Q. The legend goes that you and David Ferguson saw a
particular band perform and were unhappy with the
result, which inspired the two of you to start making
music together. Did you have a specific vision of what
you wanted the band to be?
A. Not really, it was more a matter of what we didn't
want to be. We weren't at all keen on American music.
We wanted what we did to be strongly European. David
most probably had a vision, probably more than one. He
tends to have a lot more opinions than I do. We always
wanted the music to be emotional. That was the crux of
it.
Q. When Random Hold toured the United States with Peter Gabriel, you were
the lead singer as well as playing. I would imagine
that was a very different experience from performing
with PG or the other work you've done. Care to
comment?
A. I'd only recorded with Peter at the time so I only
had experience of performing with RH. I'd become the
singer by default, as there was no one else going to
do it. I ended up enjoying it, though I didn't enjoy
having to talk on stage or do interviews. I preferred
it if Bill or David did that kind of thing. I never
felt as though the opinions I had about things were
worthy of being in print or on the radio. I felt that
the music should speak for itself. I still feel that
way.
Q. Is it true that when you started with
Manscheinen/Random Hold you could barely play the
guitar?
A. I'd played a bit as a teenager, but then stopped
almost completely between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-one, when first rugby, and then art dominated
my interests. I only really started to play seriously
when I left art school. Even then my approach was more
to do with noise making than anything else. When I
started to work for Peter, I had to improve, but I'm
still relatively inept technically. I can't remember
how many guitar players Berklee spews out every year,
but I would suggest that they're all superior
technicians to me.
Q. Many think that RH was one of the first New Wave
bands -- were you consciously
trying to break new ground?
A. We hoped that we were doing something fresh. In
reality we didn't push hard or fast enough, so that we
were left to one side as the New Wave bands broke
through. We were perhaps a bit too heavy and possibly
not bold enough. Then I left, so that was that, as far
as I was concerned.
Q. How do you feel about Random Hold all these years
later?
A. Better than I used to. I haven't listened since the
CD was released, but I felt then that Bill's (MacCormick) playing
sounded a lot stronger than I remembered it. The live
tracks, I enjoyed; good and edgy.
Q. Do you feel you ever got close to what you wanted?
A. Yes at times. I wish we'd been more able, but perhaps
the simplicity of the music was its strength.
Q. Can you share a little about some specific Random Hold
songs? 'Dolphin Logic'?
A. The title was the name of a band in South London,
who became Friendly Rifles, and later The Camberwell
Now. It's an odd song. The opening chords were
originally in a Manscheinen piece, which was meant to
be about a Giacometti sculpture of four small figures,
which he described as four women walking across a
large marble floor. The line about discipline and
desire, was taken from the title of a sculpture that I
can't recall. It summed up a feeling that I still
have, that one is constantly torn between what one
knows to be correct and proper behaviour, and the
devil nagging away on your shoulder. It was fun to
play and sing.
Q. 'Today is as Good as Any Other'?
A. The Medals Of Dishonour were some medallions that
the sculptor David Smith produced. That was the
starting point. I can't find the book I have about
him, but I would think he made them back in the
fifties. He was a major influence on the way metal was
used to create sculpture, on a larger scale than
anyone else had attempted before.
Q. 'Wallpaper Song'?
A. Bill came along with the music for this, and I
wrote the lyrics, which are about the impossibility of
escaping yourself. I enjoyed performing it. It was
quite hard work...a lot of words to blurt out.
Q. 'The Ballad'?
A. This was a very early song. We liked the idea that
it was a waltz. I can't remember any of the lyrics, so
I can't really comment on those. The guitar part in
the middle is delightfully simplistic. It was our
first (only?) song to be played on the radio. I waited
in to hear it in the evening, and felt disappointed
that it didn't feel wonderful to hear something I'd
helped make being played to loads of people.
Q. 'Passive Camera'?
A. This was very good to perform, the opening section especially,
banging straight in. Again I don't remember the lyrics. I seem
to remember looking at war photography at the time, Don McCullin
and also thinking of Greek and Roman
warfare. Is it about the awfulness of just being an observer? I
think so. It is terrible not to be active.
Q. 'Precarious Timbers'?
A. This was one of the first RH tunes to be written,
along with Montgomery Clift. The title is a play on
'timbres'. I used to enjoy reading John Cage, and it
wouldn't surprise me if I nicked the idea from
him. The chorus chord sequence is still one I play
sometimes. It has a pleasing chugging quality to it,
along with its seeming circularity.
Q. When Random Hold toured the United States with Peter Gabriel, you were
the lead singer as well as playing. How did this differ from your previous experience?
A. I'd only recorded with Peter at the time so I only
had experience of performing with RH. I'd become the
singer by default, as there was no one else going to
do it. I ended up enjoying it, though I didn't enjoy
having to talk on stage or do interviews. I preferred
it if Bill or David did that kind of thing. I never
felt as though the opinions I had about things were
worthy of being in print or on the radio. I felt that
the music should speak for itself. I still feel that
way.
On Various and Sundry Projects
Q. How did you come to work with
Akira Inoue on "Snowflake" and "Head Hands & Feet"?
A. Akira was making some recordings in London years
ago (mid-eighties?), and the engineer had suggested I
come in to play. When I arrived and set up the
engineer came smugly over, and handed me the
manuscript for the piece I was to work on, telling me
that it was in 13/8, and facetiously wishing me luck.
I really needed it. My main problem being that I don't
read music. I decided the only way to deal with the
situation was with bravado, so I turned the sheet of
music upside down and told them to play the track and
that I'd find my way. I must have done okay as I still
see, and work with Akira.
"Snowflake" was Akira's aunt's idea. The thought was
that it would be good to make a story album, with
songs that were not only aimed at children, but that a
parent and child could enjoy together. The story was
read in both English and Japanese. I think Akira's
aunt had made the translation into Japanese. About
four years ago we performed "Snowflake" in a theatre
just outside Tokyo, with Akira's eighty year old aunt
reading. It was a very gentle, reflective and
enjoyable evening.
The other record has some good things and some bad on
it. Akira had wanted to make a record that combined
rock/pop elements with the traditional sound of the
koto. Some tunes worked well, others not so
successfully. We've performed material from that a
couple of times in Japan.
Q. What is one of your favorite past projects
(not including working with PG)?
A. I would think that the Scott Walker record "Tilt",
has to rank as one of my favourite projects. I only
worked on it for a few days, but it was challenging
and fun, and the results are wonderfully strange.
Q. You worked with Paul McCartney on "Flowers in the
Dirt". How did the two of you connect?
A. The producer Mitchell Froom, was working with
McCartney, and he asked me to play on a couple of
songs. I'm not sure that Paul was too fussed about
what I did, as only work for one tune made it to the
album. It was a slightly odd experience as Paul and
Mitchell had a minor falling out during the time I was
working.
Q. You've written music for Graham Dean's
installations. Could you tell a little about how
that came about and what the music was like?
A. I've done music to a couple of Graham's films over
the years. He's an old friend, and as you may know it
was he who suggested PG come and see the band all
those years ago (1979). The music to his film, which
is about his use of watercolour, is really like a
washing line, endeavouring to help hold the film
together. Really just giving it an aural as thread.
There's a simple groove, with a guitar noises/parts
highlighting the visuals.
Q. You appeared on the cover of "Rites of Passage" by
Vitamin Z. What was the nature of your collaboration
with them -- did you write with them as well as play?
A. I was employed as a player on the album, and as
things went along, they felt that they wanted me to be
more involved...that meant getting my picture on the
back cover! [It was the front cover - ed.]
Nick and Geoff wrote the record, and there was another
member who I think bailed out, but I'm not sure about
that. They were very pleasant, and most of the
recording was done at Abbey Road, which was fun. Ross
Cullum, the producer, is very funny and interesting. I
last saw Geoff maybe eleven years ago. I guess their
project fizzled out, as so many do.
Q. Any tales to tell about working with Talk Talk?
A. The Talk Talk work was always challenging. I seem
to remember one of the first things I did for them was
“Life's What You Make It”. They were looking for some
little guitar interludes. I remember Mark suggesting
that I play like Acker Bilk. (Acker Bilk is a schmaltzy
clarinet player). I nodded, and carried on. It worked.
