Julianne Regan, 02/06/00

With the release of Fairy Light Night, the new All About Eve unplugged album, a whole raft of gigs, a new studio album in the pipeline and a new rarities album on the way ..... phew tires me out just thinking of it .... the band are busy bees this summer!! Julianne takes some time out to answer a few questions about the recent gigs and forthcoming album releases.

Matt: Its been no secret that you have been reluctant to breath life into All About Eve for sometime. What persuaded you to do the gigs supporting The Mission last November?

Julianne: Well, it's less of a 'what' and more of a 'who'. Andy called me up to meet him for a drink one night last September. He said he had something to tell me. The gravity with which he delivered this was as if he were about to tell me he wasn't too long for this Earth. Wayne Hussey had called him up and asked if the Eves 'fancied reforming for a few dates'. Andy had expected me to come back at him with my usual "F*ck off!" or "You must be JOKING!" but I did in fact say "Can't really see why not". And so, the band was shrugged back into existence with the same lack of fuss that it had been shrugged out of it all those years ago.


The reception you got from those gigs was fantastic. You all sounded fresh and blinding. Were you surprised by the great reception you got?

To be honest, not really, because there has always been a crossover between the Mission audience and ours and so we had hoped that they would be 'up for it'. We just reckoned that people would be as excited as we were and that's exactly how it happened.

The unplugged gigs earlier this year were practically all sold out. You seemed to just keep adding more and more onto the end. What was the story behind organising those?

It was another case of 'Why not?' (a favorite expression of mine). We were enjoying ourselves, Marty was available. The spirit was willing and the flesh was not weak. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and, on reflection, it was!

You all seemed to really enjoy those dates and it came across in your performance. The chat between songs obviously covered awkward silences between tuning guitars but you all seemed to be enjoying the comedy element?

We have to be careful about the comedy element. There's a time and a place for it. If I've been splitting my sides and then have to sing Are You Lonely, I need to gather myself somewhat! I enjoy the 'chat' side of our shows though, but, we have to watch ourselves or we're going to end up supporting Cannon & Ball ! I'm glad to be able to reveal the 'human' side of AAE as I think a lot of people imagine us to be a dour bunch.

Fairy Light Nights is going to be the first album you've released as All About Eve for 8 years. Nervous?

Not a jot ! There's nothing to be nervous about as we care not a fig about 'the charts' or 'the press'. Root canal treatment doesn't scare me and neither does this!

How did you decide which tracks to include on Fairy Light Nights?

We just chose the best recordings, sonically and emotionally and 'vibe-wise'.

It looks like your going to be very busy this summer with lots of new live dates, acoustic and electric, a new rarities album, possibly a second unplugged album. Lots of activity this summer then?

Tons. I'm having to cut out chocolate and sugary stuff in an effort to control my up and down energy thing. I'm having to eat better and sleep better or I'm going to collapse. I have a really full schedule ahead as I have my day job on top of all this.

Marty and Andy are going to be busy with their other pursuits too, so, although we look like ladies and gents of leisure, doing 'weekend shows', we are far from it. I welcome this massive flurry of activity after the long dormant period though.

Any hints on the tracks you'll be playing this summer?

Nope, sorry !

How likely is it that the Eves could tour outside the UK?

Snowballs in hell at the moment. A financial improbability.

Are there any plans for a studio album this year?

We want to record new songs that are not yet written. I think we'll be grabbing moments as and when we can to do this. We shan't be taking a block of time and dedicating it to the making of a new album, it'll be piecework really. Far from this having a detrimental effect, I think it will be really positive. you will be able to hear the 'breathing' between bits of the album.

Anything is possible until (if?) it stops becoming fun, then I'm outta here again. The way to avoid that is to avoid the following unless we are really in the mood :

- Photo shoots
- Video shoots
- Interviews with the 'proper' press

Playing more venues !!