With over thirty American dates announced for this summer/autumn to add to an already bulging diary, Adam Ant guitarist Will Crewdson is in more demand than ever. We caught up with him at Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele, on his second of ten gigs supporting Magazine’s Dave Formula & Noko to see what’s what and who with… and snuffle out any hot goss on the forthcoming Ant shows…

The full transcript:

So, Will, tell us how you’ve been getting these plum appearances with Magazine and EMF. You’re getting around now!

Um, I don’t know. It’s like you bang your head against the wall for so long, and eventually the wall caves in, you know, because I’ve been doing this solo stuff for quite a while now. Most of the gigs I do are in London really with it, and it’s normally in between touring with other people, but just over the last sort of two or three years I guess, I’ve started to get all these really cool supports with bands that I used to love, you know, and it’s very nice to do and they seem to like me doing it. Which is a bonus.

Had you performed with Noko and Dave Formula before? How did you know each other?

No, I mean, I know their manager pretty well, and I have met Dave before in the past and I know Noko who’s good friends with Mary Byker. I play with Gaye Bykers – they’re in Apollo 440 together – so it’s all kind of linked like that really, yeah.

EMF though – was that a random?

Quite random, yeah, because I didn’t know any of them, those guys. But they’re lovely blokes and they’re still a great band live. I can’t remember how that came about. I think it was probably their agent or an agent that I was working with, yeah.

Is that how you’re getting a lot of gigs?

Sometimes, yeah. And then you do one thing like that, you know, like, I think I did Jesus Jones first and then I guess people saw me doing that and they thought, “Oh, that might be good for EMF,” you know, and yeah, just kind of like happens like that, really. Like you knock over the first domino… Very destructive my answers, aren’t they!? “Breaking walls” and “Pushing down dominoes”!

So, you’re accumulating fans – are you finding an uptick in followers?

Yeah, I mean, it’s weird when you’re supporting someone because obviously, they’re not there to see you. So, in a lot of ways, you’re just kind of – I mean, people enjoy it – but they’re obviously just there to see their band and they’re there to buy their t-shirts, which is fair enough, you know? But no I’ve definitely picked up a few people and, you know, it’s good to get out of London. It’s always, you know, a lot of appreciation the further north you go, I think, which is great.

On our gig guide, sixty gigs you’ve got currently on there that you’ve either performed this year or you’re about to perform later this year…

Okay…

What supplements are you on …and can we have some?

Supplements…?

…to keep you going – that’s a lot of gigs!

Yeah, it’s good actually. And thanks for letting me know because now I don’t have to bother keeping a diary. I just look at your website, so thanks for that, Stan! I don’t know. I got to say, though, these gigs do take it out… even like I just played forty minutes and when you’re doing it on your own, it’s quite intense, you know, because – and not just physically – it’s just mentally intense for me because I sort of, you know, really get into it. I can play like two hours with other bands and barely break a sweat but with this, I’m just like “Ugh” wrecked the next day. I’ve got four in a row this week, but anyway, it’s all good, I love it.

How do you do it? What tips do you have? Do you put it down to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle or…?

Well, I am a vegan and that hasn’t hindered me as far as doing gigs. [Laughs] I’ve managed to find vegan guitar straps and all my tools are non-leather. So yeah, no, it’s… yeah, I don’t know. I mean, yeah, obviously you’ve just got to be healthy, whatever you eat really, haven’t you?

Or there’s a painting in the attic somewhere…

Yeah, in the basement…!

You and Adam are obviously on the same vitamins! Sixteen years of Adam…

Yeah, pretty much…

Bar a little breaky-wakey…

…a little holiday, yeah.

…what’s the secret to your success with Adam?

Secret to my success?! [laughing] Well, I love all the songs, which helps, you know, and I love playing them. And I still think he’s a great front man. And, so yeah, that’s half the battle, isn’t it? If you love what you’re doing and it’s a job, it’s just the best thing ever, you know? And I still pinch myself when I’m rehearsing with him about to do a tour, thinking, “Bloody hell!” you know? So, for me, it’s just still a big rush, you know?  

You must be doing well, because you obviously haven’t upset him yet. You’re still hanging in there…!

As far as I know!

USA in August/September – what are you most looking forward to on the upcoming Ant tour?

Um, just going to America in general. I just love it. I love travelling around. There’s a few places I’ve never been to on this tour, so that’ll be fun. New Haven I’ve never been there… and that reminds me of a Pat Benatar live video I used to have, which was live in New Haven! So, I’m quite excited about that. [laughs] I’m looking forward to it. And, I’ll probably need less supplements for this because we’re going to be playing slightly shorter sets, supporting Squeeze, so it sounds like it’s going to be really fun. And I went to see Haircut 100 the other day and they still sounded great. So, it’d be great to watch them every night as well, yeah.

Fantastic. What’s the process preparing for an Ant tour? Obviously, there’s the rehearsal process, but how do you actually put together a set list? Is that your responsibility now? You’re musical director?

I’m not really the musical director. I mean, I used to be, but yeah, there hasn’t been a designated person really, but I put ideas forward. When they’re asked for, I’ll put ideas forward. And, uh, sometimes they even get used, you know!

Well, if you need any help petitioning for Apollo 9…!

Oh, I’d love to play it, yeah. Yeah, it’d be great to do. We did it a few years ago…

Time to get that one out of the bag. Have you prepared any sort of set list yet for Blackpool?

 No. [Laughs] It’s not for… how long is it?

Another 2-3 months [at time of interview] …

Three months? Yeah, no. No.

So how long do you rehearse? A couple of weeks beforehand, a few days beforehand?

Yeah, a couple of weeks normally.

Antmusic2025 – any stand out moments?

It was nice meeting Robert Fripp …briefly. [Laughs] The husband of Toyah, and she was very nice as well, so that was nice. It was great watching Yee Loi every night because they’re like one of my favourite bands now, they’re amazing. And it was great playing Antmusic, you know, all that Ant stuff again. Hammersmith Odeon was a highlight, definitely. Yeah, it was good, I can’t think of one bad night. So yeah, it was all good.

What’s your favourite song to play live?

Oh, um… probably Beat my Guest. Yeah. Or Red Scab. Yeah, Red Scab maybe yeah.

Would you like to send a message for the Ant Lib members?

Keep fighting the good fight, guys! And, um, see you out there in America. And, uh, and Blackpool…

“…and Blackpool.”

Yeah, “In Blackpool!” …bloody ‘ell!

Check out all Will’s latest musical shenanigans with Scant Regard et al via scantregard.com