FEATURE:
Paul McCartney at Eighty
IN THIS PHOTO: Paul McCartney in 1964/PHOTO CREDIT: RA/Lebrecht Music & Arts
Paul McCartney and Me: The Interviews: Roy Kerr
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I have already begun…
a forty-feature run that leads to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June. In addition to features about The Beatles, Wings, his solo material, in addition to why he is such a legend, inspirational human and genius, I am interviewing various amazing people. I ask what Paul McCartney means to them, and when they first experienced his music. In this interview, Roy Kerr discusses working with McCartney, touring with him as a support act, in addition to working on the Twin Freaks album. In a deep and illuminating interview, Roy speaks passionately and fondly about…
THE magnificent Paul McCartney.
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Hi Roy. In the lead-up to Paul McCartney’s eightieth birthday on 18th June, I am interviewing different people about their love of his music and when they first discovered the work of a genius. When did you first discover Paul McCartney’s music? Was it a Beatles, Wings or solo album that lit that fuse?
I was first aware of The Beatles through my dad. He was a huge fan, especially of the early stuff. At university, I fell in love with their later more experimental/anthemic music.
I honestly didn’t know much about Wings or his solo work until I started DJing in the early-2000s (other than the huge chart hits). That was when I started to truly appreciate his individual talent and thirst for experimentation.
Like me, you must have been engrossed by The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+. How did it change your impression of The Beatles at that time, and specifically Paul McCartney’s role and influence on the rest of the band?
Mainly how much love they clearly still had for each other. That and the humour…
All I’d ever known was stories of them fighting and sniping, and it was so lovely to see them joking in spite of the clear differences. Having got to know Paul a little bit, his managerial behaviour didn’t surprise me all that much. I was impressed by his grace under pressure, though. It can’t have been easy being so young - and yet he clearly had the oldest head in comparison to the others.
On tour, he always spoke lovingly of John and Yoko (which surprised me, having only read gossipy anecdotes), so I was a little prepared. I’m still gobsmacked at him coming up with Get Back out of thin air though!
That film should be a permanent exhibit in The British Museum imho…
I know that you worked with McCartney between 2004 and 2007. How did that come about? Did you two know about one another prior to 2004?
It was a complete bolt from the blue!
My manager said he was looking for a tour DJ for an upcoming European tour and a bunch of us submitted mixtapes. I did a 5-minute megamix (cut-n-paste job), which I think worked in my favour.
The others did longer 40-60 minute mixes I believe, and I don’t think he would have sat through all of them. Plus, I was having a bit of a moment as mashup artist/DJ, so was being featured in magazines and on radio.
I got a call at home one night from one of his people and they said “Paul will call you in about half an hour”. And he did. We had a quick chat. He was lovely. He invited me to MPL (his offices in Soho) and we hit it straight off!
As a D.J./support act during the 2004 Summer European tour (including Glastonbury) and the Back to the U.S. arena tour in America in 2005, what was life like on the road with McCartney? Do you have any favourite memories of that time?
It was the most incredible experience.
My first rehearsal was at The Millennium Dome (now the O2) in London. They had a full (stadium-sized) stage set up inside an otherwise completely empty void. We were using bikes and scooters to get around, it was so vast. From then on I was treated like one of the band. It was all private jets and police escorts and Four Seasons hotels. I still pinch myself all these years later. He was so lovely and welcoming. Everyone was. He’s very disarming and gentle, but you know there’s a steely centre and you have to be at the top of your game. Everyone there was at the top of their game.
My favourite memory was when my parents joined me in New York. We did several nights at Madison Square Garden. I had my own dressing room. My mum and dad came to soundcheck and started dancing to some of the old rock ‘n roll warm-up songs Paul and the band would play.
Paul called out to them from the stage “Is that Mr & Mrs Hellraiser?!” After the show that night he met them, and he told my dad that I was a genius! My dad never really understood what I was up to with my DJing and remixes etc…but that trip changed everything.
