In 2019, bass legend Andy Rourke, best known for his seminal work in the Smiths, joined forces with Kav Sandhu (Happy Mondays, A.K.A. Weave) to release their supergroup Blitz Vega’s hard-charging first single, “Hey Christo.” It was an auspicious beginning, coinciding with the duo’s big live debut at Los Angeles’s House of Machines club… but sadly, Blitz Vega’s first show would be their last. Rourke was quietly, stoically battling pancreatic cancer at that time, and his illness eventually caused the band’s tour plans to be put on indefinite hold.

But Rourke never stopped writing, playing, and recording, and now, one year and four months after he lost his cancer fight at age 59, Blitz Vega’s debut album, Northern Gentleman, is finally out. It’s an understandably bittersweet occasion for Sandhu, who’d always hoped that Rourke would live to celebrate its release.

“It wasn’t until sort of April 2023,” Sandhu says, referring to a conversation he had with Rourke shortly before Rourke’s death. “I suppose I’m just an optimist in the way I think generally. I just didn’t feel that there was any need to even think about the fact that he may not be here. So, he had to really sit me down and get my attention. He was very calm and he really had to drill it into me. He was like, ‘Kav, you need to listen to me. I don’t think I’m going to make it, and I just want you to promise me that the album will be released and you’ll take it on the road. That’s the only thing I want you to promise me that you’ll do.’ So, we kind of shook hands. I hugged him. That was three weeks before he passed away.”

Now Sandhu is making good on the promise he made to his fallen friend, and making sure Blitz Vega’s music will be heard. “It was very difficult. But he took all the decisions out of away from me, really — after he passed, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t have to sit around and think, ‘Should I do this or should I not do this?’ It was like, ‘No, I promised Andy, so it doesn’t matter about what I feel about it at the moment. I’ve got to honor the promise and just get on with that.” And then if I do that, then I’ve delivered on why said I would do.”

In the video interview above and Q&A below, Sandhu opens up about his bond with “genuinely the greatest musician and man I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” the making of Northern Gentleman, Rourke’s musical legacy, whether Rourke might have ever agreed to a Smiths reunion, and how he plans to honor Rourke’s wishes every night onstage with Blitz Vega.

LYNDSANITY: One of the first Blitz Vega interviews you and Andy ever did was when I had a radio show on SiriusXM, in 2019. So, obviously I’m very happy to see you again, but it’s bittersweet circumstances because Andy’s not with now. I’m sure you’ve been asked this in every recent interview you’ve done for this project, but how does it feel to have this album finally coming out under these circumstances?

KAV SANDHU:  I mean, it kind of feels good to get it out, because it’s been an eight-year journey. It’s kind of strange, really. … I don’t know what to think. My honest answer is I’m not really thinking about it too much; I’m just doing it. Andy made it really easy for me to get on with the project because he made me promise him that I would release the record and take it on the road. So, that’s what I’m doing. Trying to answer that is just difficult because I don’t know what I think, really. I’m just happy it’s coming out.

It’s been a longer journey than most people realize. You two were both Manchester royalty, since you used to be in Happy Mondays, but refresh my memory about how you two met and became friends and eventually bandmates.

Well, I was in a band from my hometown in Leicester, which is in the middle of England, and we were up in Manchester and we were doing a show, and Andy was there. Mani from the Stone Roses brought him over to the show. He was already aware of us as a band. … The band was called A.K.A. Weave. It never really sort of launched in the end, but Andy came to the show and there was a couple of guys from New Order and Oasis and just bands that we really looked up to. Andy came backstage afterwards and he encouraged us and he was just humble and just really nice. And so, we stayed in touch over the years. And then I was playing Coachella with Happy Mondays in 2007… and Andy and I hung out afterwards and he was like, “If you ever a fancy starting a band, then I’d love to work with you.” I suppose both of us sort of take our time with things a little bit! It was suggested in 2007 that we would work together, and then forward a few years to December 2016 when it finally happened. And then once we were in the studio, it was just the most enjoyable recording experience, creative experience that I’d ever been involved with. Just to be in the studio with him was… he was incredible. He was genuinely the greatest musician and man I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

Andy Rourke and Kav Sandhu of Blitz Vega. (photo: Lexi Bonin)

It wasn’t totally public knowledge, but Andy had cancer and had been battling it intermittently over the years. When you finally got around to making Northern Gentleman, was he sick at the time? Was he aware that he was battling against time or working on borrowed time? What were you two up against while you were making this record?

Well, we always knew it was there. The band was a seven-year project, and for five of those years, Andy was battling pancreatic cancer. So, we were always aware that it was there. It was this weird thing that was kind of like a bit of a shadow hanging over him, but he never let us think about it. Apart from personal phone calls between us, we never really spoke about it. He was just really, really positive. He loved working on the Blitz Vega stuff so much. It gave him so much joy. He was having treatment in New York at Sloan Kettering, and then the next day he would be on a flight to L.A. to get to the studio because he was so excited about working on this record. And as soon as he was in the studio… it was great because we could close the door and we were just in our own bubble. He never really let you think about how he was unwell or he was on borrowed time. And to be totally honest, you just wouldn’t know, because he looked great. His spirits were high all the time. It was only really in 2023 when it started really impacting him physically. That’s when we really realized, “OK, well, there is a chance that he might not be around for too long.” But even in March 2023, he was talking about going back on tour. That was something he was aiming for, and it was difficult for him, but when he was making the music, when he was talking about the music, he was really happy.

And it wasn’t until sort of April 2023… I suppose I’m just an optimist in the way I think generally. I just didn’t feel that there was any need to even think about the fact that he may not be here. So, he had to really sit me down and get my attention. He was very calm and he really had to drill it into me. He was like, “Kav, you need to listen to me. I don’t think I’m going to make it, and I just want you to promise me that the album will be released and you’ll take it on the road. That’s the only thing I want you to promise me that you’ll do.” So, we kind of shook hands. I hugged him. That was three weeks before he passed away. It was very difficult. But he took all the decisions out of away from me, really — after he passed, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t have to sit around and think, “Should I do this or should I not do this?” It was like, “No, I promised Andy, so it doesn’t matter about what I feel about it at the moment. I’ve got to honor the promise and just get on with that.” And then if I do that, then I’ve delivered on why said I would do.

Was the album completed, or were you tasked with having to finish some loose ends after Andy passed?

He’d approved it. He’d chosen the track order. We had 17 songs that we put forward for the record. Andy wanted a 10-song record, so we got it down to 10, and then everything was mixed and ready. He had a few notes the last time I saw him. After he passed, then I just got into the studio with Will Kennedy, and we just sat in the studio and worked on Andy’s notes. It took us a bit of time, until the middle of July in 2023.

So, there’s seven other songs that might they see the light of day at some point?

Well, we’ve got seven songs that are completed, and then there’s lots of songs, because we were recording for seven years! There’s a lot of songs that he recorded that we never really finished that are just sitting there, that I haven’t even listened to yet. So, who knows. But we’ve got a documentary that we were making for seven years, with all the behind-the-scenes stuff and everything we were doing in the studio. That was due to come out actually while Andy was here, so we put that on the back burner after he passed. It’s something we’re sort of picking up again now. We were in talks with various streaming networks about that, and we’ll see. There’s a possibility it may be released at the end of 2025. It’s kind of like both of our journeys, and the band’s journey to making this record, and everything that happened in between and everything that was going on between L.A., New York, and London.

Andy Rourke and Kav Sandhu of Blitz Vega. (photo: Shane McKenzie)

Given everything you just told me about Andy’s illness and his awareness of it and all the conversations that you had towards the end of his life, do you think this project maybe extended his life? Like maybe it kept him going, gave him something to live for and be excited about and get out of bed every day for, and it kept him healthy for longer than he otherwise would have been?

Yeah, it had a huge positive impact on him. He was so engaged. It’s all he spoke about. We were on the phone every few days; if we weren’t together, we were talking about it. We spent hours just kind of hanging out, talking about it when we were together, and then all the sessions in the studio as well. He really felt that it was his project, and that’s something that really came across to me; I was just happy to be part of it with him. And I learned so much. He gave me so much confidence as well, to really sort of dig deep in myself for my lyrics and stuff, whereas before maybe I thought a little too much about what people thought. Andy had this amazing ability to give you confidence and make you feel relaxed and just kind of express yourself in the truest and most honest way.

Had you grown up being a big Smiths fan? I know you’re younger than Andy, so when you first got with him, were you like, “Oh my God, I can’t even believe this guy wants to start a band with me,” that kind of thing?

Well, yeah! I mean, I’ve known him for years, so we were sort of friends, but yeah, I remember the first day he came to the studio. Me and Asa [Brown], the keyboard player, had just recorded our parts, and Andy picked up the bass and he played the bassline. And we kind of just looked over at each other. It was a song called “L.A. Vampire,” and it’s got a very Smiths-esque kind of Andy Rourke bassline to it. We both kind of looked at each other and kind of smiled and thought, “Wow, Andy Rourke’s played bass on our song!” That was a moment where you just had this style of bass and feel that only he had, and you’d heard on so many records. It was such a huge part of your youth, every indie/alternative club night we went to when we were kids. He was always one of my all-time favorite bass players, so to work with him was, yeah, quite mind-blowing at times.

