By Sally Churchward.
Rick Witter bounces into the doorway of his dressing room, his index and middle fingers held up.
“Two minutes,” he mouths.
As a long term Shed Seven fan, it’s the first time I’ll have had a chance to chat with him in 30-odd years of fandom. Another two minutes is fine.
When Rick joins me at a picnic table backstage at Victorious Festival, he’s all smiles, chats and handshakes. He has the air of a man with all the time in the world, not someone who’s due to perform in front of tens of thousands on the main stage in three quarters of an hour.
As he says himself later in the interview, this time around he’s paying attention to what’s happening, enjoying it and remembering it. As he leans back in his chair, taking long drags on his cigarette, he feels very present and focused.
I mention to Rick that my friends and I used to ask for so many Shed Seven songs at a Southampton nightclub that the DJ nicknamed us The Sheddies and that I’ve seen them loads of times including at Southampton’s Jumpin’ Jaks and Portsmouth Pyramids.
“Oh, that’s going back a bit,” he says.
And Shed Seven do, indeed, go back a bit. They formed as a band 35 years ago, and last year celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first album, with an epic year, scoring two number one albums, Liquid Gold and A Matter of Time, joining the likes of Elvis and Taylor Swift as the 20th artists to achieve this feat.
They also had two instantly sold out homecoming shows at York’s Museum Gardens, before embarking on a huge run of sold out shows across the UK.
The success continues, notably including a highly praised set at Glastonbury Festival this year.
Often seen as underdogs of the Britpop scene, they are out on top now, and are absolutely relishing in it.
To put it mildly, they’re having a big thing at the moment.
“We’ve definitely had a big thing – there’s your headline straight away,” Rick laughs.
“Oh, we’ve had an amazing run. It’s funny ’cause people do come up and say ‘what’s it like to suddenly get a number one after so many years,’ but it’s not all of a sudden. We’ve built this up over quite a period of time, doing a lot of groundwork, being constantly on tour, you know, since time began.
“It just felt really weird how in our 30th anniversary year, the stars aligned and it happened, all at the same time.”
So did the band intend to make 2024 such a big year?
No, no, we were just doing what we always do, so everything else sort of fitted around us, really,” Rick explains.
“We’ve never been a band who over analyses, over discusses, you know? If we start writing a new album, we don’t sit down first and think of how we might go about it, we just start doing it, so everything’s just really natural. So it’s been amazing.”
Rick still seems a bit taken aback at where the band have found themselves over the last year or so.
“Not many bands get to their 30th year – well it’s been going since 1990, so it’s 35 years – not many bands get to not only just do it but to have a lot of success doing it at that stage in their career, so it’s something that we’re all very appreciative of,” he says with feeling.
“In the 90s, when we were in our early 20s, we’d swan around thinking we’re the best thing ever and we deserve everything that’s coming at us and then it stops and you think ‘well what went wrong there?’
“So now that we’re in our early 50s, we’re recognising everything that’s happening and taking it on board and remembering it, you know?
“It’s almost like having a second bite of the cherry, really. And the cherry tastes sweet. That’s another headline!” he exclaims with a laugh. “I’m just giving them to you, the headlines here!
“We could be going for gold, couldn’t we, or I might have to think of a new song, around cherries – ha ha.”
On the subject of Going for Gold, does Rick have a favourite song from the band’s extensive catalogue to perform – or one he can’t stand?
“I’ve got to really like what I’m singing and convey that to a group of people who might be watching us, so obviously the bigger hits that go down well are a joy to play, because you’re watching loads of people having a really good time,” he reflects.
“It’s difficult, because I could say ‘right, the next song is an early b-side’ that I really love, but no one knows it, so they all go for a wee or a drink or stand there non-plussed and it puts a damper on it, certainly at festivals, anyway. I mean, what’s the point in coming here and playing 45 minutes and not playing all your hits. That would be scandalous!” he laughs.
“The bigger hits that go down well are always a joy, so obviously your Chasing Rainbows is always a big one,” he adds. “We always play that last, which is good, because people who are aware of us know that we always play that last, so there’s no point in chanting for another one after it.”
