Jim Kerr, (seen here fourth from the left), a Scottish singer, songwriter and lead singer with Simple Minds, chats with Kevin Cooper what he did during the lockdown, the re-working of their debut single Act Of Love, putting together a set list, and their forthcoming tour of the UK.

Jim Kerr is a Scottish singer, songwriter and the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds.

In 1977 he was one of the founding members of a six piece punk band Johnny and the Self Abusers. Going under the name of Pripton Weird, he played keyboards and shared vocals with John Milarky. After eight months and the release of one single, they changed their name to Simple Minds.

With Simple Minds, he has achieved five number ones in the UK Album Charts and has sold more than sixty million albums. They were the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980’s. They have also had considerable chart success in America, Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.

In 2010 he released a solo album called Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr. From that album he released three singles, Shadowland, Refugee and She Fell In Love With Silence.

Kerr lives in Taormina Sicily where he has a hotel.

Whilst preparing for Simple Mind’s tour of the UK, he took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Good morning Jim, how are you?

Hi Kevin, I canna complain. Having said that I always do (laughter). More to the point, how are you today?

All is good thanks for asking and before we move on, let me firstly thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

Not at all, thank you for speaking to me once again. I know that we have done it before a number of times so thank you; you really are a good man.

I have to ask, just how is life treating you at this moment in time?

Well, where do I start (laughter). I am speaking to you today from Scilly. I am looking out the window just now at Mount Etna; there is a beautiful blue sky whilst Etna is covered in snow. It really is quite a poetic vision. However, I will be getting ready to leave here very soon because we have the very small matter of eight months of live work. At one point during the past two years, you could have sat down and stroked your chin whilst thinking, ‘are we ever going to see this again’, and I have to say that it feels great knowing that we are. We are finally getting the chance to go and do this thing which has a great importance within our lives.

How did you manage to stay sane during lockdown; what did you get up to?

During the first few months, I was in the countryside up there in Scotland. I have a studio space there and it is the wilds behind me, and I must say I did spend more than my allotted time outside simply because I didn’t think that I was going to cause anyone any harm (laughter). There were a lot of long, lonely walks, thinking ‘what is this’ but after a few months, both Charlie (Burchill) and I had managed to find different places with different restrictions, and at that time in Germany they were under far less restrictions than we were in the UK, and so we found a studio which we had known from the past and we went over and began working on an album which we are within touching distance of finishing. So, in answer to your question, Charlie and I kept occupied by being creative and I have to say that really did help us.

On the subject of being creative, I have been playing the re-worked version of your very first single, Act Of Love and I have to say that I love what you have done with it.

That’s great, thank you for saying that. I have to say that Charlie and I are also looking forward to playing Act Of Love on the forthcoming tour as we both agree that it is one song that deserves a live airing. I personally love all of the energy in that song. It really is a barnstormer and I feel that performing it live is going to be great.

Whose idea was it to rework it?

I have to put my hands up and say that would most probably have been mine (laughter). It was mine in a sense that I have been championing this idea of going back to this, which is one of the very first songs that Charlie and I ever wrote, but surprisingly, it was never included on our debut album. That was only because we had a wealth of material and being one of the first songs that we had written, but about a year later there were a load more. You are always worried about pushing forward a new thing and I think, mistakenly, Act Of Love got overlooked then. Over the years, and in particular, the more recent years, fans who know Simple Minds have been saying “I have heard this live recording from back in the day of a song called Act Of Love which just seemed to appear out of nowhere”.

A couple of times when we were in the studio, and it is amazing how these things just come together and fall into place, when Charlie was tuning up, he would actually play the riff from Act Of Love. I would say “what is that again” and so, at some point, it was like ‘we really do have to go back to that’ (laughter). When we finally went back to the original demo of the song, it actually sounded really good but with the benefit of hindsight and I think with a much bigger awareness of the song writing craft, we could identify things that were missing in terms of making it a better song. I personally think that the version that we have just released shows all of that.

You and I spoke just prior to the release of Walk Between Worlds. Were you pleased with how well the fans reacted to the album?

Yes, I was, their reaction to the album was really great. I think that the last two or three Simple Minds albums have all managed to hit that sweet spot for a lot of people. There has been a new vibrancy to the music, and it is great at our stage of the game because it really is not that easy to have that, but for us, it is there. We, as a band, are always trying to move forward but, at the same time there are recognisably some of the Simple Minds trademarks together with some of the moves and sounds and I feel that is a good combo. So yes, their reaction to the album was really good.

I personally feel that the song writing between you and Charlie simply gets better and better. Would you agree with that?

You know what, yes, I would absolutely agree with you on that point. I particularly feel that during the last few years because Charlie and I now live very close to each other once again. For a long period there we were actually living in different countries from each other or different ends of the country, but we are living close to each other now. When you think that we originally met in the street in Glasgow, so what does that mean. It just means that we are both really connected with one another once again and that comes out in the work.

A lot of fans at the time said that they thought that Walk Between Worlds was your best work to date. Would you agree with them on that?

