Interview with Andy Williams of DOVES

Eddy Rhead had a chat with Andy Williams of the band DOVES about architecture, music and their incredible new video.

Full disclosure.  Links between The Modernist and DOVES go long and deep. I have been friends with the Williams brothers since we were teenagers. I grew up in the same small town as Jimi Goodwin - Jimi is also a subscriber to the magazine.  Andy and Jez had a rehearsal room next door to old The Modernist HQ - before we moved to Port Street. But there is also another connection. The Williams twins have a brother and sister who are both architects (more of them in a bit) but their dad is a Modernist Society hero - Desmond Williams. 

Desmond started the firm of Desmond Williams and Associates in the early 1960s and worked mainly in the religious and educational sector. Desmond Williams and Associates designed a number of modern churches, including the Roman Catholic Church of St Augustine, Manchester, 1966-1968  (Grade II), the Roman Catholic Church of St Dunstan, Birmingham, 1966-1968 (Grade II), and the Roman Catholic Church of St Michael, Penn, Wolverhampton, 1967-1968 (Grade II) and St Mary Dunstable (Grade II).  Desmond’s work was recognised with an OBE in 1988.

St Augustines, Manchester

Desmond and his wife separated  whilst the children were small and the children lived with their mum so when i knew Andy and Jez growing up i had no idea their dad was an architect and it wasn't until much later in life, already discovering Desmond’s work and being a fan, I found out that their dad was THE Desmond Williams.

Dominic and Sarah decided to follow in their dads footsteps. Dominic made his name very early on - aged only 28 he landed the gig to convert a disused flour mill in Gateshead into the BALTIC Centre and is now a director of Ellis Williams Architects - a firm that has its roots in Desmond Williams and Associates, and the firm are still doing great work. Sarah ran, with fellow partners, the London office of AEDAS before starting her own practise Sarah Williams Architects in 2013.

Andy and Jez on the other hand were influenced more by their artistic mother and, by Andy’s own admission didn't have the academic qualifications and talent to become architects and were a little more ‘wayward’. Having hung out in many a park and empty car park with Andy and Jez in our teenage years i can testify to this.

After school Andy followed his artistic instincts and went to Northwich Art College. “it was a great experience. A very open minded course and it taught me a lot and the way of working has informed me ever since - in how i approach music “  Having come from such a creative family and having siblings as architects it was hard to avoid architecture but Andy was more interested in Art and Design whilst Jez was very much focussed on music. After a year studying Interior Design at Leeds University Andy was lured back to Manchester, as many of us were, by the nascent acid house scene and The Hacienda. The Interior Design degree would have to wait. 

Baby Doves aka Sub Sub

Along with a school friend JImi Goodwin the band they formed , SUB SUB, was very much focussed on the dance music they were immersed in at The Hacienda, and after teaching themselves the art of sampling and programming SUB SUB enjoyed a run of success including a chart hit - Ain't No Love reached Number 3 in the UK charts. 

After a fire in their Ancoats studio (mysterious fires in old mills were common place in 90s Manchester)  destroyed virtually of their equipment they reinvented themselves with a more rock oriented sound as DOVES and went on to cult, commercial and global success.

In 2010 DOVES took a break from each other but now they are back together and with a new single and album but no tour (for obvious reasons) just yet. Which brings us right up to date - with the incredible video that accompanies the track CAROUSELS. 

I asked Andy about the genesis of the video and i’m happy to say The Modernist played a part in it. “I picked up a book in your shop BRUTAL BRITAIN and was keen to somehow use Brutalist architecture in some of the visuals to go with the new releases. Dave Rofe, our manager, also put together some potential images which included some buildings. This inspired us towards using architecture in the video. It was the video commissioner at our record company who suggested Yoni Weisberg” Weisberg is a Manchester based director of CHIEF creative agency. “The record company do a call out for treatments from different directors and we loved Yoni’s” 

We are sure you’ll like the video - there is a link at the end of this article. I asked if they had any input on the source material. “I sent some photographs of the buildings from the book and Jez suggested one in particular that he liked and along with Dave Rofe’s  suggestions Yoni sourced the images.” There is also a little nod to their family heritage (at around 1 minute)

The more eagle eyed amongst you may spot the now demolished Stella Maris building in Salford that was designed by Desmond Williams. The Stella Maris is a building close to the hearts of The Modernists - we even have the foundation stone at our HQ. We, along with long time collaborator Richard Brook aka Mainstream Modern, were happy to supply a bit of background info and images. The rest of the video may have you shouting at the screen “I KNOW THAT ONE”. 

Stella Maris - photograph via Mainstream Modern

I asked Andy, who has travelled the world with DOVES, if the cliche rock n roll excess of bands on tour has now given way to architectural sightseeing. “We toured a lot in America so always liked to get out, if we a chance, and look at buildings. I took an architectural tour of Chicago when we there. It's incredible”  Andy admits that he wasn’t really aware of the buildings his dad designed up until relatively recently. “I have to admit it was people like yourself bringing to my attention buildings like St Augustines and Stella Maris that i realised our dad did some good stuff in his time”  Desmond Williams now has several listed churches to his name so it is good that his work is getting the wider recognition it deserves.

I am happy to nourish Andy’s growing appreciation of architecture  so myself , Richard Brook, a mutual friend Matt Norman and Andy took a trip to Milan recently. He didn't grumble once as we dragged him half way across Milan in the drizzle to see the San Siro stadium and the incredible Gallaratese housing project by Aldo Rossi. He claims to have enjoyed and appreciated it and i don't doubt it. Who wouldn't love to walk round a housing estate with me and Richard Brook?

Andy and Matt Norman - enjoying the rain and social housing - November 2018

I asked Andy if he had a bucket list of architectural wonders? “I’m obsessed by Ronchamp by Le Corbusier. Even when i was student in Leeds in the 80s i had a postcard of it on my wall. It looks like it has dropped from outer space. I would love to visit it. I’d also loved to see more of Mies van der Rohe in the flesh”

I promised Andy that if he isn't too busy recording and (eventually) touring that some time soon we’ll go on a pilgrimage to Ronchamp and i'll also take him to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin one day.

Thanks to Andy for taking time out to speak to us.

Watch the video to CAROUSELS below