Soon after that they asked me to do a show in France
with them. I learned the material, and then had two
afternoons rehearsal with the band. That worked out
as four times through the show. Mark came in for the
last run through. The next day we traveled to France
for a festival date, maybe thirty thousand people. I
expected to be tucked up at the back of the stage
where I'd be able to check on my notes and keep my
head down That was not to be. I was stage right, down
at the front; trial by fire. Soon after that they
asked me to tour with them round Europe, so I must
have done okay.
Q. You produced and played on T-Bone Burnett's album,
"Talking Animals". Any particular memories of that
experience?
A. T-Bone is quite a character. Unfortunately I
haven't worked with or for him since. I have fond
memories of that record. It was the first time that I
met and worked with Tchad Blake (the engineer and now
producer), who is still a good friend. If I remember
rightly ‘Monkey Dance’ had some nice guitar things in it.
The whole record was quite wacky, which of course came
from the material, but I seem to remember reading somewhere
that T-Bone's fans thought it was too straight. Strange.
'The Story of Frank Cash' was especially odd, and funny.
At the time T-Bone was just getting into playing poker at
the weekends. I'm not sure if he was ever into the horses.
He suggested I read some Flannery O'Connor which I did.
I should re-read some of those stories.
Q. You played on the album "Mystery Girl" with Roy
Orbison - what was that like?
A. I never met him. T-Bone was producing, and I'd
flown into LA a day early by mistake. I hadn't read my
ticket properly so I showed up at the airport a day
early in London and had it pointed out to me that my
flight was for the following day. Fortunately I could
change my flight to leave that same day, as I didn't
want to go back home.
I arrived in LA, and met up with T-Bone in the evening
just after I'd checked into the hotel, and he asked me
if I'd play on the Elvis Costello song that was
written for Orbison. (I gather Ry Cooder had declined
to play on the track after he'd seen the chord chart,
which was a tad complicated.)
So the next day I went and played on it. T-Bone didn't
show up, but that was okay as I just worked with the
engineer. (I never did get paid for that job.)
Q. Since you don't read music, how do you know what to
play when you come in to do session work? Do you just
play what you think sounds good?
A. You just have to listen and respond. Often people
have fixed ideas of what they want which is fine.
Occasionally people have asked me to play things that
I simply can't, so you have to suggest that they might
be better off with someone else.
Q. If you "listen and respond" to determine what you play, aren't you
essentially writing your own guitar parts?
A. Sometimes I'm given free rein, and at others
something specific may be asked for. Often one enters
an area of workable compromise where something is
suggested, and you try to take it to another stage.
Artists and managers are generally reluctant to accept
that a player has contributed more than just the
ability to play. Hence the offer of a share in
publishing is never forthcoming.
Q. What happened to your 'upcoming' solo album which was
mentioned in the liner notes of "Plus From Us"?
A. There was never a complete album, though there were
a number of songs, and there still are, and quite by
chance I listened to them the other day. There are ten
or eleven songs, but as with all these things as soon
as you go back to them you find large chunks that are
perhaps not as good as you once felt they were. In
fact there are bits I actively dislike. There are
maybe three or four that still stand up.
Q. What else have you been working on?
A. Two projects I spent a long time on were the music
for a game, Atlantis 3, and also the animated feature
"La Gabbianella Et Il Gatto", an Italian film, which I
scored and wrote the songs for. Sadly it was never
distributed in its English version, though I gather it
is shown occasionally on the Disney channel, titled
"Lucky and Zorba" [Also available on video in
its English version – ed.]. It was released throughout
Europe in different language versions. It's an animated
feature, for children, containing five songs, with a
guitarry soundtrack. The story is about a cat that
raises a seagull and teaches it to fly. Whilst their
enemy, the sewer rats try to rise up and take over the
city. It's good fun. There is a follow up due within
the next two or three years. Animation is a long
winded process.
Q. How did Midge Ure get involved with "Lucky
and Zorba"?
A. Midge lives not too far away from Real World, so we
occasionally meet up at social events. I asked him
to sing a couple of parts on the soundtrack. The part
of one of the cats, and to join in the chorus of the rats.
Midge was a better cat than rat. Peter Hammill helped out too.
Q. You said previously that you're still writing...do
you have a 'process'? Music first? Lyrics first? Can
you sit down and decide to write, or do you wait for inspiration?