To be totally honest and open with you, I am possibly the worst person in the world who you could ask that question (laughter). I am always changing my mind. There are always different points, different things and to make matters worse, I find myself looking at our albums through a nostalgic lens. The more that I listen to an album, the more things I can hear wrong with it (laughter). Having said that, at the time it would have felt like the perfect thing to me. Because of that, I tend to look at our albums as a continuum, and what I would say is that some of them are more in focus than others and some of them are more confident than others.

You mention listening to an album and picking fault. When an album is finished can you walk away or are you a meddler?

The thing that we have learnt together with all of the things that we have seen over the years is that there is no definitive way to record a song. For example, there could be five versions of ‘that’s the song’ (laughter). And so, once you realise that then you are in the position where you have to make a decision and go with it. When you have to do that then yes, I can do that. I can make that decision so this is what the track is going to be. Having said all of that, there is always time for a last-minute intervention (laughter). Sometimes you have a wee inkling in the back of your mind that says “you know what, I don’t know about that. It sounded good but I’m not sure” (laughter).

At that stage I won’t say anything because why upset the apple cart. Someone at the last minute will say “are we going to sign off on this, are we sure about that” and it is at that stage that I will say “I’m not fucking sure about that” (laughter). I have to say that there is an art, a skill, and a niche to make decisions and stick to them, the caveat being that there is always room for a last-minute intervention (hysterical laughter). There are a few people whom I am fans of. I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan, a huge Bryan Ferry fan, and I know it from knowing them a bit, but I also know it from good authority from people around them and I don’t think that they would mind me saying this; they really are a fucking nightmare because they are forever meddling.

They simply do not like to give up; they don’t like to give in and give up (laughter). On the one hand you could say “well their method works, look at the great records that they have made” but they possibly bring sometimes unnecessary agony on themselves. I also think that psychologically, although no one admits it, it is kind of scary to hand over your work because that’s it, it is going to be judged now and there is no going back. I think that a lot of people actually do find that bit quite scary. Being in a predominately live band such as Simple Minds, especially in the early years, we had six weeks to do that and then we were back out on the road, so you had to get it done. Looking back, there are a couple of records that I can hear just how they might have suffered simply through a lack of more time being available. However, I would have to say that by and large it was a good thing.

You have briefly mentioned that you are currently working on new material. When are you thinking that it will be ready for release?

Well, to be totally honest with you, I don’t think that the new album will be released anytime during the next year, and I will tell you the reason why I say that, in fact thinking about it there are two reasons. The first thing is that this tour that we are now about to undertake is a postponed tour from two years ago, and it is essentially a greatest hits anniversary tour. So, you don’t really want to be bringing out a new record that gets submerged under all of that. That simply wouldn’t be fair on the record.

But the other thing is that because of Covid, and you might have heard people talking about this, the whole vinyl thing, which is a big part of our sales, especially the early sales when you are looking at chart positions, because of Covid and a hell of a lot of other factors, I don’t doubt that the current situation with Russia, the production of vinyl records has simply stopped. Vinyl at the moment is so very scarce, so there is a huge queue of people waiting to have their records pressed so even if you handed it over now, it might be a year before the plants could produce the albums for you. So, all of those things are telling me that hopefully the album will be released this time next year.

As crazy as this sounds, I was recently told that one of the main reasons as to why vinyl production has for the time being ceased is that there is a massive shortage of cardboard for the sleeves.

Is that what it is, well that really is crazy (laughter).

You have mentioned forty years of hits, after a two-year enforced hiatus, are you now chomping at the bit, wanting to get back out on the road and tour?

Yes, we are. As I said earlier, everyone who enjoys playing live gigs, then of course, the live gigs are the things that are the centrepiece, and to not be able to engage in that for the last two years, for a band like us, is shocking but another thing in addition to that is that when you have spent as much time as we have touring, our pals, the crew, all of that, it is almost like a extended family. It always has been that way, and it still is. We have really missed all of that as well so yes, chomping at the bit and there are a lot of reasons as to why that is.

With your vast back catalogue, is it an enjoyable headache whenever you are putting together a set list for a tour?

(Laughter) I have to say that it has recently become a real challenge. I know what you mean when you say that, because there are only so many songs that you can play on any given night, but I think that we have got that down quite well. I personally feel that with a really good set you want to tick, there are five or six boxes that you really want to tick within your set. You want to play the songs that the audience expect to hear, that’s a given. You want to give the audience a sense of time and legacy, so you want to go right back to the start. You want to come right up to the current music that you are making. You want to play a couple of obscurities for the hard-core fans, who really appreciate that stuff, the songs that they never thought that they would ever hear played live. You might even want to throw in a cover that no one ever thought about.

I think if you do all of that, you have got a good chance of sending the majority of people home happy. So, what we do is, we do that, we will probably play twenty-five songs every night, but before we go out on tour, we will have rehearsed between thirty-five and forty which means that there are most probably sixteen or seventeen that we will play every night whilst the other eight positions on the set list are up for grabs from the pool. That, for us, keeps it fresh and we never play the same set on consecutive nights. It just gives it that bit of freshness especially for those fans that will come to see more than one gig. They are usually guaranteed not to hear the same thing exactly. That way, we keep it fresh, but I will say, it’s a tough one; there is no perfect set, but that gives you a good chance of most of us being happy, but more importantly, the audience being happy.

