Dave Stewart, EURYTHMICS: “My wife is half Polish”

Alicja Rudnicka, Interia Music: Your albums, especially those from the 1980s, have become iconic. How do you remember the recording of “Sweet Dreams”? What were the biggest challenges at that time?

Dave Stewart, EURYTHMICS: One of the biggest challenges was the lack of money. I said to Anna: “I will go to the bank to borrow money for equipment,” and she replied: “They will never lend us.” We looked like punkers, we were different – and she was convinced that they would celebrate us. But my friend Adam, who knew the equipment and wanted to buy it too, helped me. We prepared photos, took the whole presentation and went to the bank. I said that if we get this equipment, we would record our own album, then another and another – and all this would cost much less than using the services of a label or studio. To our surprise, the bank manager said “I understand” – and lent us about 4.5 thousand pounds. We bought equipment.

But another problem appeared – where to put it all? We found a guy who had a photo setting – you know a place where photo frames are made. Everyone worked and made noise, wood saws all the time, “bruum”, as they cut wood. And we were upstairs, in a kind of attic, where you had to bend down. And that’s where we recorded “Sweet Dreams”. The problem was not music in itself, but an attempt to record it in such a strange place.

And the song “Sweet Dreams” itself?

DS: Annie was depressed then, she was lying on the floor in this factory. I had a computer – I slept on the floor with the guest who built it. It was a prototype – you will see it in the music video for “Sweet Dreams” – he had a wooden housing. I managed to start it, the sound was loud, “boom”, and this line “du du du du du” was flying – something like that. I woke up Annie, jumped and asked: “What is it?” We started playing synthesizers. We were not allowed to use the synthesizer of this guest, but we quietly removed the cover, we turned it on – and he had this stringing sound (imitates). Together it sounded powerful – a percussion machine, I on one synthesizer, Anna on the other – this is how the beginning of the song we know was created.

It was a strange mixture – one keyboard played straight “tututututututututory”, and the other rhythmic counterpoints “uaau”. Their combination gave an amazing rhythm. Drums did not have to do a lot – just a “boom” – and it was magic, as if we were alchemists.

This leads me to the next question: what is the process of creating music? Do you improvise Do you have any method to create a hit?

DS: I think nobody knows exactly how to create a hit. But I have such a feeling when I find a melody or sequence – I know that people will be able to identify with it, because I also feel it. I don’t have a secret method – I’m very experimental. I just don’t sit down to the piano to write a song. I do crazy experiments, sing everything that comes to my mind to the microphone. I don’t edit, I don’t judge myself. I’m just doing it.

So something like a brainstorming?

DS: Yes, it’s funny because there was such a man – Edward de Bono – he wrote a great book about creativity. I even mentioned him on the album “Sweet Dreams” as a source of inspiration. He did not call this “brainstorm”, but “sailing of the mind” (“brain sailing”). And yes – I let the words just flow out of the mouth, mix the sounds of the guitar with anything that comes to mind. I recently made a Collins album – I wrote three songs with him – it’s a totally crazy, experimental album. He has a similar approach. Many artists I like were experimental – like John Lennon Writing “Instant Karma”. You get a sudden impulse, vision – and the rest appear alone. The point is not to block her, not control too much. You just have to let this happen.

Don’t you want to put music in any framework?

DS: Exactly – it’s “Brain Sailing”. The wind will bear you where it will bear – and we will see where we will land.

And the album you are working on – is already known when it will be released?

DS: I’m working on several albums at the same time. I am writing my solo album, but I have just released the album with songs Bob Dylan – The ones I sang as a young boy. It appeared on the Record Store Day. I am also working on an album with a young guitarist Grace Bowers – A girl with curly hair. I also make a CD for someone else. A film about a fragment of my teenage life is also made – a young actor plays me. There is music from the time when I discovered The Beatles, The Kinks, Rolling Stones. I am 72 now – I’m old, but I was born in a perfect time – I was 16 in 1968.

It was a golden era of music – I envy a little.

DS: Yes, everyone then explored their mind – and it affected music. When I was 18, a new wave came: David Bowie, Lou Reed from “Transformer”, Neil Young From “Harvest” – it was 1972. During these 6 years my head has exploded from new possibilities.

Has your approach to creation changed in 2025 compared to the 1980s?

