INTERVIEW WITH JAPANESE MAGAZINE 'STRANGE DAYS' SEPTEMBER 2001

How old are you?

I was born on [INFORMATION REMOVED BY WEBMASTER FOR SECURITY REASONS]. This means I am [INFORMATION REMOVED BY WEBMASTER FOR SECURITY REASONS] years old. To all intents and purposes I am twelve years old. Chronological age is in any case an out-moded referent system and is better replaced by such markers as the ability (or otherwise) to shop for groceries without becoming demented and the ability (or otherwise) to talk about relationships without becoming catatonic with boredom. I am working on the development of these skills.

When did you start playing music & the bass?

I began playing flamenco guitar and piano in school and then took up drums and later bass. The bass had a special fascination for me - something about the way it can function rhythmically, melodically and harmonically. It plays a quite unique role in this respect and can influence all these parameters (in the hands of a competent performer). From an early age I had a great fascination with the work of Jack Bruce, both as a bass player and as a composer. I still do!

What was the special attraction of the Rickenbacker?

I felt that if I was playing something that was worth hearing, then it should BE heard, so I began to make my sound harder and more treble-y. I was playing a Fender Mustang at this time but when I heard Yes, with Chris Squire’s Rickenbacker, I felt that I had found the right sound for me - it sounded like the low end of a piano. I didn’t actually get a Rickenbacker until I joined Sparks, but then I made up for it by having three in different colours. There was an inherent problem with the recording of it, and the problem was that it needed some work from all concerned (artist, producer and engineer as well as from me) to get it to sound the way I wanted. The required ingredient was time. When my sound was captured accurately, it sounded fantastic (Barbecutie) and when people couldn't be bothered, it sounded diabolical (Amateur Hour).

When and how did you join Sparks?

I joined Sparks in 1973 when they advertised in an English music paper. They wanted a bass player who didn’t have a beard and in this respect I was well qualified.

Did Sparks influence you later on?

From my time in Sparks, I learned that being rigid, doctrinaire and conciously culturally-specific were of no interest to me, either musically or personally. The time also should have been an exemplary lesson in the positive potential of creative tension, but it wasn’t. It also left me with an on-going suspicion of Californians.

Why did you leave the group?

Because I was thrown out. Among other things, I wanted to have my songs considered for recording (namely Cover Girl). But they weren’t, and I became obstinate. They also wanted me to play a Fender Precision bass - whether this was a clever piece of provocation or not, I don't know. If it was, it worked.

How did you form Jet?

Sparks were managed by John Hewlett, former bass player with John’s Children. He also managed Jook, who were on RCA Records and whose drummer Chris Townson was also a former John’s Children member. I met Chris through John Hewlett ? Chris sat in with Sparks when we were auditioning guitarists as we got along well. When I was replaced in Sparks by Jook’s bassist, Jook folded up and so Chris and I met to see what possibilities existed. He said he had a friend who liked elephants and who could sing a bit, and this was Andy Ellison. And so Jet was formed, as a guitar-dominated pop/rock kind of thing. We had two guitarists in the beginning, Davey O’List and Ron MacLeod, but then the keyboards came in and the management told us we had to get rid of one guitarist so it all changed.

Whose idea was Roy Thomas Baker as producer of the Jet album?

I think the idea to use RTB as producer came from the management, who always had an eye open for possible PR implications, and RTB was well-known through his work with Queen, Foreigner and the Cars. I think he did the best he could with the Jet album, it’s just that we made the record before we were ready to, althought we didn’t know it at the time. It was all a bit fraught, and personal relationships fell to pieces in the studio. I knew what I wanted but didn’t have the skills to achieve it. Most songs actually began recorded life with only bass and drums, everything else being added later track by track. This was no way to do it, but there was no real alternative. You could safely say that a certain amount of spontaneity was lost in the process................ Chris Townson later said that his best memory of the Jet album was the free sandwiches in the studio, but actually they weren't very nice.

And what about Jet live?

Well, you can hear the magnificent spectacle that was the live Jet on ‘NOTHING TO DO WITH US’/ Captain Trip Records, which includes three or four live concert pieces. The commentary in the sleeve notes is most informative. Normally gigs were a disaster - no one was in tune, we wore the most inappropriate clothing and performed 40 minute long versions of Springtime For Hitler by Mel Brooks. We knew it so well we could have played it backwards. Once we did (beginning with the last chord and working forwards) and performed it as an encore. No wonder then that our average audience was in single figures and/or comatose. We did have the occasional good gig - one in a pub called the Bruton Arms in Bruton, Somerset. We were rehearsing for the second Jet album (see NTDWU) and this was our local pub. We moved all the equipment in, displacing the village idiots, sedentary farmers, travellers in ladies underwear and such, and performed the entire Jet catalogue, such as it was. It was extraordinarily loud, and they started to give us large quantities of alcohol in order to get us to shut up. But we didn’t.

