From the very first time I heard his debut back in 2016 I have been fully enamoured by the music of Captain of the Lost Waves, who in many ways is both encapsulating the style of the travelling troubadour and taking music in quite different directions to the norm. Ahead of the release of his next album, the incredible ‘Beautiful Ugly’, it seemed right to sit down and spend time getting to know the artist more deeply, and the result is a wonderfully in-depth and fascinating discourse.
Who, what, when is Captain Of The Lost Waves, and where did the name come from?
In a nutshell, it’s a name, theme and an ethos for the life I wanted to re-negotiate with and to pursue after a serious illness: being bed bound and attempting to arise from the challenges of Glandular Fever.
My affinity for the ‘lost waves’ was a nod to all the many sacred and fascinating elements of life, that we tend to not align with, ignore, overlook or abandon. I thought of the Captain being the instigator of bringing those often forgotten, lost facets of a more natural and mystical way of living and astute observance/fragments of wisdom into the sterility of this, the post-modern world, bringing these almost ancient and indigenous leanings into existence and face to face with my potential audience.
Plus, I was finally adopting and adhering in doing all the things that I was sternly advised against, when I was a part of the corridors of the universe of the so called ‘music industry’: just a short duration in that particular world left me in no doubt that my continued existence as an artist wasn’t going to happen within the realms of such control and commandeering.
What are your earliest musical memories, and who/what inspired you to start playing music?
My earliest memories are of my uncle’s record collection. My first love affair of the sonic variety was with Cat Stevens ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ – I still shiver at the essence of that record and the baritone voice still feels like the hug from the dearest and most treasured of old friends.
It wasn’t long before other forms of music engaged my more primal spirit too: the ‘post punk’ somewhat, strident offerings from bands like Killing Joke, The Cure, Theatre Of Hate made me want to dance, beat my chest, howl and embrace these untethered rituals of wild musical shamanism. (I’ve always connected music to the soul… it always feels otherworldly at its best).
What are you attempting to portray with your name and image, and why didyou approach it in that manner?
There was a definitive attempt to marry the profound, contemplative aspects of music with the poetic, bard type offerings where wordsmithery and a slither or two of pure English eccentricity could excel in varying measures of undulation, texture and expression. I’m deeply, deeply eclectic: I created something that I wanted to see and hear; I couldn’t quite find that elsewhere. How could I morph through what I wanted to convert, knowing that it felt as instinctive as that. I wanted to create a mixture of ‘real theatre’ for the everyday man and woman. Where the transparency and ability to be oneself is the core principle.
Full of spirit, devoid of businesslike stylised approaches or otherwise. I have no fixed genre; I am a fluid flurry or interplay with all musical notions; you might choose to call me a storyteller/troubadour as a basic concept, if I had to describe what it is that I do and as to a genre I come closest to, it’s likely the spirit of punk. To have no need to be accepted or follow others, but be thankful you take your own lead, wherever possible.
You first came to recognition with Shaun T Hunter and Quiet Rebellion, what were you trying to achieve here musically, and how did this lead to the formation of COTLW?
I never set out with any defined plan, part of my make up is abandoning to the spontaneous creativity, hence never becoming prescribed or defined by some notion or idea, no matter how well thought out or informed it might be. I feel potentially driven by a core of the themes that fly around and gravitate towards me… it is there that I anchor a little seed or two and let nature work her way as to where it might choose to guide me.
Musically it began with ‘Shaun T Hunter’ and encapsulated differing shifts from puresongwriter acoustic led skeletal offerings, segueing through an alt country sabbaticaland on to a more dreamy, prog production around that songwriter model. Quiet Rebellion was born out of feeling restricted within that chapter, wanting to sonically alter and morph into new directions; it is as if singer songwriters are deemed a particular brand of expression, aligned with adhering to the traditional values of yesteryears writers: so, when one strays into other territories, it can be labelled as sacrilege by curators and gatekeepers. And yet, when I look back at the golden age of imaginative music making these ‘singer songwriters’ were a different breed.
Some of my most inspired and influential offerings in the formative years of my musical journey were informed by such luminaries as Brian Wilson, Cat Stevens, Bowie, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Jaques Brel and Leonard Cohen to name a few for starters who were true heavyweights in the public conscience. They were ‘singer songwriters’, though not in the terms that apply in this postmodern arena. Our need to define music is often why we end up repeating these formulas as acceptable and follow a code. I sense making art is not and has never been about a self-serving compliance. The song is always king to me… no matter how we dress it up or accessorise. That’s the core of anything I create and attempt to do.
Why did you feel the need for the change in direction and name?
After a seriously debilitating life episode with glandular fever, I concluded that if I was
ever graced by good fortune to return to the stage, and making music again, I would be governed by the itch of the untethered life force and it’s singular calling… and not by anyone who deemed it as a commercial exercise. In conclusion, I followed my heart entirely, realising that the Captain would be a myriad of all the aspects of myself, of which I was warned, would lead to people just thinking me insane. I laughed at that particular response and thought ‘each of us must embrace fully and see our own madness’ – maybe I was feeling that it was time to execute my vision, rather than be guided by the cold, calculating nature of music business talk. Yes, it was eclectic by design, but that’s exactly what I am, successful or not, I was in tandem with my calling. I have honoured it and respected it with a deep reverence. It can be both liberating and terrifying in a concurrent fashion, but that freedom is as if you’ve dropped out of the so-called race in its entirety.
When you stop caring about what others think you should be doing and just follow your own instinctive nudges and call to action, then you have arrived somewhere that is not prone to being imprisoned by someone else’s advice, dogma, rules or conservative suggestions.
‘Hidden Gems Chapter 1’ is vibrant and exciting, something I described as “music that has been carefully crafted from the finest wood, polished, and honed to perfection, as opposed to yet another piece of throwaway plastic thatwill only last a few minutes before the bright colours fade: yet another disposable commodity.” How would you describe that album to people who have yet to come across it, and what were the changes which led to the Captain coming fully formed some seven years after ‘Still Talking Scribble’?
I loved that summary of yours and it warms the heart, knowing when someone just radiates with what you have put forth into the world as an artist. I’d describe the album as my first clear foray into this semi-imaginary Captain world, full of wonderful possibilities and replete with profound reflection, embodying music made from and for the heart, yet also emblazoned with touches of an underground fringe showman, revelling in tales of dark eccentricity and laced with a healthy dose of bombastic abandon, humour and searching, philosophical ponderings.
The music itself is deeply melodic, raw, acoustic, with the huge accompanying sounds of the accordion and mandolins, double bass and percussion caressing the core voice, and interchanging between bouzouki and ukulele.
It’s almost tongue in cheek in moments with an Eastern European cabaret sensibility on tracks such as ‘Danger’ and ‘ Fat Freddie’s Fingers’ on some tracks and more Celtic folk, alt folk rock with a touch of klezmer on others. It houses a universal theme… there are moments which sound like drunken Bavarian sailors singing along to choruses, designed to smile and lift.
One of the key things I noticed after my return to music after my serious illness, was that I wanted to have fun in equal measure: maybe as a result of the heavy, challenging times I found myself immersed in. It proved to be the reason I started playing the ukelele and defined that as making something memorable but with feelgood, where possible. Unfortunately, such an instrument carries a lot of baggage and cliches with it. Watching a man in a top hat carrying this ‘toy instrument’ is liable to inform the casual viewer that I must be a novelty act? That was part of the prejudice that I knew I’d face, yet as stated before, let’s approach it with courage and vigour, and not worry about dispelling these long-held beliefs that people hold. I have enjoyed the evolution with the Captain and the natural selection comes from a higher source, I believe. The Uke hasn’t featured on the last album ‘Mysterium Tremendum’ or the forthcoming record ‘Beautiful Ugly’: the sonic soundscape demanded something else. Something more brooding, heavier and darker in places.
But it may return from time to time, variety is the spice of life we were told. I still go by the old adage.
Over time you have explored different musical partners, what has led to this voyage as opposed to staying with the same people and format each time?
I try my utmost to resist repeating myself. Of course, that, in itself, is an impossible dream, when primarily playing a series of core stringed instruments accompanied by a human voice: though how you dare to compose, arrange structures and push in ways that feel both utterly natural and yet experimental is what, I trust, transpires in the evolving visions.
I work with people who embody the unrelenting spirit of those components; I have never had the intention of consciously changing line ups. It only happens when something stops serving the whole. I am not prescribed in any way; often what might have served me extremely well might dissolve, due to a fresh approach that becomes ever more inspiring. If that is clearly evidenced, it’s then watching how the current line-up responds to that dichotomy. If it’s meant to progress, it shall do so. In complete honesty I’ve not yet witnessed someone leaving due to musical differences; it’s been more about life circumstances and their priorities that have led to such dissolution.
It’s a mixed bag; the trust in working with a long-time partner/line-up can reap huge dividends. I have had that with my long-time friend Damian Clark, who has done everything in a truly collaborative sense: from original design work with the Captain logo and website, to his wonderful musical ability on synths, keyboards and musique across the breadth of my releases. He has been a massive help in his commitment and his support and invaluable advice in the many personal life matters I have navigated might be the greatest gift of all that he has bestowed.
‘Mysterium Tremendum’ was recorded under COVID conditions. What was that like and how did that period impact on the album itself?
Very tough, very trying, very complex in a word. It was like many things at that time. Hard to do, but imperative that you do it. I attempted to keep finding the positive, though there was many a day when it felt like you had to keep reinforcing the idea that something positive might surface from such constrictive and difficult circumstances. There was also the notion that the joy of creating might be halted, due to the aforementioned. As I wrote the album, I realised that it was becoming an almost reverential nod to many styles and juxtapositions that felt like a distinct calling; eclectic elements that still felt like a homogeneous tapestry. Big choruses and progressive sounding ambience infused 8-minute songs, arriving like an imaginary pairing of Morricone jamming with Arthur Lee’s Love on “Getaway Drivers” then alongside the pure synth driven dark disco of “Clarabelle” and the nod to “Grantchester Meadows” by Pink Floyd in the natural sounds of rivers and bees in the pastoral “How Big The Small Can Be”.
Before we get onto the new album, it is important to discuss the accident and the impact that had on your family and your musical outlook as there has been quite a shift between the last album and this one. Please explain what happened and how that has changed your view on what it is you want to achieve.
I sense that the main core of my life had changed in so many ways over the years. It was never in me to attain the societal ideal about what was termed as music achievement. I failed to adopt the drive for any kind of commercial success, but more of being at one with the mystical nature/enchantment and the magic of making music for the sheer reward of making music. As those things became ever more profound, it was as if I was disappearing. I had a mind altering/life altering experience back in 2019. It’s another complex chapter entirely, but maybe a mixture of silent meditation and my dedication to the spiritual path over so many years that suddenly ignited into something else that was both liberating and terrifying. As if all notions about life felt defunct and you become unrecognisable to yourself. Those dualities were ever present until January 2019 when I seemed to morph into this constant blissful state which lasted around 13 weeks: it sounds like a psychedelic trip to anyone who has knowledge of such experiences. Though no social/recreational drugs were ever adopted on any part of my adherence to this path.
In light of this change, the horrific nature of the accident in May ‘22 – when hit by a stolen car in a multiple police car chase at high speed manifested itself, yet only seemed to further solidly this sense of transparency and a gloriously fulfilling emptiness. Yet also the much darker qualities of nihilistic states and remote disassociation were rampant and as visceral as the former more desired states.
It is as if I had been concretised into this unrecognisable shape. Still pondering the great questions and often wondering if anything I was doing was relevant in much of the ‘beige’ media world I confess to shyly and introvertedly inhabit; and of which seemed primarily fuelled by numbers, status, hierarchical models and searing popularity. Post crash there have been symptoms of existential woe, stark, cutting depression and deep trauma related injury, both physical and psychological. My wife, son and I all shared a telling notion: we often expressed a state of being recognised as if large parts of us had died.
Something fundamental had shifted in each one of us.
Asking what was life asking of me? Was I carrying out the tasks I was supposed to, destined to, designed to? I often thought my job in navigating the world of music and its curators and accepted gatekeepers felt like a paradoxical symbiosis of oil and water: an imbalance, a crooked, gnarly, atrophied sojourn…the rites of passage that seemed not to align with my offerings. The creation of music has always felt deeply sacred, something indescribable, ethereal, wildly intangible and mystical. The business was something else altogether. What was I doing? Why was this so difficult?
These all become like a flurry of temporary solutions to permanent problems … our fleeting foray into some newfangled conclusion. As long as you’re alive, I reminded myself, then contradictions continue to reign.
Aside from the real issues of injuries, the crash left us devoid of the tenacious nature and energy required to survive in retaining an income and continuing to make a living as an independent artist. There is the ongoing act of surrender, of giving in and not giving up and trying to just let be when it feels too hard to fully let go.
Things have changed beyond all and any remaining ideas I ever held… about my life, about my music and about the correlation between the bridges of these ephemeral and business relationships I often struggle to balance or make sense of.
The only notion that remains unaltered is in my music itself. It was always about service, always about reaching those I believed it needed to reach. For those who felt as I did. I was a voice in the wilderness of their own exile; what I did, for those confused and conflicted by the turbulent madness of the rigid, prescribed ways of living that we all must juggle. Our authentic selves in a battle with the programmed selves that might lead to those ill-defined yet normalised expectations, awash in nepotism and vaulted career trajectory.
I confess that I might just be a free spirit who has become scarily freer with each life altering incident, true creativity has no limits, and when you have no limits, you are free. This is a declaration, from one who knows not how to maintain a pseudo posture or exchange favourable language that ‘might feather my cap’ … what it is, is what it isn’t, I guess. Self-acceptance is not waiting for a perfect version of myself to emerge but accepting the flawed reality of my own idiosyncrasies and human blind spots.
I’m not here in the way that I once was…. that is both blessed and cursed possibly, but it’s my journey and only I can take it.
‘Beautiful Ugly’ is the new album, what made you decide to work this time with just Damian and Wendy?
It was the whole encapsulation of the pervading moods that seemed to ask that it be completely honoured – it was in that total surrender that I felt compelled to allow what the muse was asking of me. To be kindly dictated to, to not try and figure out what was happening and to persuade any left-brain biases to just let go of any dry, pragmatic ideas or premature conclusions I may have had. Though I’ve always created from the opposite position in general; where I feel the imaginative process is governed by something far beyond my own ideas and limited human knowledge. This was a time when any persona characteristics were outweighed in every notion.
