2 (David Gray Page2)

PC: Not only did it start to do well but it didn't stop doing well. It became a tidal wave.

DG: Yeah. There were many times when I had to reassess the limits of my expectations and what might happen as it just kept rolling on. At the end we were like disappointed when we weren't in the top 10, you know … ridiculous things.

PC: You're expectations when you first released it must have been no more than about 100,000 sales.

DG: All I wanted to do was have something positive happen. To get across to the people and make enough so I could make another one and live. That was the bottom line. It soon became evident that there was some magic there and we were on a mission to get across to people. We saw it start working in Ireland and then it started to work in England. We thought, Christ, the only thing stopping this getting big was that we didn't have the clout to get it on the radio. We knew we had something.

PC: There was the other album from that time 'Lost Songs'.

DG: 'Lost Songs' was stuff that I had written just prior to 'White Ladder' but I didn't have a record deal at the time. It hadn't ended up on a record so I decided to capture it in just a simple way. I sensed the chance that things were about to become far too busy for any such project. It was 1999, a year after the release of 'White Ladder' that we went in for a week to record 'Lost Songs'. We did it all very quickly and simply. It is like an archive record of songs that hadn't made it. There were three albums before that but that is what 'Lost Songs' is. It was a record for the fans. It has actually done okay. It ticks over. I'm glad we did that.

PC: Do you source back to the early material and still play the songs live?

DG: Yes. I drag various ones up. I keep changing the set from night to night and various songs pop up from time to time so we don't exclude anything.

PC: There must be some songs you just can't drop out of a set. Have you worked out what your signature tunes are yet?

DG: Obviously 'White Ladder' is where a lot of people start with my music. There is no way that I can get away with not playing the hits off that at this particular juncture. I suppose 'Babylon' is the flagship song as is 'Please Forgive Me'. From early in my career the first song on my first album 'Shine' is a song that has stayed with me and I still play regularly. I think people who are aware of my music prior to the success, it is a meaningful thing. That one is a big one too.

PC: When you become "The Legendary David Gray" when you are 70 year old do you still think 'Babylon' will be essential to the set?

DG: Hopefully, I will have written something else and there will be a certain amount of displacement in terms that I would have written something else that will capture the imagination. Right now, it has to be there. That's one people want to hear. It is my biggest hit and when they come to the show we hand it to them but into the show. I think if you bring out the big guns too early it detracts from what follows. You can't raise people up too high if you then want to play a load of low-key songs they haven't really heard before. I like to build the dynamic into the set that incorporates all the biggest moments but with a lot of other stuff. If I get my reward it is not as musically fascinating to do something like 'Babylon' too early. It is a crowd pleaser. You want them to get imbedded into something a bit fresher or a bit more improvised in places but it just a matter of getting the right balance. I think we have. We play a long set. It is generally about 2 hours to 2 ½ hours depending on where we are. We play most of 'A New Day At Midnight' and a lot of 'White Ladder', a lot of early stuff and sometimes a few covers. It all works out quite well. PC: It's good to see you on tour in Australia with Tim Freedman from The Whitlams. You two have a lot in common. Your first three album didn't work and then bang, you are a success. He had a similar slow start with his first few albums. DG: He seemed like quite a nice guy actually.

PC: You were born in Manchester, grew up in Wales but the big success happened out of Ireland. Just to set the record straight, you are not Irish.

DG: No.

PC: So why was Ireland so big for you?

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