LOWE & BEHOLD

For more than four decades, Nick Lowe has been recording songs and producing music. Calling from his London home, Lowe spent more than a few minutes on the phone with Goldmine, shring stories about pub rock, punk music and his all-time favorite collaborators.

GM: For more than 40 years you have been producing and recording. What keeps you doing this still?

That’s a good question. I sometimes wonder. It’s just something... I mean, it’s like a hobby that I sometimes get fed up with, you know, and sometimes I can’t get enough. Being like a hobby you just can’t get enough of it. You just can’t stop doing it. There is that show business cliché that says, “You don’t give it up, it gives you up.” As long as you can do it and not embarrass yourself, and people still turn up and get a kick out of hearing you — and they’re not just giving you a mercy clap, you know they really do like it — you would be mad not to keep doing it. You know, it’s a real privilege and it keeps you young and you get to hang out with some nice people. What I don’t like is flying, especially international flights. That is the worst part of it. Hanging around airports and things and there really is no escape, even if you go to the shops it’s marginally better. But I’m not really sure why I am telling you this because it’s not some great secret. Everyone knows it’s like being f**king tortured,