Ewan’s still nifty at fifty
Former Apollo 440 singer on how he has no intentions of slowing up and his new album
FORMER Apollo 440 and Grim Northern Social frontman Ewan MacFarlane is proving you’re never too old to rock.
Currently touring Scotland with a Glasgow date tonight, the Lanarkshire singer releases second album Milk later this month – a year after his debut solo. The title track is out today.
How did it feel to release your debut solo album Always Everlong last year at 50?
It is a great feeling, even more so that I’m doing it on my own label, Royale Stag Records, which means there is complete freedom, no record company shelving your music to suit their time schedule which is soul destroying.
I’ve got a home studio, where I write, record and produce with no boundaries. It’s taken me long enough. Writing songs has no age barrier. The thing I love most about being a solo artist is you don’t have to compromise. There’s a freedom that comes with it that is untouchable and liberating, that in itself gives me a new lease of life. I’m excited for the future no matter what age I become.
In Social Life last week Brett from Suede admitted their latest album was about his difficulties navigating his 50s. Do you find it difficult?
Not for me, or any fellow musicians I know at the same age, in fact I would say the opposite in that it keeps us young, we just keep on doing our thing. I think age is irrelevant when you’re creating no matter what the talent is.
I truly believe I’m in my prime. I’ve always been a glass half full guy, so I tend to celebrate life rather than sulk about it.
And if the Rolling Stones can keep performing on stage anyone can?
That’s precisely how it feels to me, too many people in the music industry have the opinion that you become too old to perform or produce anything that they perceive to be cool because you’re older.
They just write you off before even giving the music a chance. I guess being older brings thicker skin and a determination on another level. The truth is when you’re a musician or any kind of creative person, that’s all you have ever known so why stop.
You said you quit Apollo 440 in 2018 as you didn’t want to leap about any more?
Yes and no. My new solo live set is still a full proper show, it’s just the way I naturally perform as a front man, if you’re not going to give it your all, go home. When I go on to any stage I go on with an alter ego and I get lost in it, so the new solo show is still me giving it my all, however if you have ever seen the Apollo 440 shows they are more than just being a frontman leaping about, it’s climbing the stage masts at the side of the stage and jumping into the crowd in the middle of the show.
Let’s just say it got to the stage my joints weren’t quite at the same level, my adrenalin still got me there during the shows but I certainly paid for it the next week when I could hardly walk.
Tell us about your new album Milk? It’s all about your wife Jo?
It’s all about our relationship. Tangled is about the first night we got together, and the other songs take us up to the present day.
She’s also your manager. What does she think of an album about her?
Jo’s cool, with this album it was a bit of a difficult one as Jo manages me and runs the record label. When I told her about Milk and how it would include the highs and lows of
what a long-term relationship brings, she said I was making a mistake and she didn’t feel it was the right thing to do on my second solo album.
She spoke to me a few times about it but in the end, as much as I value her input I was adamant that this was the direction I wanted to go with Milk.
Tell us about your relationship with her?
We’ve been married for 21 years, we have three kids . Simply put she is my world and makes me laugh.
Milk, the title track of his new album is out today, with the album out on October 28. Ewan plays Oran Mor, Glasgow, tonight, Hootenanny, Inverness, tomorrow, PJ Molloys, Dunfermline, on October 7 and Joan Knight Studio, Perth, on October 8.