Interview with HardrockHouse January 2007
Hi Mike and thanks for talking to us here at HardrockHouse. I’d like to kick off by asking you about the 2006 orchestral shows in mainland Europe. Was playing with an orchestra a new experience for you and how did you enjoy the shows?
Hi to everyone at HardrockHouse. Yes, playing with an orchestra in this situation was new to me and it was an amazing experience. They are lovely people though and very talented musicians. They are also very rock and roll in their approach to working with a band which was good from our point of view because it meant we didn’t have to drastically change anything about the way we played as a band. They’ve worked with bands before so they have a looseness about them which is nice. They are also severe party animals!
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?
Very pleased actually considering that it was touch and go whether it would come out at all. We were plagued with problems on the day with delays and such, so much equipment, camera setups etc, that we did not get time for a sound check at all. Our sound guys managed to complete a line check and that was it ….doors open! When we got on stage we couldn’t hear each other …no monitors! However we just decided to go for it come what may but things were tense to say the least. I remember saying to Ian after the gig that I thought it wasn’t that bad considering, it could be really good. The audience was amazing though and there was a good vibe to the show. We watched a rough cut after the tour and it looked great then we found that one of the five 8 track digital machines used to record the audio was out of synch. Pip Williams, who produced Barclay James Harvest in the past oversaw the project and thought that we should scrap it and do it again on the next tour. However, after seeing the rough cut of the visuals, we decided to go into Revolution Studios in Manchester to evaluate things for ourselves. Les and I sat down with Justin Richards, engineer and producer at Revo and we listened to everything and it was just a nightmare! The performance was great but the digital clicks and dropouts were everywhere. One thing in our favour was that the drum tracks, my guitar and the keyboards were OK. The orchestra tracks needed cleaning up, digital clicks and dropouts every 10 seconds or so and the lead and backing vocals along with some of the rhythm guitar needed looking at. With Pro Tools were able to go through everything though, it was just time consuming but well worth it I think. Justin did an amazing job.
Before you joined the band had your paths crossed many times before and were you aware of much of their earlier work?
Well Ian had actually done gigs on the same bill as BJH in the early 70’s and tells a good story about the band he was in at the time, Greasy Bear, loaning the Barclays their stereo PA system for a ‘small consideration’ when the BJH PA packed in! Steve Butler, Ian and myself worked on ‘Welcome to the Show’ in 1989, also recorded at Revolution Studios. A friend of mine took me to see them around 1974 in Manchester “You’ve got to see this band” he said. I remember the album covers on the inner sleeves of my Deep Purple LPs ..the Harvest label. I remember Mel, what great drumming and what great rock and roll hair Les had! I worked at lot at Strawberry Studios in Stockport in the 80’s with Martin Lawrence who had produced and engineered many albums for BJH and the gold and platinum albums were everywhere. They had a very high profile and it was great to be asked to work on Show, then later on Revolution Days.
Did you approach the older material with a desire to put your own stamp on them as opposed to just replicating the original guitar parts?
I did not think about the guitars at all really. When we started rehearsing for the first show in Colmar 2002, we were focusing on the Revolution Days tracks. Les and Mel had some ideas of older stuff, things like Rock and Roll Star, Yesterdays Heroes, that they would like to play and he had some live recordings. We just listened, maybe once, Les would say what key the song was in and we were off. Chris Jago would work stuff out with Mel and it all came together. Les was very easy about the songs, he did not want us to copy anything, if it was to be fresh …it had to be us …as a band. I play pretty much what I feel on the tunes but I don’t sit down and copy any guitar parts so what you hear is me I suppose. Ian and I work together on the guitars, what fits the songs dynamically. For soloing too I play pretty much what I feel on the night. I have a picture though, a shape if you will, that I do try and stick to.
Of course you lost Mel in 2004 which was a great blow. He was always known for being a lively character and must have had lots of great stories about past tours, are there any that spring to mind?
Mel was a great drummer, a fine man and a good friend. Yes he was a lively character, very funny with a sometimes evil wit! As for stories …err …lots. Les and I were talking about this question the other day but I couldn’t think of a story that wouldn’t get someone else into trouble!! He was great leveller, often muttering some comment to himself but within earshot if ever he heard any bull**** going on. Les has some killers from early BJH days …Woolly, Mel, the giant shoe, the Owl lady!! There was the tour bus from hell we had a couple of years back, recounted on our website, where Mel modified the DVD player! He often felt the need to ‘go to the little boys room’ while on stage and one night, at a very big show, during an instrumental section decided to ‘go’ in a bucket behind his drum kit only to find the lights come up and the seating behind him filled with adoring fans!! A lovely man sadly missed.
The upcoming UK dates will be the largest tour here for some years. How are you feeling about the shows and getting to play places such as Hull, Bolton and Chesterfield, towns that won’t have seen a BJH show for a long time?
Well a lot of my touring experience in the last 20 years or so has been in the US, Canada, Japan with Corey Hart and BJHFLH in Europe. The last big tour of the UK I did was with Sad Café in 1983! I have played some of the venues before so it will be nice to go back again. We did four shows with Asia in 2005 and they went well so we are really looking forward to it.
I was speaking with your support act John Young about the UK gig circuit and how promoters seem to prefer to put on tribute bands. What’s your view on this and how does it differ from mainland Europe where you can play to much larger audiences?
Well I think the attitude in the UK is odd to say the least. Always has been. There are some great venues, there are audiences but people don’t seem to want to take the chance a lot of the time because of the expense, risk whatever ..maybe it’s financial, maybe it’s the red tape, regulations, you cant do that because of this, your not trendy etc. There’s a great festival culture in Europe where, besides the Coldplays and Arctic Monkeys or whoever, bands from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s can still draw a good audience. Yes I suppose a good U2 tribute band could be a more attractive proposition to some people than say a Wishbone Ash or Toto show but these guys are good musicians and there is still an audience for that. I’ve never really understood this ‘OK that’s it now guys …you're too old ..stop playing now’ attitude. Some bands split up, stop whatever, others still enjoy playing and carry on. We have done shows in some of the oddest places with some really well known bands from the past but they have been really successful because of the audiences ….young people discovering the band for the first time and the older fans who just want to hear the songs. They just want to see good music and have a good time which is what it’s always been about.
Would you be keen to record a new BJHFLH studio album and is this something you see as essential to keep the band moving forwards?
We are working towards a new album. Les has new material and we hope to showcase some new tunes in the summer. With the orchestral shows of the last year we had to put things on hold but that is the next thing on the agenda.
Away from music what other interests do you have, what keeps you busy?
Well music is my life so there isn’t really an away from it. I write a lot and I have, in recent years got into teaching the guitar. I have been involved with a company in the UK called Access to Music, working with young people, giving them realistic advice and tuition if they want a career in music and that’s very enjoyable. I play with a bunch of guys called the Escape Committee. A guitar player/singer called Pete Frampton (Not him ….a different one! He was in a band called Poacher in the 70’s). Paul Burgess from 10cc is on drums. We play blues for fun. Colin Browne occasionally joins us. I still do session work too. I have a studio setup at home. Les and I recently worked with French composer Alan Simon on his Excalibur Trilogy. Alan is a very talented man and he asked Les and myself to play on one of the songs on the album. It features many different artists, Justin Hayward, John Wetton, Fairport Convention, Maddy Pryor, Martin Barre and Jon Anderson. We played at the showcase in Paris recently and had a great time.
And finally, is there anything else you wanted to add that we haven’t already covered?
No …not really …other than I’m just glad to be here!
Mike, many thanks for your time and good luck with the tour.