To dare be engulfed by spirit without logic and to willingly drown in exactly what should be realised in these painful moments; and thus, in the aftermath of both raw physical/emotional wounds, in the wake of the horrors of the car accident, I felt as if I was in the healing arms of a maternal energy. It implied that this now unfold like a moving meditation, a contemplative sonic journey; as if the universe was whispering in my ears, where the presence of the sacred was in the subconscious utterings emanating from my bruised and battered gut.
These were such visceral yet delicate expressions. I knew from the first song ‘Success In Failure’ that called to me in the wake of real discomfort, grabbing at my bouzouki to try translate the melody and words that were forming in my head; albeit with such weary tenderness and a burning sensitivity in my body’s pain responses, knowing that this was going to be a most intimate affair of the heart. I imagined the wonder of the modular synth patterns that Damian might provide with touches and featherlike caresses courtesy of Wendy on the violin, no bombastic sing along choruses or the pleasingly terpsichorean additions of earlier releases. in unison.
This album, I hoped, would aim to excel in reflecting my own stripped back, skeletal and hauntingly empty, scooped out disposition, possessed by those untethered subtleties and spaces that are often not seen or heard in anything like the same fashion. The shadows and musings of the psyche that I felt were becoming ever louder, raising the amplification in my finite body amidst its relative imprisonment. It was almost reflecting this singularity of my struggles, yet I was equally awash in the expansiveness that was nonetheless nourishing and incalculably beautiful, hence how the album’s title of ‘Beautiful Ugly’ happened.
Both aspects of my nature were being equally and evidently felt, each counteracting the telling argument or ethos that it proposed. I would endeavour to create something that felt like musical poetry. The impacted, restricted human essence at the core of it, yet being in this florid landscape of wide-open possibilities. Art is taking a step and never knowing where you are heading. Maybe that’s why it is so arresting?
What was the recording process like?
Very strange, unusual but life affirming.
Each song was created amid my greatest physical and mental struggles. The oddest thing was that I felt no ‘mojo’, no inspiration prior to a fully formed song arriving, it was alien: I felt bereft and in so much pain, my trauma often arriving in the shape of emotional despondency, brain fog, hopelessness and more than a nihilistic tendency or two. I was a fully wounded animal, looking at my kin, they as deeply wounded as I, having to face their own painful reflections too. As if another long chapter of ‘lockdown’ was upon us. I wondered if there was any wisdom in maintaining this soupçon of light, this atrophied drive? In exploring my futility and concluding that I would work through the sheer heaviness of this muddy sadness, this blanket of darkness and try to still see the beauty in it…harder to do than you might suggest? It was a constant to and fro with myself. What am I doing, why am I doing it, is it over, is it done for me? At least on a temporary basis.
But what those songs revealed were astonishing sound bites of profound help.
They kept the creative part of me alive; they may have indeed saved me on some level. All my vocals on the album are the original guide tracks. I thought, as I struggled to replicate my previous vocal range and spinning off into my distinctive tremolo/falsetto style, that I would return to this once my rib cage and chest injuries healed considerably, I would re attempt the voice. Though as I listened back it became clear that there was a quality and a range of inflections that would be impossible to replicate; at least on a true scale of what I was going through at that exact moment and time. That’s why I stuck with them. They ‘house’ a distinct texture in their expression that is rooted in these unexplainable, mystical episodes of my rehabilitation. It’s such a precious thing to hear myself teetering on the tightrope of such enormous disaster and fleeting bliss concurrently, beautiful ugly indeed.
I have said this is a very different release to your other albums, how would youdescribe it and what are you attempting to achieve with its release?
Much like everything I’ve stated above, some may see my responses as ‘hocus pocus’ or infused by some fantastical unadulterated infantile posturing. I wear my own experiences as transparently as I do, I make no apologies for that, and I don’t really need others to believe in what I say or what I am trying to convey. All I will say is that in a world mostly devoid of the higher powers or cosmic wonders of life, I render myself completely to its purpose. I know without knowing how I know in that I know nothing; I am humbled and accept my position as a beginner… it came together in a way that was completely unexpected. I attest to its purity and intuitive nature in how it somehow was created without my being too conscious of how? All the how’s, why’s and the what if’s seem defunct to me. It’s a record that was made by my heart for my heart, when I had never felt the need greater. I was completely there without knowing that I was. Go figure. It remains a mystery, but an auspicious one all the same.
I wanted to execute something that seemed to wrap me unconditionally in her arms; the synths parts radiate with such a depth of warmth and fuzzy richness and are designed in breathtaking detail; they are beyond sublime in their craft and provide the bedrock upon which the contemplatively shy, introverted, somewhat broken and battered voice sit in the middle of those shores. Coupled with the gorgeous melancholy of the violin’s sole sonorous voice it seems to beg and summon the minor key tones of my battle-hardened human construct maybe? It feels like a sonic marriage of fragility, devout trustworthiness, searing sour encounters and bliss all equidistant, alive in a duvet of bittersweet suffocation.
What is next for the Captain?
I’ve given up any notions I have about planning. I think I’ll just keep letting go of notions that neither serve me or the collective and take all the lessons that I can manage hopefully.
To keep letting go or at least letting be when letting go is a struggle. I’m trusting in the higher source at all times possible, following the nose of my heart and realising that wisdom cannot be learned, only revealed. Reminding oneself that it’s all such a short time we get to spend here on this planet. Far too short to get lost in other peoples need for ongoing drama and division. I want to keep making the best music that I can, to grow as much as I can as a being, and to acknowledge my place here. If I retain reverence for the sacred gift of music itself, I trust that my path, as an outsider, will bring me into circles where more free minded curators might just include that Captain bloke on their bill.
To end, what one piece of music would you take with you into solitary confinement of say, a desert island or a dystopian wasteland, if you were allowed just one?
“Barbers Adagio For Strings” It never fails to amaze and dumbfound me on each listen. If ever the themes of life were summarised in perfect measure, it is in this piece that I hear the entire cosmos and it’s play whenever it is aired in the vicinity of my person. Choral music floors me and the choral versions of the aforementioned are beyond description.
For more details about the Captain, where he is playing and how to discover his music, please use the following links.
One thing for certain, anything Dave Bainbridge touches turns to gold. His latest solo album To the Far Away is no exception. It is another addition to the collection of perfection of which he is a part. Dave’s work both with his solo band and his iconic band IONAmelts away time and takes us to earlier days, to distant shores, and speaks directly to our primal spirits and to our hearts. His music weaves wonderful stories and his spirituality shines through all that he does in a most magnificent way. To the Far Away tells such a beautiful tale as this and the album has already received tons of critical acclaim. Indeed, Dave is no mere musician. He is an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist, a brilliant composer, and plays guitars, keyboards, and a grand assortment of acoustic instruments on this album as he has done on his past albums. Stellar indeed! You can also be certain that he has the very best of supporting and guest musicians on his albums with vocals that are both exceptional and beautiful. I have kept up with all of Dave’s work over the years and it is all impeccable. I am proud to have all of his albums and I must say without hesitation his genius is reflected throughout it all. His entire discography is truly exceptional and I highly recommend that you check out all of Dave’s current and previous albums, especially if you have not already.
Dave Bainbridge has an exceptional musical history woven into his DNA. He has been involved in music for the majority of his life. His musical journey started at the age of eight with classical piano lessons. He then started with guitar at the age of thirteen, and joined his first band Exodus at the age of fourteen. Dave always had musical influences all about him. His father played the guitar and banjo and his mother played the accordion and organ. Other family members were also musicians including his sister Maureen who was eight years older and who was a great singer and piano player. His sister joined a local band when he was 10 and they stored their Hammond Organ in his home. He would sneak in and play on it when everyone was out. Listening to his sister’s albums (such as Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Vanilla Fudge, and Woodstock) was a great influence on Dave’s tastes. Dave went on to Leeds College of Music, where he graduated with first class honors and a distinction in arranging. Initially, Dave’s focus was on classical but he decided to go into what was the only jazz and contemporary music course in the country at that time. He wasn’t particularly interested in jazz at the time, but he knew a few people who had done this course and become successful artists. (This was a great move for Dave for it opened his eyes to a world beyond rock and progressive music and added new jazz piano influences to his tastes such as greats like Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea.) While at college, Dave earned the “BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz Soloist Award”. During his tenure at college, he met singer and songwriter Adrian Snell which led to an eight year working partnership. Through this period, he met Joanne Hogg and David Fitzgerald which led to the creation of the group Iona. That was the beginning of a match made in Heaven with the band releasing 13 critically acclaimed albums between 1989 and 2015 and the band touring the world. In 2020, Dave produced the incredible Book of Iona 17 CDbox set which celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Iona. Dave was the creative force for Iona which fused rock, jazz, progressive, folk, and the spirituality of early Celtic. Iona captured an international audience and even collaborating with Prog Rock greats such as Nick Beggs (the band’s first bassist) and Robert Fripp (who provided ambient sounds for two incredible albums by the band). Beyond Iona, Dave has released four solo studio albums ….. Veil of Gossamer (2004) …..Celestial Fire (2014) (which led to the creation of the Celestial Fire Band in 2015 and the Celestial Fire band Live in the UK DVD/2 CD album, which was released in April 2017) …..The Remembering (2016) (a solo piano album) ….. and most recently, To the Far Away (2021).
Dave has had a very diverse career utilizing his broad set of talents as a guitarist, keyboardist, composer, sound mixer, arranger, producer, solo artist, and teacher. He also has a phenomenal resume to boot crossing many different genres including Progressive Rock, Celtic music, Classic, Jazz, and spiritual music. Along with Dave’s solo work and his music with Iona, you will also find he is the current keyboard player with Strawbs and the guitarist and more in Lifesigns along with the phenomenal John Young. Dave has released two collaborative albums with Iona’s David Fitzgerald plus two more with Troy Donockley. In addition, Dave has contributed to albums by Glass Hammer, Downes Braide Association, Nick Fletcher, Celtish, Kimmo Porsti, and Cronofonia. Dave has also worked with artists such as Buddy Guy, Jack Bruce, Nick Beggs, Robert Fripp, Paul Jones, Gloria Gaynor, Troy Donockley of Nightwish, and worked with wonderful folk singers such as Mae McKenna and Moya Brennan. Further, Dave has co-written a guitar concerto with Nick Fletcher which was released on the album Cathedral of Dreams (2009). Whew! Time to catch your breath! Add to all of that, the fact that he has composed soundtracks for numerous short films plus multimedia productions and TV, it all creates a very impressive resume indeed! Dave’s work continues to receive critical acclaim and praise including that from among such outstanding peers such as Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic), Nick Beggs (Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett, Kajagoogoo), and John Kellogg (producer for Deep Purple, ELP, Foreigner, Chicago, Black Crows).
I expected To the Far Away to deliver a wonderful listening experience, and it certainly delivers. The feedback has been stellar on Dave’s album and I agree that it is one of the best progressive rock albums of 2021. Let me tell you, this album provides 72 minutes of ambrosia from start to finish …. Absolutely breath taking. Dave does a stellar job in assuring he has a first class line up for his albums and he has outdone himself on this album. Sally Minnear (Celestial Fire) and Iain Hornal (10CC, Jeff Lynn’s ELO) provide heavenly vocals. Sally is the daughter of Kerry Minnear (Gentle Giant), so she most definitely has a musical heritage. Magnificent poetic lyrics are provided by Lynn Caldwell and the tale is told of a modern day love story of lovers separated across the ocean by the pandemic with all the feelings and emotions flowing through Dave and his beautiful creation. There is no doubt the lockdown of 2020 was a difficult time for Dave and other musicians, struggling with all the uncertainties of that time. Venues were shut down in 2020 leaving musicians without places to play or any certainty of income. Dave utilized this time to create and record this album. Fellow band members from Iona join Dave here ….. Frank van Essen (drums, viola, violin) …. Troy Donockley (Nightwish, Iona, Maddy Prior, The Enid) and Martin Nolan provide whistles plus Troy also does uillean pipes. Other musicians include Julie Cameron Hall (Celtish) on violin, Jon Poole (Lifesigns, The Wildhearts, Cardiacs) on bass, Jonas Pap on cello, and Nigel Cameron (Celtish) on whistles ….. a magnificent line up indeed. All together, a most incredible musically divine story is created that draws you in deeply and emotionally on each and every note. In your mind as you listen, you can literally envision yourself on these far away shores with the powerful emotions pulling at your heart.
Yes, there is no doubt about it; Dave Bainbridge has continued to wow us throughout his musical career. His adept mastering of guitar and keyboards shines through on every song. All of the albums with Iona and Dave’s solo bands lead us on a path where he continues to amaze us with each and every album by constantly evolving and creating brilliant and masterful music. To the Far Away, Dave’s newest masterpiece, is further proof of a true artist that continues to hone his skills to a higher level of perfection. Through this album, Dave paints a tapestry of beautiful music weaving a story that is a modern day love story about two lovers who are separated by the Pandemic and by distant shores. As a matter of fact, the Pandemic and global lockdown were the inspiration for this album when Dave and his fiancée Sharon were separated a day before he was to the fly to USA for their wedding. Back in March of 2020, Dave was supposed to fly to Miami to go on “Cruise to the Edge” where they were going to be married. It was going to be quite a spectacular wedding with Neal Morse who was to be officiating and John Young (Lifesigns) who was going to be his best man. Unfortunately, one day after his last Lifesign’s show with John Young, the USA closed its borders. Dave and his fiancée were separated for eight-and-a-half-months. His fiancée, was in Baltimore and unable to fly out of the country. (However, Dave and his long-separated fiancée finally were able to get married during the recording of this album. They were eventually reunited in November 2020 and got married in December 2020.) Most impressive is Dave’s positivity and faith throughout all of this. I love Dave’s comments in the album notes, “Even in such terrible times, much beauty can be found if we have the eyes to see, and there is always hope.” There is no doubt that this is a breath taking tale from start to finish. I must also add that as entranced as I was listening to this album, the vocals by Sally Minnear would add an additional level of goose bumps. That is not an easy feat when I already had a level of goose bumps from Dave’s incredible guitar playing. Truly though, every musician on this album has put their heart and soul into every song.
