Rick Witter on Shed Seven's Liquid Gold and band at 30

So says Shed Seven frontman Rick Witter of the band's 2024 – a year that has seen them headline Museum Gardens and land their first ever Number One album with A Matter of Time.

And now, a week after its release, the Sheds are hoping to secure another Number One album with Liquid Gold. It features reworked hits released at the time of Britpop – Chasing Rainbows, Getting Better, Going for Gold – accompanied by an orchestra.

“It’s very James Bondy [sic], it’s Shed Seven gone technical,” says Rick, speaking to The Press as the album tops the midweek charts. “It’s grown-up music for grown-up people.”

Liquid Gold by Shed Seven is out now (Image: Supplied) Liquid Gold’s release came as the 30th anniversary of the Sheds’ debut album Change Giver loomed.

Rick says the band, now with independent record label Cooking Vinyl, “had a good idea” that one or two ex-labels might want to re-release a greatest hits package.

“We’ve already had about three greatest hits out over the years, and we were just a bit cautious of an ex-label re-releasing original compositions with brand new artwork.”

Shed Seven (Image: Chris Little) He explains that they “wanted to do something special for our hardcore fans – and anyone else who might want to get involved”.

“We thought, why don’t we get back in the studio and revisit a handful of our back catalogue – and stick a big orchestra over it.”

And they did, sitting down every day in the studio considering: “If we were writing that song today, what would we do different?”

“We’ve made spaces in the songs, and let the songs breathe a little bit more,” says Rick. “Including an orchestra in that just takes it in a completely different direction anyway.”

The orchestra allowed them to rework Going for Gold, which Rick feels was previously very “brass heavy”.

“We thought that one in particular would sound completely different with an orchestra on it. And it does: it takes the song off in a totally new direction.”

They also felt it time to rework Chasing Rainbows.

Rick admits they were nervous to do this, given that it’s the Sheds’ most well-known song.

“People have said to me: ‘We buried our friend to that song’ or ‘we buried a family member to that song’ or ‘it was our first dance’ – so yes, we knew we couldn’t go wild with that particular song,” he says. “But I think we’ve done it justice.

“We’ve made it feel fresh and up to date. And we’ve actually put more emotion into what was, already, an emotional song – we’ve doubled the emotion.”

People are understanding this, he adds. “Everyone just seems to be loving it.”

This positive reaction could even carry the album to Number One in the charts this week, Rick hopes.

If successful, Shed Seven would be added to a unique list of artists – including the Beatles and Elvis Presley – to have two UK Number One albums in the same year.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” says Rick. “To potentially have two Number One studio albums within nine months of each other, with two different releases – it’s kind of unheard of in this day and age. We’re just keeping our fingers crossed.”

Success hasn’t come without hard work

This year’s success hasn’t come without hard work, however.

“We’ve put an awful lot of groundwork in over the last 10 years, really,” says Rick. “We’ve always been a popular live band… but we kind of accidentally started writing some new material in about 2015 – and realised we’re still quite good at doing it.”

The Sheds are currently touring the UK, playing two, intimate instore gigs a day to promote Liquid Gold

“We’ve done this on purpose because we wanted to say thank you to the people who’ve supported us over the 30 years,” says Rick “It’s nice to be able to look into people’s eyes and give them a genuine thank you and sign their record.

“It’s important that we get to thank the people that have been buying our records for years and years.”

The 51-year-old admits that touring takes its toll on the band now but adds: “We have our moments; we have our party moments – we just need to pick and choose when we do that a little bit more carefully these days.”

Rick Witter on stage with Shed Seven at Museum Gardens in July (Image: David Harrison) A theme throughout these gigs – and the rest over the past 15 years – has been younger fans in the crowd.

“It’s amazing,” says Rick, adding: “They’re all singing every word – it’s not like they’re being dragged under sufferance by their parents.”

Playing live is still one of his favourite parts of the job.

“To see the joy on people’s faces is just the best thing about being in a band. What more can you ask for?”

‘Stars aligned’ for Museum Gardens gigs to happen

Those faces of joy were seen in the Museum Gardens crowd during the band’s homecoming shows there in July.

“We don’t really play York as much as we perhaps should do, so that was just ultra special for us,” says Rick. “There’s been talk for a few years about doing something special in York, but for some strange reason or another it never really worked out.

“But the stars aligned for that to happen this summer.”

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Happening as it did in the year of the band’s 30th year together, Rick says: “Everything just kind of coalesced which made it very special.

“To get so many people travelling into our home city to see us over a weekend was amazing.”

The Sheds are back on tour next month, including six shows where they will play their debut album in full.

“It’s been a very full-on year… we haven’t stopped,” reflects Rick.

Next year, Rick says they aim to start working a new album.

He explains that he finds inspiration from anything and everything when writing.

“I’m always going around jotting lyrical ideas down, which will then be formed into songs when me and [guitarist Paul Banks] get together.

“We’ve been writing songs since we were about 13 and we don’t ever – and never have – sat down and discussed what to write… we just do it, and it works.”

He adds: “One day you might wake up with nothing and then by the end of the day you’ve created this thing that’s going to be there forever – a lot longer than we’ll be around. There’s nothing more satisfying than that.”

Tour finishes with show in Huntington – where it all started for Shed Seven

The tour finishes with two acoustic gigs at Huntington Working Men’s Club – yards away from where he and Paul first spoke to each other.

Of this interaction, Rick recalls: “He approached me, I was on my bike, and I didn’t know whether he was going to punch me or hug me.”

Paul did neither, instead asking him: “Where did you get your bike from?”

Decades later, the pair will be stood side by side on stage where it all started.

“We just thought it would be an incredible way to round off what has been an incredible year for us,” says Rick. “It’ll be lovely to go out and celebrate with some hardcore fans who have managed to get tickets.”

• To coincide with Liquid Gold, Shed Seven are releasing 13 tracks recorded and filmed at Museum Gardens over the two nights which also come with the new album. The Official Charts count stops at midnight tonight (Thursday, October 3) to get Liquid Gold to Number One.