DontStopThePop: STEVE ANDERSON SPEAKS TO DON'T STOP THE POP! (about Kylie, Rent, Siobhan, Robyn...)

Steve Anderson is a pop legend. With Brothers In Rhythm he had a U.S no.1 and they remixed & produced the likes of Garbage, M-People, Janet Jackson and Pet Shop Boys. However it is with Kylie Minogue that Steve Anderson really made his name. Alongside his partner in crime Dave Seaman, Kylie Minogue delivered epic moments in pop namely Confide In Me, Too Far and Dreams. The partnership with Kylie Minogue has continued into 2007 with Steve Anderson taking a major role in all her recent shows. As a songwriter, the "Minogue/Anderson" pop coupling is often favored by fans as it has delivered some of the finest Kylie material in recent years such as the dance polemic Butterfly and the beautiful ballad Bittersweet Goodbye.

In short, Steve Anderson knows his pop music & Kylie! Today however we discuss Robyn, Siobian Donaghy, his new projects ranging from the new band RyanDan and the mighty task of remixing Rent the Musical with Kylie's fellow collaborator Mr. William Baker. Naturally being a huge fan of Kylie, Steve Anderson and pop, I tried my best to get some lovely details regarding Kylie X and Steve did not disappoint - as you'll read we even talked about Kylie's b-sides and unreleased tracks. There have been so many rumours and so much internet gossip regarding Kylie's new album - and finally the picture of what we can expect is beginning to take shape....

Ladies, Gentlemen, in-betweens and pop lovers Dontstopthepop presents the legend that is Steve Anderson...

So how are things going with Rent the Musical?

Really well thanks, we open in October at The Duke Of Yorks Theatre in London and its quite a labour of love as you might imagine but the heart of the piece is all about love so you can't help get inspired. Also its a great team with William Baker directing (who I have worked with for 10 years on Kylie), Terry Ronald (again who I have known and worked with for years and is arranging all the vocals), Ashley Wallen choreographing (another Kylie team member) and the creative team at Ambassadors who are superb, headed up by our executive producer Andrew Empson who approached us with the idea in the first place. I am actually becoming more and more in awe of Larson's writing as I go through the show, its really clever stuff and the melodies are beautiful especially once they are freed from the original rock adaptations which no-one can deny have been hugely successful thus far but that version exists if people want it , this is a new take on a classic.

A very London Rent (note the Gilbert & George references)

How much “remixing” has been done?

Firstly let me say that I have always viewed remixing as the modern day form of orchestral arranging so It varies from radical re-workings to enriched new versions, all of the rock guitar is gone and a lot of the moments when it went very 90's Bon Jovi have been removed, its a bit like a restoration using various elements from contemporary and classical worlds, its very orchestral but tough in the rhythm section. In general the structures (verse/bridge/chorus) are the same although we have edited some songs down without losing their integrity or relevance to the story line. I am particularly pleased with Without You which is purely orchestra and Take Me Or Leave Me which has undergone a dramatic twist which suits the song perfectly. What we've done with Out Tonight will shock a few but again fits with the new direction perfectly.

The Original was pretty much updated the genre of the musical itself! Does the new version go back to the rawness of the first show?

In a way yes, we hope to provide an alternative to the big west end shows with the emphasis on emotive performances set against a simple chic backdrop, the story is all in the songs so the less to distract from that the better.

So will this new version become British? A lot has changed in musicals but so have the realities that faced those citizens of New York.

There are so many lyrics quoting New York it would be impossible to change the setting, however the actors will speak and sing in natural dialect as they would if they were living there.

Musically how have you adapted the show? Its original music could be classed as “rock-opera”.

William Baker refers to our version as more of a 'pop opera' which I think is better. The opera part stemming from Larson's original inspiration of La Boheme thus the rich orchestration which accompanies the songs, however as brilliantly displayed by Marius DeVries and Craig Armstrong in Moulin Rouge, when you mix this element with contemporary pop music the results can be breathtaking.

Pop Princess Siobhan Donaghy

Ok so going to the cast! Siobhan Donaghy plays Mimi a role that made Daphne Rubin-Vega a dance legend with her confluent hits I Found it and RocketMan. Siobhan has some very distinct vocals on her. I saw her live and she managed to wrench out pride, tears and joy in her performance. How will this very unique power alter Mimi?

