Andy Mackay - - The Independent - Thu 6th Dec
Andy Mackay - - The Independent
06 December 2007
The 5-minute Interview:
Andy Mackay, Musician
'Stay cool is still the main rule'
Published by The Independent: 6th December 2007
Andy Mackay, 61, is the saxophonist from the rock band Roxy Music. He
has also written numerous television scores, including for the
award-winning 'Rock Follies'. He is working on a new Roxy Music album
as well as his solo project, 'Andy & the Metaphors'
If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...
Sitting around feeling guilty about not playing my saxophone.
A phrase I use far too often...
"What was I about to say?" Probably because I always get distracted.
I wish people would take more notice of...
Horrible rural housing developments. It's just bad architecture and
often in the wrong place. If I'm being more frivolous, I think more men
and women should wear hats. I think hats are great.
The most surprising thing that happened to me was...
Finding out that I wasn't as shy as I thought I was while prancing
around on stage with Roxy Music. I was more serious before I joined the
band, but I learnt quickly that you can't hide on stage and you should
just go for it.
A common misperception of me is...
I am more serious than I actually am. I appear quite bookish, but at heart I am a joker.
I am not a politician but...
Well, I wish nobody was. The very idea of a political class means the worst will become leaders.
I'm good at...
Pickling and preserving. I make my own bacon as well. I think I was
ahead of my time as I realised early that cooking was a good way to
pick up women.
I'm very bad at...
Sports. At school I was always the skinny boy at the edge of the field.
The ideal night out is...
A good meal and a cold glass of white wine. I have a flat in Soho and I love coming to London to eat out.
In moments of weakness I...
Pray. I am a serious minded person in that sense.
The best age to be is...
Thirty-three. I was old enough to be sensible and young enough to have fun.
In a nutshell, my philosophy is this...
I guess it would be "Stay cool is still the main rule", one of Bryan [Ferry's] lines on the song "For Your Pleasure".
Gavin Cumine