A. It's all a bit haphazard right now. It tends to be
that I have some guitar ideas knocking about that I
work on a little, then discard, hence the lack of
progress.
Q. Aside from an early tour with David Sylvain
(Japan), and touring extensively with Peter Gabriel,
who else have you toured with?
A. I toured a few times with Blancmange - Europe and
the States. Talk Talk in Europe. Battiato in Italy.
Tim Finn, mostly shows in the States. France Gall, in
France.
On Personal Preferences
Q. Do you prefer playing guitar and being a supporting
player, or do you enjoy taking center stage as a
vocalist as well?
A. I enjoy singing a lot, and I should do more. I also
love playing, and I should do more of that too!
Q. What types of music do you enjoy?
A. Today I was listening to Nick Drake, "Pink Moon",
and "Axis" the Hendrix album. Also 'Hurt', and
'Wichita Lineman', by Johnny Cash. Other things I put
on at the moment are, Arvo Part's "Tabula Rasa", a
couple of Bill Frisell albums, and Glen Gould.
Q. What types of books do you enjoy?
A. I really enjoyed the Phillip Pullman trilogy, "The
Amber Spyglass", (which I think has a different title
in the U.S.). [Known in the States as "His Dark Materials" - ed.]
I read that at the end of last year. I'm
currently reading, "Bright Earth", which is a history
of colour in painting, and a travel book, "Cathedrals
Of The Flesh", which is about bathing. In the past,
I've gone through periods of reading classic authors.
I'm now less of a literary snob and tend to read
purely for pleasure, rather than self
improvement...
Q. You majored in Fine Art in school, specifically in sculpture.
Do you still sculpt?
A. Unfortunately I don't make sculpture any more,
though I'm quite happy making things out of wood
around the house as needs be. I constructed a privy in
the garden, and also a tree house. So I'm happy working
with my hands.
Q. PG often introduces you as an avid gardener...
A. The garden does give me pleasure and I
spend quite a lot of time on it. I look after just
under an acre, which is a mixture of some smallish
flower beds, a veg patch, some grassy areas and an
orchard area that's left pretty rough.
Q. Do you enjoy playing acoustic guitar as well as
electric?
A. I'm only capable of strumming. Finger picking is
not something I've ever even tried. I enjoy listening
to acoustic players, particularly Ralph Towner, but it
doesn't suit me. It is too pure. I like the fact that
the sound of the electric guitar can be treated with
so many effects, that you don't necessarily know what
it is.
Q. When you listen to music, do you listen as a fan or
as a musician?
A. Generally both. I suppose it is almost impossible
for a musician not to start analysing music when they
hear it. My analysis never runs too deep!
Q. Do you think of things you might have done
differently if you were playing a particular piece, or
can you enjoy it passively?
A. Sometimes I'll hear something, and wish that I'd
come up with that idea or sound, and wonder how it was
achieved, but I don't fret over it. Hendrix is my
favourite guitar player to listen to, and I never bother
trying to figure out what's going on. The fluidity and
violence are mind boggling.
Q. Is there anyone making music now who you haven't
worked with, but would like to?
A. I've always imagined that working for [David] Bowie
would be good, though really I'm perhaps not rock and
roll enough for his band.
Q. Do you have a dream project that you haven't been
able to do? If so, what would it be?
A. I'd like to make a very loud record.
I'd also like to make a record of small simple songs.
The other thing I'd really like would be to work on
big soundtracks. The combination of picture and music
can create very strong emotions.
Q. Do you still have the studio behind your house?
A. The shed [I] used to work in has had the studio
element dismantled, so I don't play in there any more.
Q. Do you prefer studio work to playing live or vice
versa, and why?
A. They are two very different disciplines. Recording,
you're always trying to serve the song, but also push
things as far as you can...if you're allowed.
Performing a show is really about consistency, and
making sure that the singer is completely comfortable
with the songs. You're also having to make sure the
sound man is happy and confident, and also that you're
working with the lighting department. You have to be
comfortable with yourself; not always so easy.
Q. What is the best part of being a professional
musician, and what is the worst part?
A. The worst part is not knowing what you're going to
be doing from day to day, and consequently how the
mortgage payments will be met. The best part is the
privilege of making a living, however precarious,
doing something that is creative and that you love to
do.
