Tony St Ledger
Mayday has just passed as we move into the weekend that I had arranged to meet Tony St Ledger to chat about his debut solo album, “Man On A Bridge” and it is an apt time of year to chat. Not just to celebrate international workers day but to acknowledge the blood sweat and tears that went into this record. Tony has produced a work of art way above many of his peers.
If there’s a nicer, humbler person in the Irish music scene I have yet to meet them, despite many years talking to bands and working with people around this industry. Tony St Ledger has been around the Irish scene for quite a while and was guitarist in the post Radiators quartet, Trouble Pilgrims. The Pilgrims haven’t played together as a band for a couple of years after putting out two excellent albums but Tony has continued songwriting and has painstakingly been involved in all aspects of this record.
“I was writing songs for the Trouble Pilgrims third album but unfortunately, we'd a couple of things going on that didn't suit us at that time. So, then I had this stash of songs, and I also had a stash of riffs from London in the '80s ready to go. Pete (Holidai, producer of the album, owner of Pilgrim Studios and fellow Trouble Pilgrim) kept on looking at me saying ‘what are you doing with those songs?’ Pete has built a studio of magnitude production. We had recorded Blood Glass and Gasoline (Trouble Pilgrims second album) with the lovely Joe McGrath in Hellfire Studios but Pete generously said to me ‘We're gonna make a record.’
I thought my chance was done. I thought I was cooked, I thought that was it. I said, look, don't be greedy, T. You have two albums out (the first two Trouble Pilgrims albums), they're there in the world. Legacy of work, as Philip Chevron would say. I went to Pete, and asked are you sure? So, we shook a hand, and we agreed to do it, and every Friday and Saturday, religiously, I went to his place for the bones of three and a half years. We played all the stuff, we played all the instruments, and we started laying down the tracks, and then the shape started coming on it. There are two basses on most tracks. I love the bass. Bass, drums, syncopation.”
For those who have been lucky to see Tony live, it is usually one man and his guitar but the record has a full band sound, complete with synthesiser.
T: “I love synthesisers. People say to me, Tony, you're punk. I started in a punk band in school, Vatican Three. But I'm a new way post punk guy, Pete left no stone unturned.”
The passion Tony has for his songs and this record is very obvious talking to him and we get to chat about a few songs on the record
T: “‘Shine’ is one which I'm very, very proud of. It's a hugely emotional song for me. I spoke to Pete about this heartbeat I wanted in it, and Pete went off, like he does, and he fucking measured it, a human heartbeat, right? I sang the vocals painstakingly, maybe over two days. I wanted the whole project to be under wraps, but I sent it to my dear friend who lived in London with me, Ken Mulhall, my son and to my dear friend, Seran, who passed away very recently. And they would give me a little bit of feedback on the track. My son said, “Dad, you can do the vocals better on that Shine track. You know, you're trying too hard?” He was right. So, I went back up to the studio and said to Pete I don't know how I’m going to say this to you, but I want to do the vocals again. Next minute, he was pulling out these fucking vintage mics and I'm very, very proud of how that turned out.
Dublin means so much to me. Bang Bang used to go into the Tivoli - imagine the wintry, cold, dismal days in Dublin - and the only place you could seek refuge was in the Theatre. I'd say he disturbed a lot of people in the cinema, but they never threw them out and they let them in for nothing. I love that story. The last line in ‘Bang Bang’ is “Bang Bang’s a Dublin Ghost. He haunts the city from pillar to post.”
‘Bridges Burn’ is a really fucking hard song for me. You know, when you have to say goodbye to some entity, that's really close to you. Yeah. For your own mental health, for your own goodwill and holistic way. But also, in the context of the conflict with the Israelis, the Americans. Sometimes you have to say, it's over. You've done far too much here. You've destroyed lives and taken so many things. Bridges born, good luck to you. It's a metaphor for when you finally wake up one day and say; “This is over” and you take out the machete, and you cut it, and you go, “It's done. I'm not talking to you anymore.”
The record is self recorded, with Tony and Pete doing everything along with fellow pilgrim Steve Averill putting the artwork together, it is being pressed by Rotator Vinyl, which is Peter from Paranoid Visions. It is very much a DIY affair but looks and sounds great. Tony’s next step is to run the publicity for it as there is no music machinery behind him. I asked how he feels about this?
T: “I'm a working class man from a working class family, of which I'm incredibly proud. But I have worked very, very hard. And Pete Holidai is a hard worker. I was in the advertising business for years in graphics and it’s time for me now to use all the skills that I’ve learned, to try and do it for myself. I’ve got to be more than the musician here. The 35 millimetre slide is such an incredible concept, and I had lovely Stephen do the sleeve. This is my last chance to sell. There's no point in me thinking, I might do something next Christmas for the Christmas stockings. This is not Christmas stocking stuff. This is now. This is happening right now on the edge of summer. I'm gonna do everything in my power, use all my skills to get this out there. I've no record company. I did a deal with Peter Jones to take the files, to turn them into CDs and records. I supplied the artwork. I supplied the files, I supplied the concept. I shook his hand in the Georges Street Arcade. Peter is the sole distributor of it in the world and Spindizzy is the shop selling it.”
As we bid farewell to the freshly laid lavender in St Annes and make our way up the Avenue Tony returned to something he feels most comfortable talking about, other people, He refers again to the work Joe McGrath does in Hellfire, Pete Holidai in Pilgrim Sounds, Hope Collective and finally Andy Walsh in Anseo. Andy runs the gigs in Anseo, Camden Street, and single handedly champions new artists in the city. He owns and curates Little Gem Records. Tony finally says “If I have one last chance to throw a dig in this fight - as me dad would say - I’ll make sure it's a good one.” And with that he is gone. The album is out now and available in Spindizzy and from Rotator Vinyl online. Another piece of Dublin captured perfectly.