I am being told that there is no support for the UK leg of the tour, is that correct?

(Laughter) just who the hell have you been speaking to (laughter). Whoever your mole is, they happen to be perfectly correct. There is no support; it is two sets with a short interval. We really do want to give full bang for the buck so to speak. We find that although it’s always great if you can bring along something new and interesting, these people really do want to hear Simple Minds, so it works well as a show. We play these two sets with full immersion.

The last couple of times that I have photographed and reviewed you, you have been at The Royal Concert Hall here in Nottingham. This time around you are playing The Motorpoint Arena also here in Nottingham. Do you have a preference regarding the size of the venue?

Firstly, I feel that have to say that I think that The Concert Hall up there in Nottingham is particularly good, I have to say that. I really do like performing there. Having said that, I also like the challenge of them all and if you have played there a couple of times then you really do want to go onto somewhere different. Somewhere that gives you a wee bit of a different experience. Great bands should be able to play at Live Aid or at their mates birthday party and still give it their full commitment and put on a great show, so yes, they are all a challenge (laughter).

You and Charlie have been together longer than most marriages…

…oh yes, we have certainly been together longer than mine (laughter)

Are there disagreements along the way?

Oh yes, oh yes (laughter). Thankfully, there are not enough in any way to encumber or spoil the relationship that we have, it is always fun, it is intense, but it is always fun. Charlie and I don’t have small arguments; we only have humongous arguments, screaming, shouting and all that (laughter). I find that arguments are usually caused by pure frustration at a very rare point that Charlie and I may not be on the very same page with something. The problem is that we are not good at explaining to one another; we are good but not when we get to that very rare point, we haven’t been good at explaining to each other, why someone is missing the value in the idea (laughter).

It is usually out of frustration, but I have to say that it is so rare, but inevitable also (laughter). Don’t get me wrong, at the end of all that I really don’t enjoy it, because we both do get upset. But, at the end there are two great things which come out of this; there is never ever any hangover, which I feel is remarkable, and after the argument there is a kind of solace where when we are still at this stage, we are both still so passionate. That has to be a good thing.

You have supported Record Store Day on many occasions. How does it make you feel when five minutes after an item has been sold it appears on eBay for five times its value?

Oh god, of course, it really does annoy me and make me wonder just where people’s morals are. The thing is that you get the same scenario with tickets as well at certain gigs don’t you. What can you say about that? In my day it was bootleg albums, which cost a fortune. I would pay through the nose for an inferior sounding product but it was a rarity and you had to have it. So, unfortunately that is a problem to which I currently have no solution.

We have spoken about the set list for the forthcoming tour, from a purely personal point of view; will Ghostdancing be making it onto the set list?

Yes, it will; will it make it onto the set list on the first night of the tour, I don’t know but it has to. We haven’t played it for such a long time. Well listen, since you have mentioned that I have to tell you that I was thinking the other day, we had a rehearsal last week and Ghostdancing wasn’t there. So, I made a few notes, and I wrote down Ghostdancing which I feel we will have to get everyone primed and back on board with that particular track. It has not been played for a long time, so it really will be fresh.

On that note Jim, let me once again thank you for talking the time to speak to me today. You stay safe and I will see you in Nottingham.

Thanks Kevin, I look forward to seeing you when we get to Nottingham. You take care and it’s been great talking to you as usual.

Jim Kerr, Scottish singer and songwriter with Simple Minds, chats with Kevin Cooper about how when he last toured with The Pretenders he ended up getting married, recording at Abbey Road Studios, their latest album Walk Between Worlds, their three special UK dates and headlining the Grand Slam Tour.

Jim Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer and songwriter, best known as lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds, who were formed in Glasgow in 1977 and are one of most commercially successful Scottish bands ever, having achieved five UK number one albums during their career and sold over 70 million records worldwide. Despite various personnel changes, they continue to record and tour.

The band have scored a string of hit singles; becoming best known internationally for their 1985 hit Don’t You (Forget About Me) which was from the soundtrack to the film The Breakfast Club. Their other more prominent hits include Alive And Kicking and Belfast Child. In 2016, they won the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.

The core of the band are the two remaining founding members, Jim Kerr (vocals, song writing) and Charlie Burchill (guitars, keyboards after 1990, and song writing). The other current band members are Ged Grimes (bass guitar), Sarah Brown (vocals), Gordy Goudie (guitar), Cherisse Osei (drums) and Catherine AD (vocals, keyboards, and guitar).

In February 2018 Simple Minds released their nineteenth studio album, Walk Between Worlds and announced a tour of Europe. They will be playing the new album in its entirety at three specially selected dates at Glasgow, Manchester and London.

Whilst busy rehearsing, Jim Kerr took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Jim how are you?

Hello Kevin from Nottingham, how are you doing?

I’m very well thank you, and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

Not at all, it’s my pleasure.

You and I last spoke back in April last year prior to the Acoustic tour and I have to say that when I saw you here in Nottingham at The Royal Concert Hall you blew me away.

