INTERVIEW: After a year of isolation, Sweet’s Andy Scott releases ‘Isolation Boulevard’
Photo: Sweet’s new album is called Isolation Boulevard, a riff on Desolation Boulevard from 1975. Photo courtesy of the band / Provided by Glass Onyon PR with permission.
Sweet, the legendary British rock band, recently released Isolation Boulevard, an album that should remind longtime fans of 1975’s similarly titled Desolation Boulevard. “Set Me Free,” a beloved tune, is a recent single off the recording effort, and there’s an accompanying music video as well. That song is extra special for Andy Scott, original guitarist for the band, mostly because he wrote the tune.
Scott has been leading his version of the band since the mid-1980s. He brings the group around the world, giving fans what they want: “Fox on the Run,” “Ballroom Blitz,” “Action” and “Love Is Like Oxygen.” For this new project, Scott and his fellow bandmates headed into the recording studio in late 2020 to take a look at the tunes off Desolation Boulevard, and now with the album being released, there’s talk of Sweet joining together with other bands for a North American tour at some point.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Scott about the band’s plans for the future and how he fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can fans expect off your new album Isolation Boulevard?
Isolation Boulevard was never a serious attempt at making a statement or to create a musical explosion, but it has certainly disturbed the otherwise calm waters. I think the band, critics and fans have been surprised at the reaction, and long may that continue. The element of surprise is good, especially after 50 years recording and touring.
How difficult was it to bring this album together during a global pandemic?
Anyone who has used any of the various face-to-face video apps will know that stability and sound quality is not the best in reality, so that was not the way to record this album. We were lucky that there was a relaxation in the lockdown situation last year for a couple of months, and we just got on with it. We owed our record company, Sony, an album of new material, but to pull that together as a band was not possible. So we decided to record what we knew best, i.e. the songs we perform on a regular basis on tour. After that it came together quickly. Most of the recording was done at my home studio. Some dubs were recorded remotely and transferred across, and then the magic of the digital world took over. And it was just a matter of assembly and mixing.
When you re-recorded some of these classic tunes, were you trying to offer a new interpretation or have it sound like the original?
The album title, Isolation Boulevard, which is a take on our 1975 album Desolation Boulevard, kind of dictated the way forward. Once that was set, the project raced along. As for re-interpretation then, that is for the listener. We purposely left the loose endings of some the songs because it felt more alive. The songs have a template, which is written in stone as far as the arrangements, but each member of the band brings something fresh to the table. And, of course, 45 years on it will sound better sonically, one hopes.
What do you love about the tune ‘New York Groove’?
I have known Russ Ballard, who wrote ‘New York Groove,’ for more than 50 years, and I have said it many times — Sweet could have and possibly should have recorded this song back in the early ’70s. I bumped into him at a Rainbow/Sweet gig in London about four years ago, and he gave me the biggest compliment by saying he loved our version, probably the best version yet.
Do you anticipate the band being allowed to tour in 2021? Or will you wait until 2022?
We have some dates lined up for the late summer in 2021 and a big tour in the UK in November and December. The first show will hopefully be the Rock Against Cancer festival in Wiltshire, close to my home, which I help to organise. It’s a fundraiser for prostate cancer and to raise awareness about cancer generally. Vaccination and regular testing initially is the key to expediting a route back to normality after the pandemic. I’m all for a passport scheme so everyone feels safe in a crowded place, or as safe as possible. I would not want even one person to fall sick at a Sweet gig; that would be a heavy responsibility to bear. I can’t go along with the infringement of civil liberties argument after a year in isolation. We have just had to go through a once-every-100-years viral pandemic, so we have to do whatever it takes to get back to living our lives again. The politicians can go … themselves.
How difficult has life been during the COVID-19 pandemic?
In all honesty, someone of my age, living in isolation in the countryside away from city pollution, with family close by and Zooming with good friends and the band every week, I have to say that on a personal level I’m OK. My wife, however, is the ying to my yang, an active person who needs to be out there doing stuff. Hence we have a fab garden and freshly painted decor. The pandemic has also turned me with time on my hands into a bit of a thinker, so looking at the world from the other side, I do feel a sense of foreboding for the young in our society. We must make sure that their future is secure and opportunities are still out there because without it, there won’t be a future.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sweet’s new album is Isolation Boulevard. Click here for more information.
