It’s not uncommon for a band’s singer to branch out on a solo career somewhere down the line, and a good number of them do exactly this, often while the band they front is still at the top of its game.
Not so in the case of one Jim Kerr, better known as the voice (and face) of Scottish rock band Simple Minds.
He has fronted and guided the band through thick and thin since the very beginning, back when the band was actually a hopeful Glasgow punk outfit called Johnny and The Self-Abusers.
Later, Kerr, supported by long-standing collaborator Charlie Burchill, would lead the band head first into the synthesiser-dominated 1980s, producing a string of critically acclaimed releases that included 1982’s milestone album, New Gold Dream.
Later still, Kerr was there to oversee Simple Minds’ transition from New Wave pioneers to stadium rock status, thanks in no small way to U2’s large-scale emergence onto the international scene at the time, but also to the band’s perennial smash hit Don’t You Forget (About Me), which propelled them deep into the heart of the lucrative US market.
The band may no longer be the stadium-filling act they used to be at their peak, but the band have remained prolific and popular enough – they released their 17th studio album last year.
Earlier this year, Kerr launched a solo career that would run parallel to his tenure as Simple Minds’ frontman; operating not, as one might have imagined, under his own name, but as Lostboy AKA.
The reason for this move wasn’t immediately clear but, apart from being wholly embraced by Simple Minds’ fanbase (unsurprisingly), the self-titled debut album, released last May, also suggests Kerr’s interest in electronic texture and experimentation has been re-ignited.
Kerr’s initial showcase gigs, touring small intimate venues, were well-received by some critics (and questioned by others), prompting him to embark on a longer, proper tour starting in mid-October that he says he is “really looking forward to”.
Clearly, this new venture is one Kerr has a great deal of enthusiasm for, as he admitted during a recent interview.
“With some 40 gigs planned, it’s an extensive tour. I’m happy to have the opportunity to get out and work on Lostboy live,” he said, referring to various recent commitments that had caused him to put his side-project on hold for a while.
Although it is his project, Kerr will be accompanied by various musicians on the road. “There is no shortage of talented people willing to get involved,” he continued, listing a number of people, among them Jez Coad (who produced Simple Minds’ and Lostboy AKA’s recent albums) and Andy Gillespie (Simple Minds’ keyboard player).
“Lostboy AKA is an artistic choice” he explained. “It is something I want to experiment with. My roots are connected with the electro sounds of the 1970s and 1980s and it is always good to tune into your roots from time to time.”
In contrast to his first batch of gigs, where he was accompanied by a full rock line-up, Kerr has opted to go with a trimmed-down line-up for what he calls his Electroset Tour.
“I genuinely don’t want to be tied down to any one particular format. Right now it is the smaller three-piece outfit that suits my current curiosity,” he explained, adding that the next Lostboy album could also have a stronger electro sound and that it was perhaps better to prepare the road for that.
“This is not to say the rock element would be totally sacrificed,” he continued, “but I don’t want to make the same record twice either.”
While the debut album has its fair share of electronica, there are enough rock refer-ences to make one wonder what first sparked the idea to adopt the Electroset format for this tour.
“My original idea for Lostboy was to be more electro-based and less of a five-piece rock band,” he replied, obviously referring to his output with Simple Minds. “I figured that after being in a rock band for most of my life, why should I go out and front another rock band. That is what I did for the original showcase tour in May and it was great, though not exactly a total new experience for me.”
The fact that some critics had not seen the point of Kerr fronting a rock line-up outside of Simple Minds played a great part in pushing him to develop the Electroset format.
“Some critics wanted to see me try something new and I felt they had a strong point. By nature, the Electroset format should be of more interest to them. Also, this ‘micro’ set-up will allow me to bring these songs to people far and wide, possibly even to the US, Canada, Australia and Japan… I hope.”
Kerr also stressed that the real importance of Lostboy AKA is that “I keep things fluid and interchangeable… keep it fun without getting bogged down”.
As with every creative notion cooked up by an artist, some things might work, some might not, but he says, “I want to be adventurous and try different things. It may not all be to everybody’s liking and some people might prefer one idea to the other, and that’s okay by me.”
www.lostboyaka.com
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