On the subject of festivals, earlier this summer Shed Seven went down an absolute storm at Glastonbury, playing to a packed tent, and receiving rave reviews.
“Glastonbury was amazing,” Rick says, with an air of disbelief.
“You never know at festivals, do you, because it’s not essentially your crowd, so there’s a bit of a thrill in the chase, but there’s also a little bit of angst – are we going to walk out and there’s going to be nobody there? So Glastonbury was a right buzz, because the tent was packed and the atmosphere in that tent was really electric. It was weird, it was one of those weird gigs, where you need to stop and think what’s happening, but then luckily it was on the iPlayer for a while, so you could go back and revisit.”
And did he rewatch it?
“No no,” he laughs. “it’s nice to hear online that other people watched it on there and enjoyed it. It’s not ordinarily what I would do, wake up on a Monday morning, pop the iPlayer on and watch me-self for an hour.”
So has what he does in a typical week changed in recent months, with the band’s renewed success?
“Well it’s weird, isn’t it, because you go in cycles, so you’re either doing a summer festival tour, which means it’s mostly at weekends, so Monday morning is probably watching This Morning. But then when you’re on tour, it’s a bit more intense, so you find yourself in a lot more hotel rooms, so Monday morning’s always a bit dog. Monday morning’s always been a bit dog.
“But then you find yourselves going quiet for a bit, which is exactly what we’re going to do after today.
“We’re going to do a big tour at the end of next year, which means we might not do anything probably until next October, which means we’re going really quiet for over a year, but it’s quiet in public – behind the scenes we’ll be writing new stuff, we’ll be busy trying to be creative, which comes and goes,” he adds.
“You know, you don’t just get up on a Monday morning and go ‘right I’m going to write 3 songs now,’ and then do it. It doesn’t happen like that. So I spend a lot of time wandering around my house, thinking of things. It’s all about thought.”
So what is Rick’s creative process?
“I’m always jotting things down for future ideas, so at any given time I’ll think of a good lyric and I’ll have to jot it down, because if I don’t it’s gone forever.
“So ordinarily, Paul (Banks) will send me a guitar riff and I’ll just play that over and over and then I’ll think of a melody to it, and then once I’m happy with the melody, I’ll start piecing lyrics to that melody.”
Rick shares that, despite starting out in Shed Seven some 35 years ago, songwriting can still be hard work.
“Sometimes that takes 20 minutes, sometimes it takes three months. Sometimes, if it is taking a while, you start to think ‘well is it worth it?’, but sometimes it is worth it. It’s instinctive. You just know if it’s worth persevering with it.”
Whilst Shed Seven have successfully adapted to changes in the music industry, how difficult does Rick think it is for bands starting out now, as opposed to when Shed Seven formed?
“The music industry from the 90s to now has massively changed, and we’re still learning all the time.
“Today, it’s more difficult to get signed, I guess, but then do you perhaps not need that?
“It’s more difficult to find rehearsal spaces, but do you need them?
“There’s ways and means around everything, and I think quality will always shine through at the end of the day. It’s more if you’ve got the desire to do it, you know?” He adds.
“When we were unsigned in 1992, we used to wander round York thinking we were the best band in the world, but we were unsigned and hardly anyone had heard of us.
“Then we started to get a little bit of recognition and we started to go to London and do gigs in pubs in front of nobody.
“That would involve hiring a minibus, having drumkits on our laps, driving five hours to London, setting up, doing a gig in front of nobody, packing it all away again and driving home again for five hours but not once did we ever think ‘this isn’t worth it’. Because we just knew in ourselves that what we were doing was really good.”
It’s just over half an hour before Shed Seven are due on the main stage – with two more interviews to do beforehand – and our time is up, so one quick question: does Rick have anything he wants to add?
“Just keep liking us please!” he laughs.
“We’ll be back, and if you like our stuff you’ll like what we’re doing next.”
He smiles as he circles the conversation back to the beginning: “and say hello to the Sheddies!”
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