On Friday 6th November we attended Bobby Long's London tour date at The Borderline (You can read our review of the gig here ). Before the gig we sat down with Bobby and asked him some questions about this tour, album and future plans :)
You are coming to the end of this tour, and you've done gigs in America, in Europe and here in the UK. What is your favourite memory from this tour?
I've been surprised quite a lot at shows where I haven't played before and they've been really good crowds. The whole tour's been really great. I went to Salzburg in Austria. I did a private show there. It was so beautiful. That was great. The whole thing has been really good. The shows have been great. The whole tour is a good memory you know. I'm excited to go out and do it again, after a bit of a break, so I don't die (laughs). It's been wonderful. I feel like it's been like the perfect amount, it's been like nearly 3 months, it's a good amount of time. After a while if it goes on for much longer the show starts to suffer a little bit, so it's been great.
What is your favourite, and least favourite song to play from your Ode To Thinking album? (question from iamdaisygrrl on twitter)
My favourite/least favourite is probably the same song. It's probably my favourite song from the album which is The Dark Won't Get Darker because sometimes when I play it I feel like I need other musicians with it and sometimes when I play it on my own really quiet it's really nice. I played it in Vienna in front of 100 and something people and it didn't work very well as it felt like the room was a little too big but I played it in front of 80 people in Graz or somewhere and it was wonderful, it was really nice.
What is your favourite song, from all your songs, to perform live and why?
From all the songs I've ever written? Wow. I don't know. It changes every night. I don't really have a favourite song to play. It goes up and down. One minute I'm happy about playing something and next I get really bored. It's why I don't do set lists.
How do you narrow down which songs to record for an album?
It's really difficult. A lot of it is just playing them before and sometimes you're in the studio and you try doing it and it doesn't work or something works that you didn't expect to so, a lot of the time it's trial and error. I think with 80% you know which songs you want to do but 20% I'm always surprised about a song that doesn't make it or makes it.
How did you narrow down from the album to the vinyl? (question from VLovesElvis on twitter)
I just wanted to do something a bit different, so wanted to give it a different title, different artwork and then you know on vinyl the quality, the audio quality, goes down the more you try and shove on it. You have to leave gaps between the vinyl obviously, it lets it breathe. We couldn't put all 11-12 songs on there. I decided to pick the songs I really really liked. It's kind of a bootleg cool thing that people will invest in again.
Who's your dream musician to work with and/or perform with and why?
I'd like to work with Randy Newman. That would be great. Just to hang out with him would be cool. To work with or perform with? I wouldn't mind performing with Ryan Adams, actually I would like to work with Ryan Adams but I'd like to perform with Randy Newman. Just singing one of his songs.
Any song in particular? God's Song.
If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Blue by Joni Mitchell, maybe. I really like that album. It's really pure and really simple.
What are your plans for next year?
I've already got tours set up for January and February and another one being booked for April and hopefully March too so I'll be touring during the start and then thinking about recording another album and maybe doing a book. I think I'll still be promoting this album a little bit.
Are you doing another book of poetry?
I hope so. I've kind of finished it but kind of want to expand on it a little bit. If it gets in the way of me doing music then I won't do it but if I'm happy, if the plan is to release an album early 2017 then I have 3 months where I don't feel necessarily that I need to be pushing the music or writing then I'll release it.
Where do you see yourself in five years time?
I don't know. I have no idea. Still doing music hopefully. Living on a beach... playing with horses (laughs) that's a joke, just trying to make Hayley [his agent] laugh. Just lying on a beach braiding some young horses hair...Giving piggybacks to my kids. I don't know. No idea.
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I'm reading 2 actually. Oscar Wilde's memoirs De Profundis, from when he was in jail and I'm also reading Pattie Boyd, the woman who was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton. She did an autobiography. I'm reading that too.
Thanks for answering our questions Bobby!
You can follow Bobby Long on Twitter at @BobbyLongNews
Bobby's official website is http://www.bobbylong.info/
Massive thanks to @HollyArranBlue for her help and support <3
Photos by Jamie Strachan @jamiestrachan11 source source
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Katie Harris
140 Music Promo
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