Interview: Boo Hewerdine releases new album

When we last spoke to Boo Hewerdine (in March 2021) he had just put out a compilation album, Selected Works, and was questioning to what extent he missed touring.

Now he’s back criss-crossing the country and is releasing a new studio album, Understudy, today (May 27), before visiting the Cambridge Junction next month.

The album finds Boo – who grew up in the city, so we can claim him as our own – in reflective mood with a fatalistic yet joyful narrative running throughout the lyrics.

Twelve new songs about these times – individually and globally – written at his home in Glasgow, where he’s lived for about three years, and recorded in East Anglia with long-term producer Chris Pepper, the new record is the latest chapter in a career that now spans more than four decades.

During that time, Boo – real name Mark – has written and collaborated with the likes of KD Lang, Kris Drever, Chris Difford (Squeeze), Kathryn Williams, Eddi Reader, and Lady Nade.

He has been busy since we last spoke. “It’s great, I’ve done a lot,” he says, “I got Covid the last week or so which totally knocked me sideways... I really enjoyed lockdown, which sounds terrible, because I could write every day – which I think I told you, didn’t I?”

I brought up Boo’s comment from last year when he said: “I do [miss gigs], but I’m going to be completely honest, I’ve kind of adapted to life in my music room. I work every day on various projects and I’m beginning to think, ‘Do I really want to be standing on Lincoln station in a hailstorm again?’ But I’m sure as soon as I get out there, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s exactly right,” he reflects now, “and I’ve done three tours, before I got Covid, with Eddi [Reader], with Heidi Talbot and with State of the Union – me and Brooks Williams – and a few gigs of my own.

“I’ve loved it but the travel... I’d forgotten the travel does my head in; it’s like I don’t think we get paid to play, we get paid to travel.”

Boo has been touring the UK and Ireland and will be appearing at the Junction in June. He reveals that he was awarded a grant as recognition for all he’s done for the Scottish music scene. “So I was able to add some extra things to the record,” he notes, adding: “I was really touched by that because I’m obviously not from here but to still be recognised for that was a really sweet moment.”

Boo, whose son Ben is also a musician (he co-wrote a song with his dad for Understudy), says he still loves making records. “This one felt a bit like a gift,” he explains.

“I lost my old man during lockdown and a lot of it’s in response to that, but I don’t think it’s a gloomy record – it was kind of a celebration as well. It just felt like a really nice thing to do, for me.”

So making it was a therapeutic experience? “Yeah, it always is,” says Boo. “We’re all self-therapising – all songwriters. Unless they’re just talking about dancing about, it’s what we’re all doing. So it’s a really fantastic way of making sense of what’s going on – in fact I don’t know how people who don’t write songs do it!”

Understudy is officially out today but the album has already been available on Bandcamp – “which is how things work these days, but it’s out for real on May 27,” says Boo, “and it’s nice because it’s getting played on the radio more than normal so that’s a nice feeling, I’m enjoying that. It’s still an amazing thrill if you hear your stuff on the radio.”

On the album’s title, Boo says: “You know you say, ‘Life’s not a rehearsal’, I just thought of pushing that a bit further and imagine that I’m an understudy and at any moment I’ll be living my real life.

“And it’s also a little bit of a response to my dad, like obviously I’m the next generation. It’s just seemed to fit. I can think about titles forever and that one just felt, ‘Yes, that’s what I’m saying here’.”

Boo Hewerdine’s new album, Understudy, is out today. He will play the Junction’s J2 on Thursday, June 2. Visit junction.co.uk. For more on Boo, boohewerdine.net.

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