Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus, better known by his stage name Elvis Costello, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement of the mid-to-late 1970s. His critically acclaimed debut album, My Aim Is True, was recorded in 1977. Shortly after recording it he formed the Attractions as his backing band. His...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth25 August 1954
CityLondon, England
The songs will tell a story that I have imagined existing between the lines of Andersen's biography and some of his most famous tales, ... They speak of a misfit's love for an unattainable woman and a struggle between a huckster and someone who composes music in secret.
Seems to me, that the worlds are moving closer together rather than one invading the other. I believe that music is connected by human passions and curiosities rather than by marketing strategies.
Very similar experience happened last year when we released this album, North. It was on Deutsche Grammophon, it was very, very honest. It was the most honest record I've ever written.
We were really looking for a fresh sound, and I think you can hear that with the use of electronics on the record, ... It makes it fun to play loud music without it being a retro thing at all.
Well, I've had a lot of different experiences in music over the years. And not everything you do can satisfy everybody's idealised version of you.
I found with this record I had to really be strong-willed, because in the past I've tended to tinker and add a thing or take a thing away, and nearly always been wrong.
I followed The Byrds a lot, and then when they did a country styled record it made me curious to know who these people were that they liked.
I'm a working travelling musician, but just on a bigger scale.
Songs are more powerful than books.
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's really a stupid thing to want to do.
My ultimate vocation in life is to be an irritant.
There are five things to write songs about: I'm leaving you. You're leaving me. I want you. You don't want me. I believe in something. Five subjects, and 12 notes. For all that, we musicians do pretty well.
And I don't feel any form of music is beyond me in the sense of that I don't understand it or I don't have some love for some part of it.
It would be a surprise if people thought I would be playing a lot of rock 'n' roll.