Full Interview: Dominic Appleton of Breathless

Here is the interview I conducted with Dominic Appleton of Breathless. Portions of this conversation appeared in the Hall of Legends special featuring the band's music.

This conversation took place on August 15, 2014, via Skype-to-phone. I was at my place and Dominic was at his. Very nice of him to give me about an hour on a Friday evening!

It pains me to say this, again: I would love to describe this as the "full recording," with everything in a clear, linear context. BUT. My laptop decided it was time for more software glitches. If you've heard the interviews with Andrew Gray, Michael Allen, or Ivo Watts-Russell, you're familiar with my digital mishaps. Anyway, I did manage to capture Dominic's voice just fine, which is the important part. Who needs to listen to me, anyway?

Hence, as with Michael Allen, it's soundboard time. Feels very 2005, somehow, but we do what we can. 25 brief responses to what may have been 25 questions of varying incisiveness. I suppose I could have strung all of these together into a lengthy monologue, but that seemed weird. In a half-hearted stab at integrity I have posted these soundbites in the order in which they happened in the interview.

References: "Ivo" is of course Ivo Watts-Russell. Ari, Gary, Martin, and Tristram are obviously bandmates. Anne Clark you should really know--and check out The Sitting Room! "Virgin" is Virgin Records, a.k.a. the Megastore. See? Record-store employees can achieve great things. There is hope for me yet.

That's the last of the Breathless interviews. It made me so happy to speak to Ari and Dominic--"rosy-cheek park" happy, you might say. I told Ari at the beginning that these interviews wreck my nerves, and they usually do--no such thing to report this time.

For audio, click any of the hyperlinks below. Enjoy!

Whose music moved you when you were young?
How did music become your creative outlet?
Did you know Anne Clark personnally before assisting on her album, The Sitting Room?
How does Breathless develop new songs?
Do you keep your old rehearsal tapes?
Why do your songs have such unusual structures?
Your lyrics focus on love and relationships; what makes a good love song?
How important is it for Breathless records to have a sonic identity?
What was it like working with Kramer and Drostan Madden?
How spontaneous is Breathless in the studio?
You've discussed "sounding like Breathless without wanting to." What does that mean?
Didn't you have momentum in the USA in the 80s? Did you tour America?
Was running your own label always part of the plan?
Who's responsible for the cover art on your records?
Was the band broken up during the long gaps preceding Blue Moon and Green to Blue?
Why the recent interest in remixes?
Which songs do you perform live most often?
Do you have any interesting tour stories?
Is it true that you began voice lessons recently?
Do you gig out of necessity rather than desire?
How do you assess regional preferences for this or that album? Do fans write to you?
What's the most meaningful feedback you've received from fans?
What are you currently working on? [and Tristram Latimer-Sayer's status]
Do you listen to your own back catalogue? What is that experience like?
What impact would you like your songs to have on people?