James "Midge" Ure, OBEis a Scottish singer, musician, songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his given name... (wikipedia)
So I concentrated on the rhythmic side of things, and therefore left a lot of holes. I didn't want to use big pad chords everywhere. All of the songs are built up of small melodies and counter melodies all played very rhythmically.
I didn't want to be stuck to rigid tempos. I mean, a band should speed up and slow down. They shouldn't do it too much, but they do.
I'm still very, very basic with synthesizers and things. l can make them do what I want them to do, but a guitar is how I express myself I suppose.
At the beginning of this album I discovered the computer and had great fun playing with the thing. And I realized that, not being a good keyboard player, I could write things in very small sections, give them a certain feel and mess about with bends on the keyboard.
And when I started, I also programmed the drum machines with the intention of taking them off and replacing them with acoustic drums.
You are talking to a man who can only play a plastic keyboard. Give me anything weighted and I've had it. I haven't got the strength in my fingers to push them down. So I don't get a lot of expression on the keyboard.
In the music industry, you meet some not very nice people, some very strange characters.
But the guitar is my favorite, first and foremost instrument.
I start with the subject matter I want to write about. Then I make a musical base for that and create an atmosphere with the music. Once I've done that, the lyrics come last.
You think that religion is a thing that is there to help you and to see you through life, and then you wake up one morning and find the entire Irish situation, the civil war thats based on religion.
Who designed this world we live in?