Then somehow Jet became Radio Stars……….

Yes, Jet became Radio Stars without undue pain. In fact the first Radio Stars single was actually taken from the last Jet recording session, as was the b-side. Radio Stars fave Johnny Mekon was also a Jet song. We didn’t make a concious change of style, it was more that things returned to how they were originally planned, with no keyboards, and also that my songwriting became stylistically much more focussed. Plus we got rid of all the dinosaur costumes and jodhpurs.

How did you hook up with Chiswick Records?

Andy took the last Jet recordings into Chiswick Records and told them it was a new band. Foolishly they believed him and we gave them a list of possible names that we pretended to be considering. Image our surprise when we opened Melody Maker to discover that we were in a new group called Radio Stars and that our single had been chosen as single of the week by NME. Chiswick were a great company to be with and gave us great support - I can’t remember if I felt this at the time but in retrospect I think they did their best.

How did Nervous Wreck change things?

When Nervous Wreck became a hit, people started to ask us for mementoes of a personal nature. Banana skins from bananas actually eaten by the band were very popular, as were pages from newspapers actually read by us. Small pieces of biscuit went down very well in some quarters. The gigs were full, the tours were long, the drinks were drunk and the parents were irate.

And what was 2 Minutes Mr Smith?

The group broke up more or less immediately after the Holiday Album was released. I left due to dental reasons and Andy kept it running for a bit, but I think it was rather misdirected musically and no more records were released. 2 Minutes Mr Smith was a compilation. We did go back into a studio together twice, once to record My Mother Said and a couple of other tunes, and once again in 1990 to record the title track to Somewhere There’s A Place For Us, the Ace Records compilation.

What then?

After Radio Stars finished, I moved to Paris, France, to work a producer for our French record company. I produced a few albums and played bass with the Rolling Stones for a short time at Pathe-Marconi Studios when their bassist was off chasing crumpet. Then I returned to the UK, did the Blue Meanies, which never took off and developed a small studio which specialised in jingles and radio stuff. This took me up to the beginning of the 90’s, when I had a production job in Bombay which opened my eyes and ears to other musical possibilities. When I returned to the UK I studied a bit of anthropology and delved further into world music. I was also working as keyboard player to the pop multitudes at this time (Kylie Minogue, Kim Appleby, Boy George, George Michael, Vanessa Mae), as programmer and remixer (Primal Scream) and as producer (S’Express). In 1995 I wound down the pop and released New Hope For The Dead by Mira on JVC Europe. This was a kind of world pop album - the English Times newspaper said ‘Unsuspecting aliens will probably love it’ but we didn’t know any. Mira performed at the 1996 Montreaux Jazz Festival and included in the set was Todd Rundgren’s ‘Tiny Demons’ which featured Ravi Shankar’s MD Chandru on Indian violin, just to give you an idea. It was a short term project but we did make a decent CD, I think. [I mean I think it was decent - I know we made one]. In 1996 I joined Andy and Chris in the 90’s version of John’s Children - we currently gig a handful of times per year in exotic (and otherwise) places. My main activity is a producer - see my website for a discography. Best recent production is Bad Blood & Blasphemy by the Tiger Lillies.

And what about this new live CD?

The new album Music For The Herd Of Herring was recorded during the European tour we did in May 2000. The Jet album had just come out on CD and to celebrate, we did a few live dates. The line-up was Andy, Chris, Ian Macleod and myself (actually the last Jet / first Radio Stars line-up) and we also had Trevor White from Sparks and Bob Boozer from Morrisey’s band and John’s Children on guitars.

Why did you move to Germany?

I moved to Germany because of my endless fascination with sausages of all shapes, sizes and applications. I now weigh 47 stone and have to be lifted in and out of bed with a hydraulic device.

What are you doing now?

I am currently researching gender stereotypes in Istanbul, Turkey. The results will unfortunately not be universally applicable due to the extremely small sample size but I believe the project to be of some intrinsic value.

Do you plan any future releases?

I began what will actually be my first ever solo project in July 2001. It’s an exploration of pop music with loud guitars, a bit of creative genius (ahem), some new songs, some old songs revisited plus some nice bass playing. It will probably be available via Captain Trip Records at the end of this year.

Do you have a message for your Japanese fans?

Keep eating lots of fish, it’s very healthy and then hopefully you will all then be able to come and see the Japanese debut of the John’s Children / Jet / Radio Stars collective which we are currently trying to organise for later this year. Thank you also for for your continuing/revived/new/moribund interest in what I do! I'm glad somebody understands it, because I don’t..

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