But because he was so humble, he knew how good he was, but he was always surprised when somebody recognized him or just came up to him and said, “Hey, you’re Andy from the Smiths!” He would be as shocked as he was the first time somebody had said that to him [in the ‘80s]. He was quite a funny character like that. I remember once we were in a restaurant in Los Feliz and Thom Yorke was there. Thom Yorke just seemed to be looking and going, “That’s Andy Rourke,” whereas Andy was like, “That’s Thom Yorke.” He couldn’t understand. Obviously the Smiths are one of [Thom’s] favorite bands, but [Andy] was very laid-back about it. So yeah, as soon as you plugged the bass in, you just knew that was it. And that’s what he said. He said, “I just want to play bass. That’s it.”

Obviously this brings me to asking about a track that came out on the album called “Strong Forever,” which features Johnny Marr from the Smiths. Tell me about the experience of recording that. Unlike some other members of the Smiths that are often in the news, having seeming wars of words through publicists and managers, it seems like Andy and Johnny were always very simpatico and had remained friendly over the years.

Yeah, I think Andy was cool with pretty much everyone. That was a bit of a moment. It just came out of the blue. We were recording in March 2020, just before COVID really hit, and we were in a studio in L.A. and Andy had turned up with a mask. And that was the first time I’d really seen anyone wear a mask. And then when L.A. started shutting down, we left the studio and we’d recorded half of “Strong Forever” together. So then, basically Andy calls me a week later after I’ve gone back to England, and he was like, “Oh, Johnny said he’ll play on ‘Strong Forever.’” He was so blasé, the way he said it! Within a few days, Johnny Marr had basically recorded his guitar parts at home in his studio and sent them over. I remember sitting in my studio in England, and I just muted all the other music and just listened to Andy Rourke and Johnny Marr playing together. Yeah, it was a moment.

I get chills just from you telling me that!

It was beautiful. That’s the only thing I can say. The only thing I can say is it just sounded beautiful. That’s what it was. You could feel the magic of those two musicians and why they meant so much to so many people. And obviously they still do. It was very special to be a part of that track. … It’s a special song just to have those two guys on it together, and it meant the world to Andy, because his best mate from school was playing guitar at it. He was really happy about that.

Lots of Smiths fans were excited to hear those two on a record. It’s interesting timing to do this interview with you, when there’s been another wave of Smiths news about the acrimony between Morrissey and Marr. We all knew a Smiths reunion was never going to happen anyway, and now it’s really not going to happen, because it’s not a Smiths reunion if Andy is not part of it. But do you have any insight if a Smiths reunion, even if it was just a one-off, was something that was ever in Andy’s dreams or something he would have ever considered?

He didn’t really talk about it that much, but I mean, he would’ve done it if Johnny Marr had suggested it. I think that was it. I think he would’ve gone with whatever Johnny would’ve suggested, really, and he would’ve been up for it if the rest of the band were up for it. So, I think if Morrissey and Johnny Marr had worked it out and they were doing it, then Andy would’ve definitely done it. He loved the stuff he did with the Smiths. I’ve definitely surprised a few people at parties in L.A. when Andy would show up and Smiths tunes would be playing, and then he would talk to people about it and get really excited about it. And if there was a bass there, he’d pull it out and play, or a guitar or whatever — he’d play along to it. So yeah, I think he would’ve definitely, definitely enjoyed that.

Do you feel in general that Andy is known for being as great a bass player as he truly was? Do you feel he’s gotten his due as one of the bass greats?

I don’t really know. I suppose musicians really respect him. Bass players respect him. But I think he should be regarded as one of the greatest bass players because he was so unusual and so unique. Obviously with the stuff he did with the Smiths, the bass drives a lot of the music and the guitar weaves in and out on top, and they work so well together. And the space between those three musicians is exceptional as well. He was so talented at such a young age. And I think he grew. Obviously even the stuff he did with Sinead O’Connor and the Pretenders and people like that, you can really sort of hear “Andy Rourke.” And in the stuff he did with Blitz Vega as well. I mean, when you saw him in the studio and you saw him play and create, it was effortless. It was just there. It was just a part of him. And yeah, I’d like to see him respected, I suppose, in a wider way. But I suppose really any musicians, whether they’re a fan of the Smiths or not, can listen to him and go, “Wow, what an exceptional musician. How did he do that?”

I consider Blitz Vega a supergroup, but this wasn’t the first supergroup that Andy had been in. He was in Freebass with Mani from the Stone Roses and Peter Hook, and he was in D.A.R.K. with Dolores O’Riordan from the Cranberries, who sadly is also no longer with us. So, what was it that he got out of it of joining forces in these supergroups?