That’s great to hear. I remember that night clearly because apart from anything else I love the venue and we always have great gigs in Nottingham but Charlie (Burchill) has some family that live in and around Nottingham now so we went down there early and had a good time with them both before and after the gig. And I have to say that from a personal point of view it was a great one.

You must have been pleased with the fans reaction to both the tour and the album?

Indeed, because you know it was the one and only time that we have played in that format and who knew just how the fans would react to that. We kept prevaricating as I told you the last time that we spoke, but once we had committed to it and once we got ourselves back out on the road, it was such great fun throughout. And the fact that it was something different meant that we all enjoyed the freshness of it. The whole tour gave us confidence because even at this stage of the game, there are still things that you can learn, and there are still things that you don’t know about. So all in all it was a very good experience for us all.

I have to mention your drummer Cherisse (Osei) who I first saw playing with Bryan Ferry a few years ago now. She is a real powerhouse isn’t she?

What is she like; I mean we wanted to put her in a flight case and lock her up so that no one could steal her (laughter). I mean I have to say that Cherisse is the star of the show. What a girl she is; she is a great person to be around. Backstage there is this little thing just sitting there constantly asking me if I have any chocolate and then a few minutes later it is like this powerhouse and away she goes.

She reminds me of the old cartoon of the Tasmanian Devil (laughter).

(Laughter) that’s right, that’s what it is, that is what she is like. We have got a great picture of her and it is just the way that the camera went. It looks like she has got six arms; she looks like one of those Indian Hindu gods (laughter). Out there on stage let me tell you that it feels like she has got six arms and six legs.

One last thing on the subject of the acoustic tour and then we will move on. Did Steve Harley surprise you and pop up at any of your gigs?

Steve was absolutely amazing. He came up to Glasgow and I thought that the show had been amazing and that it couldn’t go up a level but let me tell you, it did. We bought him out onto the stage and it was truly wonderful.

Coming right up to date, the new album Walk Between Worlds, I have been playing it for the past couple of weeks and I love it. I think that it is fantastic.

Good man. That is great to hear and so nice of you to say.

Are you happy with it?

Yes we are. It has been out there for the past three or four weeks doing the promotional rounds and the kind of things that we would hope that people would say about it are in fact being said. Not only are we being told that they like it as you have said, but they are saying that whilst they can feel some of the old ghosts, the new album is contemporary. What has surprised everyone is that they didn’t expect this kind of level of energy from the band at this stage of the game. In fact they don’t expect that from any of the bands of our vintage at this stage of the game. They feel that it is a much focused quality throughout.

All of the stuff that we would have hoped people would say about the album is thankfully being said. We felt that is was special whist we were making the album, but you never know, you have got to get it out there and feel it. It is never validated until other people listen to it and come up with their own opinions.

After hearing the album I simply wrote three words, classic Simple Minds.

Well that is brilliant to hear on the one hand but on the other that really is something for us to live up to because, let’s be honest, classic Simple Minds achieved a lot. Whenever you are working on stuff; when you are talking it through at the start of the process, it all rolls off the tongue lovely. It sounds like a piece of cake so it goes something like ‘okay let’s make a classic Simple Minds album but keep it contemporary’ well yes, good luck, how are you going to do it (laughter). When we did all of that stuff back in the day, classic Simple Minds were still really just kids. We were all young men with energy to burn who were living the life twenty-four hours a day. However, that is not the same when you are a wee bit older, you have been around the world a few times, been beaten up, you have lost a bit of confidence and you have felt a bit lost at certain times.

The short version is that you find yourself having to pick yourself up off the canvas and not to find yourself like a punch-drunk boxer. You have to tell yourself that what you are doing is potent again, you have to get your mojo back, and you have to begin excelling once again. You have to become engaged with what it is that you are doing, and that is what we did. We made the band number one core central in our lives again and that is the kind of engagement that you need to be able to come up with that kind of quality. We have been hard on ourselves; we had found ourselves a younger manager and a new producer and they kick the tyres. And I have to say that the nett result is, I hope, forty five minutes of pure quality.

If my maths are correct, you finished the album nine months ago now. Could you simply walk away and leave it alone?

(Laughter) that’s right the album was finished prior to us going out on the Acoustic tour, and I have to be honest and say that yes, we went back into the studio and recorded a few finishing touches here and there, for example a bit of backing vocals but pretty much the album is how we finished it nine months ago now. That is all that we were allowed to do because the tech guys took it off us (laughter). Who knows if tinkering with the album would make it better, who knows; it would simply make it different. Sometimes you tinker with it out of boredom, but there were a couple of backing vocals which I personally think improved the album. But by and large no, we know when it’s time to let it go.

I have to say that I really do love Barrowland Star and the title track, Walk Between Worlds.

Well I have to say that is interesting because you have picked out the two longest tracks on the album and not only that, you have also picked out the two orchestral ones which were such a pleasure to work on. I think that on Barrowland Star, Charlie was playing, I think, not only at his best, but also his longest guitar solo ever at over three minutes long. It’s a real old style glam rock solo where Charlie is really showing his influences, such as the late Mick Ronson. For me to see and hear that set against the classical musicians in Abbey Road was a bit of a treat and likewise with the intro to Walk Between Worlds, which Charlie not only wrote but he actually orchestrated too.

We feel that the album is in two quite distinctive characters. The opening three or four tracks feel like it is the young bucks, very up, tight knit, with that kind of energy and very punchy kind of pop arraignments. Even the song titles themselves are very in your face; Magic, Summer, In Dreams. However, when you get to side two it is all a bit more ‘what’s that’ (laughter). Walk Between Worlds, what’s that? Barrowland Star, what’s that? and the arrangements are a lot more open-ended with a lot more music in them and probably a lot more depth.

I’ve told you my two favourite tracks off the new album, do you have any particular track or tracks that you are enjoying singing at the moment?

I suppose that I have a bit of added attraction for a track called The Signal And The Noise because when we were pulling the ideas together for the album and we were getting excited, there is always one track that you need to say “right this is it, this is point A, this is where we should be here and now” and I remember feeling that when Charlie sent me his sketch for The Signal And The Noise. Also there is a track which got its debut a couple of nights ago, and it’s getting unbelievable reaction and that is the last track on the regular album Sense Of Discovery. I feel that track really does have some of those classic Simple Mind hallmarks running through it.

Do you have any thoughts on the next studio album as yet?

Believe it or not tomorrow night, a Saturday night in London, what am I doing, I am demoing stuff for the next studio album (laughter). I am excited about a couple of ideas that I have got and I will be with an engineer who I particularly like working with. He is available tomorrow night so I am just going to go in and push on even though it’s not like the clock is ticking. But if you get them down, and you get some courage, then you can play them to the people around you and it feels great especially if you feel that you have a couple of crackers ready to go for the future.

You mention Abbey Road, does the place inspire you or is it simply a case of the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention whenever you go down there?

That’s a great question and I have got a story which relates directly to that very point that you are making. Back in 1979 we were recording our first album Life In A Day which was produced by a feller called John Leckie who had learned the ropes at Abbey Road. He was a young engineer who had worked on some of The Beatles stuff together with some of the early Pink Floyd recordings and all that great stuff. However, Simple Minds at that time had hardly spent any time in any sort of studio, in fact we had hardly ever been down to London. He, in his wisdom, and it was his wisdom, said to us “look we will scrimp and save a little bit on the budget, we will use lesser studios for the backing tracks but then we will take a week in Abbey Road” and we were all like ‘wow’ (laughter).

We were going to record in Abbey Road, we simply couldn’t believe it. However, when we found ourselves in Abbey Road Studios, the interesting thing was that half the band were totally inspired saying things such as “wow we are really in Abbey Road Studios” and “look there’s the Mellotron that The Beatles used on Strawberry Fields” or “there’s the microphone that Pink Floyd used on Dark Side Of The Moon” all of that kind of thing. Whilst the other half, which surprisingly I was one of, surprising to me at least, kind of shrunk. We were totally overwhelmed. I found myself thinking about the history of this place which I found myself in and simply thought of us as being imposters, it was like ‘what are you doing here in this temple’ (laughter).

I went to work every day that following week and felt like I did at school whenever I went into an exam. As a result of that I never set foot inside Abbey Road again until we recorded this album. When we had the studio time booked and setup at Abbey Road for the latest album we were actually over in Germany touring the acoustic thing, but we made sure that the recording happened on a day off from the tour so that we could fly back and be there. The sound engineers didn’t need us to be there, it was all written, arranged and we knew what was going to be played, but we all wanted to be in there and enjoy it. It’s not every day that you can stand inside the Abbey Road Studios and hear decent musicians playing your music. That really was a treat.

On the special edition of the album you have recorded your version of Ewan MacColl’s Dirty Old Town. I understand that was a special moment of you?

Yes it is, it really is. Very sadly on the acoustic tour, just before we saw you in Nottingham, we played in Liverpool and after the show we got on the bus to head off to Manchester and it was then that we were told that there had been an incident. Of course it was the actions of the terrorist outside the Manchester Arena. The next day it was like ‘is the gig going to go ahead or not’ and all of that. Anyway the gig did go ahead and when we came back to play the encore we wanted to do something for Manchester. The Ewan MacColl song Dirty Old Town of course was in fact written about Manchester. We had only previously played it twice in rehearsals and Sarah Brown who does an amazing job of singing it didn’t even know the song.

Anyway we recorded it that night and we feel that there is something in there, Sarah did such a great job on it that we thought that if there were going to be any bonus tracks on the album then let’s make sure that’s one of them.

The summer tour, will it be a straight up greatest hits tour or will you be incorporating some of the new songs?

I personally think that with this stuff and in particular the reaction that we are getting so far to the three tracks that have already been played on air, plus now that we have started rehearsing, they sound amazing. We are already chomping at the bit to do a good job and in terms of the set we want to tick all of the boxes and give the people a real sense of the journey that we have been on, but we want to let them know where we are right now as well. Having said all of that, no one is going to be going home disappointed; we will find a way of doing a great set. It’s not easy and it is a problem but it is a great problem to have.

