Hollywood
Great : Former Frankie star Brian's back with more Nash hits.
Interview
with Debbie Johnson - Liverpool Echo, February 23rd 2001
It seems a long
time ago when Frankie Goes To Hollywood were the most controversial
band in the land. In comparison to songs by the likes of Eminem and
Marilyn Manson, Relax seems a bit like a Sunday school anthem, but
it was banned by the BBC and went straight to number one. Shocking
stuff. They were one of the biggest bands of the 80's and their logos
adorned a million t-shirts.
Now one of Frankie's
most memorable faces - Brian "Nasher" Nash - is coming back
to Liverpool for a hometown gig. But far from it being at the Roayl
Court in front of a sell-out crowd, it's at The Picket, one of the
city's small-but-perfectly-formed venues.
"I'm really
looking forward to it," says Nasher who now lives in London "but
it's going to be a bit chaotic. I seem to have this awful bloody luck.
Last year when I was due to go out promoting my album, I broke my
leg. This year we had a tour planned and the bass player did his back
in and can't drive for more than twenty minutes which isn't much good
when you live in Swansea like he does. And the drummer couldn't do
it either. But it'll be fun. Much better than the days of Frankie
when we used to have weeks of rehearsing eight hours a day before
going on the road"
Talking to Nasher,
you sense that far from being an 80s has-been looking to ride a wave
of nostalgia, he's actually happier than ever before. He has three
children - aged 8, 10 and 12 - and lives in organised chaos.
"They're
great kids" he says " but I'm dreading it in a few years
when the hormones kick in and I'll have three of 'em between 16 and
20, coming in from the pub throwing up everywhere....you'd never catch
me setting an example like that. I always throw up outside"
He is enjoying
writing his own material, and got a good response from his latest
album. Because of a great deal of cynicism about the record industry,
he now releases CD's through his own website www.nasher.co.uk . He
says "I don't deal with record companies anymore. They are all
a bunch of tossers. I can't even watch that Popstars programme yet
my kids are addicted to it. The annoying thing is that I would take
my new stuff around the labels and everyone would say 'that's great
- definite hits, but not for us'. I don't know why it is. maybe because
I haven't got blonde hair and a six-pack. But I have not had one single
negative response to the last album so I don't give up hope and I'm
not tempted to pack it in".
He is most of
the way through making his second album: "We're at the 'throwing
Super Noodles at the wall and seeing if they stick' stage"
Nasher has been
coming up to Liverpool more this year, due mainly to a season ticket
at Anfield. And he also did a talk at The LIPA advising students about
the ups and downs of the music industry: "Well let's face it,
I know it from both sides"
The subject of
Frankie is not a sore one, but not something he wishes to dwell on,
musically. He says "I don't get annoyed when people aks about
it all the time. How could I? It all happened. But I don't do any
Frankie covers and never have done...although I've heard there's a
fake Frankie going round America pretending to be us, wearing black
vests and leopard skin trousers and no, I never did that. Not with
these thighs!"
"Ripe"
album review in Get Rhythm magazine by
Dave Ian.
Nasher, formerly of Frankie Goes
To Hollywood, unmistakeably carves out a niche for himself. Or should
I say, nashes out a chunk for himself. This melodic, ballad-like,
electronically-modulated light pop certainly makes a considerable
impression with the opening track 'King For A Day' which if not in
title, then in excellence of melody, bring back brief flashes of the
'Thompson Twins'. Upbeat, memorable and undoubtedly the best piece
on the album.
'Happy Go Lucky' displays Nasher's good ear for a tune, which is always
evident, with some excellent riff guitar. 'Safe N' Sound' and 'Yule
B Alright' continue the trend but then the lyrics take a slightly
more sombre note... and you wonder why. However 'A Girl Like You'
ties in the themes of love and movies with mention of Gene Kelly and
'Plan 9 From Outer Space'... any track that can do all that can't
be bad!
'Breathe' and 'The Dark' are notable for their unnerving ability to
take you in one archetypal and expected passage of pure crescendo,
only to quickly nip in another direction when you least expect it.
A case of 'Oi... where'd that tune go?', as if you'd just missed a
bus. Saying that, unexpected tangents just prove originality and the
homage to 'Mr. Sandman' in 'The Dark' is touching and shows taste.
Nasher, with his able backup in the form of Tony Kiley on drums, Andrew
Coughlan on bass, Nigey Nige on keyboards, Monti on drums and the
ubiquitous and talented Mitt Gamon (making a guest appearance with
his harmonica), is a skilled producer, mixer, very good vocalist and
guitarist. I just hope he doesn't believe his track 'Patron Saint
Of Crazy' who feels '...nothing ventured, nothing gained, I feel like
Bob Marley when I wait in vain'. Nasher has ventured with considerable
success.
