The Wedding Present have always retained a special place in hecklerspray’s black heart. Now, after an eight year hiatus, they are back, and we managed to catch up with David Gedge (aka ‘The Gedgemeister’) prior to this weekend’s show at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

You formed the Wedding Present in the mid-80s, became indie darlings, played with fast right hands and were generally melodic. It must be good to be back, right?

I’ve never been away! I’ve just continued what I’ve been doing since 1985, really… but under a different name. In 1998 I formed another group called Cinerama and so far we’ve released three albums. But now, Cinerama has pretty much become The Wedding Present… it’s all the same musicians.

When did you start playing music and why?

Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to do something with music… ever since I’ve popped out of my mummy’s tummy in fact. It was either this or becoming a DJ, I think…

Are you self-taught?

Yes, I am completely self-taught, though not particularly well! I’m one of those people who learned the guitar playing along to Beatles records and stuff…

Did you plan to be the singer from day one?

No, I didn’t really know what I’d end up doing. I’ve always fancied being a drummer, actually. In the earlier versions of the group we auditioned a couple of vocalists, but to be honest I was a lot better than them… so, being the songwriter, I suppose the job inevitably came to me.

How do you write songs? Where does it all start? Words, melody, chords, bassline… or is it something else entirely?

They usually start with some guitar bits and pieces which my co-writer Simon Cleave and I will send to each other on tapes and stuff… and eventually I end up arranging them into some kind of song structure.

Once the arrangement is in place we start thinking about other instruments and things, but I don’t start work on the lyrics until the whole thing is finished. There have been too many instances in the past where the song didn’t quite reach the required standard, and the lyrics were wasted.

Which bands, books, movies, art inspires you?

We try not to be influenced really. If we’re working on a song and it starts to sound like another band we tend to change it so that it sounds as little like them as possible. Having said that, John Peel was a big inspiration to me. And I’m always absorbing random bits of pop culture… films, TV, comic books… they all seem to end up in the lyrics. 

You did a cracking version of Pavement’s ‘Box Elder’. In fact, I think you might have been responsible for putting them on the map in the UK. Do you know Malkmus and co?

No. I’ve run into them a couple times, but they tend to ignore me, really. I don’t think they liked the fact that I changed the lyrics to their song!

The Wedding Present had some Fallesque personnel changes and then you called it a day. But now you’re back. Excited?

It’s definitely been an exciting year, yeah. We made an LP that we’re very proud of and we’ve been playing concerts around the world ever since. I think the line-up changes have strengthened The Wedding Present, it means that every few years someone has come into the group with new enthusiasm and ideas.

You’re playing the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 20 November. What can we expect from Wedding Present 2.0.?

Dancing girls, magic tricks, performing poodles… and a great night of rock and roll music!

Hoopla to that! Ok, so what’s the biggest crowd you performed to? And what about the smallest…?

The biggest was probably one of the festivals. I don’t know. Someone told me there were about 50,000 at Reading this year. The smallest… hmm… I think we played to about 15 people in Detroit once.

Do you have a favourite gig memory?

There have been loads. Going to America, going to Japan, playing Ukrainian Folk music with a dance troupe, playing at John Peel’s birthday parties…

I’d say one of my fondest memories of this year was playing at the Benicassim festival in Spain… hanging out with Oasis and Mylo, swimming in the backstage swimming pool, great food and weather, and then playing to a huge, really appreciative audience.

What’s on the Wedding Present rider?

Six bottles of Absolut vodka a small dog.

Which one of your Top Of The Pops performances did you most enjoy? You went through a lot of weird outfits, right?

I guess so. I suppose the first one was the funniest, though… where we did Brassneck and I kind of took the mickey out of the whole miming process. I’m amazed they let us get away with that. I was just being a bit childish really.

Will the Ukrainians be resurrected?

They never died! After Peter Solowka left The Wedding Present in 1991 he concentrated on doing Ukrainian music and to my knowledge they’re still in existence.

Do you like Tom Waits? All that Hungarian folk music must rock your boat, surely?

I hate Tom Waits. Although we had to cover one of his songs, once, for a compilation LP. But generally I find his stuff very dull…

How did Cinerama work out for you?

I really enjoyed doing something totally different. I didn’t intend for it to carry on for eight years though! But I was beginning to feel restricted in The Wedding Present and Cinerama gave me the freedom I wanted.

We presume that alt bands make little from record sales but cash it in on tour. Is this accurate or misguided? How does the pie get split up on tour?

It’s definitely getting harder for bands to survive now that everybody burns each other’s cds.

Did Norris McWhirter get in touch after you released one single a month (back in the day)?

Ha! Sadly, he didn’t actually call me in person, but we did get an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. They should have asked us to play on Record Breakers!

What are the odds of you doing that again?

Zero. I think part of the beauty of the whole thing was its uniqueness. I think we could do it again, but it would never be quite as good.

Blue Eyes is my favourite WP song. What’s yours?

It depends what mood I’m in; there are so many! Somebody recently told me there are almost a couple of hundred, or something. But, at the moment, my favourite from the current live set is Heather.

Did you ever play at a wedding?

No. Of course not! Although we do get asked to, every now and again. Inevitably.

What are you doing for Christmas?

Nothing. I don’t celebrate it. Cheerful ol’ me, huh?!

Keep smiling, David Gedge. We salute you.

[Interviewed by cjl]

Links: Visit the Scopitones website, home of the Wedding Present and Cinerama