Keeping it real

Like it or not, Dodgy will forever be associated with the long, hot summer of ‘96 when Brit-pop reigned supreme and London swung again, albeit briefly. Their contribution to the party – the bouncy, feel-good hit ‘Good Enough’ – was one of the most memorable tunes of the genre and has since appeared on countless Union Jack-adorned compilations.

“At the time I was fiercely against that whole thing,” says Dodgy drummer Matthew Priest. “But when I look back on it I understand completely that we were part of it. It was an era of British music, which is difficult to explain. There were some great bands and some awful ones but I think we were among the good ones, along with The Charlatans, Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass and a few others.

“The thing that annoyed me most was that back in ‘92/’93 when it was grunge heaven we were writing straight pop songs inspired by the Beach Boys and no-one made a big deal about it. Suddenly it all became pop and we were lumped in with Blur and Oasis.”

But that was then and this is now. Despite a trio of successful albums including the chart-topping ‘Free Peace Sweet’ they failed to come up with a follow-up hit single to ‘Good Enough’ and inevitably parted company with their record label. Now with a new line-up (Nigel Clark has been replaced by new vocalist David Bassey), they’ve bounced back with their fourth album Real Estate released on their own label Bostin’.

“We desperately wanted to put the album out,” Priest says. “We’d got the band together got the sound and we were offered a few deals from majors. But we’d been down that road before. We’ve had the glory deals and were priority with the whole staff behind it all the way. And then A&M turned into Mercury and then into Universal. We’d have been 120th in line behind Westlife and Celine Dion if we were still with them. At the other end of the scale we were offered independent deals like ‘here’s five grand go make the album’. But then we thought why don’t we do it ourselves?”

So they decided to raise the entire recording budget by encouraging fans, supporters and visitors to their web-site to ‘invest’ in the album, as Priest explains.

“Marillion did something similar. If you paid $15.00 you got a special advance. With us the deal was, if you invested say £1,000 you get 2% of the sales profits. So there are people in Buffalo, New York and in Japan who’ll share in the album. But most people haven’t done it for the money. They have a stake in it. It belongs to them.”

Did the band feel responsible to the ‘investors’ to make a good album and one that would provide a healthy return?

“Not in a direct way. I didn’t feel that ‘so and so’ in Singapore is going to be pissed off with this song. It was like doing our first album. We learned the value of things, the value of how hard people work, the value of the web-site. Before, when we did an album it would come out and suddenly it’s in the shops – in Cornwall! You never question how it gets there or why you’re doing an interview with someone in Israel. You never think how it all happens. But when you’re doing it yourself you realise that someone has to make it happen.”

As for major record companies, Priest suggests that they served a purpose if only in the short term. “They see success only in terms of a hit like ‘Good Enough’ – nothing else. On the other hand we had a good time. We dined out on them for years. We went to Amsterdam, Malta and Jamaica just to make videos. They had the money we had the tunes. We did the gig and they paid. They said goodbye to the £500,000 we were in debt to them so we can’t ask for anything more.

“The great thing is we don’t have to prove ourselves anymore. I was listening to an old live tape the other day and it sounded bloody great! But because of the internet we don’t have to tour a 30 date tour which would lose us £20,000 so if it wasn’t for the web-site this wouldn’t be happening.”

Real Estate is out now on Bostin’ Records