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15.11.13 MusicWeek 13
In another era, would you have been happy to be a big band singer or would that not have satisfied you creatively? I honestly don’t know, it’s hard to put myself back in time. I’m just lucky that I’ve been given the opportunity to create. I don’t think everybody was given the opportunity back then, it was very set out: these are the songwriters, this is the band, you’re the voice. It wasn’t until The Beatles came around and changed all of that.
What prompted you to revisit the genre 12 years after Swing When You’re Winning? I took three years off, a sort of enforced sabbatical, and my brain turned into swiss cheese; I sat on the sofa, ate crisps, watched reality TV shows and seized up, basically. I’d signed the biggest deal that had ever been
signed [Williams’ ‘360’ deal with EMI in 2002 that saw him given a huge advance] and I made all this cash and I was just like, Who am I? What am I? And it’s also a tough world out here, in the media, and scary at times, especially when you’re not sure who you are or what you do. But after three years of getting fat I decided it was important that I went back to work and ever since then I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m having a good time. I did Reality Killed the Video Star, I did the second Greatest Hits, I did Progress with Take That, I did Take The Crown and I just wanted to keep going. I can’t release another straight up pop record,
because I’ve just done it - it would be boring for me and boring for the record buying public. And I had a good time swinging, I knew I would return to it, I always thought it would be my pension, and seeing as I’m nearly 40, it’s time to get the pension. Pop stars should start to receive their pension at 40. Dancers get theirs at 35.
Bearing in mind that …Winning is still your biggest selling album, did the record company push you in this direction as well? Or have they learned not to try and tell you what to do? Well I’ve got pretty middle of the road tastes. I’m a commercial person. I want my records to do well. Even with RudeBox I thought it was a commercial record. I’m trying to do the best for a big career, they’re trying to do the best for my career and their bonuses, so there isn’t a lot of grumblings, rumblings or arguments.
In one sense there is less pressure on a Swing record, because, unlike Take The Crown, it’s not your marker in the pop world, to be measured against all the young pretenders, but in another sense, the pressure’s on, because we already know these songs are good - it’s all about your voice… In the studio I can cobble together an appropriate version of a voice, it’s live that’s the terrifying aspect. Over the years I have conjured up an entertainer to bypass the fact that I haven’t got the strongest of voices, or at least that’s what I think. Also, to some extent at my pop shows, people are drunk, and they want to shout, and they want to scream, and they’re there for the vibe, and they want to sing along with you. At these swing gigs, they just wanna listen. And it’s terrifying [laughs].
Now, having said it’s not in direct competition with anyone, it is out a week before Gary Barlow’s
The Ritz without thinking of the Young Frankenstein clip? That’s where I first learned the song. It’s very, very difficult to separate the two, and I’m sure that one evening out on the road I will go [sings] ‘…why don’t you go where Harlem sits [does pretty damn good impression of the monster’s version of the song’s key line in Mel Brooks’ classic film]’.
What about the collaborators for the album, how do they get chosen? I sit down and rack my brains to think up who I’d like to work with. And when I run out of ideas, I draft in my wife, or my work wife, Josie. We’ll sit and collab about the collabs. This time round the only person I wanted that couldn’t do it was Hugh Jackman, and I really wanted him on this record, but maybe in the future we’ll do something. Apart from that I was lucky enough to get everyone I wanted.
album. How gutted would you be if you don’t sell more than him? I really hope we both do well. In the UK, I want him to sell a million and me to sell a million and one. But, that being said, if that doesn’t come to pass, I’m still Robbie Williams. I’ve still done… this. There’s still a pedigree. All is well. Plus, Gaz has had it rough, a lot rougher than I had, and if he does do better than me, then good for him.
“After three years of getting fat, it was important that I went back to work and ever since then I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m having a good time” ROBBIE WILLIAMS
Which is indicative of a much nicer atmosphere than when you two first had competing albums out at the same time… Yeah, it’s a very friendly, competitive rivalry, but it is a rivalry. I don’t want anyone to do better than me, let alone someone I know really well. In fact I think the only person in the world who I’d want to sell more albums than me would be my daughter, apart from that everyone else can fuck off.
And even then you’d probably still be grumpy for bit, right? Yeah, I would, there’d be no pocket money for a week or two.
Let’s talk about the covers on the album and how they were selected. Is that down to you? Or is there a team involved? No, they’re my choice. I wanted ‘personality’ songs, with an eye on live. Big songs that need a big person to front them. Minnie the Moocher, Putting on The Ritz, I Wanna Be Like You. They are three solid songs that will serve me well on stage. And it was going to be a straight up cover
version album, like last time, but then I had all these songs that were never going to find a home unless they were attached to this kind of project.
Important question, especially given that you’re going to have to do it live: can you sing Putting on
ABOVE Swings Both Ways: Robbie Williams’ new album is due for release on November 18 via Island Records
How do you feel about putting your own compositions in amongst these standards? Is that quite nerve-wracking? I’ve never thought of it. Maybe there’s a delusional aspect to that, or a narcissistic aspect, or a touch of both. But I’m very confident about the quality of what we’ve written, especially with Guy Chambers back on board. During the period we worked together before, the songs we wrote became part of the fabric of people’s lives, so if we can recapture a bit of that magic, which I’m sure we have, then we’ll be fine. I’m not worried about our stuff standing up next to these Amercian standards.
Since your reconciliation, you’ve done the odd thing with Guy Chambers, but this is your first sustained period of working together. How was the process this time around? I can remember Guy sitting at the piano in my studio in Los Angeles and there was eighteen-and- a-half minutes of ‘Er….’ And eighteen-and-a-half minutes of nothing is a long time. Guy would go ‘Da-da-da’, and I’d go, No, not that. And he’d go ‘Da-da-dum’, and I’d go, No, not that. By the fourth one I’m thinking, This is a nightmare, this is going completely the wrong way. Oh no. And then bang, Go Gentle happens and… big sigh of relief. From then on in it was easy. We’ve got good chemistry, who knew?
The last time we spoke to you was just before the huge Take The Crown tour. You have famously not enjoyed previous tours that the rest of the world have perceived as amazingly successful, how did you find it this time round? In 2006, when I’d done a world tour and ran myself into the ground… I did a lot of damage to my psyche on that tour; I lost my confidence, and it has taken years to get it back. During that time, I was convinced I couldn’t do
it anymore, the spark had gone, the secret ingredient to being a pop star had deserted me. All of this was very true in my head. And that was sad, because I’d sort of come to rely on it. It meant a great deal to me and a great deal to other people - and without it, what am I? So off I went into my wilderness years, lack of confidence etc. And then bit by bit… the Take That shows really helped… I clawed back my Smug Gitness.
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