I think people just wanted him in their bands! I think if Andy Rourke joins your band, you don’t need to worry about the bass. But I think with Blitz Vega, he was so involved with the songwriting as well, to the point where it brought the creation of the songs. I’m not sure how involved he was in all of his projects. I think he was quite involved with the D.A.R.K. stuff as well, and the stuff with Hooky and Mani, but with Blitz Vega, he was creating — it was coming from him, a lot of the songs, the ideas and stuff. I think he just loved being in bands. Like he said, he just wanted to play bass. So, if he joined a band, he was there. He was ready to go.

Tell me about the process of forming the sound of Blitz Vega together.

The thing was, we went into it just to record and enjoy recording, just being creative without any chains. Andy said to me early on, “Let’s just create music that we would like to listen to.” That was it, really. We had such a wide range of genres that we were into, if you could call them “genres.” I’m not really a fan of genres; I just like music. So, all of those influences just followed us around and ended up in our music. We could have been listening to an album on the way to the studio, as we did a lot. I would pick him up and we’d sit in the car, in traffic, obviously in L.A., and just be listening to tunes and then going into the studio, and subconsciously that would influence in some way. Generally, the running joke could always be, “Oh, that sounds a bit Stonesy,” because we were both huge Rolling Stones fans, and that would be something we would connect on a lot. Neil Young and all those influences may not shine through as obviously as others, but there was no plan to make it sound any way. It was just, “Whatever happens, and let’s not overthink it.” So yeah, we just made an album that we enjoyed listening to.

Was the intention ever for this to be a full album or a full-fledged band, or did it start just as a lark? Did you expect it would go this far?

So, we started recording, and after the first day, the first session, Andy was so excited about it that we decided to start the band. And then we thought we’d just focus on the studio, but then we started getting offered tours. So, we had tours booked. But we canceled three U.S. tours, 40 dates. We canceled South American dates. We canceled so many shows.

Was that because of the pandemic, or because Andy was ill?

It was because Andy was ill, and then the pandemic [derailed] the last tour. So, two of the tours were canceled because of Andy’s illness, and then the last one because of the pandemic. The whole idea, was once we’d been in the studio for a few months, was to just tour and play as much as we can. That’s all we wanted to do, but it was strange — it was the only thing we couldn’t really do. And so, the show we played at House of Machines in L.A. back in July 2019 was the only proper show we would’ve ever played.

Wow, I was there that night. I knew it was your first show, but I did not realize that ended up being your…

First and last. Yeah.

That was such a special night. Can you take me back to what it was like to be onstage with Andy that one time?

I look back at it, and if somebody asked me, “If you could rewind to one moment in your musical career, what would it be?,” it would be the days leading up to that show and playing that show. Just because being onstage with Andy after recording and spending so much time in the studio was just really special. He was in such a great place then as well. He was just in the zone. He was just at his best, and even though he had the illness there, it was kind of not getting any worse, and it seemed like he was going to beat it at that point. So, we were kind of looking forward to really going for it. So yeah, it was unfortunate that we weren’t able to play shows, but now [Blitz Vega] will play as many as we can in his honor. He obviously wanted the album out, but he knew that this band should be a touring band and the music should be played onstage. So, we’ll do that. But yeah, it’s sad that we didn’t get a chance to really do that as much as we wanted to.

What is the plan for the upcoming Blitz Vega shows?

We played La Scala in London in February. We’ve done a couple of shows in the last few days. So, it is just a matter of bringing in different bass players. It’s not something where we bring in a band member to replace Andy. It’s more we bring in different guest bass players, whoever wants to jump on board and works and plays his role really well. I think that’s the most important thing, really. It was really strange doing that first show, but I always remember, sort of two songs in, I could really feel [Andy’s] energy there. Because he was such a huge part of the music, it’s a weird thing — you feel a lot closer to him being onstage playing the songs. It’s kind of like you’re connecting in a different way. I genuinely feel him as I’m onstage singing. We did these shows up in Edinburgh, and he was just there. It’s really strange, and that’s another reason to play as many, many shows as possible, really.

Will you be playing L.A. again?

Yes. I still spend probably most of my time in Los Angeles, and I’ll be over this year for a couple of months, and then I think we’re doing a special show for Andy in March [2025]. We’re going to be planting some trees for him and stuff, something that was important to him. And yeah, we want to do a show. I can’t really say the venue at the moment because we’re just going through all the details, but we want to just get as many guests together and people who are influenced by him and inspired by [Andy] and people he knew, and just come together and celebrate him and play the Blitz Vega stuff as well.

I will absolutely be there. In the meantime, thank you for taking your time to do this interview, and thank you for seeing this project to fruition and honoring Andy’s wishes. Do you have any final words about how you’re feeling during this album release week?

No, just that I hope people who get a chance to listen to the record, enjoy it, and can feel the energy and passion we put into making it. And that’s it, really.

Andy Rourke and Kav Sandhu of Blitz Vega. (photo: Lexi Bonin)