Classic Rock Revisited January 2008

By A. Lee Graham Cy Curnin is the thinking man's new-waver. No, scratch that. The Fixx was never "new wave." Sure, the Londoners rode the same wave as other '80s acts in balancing dance beats and angular guitar lines; but the boys pursued meaning and musical depth over hit singles and chart success. Yet those came anyway, but by accident and not calculation. "We always wanted to follow our own course," says Curnin, calling from the French countryside. It's in those pastoral surroundings that Curnin tends sheep, oversees a winery and masterminds Cy-Wear, his stab at sartorial savvy. Yep, the man best know for singing "One Thing Leads To Another" and "Red Skies" offers his own line of apparel. And having secured a world's record for performing a rock concert at the highest elevation in history (18,540 feet), the artist is still restless. That spirit enlivens The Returning Sun, his newly released second solo CD. It sees a musician at the peak of his powers, embracing the 50 years it's taken to get there. "I feel like I'm at a really good place right now," says Curnin. And he's not lying. In October, the Fixx frontman joined Glenn Tilbrook, Mike Peters, Slim Jim Phantom and other musicians for Everest Rocks, a fundraiser benefiting the Love Hope Strength Foundation. Co-founded by The Alarm's Peters, the organization raises money for cancer treatment and research. Not only did Curnin's crew set a world's record, they forged bonds with other musicians and cancer survivors on the 14-day hike to the Everest Base Camp. Capping the trek was a

concert in Kathmandu. Inspired by that heady experience, Curnin recorded his latest project. The Returning Sun is arguably the best Fixx album The Fixx never recorded. Sure, it's a solo outing, but with Jamie WestOram lending his trademark guitar sheen to several tracks, the disc often mirrors vintage Fixx. And Curnin acknowledges that point. Yet he proudly, and rightly, distances the material from his "day band." After all, he called the shots. "It's nice not having to go to four other guys and just do things yourself," says Curnin. With that mindset, Curnin sidestepped major labels and released the disc on his own label. The move mirrors the DIY ethos embraced by today's leading artists — from Prince and Paul McCartney to Radiohead. It also captures some of that '80s spunk. So what's next for a socially conscious fashion plate equally content atop the Himalayas and a sheep farm? Read on and find out. Lee: So where are you calling from? Cy: From France. My wife and I bought an old farm here. She runs a guest house. We do organic meats, that sort of thing. Lee: Sounds like you're taking care of your health. Cy: Everything starts with that. Lee: Amen. And with The Returning Sun, it's a start in terms of reintroducing Cy Curnin the artist. I'm not just saying this, but the CD hasn't left my changer in weeks. I'm really digging it.

Cy: Great. Lee: Please don't take this the wrong way, but from the first few notes — with Jamie's guitar and your voice — it sounds just like The Fixx! Do you agree? Cy: I do. It was a starting point. It's a strange irony at play. Jamie and I are so linked. We're two wings of the same spirit, if you like. The chemistry was still there. You might say "We Might Find It" (the disc's first track) where we least expect it. That veers off slightly. It's very "Fixxy," I guess. Lee: The Fixx always got lumped into the '80s new-wave movement. But it seems your music was always darker, more melancholy, more thoughtful. Would you agree? Cy: We painted a slightly darker picture. I always saw music as something in which you could arrest people, give them a few enigmas, if you like. Lee: There's depth for listeners to contemplate. Cy: Exploring the ripped seam of human misery. Lee: Cool phrase. Cy: It’s amazing what you can come up with (laughs). Lee: Did you come up with The Returning Sun all at once, or does it represent a long period of songwriting? Cy: There are sad days, happy days, etc. It was a roller-coaster time. I started working on it at the start of 2000 really. The first song that came through, the lyrics came through my fax machine. "Remember Me When I'm Gone" was faxed from Jeanette (Obstoj, who also co-wrote Fixx song "Secret

Separation.") I thought it was a suicide note (laughs), but it was song lyrics. Lee: You thought, "Uh oh!" Cy: Yeah, then I thought we've got to work on it now. I picked up my guitar and once I caught her lyrical rhythm, 10 minutes later, I had it down. It got me out of a funk I was going through, a breakdown of a marriage I was going through and a divorce. Lee: You were inspired. Cy: Exactly. Sometimes I'd go to a piano every day. But it's not every day you get something that inspires you to dig a little deeper. Then the emotional stuff comes out. I'm kind of getting older and those things are the only ones I want to fill my years with. It's easy to write crap. Lee: How was The Returning Sun produced? Cy: Doug Beck produced it. He did lots of remixes in New York. We met through a mutual friend. We worked one day in his place and one day in my place. The sound is so fresh. Lee: Do you consider Jamie your main collaborator? Cy: Jamie came in to do guitar. I was laying down lots of basic guitar, and Jamie came in to do his own thing over the top. Lee: So you have multiple collaborators, including Jeanette. Cy: Exactly right. One track, track nine, "The World Will Always Turn," it was different. There's a friend on the West Coast I love to work with. It took six hours to record. Clark Stiles (producer, programmer and musician) helped with that track.

