MC: We know that you played a series of shows in Australia last summer—do you envision a tour for the Uptown Special project?
Ronson: It’s a pretty hectic ordeal to pull off everybody together. These are pretty amazing people on this album. There’s nothing more fun than being up on stage and playing those songs, but everybody on it has their own successful careers, so it’s hard to get everyone together.
MC: Here is our guitar geek question—any secret six-string weapons?
Ronson: Not really. “Uptown Funk” was played on a regular Stratocaster that Bruno has in his board collection. It’s just about what feels good for the part. One pedal we used was the Scrambler, an Ampeg pedal from the late ‘60s. That’s a great sound. Most of the other sounds were what I learned recording Tommy Brenneck (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings). Some of my favorite guitar sounds are Harmony guitars and Ampeg Gemini amps. I don’t have fancy guitars, but I have this one Gibson 347 that I like.
MC: There is a picture of you that we saw online onstage holding an amazing looking double-neck guitar. Where was this taken and what was the occasion?
Ronson: We were doing a medley at the Brit Awards in 2008. We were opening with this cover I had done of “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” in E# drop tuning. And the whole thing was a crazy medley, so I didn’t have time to switch guitars. I thought I’d play a double-neck. But that night, being the least accomplished guitar player on that entire stage, I was holding the biggest guitar. I will never live that down.
MC: We know that the MPC was a very transformative instrument for you sonically.
Ronson: Yes, it still is. I still use the 3000 on this album. I tried to use the Renaissance, but it doesn’t like my computer. I think the lesson is never update the software. It’s so much easier to edit the interface on the Renaissance using the laptop—the older things sometimes have the sounds and crunch.
MC: Your first solo record in 2003, Here Comes the Fuzz, didn’t sell well and you were dropped the week after its release by your label Elektra Records. How did you deal with the disappointment?
Ronson: I don’t know. I’m a bit more of a pragmatist. I thought, “Well, this isn’t happening.” I have pretty low expectations of anything, maybe that’s because I always expect everything to not do well until proven otherwise. The first record came and went, I had a minor hit in the U.K. and I started going over there and I produced Lily Allen, so that helped in the next phase of my career. There was a time when I knew Kanye West. I knew Chad Hugo from the Neptunes. I knew Danger Mouse. Suddenly everyone was skyrocketing with these crazy careers. I was like, “These are guys I’ve known for a while. I’ve been trying to do this. Obviously I’m not meant to. That’s cool I’ll get a job doing commercials and I’ll have a respectable career.”
But I was never depressed. And then came Amy Winehouse.
Contact Carina at Press Here Publicity.
