To celebrate Adam’s 47th birthday, Chris kindly agreed to meet a few Ant fans for a drink at the Meson Los Barriles tapas bar, EC1 for an in-depth interview about his life and times so far with and without Adam Ant.

First question for the afternoon, which musicians influenced you?
I liked Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan and I liked Adam & the Ants – the first line-up before I joined. It was good before that… no, joking!

Adam and Marco were into T-Rex, was that something you could relate to – as T-Rex fans?
Definitely. We had pretty much similar influences. Marco had some other strange ones which I like now, but didn’t really know of at the time.

You say you were an Adam & the Ants fan, when did that go back to?
I was in a band called Drill – who were signed to RCA – a punk / new wave band. Adam & the Ants were pretty much my favourite band, really good.

I had a mate who worked at CBS and he got me an audition so I went down to the audition, I had pink suit on. Adam and Marco were sitting on a sort of throne, I was on a chair sitting down and there were spotlights…

On auditioning for Adam & His Men, spring 1982

How did you get involved in Adam?
There was an advert in the Melody Maker: “Bass player needed, must be able to Stand & Deliver” – so I thought it’s got to be Adam! I phoned up, and they said that they were sick of seeing bass players, they’d seen loads of bass players. I had a mate who worked at CBS and he got me an audition so I went down to the audition, I had pink suit on. Adam and Marco were sitting on a sort of throne, I was on a chair sitting down and there were spotlights… search lights! No, I’m only joking! Then Marco said, “Play some jazz…”

Jazz?!
…Play some rock… some Country & Western. So I just played the same thing! It was stupid really, ‘cos I’d learnt all the songs and that was it. I suppose I thought, “Yeah, Adam’s interested.” Marco just looked like he wasn’t interested at all, but he was just having a laugh!

Did you let on you were a fan?
I don’t think so, no…

It might have hindered it!
Well, I just thought it would be arse-licky!

They still don’t know to this day?
No, they don’t… well they do now! But it was quite an amazing experience really.

So how did you hear that they wanted you?
I got a phone call, someone answered the ‘phone and said, “It’s Adam for you!”. I said, “Adam who?”. They said, “Adam Ant”. So I said, “Yeah, f*** off!”. I thought it was a joke, ‘cos they knew I’d been down. I thought they were taking the piss! But, it was him so basically he said, “Hello, it’s Adam Ant. Can you meet me for breakfast tomorrow morning at Tootsies? We’d like you to come and do a World Tour.” And that was it.

We did do a version of Ant Rap, which must be somewhere on tape, in one of the vaults somewhere…

On first Ant rehearsals

So what were you doing at the time? Were you unemployed?
No, I was still pretty active with Drill, but we’d come to the end. The other guitarist had joined Dire Straits, and then I joined Adam. Then the band sort of fell to bits after that. I think the first thing I did was some rehearsals in Camden – that was with the brass section from the Q Tips – so we turned up and got stuck into Friend or Foe. We played Prince Charming and sounded really good in rehearsals, and we did a load of others. It was a bit weird, a bit daunting working with someone you admired. It was weird for a few weeks, but it was brilliant.

How do you think fans reacted to the new line-up? They had been well known, especially through the name-checks in Ant Rap…
Funnily enough, in rehearsals we did a version of Ant Rap. Adam had worked out how to do all of our names… it included everyone who was in the line-up. We did do a version of Ant Rap, which must be somewhere on tape, in one of the vaults somewhere. The first gig we did was the Astoria, and it was for the fans. The fans seemed ecstatic, so I don’t think it was any big deal really, but maybe for ardent early fans. When I was a kid, if someone left the band and they got a new member, you’d always think “Oh, the first line-up was the best line-up”. Then there would always a bit of slagging them off, but the people I met were pretty cool – a lot of the time we were in America and the Americans are fairly relaxed and open about everything.

Did you feel the English fans were starting to slip away?
I don’t know… 1982, Friend or Foe was the first thing. What chart positions did they get to?

#9 for Friend or Foe, then Desperate But Not Serious was #33. Although Desperate But Not Serious I think was withdrawn because it mentioned the word “sex…”
Really? I didn’t know that! I didn’t really think about charts, all I cared about was the usual stuff. I wasn’t really interested in charts… Adam took care of all that with the manager. As far as I was concerned, wherever we went there were screaming girls, lots of fans.

