Inspiral Carpets Oz Tour kicks off in Perth: an interview with frontman Stephen Holt

Inspiral Carpets were a key part of the Manchester music movement of the late 1980s and early ’90s. While the band were inspired by psychedelic sounds of yesteryear their sentiment was right on the mark, fitting in nicely with rave culture’s themes of diversity and unity in the midst of the third Great British Rock invasion.

Singer Stephen Holt joined the outfit in 1983, and while it took them a few years to make a dent on the charts, by the turn of the decade club culture had fully embraced them.

Four decades on from forming, and with some sad moments since, the guys are still in fine shape – soon to kick off a tour of Australia.

Here, Stephen chats with Cream about the days of rave culture and how their fans like to ‘moo’ at gigs…

Interview by Antonino Tati

Hi Stephen. Inspiral Carpets have been around since 1980 – well over four decades ago. Did you think you would still be recording and performing live this far into it?

Nice opening question, making me realise how old I am! No, in reality when we started we never thought we’d play gigs at top venues in Manchester, across the country and the world. We didn’t think we’d record a single or album – so we’ve more than achieved all of our goals. The fact we’re still playing is testament to what we’ve achieved over the years and it’s an honour to still be playing to sold-out venues to amazing fans.

What about your peers? Are you surprised that many of them have fallen by the wayside? The Soup Dragons, the Charlatans, even Happy Mondays have a been quiet of late…

I think there’s a real nostalgia for many bands that were around with us in the ’80s and ’90s, and many, like us, are still playing to large crowds. Unfortunately, the music business can be a hard place and it’s only natural that bands and their members fall by the wayside.

The 1990s club scene – particular that in Manchester – was very much intertwined with drinking and the drugs. Did you party hard then?

We weren’t a band who really got into drugs, particularly the Class As, etcetera. We all enjoy a drink and, as you say, it is part of the music and band culture. We’re a business and people deserve to be entertained if they are paying their hard-earned money to come and see you, so we have a duty to be professional before and during the gig.

In rave circles, it seemed like everybody was off their nut in the clubs. Did you find punters coming to your gigs were more out of it than, say, punters going to see Take That, for example?

Having never seen Take That I can’t comment on their audience but we’ve always had a crowd who come to our shows to enjoy themselves. It’s up to them how they do that.

How do you think old-school veterans like The Rolling Stones managed to have kept it together after all their recreational habits and hard-partying?

They must be professionals and I’ve seen videos of Jagger working out. He still looks really fit for his age.

Do you dare to venture out clubbing these days?

I’ve never been a massive clubber. Gigs and a chat in the pub are my idea of a good night out.

We first used photos of cows in our early gigs when we used slideshows. The fans seemed to take to it. We even named our first record label Cow. Oh, and our audience regularly ‘moo’ at gigs!

I went to one of your gigs in Perth – I think it was a The Metro in Fremantle – and I came home with one of your merch t-shirts featuring a cow on it. What was it with that cow?

The cow became our unofficial mascot or emblem and has stuck with us ever since. We first used photos of cows in our early gigs when we used slideshows. The fans seemed to take to it. We even named our first record label Cow. Oh, and our audience regularly ‘moo’ at gigs!

Lol. In a nutshell, what do you think about music being made these days; music in the charts?

I have no idea about what goes on in the charts and I’m just not interested. Music is really interesting though. In the early days for us, and when I was growing up, there were more separate styles – like mods, rockers, indie, punk, rap. I think music now is more a blend of all the styles. It’s really eclectic and can be exciting.

So what can we look forward to in your Australian tour?

We’re on fire at the moment. The band are loving being back together again, gigging. Fans say we’re sounding as good as ever so I think you’re in for a treat.

Dubbed your ‘Greatest Hits’ tour, I’m guessing we’ll be hearing all the classics like This Is How It Feels’, ‘Bitches Brew’ and ‘Dragging Me Down’? And what surprises can we expect musically or vocally?

No spoilers, you’ll have to wait and see!

Inspiral Carpets kick off their Greatest Hits Tour in Australia this weekend.

Dates and venues are as follows: