Deepest
Blue One-to-One with Joel Edwards
“MotorBar’s
Maggie Woods spent
ninety minutes talking to the very
conversational Joel Edwards — one
half of the heart-throb singing duo
Deepest Blue (the other half is Matti
Schwarz), the chart-topping dance duo
that blew the speakers around
clubland with their brilliant and much-
admired single Miracle. No surprise
that Miracle rocketed to Number One
in the UK Club Charts. Deepest Blue’s
first, self-titled, song reached
number 7 in the UK national charts...”
WHEN I RING DEEPEST BLUE'S JOEL EDWARDS, he is waiting for me to call.
I complain about telephone interviewing — I much prefer face-to-face
— but the singer is relaxed and natural and we soon get chatting
about a favourite subject we share: cars.
Joel is thrilled to bits with the vibrant, Viper Green 1971 Porsche 911 Targa
he drives. He was desperate to buy one, he tells me, and once he'd completed
his last album (four years ago) he looked around at the market. We exchange
experiences of engine notes — especially while driving through long tunnels
in powerful open-topped cars — and he tells me that the Porsche has a fantastic
sound.
"Loads of decent cars came up at that time," says Joel, "but I couldn't find
what I wanted. And when I did find the Porsche, it needed a lot of work —
three years of renovation. But now it's perfect."
The colour is terrific and suits the classic shape of the Porsche. "Youngsters
love the colour," Joel tells me. "A friend of mine has a black one but I'm afraid
mine steals most of the attention. You can't miss it! I've always been crazy
about cars and Porsches really do it for me.
"When I was younger, my father bought a kit car and gave it to me as a project.
My earliest memories involve cars — my father was into cars in a big way.
I've been to hill-climbs, drag racing and Formula One. I love it all." But Joel
has very definite opinions about the use of automobiles. "Cars," he says, "are
there to give you enjoyment — not for posing! I like to get as much fun
as possible out of any cars I may own — one of my dreams would be to drive
down to Monaco. Cool."
Joel's Porsche is not the only 'green' car in his life. He is also a big BMW
fan and he has had the X5 he drives as everyday transport converted to run on
LPG. One of the many things he likes about BMWs is their
reliability. But what if money was no object? Joel didn't hesitate for a second.
"Jay Kay was interviewed on Top Gear a while back," he said. "I rather
fancied his Lamborghini Miura and I'd really love a 356 Speedster [Porsche's
first production model] or an RS — although somehow I don't think I'd get
rid of the Targa."
Cars and music, Joel readily admits, are his passion. And if he couldn't be
a singer or a musician? He'd try his hand at acting. Joel also has a lot of
time for his — rather interesting — family: his grandfather went to
school in the Himalayas, and his father was born in Pakistan while his grandmother
was travelling.
Joel's musical influences are too numerous to mention but he obligingly reels
out a few for me: The Beatles, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Yes, Joni Mitchell,
Kings, Sex Pistols. He also mentions the tragic Nick Drake and cites Pink Floyd's
The Dark Side Of The Moon as being special. He listens to Radio 4 and
is quite particular about the brand of Rock'n'Roll he likes — Little Richard,
for one. His favourite music era is not so easy to pin down: "Yes… Sixties,
Seventies and some Eighties — especially Electronica — and some Nineties."
Joel considers himself fortunate to have worked with George (Georgie) Fame.
"George is full of anecdotes," says Joel, "a really nice, laid-back guy." As
for Joel, he comes across as being a great guy too. Passionate about acoustic
and dance music, his writing veers naturally to the darker side. "I'm much more
melancholy than Matt," he admits, speaking of Matti Schwarz, his partner in
Deepest Blue. "He's on a happy trip!"
In his thirties, Joel is pleased that music is much more accessible today —
you can make tracks happen at home on your computer. In his teens, he tells
me, all his friends had record labels — they were doing it all for themselves.
It was that sort of culture — everyone had demo discs. There was plenty
of guitar finger-picking and jamming sessions. A case of "Let's get something
good going!" Joel is excited by the music industry — he loves what he does
and says that today it's more about the music than ever before.
"I do like a lot of sounds — Jackson and his Computer Band has the most
amazing bleeps.
I could listen to great melodies all day long. For me, I'd like to do something
classical — I listen to classical radio. I'm so driven musically that I'd
really love to write a classic song — something like 10cc's I'm Not
In Love. And Fleetwood Mac comes straight from the heart.
Joel says that he's always been interested in music: "Among my earliest memories
of music is my father terrifyingly playing War Of The Worlds. Once he'd
had a glass of wine he'd play it and it sent shivers down my spine!"
No doubt at all that Deepest Blue benefits from the passion of both Matti and
Joel. "Deepest Blue," explains Joel, "is a hybrid of our styles. We are musically
ambitious and want to be Number One."
Does Joel have any regrets? He says: "I once did a solo album for Mercury —
Lost And Found. Unfortunately it was never released, but it was one hundred
per cent me — it had a completely different feel to it. I'd love that to
be released, but it won't happen yet.
There's obviously a lot of hard work that has gone into Deepest
Blue's musical accomplishments and they are clearly talented.
But Joel is very modest: "It's all about luck. Four years ago we were lucky
to have a couple of decent tracks that did quite well. We're trying to catch
that wave again. We're out in Russia all the time doing gigs. It's much better
out there now. It's a wealthier country — Moscow is more expensive than
Tokyo — and it's an amazing place to go. We also love working in Naples
with Planet Funk. The studio is opposite the beach. It's a perfect way of life."
Another passion? I ask, aware that we've been chatting for an hour-and-a-half
yet it seems like a lot less! "Yes," says Joel without hesitation. "Italian
food…" Not surprising really: sporty cars and the world's best food — a
perfect combination. Hmmm...
Sounds like Deepest Blue. — Maggie Woods
