I had written, two years ago, about the Bradford 80s band The Word on the blog. I had discovered them through a fantastic single, “Schoolboy Saint”, and I had wondered who were behind it. In the end I was lucky that Jon Macdonald got in touch with me and finally could get many questions answered! Here’s the interview!

++ Hi Jon! Thanks so much for being up for this interview! How are you? I hear you are still making music under Icecream4freaks, right? Tell me a bit about this project?

First of all Roque, thanks for your comments and interest. Icecream4freaks started out as a idea to work with some old friends. I had walked away from music for a while, but as it seems to be in my blood, I built a digital recording studio in my home (Addingham, Yorkshire, England) and started nervously writing some songs. Nervously, because I have always collaborated and not done words and music by myself. I didn’t know if anyone would like it but pressed ahead anyway. We have no record deal or management, but have managed some limited airplay on BBC national and local radio…
The line up is
Julian Walker: voice, occasional keyboards
Jo Dixon: guitars, programming and production,
Myself: songwriting, synthesisers, keyboards, bass etc etc
There will be more to come…

++ How similar or different would you say it is compared to The Word?

Compared to The Word, pretty different I’d say, but melodic indie pop is still the goal. Jock wrote the lions share of the songs, but we all contributed ideas.

++ And what are the future plans for the band? Where are you based, not in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the Bandcamp says?

I am based in Yorkshire, Julian and Jo in Wiltshire so live is an issue.

We would gig if there was a demand, but I’m not sure there is ha ha.

++ Let’s go back in time then. What are your first music memories? Do you remember what was your first instrument? How did you learn to play it? What sort of music did you listen at home while growing up?

Well, my first instrument (and still my favourite) is drums. I am self taught with the aid of many famous drummers I listened to as a lad, notably John Bonham, Keith Moon, Billy Cobham and especially Jaki Leibezeit from Can (my all time favourite band). All these players were a source of influence, along with bands like King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Talking Heads plus of course Can.

++ Had you been in other bands before The Word? What about the rest of the members? If so, how did all of these bands sound like? Are there any recordings?

Previous bands I played in, whilst at art college mostly, were garage bands in Bradford, Yorkshire. They included such luminaries as Japanese Soldiers (with Mark Manning who went on to become Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction… somewhat notorious, Vex and Radio 5, where I met Jock.

Recordings were made by all these bands, but sadly I’m not much of an archivist…

++ Where were you from originally?

I am from a small town in Yorkshire called Skipton… I studied at Bradford Art School, so all my musical endeavors were based there.

++ How was Bradford at the time of The Word? Were there any bands that you liked? Were there any good record stores? Or what about the pubs or venues to go check out up and coming bands?

At the time of The Word, Bradford was a fairly upbeat place with a thriving music scene, and a general drive for bands to make themselves heard. Venues like The 1 in 12 Club and Queens Hall were good to play and also a decent amount of pubs put bands on… I remember it as quite a creative time. We developed quite a decent following and played all over the country, including The Marquee and The Rock Garden in London.

++ When and how did the band start? How did you all meet? How was the recruiting process?

Jock and I met in a pub called The Manville and hit it off… I joined his the band Radio 5. Some time later, we met Paul and decided to start The Word as both our outfits weren’t getting anywhere, although we had some interest from John Peel on Radio 1.

We just all got on, and got down to making ourselves the tightest unit we could be.

++ How was the creative process for you? Where did you usually practice?

We practised in Jock’s girlfriends house in the basement. The neighbours were not impressed.

Creatively, we wanted power and melody above egotistical noodling!

++ What’s the story behind the band’s name?

We were into The Beatles Revolver and Rubber Soul era, The Word was a Lennon song.

++ And who would you say were influences in the sound of the band?

Influences were definitely The Beatles, although we all liked a wide range of stuff, from Scott Walker to The Psychedelic Furs and The Cure.

++ Your first 7″ was the “Colour It!” 7″ released in 1983. It was released by Menace Music. It was your own label, right? How did that work for you, doing a self-release? How challenging was it? Did you enjoy doing the label part of music?

Yes… nobody was battering the door down to sign us so we did it ourselves… Paul was the main driver of that. I enjoyed designing the sleeve though…

++ Were these two songs your first recordings as The Word? And how was your experience at Box Studios and working with Nyk Goss who had worked with many high profile bands?

Nyk was always fun… we did those songs because they seemed to go down really well live.

++ Then came “The Next Big Thing” 12″. I believe you first release it under your own Menace Music and then Abstract Sounds signed you and re-release it. Is that how it happened? How did you end up releasing on this London label and how was your relationship with them? Did you had to go down to London?

Memories area bit hazy about Abstract… I know we signed something ha ha.

We mastered the ep in London and I had a cup of tea with Ozzy Osbourne who’s band were in the next studio.

++What about the photo on the sleeve? Who took it?

I think the sleeve pic was by Jean Reeman, Jock’s girlfriend who was into photography. Once again I did the design for it.

++ Then came “Schoolboy Saint” 7″. Something that caught my curiosity was that it came out on the sister label Abstract Dance. How come it came out there instead of in Abstract Sounds?

Sorry on this one Roque… I cannot for the life of me remember!

++ This time around you recorded in the well known Alaska Studios. How was that? Any different to recording in other studios?

