The former Suede guitarist is returning to the stage for a rare McAlmont & Butler show very soon

Hailed as one of Britain’s greatest and most original guitarists, he could have had an easy ride to success with the seminal Britpop act Suede - a band he helped form in 1989. But he jumped that ship just before the release of their critically acclaimed second album, Dog Man Star - an album recorded in sessions fraught with tension. Butler’s subversive and experimental ideas were consistently shut down by a band all too focused on stardom and commercial viability; their collaboration came to an explosive, bitter end. Butler continued to spend his career enjoying individual freedom, working on and contributing to a myriad of exciting and diverse projects both as producer and performer: from blue-eyed soul singer Duffy’s best selling 2008 album Rockferry, to totally improvised Rough Trade-released records with his band Trans.

Shortly after departing from Suede, Butler formed an eponymous duo with ex-Thieves singer David McAlmont. Their debut album, The Sound of… McAlmont and Butler, released in 1995, was a grandiose pop-soul tour de force that floored critics. A second album entitled Bring it Back was released to a similarly affectionate reception in 2002. Their working relationship is sporadic, with the two of them leading quite individual lives, playing shows together here and there when they feel like it. However, with a sold-out show as part of The End Festival on the horizon, are the two of them ready to bring us something brand new?

Speaking to Bernard Butler over the phone on an overcast Thursday morning, he is quick to mention that he’s sitting listening to new McAlmont and Butler material. When will the infamously unfinished third album finally see the light of day? “Sooner or later. We wrote a song together before the summer, forgot about it, then David texted me last week saying ‘god, that song was really good’, which made me want to go back and listen to it. It works like that with us. We’re not seventeen… our lives don’t depend on it and I don’t think the world will stop moving if we don’t make another record. We want to make something we really love, not something to just fill in the gaps.”

It becomes obvious over the course of the chat that Butler is someone who really values special and significant musical experiences. “It’s important to be passionate about things when you hear them, to fall in love with something.” In particular, he is turned off by and skeptical of anything which serves to dilute or cheapen his passion. “What really irritates me is when you get to February and people come out with their ‘top 20 albums out this year’ lists. You’re just lying. This is just rubbish.” Because of this, Butler rarely goes out to see live music. “When you’re younger and in a band and you start getting on guest-lists, going out to shows just becomes part of what you do. You can become very blasé about the whole experience. I don’t want to be the person stood there scratching their chin and not really being impressed.”

This is an attitude which certainly correlates with a disinclination towards the monotonous rockstar lifestyle, and indeed with the ethos of Howard Monk, founder of The End Festival where McAlmont and Butler will soon be performing. Monk’s intentions to take the festival to new places away from London, places which might have what he refers to as a ‘tainted view of the elitist music/arts scene’, are understood by Butler and echoed in the guitarist’s trend-averse view of live music. “The great thing about going out of London is - and I especially notice this when playing in the north-east of the country - that you get the feeling people really make the effort. Outside of London, people turn up at doors, and they’re often more appreciative. That’s probably what Howard’s hinting at - that you’re not just playing to the same old people at Moth Club or somewhere else in Hackney, where people are just there because they think they have to be.”

The relationship with Monk certainly makes a lot of sense. Butler reflects on the promoter’s early days putting on shows around Crouch End, the fecund hamlet of north-east London in which they both used to live. “He was always putting on shows in shops and budget supermarkets on a Saturday night. Just these great places that you wouldn’t normally go to for live music.”

It’s clear that Butler is definitely not interested in routine or convention. “I have a very organised home life. I like to know when milk is in the fridge. So when I pick up a guitar, it’s a different thing. I like looking at people and seeing fear in their eyes.” he says. “I’m not lazy about it. I like the thrill of not knowing what’s going to happen.” From this stems his love for improvisation - “it keeps me challenged” - something that he has tried to incorporate in some fashion in just about all of his many musical projects. He expresses some disillusionment with the tendency for bands to try and replicate their recordings verbatim. “So many bands have laptops on stage and are playing to click tracks. I’ve worked with artists where, at the end of recording, they’ve asked me for the stems so that they can use them live. I’m like, really? Do that. I’m not coming.” He laughs. “It’s just dreadfully boring.”

Even with a project so pop song focused as McAlmont and Butler, there is an element of spontaneity present. “Most of the songs on our first album were written very quickly. We’d just make a sketch of the song outside the studio on guitar or keyboards, then go in and try to direct a band. It was about putting people in the right environment and just seeing what would happen.” So will there be a similar approach to the upcoming performance? “It’s going to be very much like that”, he confirms. “It’ll just be me and him, maybe with a few Magic Numbers members. To be honest, I won’t be sure exactly what we’re doing until the day before!”

McAlmont and Butler will perform Downstairs at the Kings Head in Crouch End, London on 24 November to round off The End Festival. They will be joined by The Magic Numbers and Ren Harvieu.



Words: Joseph Mumford

Photo: Facebook