Guy Garvey on pre-fame Elbow delivering pizza to The Stone Roses

Guy Garvey has shared a memory of a time that the members of Elbow, before they were famous, delivered pizza to The Stone Roses. 

• READ MORE: Elbow – ‘Audio Vertigo’ review: gnarly, naughty and their best since ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ 

The frontman was appearing on BBC Radio Manchester and was asked by host Becky Want to pick a song. Garvey opted for ‘Shoot You Down’, from the Manchester band’s classic 1989 debut album. 

The selection prompted the Elbow singer to share the anecdote about an accidental encounter he and his early bandmates had with Ian Brown and co, while they were holed away in Bury recording their second album. 

Remembering hearing ‘Shoot You Down’ for the first time and Brown’s Manchester accent resonating with him, Garvey went on to say: “I remember years later, when nobody knew where they were, making the second album, they were in Bury, in Square One [Studios], where all of Elbow lived.” 

“Mark [Potter, Elbow guitarist] delivered them a pizza and we wouldn’t believe it. He said, ‘I delivered a pizza to The Stone Roses’, and we just didn’t believe him.” 

“So, the next night, one of us went to work with him, and it was true, they were hiding out in Bury making the second record. And the lovely thing is that none of the local kids alerted the press. Everyone knew they were there, and nobody told the NME. It was a bit like Whistle Down the Wind, when Hayley Mills finds Jesus in the barn.” 

Last week (March 22), the band released their tenth studio album ‘Audio Vertigo’. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “This is a record to be enjoyed in its fullest form with all its hefty meat, mirrorball flashes and grizzly peaks. ‘Audio Vertigo’ is their best record in years, and one to blow the cobwebs off some sleepy arenas this summer.” 

Speaking to NME last October, Garvey described it as a “big fat record” that has “got some dirt under its fingernails for sure”. 

“It deals with some pretty inky stuff,” the frontman explained. “There are a couple of wholesome tunes on there, but by and large there’s everything from a maniacal rant from the point of view of a frontman who’s lost his mind, to really awful portraits of toxic relationships failing – all set to a very thick, guitar, drum and groove-based thing.” 

He continued: “As always, it’s produced by Craig Potter – who’s getting more and more into his hip-hop –  and Al our drummer has been writing more on this record. We all share a love of bands like The Meters, so it’s kind of garage-y in a way with Vox organs and a lot of alt-American country sounds. 

“It doesn’t sound like anything that we’ve done before. There’s everything from Stiff Records and what Elvis Costello was doing in his early years, right through to Afrika Bambaataa. We’re wearing our influences a bit more proudly.” 

Elbow are set to embark on a UK and Ireland headline tour in May. Opening for the band will be The WAEVE, the duo made up of Blur‘s Graham Coxon and former Pipettes member-turned-Mark Ronson collaborator and singer-songwriter Rose Elinor Dougall. 

You can see the full schedule, and find any remaining tickets here. 

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