The Real Tuesday Weld

British singer/songwriter/producer Stephen Coates seems like a man caught in a time warp. He idolizes and frequently emulates the great songwriters and bandleaders of yesteryear, but he uses the latest technology to do it. He wears vintage suits but admits to listening to Ministry. And he releases music under the name The Real Tuesday Weld. But who is the real Stephen Coates? And why is his new album called The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid? ARTISTdirect wanted to find out, so we emailed him a bunch of questions and waited breathlessly for the answers to arrive.

AD: Who is the Clerkenwell Kid? And what's he returning from?

TRTW: Well it's either me, an alter-ego or a semi-imaginary character based on a person I met in Clerkenwell [a neighborhood in London] whilst walking the city at night. I was, how should I put it? "Not quite in my right mind" at the time. Perhaps I dreamt it all. It's all become rather confusing. The Kid is returning from a love affair. Battered, bruised, but buoyant.

You mention Al Bowlly as a major influence. Can you tell the kids why he was so important?

Well, his voice is completely otherworldly, he made over a thousand recordings, he was the first British pop star in a way, he was a very good barber, he was killed in the Blitz, what more do you want?

Is Tuesday Weld a fan?

I hope so. I am certainly a fan of hers.

If you could take any songwriter from the big band, pre-WWII era and collaborate with him (or her), who would you choose?

Well I always liked the idea of Cole Porter but that would probably be too intimidating. How about Ivor Novello? Rather forgotten in some ways these days. British and beautiful.

Anyone out there now you'd especially enjoy working with?

Actually, there are a couple of people I am working with but I can't say [who] just now. It would be wonderful to record something with Tuesday Weld, wouldn't it? She did at least two songs in the sixties - perhaps we could re-record them?

Vodka or gin?

Vodka (Russian).

Curry or fish-n-chips?

I'm vegetarian. Curry.

Serge Gainsbourg or Ennio Morricone?

Oh come on. Both.

Crunk or grime?

Grime.

Woodwinds or brass?

When Jacques (bandmate) plays clarinet, woodwind. He's beautiful.

Waltz or jitterbug?

Waltz.

Rain or shine?

I love the rain.

Analog or digital?

Hmm. that's difficult. I would like to say analogue of course, but I probably wouldn't be answering these questions without the invention of the binary system.

Live or studio?

Studio for now.

Love or death?

Love, it includes death doesn't it?...

Order a copy of The Real Tuesday Weld's latest, The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid -- only $12.99 in the ARTISTdirect Store!

The Real Tuesday Weld is the band identity of singer/songwriter Stephen Coates. The London-based Coates trained as a visual artist before leaving the Royal Academy of Art in 1997 to explore a career in music. Though Coates names South Africa-born, British-based big-band singer Al Bowlly (a jazz cult figure who might have become one of the best-known big-band singers in the world had he not been killed in a German air raid on London in the early days of World War II) as his primary musical influence, the Real Tuesday Weld's largely electronic music more vividly recalls more standard Europop touchstones like Burt Bacharach, Ennio Morricone, and Serge Gainsbourg. After a trio of EP releases -- 1999's The Meteorology of Love (originally released under the name Tuesday Weld but cleverly changed after legal threats), 2000's Valentine, and 2001's L'Amour et la Morte -- the Real Tuesday Weld finally released a full-length debut, When Psyche Meets Cupid, in the summer of 2001. Since that time Coates has released a handful of albums including At the House of the Clerkenwell Kid in 2002, I, Lucifer in 2004, The Return of the Clerkenwell Kid in 2005, and The London Book of the Dead in 2007. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide