In 1991, MARC EVANS was blown away watching the Wedding Present play their Seamonsters album live. For those of you that missed it then, you’re in luck - they’re playing it again to mark the LP’s 21st anniversary. Here he talks to lead singer David Gedge about the past, the present, and the future of the band

DAVID Gedge should be enjoying the easy life as one of the elder statesmen of the alternative music scene. Instead he's as busy as he’s ever been, organising festivals, touring the world and the UK, creating new album Valentina, producing a book on the making of the album, inspiring a comic book series...and he still finds time to photograph European toilet signs for his Twitter feed.

“Ha” laughs Gedge, the singer-songwriter and only constant member of the band. “The toilet signs on the continent seem to be a bit more elaborate. I started doing it and now people have started requesting it. I’ve got to be a bit careful - people might get the wrong idea if they see you hanging around toilets with a camera.”

The man described by John Peel as having - “written some of the best love songs of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong” - is speaking from his hotel room in Bordeaux, on the European leg of the tour which arrives at Oxford’s O2 Academy on November 17.

And it’s no ordinary tour. The highlight is the chance to hear their 1991’s Seamonsters in its entirety, plus tracks from eighth studio album Valentina and other old favourites. So what made him delve into his past?

“In 2007 we were approached by our record company to tour for the 20th anniversary of (debut album) George Best,” he says. “It’s not an original idea and I wasn’t really that keen. As a musician you’re always looking forward.

“But I spoke to a few people and they said ‘that’s a brilliant idea, we’d love to see that’. To my surprise I enjoyed it too. I came to the conclusion that the past was as important as the present.”

When the 20th anniversary of second album Bizarro approached, they did the same. But it is the chance to hear Seamonsters – a brooding, intense masterpiece, produced by the legendary Steve Albini – that has got fans buzzing in anticipation. Does Gedge think, as many do, that it is they best thing they have ever done?

“It’s impossible for me to judge.” he admits. “It’s like trying to choose your favourite children. All our albums have got their own different needs and I find it hard to compare.”

So what was it like, rehearsing the songs for the first time?

“It’s kind of like looking at an entry in your old diary,” he says. “It was different for the other members of the band because they weren’t in the band at the time. But for me it was nostalgic.

“For the rest of the band it was more a case of them learning to play the songs. But the band now is better than the band then. We play it better now. It’s more in keeping with the album. And Seamonsters works better played this way than the other albums. It was more of an entity because of the flow of it.”

I was lucky enough to catch the Wedding Present’s show in Birmingham in 1991, as part of the original Seamonsters tour, when they played the whole album, in order, from start to finish. I assumed that was the same at every gig on that tour – but Gedge corrects me.

“No, we decided to do it on the night. That was the first time we did it,” he says. “That gig in Birmingham has always had a special place in my heart.”

And were the other three current members – Patrick Alexander, Charles Layton and Pepe Le Moko – fans of the album at the time?

“I haven’t asked them, to be honest,” he confesses. “They are from quite a rockier background. We’ve moved from being a pop-punk to being a rock-punk band. Valentina’s a bit like that.

“I’ve always said the Wedding Present is whoever’s in the band at the same time. It all merges together,” he explains. “I’m the main songwriter but I’m always careful to make sure everyone is heard – it’s in my own interest.”

Next up will be the release of a book – Valentina: The Story of a Wedding Present Album (October 25). How did that come about?

“Someone approached us and asked if we would be interested. I’m always interested in new projects, like my festival (At the Edge of the Sea in Brighton, now in its fourth year) and the comic book.”

Ah, the comic book, Tales From the Wedding Present, which came out of the unfulfilled efforts of former band member Terry de Castro to write the story of Gedge’s life.

“Terry had this plan to write my biography,” he says. “She started working on that but it never happened. She had lots of stuff that was unused and I had a friend I asked about turning it into a comic book. Hopefully it will be an ongoing series.”

So, fans can’t say they don’t get enough interaction with the band - and that’s before you factor in Gedge’s prolific Tweeting (not all of which is related to European toilets).

“I love it,” he says. “It’s like sending a text to all your friends. And it’s free.”

Gedge recently advised a fan via Twitter to “call in sick” after they were wavering about seeing the band on a ‘school night’.

No such worries for Oxford fans – the gig’s on a Saturday. Time to party like it’s 1991.

  • The Wedding Present play the O2 Academy, Cowley Road, Oxford, on Saturday, supported by Toquiwa.
  • Tickets cost £13. Call 0844 477 2000 or go to ticketweb.co.uk