Music The The Band Line-up 2

Artist Profile #2 of The The 2018 Comeback Special. On keyboards: DC Collard

Matt Johnson: I’ve worked with DC Collard for many years. In fact, I’ve worked more with DC than with any other musician I know. Apart from The The Versus The World, Dusk and Lonely Planet, he was also my co-arranger on the album of Hank Williams songs we worked on together, Hanky Panky. He is a wonderful keyboard player, and we have similar taste in keyboard parts, and so he knows just what I like. When you have a long musical working relationship, there is almost a form of telepathy that develops—an intuition that can make working very swift and frictionless. DC is also one of those people you can place in any situation and who will instantly feel at home—whether sharing a cup of tea with a granny or lying horizontal in a dimly lit opium den in Shanghai. He has played with Subway Sect, Jo Boxers, Billy Ocean, and Rita Coolidge, amongst many others.

DC Collard: At the beginning of rehearsals, Matt told us, ‘I have four musicians who are artists in their own right that each contribute with ideas, experience and talent.’ As a band, we all listen to one another and are able to view the whole, rather than just being focused on our individual parts.

Tomorrow at 10am, 200% will profile the other three members of the band – one per day. Stay tuned!

Interview by Thierry Somers, Photography by John Claridge