Our ‘90s nostalgia itch is being satisfied big time right now as two of the era’s icons are touring the West Coast together. Spacehog and EMF became symbolic of the ‘90s alt rock scene, and as someone who worked at radio during that time, I have MANY hours of “Yes, that is ‘In the Meantime’ from Spacehog” and “‘Unbelievable’ is from EMF. Yes, EMF.”
The two bands have joined forces for a mini tour, and SoCal fans can catch both of these fantastic bands this week. Their joint tour stops in San Diego Tuesday at Music Box, then June 26th in Santa Ana at The Observatory, and June 27th in Los Angeles at The Regent. The tour concludes June 28th in Las Vegas at House of Blues.
As EMF’s tour bus made its way to Utah, guitarist and songwriter Ian Dench had nowhere to physically go, so he was stuck talking to me via Zoom. Dench, a songwriter outside of EMF as well, has found success working with Beyoncé, Shakira, Prodigy, and Florence and the Machine, and now holds the title of Grammy and Golden Globe nominee.
Traci: Ian! I am happy you all made it safely into the USA! I was scoping your Insta and see you’ve had Popeyes and now my family had to copy you – they just went to grab some Popeyes!
Ian: Well, we don’t have a Popeyes in the UK, and it was funny; it was actually Beyoncé that told me that a Popeyes is where she goes to get chicken. If she says so, it’s got to be good, right? And it was good. For breakfast, it was great.
Traci: It is a pretty solid meal, but now that I know she says so! (laughing) Another part of my creeping on you is I saw you have a son who’s also a musician. How old is he and what does he play?
Ian: He turned 21 the day before yesterday. He plays the piano, but he’s making hardcore techno, and he makes very, very dark, heavy electronic beats. Occasionally, I say to him, “Have you ever thought about maybe doing a little bit of melody or tune it?” And he gets very cross at me. (laughing)
Traci: I know you wanted to be a rock star in your teens; is he the same way?
Ian: Yeah, totally. He’s in it. He’s going to be a musician whatever happens. He loves the club. It’s all about dance music, techno, and raving, DJing, and making beats and four to the floor and all the heavy stuff. And you know what? I’m so happy that he’s doing that because it’s his passion.
Ian went on: I know myself… when you find your passion. Age 14, I heard the Sex Pistols. I bought a guitar, I started a punk band, and have never looked back because it just moved me. It just touched my heart and still does. And I feel like I get on that stage and I feel like how I felt when I was 14 and I heard the guitar being played that way. And that’s the precious thing you know yourself, right? That’s what you want your kids to find their passion. Because it’s a slog making a life in something. And you’ve got to love it even when it’s hard. You might not make a great deal of money from it, but the love is what keeps it going. And that’s precious.
Traci: Exactly. You guys were his age when “Unbelievable” came out.
Ian: Well, I was 25, but James and Mark were 21, and Zack and Derry were 18.
Traci: Babies!
Ian: They were babies! It’s such a fake environment. You think, “Oh, I’m great. I’m amazing.” And all these people saying how great you are, and it doesn’t encourage you to put the work in. I think it’s better if you have some success later on. I think we’re in such a great place now because we’re older and we’re wiser and we know what makes it take. I think it’s hard when you’re young.
Traci: How thankful are you that social media and cameras weren’t around at that time?
Ian: (laughing) Oh, my God. So thankful. There were so many things that would have haunted us. You’ve done your research, right? There were so many things!
Traci: You had prior band experience but for EMF, “Unbelievable” took off so quickly. That had to be insane?
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Ian: We did “Unbelievable,” which was just meant to be an introductory single, and we released it and it just started going up the charts. It just went up the charts in the UK, and then it started going up the charts in the US. I think it released in probably in February or March or something in the US, and it wasn’t until June or July that it finally got to number one. We watched it just going up, then up, then up, then up. And that was a wonderful moment. Wonderful, wonderful moment.
Traci: Bands chase that for decades and you just come right out of gate. Boom. Number one.
Ian: Right? But I’d been in the band before and I definitely made a few mistakes. Well, I think I made every mistake you could possibly make with that band. I had two record deals and never pulled a record and messed up the recording and messed up the management. So I think it was a good testing ground, and you always tell your kids, don’t you? “You got to make the mistakes to learn.” And I certainly did. And then somehow with the EMF, we just got it, the stars aligned and we just got it all right. And it’s been downhill since then. (laughing)
Traci: Yeah, there was a break and then back together, but you guys planned some reunion shows, and it obviously stuck because here we are.
Ian: Absolutely. As you get older, you look back at your life and you think, “Well, what’s the good stuff?” I want to be doing the good stuff. And the good stuff was playing with EMF and writing songs with James (Atkin). It was like, and I know James, and it’s great being older. We got nothing to prove. We’re doing it just because we love it.
Ian went on: I think love is the greatest motivation for doing anything you want to do. I don’t think I’ve ever made good music when it’s been something I’ve got to do, or if I’ve got to write a hit record or doing things Because you’ve got to do them, or because they might make money or might… It’s not a good motivation. You got to do it because you’re excited about it and you’re working with friends. I think I’ve always done my best music just with friends because they’re with somebody somebody I love. And you’re both excited about something. That’s when music is good.
Traci: Watching the videos from the past few nights of shows, you guys look so happy!