I can imagine, especially with you having such an extensive back catalogue too.

Yes we do and as I say, it really is a great problem for us to have.

You are going to be playing three very special shows in February; Glasgow Barrowland, Manchester Albert Hall and The Roundhouse in London.

Yes we are and again, with the new album ready to go and everyone being so positive about it, we just thought ‘let’s go out and play it’. With the three smaller venues together with the hard core of fans who are going to be at those shows, I think that from our point of view that is clearly a statement of intent. Quite a lot of bands of our vintage don’t even write new stuff or record new stuff and if they do….well (laughter). We are going out to try and bring these things alive and who knows, this could very well be the only time that we will do it. As you rightly say, these three shows are going to be very special indeed.

You are going to be performing the new album in its entirety which is to be followed by a Q&A section before you play some of your greatest hits. Are you looking forward to that?

Yes very much, I really am. During the acoustic tour you will have noticed that we did a fair bit of chatting which was a new thing and it went across great, in fact as the tour went on it got extended (laughter). This was in fact all down to Charlie. Basically what happened is that Charlie said to me “with all of this acoustic stuff, with the tunings and all that, I am going to need a bit more time between songs. You will need to keep hold of the audience a bit more” to which I replied “well that’s interesting. I have never done that before but let’s give it a go and see how it goes” and to be honest with you I would have to say that it went great (laughter).

I personally think that it is good to show some sort of humility. When the music all dies and you are standing there, why not just have a bit of a chat and let the people sense who you are. Let them know that you are a person as well outside of all of those daft rock god poses (laughter). We all have lots of stories to tell, even regional. Whatever place we are in that night we will remember the first night that we ever went there, there will be something funny about it or something poignant to say. We will also talk about the new record but we won’t go on and on, but it will be different.

Looking ahead for this year on Saturday 25^th August the Grand Slam Tour arrives here in Newark with The Pretenders no less.

Yes indeed and let me just point out to you that the last time that we toured with them I ended up getting married (laughter). I don’t think that will happen this time and we are really looking forward to working with Chrissie (Hynde) once again. What can I say, she is an icon, and she is one of the real greats. Charlie and I saw her recently in Glasgow, and we had a great time. And of course Chrissie and I have kids together, in fact we have grandchildren. But more than that we are huge fans of each other’s work.

And let’s not forget KT Tunstall.

Yes indeed. She toured with us over in Europe on the Acoustic tour and out of our thirty gigs I personally watched every one of her performances. Charlie watched at least twenty-five of them, she really was that good. Between her kicking things off, then Chrissie who is in brilliant form right now, and then we always want to give one hundred percent, I can guarantee anyone who is interested in that kind of thing, they really are in for a great night.

I’m sure that it will be a great night and you will be playing in the shadow of Newark castle.

That is brilliant. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely to turn up at arenas and play but with some of them you simply cannot tell the difference between one and the other. Anything that feels different then the backdrop can be the star itself.

On that note Jim, once again let me thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, it’s been great. Good luck with the tour and I hope to catch you somewhere this year.

It’s always great to talk to you Kevin. I will look out for you and I hope to see you in London and Newark. See you then.

Jim Kerr, Scottish musician and founder member of the rock band Simple Minds chats with Kevin Cooper about his love of the bagpipes, forty years working with Charlie Burchill, their latest acoustic album and their forthcoming tour of the UK

Jim Kerr is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, and is best known as being the lead singer of the rock band Simple Minds.

In November 1977 punk rock band Johnny And The Self Abusers changed their name to Simple Minds and became the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 80s. They have achieved five UK number one albums during their career and have sold thirty million records worldwide.

Kerr continues to record and tour with Simple Minds, and in April 2016 Simple Minds performed their first unplugged gig at the Zermatt Unplugged Festival in Switzerland, followed by a second unplugged show in Zürich in October 2016. This was the first concert to feature the new live acoustic line-up including Jim Kerr on lead vocals, Charlie Burchill on acoustic guitar, Ged Grimes on acoustic guitar, Sarah Brown on lead vocals, Gordy Goudie on acoustic guitar and Cherisse Osei on percussion.

Whilst busy rehearsing for their forthcoming acoustic tour, Jim Kerr took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.

Hi Jim how are you today?

Good afternoon Kevin I’m very well thank you and how are you today?

I’m good thank you and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.

It’s my pleasure.

And just how is life treating Jim Kerr at this moment in time?

I can’t complain, I have been busy doing the thing and I am about to go out and do the thing again which is all that we wanted to do with our lives, which was playing in a band, touring and hopefully making people happy.

Well I have to tell you that you have made me feel really old today (laughter).

(Laughter) how have I managed to do that?

I was trying to work out just when I first saw you performing here in Nottingham and it is over thirty years ago (Laughter).

Is it really, and where was that?

It was at The Royal Concert Hall back in 1984 on the Sparkle In The Rain tour. You were wearing a dark green Paul Smith’s suit and you had a small seat on the back of your microphone stand so that you could wrap yourself around it (laughter).

(Hysterical laughter) I remember it well, that was my perch (laughter). As you rightly say that was during the Sparkle In The Rain tour; such memories. They were such great times and I’m so pleased that you both remember and enjoyed them.

Coming right up to date we should talk to you about your Acoustic album. Are you pleased with how well it has been received?

To be honest with you I have been stunned by just how well the album has been received. I have to tell you that it took me and Charlie (Burchill) quite a while to rise to the challenge of the acoustic project. It was first mentioned way back in the Unplugged days which I know that if you can remember Sparkle In The Rain then you will remember Unplugged on MTV. That was really how the whole acoustic thing came about as a popular format that most people would do. But for the longest time we never really thought that it was for us for a whole multitude of reasons.

I know that this will come across as being superficial but the main reason that we resisted doing it for so long is that both Charlie and I had this mental vision of acoustic being a couple of guys sitting on stools surrounded by nice little candles. That would be alright for a few songs but how are you going to make that work for a whole gig (laughter). Or indeed how are you going to make an album out of that. Every so often the subject would come up, we would get excited about it but it would always get put onto the back burner.

Didn’t a certain Chris Evans play a part in the build up to you recording the album?

Yes he did, that’s right. After we had released the last studio album we were going to be promoting it on the Chris Evans radio show and Chris begged us to play two or three songs acoustically in order to make the session really something special. We told Chris that it wasn’t really something that we did but after a lot of begging from Chris we agreed to do just that and I have to say that the reaction was quite sensational both within the Simple Minds following and also social networking. That was really good but it still begged the question that yes it was alright for two or three songs but just how are you really going to make this work for an album let alone a tour (laughter).

I have to tell you that one of my favourite AC/DC songs is Money Talks; would you say that would be appropriate here? (laughter).

What can I say (laughter). If that is your favourite AC/DC song then yes, you have heard the expression money talks and let me tell you, it certainly did here (laughter). This time last year we were asked to play at the legendary Zermatt Unplugged Music Festival and of course we said no. However, the organiser kept coming back with improved offers until Charlie and I both said “you know what, this might be a total disaster but at least it will be a well-paid disaster” (laughter). So having agreed to play the Festival we knuckled down and for six weeks we messed around with a few songs in an attempt to put together a show not knowing if it was going to work or not. Within ten minutes we were looking at each other saying “this works”.

The audience were up and out of their seats, singing along and the whole experience was so energetic. The last thing that it turned out to be was just a couple of guys sitting on stools. We had a six piece band and let me tell you, we were rocking. So it was at that point that we realised that it was going to work live. While we were recording what will be the follow-up to our last studio album we took six weeks off in the summer last year in an attempt to see exactly what we could make of this acoustic thing. We thought that if we were going to tour then we should have a record to promote and that is exactly how it all came about.

Well I must tell you that I have been playing the album to death for the past few months and I have to say that I think that what you have done with Waterfront in taking out Derek (Forbes) iconic opening bass riff, in my opinion, works fantastically well.

It’s funny isn’t it; when it comes to Simple Minds songs there are very few that are more bombastic, and in this case I mean it in a positive sense, than Waterfront.  You think ‘how’s that going to work’ and in fact I have to say that only yesterday in rehearsals Waterfront felt and sounded wonderful.  It still creates that great atmosphere.  Obviously it is a different beast but nevertheless I think in your mind you don’t miss stuff, you just replace it with something else and Waterfront is such a great example of just one of the many surprises that we felt during the process of making that record and indeed how the result turned out.

Was it a difficult task selecting the final fifteen tracks for the album?

To be honest it pretty much flowed together and what was a massive help for us in choosing the final fifteen tracks was that we had put a show together first.  That kind of gave us the nucleus of which songs would find their way onto the album.  Whenever we put together a show there is a flow of songs that you have to play.  There are songs where you like to put in something unexpected, you want to do something new and there is something from the very start like Chelsea Girl.  You even put in some obscure covers; all of these things we do whenever we play a live set.  That really informed us as to what the final selection of songs for the album was going to be.

Were there any songs that you initially thought would slot in to the set list but later found that they actually didn’t work?

Yes there were a few that didn’t work and so therefore they got side-lined.  Having said that the main reason that some songs didn’t work was that some songs were most definitely a tough nut to crack but with more time invested in them I have to be honest and say that I think that all of them would have worked albeit some better than others.  Again it is a throwaway thing for me to say but if it is a great song then it is a great song almost no matter how you play it.  You could play it with an orchestra, you could play it with banjo dare I say (laughter).  However, the time aspect played a very big part in it and so, as I have said, a few songs did get side-lined.

On the subject of songs being side-lined does that mean that there are already thoughts of an Acoustic volume two (laughter).

(Laughter) let me say that there are no plans for volume two as we speak.  But who knows, time will tell (laughter).

You are about to tour the album here in the UK.  Does touring still excite you or has it now become a necessary evil?

No certainly not, touring has always excited us.  At this moment in time I am speaking to you now some ten minutes’ walk from where Charlie and I played our first ever gig some forty years ago now.  If you had said to us then what do you want to do with your lives I am sure that we would have both said that we wanted to be in a band that tours and goes around the world.  And here we are all of these years later still excited about the challenge of that and hand on heart I say this on my kid’s life, last night I woke up at four o’clock in the morning and I simply could not get back to sleep.  It’s not because I am panicking about the forthcoming tour, it’s simply because I am so excited about the tour.

