If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fixx It:

A Conversation with Cy Curnin of the Fixx

By Will Harris

(photo courtesy of TheFixxStore.com)

            VH-1 may be gearing up for another round of “Bands Reunited,” but the network won’t be inviting the Fixx to participate.  Almost 25 years down the line, four of the band’s five founding members still remain with the band:  Cy Curnin (vocals), Adam Woods (drums), Jamie West-Oram (guitar), and Rupert Greenall (keyboards).  Only bassist Charlie Barret is MIA from the initial line-up.

“We’ve always had trouble with bass players,” sighs Cy.  “That’s our one little nemesis.”

            Still, four out of five ain’t bad, particularly after so many years.

            “We’ve got good friendship, first and foremost,” Curnin explains.  “We lucked out from the very beginning that we’re very similar kind of guys, and we just know how to get on.”

            Currently handling bass duties for the band is Gary Tibbs, who comes with a solid pedigree; in addition to serving as a member of the Vibrators and Roxy Music, he was also one of Adam’s Ants circa the Prince Charming album.  Tibbs was brought into the fold to record the Fixx’s 2003 album, Want That Life, and meshed so well with the band that he’s continued to play with them ever since.

            The Fixx will be opening for Rick Springfield at the NTelos Pavilion on July 10^th, but it’s not a regular gig for them this summer.  “We’ve just sort of run into Rick now and then over the years, different circuits," explains Curnin.  “We’re just sort of bouncing around; some of the bigger shows are with other acts, sometimes we’re on our own.  It just depends.”

            Although they’ve not really been receiving regular radio airplay since “Driven Out” was a hit back in 1988, the Fixx never really broke up; they just went on an indefinite hiatus after 1991’s Ink didn’t do all that it could’ve done,

            “The early ‘90s, things got a little stale,” says Curnin.  “We’d been working so hard, we’d gotten tired, and radio was going on down that grunge path, so it was slightly different, and we just decided to take a break.  There were a lot of children born to members of the band, so it was time to do the family thing for awhile.”

After four or five years, however, “there was the urge to get back out there.  Promoters started calling, tours started falling into place, and then it just sort of took off again.  There was this ‘80s resurgence, interest in music from that period.  People suddenly realized that it wasn’t just the haircuts, that there were actually some good bands that came from that period and are still going.”

And, so, the Fixx got going again.  The band re-emerged in ’98 with a new studio album (Elemental, on CMC International) and has continued to tour regularly ever since.

Late 2003 brought the Fixx’s ninth studio album, Want That Life, their first on a full-fledged indie label:  Rainman Records, owned by the band’s manager, Ron Rainey.  Curnin is pleased with the album’s sales, though he admits that, “without radio really kicking in, it’s not like we’re in the charts or anything.  But it’s making us a living.  There’s not the sense of competition that there used to be, so much so that it almost killed the art.  It was always, ‘How’s it selling?’  Now, it’s back down to doing it for ourselves.  And it’s good for the fans as well.  When you add new songs to your repertoire, you’re constantly evolving; it’s like another annual ring on the tree.”

            The band’s sound has evolved over the years, incorporating more of an acoustic feel at times.  Curnin says, “We have the same characters, but there’s less tension around what we do.  The youthful arrogance has fallen by the wayside, and, when something’s good, we can all celebrate it.”

Curnin is aware of how things have changed in the business since the Fixx’s commercial heyday.

“It’s a whole new world now,” he concedes.  “The weight is on the live side of the band’s career; before, it was a mixture of playing live, making records, being on the radio, and having a heavy P.R. machine plugging you away, but, now, it’s pretty much all about the live show.  It’s the one thing people can’t steal.  The more technological the world becomes, the more people need to get out and have some community feel, rub elbows with each other.  Live music represents that, and, for us, is the only thing that we really get a kick out of:  playing with no safety net.

            “Anyone can make a good sounding record with the right amount of money, but playing live...not everyone can cut it, but we can, and we like to show that side off.”