When in Rome

Sent in by Clive Farrington: Where did they go? - When in Rome in fact never left. Like many hunters for perfection, they have carried their craft through to today and, indeed, Andrew and Clive are still writing and searching for the perfect pop song. They nearly achieved this with their hit single 'The Promise' which is widely received as one of the best pop songs of the 80s. The song was employed as the end title sequence for the hit movie – Napoleon Dynamite in 2004. Andrew: “The use of the song in the movie kind of kicked us both up our backsides and was a definite catalyst for the position that Clive and I are in now” Their self-titled album also contained many hidden gems in the shape of ‘Wide Wide Sea’ and ‘If Only’. Andrew and Clive are still very much a songwriting partnership and see their influences still as primarily Scott Walker, Jaques Brel, Righteous Brothers & The Blue Nile among many others. Clive: “The Jaques Brel influence came about after listening to the Scott Walker album – ‘Scott Walker sings Jaques Brel’. Andrew and I were listening to this awesome record, coincidently at the same time and we were both enthusing about the quality of production – especially the voice. I cannot listen to ‘If You Go Away’ now because of the honesty of the lyrics. The whole album just blows you away…” There are many artists who are great at songwriting as a production line, churning out hit after hit. When in Rome is not one of them. They refuse to release any material which they themselves are not 100% happy with – Hence the long hiatus. Andrew: “Apart from When in Rome we’ve both been getting on with our lives outside of songwriting. Clive has a 9 year old daughter, Saskia, so he’s been busy! I’ve been doing some acting and I am director of a casting agency in London – It was inevitable that we would again be talking of studios & touring with When in Rome” The voices are still there and are even stronger. The will to create is still there. Beware of imitations – When in Rome are back and are about to unleash some of the most enduring songs you will ever hear.