place. Te other thing about dance music is that it’s given me an out from nostalgia, because I’ve never had to wallow in who I used to be. I will never let go of my dancing because I feel like it keeps me in the money, keeps me focused on what’s hip, and I love that.
Tat kind of ad-hoc approach to DJing seems to contrast to the work putting together ‘Tis Is What I Do’, because you assembled a really great team to work on it. Yeah, well all the people involved in the record are mates of mine, people I’ve worked with since leaving Culture Club; some of them have worked with me for twenty years.
How about [producer] Youth? I’ve known Youth since punk days and we’ve been mates for years. It’s funny ‘cause he’s made some of my favourite records and it’s odd that we’ve never worked together. When I started to work on this record, initially I was like, “what am I gonna write about? I’m really happy!” But working with Youth really helped me get my mojo back. He’s like this rock ‘n’ roll sage with this great house, where there’s always people writing and recording. Every room’s got something going on in it, and when you leave, there’ll be Pete Murphy walking in, or Ian McKulloch coming up… he’s always got something going on! He’s great at pushing you and as I’ve got older, I’ve learnt to be a bit more patient with writing. I think all of that did pay off with this record. Rather than me coming with a really strong idea like, ‘someone’s broken my heart - I’m gonna write a song about it’, it was a different way of working and that’s really influenced everything I’m doing at the moment.
You’ve been really clever in the collaborations you’ve done. One of my favourite ever is your guest vocal on Mark Ronson’s ‘Somebody to Love Me’ – I remember hearing that Mark was a hip young DJ, and I DJed a few parties with him years ago. He interviewed me for a magazine in New York and I was really blown away by how much he knew about me. He knew every detail about my career, like everything, but then Mark is like me; he’s a cultural sponge, he’s really into style and substance and knows an artist isn’t just about the music, although the music is hugely important. Having a
14 / April 2014/
outlineonline.co.uk
Rather than me coming with a really
gonna write a song
‘someone’s broken my heart - I’m
strong idea like,
about it’, it was a
working.
different way of
Photography by Dean Stockings
character essence, and style essence is really important to Mark.
I think that track, and your guest vocal on Antony and the Johnsons’ ‘You Are My Sister’ are where I really started to appreciate your voice for what it is. You have one of the most remarkable singing voices this country has produced, and it’s only got better with age. Well I can’t say that, but I hope so. Te best version of that song though is of me and Antony in Australia. We’d done a few performances where I was a bit of a mess, so I wasn’t very happy about
that, then I was in Australia last year and I saw that he was there. I rang him, and was like, “can I do a show with you?!” At first he was like, “Hmm, I’m not sure. Will you wear white?” And I said, “Noooo, I won’t.” [Laughs] Absolutely not, no way! Ten he rang me back and said, “You know what, let’s do it.” It was so great; we did it with the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra and it was just beautiful. Antony was crying at the end of it. For me, it was one of the highlights of my career. I was just so happy.
Emma R. Garwood MORE INFORMATION
Boy George comes plays a rare, intimate gig at Te Waterfront on April 4th. For tickets, go to
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.
Read the uncut version of this interview on
Outlineonline.co.uk
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