Start to finish, this is a story beautifully told by poetry and music with “Sea Gazer” starting the tale. “Sea Gazer” starts instrumentally with the sounds of the sea immediately drawing us in to an almost mystical Celtic mood and one that also immediately takes us to a land beyond our own shores. Sally Minnear’s angelic vocal enters about mid way through the song letting you know you are about to pass through a most magnificent tale. As the music flows into “Girl and the Magical Sky”, Sally Minnear leads with spoken poetic words and further with her beautiful vocals with the music transitioning from mellow bliss to powerful energy throughout the song. Dave also treats us with a most wonderful solo. This song is easily among my favorites on the album.
The instrumental “Rain and Sun” has a very nice Oldfield feel to it. “Clear Skies” adds a nice rock feel with Dave’s powerful electric guitar and Jon Poole’s superb bass. Add in a perfect dash of Celtic vocals and you have created one terrific song here. “Ghost Light” then totally blew me away ….. also definitely in my favorites on this album. This is a 14 minute epic with a superb blend of Prog, Classical, and Rock reminding me of some of my favorite Yes and Pink Floyd songs performed as only Dave can in his own unique style. Bring in Dave’s masterful guitar playing, Jon Poole’s epic bass, and then the brilliant chorus of vocals from Sally Minnear and Iain Homel (10cc, ELO) and you can easily understand why I love this song so much.
“Cathedral Thinkers” is another fine instrumental with a keyboard portion at the end which brought some of the finest Keith Emerson moments to mind. “To Gain the Ocean” follows very nicely with vocals by Iain Homal and then chorus with Sally. The heartbreak of the distance between the lovers is brought beautifully into the story. “As Night Falls” is a short instrumental tying in very nicely to “Infinitude (Region of the Stars)”. “Infinitude (Region of the Stars)” is further testimony to Dave’s ability to bring a masterful classical touch to the story with violins and violas creating a heart touching emotional journey with Sally Minnear’s distant vocals adding to the heartbreak. The ideal title track, “To the Far Away”, brings together a fun and playful Celtic melody where one can imagine joyful dancing which then evolves into a glorious rock anthem very much reflecting Dave’s evolution over the years. “Speed Your Journey” brings Sally’s vocals back into the mix where all the musicians are playing their hearts out in the rapid pacing of the music. Excellent! “Fells Point” provides an instrumental bridge from “Speed Your Journey” to the finale “Something Astonishing”, which completes the circle of this most glorious and beautiful journey. All in all, this is a brilliant album which most definitely reflects the genius of Dave Bainbridge. It is very easy to see why this album has earned so much critical acclaim and why it is among the top rated Prog albums still to this date. Dave was also voted number 3 in Prog Magazine’s Best Guitarists of 2021 Readers Poll …. Most definitely well deserved. The standard edition single CD is excellent, but I highly recommend the 2 CD version which adds extended versions, alternative takes, demos, and additional tracks not on the standard disk such as “Amidst the Storm”, “Lincolnshire Country Lane” (The sights and sounds of this very country lane near where Dave lives in the changing seasons and where he went on his daily runs and walks became a source of inspiration and hope during his separation. In fact, the original title of the album was “A Lincolnshire Country Lane“.), “A World Without Shadows”, “Lost At Sea”, “Song For Charlie”, and “Downtime Jam” which a true jam and rocker (I love it). The two CD version of the album is also available as a signed version. Outstanding! Absolutely a must have and highly recommended to those who love masterfully performed and brilliantly composed Prog Rock! This album definitely rewards you with each additional listen. I can only imagine what Dave has in store for us next. Bravo Dave!
Studio Album, released in September 30, 2021
Line-up / Musicians – Dave Bainbridge / many instruments, Sally Minnear / vocals, Iain Hornal / vocals, Troy Donockley / high & low whistles, uillean pipes, Cumbrian voices, Frank van Essen / drums, solo violin, ensemble violins & violas, Jon Poole / fretted & fretless basses, Jonas Pap / cello, Nigel Cameron / whistles, Julie Cameron-Hall / violin, Martin Nolan / whistles
Songs / Tracks Listing
Standard CD and CD 1 of two CD Edition 1. Sea Gazer (6:12), 2. Girl and the Magical Sky (8:00), 3. Rain and Sun (4:12), 4. Clear Skies (6:21), 5. Ghost Light (14:13), 6. Cathedral Thinkers (3:09), 7. To Gain the Ocean (4:07), 8. As Night Falls (1:52), 9. Infinitude (Region of the Stars) (6:48), 10. To the Far Away (4:43), 11. Speed Your Journey (4:29), 12. Fells Point (2:58), 13. Something Astonishing (4:18)
CD 2 of Deluxe two CD Edition 1. Sea Gazer – Acoustic Mix, 2. Clear Skies – More Guitar Ending, 3. Amidst the Storm, 4. Cathedral Thinkers – Piano, Bass, and Drums Mix, 5. Downtime Jam, 6. A Lincolnshire Country Lane, 7. A World Without Shadows, 8. Infinitude (Region of the Stars) – Extended Version, 9. Lost at Sea, 10. Sea Gazer – Demo, 11. Girl and the Magical Sky – Demo, 12. Rain and Sun – Demo, 13. Clear Skies – Demo, 14. Ghost Light – Demo, 15. To Gain the Ocean – Demo, 16. Speed Your Journey – Demo, 17. Song for Charlie
Brad Kesner: Dave, it is such a pleasure to chat with you. I am particularly proud to cover your most recent masterpiece To the Far Away. I have followed your wonderful catalog of music for many years whether it was with Iona, your solo albums, your music with Lifesigns, or other collaborations you have done over the years. All of your music reflects your love and commitment (and I must say your strength of faith, genius and creative force) towards music. You most certainly have always been a beacon of positive energy for us all. Your newest album continues to receive high praise and glowing reviews. Deservedly so. You have done some very nice interviews as well over the years; that being said Dave, I want to make our conversation today a little bit different and for you to have some fun with this one.
Brad Kesner: First of all Dave, I must say your life and musical journey has been most impressive. You have gone from humble beginnings in Darlington to high achievements and recognition through hard work and commitment from early on in your life. You most certainly have had wonderful influences all of your life starting with your parents, your sister, and other relatives. What are some of your warmest memories of that time?
DAVE: Looking back I was blessed in many ways that I had the background I had, growing up in Darlington when I did in the ’60’s and ’70’s. Both my mam’s and dad’s side of the family were very musical, so I was surrounded by music from as far back as I can remember. My parents divorced when I was three but both were always incredibly supportive when I decided I wanted to pursue music as a career. My sister Maureen was 8 1/2 years older than me and I was fortunate to be able to explore her really great record collection from an early age. I spend many happy hours on my own listening to The Beatles, Vanilla Fudge, Jethro Tull, Jimi Hendrix, the Woodstock soundtrack album, various blues albums, Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story soundtrack and much more. Though I had classical piano lessons from the age of eight, I didn’t really enjoy them that much until I discovered that I could improvise and come up with my own tunes when I was around the age of 11. From that point on, which coincided with me gradually building up my own record collection, music became my passion, both listening to it and playing it. I joined my first band when I was 14 through answering an advert in the local newspaper and that was a significant part of my musical education. We rehearsed every week at Rod the bass player’s house and it was there that I first heard The Yes Album, Close to the Edge (both by Yes) and Selling England by the Pound by Genesis, all key albums in expanding my musical horizons. Whenever I could afford to, I’d go to rock concerts, first with my sister from the age of 11, then with my friends. We saw all the popular bands of the day, which spanned a diverse musical palette. The downside of my total absorption in music was that my school grades went from really good to pretty bad! Due to a lack of pupils wanting to do music I wasn’t allowed to study it at school for my last 2 years there, so I rebelled. Leaving school at 16, due to my poor exam results, I had the choice to go to 6th Form College where I could spend 2 years studying music and art and re-sitting my exams, or getting a job in the local steel works! Of course I wanted to go to college, but my step dad thought I should get a proper job. Thankfully my mam persuaded him, after many arguments, that I should go to college. That was a real turning point for me. The music teacher there, Mr. Craven was a fantastic teacher, pianist and church organist and immediately saw that I had a gift for music and in particular for composing. For the next 2 years I worked harder than I’d ever worked, and passed all my piano and music exams with top marks. Mr. Craven taught me piano and composition and allowed me to perform some of my own pieces in the college concerts. I can’t thank him enough for his incredible input into my life at that point. He suggested I apply for Leed College of Music as it was the only college in the country at the time that had a course that encompassed jazz, contemporary music and recording. I passed the audition and was very fortunate to get a discretionary grant to cover all the college fees for my time there. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to go. Our family was quite poor and lived in a very small house – for several years I slept in the bathroom (actually in the bath for a while until someone gave us a camping bed!). After my sister left home I was able to sleep on the sofa bed in the front room, which was also the music room, so from that point I was in my element, surrounded by all the musical instruments in the house and my cheap, but cherished stereo system.
Brad Kesner: Much of your music is faith driven and full of spirituality Dave. There is no doubt your music always touches my heart and speaks to me on a very deep level. It is most certainly beautiful and artistically crafted. Could you tell us a bit about this aspect of much of your music?
DAVE: My family members were not in any way religious, but I do remember that when I was very young my mam would always pray over me before I went to sleep at night. I enjoyed Religious Studies at school. At the time that meant studying stories from the Bible, but I could see that the teacher Mr. Rivers really believed these stories about Jesus and that they influenced how he lived his life. He was definitely the happiest person I knew – in fact my sister, who met him at a parents’ evening nicknamed him ‘Jolly Jesus’! It turned out that he was also a pastor at a Pentecostal church and on one occasion he got some university students who were Christians to come and give a presentation to the school. This consisted of an incredibly moving film about the life of Jesus, sort of set in the present day, followed by discussions in small groups and then some coffee bar meetings at the Pentecostal church which was at the end of my street. At the time I was quite happy doing my own thing, but something attracted me to the person of Jesus and I wanted to know more about someone who not only was said to be God incarnate, but who would associate with the outcasts of society and give his life freely because he loved every one of us. So at the age of 14 I became a believer in Jesus. From that point it was a natural thing for my faith to permeate my music. It seems to me that music can open up the door to our spiritual side in an amazing way, and help us discover a bigger picture, something outside of ourselves as well as awaken something deep with us.
Brad Kesner: How difficult was it for you to initially break into the music industry Dave? Please share a little bit about your label “Open Sky”.
DAVE: I think if you want to be a musician, you have to see it as a real vocation, something you have to do at all costs. When you consider that a genius like Mozart ended up in an unmarked pauper’s grave, you get the picture of what you’re letting yourself in for, especially if you want to be a composer playing original music, unless you’re very, very lucky. There have been tough times, especially early on when I was sharing a bedsit with my sister. There was one Christmas where we couldn’t afford the train journey home to stay with our mam and all we could afford to buy for Christmas dinner was a packet of Hula Hoops (a kind of chips for the US readers!) each! However I’ve been fortunate that there have been very few times where I’ve had no work at all (even if it’s been badly paid) and the week I left music college I had a job for 7 weeks playing in a summer show in the house band at a seaside resort, two shows every day! Then when that finished I was booked by a local music manager I’d met to play for a month with a popular singer in Germany – 31 shows up and down the whole breadth of the country in 30 days (we did two in different locations one Sunday!). It was a definitely a question of a lot of hard work, making and capitalizing on contacts and getting known on the local music scene, making and sending out loads of demo recordings and (in those days) sending out letters to people I thought might be interested in what I do, such as TV and video companies whom I thought might use original music, studios and producers who might employ me as a session musician etc, etc. I placed an ad in the local newspaper as a piano and guitar teacher and built up a reputation as a local teacher. I did loads of gigs, at one time playing regularly up to 6 nights a week in several different bands to build up my chops and earn a living. I gradually started to get work as a composer, musician and producer through persistence, being reliable and being someone people could work with, without any dramas! Diversification was definitely a key! Open Sky Records came about many years later around the year 2000, after Iona were dropped by our US record label. Back in 1990, our UK label signed a deal with a new and upcoming US label for US distribution of our albums. The people in the US at the label loved the band and were very keen to work with us. They helped to establish an audience for us in the US and Canada, which we were very thankful for. However as often happens, the original label bosses eventually left and some new guys came in who had a very different focus for the label, i.e. to find more pop oriented chart acts. They were then bought out by Time Warner. I remember them sending us a letter saying how this was a very exciting move for them and it would be great for us! Six months later they dropped us, saying they no longer thought our style of music was compatible with their vision! We had been thinking for a while that setting up our own label might be the way to go and this basically spurred us on to do that very thing. So our first release on Open Sky Records was The River Flows box set, on which we worked with other distributers, keeping the rights to the album ourselves. Thanks to a really bad contract we had signed back in 1990 it took us 10 years to recoup the money spent on the first 3 Iona albums. Once we had the rights back we were able to release The River Flows and that took us 6 months to recoup! So, all our releases since 2000 have been on our Open Sky label. Latterly I’ve handed a lot of the record company running of Open Sky to Gonzo Multimedia as I don’t have the time or money to do the day to day running anymore. But if you go to our web store (www.musicglue.com/iona) you can see that we’ve amassed quite a large number of releases over the years, the latest being my album To The Far Away, released in November 2021.
Brad Kesner: Dave, what bands were your strongest influences over the years?
DAVE: All the previously mentioned artists from my sister’s record collection were obviously very big influences. If I had to name one album of those that had a big impact it would have to be the 3 disc Woodstock album my sister had. It had such a diverse range of great artists and introduced me to some great songs, artists and in particular great guitarists. I especially loved the tracks on there by Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Ten Years After and Crosby, Still, Nash and Young. When I got my first guitar I spent hours and hours trying to learn the solos and riffs on the songs by these artists. This really helped to develop my ear training and guitar technique! The first record I bought with my own pocket money was All Right Now by Free. Such a great, rocking song with one of the most well constructed guitar solos ever recorded, by the late, great Paul Kossoff. Once I started playing the guitar a few years later, this was one of the first tracks I tried to play. As a side note, many years later I played the actual guitar that Paul used to record this track! A friend of mine had bought it years ago and I played it several times when it was in his possession. I loved Mark Stein’s raw Hammond organ sound on my sister’s Vanilla Fudge albums and after that Jon Lord’s playing and visceral sound with Deep Purple really influenced my wanting to play organ. Yes and Mike Oldfield showed me that rock music could be adventurous and multilayered and be approached in an almost orchestral way. I loved the folk influences in Oldfield’s pieces and the Irish rock band Horslips, who also combined folk and rock in an exciting way. I could list a vast number of bands and artists really, but I was particularly attracted to bands that were crossing the boundaries between rock, folk, classical and other genres and being adventurous with harmonies, beyond the obvious 3 or 4 chord pop songs of the time, so Gentle Giant, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Focus, Hatfield and the North and early Genesis were amongst my big influences.
