Ricky Warwick: “I thought ‘Screw it. I’m gonna put it all out there and lay my soul bare on the record’”

With Blood Ties, Ricky Warwick has delivered one of his most deeply personal records to date. Across ten tracks, the singer-songwriter confronts his past, his demons, and his journey toward sobriety with a positivity that makes this album a standout in his decades-long career.

Featuring contributions from rock legends like Lita Ford, Billy Duffy, and Charlie Starr, Blood Ties is a testament to Warwick’s enduring presence in the rock world and his ability to craft music that resonates on a profoundly human level.

In our latest Cover Story, V13 sat down and chatted with Ricky Warwick about the record, his journey to sobriety and, after spending most of the last forty years splitting his time between Northern Ireland and Los Angeles, what home really means to him.

On this record, you’ve talked about people reaching a time in their lives when it’s the time to exorcise personal demons. What was that point for you where you took that decision?

“Like everybody else, the pandemic had a huge effect on all of us. There was a lot of time for reflection and, changing how we went about our daily routines. I’m no different than anybody else. It certainly made me pause to think about a lot of stuff… where I was at in my own life and my own mortality and people around me. Losing my mother at the start of the pandemic that kind of thing. Then you just start to reflect and you also realize that nobody really gives a fuck. It’s me, me, me, me, me and that’s kind of sad.

When I started writing this, whereas maybe before I’d write something but then think I’m not gonna say that because that might annoy somebody, or that I was giving too much of myself away. This time I just thought screw it. I’m just gonna put it all out there and lay my soul bare on the record. I think that’s really what it came down to.”

What was it like doing that?

“I was easy because there was nothing really heavy. Dealing with my sobriety… getting sober was a huge thing for me because it’s something I thought I would never do. I just never thought I’d do it. Achieving that and seeing the results of that was great. ‘Angels of Desolation’ deals with that, the first track on the record. ‘Don’t Sell Your Soul To Fall In Love’ was a message to my youngest teenage daughter. She’s going out into the world now, she’s driving, she’s in relationships for the first time, and it’s like, ‘Hey, listen to your old man who’s made the mistakes.’

I think there’s a positivity in the record. It’s not saying we’re all screwed and that’s it. I think it’s like, ‘Hang on a minute. We’ve all been through a lot, but there is still a lot of good in the world.’

You just don’t hear about it. It’s not newsworthy, sadly but there’s a lot of good people and a lot of good stuff still going on in this world.”

“Losing my mother at the start of the pandemic that kind of thing. Then you just start to reflect and you also realize that nobody really gives a fuck…”

Touching on the sobriety, how did that change life for you? I did that about eight years ago, nine years ago now. A lot of friends have done the same. I lived in London a lot. I was in new to the industry…

“That’s it. I’m sure I’ve never heard anybody that’s got sober say a bad thing about it. I’ve never had anybody go ‘I got sober and it’s been the worst five years of my life.’ They’re like, ‘I’ve got sober and it’s been the best five years of my life’ and I’m no different. I wouldn’t have considered myself an alcoholic, but I like to drink. The substance abuse stopped years ago. I stopped doing that 10, 15 years ago but I was still drinking a lot. I was just making bad decisions, arguments. Everything that seemed to be a conflict of interest or a wrong move I could associate with alcohol. When it got to the point where I was already thinking about the hangover. The one day hangover would become two days… sometimes three. The anxiety was off the roof as I was getting older. What am I doing? Why am I doing this?

I’ve been drinking since I was 15. You’ve been down that road. You’ve had your fun, you’ve knocked on all the doors. Let’s try the other road that you’ve not been down yet.

I lived in London for eight, nine years and, every night, there was something on back then every night. The drink was flowing and, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I had some killer times when I was drunk but there was a point where the killer times I wasn’t enjoying anymore. Simple as that. The same old stories, the same old crawling home at three o’clock in the morning having talked crap…”

V13 Cover Story – Issue 96 – Ricky Warwick

In terms of Blood Ties, you’ve talked about your daughter and your family. Did it change anything for you in terms of your outlook on life?

“I think it all goes hand in hand. I don’t wanna harp on about it too much, but with getting sober and seeing things more clearly and realizing what’s important and how important time is and time spent with the people that you care about, that was one of the reasons I’m relocating back to Northern Ireland to be closer to family and to friends. That all ties into the subject matter of the songs. I touched on the subject of ‘Don’t Sell Your Soul To Fall In Love.’ Every song on this record has a personal meaning to me, but it also is connecting with somebody that I know, or somebody that I love, or somebody that’s pissed me off.”

It’s been your most successful solo record to date. Do you think a lot of that’s down to the fact that even though you’ve written songs where people can relate to those themes?

