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Interview: Leo Sayer- Chameleon On Circuit

It’s been over 40 years since Leo Sayer graced the heights of the UK charts back in 1973 with ‘The Show Must Go On’. Living by that motto still, in 2015, the maned minstrel is touring once more, and releasing a new album, ‘Restless Years’ – and from the sounds of it, he still knows what it is to be a creative force.

sfx132889It’s been over 40 years since Leo Sayer graced the heights of the UK charts back in 1973 with The Show Must Go On. Living by that motto still, in 2015, the maned minstrel is touring once more, and releasing a new album, ‘Restless Years’ – and from the sounds of it, he still knows what it is to be a creative force.

The biggest piece of luck at the start of his career, he says, is that no-one tried to write his songs for him. “I’ve been pretty lucky that people have mostly left me alone to get on with it, and certainly with this record, there hasn’t been a word from anybody to say ‘no, Leo, you can’t do that’.”

“All creative art has to stem from the creator, in any art – in visual art too, you wouldn’t get anything if the artist didn’t dream something up. But you have to realise that there’s a side to our game that’s become very much a business now – big, ‘box office’ artists that are really just a corporate identity.”

It’s been a long time since the early days, when people tried to tell Leo how his music should sound. “The enjoyable thing was proving them wrong,” he exclaims, gleefully. “Most of the time, good artists really know what they’re doing themselves. I don’t think Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan – I don’t think people are going to turn around to them and tell them what to do – but I’m sure at one time they would have tried. Lots of people want to claim ownership of something if it’s successful, that’s a human thing – people want to get involved in what you’re doing, but then their egos come into it, and they want to be creative themselves.”

A talented live performer, Sayer’s self-described “chameleon character” has the power to involve audiences from a wide range of backgrounds, giving the artist the confidence to travel to a much wider range of rural locations than most touring artists. “You come to people’s homes, and it’s like a visit, and I think that’s quite an exciting concept. Australia is described by the differences in all of these places – it’s the collective.” (He emphasises this last word strongly.)

“You’ll find lots of places where, generally, the music genre is ‘country’, so the people that like country music will get something from certain ballads and songs that other places don’t get. Then you’ll go somewhere like Melbourne, and there’s lots of musicians, and it’s very jazz-oriented, so people will get something out of that side of the songs. And in Sydney, because everybody’s trying to be international and chic, they like the hipness of certain things. Australia’s like a mini-world. It’s a big country, full of different colours.”

He describes his new record in a somewhat similar way. “There are thirteen favourite songs, or else I wouldn’t have made thirteen,” he smiles. “I love them all. Each one is a chapter in a book, and they’re all designed to support each other.”

More broadly, he philosophises on the idea of the ‘disco artist’, the ‘storyteller’ and the ‘balladeer’ – all labels he’s been given, and shaken off, over the years. “I think that life shouldn’t be really marketed and predictable, that’s always been my view. Music’s about different parts of one’s character – different colours, and different moods, and something for everybody in a way. I don’t push myself too much as a personality – but I’m quite proud of the songs, I’m happy for them to live in their own stratosphere, as it were.”

“Nobody ever asks me ‘Leo, do you know who your peer group is’, and if they asked me I wouldn’t have a damn clue! I’m just making music with my heart, and it seems to communicate with people.”

Leo Sayer’s Restless Years Tour will begin on the 4th of February in Port Lincoln.

Interviewed by Justin McArthur

 

 LEO SAYER – RESTLESS YEARS TOUR 2015 (SA Dates)

Wednesday, 4 February 2015  Nautilus Arts Centre, Port Lincoln, SA  Tickets available from the venue – 08 8683 5088 or www.nautilusartcentre.com.au/civic-hall/

Thursday, 5 February 2015  Middleback Theatre, Whyalla, SA  Tickets available from the venue – 08 8644 7300 or www.countryarts.org.au/box-office/

Friday, 6 February 2015  Northern Festival Centre, Port Pirie, SA  Tickets available from the venue – 08 8633 8500 or www.countryarts.org.au/box-office/

Saturday, 7 February 2015  Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, SA  Tickets available from BASS – 131 246 or www.bass.net.au

Sunday, 8 February 2015  Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre, Mt Gambier, SA  Tickets available from the venue – 08 8723 8741 or www.countryarts.org.au/box-office/

Further details including other tour dates:

www.leosayer.com

www.facebook.com/LeoSayerMusic 

Twitter: @TheLeoSayer

#restlessyears

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