Mark Knopfler gives update on the future of Dire Straits and chances of reunion
Knopfler will release a new solo album later this week
MILAN, ITALY – MAY 10: Mark Knopfler performs at Mediolanum Forum on May 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Prandoni/Getty Images)
Mark Knopfler has spoken about the chances of Dire Straits ever reuniting, which he admits is “unlikely”.
Dire Straits played as a band for just under two decades, forming in 1977 before calling it quits in 1995. Although Knopfler still works closely with his former bandmate Guy Fletcher, who appeared on his recent charity single for Teenage Cancer Trust, he has said this probably won’t ever lead to a proper Dire Straits reunion.
Asked about the prospect of the band getting back together by BBC Breakfast, he says: “I don’t think so for a number of reasons, one of them being that I’ve built my own studio, which I really love and and I haven’t had a bad day in there.
“And it’s given me the chance to really push. I mean, this last album, I have done far too many songs…”
He continues: “I love Dire Straits and I loved doing all that but what I wanted to do was just to expand and work with different players and have a bigger line-up.
“The last time I had the band in, and that’s the high point for me, I would probably have had about six or seven guys.
“Bigger than the little four-piece that was stripped down when we had it, and that was great, I loved it.
“I had an absolute ball for as long as it lasted, until it got so big that I didn’t know the names of all the roadies, it was just getting big,” he adds. “It got so big, we were actually leapfrogging stages, and that is what you have to do when you get to a certain scale.”
Knopfler will release his new solo album, One Deep River, on 12th April.
Meanwhile, he recently spoke in praise of fellow Geordie Sam Fender, telling Chronicle Live: “He is the business, there is no doubt about that. As always, it is all based around the songs. He is the new local hero. Sam can go as far as he wants.”