Bounce Magazine October 2018

FEATURE
OCTOBER OCTOBER 2018 | ISSUE 2018 | #72 ISSUE | IAN #72MCCULLOCH
IAN MCCULLOCH
Rachel Ducker speaks exclusively to Echo & the Bunnymen’s,
Ian McCulloch, about his time in the band, new album and upcoming tour...
Bands rarely ever arrive as the full package.
Some manage to achieve that status through
a lot of effort and a bit of luck; often though,
there’s a magical element that sits just out
of reach. Echo & the Bunnymen were the full
package – maybe the first band of my youth
to achieve that.
They had amazing songs
and lyrics that provoked
and inspired; stunning wit
and a look that was just
perfection. There was no
weak link visually, no bad
leather jackets or mullets.
And they had the ambition
and the confidence to
attempt unconventional
ideas, whether it was
heading to Iceland to do
photos or getting their fans
to do a group cycle ride around Liverpool for
A Crystal Day. There wasn’t one piece out of
place. This was a band to believe in.
As previously revealed, THE STARS, THE
OCEANS & THE MOON sees the band return
to their peerless back catalogue to reinterpret
thirteen of their most beloved songs with
‘strings and things’.
decade spanning archive. Of the new versions,
Ian McCulloch said, “I’m not doing this for
anyone else. I’m doing it as it’s important to
me to make the songs better. I have to do it”.
The first track released from the album –
SEVEN SEAS – is available now to stream,
to download and as an instant grat with
all album pre-orders via
the artist store or iTunes.
Originally a Top Twenty hit in
1984, SEVEN SEAS was the
third single from their classic
fourth studio album, OCEAN
RAIN.
Bounce Magazine’s, Rachel
Ducker, speaks to Ian
McCulloch about the bands
new album.
R: Hi Ian, firstly I wondered how you first got
into music?
Growing up, I didn’t really live in a very
musical household.
I suppose I first got into music when I heard
Bowie when I was 12 or 13 around the time
Starman came out.
The album also features two future classics
– THE SOMNAMBULIST and HOW FAR.
Recorded at The Dog House Studios with
co-producer Andy Wright, ECHO & THE
BUNNYMEN handpicked the selection of
tracks for the album from their majestic, four-
His voice was just like nothing I’d ever heard
and when Starman played on the radio, it was
like ‘wow’, there was just something in his
voice.
R: Before Echo & the Bunnymen formed,
71