On Working With Peter Gabriel Through The Years
Q. Any recollections of the first time you stepped
into the recording studio with PG?
A. The first time was when Peter invited the Randoms
to try playing through some material. We arrived at
his barn studio late one morning and he appeared from
round the back of the building, wet and covered in
mud. There had been small flood of the barn, which was
really just a rehearsal room at the time. He and his
two roadies were digging a ditch to try and divert the
rainwater from the building. All the old carpets were
soaking inside, so it stank, and stayed that way for the
three or four days we were working there. It was from
that time that I was then asked to play on PG3.
Going into the same barn some months later was much
more daunting. At least the first time I had been with
my friends. This time Peter had a mobile studio there,
with the producer, engineer, and musicians Jerry
Marotta and John Giblin. I felt most inept when we
started up, as the standard of playing was so high,
but Peter was kind and supportive, and really helped
me to get through it. He was very patient with me, for
which I am most grateful.
Q. Can you share any memories of the first Amnesty
Tour?
A. I remember feeling quite out of place a lot of the
time.
I was reading Anna Karenina.
I saw a tornado from my room in Denver.
Joan Baez's manager was very attractive and amusing.
I watched U2 every night.
Bryan Adams was a lot less of star. I didn't even know
who he was when I sat next to him on the first airport
bus we took.
The last show was, I think, at Giants Stadium, and
televised. I was very emotional after hearing so many
people join in with 'Biko', that I dashed off to have a
teary shower.
'Sledgehammer' went number one the following week.
Q. Any specific recollections associated with the
second Amnesty Tour (in 1988)?
A. It was an amazing thing to be a part of.
Playing to an all coloured audience on The Ivory
Coast.
Seeing the Chilean mothers of the disappeared in
Mendoza.
Meeting Bill Graham.
Noticing how rock stars are very reluctant to let down
their guard, and be normal. (Peter can manage that.)
Going to the Gandhi museum in New Delhi.
Seeing the towers of people in the stadium in
Barcelona.
Learning to think nothing of a ten hour flight.
Hoping that you've done something that helps with the
awareness of injustice that occurs throughout the
world.
Q. Did the staging in PG's shows develop naturally, or
did you all work with a choreographer?
A. Years ago, Peter had some choreography advice, and
Tony and I would be invited to join in. We were never
very good at dancing so things never went to plan, as
you've most probably noticed. With the current shows [Growing
Up Live], Robert Lepage suggested some of the movements, and
directed Peter, and the whole show. However once
things are up and running they change and are refined,
and hopefully improved.
Q. You've worn costumes, makeup, and done countless
dance routines helping Peter bring his songs to life -
what stands out as the strangest thing you have done
onstage?
A. I would think it was Peter's idea of walking into
each other during ‘John Has A Headache’. Perhaps not one
of his finest moments of songwriting or of his
choreography.
Q. Does any tour (or any single performance) stand
out in your mind as a favorite?
A. I remember the old band of Jerry, Tony, Larry and
myself as having a kind of brutishness, which I wish
I'd been better able to appreciate at the time. I used
to be quite tense in those days, so I maybe missed
some of what was going on.
The current Growing Up tour is fun, though Secret
World ended up as an exciting lean show, which I would
think of as the most exciting. That's also because it
sold very well everywhere, so the crowds were very
good and excitable.
The most exciting shows were most probably the first
time we played in Mexico City in the early nineties.
The audience were fantastic. Barcelona was always
great too, and Paris has always been special.
Q. You characterized Secret World Live as a "lean"
show. Most people wouldn't consider a show involving
two stages, four lifts and a moving runway to be
lean. Not to mention the enormous screen spinning over
your heads!
A. I think it ended up lean musically. It felt like a
tight band by the end of the tour, where now things
are perhaps more complex. (There was more scope for
things to change or go wrong, which I enjoyed.) Though
with Ged [Lynch] rather than Manu [Katché] the approach
is now more direct rhythmically.
I've only seen the screen spinning once, by mistake. I
walked in on a showing of the concert film (many years
ago) to some journalists and I thought it looked
great. I've never watched the whole show.
Q. You looked like you had a great time interacting
with Paula Cole during those shows. That tour was the
first time there were women touring as part of the band.
