The Punk Site caught up with punk producer Steve Etherington to talk about his work with members of Sex Pistols X-Ray Spex and an exciting new glam rock project. Steve Etherington has spent decades dancing between the mainstream and the margins, one minute conducting orchestras, the next knee deep in the glorious mess ofย Fuzzbox,ย Sisters of Mercy,ย The Popes, and a dozen other cult corners of British music. Heโs a man who can arrange strings for a bruised poet, rebuild a glam anthem from the ground up, and still find time to runย Symphonic Ibizaย like a ravereadyย Wagner. Now heโs turned his attention toย Sweet, dragging their bubblegumglammetalnewwave DNA into a new era with a full album of reimagined classics. Not covers, reinventions. The kind that would make the glittercaked ghosts of 1973 sit bolt upright. We cornered him for a chat. He didnโt escape.
You worked onย Bastardsย andย Outlaw Heavenย withย Shane MacGowanย andย The Popes, sculpting widescreen orchestral sweeps while everyone else worshipped the lo-fi grit. With the vocals already down and most of your collaboration withย Shaneย happening over the phone, how did you carve out those tracks under such eccentric conditions, and what kind of alchemy did the mixing process demand?
โAt that time my preference was hardware based rather than software so, vocals were sampled into a sp808. I made a drum track loop which was again sampled and then basically jammed along on various keyboards with a variety of orchestral and synth sounds and guitars till the whole thing started to work. Mixing into an alesis mastertrack machine. Again, at that time all standalone hardware that to โmy earsโ still sounds better; however, I do use software alongside my retro hardware.โ
Then came the curveball: a reimagining ofย The Pogues Fairytale of New Yorkย withย Mungo Jerryย and the immortalย Anita Harris, a combination so surreal it feels like it was summoned by sรฉance. Word is the session went full rock โnโ roll meltdown, complete with creative friction. What actually detonated in that room?
โLuckily, the two artists were buzzing on their โodd coupleโ vibe. But the fact we (mike B) and I made a โbig band swing trackโ took a hard โsellโ as it was originally a 6/8 irish waltz feel bursting out of a straight love ballad intro passage.โ
You stepped intoย Poly Styreneโs world to rebuild three tracks, includingย Fuzzbox fronted versions ofย I Canโt Do Anythingย andย Identity. Rumour has it your colleague had them singing through hosepipes taped toย Unidine Bย microphones, like some deranged art school science experiment. And somehow it worked. You even spoke toย Polyย herself while sheadjudicated. What was she like, and how did you inject a pop punk sheen without sanding off the glorious rough edges?
โPoly was VERY โposhโ on the phone which surprised me. Her voice was sweet and eloquent. I asked about the rhythm track of Germ free as that was on the mixing desk at the time. I had Glen Matlocks bass playing sent to me which again was top level. She was very helpful with production tips, eg: put the guitar through a boss chorus pedal and thatโs your quasi-sequential sound. It was a privilege to have spoken with her and as a mark of respect I recorded Genetic engineering as a track myself which I performed live at Polyfest after she passed.โ
Another punk you worked with was Toyah Wilcox when you recreated a track from the critically acclaimed dream child album whatโs the story behind that?
โOk, my esteemed colleague Mike Bennett called me with an urgent request Toyah was performing the New Wave Electronic crossover track Dream Child which Mike wrote and it was for an important cause that provided a highlight for the upsurge of male suicide and the song was perfect because it was about a man child in trouble. The trouble was there was no click track, so I studied the arrangement and I have to say it was an emotional experience considering the concerning subject matter. I had been involved in this project for Mike as well as Hazel OโConnor and The Fall, so I was familiar with the way he worked. Guys from Suede and The Fall had appeared on the original and he didnโt want me to deviate from but to put a modern stamp on the arrangement. I worked through the night on it as did Mike who was getting to grips with the ever-increasing virtual production techniques, I was so familiar with. I literally handed the stem separations over to Toyahโs brilliant tech crew minutes before she graced the stage and it was a triumph. The process was very much a DIY punk affair, but I have to say it was a resounding success, and the body of work did Toyah, Mike and more importantly the charity proud. It was an honour halting it all together. When Mike was producing Hazel OโConnor, he sent me band arrangements and because the budget was limited, I had to put the keys on in breakneck speed and send them back to Hazel. Mike always insists that the budget is small and its breakneck speed city. I mention this because Toyah and Hazel are cut from the same cloth, I enjoyed working with both of these New Wave female artists very much and love a challenge. Like Mike I always work in a fast and furious way you have to on a Punk budget on a small label.โ
Letโs talkย Symphonic Ibiza, your orchestral rave beast that stands miles apart fromย Peter Hookโsย Hacienda Classical. Youโve gotย Melanie Williamsย in the mix, a voice that practically is the 90s. How did this sunbleached, Balearicbaroque monster begin, whatโsย Melanieย like in the studio, and how do you assemble such a wildly eclectic cast of vocalists without losing your mind?