So seeing the good side then, and not the sales and marketing…
No, that wasn’t really something I knew about then, but I know about it since. Back then I turned up, got paid and had a laugh you know…

I remember walking forward […] and this girl grabbed my foot! She grabbed a ribbon around my boot and she was pulling it and I thought, “This is alright, I’ll have some more!”

Chris on playing his first Ant gig

Did you feel you had to live up to a lot of expectation because of the Ants?
Not really, I didn’t think about that. I was really committed. I was like a nutter – practicing eight hours a day, stopped drinking, I was running… I was a madman! ‘Cos I really wanted to be involved in it so I knew I would be good for the job, but not over-confident. It was good fun. When we turned up at the Astoria, Adam had a table at the soundcheck and he just threw some t-shirts at me and someone came in with some scissors and we cut them all up. Those funny outfits, they were like life jackets or something …and I think that’s what we were wearing.

You had a pink one…?
I didn’t have a pink one! I had a red one! Who had the pink one? I had red, Adam had black. I wanted black but I got red! We were in the hotel, getting ready. We had a make-up girl, we had photos taken. You know that first tour programme… those little black and white pictures? They were the first ones, they were at the back. All of those were taken and we went on stage. When we got there in the limo’, we had these girls chucking themselves on top of this limo. I thought, “This is great!”. I loved it and I just thought “This is f***ing brilliant”, because, you know I was playing with Drill, and you had people spitting at you, trying to beat you up – it wasn’t really glamourous! Then we went on stage and I was sort of testing the water and I couldn’t hear the count-ins for the songs. So that was the first thing, just all this noise. Then I remember walking forward and testing the water a little bit more, and this girl grabbed my foot! She grabbed a ribbon around my boot and she was pulling it and I thought, “This is alright, I’ll have some more!”

How did relations in the band change when it became just the four of you for Vive Le Rock?
There were less parties, less Polish nights! We used to have this thing after every gig when we would go out for serious parties every single night. When it was just four of us I suppose things calmed down a bit, and me and Marco used to go out to clubs…

That’s interesting ‘cos we did an interview with Terry Lee Miall a couple of years ago, and he said there was no such things as rock n’ roll parties… they were all in bed by 9 o’clock in the evening!
I don’t believe that! Really? Seriously? Maybe I should be saying that stuff! We had no parties! No, we didn’t do any drugs. Lots of sex… the usual stuff. Sex, drinking… not ’til after the show…!

Not during..?!
No, not during, maybe before as well! It was good, you’ve just joined a band at that age and that’s what you want. You don’t want to be going to bed early after a gig, you wanna be having some fun! It did change a lot, it was still good but it was different. I did prefer the look as a four-piece, you know that Montreux pop festival look? I did like that, I preferred that!

I don’t think I could have added anything to it at all that could have made it any better! Adam played bass on that and he’s a really good bass player. I think he’s really good – he’s just got a good feel for the bass.

On Adam Ant’s 2nd solo LP, Strip

About that Montreux festival, what was it like miming to stuff you hadn’t played on?
I liked it! It was easier to pose! It was brilliant! I liked Dog Eat Dog and Goody Two Shoes. Miming’s good fun, don’t have to worry about playing any notes!

Some people say you shouldn’t be miming along to something recorded by another line-up… it’s sacrilege!
Really? That’s really funny! I’ve never heard of it! To me it didn’t matter… maybe to the purists it does! Well if you don’t want to watch it, switch off the TV! It’s simple really! It was good fun.

How did you feel about not playing on the Strip album, what do you think you could have added to it?
Nothing. I don’t think I could have added anything to it at all that could have made it any better!

Have you heard the Strip album?!
I’ve heard it, yeah, but I’m saying it’s fine for what it was. Adam played bass on that and he’s a really good bass player.

What do you think of Adam’s bass playing?
I think he’s really good – he’s just got a good feel for the bass. He played bass in that band Bazooka Joe. I think his bass playing on… Kings of the Wild Frontier?

He played on Stand & Deliver, didn’t he…?
He played on Antmusic, didn’t he?

Adam had to redo a bass line where Kevin [Mooney] was supposed to have done it, but then Terry Lee told us that Kevin was dubbed back in the studio…
I don’t know what went on there, but Adam’s a good bass player for sure. I think with bass if you’ve got a good feel that’s all it’s about really. You don’t have to be flash, as long as you’ve got a good feel for it.

