The South still Beautiful for Alison Wheeler after Perfect 10 years
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Alison Wheeler has always believed in making her own luck.
The frontwoman for The South – making their return to the Ironworks this Saturday – had spent much of her life jumping between so many projects looking for a break into the music industry, when a chance encounter with Dave Hemingway back in 2002 would change everything.
“A lot of people say, ‘You’re so lucky to have joined the band,’” Alison said, reflecting on that day 16 years ago. “I can’t remember who famously once said, ‘You make your own luck,’ or, ‘It’s funny, the more doors you knock on, eventually one opens.’”
Singing with the London choir Citizen K at the time – “Oh God, I haven’t heard that name in years!” – her voice impressed Hemingway, whose band were currently looking for a new female vocalist.
It just so happened that the band was The Beautiful South, the pop band formed by Dave and fellow ex-Housemartin Paul Merton whose songs – Perfect 10, Don’t Marry Her, the number one single A Little Time to name a few – had made them a household name.
“He was like, ‘I really think you’d suit the band, and it’s not like me to stick my neck out and say in front of the band’ – he’s quite a shy fellow at heart, Dave Hemingway – ‘so it’ll be a big deal if I recommend you,’” Alison recalled.
“And I think when he suggested me, Paul mentioned that, ‘It must have been good for him to recommend you – I know you can sing if Dave says you can sing, so come up and meet the band!’”
When the band eventually split in 2007 – citing “musical similarities” – Alison and Dave chose to keep the music alive in some way. They formed The South in 2009 to continue to bring those songs on the road.
And nearly a decade on from first forming, Alison is still championing the band’s legacy – despite a challenging few years for the band. The South were hit by several departures, and none hit moreso than the retirement of Dave himself.
Yet the group endure – saxophonist Gav Birtles has stepped up to take over on vocals. “He’s been playing saxophone for the Beautiful South since ’89, so he’s got the history with the band – but it turns out he’s got a wonderful set of pipes on him too!”
It all marks something of a new chapter for The South. “It’s exciting and it’s fun and that’s why we’re still doing it,” Alison explained.
“I was asked this on a radio interview the day and I’ve never stopped to think about it, ‘Why did you continue as a group, why did you not just go out on your own and do a solo project?’
“And I’d never really stopped to think about that, because the relationship’s so wonderful and everybody gets on so well that it’s a real blessing.”
It’s also a good time for a new chapter, with The South coming up to their own 10-year milestone – one that Alison hadn’t really considered yet. “I hadn’t put it in any time perspective, and now it feels quite outstanding when you think of it over 10 years.
“We’ve had a few stumbling blocks along the way. It’s surprising how many people we meet every year who still say, ‘Oh! I didn’t know you were still going!’ So there is a breakdown in communication sometimes, that’s quite frustrating.
“I’m surprised 10 years have gone so quickly, but I still feel we’ve got a long way to go, and as long as everybody’s fit and healthy – because we’re no spring chickens! – we’ll keep going I think.”
In the meantime, The South keep on touring, keep on building their fanbase, keep the songs alive. “It’s so long since we’ve been to Inverness. I mean, it’s a great venue up there, and it really doesn’t feel like that amount of years has passed since we went up north.
“Scotland’s going to be a really nice part of the tour, we’re actually going to be on the tourbus. The rest of the tour, Gaz Birtles – bless his little heart – is driving us around in the minibus, but for the Scottish stint we’ll be on a proper tourbus with beds, and that’s a proper opportunity to have a real laugh as a band and a unit.
“We have a new saxophonist who’s replaced Gav – Su – and she’s facing the journey with trepidation having never done a tour bus! I’ve tried scaremongering her with stories of malfunctioning chemical loos and late night parties!”
And while the band will be bringing those classic songs of the Beautiful South with them to the Ironworks, they’ll also be bringing original material from their 2012 release Sweet Refrains.
A follow-up has long been in the pipeline. However, with nine bandmembers in total, it’s proving understandably tricky coming to a consensus. “Some of them want to do new material, some of them aren’t sure,” Alison said.
It’s also about how to get the agreement of what material makes an album. We’ve got a few writers within the band itself, so it’s just a process of discussion really.
“It can be really slow, especially because we want to be fair, we don’t want it to be just a couple of people running the show. I really like that change with the South, everything became a lot more democratic in process, and I’d like to do that.”
After a pause, Alison laughed. “But at the same time, we’ve got a lot of cooks, so there can be a lot of spoiled broths!”
The South come to the Ironworks this Saturday. For more information, go to www.thesouth.co.uk
