Pioneers of UK hip-hop and electronic dance, The Stereo MCs hit Leeds this weekend as part of their latest UK tour; we caught up with Rob Birch ahead of their (sold out) Yorkshire visit to The Brudenell Club, Leeds.
We start with any memories of playing legendary Leeds venue The Brudenell before; Rob reminisces; “a great venue – that is some serious crowd in that place – that’s a gig you don’t forget!” For this tour, for the tone of the show, the Stereo MCs priority is wanting to connect with audiences – “it’s not much fun if you just go in there to breeze through your tracks, you might as well be rehearsing! The exciting part is actually feeling that you’ve connected with each other, that you’re actually feeling something together.”
And that feeling is part of what has kept them going since the mid-eighties, defining a new era in dance music in the early nineties with hits such as Connected and Step It Up and live performances that changed the mould for dance music; since then, maintaining a steady album output over the years and, of course, still touring. Asked what he feels has perhaps changed on the touring scene in that time, Rob responds, “I guess you could say that I have experience now, we have experience as a band, but nothing else has really changed, it feels remarkably similar to how it’s always been, only it’s harder – for everybody – the smaller venues are having a hard time, everybody’s having it harder, so in a way it makes everybody bond together a little bit more; we don’t get many shots at having a good time so it’s important to make the most of it.” He adds, “It’s a funny irony of life that as you get older you gain experience, but your body is finding it more difficult, so the one advantage comes with disadvantage. You just have to try to stay fit!”
As to their recent tour of America, he admits he wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, but was happy to see the crowds were open minded and remarkably excitable, like they used to be back in the day; “I was glad that that aspect of playing hasn’t changed, that people weren’t too cynical, life is a bit messed up these days, so I was glad to see that. It was very enjoyable and nice to be out in America and just have good experiences – a lot of what I hear about America is pretty hostile but in my experience, I didn’t see any of that, I just had a good time and met nice people.”
I comment that, having recently had a listen back to some of their nineties hits, the music is still fresh, it doesn’t feel dated, or defined by an era in and of itself, and he notes that in terms of the audiences now, a large number “are coming because they knew us back in the day, or their parents brought them up on our music! Or even their Grandads sometimes, so that’s quite funny! They come with a nostalgic vibe, and I understand it’s because they had experiences in their younger times that resonated and they want to feel that thing again. But for me it’s not about nostalgia at all, I never felt like our music was ‘nineties’ music; when we play, I’m just feeling the emotion of the music, and that’s what I love about it… the music I listen to or play on our radio show, I like it because it resonates emotionally with me.” The music he loves, he says, isn’t tied to the era it comes from, simply whether it speaks to his heart – something we can all relate to.
Stereo MCs play Leeds, the Brudenell on Friday 28th November.
https://www.brudenellsocialclub.co.uk/whats-on/stereo-mcs3/
The tour will cover the UK and Ireland – for all dates and more info head to the Stereo MCs website.
