A Permanent Shadow On the Making Of “Number One Fan”
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind “Number One Fan” and the story it tells?
I wrote this song for an ex girlfriend who I was in a relationship with for more than 10 years. It’s fair to say I was not always on my best behavior in this relationship, which caused a lot of grief and discomfort. When we broke up the woman – who I still count among my few real friends – said one thing that stuck with me: “I was your number one fan for a long time, but then I stopped.” I immediately thought that would make for a great chorus, so I wrote the song.
Could you discuss the lyrical themes or messages conveyed in this song?
In this song I was basically trying to say both “Thank you” and “I’m sorry”. It’s about how sometimes you take a person’s loyalty and dedication for granted just because her level of generosity is so above yours. But of course, there comes a point when even the most tolerant person’s patience is exhausted, and her enthusiasm starts to vanish. Rather selfishly and obnoxiously, you start blaming your better half for a lack of implication without actually asking yourself what role your behavior has played in that twist…
For the outro I thought it would be apt to sample Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”, the chorus of which goes “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” Hence the Joni Mitchell T-shirt I’m wearing in the video.
How do you translate the essence and energy of this song in a live performance?
That’s something that remains to be seen. I haven’t played the song live yet, although for the release of the third APS LP the plan is to get a full band together and play live as much as possible. I’m sure that “Number One Fan” will be among the biggest crowd pleasers.
How do you feel “Number One Fan” represents your artistic identity or musical evolution?
In a way, lyrically it stands apart from the rest of our catalogue. For me it’s odd to write songs about personal relationships, I don’t do that very often. Musically, the song is more pop oriented than some of our previous singles which tended to be much bleaker in sound. But I think it’s always OK to experiment a bit and try out new stuff.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
I got into music at a very early age when my older sister bought David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album. Bowie has always been a guiding light for me, although I started out as a drummer. In fact, I still play drums for We Are Mono, a band from Barcelona where I’ve lived for the past 25 years. It was only some years ago that I decided to try my luck as a vocalist, first in a Lou Reed tribute band and later writing and interpreting my own material. With A Permanent Shadow so far we’ve released two albums and an EP, with a third album slated for a late 2023 release.
