Brix Smith Start, formerly of The Fall, speaks to Hot Press about ventures old and new

"You know when you go to a dinner party and someone asks you what you do? I never know where to start! I normally just say 'I'm a musician' because I don't want to get into all of it. But I am a performer, a creative person and a songwriter."

Brix Smith Start is wrestling with her many identities. With the publication of her memoir The Rise, The Fall and The Rise, she has recently added author to that already impressive list.
The book chronicles her youth in Los Angeles and Chicago, her career in The Fall and relationship with Mark E Smith, life as a fashion pundit and much more. So, why decide to put pen to paper now?
"It wasn't a tactical thing," she explains. "I knew when I was in The Fall that I would want to write about it. I kept journals, but I oscillated between not having the confidence to write a book and a fear of it not getting published. Also, I really had to get to a place inside myself where I was no longer angry about the circumstances, where I was objective."
Considering her former husband's famous curmudgeonly tendencies and his infidelities during their time together, she is impressively measured, but distant. She paints a picture of a singular talent - remarkably diligent in the band's early years - who fell victim to his drug and alcohol dependency.
"Mark Smith... if he's miserable now, he's the cause of his own misery," she says. "I do not stand in judgement. I respect him as a talent, musician, writer, and as my one-time partner. I think he still has flashes of brilliance now. And good luck to him."
She writes engagingly about her time in The Fall and her contribution to the Mancunian post-punk troupe.
"When I first joined I was very frustrated that they were not more respected and revered, that they were shunted to the side and labelled cult," she states. "I felt my role was to add light to their shadow and put in hooks that weren't going to take away from the essence of The Fall. I was determined that they would have hits and be recognised for the brilliant influential band they are... or were," she laughs.
However, her investment in The Fall hasn't ended yet. In fact, she is currently fronting Brix and the Extricated with former Fall members Steve and Paul Hanley and Steve Trafford.
"We are really loving it, for me and the Hanley brothers it is the second bite of the cherry, and it really tastes so good," she smiles. "It's great because we are playing new material and we're also taking The Fall material that we co-wrote and reinterpreting it. Mark won't do those songs anymore so they've been lying in mothballs for 30 years. At the moment I'm negotiating a record deal and we have recorded demos which we're really happy with."
Another ex who features heavily in the book is violinist Nigel Kennedy who she dated when she left The Fall. As his girlfriend she found herself at some imposing social gatherings, frequently in the company of Princess Diana, who it seemed had more than a soft spot for her beau.
"What can you do? When Princess Diana flirts with your boyfriend you just have no hope in hell! She was incredible. She had this aura, magnetism and charisma that could move earth and sky. She knew how to use that!" she laughs.
Smith Start is keen to stress how much she enjoyed the writing process. Does she have a novel in her, we wonder? "I've started it!" she smiles. "I've done five chapters so far. Obviously I still have a lot to do with this book but when things calm down I can devote more time to it."
Novelist: another string to her already formidable bow.