Brad Kesner: When you started your studies initially in music, you had a classical focus which changed somewhat later when you took your course in jazz while in college. Plus, you also had a lot of early rock influence listening to your sister’s albums. Based on all of this, what direction did you see yourself going initially in your career and what genre were you most focused on? What caused any changes in that initial direction?
DAVE: I’d always loved improvising, and studying jazz helped me to understand more about scales, modes and harmony, but I never felt like straight ahead jazz was where my heart was. Just recently I reconnected with a guy I was at college with called Alan Barnes. He’s an incredible jazz saxophonist – one of the best in the UK. You can really hear and feel the jazz tradition in every note he plays. But he’s only got there through a total dedication to and immersion in that genre. I always felt more of a pull towards music and subject matter that was closely linked to my roots growing up as an Englishman from the north-east of England and more widely from the British Isles. In schools in 1960’s Britain there was a strong choral tradition. Singing hymns every morning written by some of the best 19th and early 20th century British composers from the age of 6 informed my sense of certain very ‘English’ sounding chord progressions and melodies. I’m sure this is why British progressive rock always sounded different from that over the Atlantic. Britain is so small compared to the USA. There aren’t the vast, open roads and vistas, so composers here would often write about more colloquial and quintessentially English things as Genesis did in their early days. Or we’d look to history for inspiration. That’s something we have in abundance here. My first public performance, when I was about 9 years old was playing a traditional Scottish tune called The Skye Boat Song on the melodica at a school concert. Traditional folk tunes were often taught to us especially in the first years of school. Or we’d look to our imaginations to create worlds that were infinitely bigger and more exciting than our own, often dreary existences in our cold, rainy and grimy northern working class provincial towns. I felt that in the perfect marriage of Yes’s mystical music and Roger Dean’s otherworldly artwork. So I never thought of focusing on a particular genre, but rather just tried to create music that resonated with all the things I liked and all that I was feeling. In that sense I think my path has been extremely consistent, going right back to pieces I wrote in my teens.
Brad Kesner: There is a very impressive list of musicians you have played with, or that have been musicians or guests on your albums (such as Rick Wakeman), and also that you have collaborated with over the years. Dave, could you please share who some of those musicians were?
DAVE: Before we started Iona I worked much more as a freelance musician and got to work with a number of great artists. Through my involvement with The Norman Beaker band I got to play with some of the greats in the blues world, including the late, great Jack Bruce, whom we toured with in the UK and Europe, Buddy Guy, Buddy’s brother Phil Guy, Lowell Fulson (a big early influence on Frank Zappa!), Paul Jones (of Manfred Mann fame), Pete Brown (lyricist for Cream and Jack Bruce), Colin Hodgkinson, Louisina Red, PP Arnold, Chris Farlowe and many, many more. I was fortunate to tour with Phil Keaggy back in the late 1980’s. He is one of the best guitarists anywhere and I spent much time with him on tour asking him to show me different things on the guitar! I got to play with a lot of soul artists as well, including Gloria Gaynor and Eddie Holman. Iona took up so much time (not just the writing, recording and touring but all the administration stuff I did) that I had to turn down much further work with other artists, including (sadly) with Jack and Gloria and also with Neal Morse, whom I was asked to tour with around 2011. Those were very hard decisions. However, it was through Iona that I got to work in the studio with Robert Fripp and Moya Brennan (of Clannad), both amazing experiences. When Iona came to an end around 2015 and people knew I was available, a lot of new opportunities opened up. I joined Strawbs as keyboard player, Lifesigns as guitarist / keys player, toured with Paul Bielatowicz of Carl Palmer’s band, joined Downes Braide Association (with Geoff Downes and Chris Braide). I got to play with some of the original musicians who recorded the Alan Parsons Project albums, such as Larry Zakatek, David Paton and Stuart Elliott, toured with Dave Kerzner in the UK. Playing with Strawbs led to performing with Annie Haslam, Eric Bazilian, Larry Fast and others at the Strawbs 50th Anniversary weekend. And so on!
Brad Kesner: Please tell us a little about your time with Strawbs and your time with Lifesigns.
DAVE: My friend Paul Bielatowicz was on a UK tour called Classic Legends of Rock back in early 2015. He was playing with Carl Palmer and The Acoustic Strawbs were on the bill. One night Dave Cousins from Strawbs asked Paul if he knew any good keyboard players, for an upcoming full Electric Strawbs tour. Paul recommended me and I met up with Dave at one of the gigs on the tour. We hit it off. He was already aware of my work with Iona, which he really liked. After the tour he called me and asked if he could come up to my studio (a 5 plus hour drive for him!) as he had an idea for a song. We worked on it for a couple of days and it ended up becoming the epic title track on TheFerryman’s Curse album. Soon after this Dave was ill so the planned Strawbs tour I was to have played on was postponed, but we continued work on TheFerryman’s Curse album. So the first gig I played with the band was on the Moody Blues Cruise in the Caribbean at the beginning of 2016. We toured extensively over the next 3 years in the UK and USA, releasing The Ferryman’s Curse, Live in Gettysburg and Settlement albums (the latter I had less involvement on, though I did co-write the track Champion Jack). This all culminated in the 50th anniversary weekend in New Jersey in April 2019, which had a whole host of guests and was an amazing time. I did seven orchestral arrangements for the occasion, with Tony Visconti also doing 3 more. The last gig I did with the band was in September 2021 at a festival in the UK. Since then Dave Cousins has retired from live work due to ill health, but we hope there will be a new Strawbs album coming at some point. It was through Strawbs that I got to meet John Young on Lifesigns. John played keys with Strawbs for two years some time before I was in the band. At a Strawbs concert in Birmingham, UK around 2016/17 one of my keyboards stopped working. The following night we were due to be playing near where John lives and Dave Cousins suggested we contact him to see if he had a keyboard I could borrow for the rest of the tour. John saved the day and kindly brought said keyboard to the venue. We met briefly and at the end of the tour when we took the keyboard back. We stayed in touch after that and realized we had a lot in common musically and background-wise. John came to a couple of gigs I did and asked me if I’d like to contribute to some tracks on the second Lifesigns album Cardington. I really liked the music and the guys in the band so was very pleased when John asked me to join after the departure of Nicko Tsonev. I think the band has gone from strength to strength since then and has really gelled with the addition of Zoltan Csörsz on drums. I was particularly able to stamp my personality in the playing on the Altitude album, being the only guitarist (apart from a guest acoustic guitar appearance on “Ivory Tower” by Robin Boult). Things are looking very positive for the band for 2023 with a new agent and possible USA tour and we’ll soon be working on a new album.
Brad Kesner: Dave, you do an incredible job of always having a first class lineup of musicians on your albums. What other musicians are on your wish list that you would like to have on one of your future albums or projects?
DAVE: I am blessed to have so many great musicians as friends whom I’ve been able to call upon. My priority is always the music. I come up with the ideas for that first and then see who would be the best people to collaborate with to achieve the sound I have in my head. There are a number of well known musicians I could have asked to be on my albums but for me it has to be all about the music and who will be the best interpreter of that, rather than who is the most famous person I can ask. I have been in contact with one musician whose work I’ve admired for many years whom I’m hoping will be on the next album and if it works out I’ll be writing some of the music specifically with him in mind, but until it’s confirmed I won’t say who it is!
Brad Kesner: (Have some fun with these next ones Dave.) What would be the ultimate fantasy band you would love to put together with any artists currently living or no longer living no matter the genre?
DAVE: This is always a subjective question as quite often ‘super-group’ type bands don’t work because music is all about the way musicians gel together and leave space for each other. And of course great players aren’t necessarily the best composers. That said, I’d have loved to have seen what Jimi Hendrix would have done and who he would have worked with, had he lived. Electric Ladyland was such an innovative album and I can imagine he may have been involved in some amazing collaborations with keyboard players during the 1970’s as keyboard technology and synthesizers in particular were becoming really creative tools. He and David Sancious together could have been a pretty interesting combination, maybe with Jack Bruce on bass and vocals. Jack and Jimi knew each other. Or, Jimi and Vangelis, exploring a more creative and abstract sound world. I’d love to hear guitarists such as Guthrie Govan and Eric Johnson’s playing in a different context, with more modern orchestral accompaniments.
Brad Kesner: Dave, if you were a reincarnated soul, what musician would you have liked to have been either living, no longer living, or in the past?
DAVE: Maybe Ralph Vaughan Williams, JS Bach or Keith Jarrett.
Brad Kesner: What career would you have gone into if it was not music?
DAVE: I’d have gone to Art College and been an artist, photographer or done some sort of technical drawing job. That was my other passion.
Brad Kesner: Dave, please share something about yourself that no one else knows about.
DAVE: Before music became my passion in my early teens, I wanted to be a professional soccer player, or a train driver! I still like to kick a football though I rarely get the opportunity these days.
Brad Kesner: What is coming up in your future Dave? Are you currently working on an album or project?
DAVE: I’m currently finishing off mixing the new album from my friend Dave Brons, called Return to Arda. Then I’ll be concentrating on writing and recording music for my next solo album. I also have some work to do on recordings from the Strawbs 50th anniversary weekend, which I’m collaborating with Larry Fast on. This will eventually be released on DVD. I hope to continue doing more concerts with Sally Minnear next year in our duo setting, which is always great fun. There are a few other possibilities in the pipeline, but nothing confirmed as yet. I started a Patreon page back in March, which takes up much of my time. These are incredibly difficult times for musicians and composers. In past days I could rely on royalty income from album sales to sustain me during periods when I was writing new music. However that income stream has almost completely dried up, thanks to streaming platforms (which generate almost no royalties) and much reduced album and download sales. At this period in my life I really want to finally concentrate more fully on writing my own music, but that is only possible if I can generate some income. Writing and recording an album takes many months and then when you add on the cost of paying musicians, it becomes a financially unsustainable situation. Patreon offers a really great solution to this dilemma. Patreon allows artists to focus on their work, rather than how many people it will appeal to. Sadly today a lot of art – no matter how brilliantly executed – is not commercially viable. To the Far Away for example has yet to recoup my investment in it. Through Patreon however, artists don’t have to waste time and money trying to appeal to everyone, but they can turn to their patrons, their niche, directly and hopefully see organic growth from this solid base. It’s small beginnings, but as I write I have around 66 patrons who regularly contribute a monthly amount, which is helping me to continue as a composer and recording artist. In return patrons get exclusive access into my creative world, through exclusive video content, weekly Zoom gatherings and many posts about what I’m working on, plus much more. They are the first to hear new ideas as they develop. It’s a really wonderful thing to feel the support and be part of a community that is there to see the creation of new art. Hopefully as my Patreon membership grows I’ll be able to devote more time to working exclusively on new music. Potentially this could be the most creative period of my life. So please check out my page at www.patreon.com/davebainbridge if you’d like to be part of this.
Brad Kesner: Your album To the Far Away is not only a beautiful album but tells a heart touching tale based on your own personal experiences. It happened during what was a very challenging time with the Pandemic and lock down and in particular, it was very bitter sweet time because of your separation from your fiancée Sharon over distant borders. What helped you the most during this very difficult time in your life Dave?
DAVE: Thanks Brad. Yes, Sharon and I were due to be married at the end of March 2020, but before I was able to travel to the USA, the borders closed and I was unable to get there until 8 1/2 months later. Of course at first we didn’t know how long we’d be apart, expecting that it might be just a couple of months, so we always hoped. What turned things around for us was discovering a Facebook group called “Love is Not Tourism”, a few months into the pandemic, which was set up by people on both sides of the Atlantic who were in the same situation as us. They had found legal ways to get around the USA’s border closure by spending 15 nights in a country that was not on the USA’s Covid banned list. So we started to plan for me to get to the USA via 15 nights in Mexico, which meant me spending time in Cancun during the tail end of the hurricane season! We were eventually reunited on 3rd November 2020, and married on 27th December. Skype was a lifeline for us and we spent hours every day on there doing fun stuff or just hanging out. For me I was able to get into a routine of working and exercise – running or walking each day on the secluded country lane on which I lived. As I spend a lot of time on my own working on music when not on tour anyway, the pandemic lockdown actually didn’t feel that different to usual in some respects and it gave me the opportunity to work on The Book of Iona box set, albums for Lifesigns, DBA and Strawbs and other sessions and of course on To The Far Away. So it was in fact a very creative time, which really helped.
Brad Kesner: Dave, thank you so much for your time during our chat. I have such a high level of respect for not only what you have accomplished over the years, but also of what a truly good soul you are. Thank you for all of the wonderful music you have gifted us with over the years. Is there any final thing you would like to share with all of us out there that love your music?
DAVE: Thanks Brad! I can’t stress how important it is for people to support artists, composers and musicians, especially those making new music. Without this support, music will just become a nostalgia trip and will cease to be a relevant, cutting edge art form. The music industry model that enabled bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis and many others to flourish back in the 1970’s no longer exists, so it is absolutely crucial to, as much as possible, buy albums and merchandise directly from new, emerging and niche artists and support them via ventures like Patreon and Indiegogo etc. and to go and see them live. The positive side to this is that there is now the chance to have a much more direct connection to your favorite artists than was possible in the 1970’s and to actually be part of their creative process and journey.
Article by Brad Kesner; Thank you to Martin Reijman for the photos
It is hard to imagine, in this era of everybody being permanently connected, that there was a time not so long ago when it was hard to find out information on your favorite band, especially if they were not on the charts. Hence the advent of fanzines, which were bloody hard work for those involved (I ran Feedback for 16 years, more than 80 issues and 11,000 pages of print), yet they are now an invaluable source of information for diehard fans and researchers alike. Those who were dedicated to just one band often gained massive access and contain information that has never been made available elsewhere. Such is the case of Voyage 35, a fanzine dedicated to Porcupine Tree. Between 1995 and June 2001 Steve Freight put out 14 issues dedicated to his favorite band, and he has now lovingly collated these into a book that has just been released by Gonzo Multimedia. He made the decision to collate the fanzines, so each issue appears as a separate chapter, with the cover art and images which appeared within. However, he made the call not to include reviews and items which looking back add no value, so what we have here is a distilled version, which for fans of the band is indispensable. I was asked if I would like to interview Steve and jumped at the opportunity as there were way too few people running fanzines, and those who have taken the time and energy to now make them available in book form even more so.
