Oxford band Unbelievable Truth are back together with their first new material in 25 years and heading out on tour for dates including a show at The Prince Albert in Brighton on May 11.
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00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely
00:06to speak to Nigel Powell and Andy York of the band Unbelievable Truth. And the unbelievable
00:11truth at the moment is that you're back together and having a great time heading towards Brighton
00:16for a gig at the Prince Albert on May the 11th. Now, it's, what, 25 years since original material
00:24from you? Nigel, tell me about the early years. You were together in Oxford in the 90s, weren't
00:29you? And was that good fun? Did that really work? Yeah, certainly the early 90s in Oxford was an
00:35incredible music scene. I mean, it's, Oxford's always been a very good music scene, punching
00:40above its weight. But it was a community that we felt a very close part of, and we knew everybody
00:48there. And it was a wonderful, wonderful time, you know, to be creating music in that environment.
00:56And Andy, you were beginning to have real success with the second album looming, but frustration
01:01has crept in as well.
01:04Yeah, so we released our first album on Virgin Records in 1998. And at that point, things were
01:13happening on quite a big scale, as you expect from a major label. And we toured the US with Tori Amos.
01:21We, one of our highlights was playing second on the bill to Portless Head at a festival in France
01:28called Rue du Roque. So yeah, it was all happening in a big way. But for me, I think that the thing that
01:40soured it slightly was, I just, I felt the pressure, I think, too much. And I, yeah, I kind of, I never
01:52felt 100% comfortable on stage in those days, being the front man.
01:57But now, Andy, you do, something's changed, maturity, years have gone by, it feels different, doesn't it?
02:05Yeah, 25 years later, I feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin, maybe, that's part of it.
02:15So different enjoyment now, then?
02:17Things, things more in perspective. And yeah, it's all about, now that we're back together, it's all about
02:23focusing on the things that make us happy, the things that we get out of it, and the sheer joy of
02:30writing songs and performing on stage. That's what it's all about.
02:34Yeah. And Nigel, you were slightly teasing Andy, it's Andy who keeps leaving. You've got him back this time.
02:40You didn't think it was going to happen, did you? You weren't banking on it, at least.
02:43No. I mean, and I felt like Andy had made his mind up. But honestly, one of the things I love about
02:53this band is I've been in a lot of different bands, and often with people who are absolutely
03:01convinced that bands are what they want to do. But certainly with kind of singer songwriter types,
03:09I find that a little bit tedious, because it becomes it ends up becoming their only defining feature.
03:17And you end up writing songs about being on the road or being in a band. And it's like this, you know,
03:23its own and isn't being being in a band with somebody who is at best conflicted about being in a band is
03:31much more interesting. It makes the songs more interesting. It makes it makes the entire existence of
03:37the band have a kind of edge, which just like for people going, Yeah, let's be famous just doesn't
03:45doesn't have for me. So Nigel, does it now feel different? Or in some ways? Is it a continuation?
03:53It's, it's a continuation. We've, we've been friends. So we've been part the best friends. So we've been
03:58part of each other's lives, you know, the whole time anyway. And I wouldn't have wanted to do this if
04:06it if I didn't believe that Andy felt right about it and was comfortable about it. And it wasn't gonna
04:13wasn't gonna make him unhappy. So and I mean, I think it's it's almost uncontrollable. We can't help but
04:22write when Jason and me and Andy get in a room together. And I think that happening kind of made
04:30Andy go, actually, this is really good, isn't it? And we're writing really good stuff. And we don't
04:34even really have to try it just falls out when the three of us get in the room together. Well,
04:38it sounds like it sounds like the the reunion has just happened organically naturally meant to be
04:44definitely meant to be. And yeah, really glad that we're back doing stuff again. It sort of filled
04:53a gap I didn't realise I had in my life. And now that now that I'm back doing it, I feel much,
05:00yeah, much better. Fantastic. Well, congratulations on the reunion. Unbelievable truth. You're playing
05:05the Prince Albert in Brighton on May the 11th. Really lovely to speak to you both. Thank you.
05:10You too, Phil. Thanks. Thank you. Cheers, Phil.