Ahead of their return to SHIIINE ON Festival in Minehead this November, The Soup Dragons frontman Sean Dickson reflects on a journey that has taken him from Bellshill rehearsal rooms and John Peel sessions to festival stages packed with multiple generations of fans. Warm, passionate and refreshingly candid, Sean looks back on lifelong friendships, creative breakthroughs, the misconceptions that still surround Lovegod, and the enduring spirit of freedom that continues to define The Soup Dragons more than four decades after they first emerged.
SHIIINE ON festival brings together artists who helped define alternative music in the late 80s and 90s. What do you enjoy most about being part of that community today?
Bringing people together as one to celebrate memories and music old and new is a beautiful thing.
At festivals sometimes people who may not think they like a band and then suddenly discover a new found love they never thought they actually had.
Leave your inhibitions at the door.
Bellshill produced some remarkable bands. What was it about that scene that seemed to inspire so much creativity?
Simple answer …. friendship.
A friendship that still exists all these years and always will.
When you started The Soup Dragons in 1985, did you have any sense that those local gigs would lead to a career that's still being celebrated decades later?
Of course not.
To think John Peels office calls my family home when I just turned 17 and asked us to do a session based on a flexi disc we released on a fanzine that Sushil our bass player made is still insane to me.
Also the fact I said down the phone we do not have any money to get to London and the person from the BBC on the other end of the phone said John will meet you next week at Glasgow at QMU where he is Djing.
And it was there he handed £150 in cash and said will this help get you to London.
Many years after in Johns company when we became friends I tried many times to give him back that £150. He would never take it.
Once in his car I stuffed it down side of the passenger seat and he saw me and was like Oi !
I have said this story many times before but if you have not heard it you have to.
At his breakfast table at his home one day I asked him ….how do you keep the enthusiasm to keep discovering new music.
He stopped and looked me right in the eyes and said ’The next record I hear may be the best record I have ever heard’.
SUDDENLY it all made sense to me.
Boom ! A life changing moment.
The crossover between guitars, dance music and club culture feels commonplace now. How radical did that fusion feel when you were making Lovegod?
'Lovegod’ still to this day gets compared by uneducated journos to ’Screamadelica’ even though it came out 14 months before ? Work that one out ? Time travelling ?
Two very different albums conceptually anyway.
This fact drives me insane though as the whole concept of Lovegod being derived by factually wrong historical dates make me seem like some kind of fake copying chancer as a writer and producer , where as I was writing music with production ideas that I thought were ahead of the indie guitar band curve at that time.
But I was never given any artistic credit for that.
Also all the visuals and art we worked with Dr. Benoit Mandelbrot the man who invented fractals to show a more modern technological psychedelia to our already punk rock / psychedelic presence.
Once again ahead of the curve as fractals then become the total acid house cliche many years after.
Which of course they would go on to say ‘we copied’ that too.
‘Mother Universe’ was also in clubland before many other bands even thought of that avenue. We were going to acid house parties in Glasgow in ’88.
We even played live at a well known acid party called UFO around that time promoting ‘Mother Universe’ when just a promo 12”.
Most other indie bands were still rolling about in their leathers.
When I was 15 I made an electronic album in my bedroom ’Silent Industry’ that came out last year on on a Greek label on vinyl. It’s on streaming platforms if you want to hear it.
This shows clearly that I have always messed around with electronics and in 88/89 took that avenue back into my songwriting and as a band we created something fresh and unique and part of that great time capsule of 89/90.
To have to stand up and fight for your own art because of journalists getting their facts wrong really fustrates me.
Plus I never ever said ’there’s always been a dance element to our music’.
Why would I even say that ?
All that stuff at the time just demeaned my intelligence.
These days on social media you could call this stuff out for the nonsense that it is.
Back then you had to swallow it and move on.
"I'm Free" remains one of the defining tracks of its era. What memories come to mind when you hear it now, and are you ever surprised by the reaction it still receives?
“Don’t Be Afraid Of Your Freedom” likely means more now than it ever has.
I am not surprised at the reaction as it is kinda timeless.
I think I have heard it in every situation where you would or could hear music. Lifts , planes , shopping malls etc you name it.
Isn’t it lucky though that night at 4am when I got home after some club rave I had been at and turned the tv on to chill out and ‘The Stones At Hyde Park' came on BBC2 and that song was played and I thought there and then that this needs to be updated for what was going on in the UK at that point.
First time I had ever heard it and it came on literally as I switched the TV on.
That is a crazy fact as from that point it changed every thing.
The arrangement I made of it is so different cause I just made it up based on memory as even to this day I have never owned an actual copy of the Stones version.
Why the lyrics are so different in places and musically nothing like it.
Soon as I heard it that morning it felt like it was a connection to the 60’s love and peace stance and what was happening in 1989 at that moment. It felt like it bridged it all.
Also it felt like a reaction against Thatcher trying to shut down the rave scene and basically a two fingers to the establishment stopping us all having fun and loving each other for once.
All those different tribes coming together. It was special times. I'm Free documented that.
Don’t be afraid of your freedom indeed.
Many SHIIINE ON artists have seen renewed appreciation from younger listeners. Have you noticed a new generation connecting with The Soup Dragons?
Very much so , just like when I went to see The Ramones back in the day it felt like I was the youngest person there.
Last time we played London there was a mosh pit of 16 year olds and grown men all jumping about together.
It was a beautiful site to behold.
How does it feel walking onto a festival stage and seeing fans who have been with you since the beginning standing alongside people discovering the band for the first time?
It feels joyous we have always had a family aspect to our band and our fans.
When you revisit the band's catalogue, are there any overlooked tracks you'd encourage fans coming to SHIIINE ON to rediscover before the festival?
'I Know Everything’.
It’s a very early C-86 type track.
Pardon my French but I f**king love that song both musically and lyrically.
We played it twice last time we played Shiiine On …..it got to the end of the track and I thought hell let's do it again !
Literally the urge came right there at that moment.
And we did and it was the most joyous feeling ever.
The crowd went with it and loved it more the second time round.
Might play it 3 times this year ! Who knows !
I mean it is actually only 2 mins long.
Festivals are often about shared memories. Do you have a favourite festival story from your career that still makes you smile?
YES ! When we played Glastonbury late 80’s when it was really rustic and chaotic in those days.
We could not find our drummer Ross after the gig , remember there were no mobiles back then.
So we had to leave the festival site without him and hope he would show up at our next gig in Bristol 2 days later.
Which of course he did.
Mobiles killed all that fun !
What can fans expect from a Soup Dragons performance at SHIIINE ON this November?
A psychedelic punk rock soundtrack to wake up your senses and to live in the moment of it all.
The best Sunday afternoon worship you can attend. Bring your hallelujah.
As this conversation makes clear, Sean Dickson remains every bit as passionate, outspoken and creatively driven as he was when The Soup Dragons first burst onto the scene. Whether celebrating the friendships forged in Bellshill, championing overlooked tracks from the band's catalogue or recalling the cultural energy that inspired songs like "I'm Free", his enthusiasm is infectious. When The Soup Dragons take to the SHIIINE ON stage this November, fans can expect far more than a nostalgic trip down memory lane. They can expect a vibrant reminder of why this music continues to resonate across generations, bringing people together through a shared love of freedom, community and unforgettable songs.
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