Richard Walters
I have been really enjoying your “True Love Will Find You In The End” single. Can you tell us bit about how you approached covering the song?
Thanks a lot. I love that song..I think the sentiment of the lyrics could so easily sound corny and worn out written by anyone else, but it’s just so naive and simple…it has the perfect weight. I knew what I wanted to do with the song as soon as I decided to cover it, to make it sound almost hymn like I guess.
Were you a big fan of Daniel Johnston? Did you hear any other covers before recording?
I was really into ‘Fear yourself’ when it came out, mainly because of the Sparklehorse connection, but I was unaware of the early tape albums until a few years ago when a friend suggested I cover ‘True love…’ because his kids would love to hear me sing it. I heard the Beck version of True love just after I recorded it…I prefer mine, haha. ‘The devil and daniel Johnston’ film was amazing, it made me a bigger fan of him as a person. Weirdly, I saw Sparklehorse at Somerset house about 5 years ago and Daniel was there, stood by the bar, looking a bit lost…I wish I’d gone and said hello.
Your record ‘The Animal’ is produced by David Kosten. Tell us about the recording process and how was it working with David?
The album was produced by a few producers, David, Ant Whiting and a good friend of mine called Andy Lovegrove. I’ve known David for years, he’s very clever, very inventive and brave I think. Every time we’ve recorded together something odd has happened…for the first few hours I’d think this is going horribly wrong, he’s lost his fucking mind, we’re going into this blindly…but then I’d kind of step into the light and understand what he was pushing at in the first place. He really taught me that the best work comes from taking uncertain routes
You play most of the instruments on the album yourself. What instrument are you most comfortable with?
I’m probably happiest writing on the piano, I like the possibility it presents for shapes and sounds…left hand does this but right hand can do whatever, it’s pretty boundless as an instrument. But I’m more comfortable with a guitar, especially live.
The record coves a lot of difficult and taboo topics. Can you expand on that at all?
I think at some point I told my brain to stop writing simple lost-love songs and try breaking the formula for a slow song a little…it’s something I concentrate on much more now, especially with what I’m writing at the moment. I like the idea that it might catch people off guard a little, especially someone who might dismiss the style of music and sweep it into some horrible singer/songwriter corner.
It says here that you are you currently living in Paris? Why the move out of England?
I met a wonderful girl who was living here and she eventually suggested i move over, and it seemed like the perfect time to make a change. When it was first mentioned, I completely dismissed it, it seemed like an impossibly huge step…but the more I thought about it, the less reasons I had to not do it.
I notice you are active on Twitter. Have you found the site helpful as a promotional tool or more just for pleasure?
I don’t know if it helps much for me personally…theres not much you can actually say in 140 words…there’s a real art to it I think, making mundane activities readable – I’m struggling to master it.
Any plans for the rest of the year? More touring?
A few UK gigs in July, then the album will come out on September 21st… Then I hope I’ll be living in venues for a few months, I’m looking forward to busy times.