When did you become interested in music, and what bands were important to you at the time and why?
My mother had a large selection of classical 78s and from an early age around 2, I was allowed to play them. Whilst I could not read I used to make up sounds to go with the music and could recognize the tunes from the labels and the shapes of the words.
The radio used to be on most of the time and growing up in the 60’s I was lucky enough to be exposed to all the pop songs the BBC would play (not much due to needle time) on getting my first radio aged 7 (1963) I found Luxemburg and listened via my headphone (just the one for one ear) under the sheets. This reminds me of visiting a great aunt who asked my mother if I had a hearing problem as she thought my trannie and headphone was hearing aid!
The first real influence was….
Cliff Richard. From there I liked Buddy Holly, and then the Beatles. She Loves You was hanging on the tree for me at Christmas.
The first single I bought with my own money was Legend of Xanadu.
Up until senior school, I was probably into more pop-orientated music but even in those days, this consisted of the Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Moody Blues, and Pink Floyd who have stayed with me to this day and helped forge my musical tastes. I was also lucky that bands I got into released singles in those days. Bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and The Doors were all chart entries too. Heaven.
Then a truly remarkable single assaulted my senses. Hawkwind’s Silver Machine. Loved it and bought it, but a strange thing then happened. I was more captivated by the B side, 7 by 7. Intrigued a friend and I went to see them at the Edmonton Sundown on 29th December 1972. Little did I know that I was witnessing history in the shape of the Space Ritual tour. The next day I went out and bought Doremi Fasol Latido with my Saturday job money and I’ve bought everything released since.
As to what I listen to these days, it’s an eclectic mix of 60’s pop when the radio is on, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, Charlie (Love Terry Thomas’s sense of humor in the lyrics – check out Popstar), Moody Blues, The Beatles, Fish on Friday, The Who, Free, Bad Company, Ozzy, Alan Parsons, The Doors, Meatloaf / Jim Steinman related, Glen Campbell, Lindisfarne, Yes, Rumer, anything with Paul Heaton (my wife’s favorite) and early, pre In Absentia, Porcupine Tree.
How did you discover Porcupine Tree yourself?
There was a shop in Southend, where I was working, called 99th Floor that I used to visit during my lunch hour and chat with John and Tom. They would always be playing records by bands I had little knowledge of, and one day Tom said he had something he was sure I’d enjoy that had just come in. It was the Voyage 34 single. I bought it on the spot and also On the Sunday of Life.
What made them stand out for you?
I think it was the sheer variety of genres that was attempted on “Sunday” that made it a joy to listen to. It covered so much of the music I had grown up with and was a throwback of sorts, but with a “progressive” twist. I later said in the fanzine that we should call it Evolving Rock. And then when Radioactive Toy came on when listening for the first time, wow what a song.
What was the scene like back then? Were you interested in other progressive bands, how did you go out about discovering information?
Trance and sampling were big things then and Voyage 34 seemed to fit this mold quite well. Until I spoke to Steven on the phone for the first time, I always assumed that the start was a Pink Floyd sample from The Wall and he seemed surprised by this and said it was all him. He said that if it was reminiscent of The Wall it was purely unintentional. I was going to many concerts back then, mostly rock orientated, which I was enjoying more than Prog at that time.
Prog was though, very derivative, and I tended to stick with what I liked, such as Floyd and Yes. It’s a cliché, but so many bands wanted to be (early) Genesis, but I found them hard to get into, so the subculture of Genesis clones didn’t do a lot for me. I used to rave about the early Porcupine Tree albums to anyone who would listen to me, and Guy Thomas was one of these.
The lucky so-and-so was able to go to Porcupine Tree’s first live gig at the Nags Head Wycombe and as someone who has videoed a fair number of Hawkwind concerts over the years, he contacted Richard Allen and was able to get a pass to video the concert officially (yes a full video of this gig exists). For me, this led to my introduction to the band members.
Why did you decide to write your own fanzine? How did it come about? How big was the first issue (pages) and how many did you print?
I had been helping Doug Smith (Hawkwind manager) to promote the Alien 4 album, by taking flyers and posters around the local record shops in my area. My reward was a backstage pass to the Brixton all-nighter. Porcupine Tree was also on the bill and had an early 30-minute slot. Somehow, our (mine and Guy’s) backstage passes morphed into access to all area ones (don’t ask)!
Guy had transcribed the Nags Head gig onto a broadcast-quality videotape, and he wanted to get this to Steven. We negotiated the corridors of the Academy looking for the band’s dressing room. Finding this we went in and had a chat with them. I remember mentioning Steven’s bum note played on the Radio One Session for some reason, but Steven said these things happen and he wasn’t worried by it and that if he was he wouldn’t be putting it out on record. All four were pleasant even though we had crashed their dressing room and I then thought I’d contact Richard Allen and see if anyone had approached the band regarding a fanzine.
At the time my wife worked evenings, and once I’d put our daughters to bed I listened to music or tinkered with making my own mash-up videos, nicking bits from films or TV shows and overlaying them with Hawkwind music. I used scenes from Bladerunner and set this to It Is The Business Of The Future to be Dangerous, Legend I set to Magnu and Danger Man (US Secret Agent) to Secret Agent, among others. I sent copies to Dave Brock and when I met him years later at the Take Me To Your Leader launch party he asked if I was the guy who had set Danger Man to Secret Agent. He’d have liked to have used it, but it was a copywriter’s nightmare!
With all this free time I felt I could produce a fanzine and Richard agreed if Steven was OK with it. He said he’d get Steven to call me. He did but I wasn’t expecting the call at 11:30 at night! We spoke for around 30 minutes and some of this I recalled in the first issue. Putting it together was not easy for the first few issues as I used my trusty writer program on the Atari, and these were initially printed out on my Dot Matrix printer. Before they went to print though I found thanks to my work IT department, they could convert this to Word Perfect and master pages were printed.
I then had to cut and paste the photos into the required places and then photocopy and reduce them from A4 to A5 master. Very time-consuming. Then came the photocopying. I used my work resources out of hours on the first couple of issues and then my in-laws said I could use the printing facilities at their church for a charitable donation, which was how the later issues were done.
The first issue was 24 pages and I sold them at concerts and gave many away to promote the fanzine and the band. 99th Floor in Southend had a supply they sold or gave away. In all 14 issues were produced, but by the last issue around 30 were produced on a print-by-order basis, as the fan base now got their information much quicker via the internet.
What were the reaction of the band, label, and other fans?
Richard Allen was pleased with the fact he had something to help promote the band with. He sent out flyers with his Freakbeat mail order business mailouts and I got a very good response from this too and had a mail list of over 100 for issue 2. Steven found a couple of minor errors in the first issue and offered to proofread all future issues and agreed to himself and the other band members being interviewed for future issues. These are all in the book.
How did the book come about?
The book came about by accident. I had not intended to publish it. I had however thought about consolidating the articles and interviews into one document for my own benefit and to pass on to anyone who was interested. I’d seen some old Voyage 35’s selling on eBay for over £20 an issue, so thought there might be some interest as a historical document in the early days of the band.
Rich Wilson, Charles Beterams, and Guy Tkach, had all contacted me for information for their books on Porcupine Tree and this gave me a push to provide this to them.
Coincidentally, my wife was in the process of leaving her employment and with very little to do took on the task of typing up the articles from the early issues I had no digital files (those produced on the Atari or which had been on floppy discs). I made a conscious decision not to include reviews of the albums including my own as there were many reviews out there and most are personal opinions. Once I’d consolidated the articles I sent this out to friends and some contacts I still had from the old Fanzine days. This included Jon at Gonzo.
Jon felt this had potential as a published book and he would run with this and do the necessary, which is where we are at today. The one thing I wanted though was the Mutant Baby inspired by Radioactive Toy and drawn by John Chase as the cover illustration.
The book still has very much a fanzine feel, including being broken by issues. The approach works very well but why did you choose this format?
It just seemed logical to keep the issue approach as it gave a sense of historical progression on the evolution of the band at the time. I thought that anyone wanting to see what was being said about saying The Sky Moves Sideways at the time of release could easily find the references within the book.
All music reviews are subjective to a lesser or greater degree, and given that, yours would have captured a moment in time do you regret not including them?
Not really. I did as said, consider including them but in the end, decided to leave them out. Maybe in hindsight keeping them in would have added to the historical nature of the book that I intended.
After Voyage 35 did you still write, or did you put that behind you?
I occasionally did reviews for other fanzines such as Brian Tawn’s HawkFan, Hawkeye, and Wondrous Stories, and did a booklet, primarily for my daughters, but it has gone a bit wider over the years, on my memories of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, covering my childhood years. I’ve not written anything for some while now though.
Apart from Hawkwind, who really excites you musically today?
There is not a lot of new music I get overly excited about these days. Fish On Friday is probably the “newest” band I really enjoy listening to, along with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (never really that keen on Oasis though). Other artists I have gotten into seem to run out of steam quite quickly and get derivative or lose their way. It’s as if they have a lot of good ideas and put them into one good debut release. I’m forever donating CDs to charity shops that have disappointed me. Most CD purchases (and yes, I prefer to own the music and I think they sound better than streaming) these days tend to be remastered or new material by bands I collect.
I see you have covered Steven’s output other than Porcupine Tree. How did you track down these bands?
Once I did the first issue Steven’s past came to light from various readers, including a live tape that Steven didn’t have in his possession. These readers had been lucky enough to live in Steven’s area and had seen previous bands he had played in. Also, Steven had issued tapes with these bands.
No-Man was of course already well known and a number of people who were fans of this band transitioned across to Porcupine Tree. It was always my intention to cover Steven’s offshoots and one issue became a No-Man special, covering a timeline and all known releases up to that time. Phil Harwood helped with the discography whilst I researched the history as best I could.
The only time I deviated from the straight Issue approach in the book, was in bringing forward a letter from Tim Bowness that I published in the next issue as I felt it better to keep the No-Man info together.
What are your thoughts now that Porcupine Tree has reformed for a new CD and Tour?
I’m pleased for them (although disappointed for Colin (and Chris) that they missed out on this stage of the band’s popularity). They went out on a high with the Royal Albert Hall gig, but that was also tainted as there were obvious tensions within the band and they just faded away. Personally, I didn’t enjoy the latest album, and having seen the set list there wasn’t enough from the early years to satisfy me, but again, I’m pleased with the recognition they have finally achieved from all corners of the press, even those that ignored them in the early days.
Playing to sell-out crowds across the globe justifies the direction Steven eventually took, even though it left me (and others) behind. I am proud of the part I played in those early formative years in helping promote the band and pleased Richard Allen (the band’s first manager) took the time to write the forward to the book for me.
I hope people who buy the book find it an interesting testament to those early days and will be inspired to revisit the early albums and see what inspired such loyalty from the fans at the time in Porcupine Tree.
POP: Hello, Dyanne can you start by telling us a little bit about you and your band.
Dyanne Potter: Sure! Jan Christiana and I have two bands, Potter’s Daughter, and Octarine Sky. I play piano, keyboards, and sing. Jan plays bass, (and several other instruments), sings, and arranges and produces our music.
POP: How did the band name come about and what’s its significance.
Dyanne Potter: I actually started using the name Potter’s Daughter back in NYC after I graduated from the Manhattan School of Music. We played around NYC and in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where I grew up.
My maiden name is Potter – I got the idea for the band name one night when I was playing piano at the Elmhurst Country Club, where both my parents were members. Several of my Dad’s friends came up to me at the piano and asked me if I was Potter’s daughter. And the name was born! I just like the sound of it.
POP: How long have you been a musician?
Dyanne Potter: I started taking piano lessons when I was three years old. I come from a musical family and everyone plays an instrument. It just seemed natural to play the piano. I performed the first time at age four. My piano teacher, Anne Vanko Liva, used to give Piano Pedagogy master classes all over the country and often invited me to perform at the master classes and recitals.
POP: You are both a singer and a pianist are you classically trained or self-taught
Dyanne Potter: I am definitely a classically trained pianist; I have two degrees in classical piano performance. I have spent many hours practicing!! Although I have also studied jazz (with the master, Mike Longo), I don’t really consider myself a jazz pianist.
I have also studied voice, but far less formally. I am currently studying with the fabulous Edrie Means Weekly.
POP: How would you describe your style?
Dyanne Potter: My style is certainly rooted in classical music, probably 20th century and 21st century “classical” music. I also love improvisation though, and Jan (Christiana) is such a great soloist, we always build room into the form for solos.
POP: When did you realize that you wanted to be a musician and who was it that inspired you to become a musician?
Dyanne Potter: I took being a musician for granted when I was a child. I didn’t think I wanted to be a musician professionally. But then I joined my first band when I was 16 years old, and I loved it so much, it changed my entire life.
POP: You recently self-released an album under the name Octarine Sky can you tell us about that album and how it came about
Dyanne Potter: We originally planned the album to be released under the name Potter’s Daughter. But as Jan and I started working on it and arranging the songs, we realized just how demanding the songs would be for a drummer. Not just technically challenging, but challenging to come up with drum parts which would fit, especially for the songs, “One” and “VII”. On a whim, Jan and I reached out to Simon Phillips, sent him some work recordings of the songs, and asked him if he would ever consider recording drum parts. You can imagine our astonishment when he said, yes!!
Then we asked Guthrie Govan to play guitar on the album, and he, too, said yes!! We are still so honoured to have both of these amazing musicians on our album!!
We realized just how different this sound was than anything we had ever done with Potter’s Daughter. So, we decided to separate the two projects, keeping Potter’s Daughter for the more acoustic, semi-acoustic, folky things we compose, and Octarine Sky for the heavier music.
POP: How does Octarine Sky differ from the Potter’s Daughter releases?
Dyanne Potter: The Octarine Sky arrangements are much more complex and orchestrated. And again, the overall sound is much heavier.
POP: We hear you have been invited to play at the 2022 NJ Proghouse Summer Day Camp can you tell us what that is.
Dyanne Potter: Yes!! It will be a fun summer day, Saturday August 6th, and filled with some really wonderful music! All the bands will be performing semi-acoustic – pared down versions of their usual set ups. No drum sets – just percussion. It will be held outside at Camp Oak Spring in Somerset, NJ. So everyone should bring camping chairs, pop-ups, coolers etc. There will be food offered at the venue.
POP: This year features a great lineup including Molesome (Mattias Olsson, Neon Tiger), Schooltree, Ryche Chlanda (Fire Ballet, Nektar) Kendal Scott (Nektar) and Simon Godfrey ( Shineback, Tinyfish, Valdez) have you ever performed with any of these artists?
No, I have never performed with any of them. I am very much looking forward to hearing each of them!!
POP: You will have some special guests at the upcoming NJ Proghouse Summer Day Camp who are they and how did they come about?
Dyanne Potter: Yes, we are thrilled and honored to again play with the drummer, Mark DeGregory, from the band Orpheus Nine. We played both ProgStock and Prog on the Ranch with Mark last year. This will be the first time playing with him on percussion.
We will also be joined by the vocalist Rose Danese, whom we met at Prog on the Ranch. She will be singing with me on two songs, one new song from our upcoming Potter’s Daughter EP, “Weighted Keys”, and one new song from our upcoming Octarine Sky release.
POP: How much are the tickets and where can people get more info and tickets about this event?
Dyanne Potter: Tickets are $50 ahead of time, $60 the day of the show. Info and tickets at http://www.njproghouse.com/
POP: Can you tell us do you prefer to work in the studio or perform live and why?
Dyanne Potter: Oh, I love both. The studio is so creative, and Jan is a magician when it comes to creating sounds and moods. He is such a great producer. Performing live is electric. I love being on stage and creating a moment with the audience. I am grateful to have the opportunity to do both.
POP: Tell us how you work on new material do you compose the music first or write lyrics first?
Dyanne Potter: It depends. Obviously, we have some instrumental numbers, so music first and last. The vocal music varies. Sometimes the lyrics are first, sometimes I take lyrics either I have already written, or our lyricist, Ronda Dubiel sends me, and put them to a musical idea. I write the basic composition and then hand it over to Jan. He arranges it, adds the bass, plus any other instruments he hears.
POP: What inspires you to compose a piece of music?
Dyanne Potter: Sometimes I just hear things. I usually hear something and then go to the piano and try to figure out what it is. I am inspired by nature, by Beauty, by life, by living. I try to open my ears.
POP: Do you collaborate with others during the writing process of your music?
Dyanne Potter: Jan definitely contributes to everything we put out. As I mentioned, Ronda Dubiel, regularly writes lyrics for us. And in Octarine Sky, Simon and Guthrie’s amazing musical contributions certainly shaped the compositions.
POP: If an up-and-coming musician approached you and asked if you give them advice on how to become a better musician what would you say?
Dyanne Potter: Practice. Perform. Prepare and then go out and just do it. One will never be perfect, so no sense in waiting for perfection to arrive before putting something out. Be courageous. Follow your vision. Don’t listen to negativity. Keep doing it. Honor yourself and the community of people who support you.
POP: What is the meaning of success to you and has it changed over the years
Dyanne Potter: Yes, the meaning of success has definitely changed for me over the years. I am so lucky to have the chance to create the music I hear and compose with amazing musicians. For me, that is success. Of course, if we were to ever make enormous amounts of money doing it, I might want to define success that way, too!!
POP: What’s next, are you working on a new album?
Dyanne Potter: Yes! Potter’s Daughter will soon be releasing an EP called Weighted Keys. This will only be featuring Jan and I. Included will be a piano rendition of the beautiful song, “Catherine, by Tom Kelly. The other two songs are a surprise!! We are so honored to feature artwork by the talented artist, Joe Ganech, on the cover. I love the combination of music and art. We are releasing it on Melodic Revolution Records. We have enjoyed the honor of working with Nick Katona and MRR since 2018.
POP: Where can people learn more about you?
Dyanne Potter: We are very active on social media, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We also have websites for both bands, plus Bandcamp pages for both bands.
I was recently contacted by Kathy Keller of Friendly Folk Records to inform me that Ton Scherpenzeel (of Kayak and Camel fame) would soon be releasing his fifth solo album on the label. Titled ‘Velvet Armour’ it is described as a blend of Baroque Folk and Progressive rock ballads, and given I have not previously interviewed Ton, it seemed the perfect time to remedy that omission. The result is a wonderful look back over his musical career, as well as discussing the new release, which will enthral many listeners when it is released on October 15th.
Who, what or when is Ton Scherpenzeel?
Quite the existential question to begin with…
I was born in 1952 in the Dutch town of Hilversum. My father was a journalist specializing in what they called Third World countries back then. My mother came from a musical family but never made it her profession. I have two younger brothers.
Who or what first got you interested in music and what were your inspirations during this period?
We had a piano at home when I was young. My parents noticed my eagerness to play, so they thought it would be a good idea for me to have piano lessons, which my aunt started giving me when I was about six years old. But I have always been (and still am) a half-hearted pupil when it comes to real studying and practice- even when I started studying classic double bass at the Hilversum Music Academy when I was 17. This remarkable move was more like an excuse to escape secondary school than a serious effort to end up playing in a classical orchestra.
My focus was on improvising and creating my own music rather than learning the notes someone else wrote. I can read and write music, but it is still an effort. I create music in a very intuitive way.
My first great musical inspiration, that really started to control my life were the Beatles and pop music from around 1964, up to the point that I made my own weekly charts, based upon what I heard on pirate stations like Radio London and Radio Caroline. In 1967 I even managed to have a top 100 every week that I typed out. At the end of the year, I calculated the most successful songs on my own hit parade. Favorite acts that always did well on my personal charts were of course The Beatles, but also Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Move, Manfred Mann, The Beach Boys, The Young Rascals, The Who, and… well, too many to mention.
Needless to say, my homework suffered badly because of this ‘hobby’. I doubled almost every class and basically had no idea what on earth I was doing at school. I wasn’t a rebel; I was just a dreamer and didn’t take school very seriously.
In 1967 I played bass guitar in my first real (neighborhood) band, along with drummer Pim Koopman with whom I later started Kayak. Our setlist mainly consisted of music by Hendrix and Cream. Funny thing is that though keyboard/piano is my main instrument, I favor guitar and bass. I am very much a bassman. But as a composer, I am heavily depending on keys to enable me to make melody, harmony, and bass all at the same time, and be my own orchestra. Some would say drums as well, knowing my ’touch’ on the instrument. And only when nobody else could play the keyboard parts to my songs, I switched to keyboards. I still, occasionally, play bass on my own albums, or even some Kayak albums (when we were in between bass players).
What led to the formation of Kayak, and what were you trying to achieve with the music?
In the late 60’s I started to write my own songs. Together with Pim, we recorded lots of music on his father’s “sound on sound” Sony tape recorder. Those recordings unveiled the outlines of what in 1972 would eventually become Kayak. We did not want to achieve anything concrete yet, and it was by no means professional. One thing was clear though: we were creative and complemented and inspired each other.
In the meantime, we both studied at the Music Academy (Pim did classical percussion). I did learn to appreciate the old composers there and then, with a preference for music between 1400 and 1750. It influenced my way of composing too. I can’t say that the music academy really shaped my writing, but it allowed me to take from it what I felt I needed or considered interesting. It certainly resulted into my first solo album ‘Le Carnaval des Animaux’, and ultimately in ‘The Lion’s Dream’ and now ‘Velvet Armour’.
When Kayak started, we suddenly got catapulted onto national fame (EMI launched us as a new supergroup, though we were all barely 20 years old, had little experience, and had never even played outside Holland). What we wanted to achieve than was, quite simply, that people would listen to and love what we did. To connect. Little did we know then that to succeed in this business you need much more than a bit of raw talent. But we’d find out soon enough, as of course, a band that’s being launched like that can expect not only attention but also criticism, especially when the commercial results do not meet the expectations raised by the company.
What stands out in your mind from those days?
From 1967 to 1973, the youthful feeling that everything was possible, in a creative sense. Rock and pop music were still in its growing-up phase then, experiments were usually applauded- often regardless of their quality- and in our own naive way we were following in the footsteps of our musical heroes, while slowly discovering our own musical voice. And then came Kayak and suddenly my hobby had become my profession.
In the initial life of Kayak, you released 8 studio albums, why did you break up?
In 1979 we returned with a thoroughly revised line up and had our first real commercial success with an album at number one in Holland and a top 5 single hit. But the new band didn’t get along personally, and there were increasing problems with management about financial issues. Also, each consequent album sold half of its predecessor, which caused the internal conflicts to come to the surface and ultimately made the band collapse under its own weight.
You released two studio albums in and around this period, why did you feel you needed to do that?
The first, ‘Le Carnaval des Animaux’, was really a sidestep. At the Music Academy, we did the original classical version of Saint Saens in the ensemble I played double bass in. I thought it would be fun to find out what a pop version would sound like.
‘Heart Of The Universe’ was made while I didn’t have a real band that would play my music, and I mainly worked as a studio musician. Though I wasn’t a solo artist, it was a good way to continue writing and recording my own music. When I met Chris Rainbow in London during the Camel rehearsals, I knew he was the right man for the vocals. I love his voice and might have asked him again if he were still alive today.
In the same year, you released the second solo album you were with Camel on ‘Stationary Traveller’- How did you join the band, and why did you leave only to keep returning?
Camel and Kayak had the same label in the USA, and their label manager sent lots of Kayak albums to Andy Latimer and Camel albums to me. When Andy was looking for a keyboardist in 1984, he approached me. I didn’t have a band of my own at that moment, so I was happy to join them, knowing what a phenomenal guitar player Andy is. I also liked being in a band for once where my only responsibility would be to play as good as I could and fit in.
I never really left. Camel is basically a hired band around Andy Latimer, and he can ask whoever he likes. As I do not fly, the possibilities for touring with me in the US or Japan were limited, not to say non-existent. For those occasions, Andy asked other keyboard players, very kind of him of course but at the end that’s pretty inconvenient if a tour covers all continents. I again did a tour in 2003, but after that, the band had other keyboardists.
Until 2013, when Andy asked me to replace Guy Leblanc because of his health issues. Not the way one would like to re-join a band, but I was glad I could help them out (although we had precisely two days to rehearse). I joined the band at another, last, tour in 2015. In 2017 they again went on a tour covering different continents, which made it impossible for me to join in, so Andy asked Pete Jones. He remains until today.
What led to the reformation of Kayak and the second phase?
Pim Koopman and I had stayed in touch during all the Kayak-less years (1981-1999). In 1996 we began to make some demos that would lead to the reformation of the band, only that wasn’t really our intention at the time. We also didn’t intend to call this project Kayak as no record company seemed to be interested, but in 1999, after our old manager died we were free to use the name again and we chose to do so. Legally we already were, but we were sure that the guy wouldn’t have accepted the fact that we had restarted the band without him Knowing what he was capable of doing, we thought it wiser to avoid the confrontation.
Kayak immediately became incredibly active, releasing a series of albums. What were the major differences between the scene in the ’70s and the 2000s?
First of all, the most important difference was the fact that we were all 35 years older. We weren’t the new and fresh band from the early ’70s anymore, and we were regarded as an older band that after a hiatus of 18 years decided to start again. Which was true, basically, but that limits your possible new audience. Younger people generally identify with younger bands, understandably so. But not an ideal situation when you already operate in a small market like symphonic rock, and that in a small country like Holland, still our base.
It also meant Dutch radio and TV, after the initial surprise and ‘big news’ in 2000, did not show much interest anymore once we were re-established. Sympho rock (or prog rock) was even more obscure than it was in the Seventies. Only “Ruthless Queen” is still being played, as it was a top-5 hit and still loved by many. That is the song our now eighteen albums are generally reduced to. Well, at least it’s something, not everyone can claim a hit single that keeps the shop open. Luckily, we have a loyal fan base that remembers, understands, and that keeps coming out to shows and who buy the records. And of course, in the 2000s slowly but surely internet changed the whole ballgame and national radio and tv became less important.
The bigger record companies, that still existed then, weren’t interested in Kayak around 1999, so we ended up with a small label that meant more dedication, but less exposure and lots of do-it-yourself promotion. But they did good work, without them we even wouldn’t have managed to release more than one album. The internet made another impact on Kayak, and me personally – we found out we had more fans worldwide than we thought. That is inspiring. It is incredible to see someone in Indonesia play “Ruthless Queen” on an old guitar and hear other versions as well. It means that people all over the world are touched by music, which is a musician’s ultimate goal.
Was there ever any thought of disbanding Kayak after the death of Pim? What assisted you in making the decision to carry on?
Sure. But directly after his death, I did not want to make that decision. We put the band on hold for a year, to see how we would feel. Then after a year Cindy, our female lead singer organized a Tribute Concert. It is on DVD. (She had become Pim’s new ‘mate’ in the band). Of course, I couldn’t say no, but to me, it was too soon. Long story short, it did spark the continuation of the band. Pim wouldn’t have been happy if we had stopped, I am sure, though that of course is a strange statement, as he would never know. And I still felt inspired at 59 to write and create, and the rest of the band was positive, so, why not. After all Kayak had been without Pim before, between 1976 and 1981. It would never be the same, but I always intend to keep his majestic legacy alive within Kayak.
There was another reset of the band after the release of ‘Cleopatra – The Crown of Isis’. What happened at the time?
Hard question. Officially, I don’t know why our two lead singers decided to leave. They never gave a good explanation, as far as I am concerned. Without going too much into detail, Pim’s death caused a change in the band, in the hierarchy, and in the attitude towards me. Everyone claimed their position in the band, while at the same time they all had their own agenda, which made it impossible for me to organise anything big and theatrical, as we planned to do with ‘Cleopatra’. So, after we’d recorded ‘Cleopatra’ (which they had been reluctant to do anyway, but still did) I told them that if they weren’t available, they forced me to look for singers elsewhere. I still considered them my first choice, and I told them so, but the situation had become unworkable. The mere fact that they could be replaced was unacceptable to them, and I was accused of turning Kayak into a ‘project’. Then they decided to leave and announced that two weeks before the tour started. We did the tour, but you can understand, that wasn’t a whole lot of fun.
Since that time, the band has been stable, releasing two albums, including the recent ‘Out of This World’. Musically how would you compare this line-up to the earlier versions of the band?
Back to five instead of seven. Not for musical but for practical reasons. Communication is easier, the agendas are aligned much quicker. As a band, we have to work harder to make all the arrangements fit. But we have brilliant musicians in the band, so it works. It’s the third time Kayak has seen such a drastic change in line-up, and of course the sound changes. That’s life. Life is change. Some songs we cannot play anymore because of the trimmed down line up, but there are also lots of songs that benefit from the more transparent sound. You win some, you lose some.
No one in the band (except for drummer Hans perhaps) has a past in Kayak. Hence, no claims, no rivalry, and no personal shit that can so easily destroy the working relationship. We are not a band that makes lots of money and can live off the revenues and can afford to dislike each other. If it’s not at least a pleasure to work together, it’s not worth it.
Eight years on from your last solo album, and you will soon be releasing ‘Velvet Armour’, a very different work from what people may expect given your history with Kayak. How would you describe it to others?
If you take Kayak as a reference, it is quite different indeed. But there are similarities. You might say it follows a path that Kayak never explored in full but opened up. There has always been a folky/classical side to the music of Kayak, but as a rock/pop/prog whatever band we didn’t take it as far as I do personally.
Style-wise it is comparable to ‘The Lion’s Dream’, my solo album that was released in 2013. It’s what I do without a band. An old soul in a new age, it says in the press bio, and that is pretty much what it is. No electric guitars, no ordinary drums as you might expect from a rock musician. Synths and samples, yes. The result is baroque, renaissance, and folk- but all with a modern and personal twist because I am not a purist- it’s really intuitive what I do. I use prog and pop song structures and I find the combination works.
Both Rens van der Zalm and Annet Visser were involved with ‘The Lions Dream’, but how did you decide on which musicians should be involved with this project and why?
Annet and Rens are great musicians and easy to work with. They understand where I am coming from and where I hope to go, musically. If I could play the flute, I’d play it like Annet. Her phrasing and timing are always spot on. Rens has a strong folky background and I ask him to play on the tracks that need that unique feel. Since I have been around in the music business for quite some time now, I know a lot of musicians. I ask the ones that enjoy what I am asking them to do and are capable of doing that, of course. The Matangi string quartet, for instance, is a classical ensemble but they have also played in different styles, like rock, or even hip hop and with a DJ. They are very professional and all-round so I can ask them to play almost anything. You can hear them in “Mirrors of Versailles” and “Tempus Fugit”. The first violinist, Maria Paula Majoor, plays the lead on several tracks like “Lilly’s Lament”. I asked Irene Linders to do some background vocals, so the vocal sound would be a bit more diverse.
The arrangements are fascinating, moving and changing between songs, with different percussion and instruments having a major impact on the overall sound. Did it take a long time to record? What was the approach?
After ‘The Lion’s Dream’ I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to do another album like that. But one or two years ago I realized that in the meantime I had written so much that was perfectly in line with TLD, that I was in fact halfway already to a new album. Only then I decided to focus on what would eventually lead to ‘Velvet Armour’. So, it took like six years, but as it was always a side project, until last year, I only worked on it on and off. Sometimes I left it alone for months. If I had one concrete musical goal, it was that I wanted to keep the essence of my demos alive. So often I found that my demos were better than the final, official recording. Different vocals, different studio, a different approach, all good and neat but the feel and energy were often lost. That’s a musician’s issue in general, not mine alone, as you probably know.
You are not often thought of as a lead singer, but your voice works incredibly well on this album. Is this something we can expect more of in the future?
I don’t consider myself as a lead singer. It’s born out of necessity. All my musical life I have been looking for singers that could perform my songs in a totally credible way. They should sound as if they’d written it themselves, and there should be no distance between the voice and the notes. And no matter how good they were-and they were it wasn’t always what I wanted to hear. I don’t know why, but I guess I was basically looking for someone like me but with a better voice. Once someone else sings it, something changes, and it takes the music and feels away from me. This is not an ego thing- strange as it may sound, for a composer and musician I have a relatively small ego. I had strong doubts whether I should do another album like ‘The Lion’s Dream’ and do the lead vocals again. But there was no other way, I can’t escape myself.
You have described this album being inseparable from you as a person. What exactly do you mean by that?
It has a lot to do with what I told you about the use of my voice. But also, when I write for Kayak, or other artists or projects, it becomes less personal and although I try to stretch our limits, we’re still a rock/pop/prog band. On ‘Velvet Armour’, I don’t have to consider all that and I take total freedom to do any style I want. And my musical heart, I am discovering more and more as I get older, lies in and around the 16th, 17th century and folk. Classical music and folk weren’t so much separated in those days. Archaic, timeless music. Unlike rock music, really. But maybe in 200 years rock will have become timeless as well.
Another personal aspect lies in the song itself. If I sing ‘I’ I mean ‘I’, (although I use lots of metaphors, so the listener can interpret and imagine). With Kayak, and I am not singing it, it becomes a song that does not necessarily have to be autobiographical or personal. I write, and imagine a certain conflict, feeling or story that I can relate to. If all the sad songs I wrote for Kayak were about me personally, one would imagine that I have had quite a terrible life.
Are there any plans to play any of this album live?
No, not at the moment. I have no ambitions to do that as it would involve a lot of other distracting and demanding things like travelling, rehearsing, finding people, get the budget, in short: running a band. And I already have Kayak which is a lot of work. Still, I am not ruling out the possibility of playing live completely, but the setlist would probably only contain instrumentals. I couldn’t sing these tracks live, as I often double (or triple, or quadruple) the vocals to reach the effect I want to hear. But who knows where this album will take me?
Why did you revisit the Kayak number “My Heart Never Changed” for ‘Velvet Armour’? It has been more than 40 years since you first recorded it.
On ‘The Lion’s Dream’ I covered no less than three Kayak songs, for no other reason than that they are the musical bridge between everything Kayak and my solo work. And they don’t even stand out, style wise, I think they all fit and could have been written recently. I found “My Heart Never Changed” to be such a link too. It was as far as I could take Kayak in that direction back then, without leaving the rock/pop/prog path. This goes to show what might have happened had I left that path instead of continued as a rock band.
At the same time, it could generate interest for the band from people that never heard of Kayak – there’s still lots of them around, I noticed. And I think I have stayed closer to the original than any Kayak line up after 1975 could have done. It’s not as if I did not have enough material to fill this album, because I discarded at least three tracks that I may use later. But if there’s gonna be next solo album like this, I don’t think I’ll do a Kayak track again. I’ve done it, made my point, now move on.
Why did you decided to produce a lyric/composition songbook to tie in with the release? What does it include?
I offer Kayak sheet music too on the band’s website, and there is some demand. To me it makes the picture whole. It is not strictly necessary, but it’s great when people are interested enough to try and play it themselves and honestly, I am flattered by that. Then it’s convenient to have the score. It includes vocals, lyrics and melody parts, basic piano/keyboard and chord symbols. Of course, I couldn’t fit in the complete arrangement in three staffs, but I tried. And if there are any mistakes in the scores, they’re mine.
Why did you choose “River To The Sea” as the lead track from the album?
It’s one of my own favourites and I think it is an accessible track for a larger audience too. The video consists of stock footage I assembled and put together. The clip brings the almost pastoral atmosphere of the lyrics alive – although the river in this case really serves as a metaphor for the never-ending cycle of life, and how there’s hope and comfort to be found in that.
Where can people best find more about you and your music, and what is next for Ton Scherpenzeel?
There are several informative sites, of course: www.tonscherpenzeel.com, there is the Kayak site (www.kayakonline.info) and both have Facebook and Instagram pages for updates and latest news.
What’s next? I’ve done three major record projects this year so far and one or two small ones as guest on other projects, all these releases add up to about 40 songs. Let’s see where this album takes me, first. I have an open mind, and don’t intend to retire just yet.
So, there we have it, a wonderful journey through time in the hands of the master keyboard player and composer Ton Scherpenzeel. His new album, ‘Velvet Armour’, will be available exclusively on the Friendly Folk Records Webshop on Bandcamp until December when it will become available elsewhere. Note, if you pre-order the album at https://tonscherpenzeel.bandcamp.com/releases then you will immediately be provided with the digital download of the track, “My Heart Never Changed”. I urge all those who enjoy Baroque Folk music with a touch of Prog ballads to discover ‘Velvet Armour’, as it really is a wonderful album.
Time Horizon’s leading man Ralph Otteson opens up during a recent interview about the birth of a band, Pandoras Box, the upcoming 3rd album,and everything in-between.
PoP: Hello, Ralph thank you for doing this interview with us.
Ralph: Absolutely! I am so glad to talk to you Thank you!
PoP: You’re the founding member of Time Horizon a California-based Christian, Progressive Crossover AOR band How long have you been a professional musician, and what professional training have you had if any?
Ralph: Well, first I wouldn’t consider myself “pro” because I support my family by working a day job in the high tech industry, but as far as my involvement with music, I would say I have a lot of years working part-time and I have been able to do a lot with limited time. I hope to do more than I have in the past.
PoP: What is your role in Time Horizon and what instruments do you play?
Ralph: I am the keyboardist and principal writer. I also sing background vocals. I think I am the driving force behind the band because I take on most of the responsibilities, so in a sense, I am the leader.
PoP: Tell us about the birth of Time Horizon, how did that come about, and what does this band mean to you?
Ralph: Time Horizonstarted because I had recorded an album with a band I was playing with. we wrote original music. The band was called Iron Clay Poets. We disbanded before finishing the album, but I wanted to finish it. The problem was I had recorded on ADAT digital tape system and could only do 16 tracks at a time for mixdown. I had about 30 tracks of music, so our then drummer knew another drummer that was also an engineer and had a computer system that I could mix it down with. That drummer ended up being the drummer for Time Horizon. He dug the music and after the mix, he wanted to jam on some of the songs….well, we ended up writing the first album.
PoP: What was the defining moment in your life that sparked the eternal flames to become a musician, and was it a particular band or individual?
Ralph: Well, my family are all musicians, we had an upright piano that I would mess around with it but never had any lessons. In 1977 I saw ELP – the Works Tour. The year before a friend played their record and I loved the sound of the synth. When I saw Keith do his thing, I said that’s what I want to do! mind you, I had not yet started playing. I took lessons in my Senioryear and sold my car to by a Fender Rhodes piano so I could play in a band. I learned covers but found writing songs was what I enjoyed most.
PoP: Your first release was released through your label Angelic Noise Records, what was the publics’ perception of the debut Living Water?
Ralph: It was well-received. I started my label because there were a few labels interested in wanting to sign us, but things kind of went weird so I decided to form my label.
PoP: Was Living Water a charity album?
Ralph: I recorded the album with some friends, Bruce was the drummer and we recorded it at his studio. We had all but one song mixed and for several reasons, it sat for a year. it looked like the same thing was happening again with this band. Like before, I took it soon myself to finish it. I had gone to a Christian Men’s conference and saw an organization called Living Water International (LWI). I had lost my job and was feeling worried about how I was going to get by. I sold stock I had from my previous employer funded the album with the intent to give 100% of the sale from physical CDs to LWI to help people in the world that do not have even the most basic need….water. What do I have to complain about? So in a sense yes it was a charity album. I have not financially benefited from it. I considered it a Ministry. The album sales were okay and we were able to help a village in Ghana, Africa install a well, so I would call that a success.
PoP: Tell us about the concept/meaning behind the name of Living Water?
Ralph: Well,the meaning of Living Water is what Jesus is to Christians. He said he can give living water that in us is welling into eternal life. So, along with the purpose behind the album project, it made sense to name the album that.
PoP: What was the most defining moment of Living Water?
Ralph: I think after we wrote the song Life Fantastic. The bass player at the time was Steve Gorley, an amazing musician that studied jazz and I wrote the riff that he just latched onto and would complement the line with some nice runs on the bass which I doubled on the synth. Bruce came up with a great melody and killer drums. after mixing that I sent it off to Randy George as he was putting together a compilation CD for Cprog or Christian Prog Rock. we released it as a single for the CPR3 album. That was great because we made friends which I still hold dear today. If you get a chance to hear it, it’s fantastic! Unitopia, Ted Leonard, and Phil Keaggy are just a few of the artists on that CD.
PoP: Your sophomore album Transitions was released four years later in 2015, how was this different than your debut?
Ralph: That album was called Transitions because it’s just that. Steve Gorley the original bassist traveled back to Cambodia tocontinue his humanitarian work there. He could have stayed here and rocked out with us, but he had a deeper calling and love for the oppressed and poor. He helped the street kids there, preventing child slave labor and trafficking. I found a replacement in Allen White who I played in a band within the ‘80s early ’90s. He fit right in. The original guitar player left and we got help in that area with Dave Miller. Bruce got about 1/2 way through and had to leave for personal reasons…Now I was down a drummer and a singer, so I recruited help from friends David Walliman, Lang Bliss, and a singer from the band Allen and I played with Rich Reif. I had Billy Sherwood mixing and helping me on post-production. So it is the transition to what Time Horizon is now. That album has a lot of great tunes on it. slightly different, but still maintaining a signature sound.
PoP: You formed a partnership with Melodic Revolution Records for the second release, how did that come about and why was it so important for the follow up of Living Water?
Ralph: I wrote a majority of the album, did the leg work in getting it finished, but realized I need help with promotion. I knew Nick Katona and noticed that he did a lot of albums for great causes. I felt we would work well together as I think we share that desire to help bless others through music in a real tangible way. I am a principal writer for the band, a dad and husband, I appreciate MRR and everything they do to help promote. I am not good at that, it’s difficult for me.
PoP: What influences your songwriting lyrically and musically?
Ralph: Great question. I have always loved prog music. Odd time Signatures, blending genres, and of course melody. The first bands for me were in the ‘70s really. ELP was what got me into prog, followed by Yes, then Genesis. I also loved rock like Toto, Queen, Boston, and the like. The ’80s brought me Saga which is a huge influence. Lyrically, I think Saga’s style but the Beatles and Rush. I know that’s all over the place, but my faith is something that is from my inner core, so it is expressed in lyrics. Sometimes more overtly, sometimes more subtle.
PoP: You brought in some big guns for the production portion of the album, I am speaking of Billy Sherwood (Yes, Circa, World Trade) and Major Appelbaum (Nektar, Angra, Lana Lane) how did that come about and why was this essential to this releases?
Ralph: Yeah, with Transitions album I wanted to raise the bar. I had contacted Billy Sherwood as I know he has worked with other bands. I sent him a demo of the song “Prisoner” which was a song written when I was on a band 180 with Allen W. Billy liked the tune and so I started a correspondence with him. because he worked with Tony Kaye in Circa, I asked if he could get Tony to play on it. You have no idea how cool it was for me to hear a Hammond organ from him. I had the Yes album on my turntable for weeks. I still can’t believe he is on Transitions. a huge thrill for me. Billy also played as we decided to do a cover of a World Trade song ” The Moment is Here” We changed some of the lyrics to fit our Christian world view and he was Ok with it. He also plays the lead guitar on the track so another cool thing.
Billy Sherwood
PoP: Billy Sherwood also guested on the album along with David Wallimann, Lang Bliss, Tony Kaye, and Jake Livgren. What was it like to work with these musicians?
Ralph: David Walliman is fantastic to work with, he would pump out these amazing guitar tracks in really fast. I used him first for the song Prisoner but found I kept turning to him for the next tune. It was hard not to. He does quality stuff in record time! Lang and I go back a long time. I knew him in the 80s. We had mutual musician friends and hung out jamming at times. He moved to Nashville and got on with a Christian record label there. He is quite the pro. He toured with Michael W. Smith who is a well-known gospel artist. He met his wife Renee who was a backup singer for Amy Grant. Together they write and produce talent. They released some songs that made the BillboardTop 10 last year. I finally met Tonybackstage after a Yes concert. He was super nice and remembered the song which I was glad! I got Jake to sing the last song after Rich was no longer available. It was on the suggestion of the artist Ken Westphal who did our album artwork. I originally was talking to John Elefante and asked him, but he declined, so Ken mentioned Jake while he sang in Proto-Kaw. Jake was great, I paid for a studio session in Topeka, Kansas and Jake said he would play on the album, his uncle KerryLivgren (Proto-Kaw, Kansas) gave him the thumbs up so that’s good.
PoP: From what we understand the long-awaited 3rd album is 99% complete, why has it taken so long to do another album?
Ralph: Oh, man. We’ll all I can say is first….it’s worth the wait. When Bruce joined back with the band to tour the 2nd album, I said we need a frontman/vocalist. We spent time looking for and auditioning a singer. We were also down a guitar player/utility guy. It took a long time to find people that are up to playing this style of music. If they are good enough, it usually means they are not available. We got a call from a Sacramento-based singer David Mau who heard about us and thought he would be a great fit. He works with Brad Gillis from Night Ranger and Ozzy. He also worked with Derek Sherinian and loves prog! We started rehearsing and did a few shows, but again, had someone leave because of work. back to Square one. It is difficult to find people that want to do original music because there is not much money in it. It seems musicians have to play in Tribute bands to survive, which is kind of sad. All that said, we got some material from our new singer David Mau, once we got into writing mode, we just kept going. we did a lot of music and half of the next album is already done, so the fourth one should not be so long a wait. Could have done a double album, but…
PoP: What’s the album called and why?
Ralph: The new album is still having names considered. We just started the process of getting the artwork started so that might have an impact on the final name. We first thought about a song title, but then the concept of the album something in “3” for the third album. Time Horizon “cubed” maybe…I think it will be a surprise.
PoP: Do you have the same line-up as Transitions?
Ralph: The same lineup for the most part. Bruce G. on drums Bruce sings lead on one song, but Dave is the main guy for that role now. Myself on keys and vocals, Allen White on Bass again, Dave Miller on acoustic and rhythm electric. We had David Walliman do lead but guitar for a song, but that song is one we have decided to release on the next album. Both Bruce and Dave Mau had worked with a guitarist from Sacramento, Michael Gregory. Bruce played with him in the ’80s and Dave most recently. Michael G. was a sought after session musician in Nashville and was approached by Neal Morse to play with him. He was in the middle of finishing a degree so couldn’t do it, but that shows what his abilities are. The tracks by him have been Stellar! Overall this is the best line up to date. I am really excited about it.
PoP: Is it true that Michael Sadler of Saga is doing vocals on a track on this album, what song and how did that come about?
Ralph: Yes, it is! I am super stoked to be able to say that! I have been a long time Saga fan! I met Michael once at Calprog in LA a few years ago. We sat down at lunch break and I was thrilled to talk with him. Later, he and I had a Skype meeting after the release of Transitions. I asked him then if he would be interested in guesting on our next release. He asked me to send him something and if he feels he can do it justice he would. It took me a long time after that writing quite a few songs before I felt I had one that he would fit right in. I intentionally tried to make it Saga-ish sound. He loved it and with his vocals, It sounds like something He would do, so I think mission accomplished!
PoP: Do you have any other special guests appearing on this release, can you give us a hint?
Ralph: The only other special guest is Michael Manring who plays fretless bass on a song in tribute to our first bassist Steve who recently passed We went to see Michael in concert as he was a favorite of Steve’s. It was the last time I saw my friend who helped start Time Horizon so …It seemed fitting and Michael was happy too. I love it as it is a very emotional piece for me. It still is hard for me not to tear up listening.
PoP: How many tracks on the new album? Can you give us a song by song breakdown?
Ralph: Yes, we have seven completed songs, still working on song order, they are in no particular order.
Living for a Better day…Saga like approach with a rock edge. The Great Divide …..a hard-driving rock tune with prog influence. Digital Us…..kind of Rush meets Pink Floyd maybe? Steve”s song “It’s not goodbye”….instrumental with a new-age feel. Razors Edge…..this is to me Spocks Beard meets Mike & the Mechanics. I Hear, I see…….kind of more Toto like, this would be the more Top 40 hit. Time to Wonder…..a ballad that has a Phil Collins approach. really beautiful tune.
PoP: Who is the production team for the 3rd record?
Ralph: We are going to do as much as we can to self-produce. We self-produced the first one, and we have even more experience between myself, Bruce, and David Mau to do this, but I think when you self-produce, it generally takes longer.
PoP: Ken Westphal, who created the band-logo and the artwork for the first two albums has retired since Transitions, who will step up to the plate to continue making album art for great Time Horizon?
Ralph: We have contacted Ed Unitsky and are in the process of starting the artwork. I think he is one of the go-to artists in the Prog community. He does really good work.
PoP: We hear this album will be released in many formats including vinyl, can you tell us what prompted you to press wax on this one?
Ralph: 2 reasons. First, Vinyl is cool, I miss it! It has a vibe, and it’s becoming more popular as a medium to listen to again. We will still have CDs as well. Second, I like the shorter length. Back in the day, bands were releasing albums on a more regular basis partly because instead of having a 74-minutealbum every few years 45 min is a great length. I mentioned the fourth release is in the wings and about half-finished already.
PoP: Do you collect vinyl yourself?
Ralph: I have my collection from years ago still. I have a lot of original LPs. I think the millennials are discovering how great the music was years ago because of the rise in vinyl popularity again….which is very cool. I do have my wish list ofalbums.
PoP: Name 10 albums that should be part of any serious record collection?
Ralph: Wow, that’s a great question! Let me think hmm…I think a mix of styles and genres is important. I have Classical, Jazz, Rock some R&B and some newer Country. Works I have from, Chic Corea to The Fixx. Gino Vanelli to Jean Michel Jare, but here is a list of favorites
1) The Yes Album…Yes 2) And then there were Three…Genesis 3) Works…ELP 4) Abbey Road…Beatles 5) Toto… .the first one 6) World’s Apart…Saga 7) V ….Spock’s Beard 8) The Vigil …Kemper Krabb (worship) 9) More Power to Ya…Petra 10) Boston……the first one
…can I add the next Time Horizon to the list Ha, ha!
PoP: Describe what success means to you, as a person, not a musician?
Ralph: Success to me is loving what you do, knowing you are valued and matter in God’s eyes, knowing how to Love God in all things, and knowing how to love others. It’s not found in money or recognition. Maybe that sounds sappy to some, but I think it is true.
PoP: 2020 devastated the global community in many ways, how has 2020 affected you personally and the band?
Ralph: Thankfully I can design circuit boards for income, I can do that remotely, so that helps. The other guys are retired or work at home as well. Bruce is an automotive mechanic so he can bring in non-music related income. Sometimes it helps to have additional skills.
PoP: What were your plans for 2020 before the pandemic hit and do you plan to resume these plans at some point?
Ralph: We had started recording before the pandemic. There had also been family emergencies that band members became unavailable for some time, so they slowed things as well. We are also trying to find a booking agent, but again it is Tribute and Top 40 bands they want. Hopefully, we can find help in that area once this pandemic subsides.
PoP: Have you ever considered releasing a solo album?
Ralph: Yes, actually. I have a lot of musical ideas that I want to develop. they are just phrases and pieces, but that is how all the material I have contributed starts out as. the songs take on their own life and write themselves. I would love to work with other musicians and put together something very proggy. I tend to be the more Prog head in the band. I would also like to do a worship album.
PoP: What makes a song stand the test of time such as The Beatles’ Let It Be?
Ralph: Funny you mention the Beatles. That was one of my album choices. The Beatles are timeless I think because the songs have melodies that you can remember. They are creative and appear simple, but when you analyze what the cord structure is doing, it’s genius.
PoP: Do you see value in streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube for example?
Ralph: Hmmm, To me, it is bittersweet. What a nice convenience it is. The problem is how it is hurting the artist financially. The royalties paid are very, very small. I mean, you have to have 100’s of thousands and maybe millions of streams per song to see actual viable income from that. The music industry has changed. I am thankful that I have sources of income to provide for my family, on the other hand, Time Horizon is on those platforms and I hope people use that as well as physical merchandise. That is still how artists keep going. Everyone said…well you just have to play concerts and sell out venues…. .um hmmm… ok, now what?
PoP: What’s been the most memorable time in your music career thus far?
Ralph: The very first time I heard a song I recorded playing on the radio in my car. Back in the ’80s, I was in a band with Allen and we were featured on local F Mradio shows and College radio as well. I was driving in my car and listening to the local station when I heard a song I was on….big big smile! I think the second was being able to work with musicians that I looked up to Billy and Michael Sadler and Michael Manring come to mind.
PoP: Let’s say I asked you to describe your musical style as if you were a painter. How would you describe your music pallet using vivid colors?
Ralph: I think I paint with blended colors like watercolors can bleed from blue to green to yellow. You can see those colors, but the color between them is really interesting. The music I do is different from song to song, but still maintaining a recognizable sound.
PoP: If you could put one thing back into Pandoras Box what would it be?
Ralph: Nothing. I think we have to work with what we are given. I think it’s all about what we do with it.
PoP: If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would be your warm-up act, or co-headliner?
Ralph: I would love to tour Europe. It is where most of our album sales are, so maybe would have more people interested in seeing us play. I think we would be a good warm-up band for Neal Morse band, but he plays three-hour shows, so that isn’t gonna happen. Bands like Life Signs from England has a similar sound also Mystery from Canada. I think if we have enough material to do a 2-hour set so, a co-headliner would also be possible.
How has the music landscape changed since you have become a professional musician?
Ralph: I started writing songs as I learned how to play my instrument. I was in the studio at 19 and playing clubs circuit by 21. It was a vibrant time. Original bands were found everywhere. The radio would play local bands. Now every radio station is owned by a handful of companies. the club scene is a small remnant. People were not afraid to pay to go check out bands. Usually, you heard of the headliner but often I liked the opener or support band more.
PoP: Did MTV or the internet kill the radio star?
Ralph: Yes and No. Yes, it killed the radio for the most part, but the internet opened great opportunities to find new music. I still find new music from artists I never heard of. Time Horizon has fans in Europe, Asia, and South America. That is still mind-boggling to me. They would not have me without it.
PoP: People often say that music is dead because no good music is still being produced, is that true?
Ralph: Music is not dead, the bands are there, but they are crippled in some areas. I think modern pop music is cookie cutter. There are just a few songwriters providing for the stars to perform. That’s why the songs all sound alike. If you turn on the radio, you will find Country, R&B / Rap, and Gospel. The only rock is classic rock. When was the last rock song you heard on FM? I hear new rock and prog on the internet all the time.
PoP: What is the best advice you’ve been given professionally?
Ralph: As far as music composition, What you don’t play is just as or more important than what notes you choose to play. For bands, tour, tour,and tour some more. I am still trying to get the second advice into motion.
PoP: What advice would you give to the next generation of future musicians?
Ralph: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to be different. Learn from older music and listen to all genres. There are things to learn from every style And whatever music you do, do it with conviction. Be honest with it.
PoP: Where can people get information about the band and purchase Time Horizon’s music?
Ralph: Well, Time Horizon Website, and a Facebook page that gets updated more than the website ( Not as much as it should) but it is probably the best way to follow current news. The Angelic Noise record label was the band’s store, it has closed for now so our Bandcamp Store, and Melodic Revolution Records. You can find us at all the other Outlets like iTunes, Tidal, Spotify, YouTube, and the like. I think there will be another store set up from the band website in the near future.
PoP: Have you ever thought about being something other than a musician?
Ralph: Originally I thought I would be an illustrator, I studied for a couple of years in college but realized if I want to be a good illustrator, I would need to lay down the music. I couldn’t do it, so I played down my brushes, got a job to buy keyboards, and start a great original band. I did not regret that decision and still feel the same today.
PoP: Do you have a mailing list where fans and voyeursof information can sign up too?
Ralph: I had a mailing list with angelicnoise.com, but that website is debunked at the moment. I am okay for people to reach out to me personally. I will be looking over the mailing list I have to let those that have ordered past albums can get involved with this new project. Give a like to the Time Horizon fan page and follow us there and at MRR.
PoP:
In closing I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us, do you have anything that you would like people to know that we did not talk about?
Ralph:
Well, yeah I just want people to know that I appreciate the support we have received and, I am doing my best to fulfill the expectations of an artist. I hope that I can do more and more. I hope you see improvement as I am always striving to be better at this. I do fall short in the promotion area, I have never been one to point attention to myself, which when you are a music artist you have to do. I feel uncomfortable saying….hey look at me!.. But, pleasehang in there as I will be trying to update more and all I have to say is I am excited as to what Time Horizon is doing.
PoP: Thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview.
Ralph: It was truly my pleasure and I enjoyed answering these questions, which I might add were brilliant! You are for sure gifted in this area.
Time HorizonBand Ralph Otteson: Keyboards, background vocals Bruce Gaetke: Drums, lead and background vocals Allen White: Electric and acoustic bass David Miller: Electric and acoustic guitars David Mau: Lead Vocals and support keys
Contributing musician Michael Gregory: Lead electric guitar
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