Interview: Andrew Montgomery (GENEVA)

Andrew Montgomery (Vocals)

The mid 1990s, I think we can all agree, were a great time for guitar bands. But whilst the likes of Oasis, Blur and Pulp are still universally celebrated two and a half decades on, others seem to have inexplicably slipped out of most of the nation's consciousness. GENEVA are one of those bands. Fronted by the angelic voiced Andrew Montgomery, the Aberdeen five piece had four singles make the top 40 in 1996 and '97, followed by a debut LP that went top 20 in the album chart. However, by the time they came to release a second at the turn of the century their record label found themselves in financial strife. Unable to properly promote the record to the masses (that had, by this stage, fallen out of love with Britpop in any case) the album rolled out largely unnoticed and the band split. For nigh on twenty years it seemed that would be it for Geneva. Fondly remembered by a faithful few but harshly filed in the footnotes of Britpop history by most.

And then, out of the blue, they reformed. Montgomery tweeted earlier this month about fundraising gigs in London and Edinburgh, social media accounts (didn't have them in the nineties, did ya?) were set up, and Star Shaped Festival appearances were announced. Geneva are very much back, but for how long and why now? Danny Buckley caught up with Andrew Montgomery to discuss how the reformation came about and what the band's long term plans are.



DB: So Andrew, thanks for joining me. How long has a Geneva reformation been on the cards and what was the process of making the idea a reality?

AM: Well, most of us have kept in touch over the years, but through a combination of life, families, jobs and so on the moment was never quite right until about the past few months. We’d talked about it several years back but when I was asked to play some Geneva songs in Glasgow back in September I started reaching out to the guys properly, and we agreed to get together for a rehearsal next time I was in Scotland seeing family (I live in Stockholm, Sweden, these days)... It was just fantastic to get such a positive reaction to the Geneva songs, and it did make me (and then the others) start thinking. Then the StarShaped Festival asked if we’d be interested in playing their 2019 shows in August and September and we thought, ’why not?´, and ’but why stop there?´… That’s why we are playing these two shows next weekend in Edinburgh and London. It’s the start of a building up to the festival and a building up of Geneva again. Sadly our fifth member, Stuart Evans (guitar) now lives in California and is unable to join us but we hope that if we play the US we can have him on board!!

DB: The two comeback gigs are both in intimate venues, is that a deliberate decision of not running before you can walk again, so to speak? 

 

AM: Got it in one, Danny. There’s undoubtedly going to be a bit of 'rust' to come off, seeing as it’s nigh on 20 years since we last played music together. It’s also a nice way to test the water to see if there are enough people who still remember us, and to ease ourselves back into it.

DB: The gigs are benefits for Shelter, is that a cause particularly close to your heart?

 

AM: There are so many negative things in society and so many people who fall behind through no fault of their own, but we’ve always thought homelessness was a disgrace in the first world, when there should be more than enough resources to go round and when there are perfectly sound, liveable buildings sitting empty. It just feels like it’s worth doing a wee bit to help, though God knows the authorities could do so much more.

 

 

DB: Going back to the 90s, you had a fair bit of success with your debut album Further and the singles from it. What are your fondest memories from around that time?

Keith Graham (Bass)

 

AM: Great question! I hope I don’t come across as a big-headed prat when I say that hearing one of your songs ’Tranquilizer’ on an in-flight show on a plane back from the US, as it sound tracked part of a cloudless journey at 35,000 feet from San Francisco until well into the Rockies was a unique thrill. I couldn’t actually believe it was happening - it was like an out-of-body experience. Also, hearing Jo Whiley debut Nature’s Whore, our promo single, on a Saturday afternoon in 1996 was really exciting. We were so lucky to get the chance to play support to amazing bands like Suede, The Bluetones and the Manic Street Preachers and to record with Mike Hedges (’Further’), plus play festivals like Glastonbury. What a trip!

DB: You were coming through just as Britpop was at its peak, were you happy to be a part of that scene at that time or was it something you’d rather not have been lumped in with?

