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Below is a transcript of the interview of Mel Pritchard by Keith and Monika Domone for the Barclay James Harvest fan club.
How are you doing?
I’m all right. I’m well in myself. I’m looking forward to the tour and everything. It’ll be nice to tread the boards again. The people we’re working with are great, I’m really looking forward to it.
What have you being doing between River Of Dreams and Revolution Days?
Actually, nothing! I was just sorting all my gear out – it used to be stored in Birmingham and various places, but it’s here now. I didn’t do anything because I was waiting to see what was happening. Les and I got together and it was like, “Yes, we’ll do this”, and then all the things that went on then it was like, back on your heads, it’s not happening. Not that it was anyone’s fault. It was like an ongoing, “well we’re going to do it, but when it’s right”.
Was it good to get back into the studio again?
Well, yes. It was very much a Les thing, they were Les’s songs. What we’d done in the past is that we’d all done it and then chosen the songs and worked with Martin, and then we’d gone in and sorted out sounds and whatever. On this one Les’s things were finished when we went in, and it was just like “this, this and this needs doing”. It was very much like the early days, rather than spending time mulling over it and talking about it. Obviously it was great to be working again, and it’s even better to be playing it live, which is my thing anyway.
Is it difficult playing with five ‘new’ musicians in the band?
They’re all seasoned musicians, and they’re basically session musicians. It was nice to have Colin there, because you get to know how people work, and obviously Les and I on bass and drums work closely together. It was nice, and it’s nice to listen to other musicians, because you pick up so many things. I’ve got to say that you do get into a formal way of doing things, and I think every now and then it’s nice to have that shake-up. It gets you thinking on a different wavelength.
How was the Colmar concert?
I enjoyed it. On stage it worked. Remember it’s such a long time since I’ve worked, anyway. I thought the new stuff went down very well. There’s always the thing about mixing the old stuff with the new stuff, you don’t want to overkill on the new stuff, because the people want to hear all the old stuff. I think it went all right, considering there’s, what, four of the newer ones, and it’s not been over-specified what’s happening with the band, it’s still “Barclay James Harvest Through The Eyes Of..” or “Featuring..” Considering what the band has been through and all the upheaval, I thought it went down really well.
Will you be doing a similar set in the autumn?
Yeah. I spoke to Les late last week. There’s two additions, and I think there might be a change around of the set, but that’s basically it. There’s one song which we used to do anyway which I always loved and I think he wants to do one more off the new one, but we’ll see how it goes.
You mentioned the second percussionist – why two percussionists in the band?
I was involved in it right from the beginning. Les asked me and I said, “Well, whatever it takes, Les, whatever you’re comfortable with, especially at this, if you like, formative time.” It’s great working with another drummer, another percussionist, whatever. I don’t have a problem at all. He’s a great guy, and it’s great working with him. He’s a bit younger so he’s got newer ideas. On albums like Victims there was some percussion work, some bongo work done by Frank Ricotti. I freely admit that I’m not a conga bongo specialist, and he got in and he made the track, and it was not a problem at all. The older I get, I get a bit more laid back, I suppose. He’s young, obviously, so it’s a nice balance between the old vintage farts, me included, and the younger ones!
A while back Les mentioned that he might ask you to play acoustic guitar live. Can we expect to see you playing a more prominent role?
Well, that was one of things we sat and talked about. I can knock out a tune on an acoustic. I’m not a great guitarist by any stretch of the imagination, but I can certainly strum it and just get in the feel of it. That was the idea. Certainly my guitar’s all ready, all cased and everything, so I look forward to that. It’ll be nice for me – I spent all those years behind a drum kit. I think I deserve at least a week out in the real world! That would be nice. I have got a pair of legs! You know, you get to my age, and the next time I might have to have three helpers, three nurses to help me, so I want to get out that end before my legs go!
What is your current kit that you’re using on tour?
The one that I’m using is the Roland SP8. I was looking at getting the new Q, but what I’d got was fine, and there’s some lovely snare drum sounds. They’re very sparkly sounds, and the album with Les was done like it. It wasn’t electronic, but the ones before that, River Of Dreams and Caught In The Light, that was all done on that electronic kit.
Would you ever think about going back to an acoustic kit?
Well, yes. It’s a lot easier practicing on an electric. I still love acoustic, it was just that, I think, if we hadn’t have done the two with Martin in the studio on this Roland, I would have considered it. The other thing is, unless everything is dead precise, with two acoustic kit drummers it can get a bit messy. It can be done, of course, I mean Genesis did it, but if you get two acoustic kits fighting each other, if it’s not done incredibly well, it can be a bit messy. Les and I spoke about it, and we didn’t want really to go down that way. The last thing anyone wanted was ‘Mel versus the new drummer’ on stage. Hopefully it’ll free me to do me tap dancing, helping Les on acoustic and whatever. The tap dancing is extra, of course, that will be shown in the price of the ticket. It won’t be every night…
