Hi Les and thanks for taking to us here at HardrockHouse. I’d like to kick off with a question about the 2006 orchestral shows in mainland Europe. BJH last toured with an orchestra in the early 70’s, nearly bankrupting the band, what convinced you to take one on the road again after more than 30 years?
I never thought that I would work with orchestra live again until we were approached by our German Promoter. He had the idea of working with an orchestra and initially we didn’t know which orchestra he had in mind. Of course when we found out it was the Prague Philharmonic we couldn’t resist the challenge of putting band and orchestra back on tour together.
The recent DVD / CD release ‘Classic Meets Rock’ documents the orchestral show. Are you pleased with how this has come out and was the French show a particularly strong performance on the tour?
We are very pleased with the DVD, it captures the concert brilliantly. In fact, the French show had a somewhat chaotic soundcheck. We only had time for a “line-check” because of all the technical things going on, cameras etc. We never got a run through of any song or even monitor checks, so considering this, the concert was a huge success.
In a few weeks you’ll be embarking on your most extensive tour of the UK since the early 90’s. I suppose the obvious question is why has it taken so long for this to happen?
The band have been incredibly busy touring and playing festivals in Europe over the past years. We didn’t want to undertake a UK tour until we thought the time was right ...the right venues, promoters etc. Now, we feel, is the right time.
When you played a few co-headline UK gigs with Asia in 2005 it was something of a truncated set, so can we look forward to the full show this time around and have you any surprises in store?
The show this time round will be at least two hours long and will have a combination of new songs and “back catalogue” material which has been requested by many of our fans. Hopefully something for everyone.
With such an extensive back catalogue to choose from how do you go about selecting the songs that will make the set list? I guess you will always have people come up to you and say ‘Great show, but why don’t you play ‘Xyz’?’ which must be something of a headache for you?
It’s always a problem choosing songs for live performance. Everyone has their own favourites and in the end, we just have to choose a cross-section that will fit together as a complete show musically.
BJH became a massive band in Europe, and Germany in particular, and the UK took a back seat for a number of years. Presumably you had to go where the sales, and therefore the audience, were. But do you ever regret that you had to make that move.....
I don’t regret being in Europe and particularly Germany, although it would have been nice to have the same sort of success in England, so we could have played more concerts here. We have been very fortunate in being around for so long but at the time you can’t really say how long you can continue in this business. So, yes to an extent, you have to take what comes to you and most of the time this does mean playing to audiences where your material is most successful.
If all goes well with the upcoming dates could you envisage the UK becoming a regular part of your touring schedule going forwards?
We are already looking to do another British tour, maybe later this year. That would be great to continue touring here.
Of course someone who will be missing this time is Mel, who sadly passed away in 2004. After having known him from a very young age this must have been a terrible personal blow to you - did you ever consider calling it a day after his passing? How did you get through that first show without him?
Over the past few years, there have been several such blows but you have to continue. I know Mel would have wanted that. The first gig without him was really difficult for all of us but somehow we feel he is always with us on the road.
Going back into the past BJH were regarded as being very much a part of the Progressive Rock genre (whatever that was?!). Were you happy with that ‘label’ at the time – and do you still regard yourself as ‘Progressive’?
“Progressive” is a much better label to be stuck with than a lot of other labels around at the moment. At least it sounds like you are moving forward rather than stuck in the past like a lot of bands from our era.
I’m intrigued to know just how that distinctive early ‘BJH’ sound came about – was it simply the arrival of the Mellotron, or was there more to it. Was it a conscious decision to try to create a ‘new’ sound, to look for 'uniqueness’?
In the early days, we listened to a lot of American music which was around at the time. I guess that influenced us a lot and this, coupled with the fact that we were part of the English “music scene” at a time which consisted of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes etc, began to form the basis of the band’s music. The Mellotron was just an instrument which happened to be available at the time and was being used by very few bands because of its unreliability on the road. Thank goodness for the “Digital Generation” of keyboards!!
On a lighter note have you ever been tempted to bring the Mellotron out of retirement? I’m sure there must be a few gathering dust in garages up and down the country.
Absolutely not! It a real “pain in the arse” to tour with and was constantly being repaired. Dodo springs to mind! I suppose someone, somewhere thinks it’s still worthwhile! You have to move on.
As an event the ‘Berlin’ concert in 1980 is something the band will always be associated with. Do you have many memories of the day itself and is it one of the things you will tell the grandchildren about?
The Berlin gig of 1980 was a fabulous event and very frightening to see so many people that had come to see us. Obviously we had a very busy schedule on the day, T.V., Radio, Press and meeting with the Berlin Senate at the time. There were also political undertones to the event which various newspapers tried to pick up on and get us involved with but we just wanted to play our music.
Several things spring to mind that happened that day. First, travelling to the Reichstag in a convoy of “stretched” Mercedes with motor-bike outriders. We were waved on through all the traffic lights by special police! Then the gig itself was amazing. We turned some of our huge P.A system to the East so that people over there could hear it too. Apparently, there were around 170,000 people in the streets of East Berlin listening! The guards were very nervous and put on extra patrols, dogs and lights in “No Man’s Land” but even with all this security, some people managed to get across to the West that night as the concert was on! That was just amazing for us.
The 80’s were a difficult period for many of the established ‘rock’ bands and a lot of them either fell by the wayside or changed almost beyond recognition. During the three year gap between ‘Victim of Circumstance’ and ‘Face To Face’ did you think that BJH would come to an end and how difficult a time was this for you?
We were always fortunate enough to have live music and concerts to play throughout the ‘80’s and ‘90’s in Europe. A lot of bands just relied on album sales without doing too many live gigs. It has always been a strong side of this band and now with the “new” line-up, it’s even stronger. There was a time in the ‘80’s when the whole Industry lost itself and people thought it was the end of rock. Fortunately, there were enough bands around at the time to keep the flag flying.
For anyone considering investigating the back catalogue which two or three albums would you pick out for them to start with / which ones do you think best represent the legacy of the band?
There are many albums to choose from, it’s really difficult when you are put on the spot to choose any favourites which represent the band’s past. There are tracks on most albums that you personally enjoy and this is why, from time to time, compilations appear. I suppose for me, “Time Honoured Ghosts”, “Ring Of Changes” and of course, our two “new” albums, “Revolution Days” and “Classic Meets Rock” are among the ones which I think most represent the band.
Looking ahead, would you like to record an album of new material at some point in the future? Are you still writing songs on a regular basis and might the rest of the band be involved in the writing process?
I never stop writing songs. I’ve got tracks waiting to be recorded when we have the time this year. It’s important to get the band’s input, particularly when you come to do the tracks live. So, to this end, we may play at least some of the tracks live before putting them down for an album.
It’s been more or less 40 years now since BJH began. What motivates you to keep going?
I love playing music, especially live. I’ve met so many great people in this profession. I love to travel and just the whole “vibe” of being on the road.
Away from music what other interests do you have, what keeps you busy?
I used to be involved with horses when I wasn’t doing gigs or recording but they’ve taken a back seat now, since my wife’s fatal accident with them in 2002. I have my son working with me now and he’s very enthusiastic, so hopefully he’ll continue in this business too.
And finally, is there anything else you wanted to add that we haven’t already covered?
I would like to say to all our fans and friends who have supported us throughout the years, that we could not have continued without them and hopefully they will be pleasantly surprised to see us in the UK again!
Les, many thanks for your time and good luck with the tour.
Thank you.