‘No nostalgia’: Edwyn Collins on life after stroke

“You are a most uncooperative subject,” Grace says, half-teasing her husband Edwyn as she places his left hand in her lap and clips his fingernails with astonishing speed.

‘Searching for the truth’

“Might as well while I’m at it. A full set, give me your thumb,” she adds. “Yup, brilliant” says Edwyn before reaching for his guitar.

Clipping complete, Grace leans against him and with one hand begins strumming. Edwyn’s freshly manicured fingers move along the fretboard as he begins singing ‘I’m searching for the truth…’. They glance at one another, mid ballad, and laugh.

If a set-up sequence for a TV news piece could ever constitute an impromptu gig, then this may just turn out to be the last Edwyn plays in the London home he’s shared with Grace for the last 20 years.

They’re on the move. The terraced house in Kilburn – which the 1994 world-wide hit A Girl Like You bought – is about to be sold. The West Heath Yard studio in West Hampstead has already gone. They’re heading back to Scotland full-time, to their beloved Helmsdale on the north eastern coast. “We’re building a studio,” says Grace.

The couple (Grace is Edwyn’s manager) are currently immersed in projects.

There is the new studio in Helmsdale, the record label (AED Records) they run, the online shop (which also showcases Edwyn’s wildlife illustrations), the concerts, the fellow musicians they produce, and now a 82 minute film due to preview in cinemas later this month called The Possibilities are Endless, a poignant, at times mesmerising account of Edwyn’s recovery in the years following his stroke.

‘Endless possibilities’

“What do you remember of the first haemorrhage?” I ask him. “Nothing at all” replies Edwyn, “nothing at all. Bang. That’s it”.

He suffered a catastrophic bleed on his brain one night, followed a few days later by another. He then contracted MRSA in the hospital which nearly proved to be fatal.

I’m trying to carry on with my life and art, all the rest of it and Orange Juice is no long viable. Edwyn Collins

“I thought he had died,” says Grace. “There was a lot of tension and drama as his life hung in the balance for some time”.

The Possibilities are Endless (one of the only phrases Edwyn could say in the early days of recovery) offers a rare glimpse into the mind of a man whose memories were effectively deleted.

The film is impressionistic, often abstract, presenting the viewer with a more sensory, immersive experience over conventional narrative, particularly in the imagery used to convey the aftermath of a stroke.

“A little too arty,” Edwyn says referring to one underwater sequence, but “it’s beautifully shot, it’s the story of my life.”

The directors, Edward Lovelace and James Hall (who also made the film Katy Perry: Part of Me) are long-time fans of Edwyn. It is a moving, affectionate portrait.

The scenes showing Grace and Edwyn quietly navigating the challenges thrown up by the debilitating consequences of his stroke (he had to learn how to read, write, and walk all over again) are gentle and unhurried.

The sweeping windswept landscapes around Helmsdale are presented as a healing force, so too the ever-present and indefatigable Grace, but Collins’s return to the stage offers perhaps the most compelling, moving sequence in the film.

There were moments with fear, but his comeback has been punctuated by moments of joy and positivity. Grace

In our interview he recalls his first return performance on stage in Camden in 2007: “I was so nervous to begin with… then the crowd went mental actually. I’m back, cheering and whooping, what an atmosphere”. Grace was also terrified. That was before she saw the crowd respond and Edwyn begin performing again. “Edwyn’s quite a big ham” she says. “Excuse me Grace!” he replies in mock indignation. She continues: “The ham was in there in all its glory”. Edwyn again: “Behave yourself Grace!”.

The film has been described as a “hymn to happiness”. But I ask whether it shies away too much from chronicling what must have been intensely dark, bleak moments for the pair: “I don’t think they’ve been edited out entirely,” replies Grace, “There were moments with fear, but his comeback has been punctuated by moments of joy and positivity.”

Edwyn’s speech is still faltering, sometimes a little jumbled; the right side of his body is still far from fluent, but at times you get the sense he feels liberated by what has happened to him: “No nostalgia for me,” he says emphatically.

“I’m trying to carry on with my life and art, all the rest of it and Orange Juice is no long viable…” Grace interjects with the word “relevant.” “Relevant… thank you Grace,” he continues, “to me its ‘nowadays’ I’m thinking about… No nostalgia for me!”.

And, amidst the constant laughter, we’re on to the next topic: Edwyn’s goals for the future. The Possibilities are Endless. It is a brilliantly apt title.

Following its UK premiere at London Film Festival 11 October, The Possibilities are Endless will go on a special UK preview tour and be available on iTunes from 20 October, ahead of its general UK release 7 November. www.thepossibilities.co.uk