DUBLIN-born, Berlin-based singer-songwriter A.S. Fanning returns to Ireland this month for his first headline tour here in nine years.
The former frontman of The Last Tycoons, whose brooding baritone has drawn comparisons with Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Scott Walker, released his fourth solo album, Take Me Back to Nowhere, in February, while a new B-sides EP, Unbearable Miracle, arrives on September 18.
Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?
It’s Raining Today by Scott Walker.
Which musician has most influenced you?
Maybe Lou Reed. He’s one of my favourite songwriters, and The Velvet Underground are always a reference point for how to approach a song. But beyond that, I think he had a very adventurous, forward-thinking sort of attitude to music. He never seemed interested in nostalgia or repeating himself and was always trying new things, which I think is a great approach to take in music or art of any kind.
How did you get started in music?
My best friend and I started a band together when we were 11 and beginning to learn to play guitar. We played our first gig when we were 12, in a pub in Sligo. We were playing mostly covers, but I started writing songs more seriously when I was 16 or 17. We formed a band called Porn Trauma with a couple of other friends at that point and started releasing music and touring around. I dropped out of college and abandoned any idea that I might become employable in any other sphere, and here I am, 20 years or so later.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Dún Laoghaire, but I’ve been living in Berlin for about the last 14 years.
How would you describe your work?
I’m a songwriter, mainly. I suppose my songs tend to lean towards what some people consider darker themes. Musically, it drifts around a bit, but I’m probably interested in more atmospheric and ethereal sounds, grounded by classic song structures.
What would be your motto?
“There is great disorder under the heavens. The situation is excellent.” — Chairman Mao
What is your favourite place?
The studio. Maybe that’s not the kind of answer you’re looking for, but I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather spend a day than in a good recording studio. It’s the only situation where I consistently find myself losing track of time, where a whole day will go by without my knowing it.
Robbie Moore’s Idea Farm in Sweden, where we recorded the latest album, is my current favourite and a very special place in general. He built it on an old dairy farm on the edge of a nature reserve. I went up to help him at various stages of the building work, and then we spent two weeks up there recording the latest album.
In terms of inanimate objects, what is your most precious possession?
There aren’t too many things I own that I place much importance on, but my dad’s guitar is something that I value. It’s not a particularly fancy or expensive guitar or anything, but I’m glad I have it.
What’s the best thing about where you live?
There’s a lot of freedom here, in a general way. Germans have a reputation for being very rule-conscious, which they are, but there’s a trust that people can behave like adults without tight restrictions being imposed to control every circumstance.
. . . and the worst?
The incredibly grey, bleak winters that go on forever.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
Bob Dylan’s Christmas album.
Who or what is the greatest love of your life?
At the risk of sounding cheesy, I suppose it would be music. It’s the thing that’s been a constant in my life since I was 10 years old and has guided most of my life decisions and attitudes.
Fanning plays the NCF Cultural Co-Op in Ballina, Co. Mayo, on September 24; Róisín Dubh in Galway on September 25; Whelan’s in Dublin on September 26; and Prim’s Bookshop in Kinsale, Co. Cork, on September 28.
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