Alaska was a better studio than we had been able to afford previously so the outboard was better… We used real violin, courtesy of Carolyn Harley which sounded great. Although the song was Jocks, I was pleased with my string arrangement on the track (derived from my backing vocals live)… a played the notes to Carolyn on a crappy kiddies keyboard and she did the rest.

++ Aside from the singles and EP you appeared on the compilation”Enemies of the State” that was put out by 1 in 12 Records. This label was actually put together by 1 in 12 Club in Bradford. I was wondering how important was that club for you and the city and if you were familiar or even friends with the bands there?

The 1 in 12 Club was quite a large part of our lives at that time, not only as a venue but as a social club. Paul was more involved than Jock and me, but we were friendly with a lot of other bands around at the time. Quite a few of them supported us on some gigs, like Wild Willy Becket, Boys from the East and various others. The 1 in 12 was so named because 1 in 12 people were un-employed in Bradford at that time.

++ Also quite curious that on the other three compilations you were in you always contributed always the same song, “Different”. Was that on purpose or just a coincidence?

Just a coincidence I think.

++ And are there more recordings by the band? Unreleased tracks?

There are quite a few tracks out there from The Word, I think… probably enough for a double LP… Paul might be the best person to ask,

He runs a record company in Bradford called Sound Shack Records… he goes by the moniker Nagbea these days… I haven’t seen him in a while, but you could try getting in touch…

++ Have you ever thought of putting all songs together in a retrospective release?

Again, Paul may have the old tapes… my copies are long gone.

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

“Schoolboy Saint” was written by Jock, one of his more accessible lyrics I think, about a kid at school everyone looked up to (I think).

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

My favourite Word song would have to be “Garden Street”.

Another great song from Jock, basically “Garden Street” was the name of the street Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire ripper) lived Some one out there in Bradford should have copies of this stuff, but it was a long time ago 🙂

++ I read on the web that you won a Battle of the Bands hosted at the Halifax Town Hall. That must been exciting! What year was it, do you remember? How was that experience and what did you win?

I was never keen on Battle of the Bands type things… I never felt music should be a contest and I still don’t. Simon Cowell and his sort should be marooned on a desert island ha ha. I think we won some rather useless recording equipment.

++ What about other gigs? Did you play many?

We played loads of gigs all over the country… most of them were really well received.

We had a bit of a sense of humour… I remember one gig, no one was allowed in without a banana…also one where we organised a massive food fight… most gigs ended with stage invasions… usually triggered by our roadies… this could be quite dangerous, as the drummer I was a little safer.

The worst gigs in terms of audience were in London, as they were all to cool to dance!

++ And what were the best gigs you remember? Any anecdotes you can share?

One of the best gigs we did was supporting The Icicle Works at Queens Hall… we gave them a run for their money!

++ And were there any bad ones?

There are always bad gigs… I got very drunk at a gig in Sheffield and fucked all the songs up before falling of my stool… the rest of the band were pretty fed up! My excuse? Waiting too long to go on.

++ When and why did The Word stop making music? You were involved in Cotton and Poppy Factory, right? Can you tell me a bit about these bands? Were you involved in other bands?

I can’t remember exactly when we called it a day… I know we were frustrated not getting anywhere.Jock kind of gave up, and didn’t want to do much, but I kept at him suggesting a new band where I would switch to keyboards and we could write together.A friend of mine Mick Dale was invited to join when we felt we had some decent tunes.

The Poppy Factory was a book I read about World War 1, and it seemed a good name for what we were doing. No drug references should be inferred ha ha.

Mick was classically trained on piano and he and I divided up keyboards and bass between us… I was responsible for most of the melodies and Jock the vocals and guitar.Mick polished it all up. It worked for a time… we played a handful of gigs and got signed by Chrysalis Records in 1990.

++ What about the rest of the band, had they been in other bands afterwards?

Paul was with his own band Hyacinth House for a time, the last thing Jock and I did together was Poppy Factory.
I should say Poppy Factory ended rather badly… I think there was little regard for each other at the end… I have not seen Jock or Mick since 1991…I believe the two of them carried on for a while, but were dropped shortly after I left.

++ Has there been any The Word reunion?

There won’t be a Word reunion.

++ Did you get much attention from the press, radio? TV?

We had quite a bit of press from the local paper in Bradford, The Telegraph & Argus, and the odd bit of TV I think.

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

Can’t think of any one highlight, but I do remember enjoying nearly all of it. We had some laughs and a lot of respect from our peers.</p>

++ Aside from music, what other hobbies do you have?

I really enjoy cooking and do a fair bit of walking… Yorkshire is good for that, oh and of course going to the pub with my friends and putting the world to rights ha ha

++ Never been in the Bradford area, but I’ll ask a local about some recommendations you’d have? Like sights one shouldn’t miss? Food and drinks one should try?

If your ever in Bradford… two words… Curry and Beer… not necessarily in that order!

++ Anything else you’d like to add?

Hope this is ok Roque…
Some contacts you might find useful:
•Nagbea (Paul as was) Sound Shack Records, Bradford.
• Gary Cavanagh, 1 in 12 Club, Bradford, author of “Bradford Noise of the Valleys” books, a history of local Bradford bands.
Best wishes and anything I can help you with let me know.

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Listen
The Word – Schoolboy Saint