Ahead of releasing his new album this week and his upcoming talk at the launch of a new animation exhibition in Manchester, MM sat down with the former Stranglers singer to talk all things film, creativity and inspiration.
After forging his career as the original singer, songwriter and guitarist for punk rock band The Stranglers, the now 75-year-old left to embark on a successful solo career in 1990, which spans to the present day.
He also finds time to explore his love of film through his podcast, Mr DeMille FM, where he interviews notable people in the film industry.
An episode of his podcast is dedicated to Ray Harryhausen, a pioneering American-British animator and special effects creator, known for his ‘Dynamation’ technique and for creating films like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Clash of the Titans (1981).
A lifelong fan of Harryhausen, Cornwell will be giving an exclusive talk about the animator’s legacy at Sale’s Waterside gallery this month to mark the launch of a new exhibition, The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen.
MM spoke to Hugh Cornwell about his upcoming album, his love of film and how Harryhausen inspires him.
‘I don’t feel that I’m slowing down’: Cornwell on his upcoming album, going on tour, and how he maintains his music career
Cornwell’s new album, All the Fun of the Fair, was recorded live throughout his tour this January.
It covers a wide scope of his career, from classic Stranglers songs to his latest album, Moments of Madness, which came out in 2022.
He said: “The line-up I play with, Windsor McGilvray on drums and Pat Hughes on bass, has been playing together now for about eight years and it just seemed about the right time to commit something to memory, so that it wasn’t just a live performance anymore.”
Though certain Stranglers songs were a challenge to record with only three band members and no keyboard, Cornwell and his fellow musicians managed to make it work.
He said: “The Stranglers had a keyboard player, and I don’t carry keyboard. I tried to after I left, but it was like I was almost trying to mimic what I was doing with the Stranglers.
“So I stopped using keyboards and now it’s just bass, drums and guitar, which, to me, has always been the basis of rock and roll.”
Cornwell’s career in the music industry spans an impressive 50 years, so MM asked him what the key to maintaining such momentum is.
He said: “The secret is to stay healthy, that’s the main thing.
“Because if you’re not very healthy, you’re not going to be very creative.
“I try to stay in good health… and I don’t feel that I’m slowing down.”
Indeed, with his new album out this week, a two-week national tour which begins in November, and another album already in the works this autumn, Cornwell’s career is showing no signs of stopping.
“Animation is a key to a magic place”: Cornwell on animation and how he finds inspiration in Harryhausen’s work
Aside from his busy music career, Cornwell is also actively devoting time to his other passion – film.
His involvement in the Waterside’s exhibition is truly a full-circle moment for the life-long Harryhausen fan.
The musician first became hooked on animation as a small child, when he would race home from school to catch the latest cartoon featuring Felix the Cat or Popeye, before becoming “spellbound” by Ray’s films as he grew older.
So, he said it was “an absolute delight” to be asked to be involved in the exhibition.
“I would never in a million years have thought when I was a kid, being spellbound by watching what [Harryhausen] created on the screen… that one day I would be helping to publicise and draw attention to what he achieved,” said the film enthusiast.
For Cornwell, the value of film has always been its ability to offer an escape from reality.
“Animation is like a key through a door into a magic place,” he said.
“One of the basic joys of film is that it is an escape.
“With animation you can do anything, create anything.”
Cornwell identifies particularly with Harryhausen’s ability to immerse himself completely in his work.
The former Stranglers lead said: “The thing about Ray that was so captivating and so endearing was that you can tell he’s a complete enthusiast.
“He just exuded love for what he was doing, and he completely escaped into it and I think it comes across in everything you see or hear or read about him.”
He also actively supports up-and-coming animation artists through his own music videos, which contain a wide variety of animation styles.
He said: “It seems like a bit of a waste just to have a film of some people playing [instruments], so I always think it’s a good opportunity to showcase people that aren’t so well-known in animation or creative filmmaking.”
Hugh Cornwell will be talking more about the work of Ray Harryhausen and how he uses animation in his own music videos at a one-off event at The Waterside on 24 October.
The Lost Worlds of Ray Harryhausen officially opens on 26 October, and runs until 4 January.
All the Fun of the Fair will be released on 4 October, and Cornwell’s national tour begins in Reading on 20 November.
Featured image: Hugh Cornwell by Bertrand Fevre
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