October 10, 1994
British Rocker Sets New Frontiers
Middle age has arrived, but don't count on Robyn Hitchcock sliding into the easy life.
At the tender age of 41, this British-born musician is taking off to new and exotic places -- such as the great Northwest.
"I thought I'd go from the west coast to the east, and play all those places -- like Thunder Bay -- that I haven't played before," he explains early one morning from San Francisco. "This is my first time seeing Canada, outside of Vancouver and Toronto."
Mainstream audiences may not readily recognize Hitchcock, but he's been putting out a unique brand of music for almost 20 years -- first with The Soft Boys, then with mates dubbed "The Egyptians", and frequently as a solo artist.
He's been described as a "skewed tunesmith" and his work "benign insanity", but maybe the best way to capture his personality is though his writeup, entitled "Robyn Hitchcock, 'My Life As Him'". Here are choice highlights:
1963 -- Discovered bus transport. Hear The Beatles.
1966 -- Decided to be a time-travelling musician.
1982 -- Robyn Hitchcock toured Norway with Morris Windsor and a man named "Keith".
1989 -- Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians opened for R.E.M., playing to lots of people who hadn't arrived yet.
1990 -- Robyn Hitchcock tours solo, acoustic; 66 U.S. dates with former girlfriend Cynthia co-piloting, relatively stress-free -- we only break up at the end of each section of the tour.
1994 -- Surviving Beatles recorded together, but no show. Surviving Soft Boys played live, but no record.
"I don't look at anything consciously," he says of his inspirations. "It's like dreaming. Songwriting is an extension of the dreaming process. I suppose what my preoccupations are come out.
"I think," he adds, "Madonna would be considered eccentric if she didn't make so much money."
So here we are, late in 1994, and Hitchcock's on the road again. Why?
"It's a chance for me to explore," he answers in between sips of tea. "I'm still trying out different places. Places I've never been. I've never played in India. I've never played in Russia, or Africa -- not that there's a lot of demand there."
Does this sound like a wandering spirit? Well, Hitchcock's itchy feet have recently taken him from the windswept Isle Of Wight off the south coast of England, to a brief stay in Washington, to a new pad in London ("Big cities," he cautions, "suck people in like black holes.")
A restless soul, he's also tirelessly creative. In addition to a dizzying collection of music, he's also dabbled in other areas: as a painter, poet, and short story writer. So is it fair to call him a renaissance man?
"It would be if I got up earlier in the morning," he replies. "There's a lot of things I can do, but I don't apply myself equally to all of them."
In between stripped-down solo shows, he's also working on a spoken-word CD and arranging an art exhibit. Also, there's his wide-ranging catalogue of recordings to be re-worked and reissued through Rhino Records.
"It's quite a big thing," he says. "It's my epitaph -- while I'm still alive."
What, he's asked, would he be if not a musician? The question stumps him.
"It's unthinkable," he finally answers. "I can't imagine making a living as anything else. I don't know what I would choose, frankly."
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