With the OMD reformation heralding a new OMD album and tour plus a DVD, unreleased material album and Dazzle Ships reissue in the pipeline, it's going to be a busy time for Andy McCluskey.

This interview was conducted in 2005, prior to the announcement of OMD reforming, and capture Andy's thoughts at that time...

What are your thoughts on the planned reissue of Dazzle Ships?

Well given the sonic improvement of the first three albums when they were remastered and reissued, I'm looking forward to it because it should sound a damn sight better than it sounds on most people's CD's currently. So I do think it's going to be very exciting.

Having said that, Dazzle Ships is a strange LP, because obviously it was possibly the lowest selling album that we ever released, other than maybe the first album. And yet, I am still inordinately proud of that because although maybe we did something that commercially didn't really do particularly well, I think that we did that album for the right reasons.

Whereas if I listen now to Pacific Age I kind of think "Well.... you know we weren't doing it consciously for the wrong reasons, but in hindsight I think some of our thinking on the songwriting and the production on that album was a bit fuzzy and we could have done it different and better".

Whereas Dazzle Ships, OK it didn't sell very well but I think we did it for the right reasons even if it didn't do very well commercially and I'm very proud of the fact that we did it even though I know that some of the other members of the band have never forgiven me for the short wave radios and things like that! (laughs)

You also had plans to do your own music project at some stage. What are your thoughts on that?

The bottom line is I've spent the last three years basically working on other people's material, developing them and I haven't got anything released yet to show for it. So it's been a long haul and an expensive one as well. And financially I cannot go on indefinitely spending money on things and not getting any money back. That doesn't mean that I think there's anything wrong with the stuff, we just haven't got it out yet.

So I had thought to myself two reasons of the possibility of doing stuff again, whether it be called OMD or what. One, because after all this time now I actually would quite like to do something that was just for me again. Because I think enough time has passed that I would enjoy doing it again. I had to stop and I had to get OMD out of my system and that has happened. But also, quite simply, I still do like doing stuff and if the other things I'm doing don't make me any money then I can do my own stuff, be it OMD or something, and probably have a career. Nothing to the scale that it used to be but maybe with the passing of time now and being realistic - I keep getting asked to tour and I always say not this year but I'm not saying never.

And there is this unreleased album which the more I thought about it in the last few months the more I thought it would make sense to put a couple of new things on it as well. Re-work some of the other stuff and possibly rather than putting it out through Virgin, actually take it to someone like Sanctuary who specialise in acts that have had a career and they can still make a certain amount of money out of a certain number of sales from them. Because it's my belief that actually Virgin don't own the demos. I own them so I could do with them what I want and it makes no sense for me necessarily, certainly financially, for me to give them back to Virgin, which I'm sure will meet with resounding cheers from most of the OMD community who seem to view Virgin as the devil incarnate.

So I'd like to do it and there is another thought in me that if I don't do it soon, the kind of vibe of 80's revival will have passed and I'll have missed the boat. But I don't think it's going to recreate the career. I see New Order again back on the road headlining festivals this summer and going back to the idea of the touring thing, I would crap myself if I had to go and play a festival. It's one thing to do a small number of indoor things but that would be a lot to take on.

But whatever happens and when it happens I wouldn't necessarily think I'm going to relaunch my career either as OMD. Or it might just be a one-off and I'll see how it goes. If it does well then I might be encouraged to carry on but the problem with people of my generation is that people like to go see a gig every now and again, people like to be reminded of their favourite songs. But even a band as huge as Duran Duran - they're selling out arenas, everybody wants to go and hear Hungry Like The Wolf but no one wants to buy their new album! (laughs)

And I don't want to get myself back in the position of busting my nuts to make what I think is a great record and then having to accept that people only want to see me sing Enola Gay live again, but don't actually want anything new. Although I am conceited enough to believe that the stuff that I could release would be better than, dare I say it, most of my contemporaries who are still making records. Because I do think that new Duran Duran record is less than excellent. It's like somebody copying Duran Duran but without the good songs 20-odd years ago. I do think the one thing that I've got going for me is because I've been writing songs - and hits to boot - in the last few years and I've had to re-learn my trade and not think about OMD, I actually think that I'm in a better position to pick up and carry on writing. I think I still write good songs, is basically what I'm saying, as conceited as that sounds.

So can you envision a timescale for the Unreleased Material album?

No I can't. I tell you why, because originally the idea was it was just going be a load of old demos thrown together and released. But the more I think about it, the more I'd actually like to possibly rework some of the stuff, I think Sister Marie Says is actually a single and I'd like to see someone do something with it and I'd probably like to put some new stuff on there. And also, like I said to you, I actually think it might be better not giving it to Virgin. Because they don't own it so why should I? And somebody else might do something more with it if it had new stuff. So I'm changing the plot basically. Its not just going to be a load of old demos chucked out. I'm actually thinking of reworking it a little bit and adding a few bits to it and maybe a couple of new songs as well. But as to when, I don't know.

Interview continues: The Post-Atomic Kitten World

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