I get to swear at people!”
“Plus I’m the drummer, which was where I started”, he notes, referring to his early days in the soul band FBI. “You can’t substitute the drums for anything else. They’re incredible, instinctive. Most musicians don’t think drummers are musicians – you know, they’re just the animal at the back. I kind of like that, to be honest.”
I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve heard a lead singer wish he could be the drummer.
“Well, it’s easy to wish I was the drummer, because I’ve been the singer. There’s a lot of things in life very similar to that. It was easy to walk away from big music, because I’d already had some hits, and made some money.”
Checking Rick’s discography does reveal a bit of a gap – he retired at just 27, staying silent for more than ten years before returning to touring and recording. What’s behind this quiet patch?
“It’s a music business – and it’s corny to say it, but business is the bigger word. So much of what I was doing had nothing to do with actual music, and it wore on me”, he explains, without a trace of bitterness. I get the sense Rick’s something of a realist – but just because he understood the business doesn’t mean he had to sacrifice himself to it.
“It’s like sport. Unless you’re going to give it absolutely everything you’ve got, someone else will. You’ve got to do it full on, or not bother – and I couldn’t do it full on anymore. I loved it, and I’m incredibly fortunate to have been able to do it, but I’m glad I quit when I did and didn’t get jaded.”
Leaving the industry was also an opportunity to start a family – Rick’s daughter, Emilie, had been born the year before, and it was time to step back and choose his priorities.
“It’s not like I was superdad – but I was able to bond with my daughter, instead of being on tour. My parents divorced when I was four, and they’re not the sort of people who get along, so it was a conscious decision to be around for my daughter.”
Now that she’s 23, Rick tells me, he’s the one turning to her for advice – “she’s much more tuned-in than I was at that age!”
The Luddites latest gig will be in aid of Prostate Cancer UK – “if we were 21 it probably would have been a different charity”, Rick explains. “I’m going to be 50 next year, my bandmates are a year or two older… we’re getting to that age. You start being aware of it.”
“At the end of the day, though, it’s for our own amusement. If we can raise a few bob for a good cause, that’s great, but we’d do it even if there wasn’t an audience, and that’s why we have so much fun! It reminds us of when we were kids, and we’d play to two people and a dog in a pub on a wet Tuesday evening. We just did it because we wanted to.”
“Though obviously, because of my career we can do it on a bigger scale than a regular pub band. Like, say, taking over the the Rose for the night.”
Rick’s unabashedly aware of his own good fortune, a kind of self-awareness that is genuinely refreshing. Where some artists are embarrassed by older material, he’s grateful for the success it brought him.
“The way I see it, those songs are why I’ve had a great life. They carried me around the world. When I tour, I always make a point of playing my old songs, along with new material – that’s what most people want to hear. I think that long break helped – I never got sick of my music. I’ve got enough distance to appreciate the old songs.”
“At the end of the day, though, I like creating. I’m always fiddling about.”
A process that’s led to his latest album, which he’ll be supporting with a tour next year. What can we expect from the man voted MTV Europe’s Best Act Ever in 2008?
“It’s earthier than stuff I’ve done before”, he considers, “and I think my voice has changed over years. It’s a bit darker, a bit more mature. There are a few songs that have a bit more intensity, and are a bit more personal than what I’ve done before.”
“When you’re young it’s hard to get really personal lyrics out without sounding like you’re whining or moaning. Younger people today are much more aware of themselves, I think – and full-on, mainstream pop music feels able to talk about things we never would have been able to put out there. I’m a little older, a little more mature, and I think I can put myself out there a bit more.”
“Well, it’s still pop music.” He pauses. “At least, I hope it is – that means it’s popular!”
Rick Astley & the Luddites are at the Rose Theatre on December 18
Find dates and book tickets to Rick’s new tour on his website
