CD : That ’ s great , I ’ d love to be part of those teams , and it ’ s a good thing to be part of . It ’ s a bit of a syrupy song that they write but it ’ s a job .
J : Have you ever written a song for someone where you thought , actually , I should have taken that ?
CD : No , I ’ m just very happy writing with Glenn for Squeeze , it ’ s been our life for 43 years , if I get the chance to write with other people it ’ s a hobby and it ’ s fun . But if I don ’ t , I don ’ t wake up worrying about it .
J : What about people doing covers of your work ?
CD : That would be great . There ’ s a band called The Roots in New York and they did a couple of albums of Squeeze songs , but they forgot to get all the contracts signed so we can ’ t put it out . It is absolutely brilliant , sort of R ‘ n ’ B versions of our songs .
J : Have you heard any horrendous versions of your songs ?
CD : Not that I can remember particularly – I mean , yes , there ’ s been lots , but I can ’ t remember them here .
A : Do you still do the song writing workshops ?
CD : Yeah .
A : So how do you juggle everything ?
CD : Well , that ’ s a good question . I got back from New York the other day and I looked at my diary and it was fairly empty and then a day later it ’ s full . It just needs a bit of management . I ’ ve got to finish my book , that ’ s the most important thing , and then I ’ ve got to start writing the next Squeeze record , that ’ s important , and those are the sort of main things .
A : So , with the book , how far are you into finishing it , and is there anything in there that Squeeze fans will find out for the first time ?
CD : It is mostly finished , and I ’ m at the editing stage with my publisher , and there ’ s another chapter to write . I think people will enjoy it , it ’ s nice – I enjoy reading it . I don ’ t think people will be shocked or stunned by it , I think it just fills in a few gaps .
J : No big expose , no ?
CD : No . Not at the moment .
J : Maybe in the final edit …
A : So how do you feel about living down here compared to London ?
CD : It ’ s been a spiritual journey coming through and , it ’ s one that I don ’ t question , it ’ s a wonderful place , I love Lewes . It ’ s a bugger of a drive sometimes to get to and from work in London , and it can be backbreaking , literally , but it ’ s worth it , you know , you see the skies and the Downs and , you walk through the town , it ’ s lovely , it ’ s got a sense of growth about it that I really like . It ’ s not sleepy . I wouldn ’ t want to live in London now because London doesn ’ t belong to Londoners anymore .
A : Do you think there ’ s much of a music scene down here ?
CD : It ’ s good that there ’ s music in a few of the pubs that are around , there are festivals that come to visit , the jazz festival and the other festivals are great . I think there ’ s potential for more . People have got land and they want me to help put festivals together and that ’ s what I enjoy doing . I think the main music scene obviously is in London and Brighton , it ’ s not in Lewes .
J : No . Do you get out to see much live music ?
CD : Well , it ’ s a busman ’ s holiday , and the other day we were in New York and everybody was going to go and see Steely Dan , and I went into my hotel room and I went , “ Do I really wanna to go to a gig tonight on my only night off ?” I don ’ t think so . So I turned down Steely Dan for a curry and a night in .
J : How lovely .
A : So you said you have a book coming out and then potential organising of festivals – what else can you see in the future for yourself ?
CD : I think that ’ s it . I ’ m getting exhausted just thinking about it , you know .
J : How far ahead do you have to plan things like that ? I mean you ’ ve got the book ; you ’ ve got the next Squeeze record , a bunch of tours …
CD : Yeah , they ’ re all planned for next year , so that ’ s all in place . The year after that , some of that is already in place as well for America again . You ’ re thinking two-year cycles basically , and you try to weave in and out of that timeframe .
J : So what do you do to relax ? How do you switch off ?
CD : I write , I don ’ t like watching telly , I find it too exhausting and too violent most of the time , so my wife , Louise , she watches TV sometimes and I ’ ll be sitting in the other room writing my book or working on lyrics , that keeps us both happy .. We do things together and we ’ ve got this wonderful countryside to enjoy . The days go so quickly , so I ’ m getting out as much as possible now .
J : I ’ m just quite intrigued about the writing process . How do you start to write a song ?
CD : I just literally sit in front of my laptop and see what happens .
J : So you ’ re not melody first , lyrics second or title then followed by lyrics ?
CD : Well , last night I wrote to a friend of mine and there was one line in it , he wrote back , he said , “ Oh , that ’ d be a good line for a song ” and I suddenly went , “ Oh God , it would be , wouldn ’ t it ?” So then when I went to bed last night I was thinking , what could go with that , but then I thought no , I need to sleep , so shut that one out and come back to it tomorrow , so yeah , that ’ s what I ’ ll do this afternoon .
J : Inspiration for songs – do they come out of experiences , daily life , things you read ?
CD : Yeah , overhearing conversations , being with people , observing , – you can only write about what you know , I seem to know less the older I get , so I ’ ve just got to keep it within that arc , otherwise it seems like I ’ m fibbing .
J : Are there any of your big hits that you wish people weren ’ t calling for every time you get up on stage ?
CD : Not at all . I ’ m still passionate about them all . They ’ re the ones that have got me where I am . I don ’ t own them any more , everybody else does .
J : Well thank you Chris Difford
CD : It ’ s been brilliant ... Thank you very much .
So as you can see , Chris Difford is a man committed to his trade and not willing to sit back and revel in his back catalogue any time soon . His continued dedication to the music industry can be noted in his ongoing song writing workshops , live performances and touring around the globe . Although the pace has slowed there ’ s still enough passion for him to remain top of his game . We ’ re looking forward to seeing what the future has to offer from Mr Chris Difford .
By Amber Ainsworth and Jason Edge
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