Check out Nasher's encompassing website, www.nasher.co.uk where you
have some mp3's and radio interviews. Radio Merseyside! Waahey!! Go
there, if only for the reason that Nasher doesn't like Robbie Williams.
"Ripe"
album review in Q magazine by
Stuart Maconie.
Robustly hetero guitarist
in Frankie Goes To Hollywood makes self-financed solo debut.
When one thinks back to the twerpish
apoplexy of Mike Read, the Arm The Unemployed t-shirts, the general
air of scandal and outrage that surrounded Frankie Goes to Hollywood,
the first solo effort by Brian "Nasher" Nash may come as
a surprise. Imagine a less saccharine Lightning Seeds, a more reflective
Cast or even a more scally China Crisis and you have something of
the flavour of Ripe. If the regional stereotyping seems a little crass,
there's undeniably something of Mersey Pop's shrewd, sweet template
in these undemanding but listenable tracks. A certain rueful, world-weary
humour underlies it all which, given the Frankie rags-to-rags story,
is perhaps understandable. * * *
"Ripe"
album review in Mojo magazine. by
Glyn Brown.
It's Frankie Goes To Hollywood
guitarist Brian Nash. Singing.
From soulful pop to the verge
of prog rock, this is thoughtful stuff, with the message that it's
not just grim up north, but everywhere else too. Many tunes here sound
similair, but what occasionally makes them monotonous is Nasher's
voice, which at its most irksome is a nasal whine. this said, his
heart's in the right place. Against gentle piano and guitar, he speaks
of mid-life pondering, lingering disappointment and a Boys From The
Blackstuff reality: "Have you seen my lovely wife / She's no
supermodel but she's had a hard life / She says I'm a star."
Breathe is an epic of inner torment - "Who said it was easy?
/ It's hard enough trying to breathe on your own." - but galvanically
performed against mountainous cascades of strings. By this point the
darkness has become magnetic, which makes jaunty, harmonica-lead A
Girl Like You quite a shock. On the whole, rather like mid-period
Babybird. From here, it could go either way.
Rock Steady:
How Nasher survived the Frankie Goes To Hollywood hysteria to make
music for the new millennium.
Interview with Peter Grant
in the Liverpool Echo, 7th August 1999.
He may not get back home
as often as he would like these days but Brian "nasher" Nash blends
immediately into the Liverpool background. The guitarist was at the forefront
of one of Liverpool's most successful bands, the fab five of the eighties -
Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Now he has returned to the studio with eleven songs
that he is clearly proud of. He is a contented musician and it shows on his
superbly melodic and lyrically sparkling album called "Ripe". Nasher
- he hates the name Brian - is a contented man.
"I usually come home
to see my family here. When I do come back I appreciate it all the more. When
I go to the match with my old man, I feel like I am six years old again.
Nothing gives me a buzz like walking up Utting Avenue with my dad. I came back
recently to see Blue Nile at The Philharmonic and I was really impressed
walking though town with the amount of new bars that have opened. The place is
buzzing compared to what it was like five years ago. In London, you hear
people saying they want to go to university in Liverpool. Then there's the success
of Cream and the whole dance culture putting Liverpool on the map."
Brian, married with three
children lives in Finchley, North London. His scouse accent is as strong as
ever as his irreverent sense of humour. So what's he been up to?
" I was clearing out
the loft the other day and I found all these old cuttings from the old days,
newspapers such as The Echo and it's coverage of the 80's and so I put them
all in a scrapbook for my kids, but it's a case of that was THEN and this is
NOW."
After the Frankies split
in 1987, Brian, along with Mark O'Toole and Ped Gill decided to go it alone.
Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford pursued their own solo projects. Recalls
nasher:
"We tried different
singers and various record companies wanted us to use the Frankie name but
that was never our intention and that's not what Holly wanted. I managed to
build a studio In Barnet from the proceeds of Frankie's Greatest Hits but
despite popular belief, we are not all millionaires. Don't forget we had about
1.8 million recording costs which we didn't recoup until three years after the
band had split up."
Nasher is disillusioned
with the record industry but says he would like to put back some of the
valuable experiences he has gained by helping new talent survive.
"Looking back, I
remember putting together an album and everyone said they loved it but nothing
happened. It was a waste of a year of my life and the time I'd put into it.