“With all the other great acts that I’m involved in, I’ve written a lot of songs and I’m very conscious of trying not to repeat myself and trying not to go over the same ground again and again. Sometimes it’s okay to go over the same ground but in a different way. Walk a different path over the same ground. Write about the same subject then write about it again five years later and have a different outlook on it and a different view on it because your view might have changed on it slightly.

I think that’s definitely happened. I think when you write as much stuff as I have, it’s inevitable that is gonna happen at some point, but I’m certainly conscious of trying to do something new. There was just an openness about this record that, for whatever reason, on this solo record has seemed to connect a lot more with people than some of the previous ones have.”

Do you think the way you’ve approached this record in the openness and the personal twist in the lyrics, will change the way you approach other records?

“What’s different about this one, and I think this is what sets this record aside as well, is this is the first solo record that I didn’t have Black Star Riders and I mean that with all due respect and all love for all things Black Star Riders. Black Star Riders, up until two years ago, was very much the day job. That was the band. That was the band that toured. That was the band that made the bread. That was what we focused on record wise and the downtime was when I got to do some solo records. I was very conscious even when I was writing that, if something felt really good, I felt I couldn’t really use that as I needed to keep that for Black star Riders. I was always holding back.

This time around, with Black Star Riders being on a hiatus, I didn’t have to hold back. This is what I’m focusing on. I got to a point where Black Star Riders had done the five records and it was very successful and we were on a hiatus so I really wanted to concentrate on making a solo record and put everything I’ve got into it and not have any outside interference from any of the other great acts that I’m involved in. I was able to do that on Blood Ties and I think that shows on the record. I think that’s maybe why it’s connected with so many people because I could put everything into it.

I’m planning on touring it as much as I possibly can promoting it. It’s not just a case of you’ve got three months off, let’s bang out a quick solo record.”

“There was just an openness about this record that, for whatever reason, on this solo record has seemed to connect a lot more with people than some of the previous ones have…”

Do you think there’s a level of compromise that goes with being a successful musician, so much that the personal demons you talk about almost come with the territory as you’ve almost gotta give one life up for the other?

“It’s a weird job entertaining people because some days you don’t wanna entertain anybody. Some days you’re not feeling great and there’s a pressure that comes with that knowing that you need to get up on that stage and the people that are coming to see you that night are coming to see you that one night they’re not seeing you every night and it’s special night for them and they’re expecting an amazing show and you have to give that even if you’ve had a shit day like anybody else, an argument or something’s happened and you’re not in the right head space.

There’s a pressure that comes with that and especially as you get older, when you have more responsibilities and stuff to deal with in your life. When you’re a kid and you’re just out there doing it, you don’t really have any responsibilities but as you get older, you do and I think that breeds its own anxiety and its own pressure. Just wanting to be good and wanting to make sure people that are paying their harder earned cash get value for money and enjoy the show, I certainly not gonna lie… I suffer. I get some days where I’m not feeling that good but I’m gonna have to play tonight. Hopefully I’ll be able to get in the right head space and or something’s happened but then you get days where you’re its amazing. The greatest job in the world and you feel like you can get up there and fucking own it.

We’re no different than any anybody else. The pressures I think that comes with getting older, but rock and roll is such a cliche in itself. There’s, there’s is always temptations. There’s always drugs, there’s alcohol. It’s, gone hand in hand with it since it began. That’s part of it and it’s such a weird lifestyle. You’re traveling around from place to place. Never stay in one place for a minute. You’re away from your family for months at a time and that creates its own problems.”

Ricky Warwick ‘Blood Ties’ Album Artwork

As you said it is very different when you’re younger then, as you get older, you get responsibilities, you attained your success early on. Were re you prepared for that compromise?

“I don’t know what I was prepared for. I just knew that suddenly I just wanted it really badly when I was a kid and would do anything to be in the position that I’m in now. To have been able to do this for almost 40 years is unbelievable. I think I was just so self-determined. I was willing to give up everything to be successful, to get my music out, to play, and to tour. I sacrificed a lot. I sacrificed relationships, jobs, I was very single-minded. I think like anything, you ask soccer players, if you want something that bad, sadly, a lot of things around you will fall by the wayside and suffer but that’s the price of it, I guess.”

Maybe not necessarily aimed at young bands who were just starting out, but somebody that’s on the cusp of where you were when you broke, what advice would you give them in dealing with that?

“It’s just hard work. It’s perseverance. It’s never giving up. It’s sticking to your guns believing in what you do. Being respectful of the people that you’re playing your music to and are listening to your music and have a bit of swagger and a little bit of arrogance. Use it smartly though. Don’t come across as a dick. Be cool with it. There’s a big difference between self-belief and arrogance. The Almighty certainly had that. We had a lot of swagger and a lot of arrogance, but we were also very respectful of the people around us. We were polite. We created havoc and carnage, but we were very polite with it. We were certainly appreciative of the people that worked for us and appreciated our music.”