Being a fan, were you disappointed with the sound on Strip and playing it live, compared to the hard-edged sound of the early material?
Did you ever go to any of those gigs? Because we changed the versions. We did a lot harder versions of Strip, so we tried to do different versions.

And did you think the Puss ‘N Boots video, as critics suggested, was pandering to five-year-olds too much?
No, it was Adam’s vision. If it’s what he wanted to do then who’s to say it’s right or wrong. It’s not for me to put my personal thoughts to it because it’s irrelevant…

Did you enjoy doing the Strip video..?
Yeah, it was brilliant. I was Toulouse Lautrec in that one. Did you spot me?! It was good fun! Mary Stavin was in that, in the shower with Adam. That was good, Dave Whiting was in that as well I think, and Paul Stahl, Marco’s mate.

I wasn’t really starstruck or anything, I was quite naive. It was brilliant working with him and he was pretty strict.

On working with producer Tony Visconti

Being a T-Rex fan, and a bit of a glam fan, what was it like to work with Tony Visconti? Another hero…
I worked with Chas Chandler with Drill, and he had worked with Jimi Hendrix. I wasn’t really starstruck or anything, I was quite naive. It was brilliant working with him [Visconti] and he was pretty strict.

Did you learn anything from him?
Well, he said you’ve got to turn up at 11am and finish at 7pm. And so you turn up at 11 on the dot. And if you were late he’d get really pissed off. And at 7 o’clock, even if you were in the middle of a take, he closes his briefcase and that was it and he was off. It was literally like that, a 7 o’clock finish. But we got a lot of work done like that. Some people work all night in the studio, but what he did there was good and we got a load of stuff done. We had time left and we did some of those B-Sides at the end of the session. It was good. He was really very strict, and he had a good motorbike!

Jordan was the stylist for the Vive Le Rock era, did she dictate an image to you too, as well as to Adam?
She mainly dealt with Adam… did a little bit with the rest of us. But mainly dealt with Adam.

You had very similar make-up…
On Vive Le Rock?

On the back of Vive Le Rock, in Bar Italia?
I do like that photograph, so if it was Jordan she did a good job!

The look of the Vive Le Rock image was probably Adam’s most camp period… Did you feel part of a pink pound marketing strategy that Adam was putting together? You were all like these pretty boys in white tee-shirts..!
I liked it!

Did you feel like you were playing that role?
I was just in a band. When I first joined I did feel a bit like a session player but I never did during that period for sure. We were four strong identities and pulling together, so for me, I just thought it looked good and I liked wearing the leather stuff. Yeah, it was camp.

Marco says he likes campiness…
For me it was good. The more make-up the better really!

So you were Greta X were you?!
Err, no..! Not quite! As I said, a little bit of make-up’s good – in the right place. It was good, and the leather stuff was really good. That was my most favourite look, for sure!

Did you feel like you were being neglected during that period by CBS, promoting you less?
As I said, I knew nothing about the business and I didn’t think about it. Looking back on it now, I can see what was happening. I didn’t really understand at the time what was going on.

I remember being excited because it had gone up and it meant we could do Top of the Pops the next day. We were quite excited and we went to Hamley’s and got those toys.

On the Apollo 9 single release

You didn’t take a sneak at the charts on a Tuesday?
I do remember we went down to Torquay to do a convention… we got in a limo and we went all the way down to Torquay. It was for CBS artists – they had all these people on different tables from different bands and that was the Vive Le Rock period. One of the singles that had just been released was Apollo 9. I remember we were getting the chart positions when we were on the way back and I remember being excited because it had gone up and it meant we could do Top of the Pops the next day. We were quite excited and we went to Hamleys and got those toys. I thought that was a good Top of the Pops, that’s the one where I did the de-tuning on Marco’s guitar.

Was it as nerve-racking playing Live Aid?
Not at all… no nerves at all! Nothing to it! It was just another gig. I had it in my book as a benefit gig, a charity gig, because Adam didn’t make a big deal of anything. He just said, “We’re gonna do this charity gig.”. So I put it in my diary as “Charity gig”! It was just a brilliant thing to do!

