CityLife

Interview: Dave Haslam

Dave Haslam

All great interviews start with a challenging interviewee and a cracking set of questions.

“When I interviewed Guy Garvey for True Faith at the Manchester International Festival,” says DJ and writer Dave Haslam, “he said he'd give me £1 for every question he hadn't had to answer before.”

As CityLife tots up whether a similar deal today would stretch to a swift half of bitter when we and Dave part company, we enquire after the result. Dave smiles triumphantly. “I was able to pay for my taxi fare home.”

It's a moment from which he's taking heart as he (somewhat nervously) prepares to face a whole new set of his musical heroes in Close Up With... – a series of 'audience with'-style events designed to shine an unusually candid light on the lives of our most cherished stars.

Some of the names lined up so far for the hour-long, live discussions are old acquaintances (Mark E Smith, for instance, who takes the hot seat on March 20) while others are names Dave has dreamed of interviewing for years.

In fact, the first name on the list couldn't be a hero of longer standing. “When Dexys Midnight Runners first appeared, Kevin Rowland actually refused to do interviews,” recalls Dave about his Close Up debutant.

“I remember them printing a full page manifesto in the NME explaining their new songs and reminding anyone there wouldn't be any interviews.

“I like that; it's uncompromised to the point of being antisocial. I love that passion about Dexys, and Kevin's always been someone I've been totally intrigued by.

“Obviously with Kevin and Mark, they emerged at about the same time when almost every seven-inch came literally or metaphorically with a manifesto about art, people, society and culture.

“One of the many attractions of music was that it wasn't just music; buying those seven inches seemed to open up new and exciting worlds.”

Sparky characters

Close Up's 'hit list' is currently six strong with a couple more dates set to be announced soon. The next name Dave wants to be revealing is Manic Street Preachers' chief songwriter and vaudevillian bassist Nicky Wire, but he's just waiting on the outcome of some diary discussions.

“A Close Up with Nicky Wire would be an absolute blast,” Dave enthuses.

“And that's what Close Up is supposed to be. It's devised really to feature people who are considered to be interesting, maverick, rarely heard from people.

“I didn't want the same old faces, so I drew up a list of people who I personally was inspired by.”

Hosted in Greenroom's 165-capacity hall, Close Up promises to be a truly intimate evening in a venue that Dave hopes will make the audience feel like they're part of the conversation.

“With Mark in particular being a local hero, we probably could have sold the venue out three or four times over, but there's something nice about it being a little bit limited and hard to get into,” Dave explains.

“I described to Kevin Rowland how big the venue is and it's actually bigger than the venue I first saw Dexys play in when Joy Division supported them at the Romulus in Birmingham in 1979.”

The danger of putting these sparky characters in such a small space is there's no escaping the tension if things go wrong.

Case in point: during his MIF sessions, Dave got into an explosive debate with poet Lemn Sissay about race – a discussion that enthralled the audience, but one that a third party eventually had to jovially wade into and call time on.

Is he expecting similar fireworks? He laughs. “I think the audience at the Mark E Smith event will be very surprised if it all goes smoothly.”

Close Up With... is at Greenroom, Whitworth St. Kevin Rowland, March 11 (8pm), £9/£6; Mark E Smith, March 20 (8pm), SOLD OUT. An official after party featuring guest DJs follows the Close Up With... events.

2010