>>PREVIEW
HUGH CORNWELL
Friday, March 24
Liberty Lounge
Chatting on the phone about the weather with one of rock’s most enduring singer-songwriters wasn’t exactly how I expected our conversation to begin. Somehow, the image of the snarky front man from the late-’70s has stuck with me over the years. So, it felt odd to segue from discussing the Canadian winter to the virtues of moderation with Hugh Cornwell, founding member of The Stranglers.
Once known for blindfolding journalists and raging against nearly everything, Cornwell has settled into his life – avoiding the same traps as Sid Vicious and others of the same era. Yet, he still feels distant from the mainstream.
"I’ve always felt a bit removed from it all," he says.
The man who once smirkingly donned a suit for the video Golden Brown, a song about heroin addiction, is now surfing the Internet, listening to jazz and consuming books on tour – not illicit substances.
"I gave up drugs in the ’80s. I don’t smoke much – pretty much only when I drink. I try and drink in moderation. Once I’ve had a couple, I try and cool it. I’m usually successful," he says with a small laugh. "A few days of the week I try and maintain complete sobriety. You sleep well and it’s so rejuvenating. Then you enjoy the next drink so much more."
Cornwell has a background in bio-chemistry and was midway through completing a PhD at Bristol when he was swept up in the dizzying, stimulating vortex of music and hasn’t looked back since. His analytical and scientific mind may be one of the reasons for his logical stance on music file sharing. Cornwell is a proponent of downloading and calls music file sharing "amazing," saying if the quality of digital music ever reaches the rich quality of analog, it will be a positive evolution for music.
"When they can get downloaded songs to sound like vinyl, that will be wonderful," he says.
Compensation for artists is also a subject near to Cornwell’s heart.
"It should be free. But then the question arises, how do the artists get paid?"
He says the large record companies still take too big a slice of the profit pie, but if there was a way to eliminate them as the greedy middle person, musicians would be more fairly compensated for their efforts.
Cornwell maintains a clear-headed, level approach to his lifestyle that has secured his longevity in a business known for gobbling up even the most talented and creative souls.
"After a period of going crazy, you get some perspective and you realize why you’re there in the first place. You’re doing it because you love to perform. Eventually you ask yourself if you’re in it for the party or the music. It doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun, but you have to be careful," he explains.
He understands the frustration felt by many new bands trying to get a big break, but says the mood in the industry is so reserved, that it’s tough to bust through and get signed.
"It’s much more deliberate now. Much more considered. Record companies are going down the toilet and so they’re reticent to make long-term commitments to artists."
He has no illusions of the role the media plays in promoting his music and has taken a proactive approach to interviews. Once cheeky and belligerent, he’s come to realize his relationship with the press requires nurturing and careful consideration.
"Our relationship with the media was very checkered. A lot of it got dramatized by our behaviour," he says of The Stranglers’ antics with reporters. "Nowadays, they’re so powerful. There’s so much for them to choose from and if it’s awkward or difficult, they can’t be bothered. It’s a buyers’ market from the press point of view."
When asked about current bands and their fondness for performing while wearing suits, he chuckles a bit at the irony.
"(Music) is a lot like fashion – the hemlines go up and down." |
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