From mad to verse

“I’ve had some amazing, amazing experiences that I will never forget,” smiles Tony Wright. “It’s been a real education and a privilege. I’ve gone round the world playing music, wowing people with big light shows, huge riffs and a ‘fuck you’ attitude. It was incredible.”

As lead guitarist of noiseniks And So I Watch You From Afar, Tony enjoyed a cockpit view of the band’s rocket-powered ascent: travelling the globe, making bold records, cultivating a fierce fanbase. The lad, it seems, has lived the dream.
However, the lad, it also seems, has woken up. Last year, at the end of the band’s promo tour for Gangs, Tony walked away from the group he helped form almost a decade before – wasting little time before reintroducing himself as VerseChorusVerse. But if the solo pared-down acoustics he was now peddling suggested a stylistic volte-face from his old crew, the motivations were remarkably similar.
“I want to see if I can still bring the ‘fuck you’ attitude and grab an audience’s attention, but I want to do it without the lights and the riffs. What I’m doing now is a return to how I first started. When I was a kid, it was just me and a guitar and the problem of how to write songs. I’ve maybe got a bit more sophisticated in my playing over the years, but if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that I haven’t changed that much.”
When it comes to crossing the floor of house – from the rowdy, to the quiet seats - Bob’s Judas moment has perhaps skewed our sense of the prevalent direction of travel. Sure, there have been plenty of troubadours who have enjoyed amping up; but look at Tom Morello, Mark Lanegan, Kurt Cobain – Tony’s decision to lay off the feedback and sonics is hardly a radical one.
“No, I don’t claim it is,” he says. “It isn’t a contrived thing. Melody gets me out of bed in the morning. There isn’t a part of the day when I’m not thinking about it. I’m preoccupied. Rhythm too, more and more. I’ve messed around with different time sequences over the years but I’m beginning to think that four by four – you could spend your life with it. I might sound like a beatnik here, but it’s the sound of your body. It’s your pulse. It carries through us all. We’re connected by it really. That’s something I really want to push into.”
ASIWYFA, of course, were happy to let their musicianship do most of the talking. VerseChorusVerse, however, has provided Tony with a long-suppressed lyrical outlet and, true-to-form, the words have come tumbling out.
“I always thought that a great riff could change your day, but a great melody and a great lyric – they change people’s lives,” he enthuses. “I want to be able to talk on behalf of myself. I’m not a huge Plan B fan, but I loved ‘Ill Manors’. At fucking last – someone talking about the riots, talking about Cameron. There’s this scary void, this silence – where everyone is pretending things are fine and dandy. It’s unreal. I was playing a gig during the Titanic festival. I thought, ‘I’ll give this a go’. I went along and was up there playing away to an audience of six-year-olds and their grannies. I came to play ‘You Can’t Take Back Your Freedom If You’ve Never Been Free At All’ and I dedicated it to the NHS. Told the kids their birthright was being robbed from them and to ask their parents why. All the grannies started to cheer. It was fantastic. I don’t want to sound preachy – but it’s important to me that I’m not just a singer, I’m a citizen too. I want to be allowed to speak up when something riles me.”
Tony’s debut EP (VCV) was released late last year to great acclaim, providing him with a huge morale boost as he began the process of writing his first solo album. Sessions for which are due to begin in the late summer. In choosing Iain Archer as producer, he’s given a clear indication of the standard he intends to be operating at.
“I was talking to my manager, Davy Matchett – going through a list of fantasy producers and he suggested Iain. I was like, ‘Yes. Yes. Yes.’ I’m a huge fan. Have loved all his albums. It’s fantastic.”
And what’s the studio dynamic?
“He’s really cool. I wanted him to be a proper producer. To stand up, voice opinions, make decisions. To be honest, really. I wanted us to have a real constructive relationship. And that’s exactly how it’s turned out. We have arguments and I end up taking his position and he ends up taking mine. It’s a great and very productive way to make music. I’m having the time of my life.”