Formed in London in 1976, Wire[1] has not only proven to be one of the most influential punk bands to come out of England (e.g....
Formed in London in 1976, Wire[1] has not only proven to be one of the most influential punk bands to come out of England (e.g. R.E.M., Blur, Sonic Youth, Savages, Elastica), but also one of punk's longest running acts.
Beyond the 16 studio albums helmed by Wire – the newest of which is 2017's Silver/Lead – leader Colin Newman has recorded six solo efforts and over a half-dozen EPs - with Githead, immersion, and his wife, Malka Spigel. Wire has also maintained a DIY approach to its workload outside of the studio, self-releasing many of its recordings through its own record label.
Wire – which also includes guitarist Matthew Simms, bassist/vocalist Graham Lewis and drummer Robert Grey – shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon as their U.S. tour kicks off on September 16th in Chicago. Guitar World sat down with Newman to discuss his guitar collection, his future plans and his songwriting methods.
Silver/Lead is a guitar-heavy album. Was that always the plan for you?
I’m not sure it exactly works like that. At its core Wire is a classic lineup of two guitars, bass and drums. As we all know, there are endless permutations on that but any Wire piece - bar a few exceptions - is always going to feature at least two guitar parts.
It’s in the intrinsic nature of the band. Obviously that builds up once Matt and I add a few overdubs, but there’s also been a long history of Wire having quite a lot of keyboard parts as part of at least the recoded version of the band.
How many guitars did you use to record Silver/Lead?
The simple answer would be all of them. (laughs) I mainly play my trusty Eastwood Airline and Matt mainly plays his trusty Fender Jazzmaster. There’s also quite