Best known as the male half of the iconic synthpop duo Eurythmics, Dave Stewart has spent decades shaping the sound of modern music — both behind the mic and behind the scenes. With hits like Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and Here Comes the Rain Again - plus a fine reputation as a prolific producer and songwriter - Stewart remains a creative force well beyond the 1980s. Speaking from his Nashville studio, the British music legend chatted to us (over a jam and toast breakfast) about his love of small islands and an upcoming European tour which culminates in Mallorca on 9 August.
Q.— Are you familiar with Mallorca?
A. — “Of course, Annie (Lennox) has a house in Mallorca, which I’ve stayed at - with Annie - and I have had a few journeys there during my life. The first was when I had no money, and I just about managed to get there, then sleep on people’s floors and things like that. And then I’ve had the other side of it, spent quite a bit of time in Deya, met lots of great, interesting people, photographers, painters, all that kind of stuff. I actually live on an island, half of the time, but it’s only half a mile by three miles, so it’s a speck compared to Mallorca. It’s on the border of the Caribbean and the Bahamas and, it’s funny, it’s right on the edge of the Sargasso Sea. What’s weird is before I moved there, Stevie Nicks and I wrote a song called Wide Sargasso Sea, and then when I was on the island, working out where we were, I realised that we’re right on the edge of it.”
Q.—What do you think of our Island?
A. — “Well, it’s a mixture of cultures and people from different places, whereas the island I am on is mainly just locals. It’s quite difficult to put your finger on Mallorca as a visitor, because one moment you’re talking to a German person, then a French person, then a Spanish person, back to English people. It’s a big island and I can’t say I’m an authority on Mallorcan culture.”
Q.— So you won’t be buying a house like Annie?
A. — “No, already through the last 40 years, I’ve moved so many times. I go everywhere thinking “this would be a good place to live!” then I sell this house, buy that one. I live on this tiny island, and then I have a place here in Nashville which is full of music, writers, and my studio, so no, I am done.”
Q.— How did Mallorca appear at the end of your European tour schedule?
A. —“It’s very interesting actually, because I’ve been creating a special, strange, surrealistic show called Iced with a chap from Switzerland, Oliver, and it was he who said in a text to me, “Hey, how would you like to play in Mallorca?”. I didn’t really understand how that would work, because we would be at the end of our tour, and where would we play. He had this suggestion of playing at Mallorca Country Club. It’s funny, because when Annie and I first played in America, in a slightly bigger way, the opening show was with Talking Heads and The B-52s in a tennis court. At first, we were going, “what, a tennis court?!” and then Dave Byrne and Cindy from The B-52s reassured us this was a normal state of affairs - basically a mini outdoor arena type of thing.
The Mallorca date, 9 August, works perfectly for the last date of our tour, which is 8 August in Agde, France. I’ve got a cool all-female band, they’re all virtuoso players, and they’re all excited - “oh yeah, Mallorca, last gig, great!” - so it’s a good place to end up. And I’ll probably stay on the Island for quite a few days afterwards, because I’ll have just played all these other countries.
The only thing that’s a bit concerning is the heat. Playing outdoors, in blazing heat, even if it’s the evening. The band is usually very decked out, it’s like watching a show, and I was hoping we could just wear swimsuits or something. People don’t realize you’ve also got the lights on stage that are very hot as well. So, however hot you are in the audience, it’s twice as hot on stage. Hopefully the start time will be around 10pm, which would be perfect.”
Q.— Tell us about Vanessa Amorosi who’s performing with you.
A. — “We first met in 2012, she’s performed with me on various fun things, and we basically became best friends. It wasn’t until about the third time she came to visit me when I took out the acoustic guitar and she opened her mouth to sing - I was gobsmacked. You see, in Australia she’s already an icon, a legend, sang in the opening of the Olympic Games when she was 16, but I didn’t know that because she never really toured outside Australia. Then, she left for America and moved to Los Angeles. Vanessa’s an amazing person and obsessed with animals. She’s got horses, seven dogs, ducks – an animal fanatic. She takes untamed horses and tames them - a force of nature - and, of course, her voice is like that too. She can go from very tender to Janis Joplin - belting it out. So, when we started to experiment, not on Eurythmics songs, just generally, I slowly realised she’s great to play and work with. But, it wasn’t until Nile Rodgers asked me to close the Meltdown Festival in London in 2019, with a show with Eurythmics songs and all different guests, and I had Emeli Sandé and Beverley Knight, and I brought Vanessa along because I needed to know something was going to go right. It turned out amazing. We got fantastic reviews, and I was bowled over. I always thought that if I did any show that said ‘Dave Stewart Eurythmics’, I would get killed, but no, it just got rave reviews. So, I thought, this is good, I can go and play this in some other places, and then literally one month later COVID happened and the idea was shelved for a few years.”
Q.— Vanessa’s not replacing Annie, or trying to be Annie, but it works.
A. — “Yeah, I mean, she already was herself, as I say, and there’s not one moment where we try and emulate or copy Annie’s performances. Imagine if I’d said right, I’m going to find a girl with a suit and cropped orange hair, I mean ridiculous. It’s a band-band, we’ve played over a hundred gigs together with the same female brilliant players who are like a gang now. When we’re on stage we have a ball, it’s not like stiff session musicians, you’ll see a band who’s having a great time and can go through all the emotional curves.”
Q.— Do you have a message for the fans coming on 9 August?
A. — “Yes, I’m looking forward to coming back to visit Mallorca, but this time with an epic band. I’ve never played in Mallorca, Eurythmics never toured there, so it’s a first – and I can’t wait.”
Tickets via: https://www.sunsetsounds.es/