MW Questionnaire: VIC GODARD

VIC GODARD

(SUBWAY SECT)

answers the MUSIC WORKS Questionnaire

painting (photo): A M Leka

1. QUALIFICATIONS?
10 ‘O’ Levels and 2 ‘A’ Levels at Shene Grammar School South West London. I started a
a degree in European Studies at Ealing Polytechnic West London but left half way through
to join the White Riot Tour in 1977 with my group Subway Sect.

2. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS?
Playing to a crowd of 10,000 at Alexandra Palace in 1978 (albeit near the bottom of the bill) and much later playing guitar on the beach in Cannes in Edwyn Collins’ group.

3. AMBITIONS?
To play at Carnegie Hall (Dunfermline Scotland!)

4. SONGS YOU WISH YOU HAD WRITTEN?
Lush Life by Billy Strayhorn and EMI by the Sex Pistols.

5. DESERT ISLAND DISCS?
String Quartets by Debussy and Ravel; Arabesques by Debussy;
Low by Bowie; a box of Northern Soul 45s; Dawn by The Four Seasons;Slates by the Fall and Ernie by Benny Hill.

6. FAVOURITE ARTISTS/BANDS OF ALL TIME?
Some of them are – Velvet Underground, The Four Seasons, Bowie, U.Roy, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington,Tony Bennett, Junior Walker, Billie Holliday, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Charles Aznavour, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, The Fall, Charlie Parker,The Faces, Francoise Hardy, Noel Cowerd, Marlene Dietrich, Mose Allison, Frank Sinatra (the early Pied Pipers era).

7. WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU LISTENING TO NOW?
Just heard The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud by David Bowie come on the radio, so I stopped hoovering and turned it up. It sounded better than ever.

8. THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?
The Golden Ass by Apuleius, it was the fact that it’s the only Roman novel surviving in its entirety from ancient times that drew my interest

9. HOBBIES?
Accumulating useless information, horse racing and bird watching.

10. VINYL, CASSETTE, CD, MP3, WEB STREAMING?
I use cassette for song writing however I’m in favour of all formats.

11. INDIE MUSIC IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET?
I think the internet makes it a lot easier to do your own thing as an artist from communicating with fans and spreading the word, getting your music heard, organising gigs, both home and abroad, to distributing/selling your own music. In the old days you had to know someone personally to be offered gigs or be signed to a label/have a manager like Bernard Rhodes (ie Do as you’re told!) The internet means anyone can start their own indie label, we did, Gnu Inc, it would not have been possible back in the day. Our next release is a 7” single Dead Dreamy and Find Out Over Time.

12. WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL MOTTO?
I’ll Find Out over Time.

Vic Godard’s answers to the MW Questionnaire as in April 2016