The internet is the way forward so I'm now developing my own website which
will be up and running soon. That way I will be competing on a level playing
field with everyone else. It's the only way forward. I still want to make a
real career out of it. I am ripe and this is my time."
Nasher says he is hoping
to play a local gig and is keen to hear from any promoters. He is also hoping
to help new talent.
"Without wishing to
sound like some sort of Godfather figure, I could say 'this is what you should
do and this is what you shouldn't do'. With Frankie I've been to the other
side of it, the complete extreme, and I'm sure a lot of bands wouldn't want to
go that far, believe me. I only ever wanted to own my own house and make music
that people like - whether it's 10 people or ten thousand. It's incredibly
tough to break through now with the Boyzone type domination. I am the biggest
fan of The Real People but they can't get a deal - they can't even get
arrested yet they wipe the floor with the likes of Oasis."
Unplugging
The Power Of Love.
Interview with Richard Pedley
in The Jersey Evening Post, 24th December 1999
Anyone who remembers the
classic 80s band FGTH-could probably play the "whatever happened to"
game with limited success. They probably know that after being the biggest UK
band in 1984 and 85 they finally split in 87 with singer Holly Johnson and
even Paul Rutherford getting some solo success (in fact, Holly Johnson is in
the charts at the moment with "The Power Of Love") but as for the
rest of them, Ped, Nasher and Mark 'Toole, there was little to be heard. But
now Nasher, aka Brian Nash, guitarist of the band, has come to Jersey to play
two unplugged gigs at the Royal Hotel next Monday and Tuesday.
He fair bounced into the
JEP offices with the enthusiasm of a man who loves what he's doing and is
living in the present. "I'd quite happily tour for eight months of the
year, it's what I was made to do, I think, seeing the faces of the crowd and
getting their reaction" he said. With FGTH the chances of playing smaller
venues was a little restricted, with first single Relax at number one for five
weeks, Two Tribes for ten, and even the power ballad The Power Of Love making
it as a Christmas number one. "We came over last Christmas as well and we
had such a good time we thought we'd do it again, and seeing as I've got an
album out I thought I'd do a couple of gigs while I was here" he said
" I'm not sure how delighted people will be to hear me
though...."
Nasher is getting familiar
with Jersey and reckons this must be his tenth visit here. His link with
Jersey goes back to the 8os when the band were advised to spend time here for
tax reasons. After the band split he spent time with the remaining two members
of FGTH but failed to get a record deal, experimented with a couple of other
ideas, and now his new album is being promoted over the internet on his own
site " www.nasher.co.uk" . "I don't deal with them corporate
pigs at record companies any more" he laughed. " My theory about the
music industry is that it's got nothing to do with talent. I do find it very
corporate and very samey and they don't even look like rock stars
anymore".
But he is not keen to get
back into the high profile position he once enjoyed. " I don't want to be
a millionaire or go on Top Of The Pops again. Between Frankie and now, in the
leaner times, I did go back to being a spark for a while. I still do it from
time to time, y'know. All I want to do is earn a decent living at it."
And he says he doesn't mind being known as "the man from FGTH".
"No but I do feel sorry for Mick Jagger, all those solo albums and he's
still the bloke from the Rolling Stones" he grinned. "It was great
at the time but you can't ever get that quality back. In 1983 I went to a
party and I only got home in 1987"
When he started writing
his own songs it was all on an acoustic guitar and all his own material.
" I wasn't very confident about it to begin with, but people were really
positive. As much as I might disappoint people I don't do any Frankie stuff
because I don't feel that it is mine. Holly had such a distinctive voice - and
it's hard trying to do Two Tribes on one acoustic".
For anyone with the urge
to make it as a pop icon he warns that they'd better have the required
"blonde hair and six-pack" and should "beware of smiling men
bearing cheques". " I just look at people like Steps and S Club 7
and hope they end up owning their own house, and it's not all going towards
buying Pete Waterman a new train"
Lexicon
Magazine - May 2000.
Interview with Ian Peel.
At last, Brian Nash has
returned from the "Where are they now?" wilderness to release his
first solo album, "Ripe". It's a brilliantly honest and melodic set
of songs which instantly have you asking why he's taken so long to release
anything since the demise of Frankie. "Ripe" is released on his own
Babylon Pink label and is possibly the first great album of 2000.
To say your new album
sounds accomplished would be an insult. How long did it take to record and
which is your favourite track?
