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Deacon Blue promise to deliver a dose of nostalgic pop to Dubai

Vocalist Ricky Ross tells City Times why it’s important to keep coming back to the classics, ahead of the band’s concert in Dubai tomorrow

Nostalgia lovers can look forward to turning back the clock on Thursday night, as Deacon Blue take to the Irish Village stage to revisit timeless hits like Real Gone Kid, Dignity and Fergus Sings the Blues. Unlike pop stars that claim to have outgrown their trademark songs (Sinead O’Connor recently all but disowned Nothing Compares To You), Deacon Blue’s vocalist Ricky Ross believes in upholding the sentiments that attach themselves to a particular tune, even if that tune dates back decades.

In a recent phone interview with City Times, Ross voiced his thoughts on O’Connor’s move to discard her signature hit from future performances: “I think you go through these phases. I certainly went through a phase but the last time that happened was twenty years ago (laughs). Now I feel very grateful for the old songs. I feel these songs have become part of our audiences’ lives, they’ve become part of us, so when we sing songs like Dignity or Real Gone Kid, it’s a celebration of what brought us together. It’s important to make these celebrations and I don’t shy away from them because these are songs people want to hear. So as far as we’re concerned, we’ll continue playing our most famous songs.”

Ross expressed excitement at the prospect of Deacon Blue performing in Dubai again. “We were there in 2002, I think, and I can’t remember exactly, but we’ve been back since then. It’s a beautiful place and we had a lovely experience there, with a very friendly audience and we’re looking forward to it very much.”

On what fans here can expect from the show, he said, “We’ll do lots of songs from the past and one or two songs from the present and hopefully everyone will just have a really good night out!”

Steering the conversation towards nostalgia yet again, we asked him if old songs tend to take centre stage as far as audience requests are concerned.

“People do request old songs, and I think that’s probably because they are associated with when you first heard the band. It’s probably more older stuff that people always want to hear, but we’re in a nice position where we’ve had a bit of success recently with new material as well and so our performances would be a good mixture of material from right across the years basically.”

FIRST RECORD ‘A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE’

Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1985, the band – whose original line-up consisted of vocalists Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime, drummer Dougie Vipond, bass guitarist Ewen Vernal and late guitarist Graeme Kelling - released their debut album Raintown (described as “having the overtones of a concept album relating to the struggles of getting by in the inner city of urban life”) in 1987.

Almost thirty years down the line, Raintown still seems to hold a special place in Ross’s heart.

Reminiscing about the defining moments of his career, he said, “Making our first record was a magical experience that none of us can forget. We made Raintown in what seemed like a few weeks – it really was a couple of months - and it was just a very formative experience for us. Making that record was the most significant thing we ever did – everything came from that. Along the way you get lovely experiences, lovely things happen, there’s gigs that you do that are better than other nights, but Raintown was essential for what we’ve done since then.”

FOREVER ‘BLUE’

Deacon Blue split up for five years from 1994-1999 in the wake of drummer Dougie Vipond’s decision to quit, but the band members seemed to have remained close. Ross says the decision to reunite sprung from the realisation that “when we were working together we were better at doing things.”

“There’s something that happens when we get together as a band that’s good and certainly for me it brought out a lot of the things that helped me as a songwriter. I think all of us felt that it was something that we did together that we couldn’t do apart and it kind of worked for us. And although we do do different things we celebrate the fact that we can make music together. Everything’s come from that really.”

A FRESH FANBASE

When asked if the band’s comeback album, 2012’s The Hipsters was kind of instrumental in introducing their music to a newer audience, Ross said, “People who knew us already had heard it certainly, and around that time we started playing maybe more younger festivals as well – like T in the Park – and the V Festival in England. It seemed to me that some people suddenly knew who we were for the first time.”

INSPIRED BY NATURE

Ross revealed that the band’s last album, A New House, released in 2014, was very much a “follow on” from The Hipsters.

“The energy that we had from doing the Hipsters album and tour was still there, and I think for me the inspiration for A New House came from travelling, from a solo trip I did throughout Scotland and seeing again just what a beautiful country it was. You have kind of a long winter here and you go through all these dark nights and then when spring comes you know there’s no stopping the energy and rush of the season; I think that seeing the landscape come alive again in the spring time was the inspiration that gave birth to the record.”

The title track is Ross’ favourite. “That’s the one that set the thing going and got the idea going and it was the first song to be written. It was also the one that was played most on the radio as well!”

‘IT WAS MUCH EASIER IN THE 80s’

When Deacon Blue kicked off their career, the music world was definitely in a more laidback place, and Ross acknowledges the fact that opportunities were easier to come by at that time.

“I think it’s definitely harder for young people. I think in some ways you can make your record, get it out, you have all the technologies available to do it cheaper but in terms of just getting started and so on, it seemed it was much easier in the ’80s than it is now for young bands. We were lucky that when we got started, we got people to come and see us, got a record company and manager behind us. But now I’ve got a lot of younger friends who make music and sometimes they just can’t get a break. There’s just so much music out there as well. I think the eighties was a good time to be making music.”

Having said that, Ross believes newer bands do have the potential of making it provided they hold your interest.

“There’s bands I’ve seen in the last few years – like the American indie folk band the Fleet Foxes in Nashville in 2012. They were so engaging live and it was wonderful. There’s lots of bands that inspire belief in what they’re doing and you become interested in what they do next. I think that’s the crucial factor in making a band relevant over a period of time.”

In today’s increasingly fickle music industry, what contributes to a band’s longevity?

“I think the songs have got to seep into people’s lives. I think if your songs have any chance of staying around, they have to mean something to the listener. Whether people fall in love to the tune of those songs or get married and play these songs at their weddings... or the songs remind them of getting together with a partner... I think if the songs have got into people’s lives in a very real way then you’ll see the difference.”

On the importance of playing live:

“I think for us it’s been a very important factor. I think the core of our audience is still the ones that came to see us in small venues when we started. I believe we have a bond with that audience and it grows from that, so I think we wouldn’t exist unless we played live. We play live in the studio as well! For us it’s absolutely essential to everything.”