Well you just said it all right there - Siobhan is incredible - so much passion and emotion when she sings , Without You will have the entire audience captivated as will the rest of her performance as Mimi whose character is beautifully flawed and vulnerable but relies on a defense mechanism of flirting and dancing to hide behind. The whole cast are brilliant singers, of course Luke Evans as Roger who many people will remember from "Taboo" and in the newcomers Francesca Jackson as Joanne has one of the best voices I have heard in years.

Yes, I’ve always felt that the power of Rent in the U.S was that it connected with its audience. I believe with the power of British singers like Siobhan and her ethereal voice, people will identify with Rent that might have given the American one a miss. This is more than simply breathing life into something isn’t it?

This is not a resurrection it is a restoration - again in existing versions including the film, some of the story gets lost , clever moments which tie the piece together are swept aside so we are trying to bring out the important parts of the script. We have been very precise with our casting and every character is a natural extension of the actor playing them as we see it , (something I believe is in keeping with how Larson originally cast the show) so I think the believability will stem from that. The connection is that it's a story about friendship and love which affects us all on a daily basis.

RyanDan

Ok, the music industry itself is going under a bit of remixing. With the indie act Robyn scoring a number one and Kanye West knocking her off with his cover of a French disco track – things are definitely changing. Sites like Myspace, Popjustice and pop blogs are also adding to the sea of change. What are your thoughts on this little revolution?

The success of Robyn and With Every Heartbeat was only a matter of time and getting the right label which she now has, however it's important to remember that both with her and the brilliant Imogen Heap the labels only came on board after they had made the records. You have to ask yourself would the records have been different had this not been the case? Saying that I have just made a record I am very proud of with RyanDan for which we had all the time and resources needed to craft the sound and get the album just right. There is never really a shortage of pop, more a shortage of pop stars, which is why I have the best job in the world working with Kylie.

Now in our earlier discussions you said you have each of Robyn's albums. I adore the second much forgotten one My Truth. To me its her Impossible Princess. Its very intimate, beautifully produced and contains epics songs like Universal Woman and Play. What is your favourite Robyn song and album?

Favourite song has to be With Every Heartbeat and album Robyn as the production, songs and vocals are perfection. I also really love Blow My Mind as it showcases the genius of Guy Sigsworth.

Ah Ok, so whats your favorite Guy Sigsworth track?

Speaking of someone who has never made a 'that'll do' record in his entire life, wow, where do I start. I'm going to go for Shh by Frou Frou but could really have said anything he does. Sounds aside his approach to vocal production is amazing, Britney Spears never sounded as good as she did on Everytime, just meticulous attention to detail without ever sounding clinical or cold, genuinely excited any time he does something new as I am with Imogen. Also excelling in this field are Andy Page, Greg Kurstin, Ulrich Schnauss, Stuart Price and the always brilliant BT.

Steve Anderson worked with Britney on the same album from which Everytime came from (the track being Breathe On Me). DSTP can exclusively reveal that Steve Anderson is working on her new album!

Talking of which With Every Heartbeat nudges very closely to Kylie Minogue, B.T, Mozart and Donna Summer. And yet it is distinct too. How did you feel when you first heard it?

I just felt - at last, out of the sea of dull unmelodic bland electronic pop that was around at the time comes something glorious and original that doesn't lose its cool for a single second whilst being constantly uplifting.

Imogen (et al) hopefully the shape of things to come

Yes, that "at last" feeling about the song is also a bit like a sigh of relief and this has been reflected in its amazing success. Do you think more singers like Robyn and Isabel Guzman are going to come out of the woodwork in the next coming months?

My sense of relief was that finally here was a track which tied a great song to a great production, not a random backing track made by one person and an average song stuck on by someone else which was beginning to happen a lot at that time. The success of Sia, Imogen Heap, Psapp and Kate Havnevik on US TV shows proves that you can have emotion within electronic music as long as the songs stand up. So often its assumed that enough bleeps and a bassline will support and average song but they don't. Saying that average songs can be boosted by incredible remixes for which you only have to look at how Freemasons continually polish Beyonce with outstanding results. I think ultimately it comes down the people making the records, for example take Sia's Breathe Me, a masterpiece that everybody knows but has never been a hit and most people probably don't have the stunning album it came from, more likely downloaded it from Six Feet Under OST. Then look at the credits - Sia herself who owns probably the most charismatic voice of her generation, Wil Malone who worked on string arrangements for Unfinished Sympathy and Confide In Me, Tchad Blake, in my opinion the best mix engineer in the world and Jimmy Hogarth as producer - its a long winded way round of saying, surround yourself with like minded brilliant people and you can literally make magic happen.

