Harley back with new idea of just how much music means
Inevitably, after the longest break in his career, Steve Harley is absolutely delighted to be heading back out on the road.
He will be doing so with a rather different appreciation of what music means to people. Just how much music matters is one of the things that the pandemic has helped underline, Steve believes.
Among his dates is Southdowns Folk Festival 2021 in Bognor which returns more or less to normal after a blank year last year. Steve was due to play the cancelled 2020 festival. He is delighted to be back now.
The pandemic was tough. It was also boring, he says. “My struggle is that I always carry the burden of commitment on my shoulders. I am not a believer in astrology, but there is maybe something about being Pisces. It is the last of the 12 signs and they carry all the others.
“It is the same with my Pisces friends. They are committed to people. When I work with the rock band, it is 15 people that workplusthetheatrestaff.When I work with the acoustic shows, it is ten people that work plus the staff. And I was concerned that all these people lost their income.Someofthemhadalittle bitofself-employedgovernment help,butitwasreallydifficultfor people. I was really concerned thatsomepeoplewouldbegiving inorgivingup,buttheysomehow got through and it is great to be back together again.”
Steve is relishing the return: “It is the longest break I have ever had, but the point is that it was a mystery. It was an enforced break because there was poison in the air. There was a virus in the air. It was a different feeling.”
And there is a different feeling coming back. “I am a 70s pop star. In those days it was all limousines and no connection with the audience. We were above it all. It was distanced. A star was a star. But I have learnt to drop my guard and relax a lot more. I have done so many podcasts and Zooms. We did a Zoom for 250 fans around the world. It was professionally run for me. Fifty questions were accepted that I went through, and it lasted two hours.
“And the thing I learnt that night and I saw it at a gig was just how much the music meant to them. I didn’t know. I just looked out the other night at 10,000 people in the dark in Faversham, and I said it – and there was just this huge cheer. There was this real feeling of connection.
“We do what we do. I do what I do. I come across on stage as Mr Approachable. I am very, very relaxed. I will tell an anecdote or two.IknowwhatIamdoing,andit is very natural. But it is a job. And I lovemyjob.Itisarealprivilegestill to have an audience after all these years. And it is a privilege to be able to provide the work for these wonderfulguysthatIplaywith.But it is a job. I go off stage and we go to a hotel and the next day we do it all againtoadifferentaudience.”
But Steve feels differently now: “I have learnt through the Zoom calls how many gigs people will come to. There are people that I don’t know who will come to five or six or seven gigs a year of mine – and also 20 other gigs.”