You made the Twin Freaks album with him where there are great remixes of some of his tracks. What was the criteria when it came to selecting the songs to remix? How much input did McCartney have when it came to the overall sound/track sequencing?
He gave me absolute free reign to do whatever I wanted.
The only stipulations were no Beatles stuff and I wasn’t to play any original music over any of it. But I got full access (including any multitracks I wanted) to all the Wings and solo catalogue (including later experimental projects such as The Fireman with the producer Youth). I was a bit cheeky by including Live and Let Die, because he didn’t own the multis to that (the Broccoli family do), but I just snipped the intro and looped it like an old Beatles loop and he loved it.
He even cheekily played it live once at soundcheck and I nearly fainted.
What was it like working with his team when putting the album together? Did you learn anything new about Paul McCartney’s music and importance during the making of Twin Freaks?
His team were wonderful.
I had my own tech on tour, Jamie, who had worked for Paul for some years, and anything I needed I got. I offered some fairly creative suggestions (I thought of having masks based on his Twin Freaks painting), and they all helped me every step of the way. I never felt like the new boy or a pain in the arse. I was surprised at how much electronica there was in his sound. Loads of amazing synths and textures. Plus all the collaborations; Stevie Wonder and Jimmy Page and others.
If you had to select your favourite Beatles, Wings and McCartney albums (one each), which would they be and why?
So tough…
Having just finished the doc., I bought the remastered/mixed albums again on vinyl and fell in love with The White Album again but, for all times, probably Revolver.
For Wings it would be Band on the Run. Mainly for the American tour, because I’d heard those songs growing up but never understood the impact they’d had until I saw them played to an American audience. He’d open with Jet right after I finished my set.
As for his solo stuff, it was McCartney II that I’d discovered through DJing electroclash parties in the early-2000s, and it properly blew me away. Still does.
Maybe an impossible question, but what does Paul McCartney, as a human and songwriting icon, personally mean to you?
As a human, he was so welcoming and open to me. He got to know my wife and young daughter (similar age to his youngest), and after all the touring he would invite me out for his boys nights out in London and Sussex. I bumped into him in St. Johns Wood a couple of years ago and he was still so warm and friendly. We had a lovely catch up walking to Pret together!
As an artist, I really think he’ll go down as our greatest ever songwriter and be thought of like one of the great classical composers for decades to come. Clearly, there are all the hits but also his endless thirst for experimentation and new frontiers too, which I think has become more understood and appreciated over time. His latest work is a reflection of that.
“He’s never happy to just simply do what others have done”.
It is difficult to say just how far and wide McCartney’s influence spans across music, culture and the world at large. If you were trying to explain to a child (or someone who had never heard of Paul McCartney) who was unaware of Paul McCartney why they should listen to his music, what would you say?
Funnily enough, my wife is a child-minder, and she loves to play her kids music. I wondered why she’d never made a Beatles kids playlist. I made her one including The Frog Chorus and a load of Beatles, and the kids love it. So, you can go from pre-schoolers to songs that make 80-year-olds cry and become 18 again, and Avant Garde songs that make young experimenters’ minds boggle. I’m not sure there’s ever been any (non-classical) composer like that. Ever.
He’s never happy to just simply do what others have done.
If you had the chance to interview Paul McCartney now and ask him any one question, what would that be?
I would want to know if he’d ever wanted to swap it all for anonymity.
He’s been famous around the world since he was a teenager and, for all the wealth and accolades, I can’t imagine the stress and strain that it has put on his personal relationships and privacy.
If you could get a single gift for McCartney for his eightieth birthday, what would you get him?
Probably a nice tasty Margarita.
To end, I will round off the interview with a Macca song. It can be anything he has written or contributed to. Which song should I end with?
Selfishly, I’ll go with Oh Woman Oh Why from Twin Freaks. This was always my opener, and it takes me back to a dark, packed, expectant stadium. It’s a full-body sensation I’ll never forget, and this one instantly takes me there.