For me, I feel that With Every Heartbeat could be seen as a nice child of Can't Get You Out Of My Head, Bittersweet Goodbye (which was actually arranged by Wil Malone!) and Confide In Me. Or am I just going barmy now its august?

Not barmy - its an opinion I don't share but its yours so go with it.

Light years ahead of the rest, Kylie inspires many! Kylie the revolutionary? Too right! Her "Dr.Who pop" is directly related to current shift in today's pop scene....

Hahahaha, I could actually see a collaboration between Kylie and Robyn....How do you think she influences other pop acts like Robyn? Dream On and With Every Heartbeat are songs I could imagine Kylie Minogue doing.

Kylie is an inspiration to everyone!

She's doing a new album at the moment. Would you ever want to work with Robyn?

I think she has a great team and she should stick with them - the Kleerup boys are very talented as are the guys who worked on the current album. Great sounds.

Robyn should stick with Kleerup for her 5th album...

The song Eclipse is a bit of a favourite of mine. What are your thoughts on the song?

Great vocal again - very believable.

Space Cadet Princess Robyn buckles up to "travel in light years"

So as a song-writer for yourself and other musicians, what do you think Robyn (and Kleerup for that matter) bring to the table of pop writing?

I think she does what she likes personally and that is ultimately the most important thing for any artist. I'm so pleased she has secured a deal here and can't wait to see what she does next seeing as the album that just came out is already over 2 years old.

The Showgirl, her Cybermen and The Tardis..

Moreover, do you think this strand of “Dr.Who electropop” sound heard in the aforementioned singers music, will be heard more and more?

That's funny - Dr Who has been a constant source of inspiration for us in Kylie shows culminating in us collaborating with their team for the Cybermen version of Out Of My Head for the Homecoming show. They let us use the TARDIS sound effect and the day I got it I can't tell you how excited I was, pure genius. Also of course now she is in Dr Who! I think you can call it what you want - all pop music is made with electricity at some point - just make the songs good and the production spotless and inspiring, never be lazy , there is no room in this world for 'that'll do'.

Welcome to KylieWorld-the tenth album is on its way!

Talking of which, now I know you can’t say anything on the tenth Kylie album but for readers of Dontstopthepop (and Kylie.com/Sayhey) can you mention some hints and tidbits as what we can expect and hope for?

It's going to be better than you could ever possibly imagine.

You said Paper Dolls was one of your favourite Kylie tracks. Sadly it was never on its parent album – but its certainly one of Kylie’s best tracks. Can you tell us more about the song and how it came to be?

Paper Dolls was written and recorded at the very beginning of the Parlophone deal along with songs like Butterfly and So Now Goodbye. I used to spend part of the summer in a little studio at Real World (Peter Gabriel's studio in Bath) working on ideas for forthcoming projects . Its beautiful, very inspirational and we had made much of Impossible Princess there so it had a nice history to it. She popped down for what was supposed to be a couple of days and ended staying two weeks - we wrote a fair few songs, some good , some not and Paper Dolls was one of the good ones. Kylie is without a doubt the best singer I have ever worked with so I like to showcase this at every available opportunity of which this was one. We knew it was completely out of sync with what the Light Years album would eventually sound like but it was more important to get the song out and have a beautiful believable vocal on it which I think she did. This started a trend with songs like Harmony which I love and Bittersweet Goodbye which did end up on the record. We have known each other so long that writing what makes us happy comes before worrying if it fits on the album and the songs always seem to surface eventually if they are good enough.

Talking of tracks that didn't make a Kylie album, what happened to the song you did with Kylie called Same Place, Same Time?

I think that one fell into the 'not good enough' category.

Thing is, fans do love the bonus parts, b-sides and so forth. Will Kylie fans ever get a Special edition CD with some her unreleased stuff?

The really good ones will always turn up on something eventually.

The Showgirl Live DVD? Where did it go?

And lastly, a lot of us on the internet have wondered what have happened to White Diamond and the Showgirl DVD. Is there any way you clear this up? Kylie fans are all confused!

All will be revealed very shortly - I promise you won't be disappointed especially as the White Diamond Soundtrack contains some of the finest vocal performances I have ever recorded from her.

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And breathe! What can I say or add? There is so much in there-make of it what you will! There is something there for all pop creeds whether you might hail from KylieWorld, Robyn's land of the Rakamonie or Siobhan's Ghost-Space. Steve Anderson thanks once again - this was rather enlightening! Rent promises to be something like we've never seen on the West End before!