Music Interview: The House of Love

Moody, psychedelic indie-rock janglers The House of Love are back with a new line-up – frontman, guitarist and songwriter, Guy Chadwick, is now the only original member – and their first album in nine years, A State of Grace.

The new record is really strong. Much more rootsy and varied than the band’s previous offerings, it’s soaked in Americana and country influences, with pedal steel, harmonica, dobro, banjo and violin, and the blues rears it head more than once or twice.

There are moments that recall Dylan, Lee Hazlewood and even ‘90s Depeche Mode, as well as The Velvet Underground, who were always a big influence on Chadwick.

“There is a kind of countryish vibe in places,” he tells hi-fi+ in an exclusive interview.

“It’s always difficult to be objective about your own stuff. I really love country music – I always have done.”

SH: This is the first House of Love album for nine years and the first with a new line-up – you’re joined by Keith Osborne (lead guitar), Hugo Degenhardt (drums) and Harry Osborne (bass). Why the change of members?

GC: I’d been getting offers to go to America for quite a number of years, but [former members] Pete [Evans – drums] and Terry [Bickers – guitar] wouldn’t do it.

In 2019, I got an amazing offer to do a great gig in L.A. and a tour – I asked Terry and Pete again, but they said ‘no’, so I said, ‘I’m sick of this – I’m going to get another band together’.

They were fine, so I did it, but then Covid happened… The gigs have now been rescheduled for the fourth time – it’s ridiculous.

I started working with the [new] band in 2019, doing rehearsals and it was really good and it was fresh. The new energy and enthusiasm just completely bypassed what I’d been experiencing with the other guys since we’d reformed. That’s why I decided to go ahead and make a record with the new people I’d got involved with.

The new album has more of an expansive and varied sound than previous House of Love records – there’s lap steel, banjo, dobro, violin, and harmonica on it…

There was no kind of conscious decision about the kind of record to make – I went with the flow. I did most of the guitars myself – when it comes to making records, I always have done. It’s just the way I work, so I wasn’t worried about how the guitars were going to sound.

I just felt that I hadn’t really experimented enough in the past with musicians – this was an opportunity to do that.

You made the album where you live in the village of Pett, East Sussex, near Hastings. The studio you used is called Pett Sounds…

It’s a proper studio – it’s very well-equipped. I also have my own studio, where I did a lot of the work – vocals and guitars.

The album is all very local – it was done in rehearsal rooms etc. Recording now is not like it used to be. You can do the most sophisticated recording with the most basic set-up.

The album’s opening song, ‘Sweet Loser’, has a bluesy feel, with wailing harmonica. What can you tell me about it?

I nicked the musical idea from an old song of mine called ‘Crystal Love Song,’ which I’d always felt was an unexplored idea. So, I rewrote it. I don’t know what to say about it, other than I like it a lot.

Are many of the other songs on the album new? Were they written for the album?

I always carry a catalogue of songs – unfinished, half-finished or finished but I don’t think they’re right for an album. I have a stack of stuff to work from, so I get to a point and I say, ‘Right – I’ve got enough songs to make an album,’ and then I’ll write a couple more during the process. I think most people are the same.

Are you quite prolific?

No, otherwise I’d have made a lot more records than I have done.

‘Light of the Morning’ on the new album has a folky, country-rock sound – it reminds me of The Velvet Underground and there’s a touch of Dylan in your vocal delivery…

Definitely.

‘Melody Rose’ is one of my favourites on the record – the heavy, bluesy guitar riff sounds like ‘I Feel You’ by Depeche Mode…

Oh yeah, right.

I can remember reading music press interviews with you in the Nineties where you often namechecked Depeche Mode when you were asked your favourite contemporary albums and songs. You were into them, weren’t you?

Yeah – big time. I loved them.

Another of my favourite songs on the album is ‘In My Mind.’ It’s a jangly country ballad with a late-night, melancholy feel. I can imagine Lee Hazlewood or Richard Hawley singing it…

Yeah, I suppose so. There is a kind of countryish vibe in places. It’s always difficult to be objective about your own stuff. I really love country music – I always have done. I’m a massive Lee Hazlewood fan – all those records he did with Nancy Sinatra are absolutely brilliant. One of my favourite bands are The Stones, who also have a country history.

The album has quite a rootsy sound at times. Was that influenced by anything you were listening to while you made it?

I moved out of London seven or eight years ago – I live two or three miles from Hastings, which has the most amazing music scene. I’ve never come across anything like it – there’s like 75 venues, but it only has a population of about 100,000.

Any night of the week you can go into Hastings and there will be five to 10 different gigs on – and they’re always good. It doesn’t matter what you go and see or what style of music it is… the standard of musicianship is phenomenal. I’ve seen so many good musicians that I’ve said, ‘Right – I’m going to get that guy to come and play on my record.’

There’s a lot of traditional music here – like Americana stuff. You’ll see great violin and harmonica players and really good guitarists, so I’ve watched gigs, gone up to people afterwards and said, ‘Do you fancy doing a bit on a record of mine?’ That’s how it’s happened – it was very organic.

As well as the new album, there’s also an eight-CD House of Love box set out on Cherry Red: Burn Down The World, which covers the Fontana years from 1989-1993. There’s a lot of stuff in it that’s never been available on CD before, isn’t there?

Yes – I haven’t been that involved with it. We were approached by Cherry Red – there’s a guy there who does archive stuff and he’s also a big House of Love fan. He had the idea to do it and I said, ‘Yeah – go for it.’ Lots of other people have been involved in finding stuff. I’ve checked it all out and I’m really happy with it.

Is there a lot of unreleased House of Love material in the vaults, or is it all in the box set?

In terms of House of Love stuff, that’s everything.

It’s 36 years since the band formed. You split in 1993 but came back together a decade later. How does it feel to have been going that long?

I think it’s great that we’ve still got an audience and that people still want to put out our records and come to our gigs. It’s affirmation that we were alright and that’s that really.

When you split up, it was a tough time for you personally, wasn’t it? You suffered from depression…

Yeah – it was a bleak period. It could’ve been worse, but it could’ve been better… By the time we’d got back together, I’d got my life together.

The House of Love has always been a cult band, hasn’t it? You enjoyed big success and attention early on in your career, but do you wish you’d been bigger and crossed over into the mainstream, like Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, or New Order.

I was always very ambitious. I would’ve hoped to have done better than we did, but, at the same time, I’m pretty proud of what we achieved. It’s not an easy business to succeed in.

A State of Grace and the eight-CD House of Love box set, Burn Down The World – Fontana (1989-1993) are both out now on Cherry Red Records.

thehouseoflove.co.uk

Back to Music