Thanks once again to Ian for this interview!! Just a few weeks ago we did an interview about The Clamheads and we know that the band reformed in the mid-90s under the name Borgnine. So this is like a 2nd part of that interview, here we talk about this 2nd period of the band and it is great as there is so little info about this period, even less than the 1st period of the band! The band released an album on CD called “None the Wiser” that is worth tracking down!

++ Hi Ian! Thanks so much for being up for another interview! How are you? Any plans for this summer?

A week on the coast in Northumberland (north-east England), bleak and very beautiful. At the moment there’s not much point planning foreign travel.

++ We were talking about The Clamheads last time, which was almost the same band as Borgnine as I understand it. But there was a gap in between the two bands. You were telling your time then was mostly oriented to family. But what about the other band members, did they continue making music?

I don’t think they did. For a while I played guitar with an Oxford group called Arthur Turner’s Lovechild, who are local legends. They were formed by Mac who was an original Clamhead with Matt. Great group but it was Mac’s thing, not mine. I had two small children and very little money, it was quite a difficult time.

++ In 1995 you feel that you want to be in a band again and you all reconvene. And suddenly you see that there is another band in London called Clamhead. I still think The Clamheads is different to Clamhead, was it an easy decision to use a different name? Why not continue with the one you had?

Now I think we should have continued with The Clamheads, but I don’t remember discussing it much.

++ I haven’t listened to Clamhead at all, were they your cup of tea?

Never saw or heard them.

++ You choose to name yourselves Borgnine after the actor Ernest Borgnine. Were there any other options that you considered?

Lots of really terrible options. Finding a good group name is hard.

++ I feel in 4 years, what lasted the gap between The Clamheads and Borgnine, Oxford/London must have changed a lot. Also musically indiepop wasn’t fashionable at all in the mid 90s. What were the main differences for the band between the 1st period and the 2nd period? Were there less like-minded bands? Less places to play? Or did it change for the better perhaps?

Late 80s/early 90s the Manchester/Acid/Baggy groove was the thing, then when we reformed it was the Britpop era, but we never tried to ape any of those scenes. There weren’t many contemporary groups we liked, maybe Teenage Fanclub and the La’s.

++ Speaking of like-minded bands, were there any bands in London you were fans of then, or friends, bands that you would like to share gigs with?

No, we were quite secluded really, we didn’t feel any particular affinity with anyone. Probably not a good thing tbh.

++ Did the creative process change for you? Or was it the same as in The Clamheads? Where did you usually practice now?

Same as before, Matt or I would come up with a song and we’d try it, if it sounded good we’d keep it. We rehearsed in the basement room at Mike’s house in central London, that was great because it was so easy.

++ I think my favourite song of yours might as well be “Everything You Need”, wondering if you could tell me what inspired this song? What’s the story behind it?

That’s one of Matt’s, I’ll ask him.

++ If you were to choose your favorite Borgnine song, which one would that be and why?

I can’t be objective about my songs so I’ll say Things That Stop Me Sleeping, that’s one of Matt’s.

++ What about gigs? Did you play many in this 2nd period?

Yes quite a lot, mainly around Oxford. There was a good scene there at the time.

++ You played again in France, right?

Yes in 1996. The others don’t remember it but video evidence exists! I’ll get it digitised and put it on YouTube.

++ Did Borgnine get more radio or press attention compared to The Clamheads?

Yes, some good reviews in the Oxford music press.

++ Looking back in retrospective, what would you say was the biggest highlight for Borgnine?

Playing in France, for sure, I loved it every time.

++ You told me about some hobbies you have, and you were telling me you are learning Arabic. How is that going? Must be very difficult! What made you choose to learn that language?

It’s very hard! I can just about recognise the alphabet now. French is my subject and there’s a substantial shared history between France and the Maghreb countries, and a significant population of North African origin in France, including some of my best friends. Also possibly because I can’t yet read it, I love the appearance of Arabic script, and the way it feeds into Islamic art which tends not to use representational imagery. Being able to read it might spoil the effect, beautiful script might just be saying something like ’no parking’!

++ You were telling me too you were a football fan! What team do you follow? Do you go to games often?

Oxford United, I’ve been a fan since I was 8 years old. You can’t change, it’s a life sentence! They’re not a famous team but I don’t care. I go to every home game with Angus Stevenson, guitarist in the Relationships, previously in the Razorcuts and legendary Oxford group Here Comes Everybody. Phil Selway from Radiohead and Mark Gardner from Ride are regular Oxford fans.

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m very happy to see some interest in the Clamheads/Borgnine. I still love the album and think it’s one of the best things I ever did. I’ve written 100s of songs, most of them are rubbish – that’s a fact, not false modesty – and I’m glad they were never released. I get embarrassed even thinking about some of them. However I think None the Wiser is consistently good, it was a fantastic time and the guys were and are great friends. Je ne regrette rien!

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Listen
Borgnine – Everything You Need