A Chat with Nick Heyward (17.04.26)
Interview with Jay Lowe (guest contributor)
Nick Heyward is a British singer who is notable for being the frontman of Haircut 100 and having a long solo career. Haircut 100’s first album in 42 years is out on 29th May.
The new album was set to be released in March but has been pushed back to May. Are you able to expand on the reason for the delay?
Heyward: It wasn’t right. I know when it’s not finished. Have the songs reached their full potential? You can be gaslit by others, but you can’t gaslight yourself. I just couldn’t put it out. ‘Dynamite’, the single, went out unfinished, and that was heartbreaking for me for it to be rushed out. I was trying to meet the deadline, and I was being pushed; it was very stressful. It’s been 44 years, so it can’t just suddenly be rushed last minute. I was very unpopular.
Where did the name for the new album, Boxing The Compass, come from?
Heyward: Well, it’s a nautical term for a complete change in direction. Also, it’s a kind of traditional way, before the digital world of finding where you are. And I thought that it was a lovely metaphor for the band and where we are in life. A compass has been really important to me in life because they were my favourite shoe when growing up. They were called a Wayfinder and had a little compass in the heel. It had animal tread on it, and I loved these shoes. I love everything to do with a compass. I had Pelican WEST, NORTH Of A Miracle, well, I thought we could go east, but we don’t want to go south. So with a compass, you can just go all over, keep changing direction and go wherever you like. I like the imagery of a compass.
What’s the situation with Marc Fox and Phil Smith? Did they not want to join the ride this time around?
Heyward: They were invited to Shepherd’s Bush Empire; they were also invited beforehand to a meeting. Les came all the way from Spain, and Jonesy travelled from Cornwall. I’d stayed friends with Blair, so I knew he was up for it. We’d chatted about it regularly. Marc and Phil are more friends, really. I’d hoped that they would join in, but they didn’t want to come to the meeting or play at the gig. They wanted to go over old stuff on email, I just wanted us to come together and bring our stuff up to date. They’ve kind of stayed in the past, if you like, so they’re not involved in this new project.
How much did playing Radio 2’s Piano Room help reignite interest in the band?
Heyward: It did, that was just the BBC who invited us to do that. We didn’t have a manager, we didn’t have an agent, we didn’t have anything at that particular point. They’d heard that we got together and they invited us to come along to play. When we went down and were doing the performance, it had a call sheet, and it said Depeche Mode and Haircut 100. I thought, ” Wow, that takes me back to the Top Of The Pops razzamatazz”. We were knocked out that we were being asked. By the time of Radio 2 in the Park, we’d got a manager, they’d seen us on the Piano Room and called up and said, “Do you want some help?” That was Melvyn Taub and Martin Hall, and that is how we got the relationship with Radio 2. That’s why we got a tour that came out, started doing the album and got a deal with Absolute Label Services.
How much have you personally put into your first Haircut 100 album in 44 years? Did you feel an obligation to make things right, given how you left?
Heyward: All of it. I mean financially, everythingly. We’ve ploughed everything into making this album because there’s no backing for it. The independent label haven’t given us a budget for recording or anything, it’s all just made by the band. So this is a labour of love. We’re going to have another album and not leave it 44 years. There’s pressure to have another one, which is good pressure as well. I think we’ve got four tracks already recorded. We only need another six, and we’ve got another album, which I’ve already got the title for. It’s atonement in a way, it’s making things better, a better ending. You’ve got the present moment; it always has been now, and now is forever. So just get on with now.
It’s well publicised that you had a nervous breakdown towards the end of Haircut 100. What was the level of support that the record label gave you at that time?
Heyward: I was knackered. The therapist offered me a cigarette, and I had a little smoke with him. So he wasn’t the best influence on me, that doctor. He did give me a B12 shot once in the bum, and I went off on the American tour like a firecracker. I felt like a million dollars; it was amazing. Arista were great and right behind me. I was flying high at the time, hence going into Abbey Road Studios. I have not had those budgets since.
Can you shed some light on the lyrics to ‘The Unloving Plum’? They seem to speak about unrequited love but in a jovial manner. Is the rest of the album sugary pop like this?
Heyward: I actually wrote those lyrics in the 90’s. The first lyric went ‘cover me in Diet Coke’, which the BBC didn’t rate because it’s a product. So we had to change it to ‘diet pop’. ‘Cover me in diet pop / spray me with your words’, which was a metaphor for an argument. ‘The Unloving Plum’ is a metaphor for when you find your first heartbreak. You get completely dismissed. This was the feeling put into a pop song. I was pushing away their love. Who was the unloving plum? Were they the unloving plum or was I? It’s jovial with bitter lyrics. Like a plum, sometimes you can get a sweet one, sometimes you can get a bitter one. That’s plums for you! The new album is funk, with influences like Average White Band. It’s also rock, like the Stones. Some of it sounds like Primal Scream. Some sound like pop, like The Lightning Seeds and Terry Hall.
What’s it like promoting your music now compared to the early 80’s?
Heyward: Yeah, it’s completely different. Can you imagine in the 80’s trying to promote your album through a phone? It’s all about social media, views, likes and that kind of stuff. But when we get in the studio and when we’re working, it’s still a band doing a band thing. The same that we’ve always done.
Pelican West reached No. 2 in the UK charts and spawned three Top 10 singles. What is your overall feeling of the album all these years later?
Heyward: It’s like looking into a crystal clear lake and being able to see the bottom, really clearly, on a sunny day. It’s got so much joy in the grooves of that album. It’s beautifully produced by Bob Sargeant and engineered by John Gallen and Mark Dearnley. It was recorded at Roundhouse studios. What a team, great memories of the recording. I can see Bob with his yellow hair over the mixing desk. There was a lot of fun while we were recording that album. When Blair joined, we could become world-class because he was so in the pocket and so tight. I’d say he was the best drummer in the country at that particular point. We were the tightest band around on Pelican West.
Why do you think so many 80’s artists have career longevity?
Heyward: Good songs and good recordings, the music has lasted. Listen to The Smiths, great records. I think it’s because we all grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, so we had all the influences there. I don’t mind if I’m labelled a nostalgic act, I’ve accepted it all. Anyone can call me anything. All the new blends with the old really well. When you’re doing music and in a band, it’s a timeless thing that you’re doing. You’re making music from the present moment, so it’s kind of like a timeless realm that you’re tapping into. It’ll always sound fresh. I listen to music, and I’m immediately transported back in a time machine. If I want to know what happened, I just listen to music, and I’m right there, in 1972 or something.
What are your hopes and dreams for the 13-date UK tour in April and May?
Heyward: Well, we’re rehearsing as much as we can and prepping. As Gary Oldman said, you have to be really good to wing it. We’re gonna go out there and just go for it and be Haircut 100. You can enjoy yourself when you prep.
Find out more about Nick Heyward on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Spotify.