โSymphonic Ibiza began in 2018. I received a phone call from Australia, DJ Andy Joyce called me and asked if I could arrange for Orchestra. I said yes (Iโm a classical music theory nerd). It went from there with our first ever show at Eden in Ibiza. It has been very successful Im proud to say even though it is very different to my rock roots. Melanie was introduced to me by Mike Bennet. Initially the first recordings were collaborations for the Vegan Vampires from org film project. Check out Vegan Vampire track. Itโs a co-write I am proud of and her voice is top level. Then by Chance, Symphonic Ibiza my orchestra had a show in Warrington โGolden squareโ One of our singers was unwell, I called Melanie on the day and she sang with us. Between the phone call and arriving in Warrington I wrote the โDotsโfor the orchestra on my laptop in the car for her sub sub hit โAint no love and there aint no useโ We played it that night. She was fab.โ
You teamed up withย Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols)ย for a reimagining ofย Germfree Adolescence, a collision of punk royalty and synthsleaze that shouldnโt work but absolutely does. Withย Charlie OโConnorย (Hazel OโConnorโs niece) on vocals, the track fusesย X-Ray Spexย swagger with a Thomas Dolby style electronic twitch. Were you satisfied with the result, and what possessed you to mash those worlds together?
โAs mentioned before, with the verbal assistance of Poly herself on the phone we made a great record. I became a new romantic in my late teens but the punk/new wave trend that preceded it has influenced my writing and producing. It seemed perfectly natural to create these great songs in various genres. Itโs what I do.โ
Your upcomingย Sweetย albumย Lip Serviceย is a revelation, a tribute that refuses to behave like one.ย Sweetย influenced everything from hair metal to punk, dipped into funk, bubblegum, power pop, and reinvented themselves mid album like it was nothing. Is that why theyโre both wildly influential and criminally underrated? And what is it aboutย Sweetย that keeps dragging you back into their glitterstained orbit?
โFirstly, we brought this in on such a small budget because we had some dead time as a Punk band had bailed on one of our producers and it seemed like a creative tangent. The sweet are the reason why I wanted to become a musician. Even, Queen and Bowie were influenced by the Sweet. They simply were the sum of great writing, fabulous decadent harmonies and guitar solos and of course the Flamboyant โdandyโ image which influenced the new romantics a decade later. My truncated answer is deliberate as I could write for days about my adoration for the sweet.โ
I hear the album was recorded on what youโve lovingly called โbargain basement rates,โ and that it might accompanyย Sweet: Live at the BBCย as a limited edition. How did that come together, and did the low budget, highpressure environment sharpen the creative edge?
โReinventing โholyโ territory is what it felt like. It was made as a homage, a piece of โartโ that I hope does not offend any Sweet fans. It was made with love and like all things of that nature the budget was minimal. The effort was maximum and the entire vibe was edgy. I work better under pressure.โ
And then thereโsย GLAMNEZIA, your glampunk Frankensteinโs monster, stitched together from glitter, distortion, and sheer audacity. Whereโs this beast heading next, and how far are you willing to push its aesthetic before it combusts?
โGlamneziaย is a work of art. An amalgamation of Glam reinventions and โnu glamโ songs. As an album it is actually a collection. It had a pause because of covid; the aftereffects push everything back for 2 years. Now I think is its time. Hopefully the world will think so too.โ
After a second bottle of some expensive red wineย Steve Etheringtonย seems particularly partial to, heย drifted out of theย Dublin Castleย inย Camdenย looking distinctly jolly, the kind of warm, tipsy glow only musicians and poets seem to pull off without shame. He signed a few photographs on the way out, laughing, leaning, chatting, the whole scene bathed in that Camdenย after midnight electricity. His performances at the noted venue are the stuff of legend, and tonight, he added another chapter.
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