Trembling Blue Stars - Interview Part 4
by Anthony Strutt
published: 7 / 1 / 2007

intro
In the fourth and last part of his extensive interview with Bobby Wratten and Beth Arzy from Trembling Blue Stars, Anthony Strutt talks to them about the reissue of their entire back catalogue and why they have decided to abandon live work
PB : Other than the new album everything that you have recorded has been recently remastered and reissued . BW : Yeah. BA : In the last two years. PB : Were you involved with that ? BW : Yeah. We were. It came about in a weird way. I am quite good friends with Caesar from the Wake (Factory/Sarah Records band, whose early line up included Bobby Gillespie from Primal Scream-Ed), and LTM put out their stuff . I told Caesar that it was great that he had got his stuff out there again, and that I wished that my early stuff with the Field Mice was, which it wasn’t at the time. PB : Sarah stuff sells for a lot of money on EBay now. BW : Really, I should have kept some then. I just felt if your back catalogue isn’t out there then you kind of get forgotten about, and Caesar mentioned it to James Nice who runs LTM and James said “Send me some stuff then” because he didn’t know the band at all as he comes from a different musical background, and Beth did a good sales talk on him. I said to him “I’m not saying this will sell really well” and Beth said to him “You won’t regret this” and then they sold really well (Laughs). Then James said “What else have got you got ? What about your next group, Northern Picture Library ?” It was kind of weird because that was my least favourite out of all my stuff. But James said we should do everything, the Field Mice, Northern Picture Library and then Trembling Blue Stars. The idea was to do them as a once for all. If you want them here they are. PB : When you release the new Trembling Blue Stars album will you tour it ? BW : Probably not . The last thing I said about playing live was that I was never going to do it again. PB : Is that because you’re shy ? BW : No, the more you do it the easier it gets. But every time we do it is like starting over again. I have never got nervous before going on stage or anything like that. What I don’t like about playing live is that everything is out of your control. You make a record, and you can direct everything. Then you get on stage and your guitar is out of tune or feedbacking or on stage it sounds great, but out front it sounds terrible. When it goes well, it’s great but last year (2005-Ed) we did some dates on the East Coast. We played in New Jersey and did two dates in New York and it was like “Why are we doing this ?” BA : We went to New York because we were going to tour with some friends of mine called the Ocean Blue. PB : A great band. BA : It was going to be really good and then the agent dropped the tour, so we salvaged what we could and did the dates. I did say the other day if I give up touring I will miss the free international travel, but that was a year ago. The band as a live unit finished again. PB : Anything else that you would like to add before we finish ? Buy the new album ! Don’t download it. BW : Just listen to it as an album, as it was recorded to be listened to, all eleven tracks, in the correct order from beginning to end. PB : Thank you. The photographs that accompany this article originally appeared on the website www.bigorangecrayon.com
Picture Gallery:-


interviews |
Interview Part 3 (2006) |
![]() |
In the third part of our four part interview with Bobby Wratten and Beth Arzy from Trembling Blue Stars, they chat to Anthony Strutt about their live work and their new album which is due for release early next year |
Interview Part 2 (2006) |
Part 1 (2006) |
Interview with Bobby Wratten (2002) |
features |
A Certain Blue Light (2003) |
![]() |
The Trembling Blue Stars are about to consolidate their position "as The Great Nineties Pop Band That Never Happened’ with a Best Of or Greatest Near-Hits. David McNamee looks back over their career and finds an odd resemblance in it to Kylie Minogue's |
reviews |
Correspondence EP (2011) |
![]() |
Poignant but entrancing farewell EP from acclaimed indie pop band, Trembling Blue Stars |
Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires (2011) |
Exploring the Shadows (2007) |
The Last Holy Writer (2007) |
Bathed In Blue (2005) |
Slow Soft Sighs (2002) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Roberta Flack - 1937 - 2025
Dave Barbarossa - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPBoomtown Rats - Ten Songs That Made Me Love....
Doris Brendel - Interview
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Brian Wilson - City Hall, Sheffield, 2/8/2017
Jay Reatard - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Dwina Gibb - Interview
Kay Russell - Interview with Kay Russell
Barrie Barlow - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart