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James Walsh (Singer), James Stelfox (Bass), Barry Westhead (Keyboard) and Ben Byrne (Drums) paid Hong Kong a short visit, not just for their concert (11th Dec, 2003), but also for some Christmas shopping at Shanghai Tang.
Starsailor surprised their dedicated fans here in Hong Kong, with their sense of humour, amazing live performance, and grounded attitude. Having the opportunity to talk to bassist James Stelfox, here we find out even more about Britain's best folk band.
Alyson : Having the chance to work with so many legends, or even just recording this album ‘Love is Here’ at Abby Road studio… how d’ya feel?
James : Feel alright!
All : (Laugh)
Alyson : Have you ever imagined even doing this before getting in the business?
James : No… emm… difficult to answer that really… (paused for a minute) I always see people as people really, and I think everyone’s on the same level, I know Phil Spector is a great legendary producer, but to me he’s just another man, and so if I met Muhammad Ali, it’ll be great to meet him, but he’ll still be another man… but I think… people are people within the same kinda thing, I think people are fortunate to have the opportunity to do things, if you know what I mean… Phil Spector was fortunate to be Phil Spector, Muhammad Ali was fortunate to be Muhammad Ali, have the opportunity and took it, which is great, I’m never overwhelmed by anyone.
Comparing ‘Silence Is Easy’ to ‘Love Is Here’:
James : When we did the first record, I think we were quite young and naïve, really… and when everything happened… and I think on the second one, we’ve traveled the world, twice over, seen a lot of great things, different cultures from Asian to American, to French, to German, and it change the way we looked at things, really… and we were happy… to be doing the best job in the world, I think.
Favorite from the two albums:
James : Oh well, probably emm… ‘Telling Them’. (As for the first album) ‘She Just Wept’.
Others : Any reason why you like these songs?
James : Emm, I always liked slow songs really… and… I think we write better slow songs than better fast songs… it’s just the way we write.
Favorite albums of year 2003:
James : Emm… The Strokes ‘Room On Fire’… Elbow…and ours…
On Coldplay:
James : Oh you said that word… you said the word! (I feel) Numb! I think Coldplay is a good band, I really do, I really do think Chris Martin is gentleman with talent, the band is working really well, but I think we’re absolutely nothing alike! The only difference is we’ve got four heads, and so have they! But… I do like them, I think they’re alright, ‘Politik’ is a good song.
On American Music:
James : I think now Americans have the greatest music scene in the world! Their hip-hop and their R&B are unbelievable, from 50 Cent to Destiny’s Child… If you look at the British rappers or the British girl bands, for example, Atomic Kitten is the biggest British girl band at the moment, compared to Destiny’s Child… there’s no comparison really. I think Americans are doing music a lot better, I think the producers in America are quite far ahead than the British at the moment.
Music that you listen to:
James : I listen to 50 Cent… I like Eminem, I like some of Beyonce’s stuff, like solo stuff.
Others : Can we look for hip-hop remix of a Starsailor’s track?
James : You’ll never know! I’ll tell you what! It’ll be great to work with Dr. Dre, ‘coz Dr. Dre is like the Phil Spector of this era. He’s definitely got his hands on the… on his brain.
On impact to teenagers:
James : You’ll have to ask them! I don’t know… emm… when I was younger, we liked bands that’d give you hope… if you know what I mean…
Others : Wanna be remembered?
James : Yeah… otherwise there’s no point.
On Starsailor’s emotional growth:
James : I think we’ve come together more on this record, I think on the first record, we’re just like rabbits caught in head lights really… we were like starting really… we were like “what’s happening!”… we sold a million records… and on this one, everything’s changed really… everything about us has changed. Personally, for me… I look at the band members differently than what’s on three years ago.
On the next record:
James : I think we’re absolutely writing heavier stuff at the moment, I think a lot of music gets a bit more rock orientated.
Alyson : What are your plans for 2004?
James : We’ll be in America for three months, than back in the UK, we’ll only start recording an album till December this year, which is a shame, we’d rather record now, instead of touring really. To be like the days of Led Zeppelin or The Doors when you can release two albums a year, instead of one every two years, I think it’s all wrong now with the promotion, no offence to you all, it’s very strange of me sitting down and talking about records, when I wanna do another one. This one’s old to me now.
Alyson : Really? New materials are coming out already?
James : Yeah, oh yeah! We’ve got four albums worth materials now.
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