AM: I can only speak for myself here when I say that for me Britpop was a mixed blessing. It certainly opened up the way for indie bands of the time to get airplay on Radio 1 and become known, and that was exciting to be part of, and so we should be grateful for that. But as a Scottish band more influenced by the likes of The Byrds, The Smiths and Tim Buckley, it felt like Britpop was really more London or Manchester pop, in the way that it was expressed by the likes of Blur and Oasis. Then there’s the feeling that people think you’re just bandwagon-jumpers - we really didn’t want to come across like that and I hope it’s not arrogant to say that we wanted to be something else, with our own ’voice'. I just hope we were viewed on our own merits and not as wannabes, do you know what I mean? But hey, there was an amazing energy at that time, wasn’t there?

DB: Prior to the release of your second album, Weather Underground, The Britpop scene had all but died out and your label had gone into financial difficulties. Do you feel that with a bit more luck that album could’ve been more successful than Further, either commercially or critically rather than the forgotten gem its become?

 

Douglas Caskie (Drums)

AM: I really appreciate you calling WU a ’forgotten gem’. We are proud of that record too. It had a very difficult labour, what with the financial problems you mention and the record company’s worries over the decline of indie music and the onset of Robbie, Kylie et al. It’s hard to say whether it would have surpassed Further, but we’d certainly have worked it hard, it had some great songs, and it was in any case a sign that we were starting to spread our wings, creatively. But, you know, we were just lucky to have a chance that so many really talented unsigned bands never get. It was what it was and it is what is, eh?

 

DB: What were you and the other lads up to musically between the band splitting up and now?

AM: Stuart Evans (guitar) and Keith Graham (bass) went off and formed 69 Corp, and released an electronic album called 'Our Present to the Future'. Steve Dora (Lead guitar) played in various bands including one that is gloriously named Crabs. Douglas Caskie (Drums) lived in the Middle East for a few years and played big band music among other things. I flitted between an indie-rock project called Amityville, a solo album called 'Ruled by Dreams', which I released in 2013, and my current electronic project here in Stockholm, which is called Us. We’ll be releasing an album in the spring, so with Geneva on the go too it’ll be a busy musical year for me!!

DB: Are you still keeping a tab on up and coming bands and is there any you can recommend?

 

AM: My day job is writing and editing, so I listen to tons of ambient electronic music these days as it gets me in the zone. I love Grouper (she’s awesome), How To Disappear Completely, Deru, Kyle Bobby Dunn, to name but a few. I loved the latest Low album (Double Negative), and the last Jon Hopkins record (Singularity), but I couldn’t tip you on indie bands, as I’m a bit out of the loop. Except for a cool band here in Stockholm called Rabii. They are very good.

 

 

DB: With the revival in vinyl that’s occurred since the band have been away, would a reissuing of the LPs be an option?

 

AM: That would be great. Maybe if there’s enough demand from people that could become an option. Let’s see what happens!

 

Steven Dora (Guitar)

DB: Finally.... Looking at your old label mates Suede, for instance, they’ve reformed and gone on to release some of the best records of their career. Is releasing new music part of the plan for this incarnation of the band and are there any more gigs in the pipeline for after Star Shaped?

AM: We are all definitely thinking along those lines. The reunion of Geneva is unfinished business, not just a nostalgia trip, as we stopped through financial trauma and general exhaustion with that process, just when it might’ve become even more interesting. The great energy that we have just now and the natural feel of playing together again makes me excited about the possibilities. Watch this space!

 

DB: Thanks for your time, Andrew

 

AM: Thanks a lot to you, Danny, and to your readers and listeners for your support!! It’s people like you guys who make this possible.

 

Geneva 2019 live dates:

Friday 1st February - Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh (support from Fires in the Alps) *
Saturday 2nd February - Aces & Eights, London (support from Ping Pong Disco) *
Saturday 31st August - O2 Ritz, Manchester +
Saturday 7th September - O2 Academy, Newcastle +
Saturday 14th September - O2 Institute, Birmingham +
Saturday 21st September - O2 Kentish Town Forum, London +

* Benefit gig in aid of Shelter
+ Star Shaped Festival