At a point in your career, you started to split your time between Ireland and America quite early on. What was that like?

“I’ve been in America for 20 years. It’s only really in the last year and a half, two years that we’ve got the place here that we’re going backwards and forwards a lot. When I was in tour in Europe, the UK, if I had downtime between festivals or tours, a week or two weeks, instead of flying back to America, I would just come and stay with family in Ireland or Scotland.

At that time it just made sense so I’ve always been coming back home, even for the last 20 years of being in LA. It just felt it was time. We’ve raised our kids and we’re ready to get outta the city. I’m a country boy at heart. I grew up in the country in Northern Ireland, and I always knew I’d end up back here. I always intended to end up back here. Now is the right time.”

“I was just so self-determined. I was willing to give up everything to be successful, to get my music out, to play, and to tour. I sacrificed a lot….”

He turned me on to Northern Soul. He turned me on to Motown. He was a few years older than me when I was in New Model Army. I really looked up to him and still do. He’s still a friend to this day and he really influenced me and really taught me a lot. I was like a sponge watching him every night and I loved his attitude. The attitude he had was to take no prisoners. I wanted that. That is what I wanted to emulate with The Almighty.”

There’s a number of different collaborations on the record. When you started writing the album, did you have an idea of who you wanted to work with?

“Not really. The Lita Ford thing was a complete accident and one of those things that just came outta nowhere and end up being absolutely brilliant. We demoed the song, ‘Don’t Leave Me in the Dark’ quite early on in the writing process and I was living with the demo for a year and I the more I listened to it, I thought this would be really good as a male female duet. It would be great if we could get a really strong female rocker to sing this like Chrissy Hind or a Joan Jett, or a Lita Ford?

The album recording date was coming up and I knew these people, but I didn’t know how to get in touch with them. Then my manager called me up and said ‘You’ll never guess who I’ve taken on for management. I’m managing Lita Ford.’ This is amazing. I told him he needed to get her this song. We sent her the demo for ‘Don’t Leave Me In the Dark’ and she loved it. She said ‘I’m in, when do you need me in the studio?’ and that was it. She just nailed it.

I was a huge fan of The Runaways so to get Lita was amazing for me. I’d never met her. I was a fan, but I’d never met her. Billy Duffy I’ve known for 30 odd years. Huge fan of The Cult, Billy’s a good mate so that was a no brainer. I always tried to get Billy on stuff but he was always on tour or I was on tour when we’d be in the studio. Charlie Starr’s a good friend of Keith Nelson my producer. Keith asked Charlie to play on ‘Rise and Grind.’ We’re very lucky that we have these friends that are also fantastic musicians that we admire and love, and we just reached out to them and everybody couldn’t be helpful enough when it came to doing their parts.”

It must be really rewarding as an artist that people will just give up the time for you like that…

“It’s lovely and, as a fan, I’ll still put the record thinking that’s Billy Duffy playing on my guitar. That’s Lita Ford. That’s Charlie. All of that is just wonderful. I still get such a buzz out of that.”

We’ve talked about Ireland and you splitting your time. What does home mean to you?

“Family. It really means my wife, my children although I’ve only one child left at home now, and she’s about to head off pretty soon as well so that’s changing. A home, for me, as a place is Northern Ireland. Even though I left Northern Ireland when I was 15. I moved to Scotland and I do love Scotland, but Northern Ireland is where I feel grounded and I feel at home and I have good friends and good family here. My shoulders come down from around my ears when I come back to Northern Ireland. I’m sitting in a house that we’re renovating at the minute with no paint on the walls and bare floorboards and all that kind of stuff but I just love it. It’s just wonderful.”

Looking back over your career, how would you sum up that journey?

“It’s been amazing. It’s been satisfying. People always say to me that I should have been more successful. Don’t you think you should be a multimillionaire? I’m successful. I’ve got to do this every day for 38 years and pay the bills. There’s been a lot of ups and there’s been a lot of downs, but it’s been a constant and I’ve got to do what I love every day. So, in terms of that, it’s been 100% successful.”

What does Blood Ties mean to you?

“It just shows you that, at the age of 58, you never know what’s next. You just have more successful solo records. Don’t give up kids. I think it just encapsulates a turning point in my life. With the age they say comes wisdom. I’m not sure. I think I’m still quite silly, but I think it’s certainly reached a turning point. Also, on this record, I didn’t look back. On a lot of the records I make, I look very far back to childhood stuff or stuff that’s going on. For this one, all the subject matter is only stuff that’s happened in the last few years. The last four or five years. There’s no ancient history on this record. It’s all new and relevant and I think I like that.”

Blood Ties is out now through Earache Records and you can pick up your copy here.