The accidental DJ
Ex-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke gets his groove on
PEOPLE uproot for many reasons: A new love, a new life, a new beginning ...
For bassist Andy Rourke, uprooting from his home in Manchester to fly across
the Atlantic and relocate in New York City last year was the best thing that he
could do.
"One of the reasons I moved to New York was to work with different musicians and
get rid of my frustrations with Manchester," he said over the phone from his
New York home. "Back there, I'd run out of people to play music with and
I found myself sitting on the sofa watching daytime TV. So I thought I'd better
get the hell out and give myself a kick up the a***."
These days, Rourke plies his trade as a party DJ - he will be in town for a
one-night set at Home Club on Friday.
"I'm a bit of an old-timer - I'll play classic stuff, Rolling Stones, Beatles,
Pixies, Breeders, maybe a couple of Smiths songs, New Young Pony Club ...
whatever kind of grabs my attention really," he said.
"I just kind of pitch songs I think will be appropriate. You have to read the
audience, you know, and I kind of adjust it from there. Maybe I'll play
Devo or Talking Heads, maybeI won't. If a song fills the dance floor,
then I'll play songs to keep the dance floor full. I like that challenge."
If you think "DJ" is a far cry from his original job description, he
will be the first to tell you that it is.
"I wouldn't even call myself a DJ. I'm still a musician. (DJ-ing) was
something that happened by accident. A friend invited me to
DJ at his club one night, and people enjoyed it and it kind
of took off from there," he said.
"I would never have the audacity to call myself a DJ. It's just
having fun, you know? I don't want people to think that I've
hung up my bass. I don't like it when people say, 'Oh, now
you're a DJ.' I prefer to play the bass, yeah."
Rourke, of course, is better known as the bassist for seminal Brit band The Smiths.
He was at the centre of a controversy when he was briefly sacked from the band
for drug use. (He has claimed that singer Morrissey wrote his dismissal on a
postcard and stuck it on his car, though Morrissey has repeatedly denied this.)
Still, insisted Rourke, he's proud of his time in The Smiths.
"I think we had something really special. I look back with very fond memories.
When people interview me, they try to fish for me to say something nasty about
The Smiths. But I had a good time all the time."
Yes, even the Spinal Tap moments. "I remember the first time we played a
gig in New York, it was New Year's Eve, and Morrissey fell off the stage. He had
to be picked up, and I think he actually cried.(Laughs) His glasses were a little
bit bent out of shape, but he was okay."
After The Smiths broke up, he continued playing bass for several performers -
Sinead O'Connor, Killing Joke, The Pretenders ("Chrissie Hynde can be scary!
She's a great songwriter, but she's a real sergeant-major. She's quite intense,
but it was a real pleasure to work with her.") and even Morrissey.
While he's "been around the block" when it comes to working with musicians,
Rourke said he's perfectly happy being who he is now.
"I'm loving my life. I have a band called Jet Lag; I have a radio show also called
Jet Lag; I have collaborations with Junior Sanchez and he's got a band called
Team Facelift and I'm helping out; I also produced a band called The Bowery Riots;
and I did a remix for The Tokyo Police Club. I'm pretty busy. A lot more busy than in
Manchester. Which was the whole point. I don't even own a TV any more!
"I'll continue till they put me into the ground. I don't think you can retire from
playing music. This is my love, this is my passion."
Andy Rourke performs at Home Club, Oct 22 at 10.30pm.
Tickets: $18 before 11.30pm, $15 after (includes one standard drink).
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