Ian: We are so happy. We’re just so happy to be back in the States. I mean, America took us to your hearts. You are in ours and it just takes us back to those wonderful times in 1991. I think American people are generally loud and vocal and that’s what you want from an audience. So the shows have been brilliant and they seem to get better and better. And by the time we get to Las Vegas, it’s just going to be off the charts.
Traci: “Unbelievable” is still a hit, still has regular airplay, and it feels like EVERYONE knows that song. The passion that people have for that song is crazy. You’ve transcended. You’ve lasted.
Ian: Well, it feels like that. It’s funny coming back after all these years. There definitely is some love out there, and we want to fan the flames of that love. I think we’ve enjoyed touring. Hopefully we’ll be back and do some more. Hopefully, we’ll be on the East Coast early next year. But you’re right, it is that song, though. That song has kept everything going. And that song was special. It was a moment.
Ian continued: Although I feel like we’re writing the best songs we’ve ever written. This song is such a weird thing. I spent 35 years trying to write another one, and finally I’ve given up trying to write another one. And I feel like we’re writing songs that are just as good. There’s a song called “The Day the Music Died” off “The Beauty and the Chaos” album, which I feel is better than “Unbelievable.” We’re doing really good work. And hopefully the songs have the same stuff that people loved us for in the beginning. It’s about joy, it’s about energy. And hopefully they will enjoy our new material as much as they did “Unbelievable.”
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Traci: New material like a new album coming in the next year?
Ian: Yes, there is. We are actually debuting two songs of it on the tour. This is a funny thing being in the US now, because the two songs are strange how songs are. But one song is called “Lover,” and it’s about LGBTQ+ rights. The other song is called “Put Your Hands in the Air,” which is about corruption in governments.
Ian paused: I don’t know why things have got so political. Maybe just because we’re just responding to the world. And it’s so funny playing these songs now in America this time. Just seeing it around us. They’re joyous songs. They’re trying to be positive songs, just talking about human rights and voting to try and make a difference, make things right, and peaceful protest, and doing the right thing, basically. It feels a little bit dangerous to be saying those things now. I don’t quite know what I think about it, but I’m still happy that we’re standing up for the good stuff and we’re singing about it.
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Traci: You British guys always know how to write these deep political lyrics, but then you make them on this cool dance beat that you don’t notice it. And then until you really listen and go, “Oh, man, it’s like deep.”
Ian: Aren’t they the greatest songs, though, aren’t they? We’re like Billy Bragg’s “A New England.” That song is so great. You can’t beat people over the head with that stuff. You just got to help people open their minds and feel good about doing the right thing and not preach to them.
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Traci: That’s oddly one way I’ve learned about other countries and their struggles – through music.
Ian: Exactly. Music is such a cultural thing, isn’t it? It’s a real insight into the psyche of a nation. When I first discovered music in the ‘70s, and there were bands like The Clash, who were just brilliant. They made political awareness exciting. I love that. I I think it’s good to be talking about good things and doing the right thing and dancing around and flailing your hands in the air at the same time.
Traci: Besides Popeyes, what else do you like to sample when you’re over here?
Ian: Well, you know how it is when you’re driving around, you just get all the service stops with all the classics, Denny’s and Panda Express. And then we stopped at a Walmart. Those Walmarts are enormous! I can’t believe it. It’s just enormous. But I’ll tell you what we did the other day, when we were in Portland, we had Voodoo Doughnuts. They were amazing!
Traci: Have you seen the gas station called Buc-ee’s yet? It has a beaver logo?
Ian: I think we might have seen one of those. What’s that? Is that good?
Traci: It is massive! There’s like 100 gas pumps and the store inside is huge with a brisket station, a beef jerky station, and there’s 10 kinds of fudge.
Ian: Okay, we need to go to Buc-ee’s! But what’s weird is that there are also expanses of road so long with no service stations on them, and not even a toilet. It’s crazy but beautiful. I think we were worried about doing the long drives, but you can just look out of the window and watch the world go by in these beautiful landscapes. I get why Americans love just getting in the car and going.
Traci: Yes, there’s just so much to do and see here; you get tired of one thing, just go over here.
Ian: It’s totally different.
Traci: So you do plan to be back next year for another tour?
Ian: Yeah, we’ll definitely be back next year because we got them visas and they’re so expensive. So we got to max out those visas. (laughing) But also because we love it. We’ll be working on a new album and, basically, the band is in such a good place. At the present lineup, James and myself, with Stevey Marsh on the bass and A Todd on the drums, Derry (Brownson on keyboards, samples).
Ian explained: It’s just such a great band. We’re older and just enjoy the playing for what it is, it’s all about the playing. We haven’t had one crazy night out on this tour yet. We got the last night in Vegas and a day off afterwards, so we’re a bit worried about that. We might end up putting the whole merch budget on red or something, but I’m sure we’ll have a night out then. But we’re just loving being a band and playing, and I think that’s coming across on stage.
Traci: I really hope that next tour, you hit the South, and I’ll take you to Buc-ee’s.
Ian: Done, done. Definitely. Let’s go!
Many thanks to the ever-so-charming Ian for the chat and we look forward to seeing EMF with Spacehog this week in SoCal. If you can’t make the CA or Vegas shows, just be patient for next year… assuming I don’t get to them first and get them trapped inside a Buc-ee’s.
