Interview: Wayne Hussey

Wayne Hussey had his first taste of fame as a member of the Sisters of Mercy (after a stint with Dead or Alive), performing on their earliest recordings, before a…parting of the ways led him to form The Mission. That band had tremendous success and not only have a new record out but are about to embark on their 30th anniversary tour. The album is Another Fall from Grace and Hussey says: “For me, this new Mission album is the long lost missing link between the Sisters of Mercy’s First & Last & Always and The Mission’s God’s Own Medicine, both albums of course that I was heavily involved in making. I set out this time with the intention of making an album that sounds like 1985. The fact that I feel this has largely been achieved is down to my renewed love for the jingle jangle shimmer of the electric 12 string guitar which featured heavily on those two previously mentioned albums and now the new Mission album”. The tour hits the O2 Academy on Friday 7th October but before then Hussey sportingly agreed to face our vinyl enquirer.

What was the first record you ever bought and where did you buy it?

Jeepster by T.Rex and I bought it at Kays Records in Fishponds, Bristol. I was given a record token for Christmas 1971 and spent it on this classic 7” vinyl. I still have it. Life’s A Gas was the B side.

What was the most recent record you bought and where did you buy it?

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool and I bought the deluxe version from their own website. It includes vinyl, CD, booklet, and even a piece of recording tape that they cut up and are giving away with the album rather than landfill their old tapes. Good boys. Ordered this earlier this in the year, still awaiting delivery. Great album by the way.

What record do you stick on the deck to sooth your soul?

Nimrod by Elgar, Faure’s Requiem, or Barber’s Adagio. Or Only the Lonely by Frank Sinatra.

Have you bought a record on the basis of a great single and then been disappointed by the rest of the album? If so, tell us all about it?

I’m sure I have but none spring readily to mind. And in this day and age of being able to download just one track without buying the whole album it’s something that we don’t have to do anymore.

What record do you turn up to maximum to get in to that party mood?

Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. Starts off quite slow and quiet and builds into a fury, as any party should.

If we had the ability to land you at the recording of one classic LP so you could witness the whole recording process, what would you choose and why?

Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys. Love the sound of that album, love the songs of that album, and love the folklore that has grown up around it. And to be in Southern California in 1965 hanging out with hip crowd sounds like it may have been fun. 

Ever bought a record solely because you liked the sleeve? If so, what was it and did it delight you or disappoint you?

Yeah, a Moody Blues album called In Search of the Lost Chord. I did try very hard to like it but ultimately I failed and ended up trading it for Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd, another fabulous and iconic cover.

Oh no, your house is burning down and you can only rescue one record! What would it be and why?

Well, being ever the pragmatist I would grab the hard drive that my own latest work was being recorded to. I could always go out and find other people’s releases again even if some are quite rare but I wouldn’t be able to replace any work in progress that I may be working on.

What’s your favourite record sleeve? Tell us all about it (and whether or not the music gives you as much pleasure as the sleeve).

A friend of mine from Paris bought for me for my birthday a couple of years ago Histoire De Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg. I love that sleeve, it is so of its time. I just look at the front cover and it makes me feel nostalgic. There’s a Portuguese word, saudade, that doesn’t really translate directly into English. It kind of means yearning but not really. Anyway, this sleeve makes me feel saudade. The music is great and again very of its time but I have the sleeve framed in my office at home in Brazil.

Morbidity alert: what record would you like played at your funeral?

Two actually: God Only Knows by the Beach Boys and Gerry & the Pacemakers You’ll Never Walk Alone. 

Image by Paul Grace