Lee: What was it like producing a solo work as opposed to working with The Fixx? Cy: I didn't have to ask anyone's opinion (laughs). No, I love the creative discussion, the free-form communication we had in The Fixx but also enjoyed (this project) without too much back and forth. Lee: When you and (drummer) Adam Woods formed the band, you were known as the Portraits. Where did The Fixx come from? Cy: It came out of a hat. When Jamie joined the band, we needed a new name. We put possible names in a hat. Adam was the one who put The Fixx in there. That was the one that came out. The record company wanted two "x's." It was one of those trends. But we weren't a heroin band. The two xx's stuck. Lee: So the record company didn't want to give the impression of a band with drug habits. Cy: Right. Lee: Shuttered Room took a while to grab America’s attention, whereas Reach The Beach just exploded stateside. Any theories why that album hit so quickly? Cy: There was a (radio) program that played the hell out of it and, slowly but surely, it did really well on college radio and grew, and then released “Stand Or Fall” on AOR and then “Red

Skies.” What had happened was the president of MCA America changed, and he came in about three months after the release of Shuttered Room, and said, “I want you to go back to England and give me another record. Just do what you do and we’ll give it a crack.” We were touring in 1982 with Shuttered Room and played some new material that became Reach The Beach. We got the album out and — boom — we released it in six weeks and were platinum. Lee: So the new guy gave you a push. Cy: Yes, and the success with MTV because they were becoming very powerful. “Saved By Zero” and “One Thing Leads To Another” — they played the crap out of those (laughs). All the radio stations just jumped on it. We went mainstream to a lot of pop stations. Whether alternative, AOR or CHR, we were there. We were a young band touring a little bit, but really started to become live musicians while out on the road. That changed the mood some nights, and some events made the songs more meaningful. That’s very addictive and made our lives change from when we were off for 6 months when we came back, we were completely different. Our personal lives kind of went awry and became a little darker. We named the next album Phantoms because we had some ghosts. That had a lot more reflection. Then Walkabout was about walking around the planet on a spiritual journey. By 1991, radio had changed and we had new wives, new kids and had to take

a break. We were getting a little tired. Later, we put together a great record, Elemental, I thought, but realized we weren’t playing enormodomes anymore, but there were still die-hard fans wanting to hear “Deeper.” It made the live thing even more “wow!” Lee: The crowds were smaller, but like you said, every one there was a die-hard Fixx fanatic. Cy: Absolutely. With age, we had nothing to prove and the tone became really solid. Lee: And smaller crowds were more intense, more solid. It was more satisfying. Cy: Exactly. Plus, we played in front of these backdrops and things. The show was quite interesting. Lee: The Fixx always seemed deeper than most "modern" bands of the ‘80s. Your lyrics often touched some dark emotions, but the music could be quite melancholy. As a songwriter, is that where you were coming from? Cy: Yes, that's true. Today, you get a very homogenous thing. Because of MTV, it’s very visual and tends to be more femaledriven. Music became fashion. Lee: Still, the visual medium helped bring new ears to the music, strangely enough. Cy: Exactly. A weird irony to me is when I was singing about red skies at night and singing about nuclear aftermath, someone is throwing their underwear at you! (laughs) Some

people get it and some don’t. Somebody wants to take their underwear off. That’s interesting. Lee: Did The Fixx ever really break up? Cy: We put our boots up — but not saying we’d never do it again. But Ink in 1991, that was the last studio record and the live record in Germany. But I kept writing. And the rest of the guys kept busy. Lee: What’s happened since then? Quite a few fans may not know what’s kept you guys occupied. Cy: Since 1996, we’ve been working on writing music. Our drummer makes custom bikes. Jamie’s a music teacher, and Rupert is a bit of a wheeler-dealer on the antique side. Lee: Rupert Hine? Cy: No, Rupert Greenall (keyboards). Lee: That’s right. Sorry. I was thinking of Rupert Hine, your producer. Cy: Right. Anyway, Rupert Greenall has been antique dealing — eBay buying and selling, doing sessions for other people. I’m sheep farming and Adam’s doing bikes. Jamie and I did Love Hope Strength on Everest. Lee: Did you accomplish that? Cy: Yeah, we broke the record for the highest rock concert. We

did a show for 10,000 people in Kathmandu when we came back down the mountain. It was for a cancer-based charity started by Michael (Peters). He wants to let people know that early and good treatment is key to surviving a long time. (note: Peters is himself a cancer survivor). It was an amazing experience. Lee: I’ll bet. Cy: You lose your identity when you do something like that. You forget about the shit back home. After all that, you come back a different person. Glenn Tilbrook this morning calls me. He calls me every two days. We fell in love with going through this thing together. It’s about love, about doing something. Giving is the new getting. Lee: Sounds like an ad campaign. Cy: (laughs) Lee: I wanted to ask what happened with the recent tour. You guys were scheduled to play Dallas with The Alarm and The Psychedelic Furs, but it was canceled. My friends and I had tickets and were really bummed. Cy: John (Ashton), the Furs’ guitarist, his wife was pregnant and he went home. The baby was born by Caesarian. Lee: Needless to say, he had bigger issues than playing another gig! Cy: Yeah. Having to cancel was a bummer, though. We’re taking it again this summer. Lee: You meaning playing those cities you missed?

Cy: Yeah. Wait (drops the phone momentarily). Sorry; one of my goats is chewing the hedge. Lee: I hate when that happens. Cy: (laughs) Yeah, he follows me around like a dog. Back to the tour: we hope to pick up with same package. Lee: With The Alarm and the Furs? Cy: Yes. Lee: That’s great. Of all the recent ‘80s tours, you had the strongest lineup. I was a huge Fixx fan in high school and really a huge Alarm fan. Mike has got to be one of the most genuine, nicest human beings I’ve ever met. Cy: A great guy. Good man. He’s the one who invited us along. Lee: To say you guys bonded is probably an understatement. Cy: Yeah. I almost well up whenever I think about it. But in a good way. You can check it out at everestrocks.com. Lee: I wanted to ask if VH1 ever approached you about filming one of those “Bands Reunited” episodes? Cy: Well, we never broke up. We don’t have any rehab stories. We got on with our lives. Get on with Cy Curnin's latest doings at www.cycurnin.com.