John McGeoch

Soap by Betty Page Or how to join forces with the Banshees - Gen X - Nicky Tesco - record a solo album and avoid a nervous breakdown. Life is sweet for that neat elite - the new wave of jolly inventive young guitarists. Stuart Adamson - Dave (The) Edge and John McGeoch - to name but the few that have forced their chord structures upon our ears of late.

J. McG is a chap most particularly in demand at this moment in time. For leaving Magazine seems to have opened all the right doors and given rise 'to a lot of what he calls 'naive speculation' Is he really a Banshee or just a semi-Banshee? And what's all this about Gen X and Nicky Tesco?

All these questions and more were answered by a bemused McGeoch more accustomed to detailing his fave colour/guitarist than actually talking about himself. Let several records (geddit?) now be set straight. I asked him why he left Magazine and realised I'd touched on a rather sensitive spot.

"The major reasons why I left Magazine really are private - I wouldn't want them printed any more than what I do in the shithouse- but it's hard to say because it's only after months of thought that I've realised the things that were niggling me. In Magazine everyone was a really good musician - with very strong ideas - and some of the frustration I felt came from the fact that concepts I had for songs weren't turning out as I'd envisaged them - and a few incidents happened on the road that I disagreed with - so I was thinking well - should I give it all up when Siouxsie's manager called me up. They had 'Happy House' written except for the guitar part so I worked with them and found it rewarding to play with different people like I had with Visage."

"And the third Magazine album was my favourite - it was more guitar orientated than before; I had a lot of say on it but I had a kind of suspicion. - there was a pendulous movement going on in Magazine's music and I was worried that the next album was going to be keyboard orientated - or whatever. I was by no means the leader of Magazine - Howard was all the way - but Dave (Formula) and I were very close friends - that was one of the most difficult things about leaving - although there was a certain amount of competition between keyboard and guitar- What else can I add? Ask me another question!"

I get the message. OK - was it true that he was going to be an official member of les Banshees?

"That's being a bit black and white. It's just not as easy as that I don't want to go off signing things - I haven't left Magazine simply to be a Banshee. But what I'm doing with them has given me a lot more room as a writer - and I get on so well with Siouxsie and Stave and Budgie - I think they'd like me to join - but I'm in no rush to put my name to anything because I've been doing other things as well It's a trial period for both of us -I've only played a week's gigs with them so far."

"The Banshees will be playing in England again soon (stop press: October!) and it will be special when we do - Sioux wants a good show on the road. Live - it's changed a lot - starting from the basics of songwriting upwards. 'Kaleidoscope' was written largely with just bass and vocals - which was a really good discipline - then I came clang and put in loads of frilly guitar parts. I'm writing with them now - songs we'll play live that weren't on the album. Steve's playing a little synthesiser now - we might even have a fifth person to help us put on a show - which we need 'cause I'm playing sax and keyboards too in writing - so we need a fifth person to expend. We want to do something different as much for ourselves as for the audience."

Despite his commitments Banshee wise - John managed to find time for saving the day elsewhere. For all those who had imagined Generation X to have died a death - a surprise is on its way.

"I'd just done a football match for Jock McDonald - and Billy Idol and Tony James were on the team. They didn't have a guitarist so they said if ever I could help them out they'd be obliged. Months later Billy called saying they had studio time booked - fate smiled on me as I just happened to have a month off. I wasn't sure I wanted to do it not being a real fan of their past music - but three quarters of the new material I liked Again - as with the Banshees - I had a lot of elbowroom - I just put the guitar down and we did the album in ten days."

Yet another unlikely collaboration involves young Nicky Tesco - leading Members person - who's doing some extra-murals with John. "Nick's got some lyrics and ideas that don't quite fit in with what the Members are about which we might be working on - and we're producing an album for a Belgian band that he's interested in. I like Nicky 's voice and I want to do things with it in the studio "(he says rubbing his hands together).

I subsequently discovered that what John had been itching to tell me about all along was his solo venture with Virgin - something he'd obviously been working towards since his Magazine departure.

"It's a bit dodgy - nothing's fixed yet but what with me being signed to Virgin as an individual via Magazine - they have a right to put this horrid thing against my name -'exclusive Virgin Records recording artiste by courtesy of Virgin Records Ltd etc' which has left my name about a sixteenth of an inch high on everything I've done. I wanted out of my contract so a lawyer said tell 'em you went to do a solo album -it'll cost £50:000 and they'll say get lost. But they said yes! So I'm doing a solo album next year and it absolutely floored me."

Having let him be selfish thus far - I assumed he didn't much want to talk about the Devoto Enigma but he did in fact wish to puts few facts in perspective.

"One of the things I'd really like to say about Howard is that he's a very sincere person - especially where songwriting's concerned. People would just ask him profane questions of little consequence to his music - he puts a lot of energy - a lot of life into what he does and then has to dissect it on some superficial level - I don't blame the guy for clamming up. Believe it or not - he does think about what journalists are saying - but I think he's trying to write about timeless things - so there aren't yes and no clear cut answers involved. I think he's brilliant I admire him a lot."

"Another thing I must say is that Magazine had integrity. That's what stopped us selling out and doing the obvious thing. We could have done more versions of 'Shot By Both Sides but we did what we wanted to do. We were one of the first New Wave bands to use synthesiser and when Numan emerged no-one gave us any credit for him ripping us off. We had an intense direction of no surrender which sadly didn't come across - it wasn't the kind of no surrender Sham 69 had - it just wasn't fashionable. I can only say these things now I've left."

John realised that after all he hadn't even touched on why he'd really left Magazine - and that he felt he'd told a neurotic little story. Not so: no sensations - no front page news - just a talen tedguitarist getting the section he's deserved and laying the chance to be proud of it.

The Scottish Mafia rule OK?