Steve Bradshaw - Interview

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If you’ve lived in Cambridge for any amount of time and frequented any of the open mic nights or acoustic gigs that seem to be a staple part of the Cambridge music scene then you’ve probably heard of Steve Bradshaw, lead vocalist and guitar player for Warmed Up Cold. They’ve been playing together for the best part of a decade, and for the first time ever Steve’s stepped away from his fellow band mates to give us a taste of what he’s capable of as a solo artist. His debut solo album ‘I Live At The Cambridge Parcel Hub’ is out now and I managed to catch up with the man himself for a brief interview.

Why did you decide to make a solo album?

It was the quickest way to make an album!

Couldn’t you find musicians that wanted to work with you?

Well, it’s always difficult to find the right people, I’ve had a lot of people come and go. I’ve worked with a girl called Juliet and Dave Simpson, who played guitar in The Furious Sleep and Bomb Factory.

Are all these songs written by Steve Bradshaw alone?

Yes!

Did you enjoy working as a solo artist or did you prefer working with Warmed Up Cold?

It’s better with a band, but working on my own meant I could be utterly tedious about it, which was good and it meant I had to spend a bit of time learning how to produce, and stuff like that. I’m actually quite looking forward to applying those skills to the work I’m intending to do with Dave and Juliet in the future.

So do you enjoy having complete creative control?

Not really, I’m getting used to having complete creative control but in some ways I’d like to give that up and apply myself with someone else and create something slightly different, I think that would be interesting.

Well, you kind of do that with the last song on the album, which is a remix.

Yeah, Biscuit Song is an old song of mine, I wrote it about a summer job I did when I worked next door to a biscuit factory, I wrote it when I was drunk and I forgot about it for years. Then I randomly played it for someone who said I should play it live, then I forgot about it for another six months, and played it again for someone who said I should play it too, so I learnt how to play it again and joined a band called The Taking Biscuits last summer and we kind of came up with this version, which has the four vocals on it.

Do you think you might incorporate synths and laptops in your live act to try and replicate that?

Synths for me are best used to make noises like, well you see people like Tom Conway go around with the electronic synths and I always struggle with the idea. I’d quite like to have a synth player who could twiddle knobs and make all kinds of strange ambient noises that’s be nice but I don’t see myself using it for bass or drum noises. Hmmm I might have a think!

Where was the album recorded?

Recorded at the Cambridge Parcel Hub, which is actually my house!

You wanna tell us a bit about the story behind that?

It’s a house owned by my friend, and I lived there with one other guy who moved out and went to live on a boat, and since he had no fixed address his stuff used to get delivered to house, it was mainly boat parts.

So apart from the remix, did anyone else contribute to the album?

No, some songs were written about certain people though.

Would you like to elaborate on that?

No.

Fair enough, tell us about your home equipment.

I have a noisy PC, running Abeltonm, an M-Audio soundcard, and a mic that I used for all the vocals and guitar parts.

You mention spitting in flour in the Biscuit Song, did you used to spit in the flour?

No, but I heard stories about people who did.

You used to have quite long hair, and now you don’t, one of your lyrics mentions shaving your head for charity. Did you shave your head for charity?

No, I didn’t shave it for charity, it was an impulsive decision, and I don’t regret it!

The album wasn’t known about until it was complete, was that deliberate?

The album was actually my third attempt; it took me a while until I was happy with it, but it there was never really an official release.

Can you describe the texture and feel of the album?

It’s not lift music! It says that on the album!

That sounds like an underwhelming statement.

Not to me.

Are you saying that the stuff you did with Warmed Up Cold was lift music?

No, I’m just saying that there’s a lot of music that can disappear into the background, I’ve heard a lot of music that I don’t like in my time and a lot of it’s just not very interesting. I’ve also heard a lot of good music too, and I always wanted to write something that’s just a little bit jagged and I think I’ve kind of done that, so it’s not an underwhelming statement! It’s essentially an acoustic solo artis album. I’m not scared of my own voice.

Who do you think you sound like?

I learnt to sing by singing R.E.M. songs and a bit of that does creep in but I always wanted an English voice, I always wanted to sound like an Englishmen.

Do you think you’re the British Michael Stipe? Is that why you shaved your head?

I think there are other things that have crept in such as Mike Oldfield who I listened to for many years obsessively, and more recently Mozzy Green who was kind of doing something similar to me, but I think my vocals are fairly unique.

Are you still involved with the rest of Warmed Up Cold?

Not with Ian sadly, I don’t think it was ever a burning passion for him, but I’m still writing stuff with Helen, and I might do some more stuff with her when she finishes university.

What has recording alone taught you?

Everything about recording!

Everything? That’s actually quite an overwhelming statement!

Well, everything I know about recording!

You’re currently unsigned, is that deliberate?

Well, I hear of a lot of not particularly happy endings, about bands that are signed to small labels, a lot of bands will sign to anyone, just to have the word ‘signed’ on their MySpace page. I think that if you get an unscrupulous small record label, and I know there was one of those creeping round Cambridge for a little while, they manage to cause a bit of financial harm.

Is there a future for Warmed Up Cold?

Well, actually we are working on some new stuff, but you’ll have to be patient, we’ve got three tracks we’re working on, one of which Helen wrote, which has a bit of a theatrical edge to it. We’ve also got one we wrote together.

So is the new album the start of your career as a solo artist, or just a rest from Warmed Up Cold?

Well, like I said to Helen, if she wants to spend more time on Warmed Up Cold, then I’m happy to do that, I love working with her, and I love the new stuff. I think I’m going to end up spending more time working with Dave and Juliet now though, we’ve been working together quite a bit and we’ve got five new tracks so it’s coming on quite a bit.

Were any of the songs on the album written with Warmed Up Cold in mind?

Not really, because I think the oldest song on there was the Biscuit Song, and then maybe Cabin fever, but I wrote a lot of those songs alone, and I had more songs than I could really throw at Warmed Up Cold.

Are you happy with the album?

Yes! It passes my very strict validation standards!

What are your plans now?

I’m gonna do some re-presses, and I’m going to get some more gigs sorted for the late Spring.

You’re playing outside of Cambridge for the first time in a while, at the Norwich Arts Centre, how did that come about?

I just emailed the guy, there was a waiting list, but I stuck my name down anyway. I’m really happy to be playing a gig outside of Cambridge, Cambridge is tough, sometimes!