Move any mountain
August 30th, 2002 by freddie96
BLUE STATES: MOVE ANY MOUNTAIN
As though setting out to utterly disprove the premise of Blue States’ debut album ‘Nothing Changes Under The Sun’, a hell of a lot has in fact changed for Andy Dragazis since I first met him. Then, sat at The Big Chill, Andy was in the throes of nervousness as he prepared for Blue States’ first ever live performance. Now, two years later, countless live shows under his belt, a five-album deal with XL and 10,000 copies of ‘Nothing Changes’ sold in the USA on Thievery Corporation’s 18th St. Lounge label are the order of the day. As is discussing the fine second Blue States album, ‘Man Mountain’.
‘It has been a fairly optimistic time for me,’ says Andy, looking, in his low key, down to earth kinda way, pretty pleased. ‘What with the second album actually happening, and the whole XL thing. I’ve kind of had two years of a having a good laugh really, and I started to feel that I might actually have a career in this, whereas the first year after ‘Nothing Changes’, I still didn’t know which way it was going to go. It was one of those albums that got great press, and everyone in the industry was saying really nice things about it, but it didn’t sell that much really. But when it was re-released, it kind of kicked on again, and sold more than the first time round.’
And the release of ‘Man Mountain’ is likely to kick things on again. Indeed, although he laughs at the cliché, Andy has freely admitted it’s the album he’s always wanted to make.
‘It is!’ he says. ‘From the release of ‘Nothing Changes’ this was the plan. It really does feel like the LP I’ve always wanted to make. ‘Nothing Changes’ was what it was for many reasons, budget, and circumstances. Playing live has obviously influenced me a lot, and I much preferred making this record, which seems like more of a creation, because it’s all played, and I got to do things like score the strings and the brass, whereas before I was having to sample these things.’
And the thing is, he’s right. Even with the firmly studio-based sound of ‘Nothing Changes’, Andy has had the big, romantic, almost epic sound in his head. It’s the fact that he’s had the opportunity to do this properly for ‘Man Mountain’ that marks its major difference to its predecessor. There has even been mention of the dreaded ‘pop’ word.
‘That doesn’t concern me really,’ says Andy. ‘I think it’s a good thing if people are going to talk about it. I don’t want to be seen as peddling the same thing all the time, and I have tried to do some things a bit different, and I do really hope that this record can take us to a different audience. Yep, there are pop songs on it, but that’s the way I write songs.’
Combine that with the inclusion of vocalist Tahita Bulmer on several tracks, and on the mightily uplifting ‘Season Song’, a children’s choir, and you see that Andy is aiming high with his music.
‘Well, there aren’t enough children’s choirs on records anyway,’ he says. ‘It just adds another element in making it sound grand. I do want to make it as big sounding as possible. For me, it’s a bit of escapism because, when I’m actually making it, it can be a fairly dull process when I’m in the studio on my own, so I like to make it big and romantic sounding.’
Listening to ‘Man Mountain’, with its lush orchestration, broad cinematic sweep, infinitely catchy tunes, and the focus of Tahita Bulmer’s sweetly melancholic voice, you can see absolutely no reason why Blue States, like Zero 7, and others who have made the successful leap from studio boffins to full-on live band performers, shouldn’t be peppering daytime Radio 1 playlists. This is clearly what XL Records had in mind for Andy when they sealed the five-album licensing deal with Memphis Industries, on which Blue States first emerged.
‘There is definitely an accessibility to a lot of the tracks on this album,’ admits Andy, ‘and I think I’d be a fool not to think that maybe some of them have got a chance of being a ‘hit’. Obviously that’s what everyone is hoping for long term. So yes, it is something that I’d like to happen, but it’s got to be done in the right way. There are plenty of artists who are successful and well respected, and I don’t think you necessarily have to follow a formula these days to be successful.’
If doing things the right way means an album of finely crafted songs with heart and soul, then Andy Dragazis is spot on at the moment. Things, it seems, do change, and for Blue States, it’s all for the good.
Steve Nickolls
