A self-confessed studio perfectionist and an underrated instrumental whizz, Nik Kershaw recounts the successes and surprises as the leading pop star of 1984 as Billy Edwards gets a glimpse into his home studio.
Nik Kershaw is enthused from the get-go for new experiences on his upcoming tour. “I haven’t been to Cardiff for a long time,” he tells me, “and I’ve never played the Tramshed, so I’m very much looking forward to that.”
To mark their 40th anniversary, Nik and band will perform his first two albums – Human Racing and The Riddle – in full. To his left, he’s sat aside his gloss-black PRS guitar with the rest of his collection, after a busy morning of practise in his home studio. Preparation has mainly involved deciphering how to play deeper cuts live: he hasn’t performed several of them since their inception, and his perfectionist streak caused decades-long reluctance to listen to his first try-outs.
“Listening to the old stuff is odd, because obviously I can’t change it. It’s what it was. What amazes me is how good they sound. The production is quite sparse, and that’s testament to the producer, Peter Collins, who sadly left us this year. He was brilliant at knowing when enough was enough – I’d be saying, “I’ll be doing just one more over there please!”
Prior to stardom, Nik performed as the guitarist for Fusion, a group with their own fame around Ipswich for their super-accurate jazz-rock covers. In 1983, he signed to MCA: “It was all so much of a blur, and quite extraordinary”. He notched up 62 weeks on the Top 40 charts through the following two years – a hitmaker in rapid time.
But how did these singles fare so well, in light of his self-described “reputation for unusual modulations and chord transitions”, as heard on singles such as Dancing Girls and The Riddle? Would he agree pop music is an inherently simple medium? “I think on the surface, it has to be simple because it has to be accessible. You don’t want to think about what you’re listening to. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be complex and nuanced.”
Nik considers that perhaps his younger self could have been a little easier on him. “I naturally chose the difficult way of doing things… which was just great at the time, but a pain when you’re trying to play things live!”
At one point, Nik identifies my Essex accent and is prompted to recall an early live performance – “in Southend… my first gig after my first hit” – that would prefigure his first year of pop stardom. “I got to see my audience for the first time – they were 80% female and mostly under the age of 16.”
With his virtuosic talent, Nik feels the image imposed by the music press, of a pin-up teen idol, was a tale of two halves. “It irked me at the time. I spent a good three years playing in bands – musicians would come to the gigs and appreciate them on that level.”
However, it’s clear his “reputation of being a teenybopper” has long since become a title to appreciate. “That’s what I was! It is quite bemusing when you’re playing a guitar solo and nobody can hear it…” Nik chuckles, enjoying the chance to reminisce. “But it pays off, because you grow up with your fans and they appreciate what you’re doing in different ways. I’ve got a fantastic fanbase.”
Turning to the future, what is particularly striking about Nik is his keen perception of time and its relation to his own music production. “The longer you do it, the more difficult it is to not repeat yourself – part of the joy of making music is surprising yourself. It becomes more difficult to do, because whether an acoustic guitar or keyboard, it’s the same chords you always have.” Suddenly, there’s a pang of rousing determination. “I need to find a way of randomizing it. And I don’t mean AI, either!”
Nik Kershaw, Tramshed, Cardiff, Sat 12 Oct.
Tickets: £32.50 (sold out). Info: here
words BILLY EDWARDS