And you were pleased with it… just doing Vive Le Rock?
I’d have liked to have done at least another three or four. I’d like to have done Dog Eat Dog, Killer in the Home, Antmusic, Cartrouble, Greta X…! I’d like to have done a few more.

You were meant to also do Antmusic, and Goody Two Shoes or Stand & Deliver, perhaps? Style Council overran, so that’s why you only did one song!
Is that why?! I didn’t even know that! I just turned up. I remember going there the day before and I went up with Danny Kustow, from the Tom Robinson Band, and we went up on his motorbike. We were at the hotel, I think we just drank all night and stayed up. Then hanging out the window in the morning and seeing all these people! So we thought, “Great, a few people are going!” Then we did the gig and that was only when I realised how big it was. I came off stage and everyone seemed to disappear. Adam disappeared, Marco disappeared, Bob [Bogdan] disappeared, and I got bored so I went out to a bar. And I was hanging out with other bands and stuff, then I thought, “I’m going home”. So I got a taxi home and then I realised there was “Live Aid!” everywhere. So I got home and thought, “I wanna be in the party!” So I got a taxi and came back again, because I couldn’t handle it! There was a big party afterwards and Paula Yates and Bob Geldof, and it was like a church gathering, and everyone there was being sort of… Holy!

Did you consciously get into the front row for the Grand Finale at the end?!
Let me think about this…

Because all the Grand Finale shots at the end – it’s like all Adam’s band members..!
I would have gone further in front if I could! That was as far as I could go forward without pushing Bob Geldof out of the way! I don’t like feeling left out you know! We were pushing up the front, punching everyone..!

You write a lot for Jackie Onassid, but did you have any songs or ideas while you were working with Adam and Marco? Would you have felt confident enough to play them to Adam and Marco for them to also work on?
Adam and Marco were always writing together so I would never have got in the way, I would never have done that. If I had some tunes, and they said they wanted to hear my songs then I would have played them. I don’t think it’s the sort of thing you do… if you’ve got a brain! It’s not the sort of thing you do, I didn’t do it.

Did you have any input in the songs?
Maybe here and there, but not that much. Maybe on Vive Le Rock album a little bit. Bits and pieces, for sure, yeah. I wouldn’t say I contributed as a writer, just as a bass player.

We’d just finished doing the album and had some spare time. Adam said, “Let’s just whack down some songs” ‘cos that was an old one. It was just one take, maybe two…

On recording B-Side Baby

Who’s idea was the intro to B-Side Baby, and was it really a “Thursday morning in Sunny Soho at 12:22”!?
We’d just finished doing the album and had some spare time. Adam said, “Let’s just whack down some songs” ‘cos that was an old one. Adam just showed us the chords or something and it was the first time we’d played it and they just took it. It was very straight forward. It was just one take, maybe two, but we were set up live. We were just playing live and they overdubbed it with the harmonica. Adam just came up with it on the spot, he’s pretty creative like that, it wasn’t set up. It was exactly that time… what time did he say it was?

12:22
Well that would have been the right time…

Is there anything you’d do differently?
Maybe a different colour lipstick? I don’t think so. No, not really!

What’s the most important thing you learnt from Adam? Was he a good teacher? Because he was slightly older than you…
Oh yeah, he was like a big brother really, taught me a lot. There was one thing that stuck in my brain, which was when he said “You think too much about…” [looks down!] I can’t remember the exact words, but I thought that was very good advice and I’d give that advice to anyone who was in my band… maybe! But it was good advice!

That’s great, coming from a Scorpio!
That’s how I remember it anyway!

Did you socialise much with Adam and Marco?
Yeah, both of them but separately. Used to go to a lot of clubs with Marco. And with Adam, used to go out to restaurants, the Wag Club… a different scene really, because I think Marco did slightly different things as such.

Adam wasn’t a party person..?
I don’t think he was, no…

And Marco’s the opposite?
I think Marco likes clubs and stuff, he likes going out. I like both myself, so it was good really.

What was the most memorable thing?
Playing with Adam and Marco? I suppose the first gig – the Astoria gig… and Live Aid. Those two things.

Which other band members are you in contact with now?
Well I bumped into Marco a short while ago at an art thing. I haven’t spoken to Adam for years… and I haven’t seen him for years but that’s because I wouldn’t recognise him if I saw him in the street now, because I’ve only just seen a photograph of what he looks like.