How did that change the dynamics of the show?
A. It was good to have some feminine energy on the
stage. She was much more attractive than Peter. In
fact she came along after Joy Askew had played and
sung with the band. It made a big difference having a
female voice in the sound, whether that was a great
improvement I don't actually know.
Q. When you say "complex" (in connection with the Growing Up tour),
are you referring to click
tracks? It's widely accepted that PG now uses many
pre-recorded tracks in concert (if nothing else, the
end of 'Signal to Noise' leaves no doubt). Although,
thinking back, the same was assumed of the SWL tour.
A. A Pro-Tools system is running, which carries a lot
of information, and on many tunes we're completely
tied into it. There is no room for manoeuvre should
you make an error, or particularly if Peter should
forget where he is. This happens less than it used to
as there is a screen with a map of the song on for him
to follow. Tony and I don't use the screens.
SW was much simpler, with just some rhythm loops and
triggered sounds, so that if things went wrong we all
had to listen and work together to bring them back
into focus. There's little or no room for
improvisation, which is really the nature of a big
show like Peter's. The real improvisation and
experimenting occurs in the studio during the writing
phase.
Q. How is playing with Ged Lynch different than
playing with Manu Katché?
A. Ged is less flashy, so it leaves more space to add
little moments, and he tends to play bang on the beat
whereas Manu has a tendency to push the beat more.
Q. On the Growing Up Tour, you're using many more guitars than ever before...
A. Obviously different guitars have different sounds,
and play differently. Some are better suited to
different parts, or styles of song. For example I use
a detuned [DADGAD tuning - ed.] Les Paul for ‘Secret
World’. In fact the main reason for changing guitars so
often during the show is because there are a number
of different tunings that I use. Two of the guitars
that I use were made for me in the last couple of
years, by an Italian maker called Frudua. They are
delightfully simple instruments, one has only a single
pick-up, and the other two. However neither has any
other controls, so that the sound is just pure guitar,
with no electronics getting in the way. Then I screw
up that sound with all the pedals I use.
Q. Among other instruments, you’re now playing
an unusual looking metal Trussart guitar.
Can you share a little about it?
A. [Trussart] leaves the metal in small acid baths [and] there are
no sharp edges, so it's perfectly safe. The sound and
the look are good. It has some strange overtones,
because of the body, which are quite different to a wooden instrument.
Q. Is it especially heavy?
A. It's not as light as some of the other instruments
I use, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy working with it for
a whole show. I would guess it's not quite as heavy as
a regular Les Paul.
Q. Is your Steinberger an original and what
do you like about it?
A. Yes. The one I use now is a twelve string. I asked
Ned Steinberger to investigate making the twelve,
which he did. Even though it looks of its time, which
I'm not so keen on, it holds its tuning, which is
often poor on twelve string guitars.
Q. The tours are booked with dates very close
together, how does one keep a semblance of normal life
when a tour is booked so heavily?
A. Actually our schedules are always quite light,
especially now that Peter doesn't like to sing more
than two nights in a row. In many ways I thought it
was better to do three shows on the trot, then have a
night off, as it meant you had more of a flow to the
performances, and could more easily tighten up areas
that perhaps didn't work so well.
Q. How was the Big Room Concert in November 2003?
A. It was a very relaxed show, with of course no
staging. It felt a little odd as everyone just sat and
watched and listened, but it all went happily enough.
Some of the audience choices for songs were
interesting, in that being hardcore fans they didn't
choose the most obvious tunes when asked.
Q. The 46664 concert (December 2003) was quite moving to
watch. 'Biko' seemed to be very emotional.
A. It was very special to perform 'Biko' down there.
There are obviously huge problems with the population
being ravaged by HIV, so it was good to help bring
attention to those, and also refer back to the
troubled times that have been overcome.
Q. It seems as if you, Tony and Peter really
enjoy performing together, even though you all have
very different presences onstage. Did the three of you
mesh easily or are we seeing the benefit of years of familiarity?
A. It's always fun, and always has been. I think we
all enjoy showing off, to varying degrees, and we're
all quite shameless. I suppose through years of
working together we don't really bother thinking about
it too much. If we have any staging problems or
thoughts we share them, and try to make things work as
best we can. The staging of Peter's shows has always
been a hybrid of seriousness and playfulness.