Thank you. The album took
about a year to make, but that year was not all spent recording. The musicians
who helped me make the record are always very busy, so I had to record the
album around their schedules. I would find it hard to pick out a favourite as
they all have bits that I like, but if push came to shove, I would have to say
"Listen To Lime".
Holly Johnson recently
called Frankie "a pivotal moment in rock and dance music." What's
your appraisal, fifteen years on?
When I look back on FGTH I
only remember the good things. Life is too short to dwell on negativity. The
best way to describe it was going to a party in 1983 and coming home in 1987.
Can you tell us the
stories behind some of the tracks on "Ripe"?
I could tell you the
stories behind some of the tracks but I think there has to be some mystery and
something for the listener to find out for themselves, don't you agree?
"Happy Go Lucky" was written about a bass player that used to play
in a band with me. He was a great player but his mind used to wander in the
middle of songs and he would be wondering about the traffic on the way home
from rehearsal and what he was going to have for his tea- so me and the singer
called him The Mayor Of Button Moon because he spent so much time in outer
space. He was definitely one of those people who saw the glass half-empty.
"Yule B. Alright" was written about the break-up of my mate's
relationship with his girlfriend. He could not see it at the time that the end
was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, so the song was my way
of putting my arm around his shoulder. "The Dark" was written like a
mini-story, where the verses are sung by the Monsters who are trying to
persuade a child that "The Dark" is not such a bad place to be
sometimes, but then the chorus comes in and the child fights back telling the
monsters to retreat because her dad's coming to save her. I think I could make
a great video for it. "Keep Ya Sweet" was written about my mate's
son. I was in the car with his mum and she was telling me about parents
evening at the school and that he was not performing. I asked about the
comments of the teachers and she said "nobody wants to employ the class
clown" and I saw parallels between my own school life and how I was gobby
and lairy as her son was and decided to put it in a song. "listen To
Lime" was written about a time when I was a bit out of it and was trying
to listen to a band called "Lime" and couldn't because all I could
hear was my own heartbeat throbbing in my head and I attempted to capture that
feeling at the end of the song.
"Ripe"
is available to listen to and purchase via the Web. What do you think the
Internet and MP3 has to offer artists?
I first became interested
in the net because I was getting frustrated with record labels. I went to see
about five labels who said they loved the material but did not want to sign
it, so I thought I would rather just release it myself rather than traipse
round companies until I hated the record myself. I think the Internet could
mean the end of anyone paying for music but then musicians will have to and
play live to earn a living, and I don't think that would be a bad thing. I
think the labels are scared because it goes some way to levelling the playing
field. Just look at what Public Enemy are doing then you realise you have no
need for labels.
Is Babylon Pink your
label? What is the story behind it?
Yes, Babylon Pink is my
label. I got the name from a dead American comedian called Bill Hicks who
mentioned in one of his routines a porno movie called Babylon Pink.
Uncut magazine (January
2000) describes Oasis as "what Frankie would have been like without Holly
and Paul". What's your take on The Lads / Holly & Paul combination?
Are you an Oasis fan?
I think the mixture of
people and personalities is what made FGTH just as much as the songs. All the
parts of the puzzle have to be in place and it is only luck that allows you to
complete the puzzle and see the big picture. As for Oasis, I am a fan. I think
that maybe they are a bit Beatles-obsessed, but Liam is a superstar and the
x-factor which puts Oasis above the other bands. In the Oasis v Blur debate,
though, I am on the side of Damon & Co, who I think are great musicians
who write great songs and are always moving forward.
Peter Gill's
post-Frankie work with Lovestation, Fresh Records and Helicopter is quite well
documented, as is Holly's with his art and his music. But where are Mark
O'Toole and Paul Rutherford now? Any idea? To what degree do you keep in touch
with them?
I spoke to Mark recently
and he is doing some music, but I have not heard any of it. And I have not
seen or spoken to Paul for about two years, but not because we have fallen
out, but because that's just Paul. I have always kept in touch with Mark, as
he is my cousin, and I have stayed in touch with Ped and I saw Holly last year
for the first time in ages and we are in touch again. But we have had to stay
in touch because we have had a series of legal wrangles that we have had to
endure together. I would keep in touch with Paul if I knew where he was.
When Frankie collapsed,
how did it feel going from being all over the media one minute and then
relative obscurity the next?
I have never really
thought about being "in" or "out" of the limelight, and if
I were in the limelight again I would do my utmost to make sure it didn't
affect me and my family and those who are closest to me. I don't think I would
want to achieve that level of "fame" again, as I think once is
enough. Obscurity is fine, as long as there are a few people listening and you
are earning enough to keep the wolf from the door.