One of my favourite basslines is ‘Antmusic’, it’s a brilliant bassline. So whoever played on that.

On choosing a favourite Ants bassist

Who’s your favourite Ants bass player before you came along? Who did you most admire as a bass player?
Well I think Adam’s a good bass player. I don’t really know. I think some of the bass lines on Kings of the Wild Frontier are really good. Dog Eat Dog‘s a really good bassline. And I really like, from the first album, Andy Warren, I like some of his stuff as well. I don’t know who played on what.

Andy Warren was on Dirk Wears White Sox…
That was good.

Kevin Mooney was on Kings of the Wild Frontier…
That was good.

And Gary Tibbs was on Prince Charming…
Gary Tibbs was a good bass player. They’re all good, they’ve just got different styles I think. If I had to have a favourite who would it be… I suppose…

You can say yourself!
I don’t know, I think they are all pretty good. I’d say one of my favourite basslines is Antmusic, it’s a brilliant bassline. So whoever played on that.

Would you work with Adam again or any other former Ants?
Well you never say never, depends on the circumstances. There’s no one where I think, “God, they are a twat..!”

So if Adam phoned you up for a reunion..?
A reunion?

A reunion Vive Le Rock tour?!
I don’t know really…

Well you’ve got your own band now, you wouldn’t give up your own band to join another one..?
Wouldn’t give up Jackie Onassid, never! Never ever! If someone phoned up and said, “Would you do a two week, three week, four week thing?”, you could do it, and I like working with other people. So if it was a short period of time… But I think anything that takes away from what you’re doing on a long term basis is not what I would do.

What are your favourite Ant songs? Which did you like playing live, and which did you like as recorded versions?
What’s the one with the countdown..? Fall-In, that’s brilliant – a brilliant one to play live. Physical was brilliant. Killer in the Home, Dog Eat Dog – I really like the recorded version. I don’t know how we did it live – it was a good song. Dirk Wears White Sox, there was something on that… Cartrouble, that was good. And from Vive Le Rock, Scorpio Rising. And Miss Thing, that was really good – a massive great song. Marco has a good solo on that, and also the B-Side, Greta X.

How did you feel when Adam decided to concentrate on acting? Did you feel it had reached a natural end?
Yeah, it was time to do something different. It was quite good because Adam was into his acting and we needed time out. We did a lot of touring… it was time to move on.

You trod your own boards in a way. Can you tell us about your own little stint in acting?
I did some acting after that [Vive tour]. I went to acting classes, it was fun. Getting into something different was interesting but I realised I wasn’t good at it – I was getting work because I had a look, or some sort of confidence. I didn’t enjoy it, because if you’re doing something you’re not very good at, it’s not much fun – and hanging out with luvvies! I’m a musician , not an actor. Adam’s a good actor, there’s a difference. If you’re good at something then it’s worth doing.

Any plans to tour internationally with Jackie Onassid, such as North America?
We wanna tour as much as possible, so if you’ve got a gig for us we’ll do it! We’ll be there!

I did a lot of backing vocals… Adam would say, “Just come in here and sing!”

On recording the Vive Le Rock LP

Is there a conscious connection with the Vive Le Rock era of Adam Ant and Jackie Onassid?
There isn’t anything conscious about anything, I don’t think like that. There’s nothing formulated, as far as I know…

Many fans listen to Jackie Onassid stuff and they think they are listening to Adam Ant back in 1985!
Really?! I think maybe there are some that have that vibe to it. The new material won’t have anything to do with that – which comes out in the New Year. I can hear it, but I think it’s inevitable. You’ve got to remember I was like four years or so working with Adam. That’s quite a long time. And when you are young it goes in there [points to his head]. It’s like anything, you work with it for a period of time and that’s going to influence you – especially when you’re young. Also, I did a lot of backing vocals for Adam, so when I do backing vocals for my stuff it is going to sound a bit like it.

So that’s something else you contributed, the Vive Le Rock backing vocals…
I did a lot of backing vocals, yeah. Adam would say, “Just come in here and sing!”

That’s nice of him! So was there any particular song you were pleased with for your backing vocals?
No, it was just like shouting really!

Well thank you Chris for coming along, and contributing two hours of your precious time when you could be in the studio making more great music for Jackie Onassid!
We will be, very soon! And thanks for asking me!

Connect with Chris Constantinou via chrisconstantinou.com