Q. Peter gives you a great deal of credit in
interviews for keeping him "grounded" onstage -- do
you get nervous before shows?
A. I used to be edgy before a show, but now not so.
Peter sometimes gets distracted by things and forgets
what's going on. Now as he has a computer on stage
it's not such a problem, but years ago the band would
have to push and pull to ensure he had a happy landing
when he came back to us.
Q. Do you have a favorite song to play live?
A. Probably 'Secret World'. I derive great pleasure from
playing the riff at the end, actually the whole song.
'Digging In the Dirt' is always fun. 'In Your Eyes' was
always magical with Youssou, and 'Biko' is always
moving.
Q. What's the funniest/oddest thing you've had happen
onstage?
A. There are quite a few of these.
Seeing Peter on his arse after missing the monkey bars
that he used to swing from, at the beginning of 'Shock
the Monkey'.
Seeing Peter return in just his underpants having been
stripped during 'Lay Your Hands On Me', as he was passed
over the heads of the audience.
In Budapest, seeing him caught by the crowd during the
same song, being stood on his feet, and having his
hand shaken.
All the band being locked outside a theatre in our
stage gear in the middle of winter, waiting to walk
through the audience with marching drums, but not able
to get in the door that had been chosen for our grand
entry.
Q. What's the most unusual place you've played?
A. I suppose the strangest place we've played is a
town square in Sardinia, near to where Peter owns a
hotel. The act originally booked for the evening cried
off at the last minute, so Peter offered his services,
as we were rehearsing at the time for the Growing Up
tour.
We played for a few hundred people, most of whom had
never heard of Peter. It was a feast day, with simple
free food, market stalls, and families ambling through
the streets, and sitting in cafes. We went on after a
religious procession had made its way round the
streets and through the square.
Peter was later made a freeman of the town, and we
each received a commemorative medal for our efforts.
Q. What's the closest you have come to missing a show
and why?
A. When we were in Holland for the Secret World tour,
I decided that I would cycle from Amsterdam to Den
Haag. It's not a great distance, so I set off after
lunch, my plan being to head west and then follow the
coastal path. All well and good but when I reached the
coast there was a strong head wind and the progress I
made was slow. I generally pride myself in not being
late for anything when I'm on the road, as a courtesy
to fellow travelers. This time however it was
soundcheck time and I was still miles away. I was on a
fairly slow knobbly tyred bike. I eventually arrived
in Den Haag, and of course, had no idea where the
venue was, so I asked a lady on her bike which
direction I should travel in, and explained why I
wanted to be there quickly. She very kindly cycled out
of her way, to show me exactly where to go. She
declined the offer of tickets for the show, obviously
having something better to do for the evening. I
arrived to much relief on my part, and on the tour
manager's part, a little worse for wear.
Q. Any particularly embarrassing moments onstage?
A. Falling off the stage when I was performing with RH
supporting PG at the Brighton Centre, or could it be
starting 'Sledghammer' in the wrong key, or going for the
loud section of 'Digging In The Dirt' eight bars too early, or...
Q. What's touring like? Do you have time to enjoy the
places you're visiting, or is all of your time taken
with travel, soundcheck, rehearsal, etc.? What do you
do to fill any spare time you have?
A. Touring is great fun. You're being paid to do
something that you love and all the travel is free.
Time off is spent wandering looking for lunch and
dinner. I also enjoy going to galleries and jogging.
Going for a run is a good way of exploring a place.
The most lost I've ever been was in Cleveland.
The luckiest I've been was when I went for an
evening run before a show in Pittsburgh. I headed off
and had been running for some time, when I noticed
that the houses were becoming a little run down,
nothing terrible, but maybe the district wasn't the
best. At the time I had long hair and I was bouncing
along minding my own business. As I was running, a car
pulled up and a coloured man leaned out of the window
and said, "Hey boy, you runnin' the wrong way." I
carried on for about fifty yards as he drove off,
turned and ran out of the neighbourhood fast. He was
very kind. My guess is that I could have got
myself into allsorts of trouble.
Interview conducted via email March 2004 - May 2004.
Many thanks to David for his patience and generosity.