DS: I started in an acoustic team. When I was 18, I signed a contract with Chris Blackwood and Elton John. Now I see that this sound is coming back – in the USA acoustic music becomes popular again. But there are two worlds: the great world of EDM with artists like The Weeknd, who use sounds from the 80s, and the second wave – more acoustic, lyrical. This is repeated – I remember the punk revolution in 1976, I was a friend Joe Strummer from The Clash. Then everything died down in the 1980s, but it returned in the 1990s with Nirvana. These waves come and go.

I don’t like Ambient music. I like world music, e.g. Fel Kuti from Africa – but not this delicate, “drifting” ambient. Because today you can click the button and the computer will do it yourself.

DS: Exactly. I like tension, contrasts – sharpness combined with a beautiful melody. My favorite songs have always had this “claw”, such as “Blue Monday” New Order. A strange mix, but it works. Neil Young also had a sharp sound with beautiful melodies – it’s about authenticity. In the films similarly – I do not like Disney, family comedies.

Do you like when art is raw, true?

DS: Yes. I like “Gomorra” – Italian series, “This is England”. With science fiction I like “Blade Runner” – a mix of future and realism, street bazaars and suddenly robot. I love the art of chaos. The world is also chaotic, and yet everything works – the sea, trees, animals, insects – everything goes well. It looks like chaos, but creates harmony. And I like it in art – when you don’t know what awaits you after 5 minutes of the movie. I like it when something surprises me – “Oh damn, I didn’t expect it.”

This is your approach to art. What about life? Do you like chaos in everyday life?

DS: Strange – no. I like order. I have people who help me, and I like to finish the day at 19:00 Martini – very strong martini from vodka. Where I am, everything is to have its place. Because I am already immersed in creative chaos, so I do not want to have it in everyday life.

Do you need a safe place?

In nature, we also see chaos – it’s hard to cut off from it.

DS: Everything cannot be controlled. Life is a rollercoaster – if you are aware and present at the moment, you can do it. If you worry too much, you think “what will be” – it will absorb you.

DS: Yes. And not to think about “God, what happened when I was 16”. It was then – now it is now.

On July 23 you will perform in Poland. This is not your first time with us. Do you remember previous visits?

DS: How could I forget! My engineer Jesse, who is sitting here, was then. We were in Warsaw, then we flew a tiny plane that had to land in the field – without lights. We flew to the vodka festival. And return? Total disaster. I flew with Hanna (keys), Holly Quinn (vocals), there were six of us. My business partner Johann was also with me – I have my land there. And when they heard that I was coming, they wanted to make this event. We tried to start before it falls – there was no runway, only the field. It got dark, the girls shouted on the plane: “We’ll die!” However, the pilot was great – he had several lights and he had to get into the air quickly, because there were trees ahead of us.

DS: And everyone was a bit drunk – actually very much. Johann mixed alcohol with him, “I said,” It’s a fatal combination! ” He drank it and offered girls and Jesse.

Have you managed to get to know other elements of our culture?

DS: My wife is half Polish, half a Frenchwoman. I will not go too much into this sad story. Her father was the only family member who survived the tragic times for Poland – the other relatives went to the camp. He was at a school in England, he returned to Poland to visit his family, but his father on the platform said: “Don’t get off the train.” And so he returned to England. Then he changed his age in the passport, joined Raf and became a Spitfire pilot. This could be an amazing movie. After the conflict, he directed well -known British films – it was his form of therapy. And I love Polish recipes, Polish food, Polish art. However, I do not know Polish teams.

We have many great bands, but most sing in Polish, so it’s hard to break abroad.

DS: I listened to a few, being in Poland. I love words, so the language barrier is difficult – but I know you have a lot of talented musicians. I even played with some.

Do you know what is interesting? I once met Etta James – she recorded “At Last”. The song is sad, it has brilliant strings. I even contacted the guest who arranged them. And then I learned that the song was written by a Pole – for the film. And the original version was not so sad at all. But Etta gave her a new meaning. It was the same when Marilyn Manson He made a cover “Sweet Dreams” – the words gained a completely different tone. It fascinates me.

When did you work together as a duo – what was the key to agreement and development?

DS: You know, we’ve been a couple for almost five years before we stayed with Eurythmics. Then we decided not to be together as a couple, but to become a duo. It was complicated. In each promotion we were treated like a couple – a common room in a hotel and so on. This parting lasted … 15 years – but 120 great songs about parting were created.