I think that I went to bed last night with some new ideas in my head and they just caused me to toss and turn.  But that’s down to excitement; we are well rehearsed and ready to go.  Don’t get me wrong there have been times when we have started a tour and perhaps we were winging it but it was due to genuine excitement.

You hit Nottingham on 26^th May just what can we expect?

Well as you know we are touring to promote the Acoustic album so the entire show will be an acoustic show.  I say acoustic but for all of the aficionados out there it will in fact be an almost semi-acoustic show because Charlie’s guitar will at some stage during the evening be going through an amplifier.  We have got a six piece band, some strings, together with a beautiful stage set.  We went the other way from the two stools and a few tea light candles (laughter).  We have got a proper beautiful stage set together with a unique lightshow to go with it as well.  We really have tried to make this tour unique in so far as Simple Minds tours that we have done in the past.

We want it to be a unique experience that we hope the people will feel that it is and take that feeling away with them.  I guess that what it is not ironically, it is not reduced and we have really put a lot of time and effort into this tour.  In fact I will be cheesy and say that it is a spectacular event (laughter).

Will there be any surprises; will we be seeing a certain Steve Harley popping up?

(Laughter) that was amazing and Steve is going to pop up but I will be as genuinely surprised as you because I don’t know where or when.  Steve will actually be out touring at a similar time to Simple Minds.  I do know that he wants to go to Glasgow, not just because it’s his home town but it is also his wife’s home town too.  I know that he wants to do something but there is nothing solid as yet.  Charlie and I are such huge fans of his and for him to show up and play at one of our shows was a thrill for both of us.

You mention Charlie, you and he have now been together for over forty years, longer than most marriages.  What’s the secret?

(Hysterical laughter) like most marriages Charlie and I fight like cat and dog (laughter).  At times we drive each other mental but we are really good mates.  We have so much in common but we are also very different which I have to say keeps it interesting.  However, the one thing that we really do have in common is this thing called Simple Minds.  Neither he nor I have run out of desire to continue and take it to the max.

Having been together now for forty years will you be doing anything special or will there be any specials releases in order to mark the passing of that occasion?

Yes I really do think that we have to.  It would be wrong of us not to do something to commemorate that fact.  However, the thing that has been the hardest has been for us to actually pin down the actual year when Simple Minds first got in a room together.  The first time that we all got into a room to rehearse together was November 1977 so that would mean that November this year would be the fortieth year.  However, if you are being pedantic, and you know what, most people are, then January 1978 was when we actually played our first gig and in fact April 1979 was when our first album was released.  So as you can see we are trying to squeeze a lot of things in here but we definitely do want to do something to signify forty years of Simple Minds music and in fact there are chats taking place as we speak.

And is the new studio album all ready to go?

Yes it is it is done and dusted and ready to go.  We finished it two weeks ago prior to setting up to rehearse the acoustic stuff.  We seem to have a great momentum and the ability to jump from one thing to another.  We were also on tour in Australia in February playing with the full band and then we came back, went into the studio to finish off the last of the overdubs and mixes of the new album and then got straight into the acoustic rehearsals.  The acoustic tour will keep us busy for a couple of months so it will be sometime after the summer when we will finish off the artwork and start planning the release.

Do you have any thoughts as yet for a release date?

No we don’t have any thoughts as yet and I really do hope that it is sometime this year but if not it will most definitely be early next year.

And a title?

(Laughter) only if I kill you after (laughter).

If I had to push you what would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

The highlight for me is to still be playing live with Simple Minds.  That’s what I wanted to do; I would like to think that is where we excel.  People are always asking me ‘which highlight’ or ‘which gig’ and I always say the same thing; there have been some landmark events such as Live Aid in 1985, the Nelson Mandela 70^th Birthday Tribute in 1988, playing at Wembley Stadium, and all of those things.  But I also mention some of the back wood gigs that we played whilst we were still learning our trade.  I clearly remember playing in Nottingham at Rock City supporting Magazine and the nervous excitement of learning our trade was equally important to us and was as equally a highlight.

What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?

(Laughter) oh well this will really make you laugh.  Despite the rumours, I am not one of these mad raving Scotsmen but come anywhere near me with bagpipes and my eyes just moisten (laughter).  I just can’t deal with it (laughter).  So I would have to say anything with bagpipes then I’ve gone totally.

I asked Burt Bacharach the same question and he said that it was Walk On Bye by The Stranglers…

Did he really, well what a thrill for The Stranglers to hear that.  It’s an amazing song.

But it’s not.  I asked him if their version had moved him to tears and he simply replied ‘no, it was shit’ (laughter).

(Hysterical laughter) that’s great, that is really funny.  I know The Stranglers and let me tell you, they would love that as well.  They would like that response and would get a kick out of that.

Jim on that note let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me it’s been great and I will see you in Nottingham.

Thanks for that Kevin, you take care and make sure that you say hi in Nottingham.  Bye for now.