The Lightning Seeds return to Dubai

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The Lightning Seeds return to Dubai

Published: Wed 10 May 2017, 5:25 PM

Last updated: Sat 2 Sep 2017, 12:39 PM

Appearing in Dubai for the second time, iconic Liverpool band the Lightning Seeds will be lighting up Irish Village on Friday May 12 as part of the iconic 90s indie night alongside Toploader and The Farm. Perhaps best known for their collaboration with English comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel in producing the best known football song in history, Three Lions, to believe the Lightning Seeds were simply the brains behind a terrace chant would be selling them short by a country mile. We catch up with founder of the group and now father of one of the band members, Riley, who joined when he turned 18, the main man: Ian Broudie.   

What have you got planned for your Dubai set? Will your son be accompanying you and what is life on the road like as father and son?
We won't be showcasing our new songs on this trip. It will be a full band set playing songs most people will know.
Riley and I playing together fits like a glove and his guitar talents lift the sound of the band.

Do you enjoy being labelled as a band of the nineties? Is it a badge of honour to say you were there when music was better, or do you think music has actually improved?
Generally I don't think we are labelled that way, when we play live there is a great energy that feels a million miles away from the feeling of the "heritage bands" you see playing around just now.
I started making records as a producer and writer in the 70s, collaborating with Liverpool bands The Pale Fountains and Echo and the Bunnymen, then the Lightning Seeds' first release Pure was an independent label hit at the end of the 80s. Through the nineties we had a very creative time with many songs being received well. Music, I believe, is constantly evolving as is the way people listen to and absorb music. We try to do the same.

Are you still on the lookout for bands after your producing success with The Zutons among others?
I decided to only very rarely collaborate as a producer many years ago and I am not really "on the lookout".

Your classic numbers are known the world over, which song are you most proud of that perhaps flew under the radar?
Sweetest Soul Sensations would be a song I feel I never recorded well. That could have been a great record.

Who do you listen to today and who inspired you when you first started out?
I listen to a lot of music both old and new these days but I would say I mainly like songs rather than albums.  

What was it like being on the Children in Need Perfect Day single? Did you collaborate or meet any of the other artists or was it recorded separately?
It was fun recording one of my favourite songs. It was meant to be a collaboration with the BBC orchestra but I was told they disapproved of some notes in the arrangement ...whatever that meant!

Have you got a message for your UAE fans?
Yeah - Hello and see you soon! 
BIOGRAPHY - Who are the Lightning Seeds?
The Lightning Seeds and the main man himself, Ian Broudie, originally emerged from the post punk Liverpool music scene playing in a band Big in Japan. Broudie has written for and produced many bands over the years including Dodgy, Terry Hall, Alison Moyet, Sleeper and The Frank and Walters. Lightning Seeds released CloudCuckooLand in 1990, which set them off and running across both sides of the Atlantic. The second album Sense was inspired by looping and sampling which was starting to pioneer the music scene at the time, producing a well known hit and loved by many, The Life of Riley. This album pointed them to the future sound of the band.  
 Noted as one of their most accomplished albums, Jollification sold 900,000 copies with Ian calling on his musician friends such as Chris Sharrock (future Oasis drummer), Martyn Campbell (of the legendary beat band Rain) and a founding member of The La's, Paul Hemmings. The unforgettable Three Lions song written and recorded by Broudie topped the charts in '96 and '98, stemming from the Euro '96 football tournament, the biggest tournament since the home win of England's 1966 World Cup. The 1997 Dizzy Heights album obtained platinum record sales and then a couple of years later they released the album Tilt in '99.  After this time Ian returned to Liverpool and helped to develop two unsigned bands The Zutons and The Coral who later achieved platinum selling albums.
Fun fact
One of the Lightning Seeds' best-known songs, The Life of Riley, was written about Ian's son Riley when he was born. Riley now plays in the band with his father.
david@khaleejtimes.com

By David Light

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