1 week Ago
Peter Alexander Jobson is not exactly someone you could ever accuse of rushing into things. A member of the much-vaunted Manchester outfit I Am Kloot, the band’s last album was released some 12 years ago and their last show together came in 2016. Peter Alexander Jobson (Picture: Paul Husband) Now getting used to being a solo artist with a debut album - the wonderfully-titled Burn the Ration Books of Love - under his belt he has a series of live dates including one in Salford tomorrow night.
“The last time I’d released an album was in 2013,” he said. “The world and the music industry has changed an enormous amount since then. It’s been an education for me.
Certain things like writing and recording are the same but there’s the whole social media side of it. I was kind of dreading it but actually I’m quite at one with it all. “I have a certain way of approaching things and it fits.
Whether other people get it or not is up to them.” Pete is great company; a witty and erudite conversationalist whose Northumbrian accent hasn’t been lost by years spent living and working in Manchester. “The nice thing about doing this solo album has been that it’s taken a long time to get it together,” he said.
“I actually had album finished before lockdown but I didn’t want to throw it away at a time when there were no gigs. “But putting it all together and now going out on my own has been a really enjoyable surprise. To have something to enthuse about at 53 and be thrown back to the beginning again at this age is bit daunting but actually was a good idea; what else was I going to be doing? “This is what I want to do and it was a surprise to find how it rejuvenated me.
“Working on the album was a very cathartic experience in a really good way. In the last 10 years I’ve lived in London with my partner Liz and two daughters so I’m quite a different person to when I was in Kloot. “When it came down to it I thought I’d always wanted to to it then I wondered how.
I’m not traditionally a singer so I spent a lot of time finding my voice to allow me to perform. I happened upon what was most comfortable for me which is low winging which is where my range is but also with a conversational approach.” Pete was determined to not lose his North East accent in the process.
“I’ve always liked it when people use their own accent,” he said. “I’ve always found accents wonderful and really powerful. “The reason I moved to Salford and study there was because I saw John Cooper Clarke on the TV, I could not believe how he spoke or looked.
I was literally ‘I want to move there’. I saw him on So It Goes with Tony Wilson and it just blew me away. “When I got to Manchester my peers like Badly Drawn Boy, Doves and Elbow all sang in their accents all had a uniqueness and I knew I had got to do that.
“It was quite tricky. Since I was a kid I’d grown up listened to Elvis as my mum was a huge fan and I had developed an American twang which I wanted to get rid of. “My partner Liz is an actor and we worked together on it which really helped me.
” Burn the Ration Books of Love is a beguiling and compelling album with the songs a diverse mixture of styles ranging from country, and folk to rock and a 12-minute spoken word epic. “I have to say that I’m so happy with it all I would not change a thing,” said Pete. “It is diverse but it’s got this pure line running through the songs.
I can quite happily say that if people aren’t into it I don’t really mind at all. You find your own. Peter Alexander Jobson (Picture: Paul Husband) “In the past when I was in Kloot and was a lot younger, my approach was different so I was bothered if people didn’t like it.
It was a consideration whereas now I feel you should just express yourself and let the chips fall where they may. It’s a liberating and nice place to be. Having said that, I also hope that people do like it.
” The diverse nature of the album is something which clearly appeals to Pete. “When we were in Kloot we would do diversity of styles and I always felt that a really interesting approach” he said. “Although the various record companies would struggle to understand that as they couldn’t fit us in a particular box but I though that was a good thing.
“I think the album format is brilliant. It allows you to express different emotions and feelings under one umbrella. “Songwriting at its best provokes visuals, feelings or memories and you when leave a lot of space and try not fill everything up to brim it’s great tool to use.
” Pete is enjoying taking the songs out on the road. “I quite like to sit and talk” he said, “so when I play live it’s just me and a piano and a guitar and I talk then I sing songs. I talk about things that will draw you into the songs; give you a flavour of what I’m going to do.
That approach works really well. “I used to sit and watch TV and learn what was funny and laugh at the same time as my dad so I’m basically doing Dave Allen but with music.” Peter Alexander Jobson plays Sacred Trinity Church, Salford, tomorrow night.
Burn the Ration Books of Love is out now. Details from www.peteralexanderjobson.
co.uk.
