Pet Shop Boys, actually Interview

Most people who know me should know that I’m generally more into indie music than pop music, but I do have a couple of guilty pleasures. Before I ever got into reading the NME, I was an avid reader of Smash Hits. I liked Madonna and I was also a big fan of the Pet Shop Boys. I thought they were quite stylish and I yearned for the London lifestyle that they portrayed.

I’ve seen hundreds of bands over the years, but one band I’ve never seen live is the Pet Shop Boys. One person who definitely wouldn’t count them as a guilty pleasure and who would definitely urge me to go and see them is Stuart, lead singer of tribute act Pet Shop Boys, actually. I decided it would be a bit of a laugh to get along and see them at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff so I went along with my friend Naz and a good time was had. It was a funny sort of audience of mostly older bods but the band really got into the spirit of things and had most people on their feet by the end. Stuart is a very authentic Neil Tennant, the guy who plays Chris Lowe (I forget his name) is realistically silent at the back and backing vocalist Vicki (Stuart’s wife) adds texture to many songs, playing a pivotal role of course in “What Have I Done To Deserve This” and lead vocal in their cover of “Getting Away With It” by Electronic.

All kinds of questions flooded my head while I watched the band and I decided it would be quite nice to interview them. I was a bit nervous and unprepared on the night so I spoke to Stuart after the gig and got the band’s email address. I forwarded some questions and duly had a reply with all my questions answered quite cheerfully. Below are the answers.

Could you tell us a bit about how you started? Was it your love of the Pet Shop Boys or the fact that you look a lot like Neil Tennant?

This is an easy one. I’m a HUGE Pet Shop Boys fan. For as long as I can remember I’ve been listening to their music. I love everything they do. So I got to a certain point in my life and thought “why not?” I’m sure a lot of us have moments like that in our lives when we think “if not now then never”. The idea of being in a tribute band dedicated to my absolute favourites seemed like a great idea, so I quickly made some backing tracks and recruited the other members of the band. I’ve never thought that I look like Neil Tennant, apart from the fact I have curly hair of course, it was just a chance to celebrate great music with like minded people.

Have you ever been mistaken for Neil Tennant?

I can honestly say I never have. Someone came up to me in a club the other week and asked if I was the lead singer of “Pet Shop Boys, actually” and that was good enough for me because I really am!

What did you do before you started the band? Were any of you trained musicians or did you have other jobs? Do you do this for a living?

I have studied music most of my life.  I started out as a trumpet player and played in many bands over the years. That’s how I met Vicki my wife who is the backing singer in the band. I did a music degree at university and then went on to be a music teacher, but about 10 years ago I left the profession to train as a Priest in the Church of England and that’s what I do now in Shropshire and love it! The band started as something to do as a light hobby, but it’s really taken off now, so there are a lot of Sundays I’m in church feeling and looking quite jaded!

Did you have to train to “become” Neil Tennant? Did you have voice training?

I guess the only training I have is that I’ve listened to Pet Shop Boys for about 40 years. I try to phrase things like Neil would, but he’s so unique it’s a hard thing to pull off. I’ve not had any training for my voice. Vicki is the only proper singer in the band and covers up a lot of my mistakes :)

How many times have you seen the real Pet Shop Boys? Do you make a point of always going on their tours?

I’ve seen them 25 times and counting. I first saw them at The Savoy Theatre in the mid nineties. I really wish I’d seen the iconic performance tour but I was just too young. I ALWAYS make a point of going to see them. The last time I saw them was in Birmingham on the Dreamworld tour. I wanted to go to The Royal Opera House and Funny Girls in Blackpool at the end of the tour but we had gigs. If you’ve never seen them live I’d highly recommend it. They are phenomenal and it would be a night to remember.

Do you know how many Pet Shop Boys tribute acts there are? If you are the only one, have you ever had any recognition by the real band? Have you ever met?

Yes I think I know of all of them. They are all really good. We all have our own strengths I guess and offer something different. I’ve been to see a couple of them and would love to see them all eventually. At the end of the day we all share a love of the greatest ever band! We’ve never had recognition by the band, but we live in hope…

I’ve met the boys a few times. The first time was at The Savoy Theatre. I’d actually run on stage to kiss Neil on the cheek (if anyone reading this was there that night, that was me!) then I met them both by the stage door. Chris asked me to hold his beer bottle while he signed autographs then walked off. I still have that bottle! I also met them after a show in Wolverhampton and then saw them randomly walking down Camden Road before their Barfly gig that I’d won tickets to. It was the early days of mobile phone cameras so I have a very pixelated picture with Neil. Chris wandered off!

Although I’ve been a fan since a young age, I’ve never actually seen the Pet Shop Boys live so I don’t know what their set includes. I was slightly surprised that you chose a Coldplay cover – is this amongst their repertoire?

Yes, we always try to do what the boys would do live and they did a cover of that song on their 2009 Pandemonium Tour. We’ve tried other covers that the boys have done live such as My Girl and Boys and Girls but that one goes down the best.

Are you popular on the gay scene? What types of venues do you generally play?

We genuinely play anywhere that will have us. At the time of writing this though we’ve just played at Shrewsbury Pride which was an awesome night. Pet Shop Boys fans are just the greatest and are always up for a good time, so whatever the venue or scene it’s always the same. Party time! I think the boys transcend a lot of different communities. It’s why their music is so awesome.

What was it like appearing on Radio 2?

That was brilliant. We’d just appeared on Radio Stole where I had to talk about the band and then recognise as many Pet Shop Boys songs as I could in 30 seconds. Then you go on to a leaderboard with other tribute acts. I did pretty well and made 4th place I think.

Then Radio 2 got in touch and asked us to do Midnight Mastermind where the tables are turned and we have to ask the host questions about our chosen subject (which of course in this case was Pet Shop Boys). He then had the length of a song to research the band without knowing the questions. He got 1 out of 3 which was pretty good I thought!

Did you find it odd playing “It’s A Sin” in a church?

Well funnily enough, being a Priest other colleagues have been in touch for us to come and do a show at their churches. So when you saw us it was about the 4th time we’d sung that song in a church. I think it’s great. It really adds an atmosphere to the song. It’s like it was written to be performed in a church. I’m sure Neil would approve!

Did you get to see much of Cardiff while you were here and if so, what impression did you get?

Sadly no. Whenever we play it’s normally a case of turn up, play, pack away and go home, simply because it’s always really late by the time we finish and we spend a lot of time travelling there as well. It was sad because when we got out the car the venue and view of Cardiff was breathtaking. We really want to come back some day. Maybe on a Saturday so we can get there earlier and have a look around. We did have a short walk and found Greggs though!

Well, thanks very much Stuart for taking the time to answer some questions. On your recommendation I will definitely have to try and see the Pet Shop Boys live but for now, thanks for a great night with Pet Shop Boys, actually!