Interviews
- Details
- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
(Photo by Sean Brand)
It's one of the most gratifying feeling, for who writes about music, to see that there are still artists out there capable of making their sound to grow and evolve and still be successful and original, rather than trying to feed their fans with the same ole music recipe over and over again.
The South African guitar prodigy Dan Patlansky is, undoubtedly, one of those rare above mentioned exceptions and we, at Bluebird Reviews, are truly privileged to catch up once again with this tremendously skilled artist whilst he is touring Europe to promote his brand new album called Introvertigo. Where many were expecting Patlansky to repeat from A to Z the same formula that took his previous record, Dear Silence Thieves to the top of the blues and rock charts all over the world, his new album, Introvertigo, instead takes the listener to the next level of the South African artist's musical journey, moving into territories that embrace genres very close to Patlansky's heart, like blues, rock and funk. When we start our conversation with this very charismatic musician, it's almost inevitable for Bluebird Reviews to ask Patlansky whether he feels that Introvertigo is the natural development of the 2014's splendid album Dear Silence Thieves or it's rather another step in the musical journey of an artist in continous evolution. "I think it's a bit of both. It's an ongoing evolution, that I feel it will never stop evolving. This is due to myself having a whole lot of different musical influences each time I make an album. I am very open to different music styles and when I find something that really intrigues me, in a particular time of my life, I like to dig deeper into that particular genre, study carefully that music direction and make it my own. I do believe that in many ways, as you were saying, this album is the natural evolution of Dear Silence Thieves. Having said that, I also think that Introvertigo is very close to Dear Silence Thieves in many ways because I used the same producer, the same guy mixing the album and the sound is, at times, resembling parts of the Dear Silence Thieves album. In essence, Introvertigo is a record with a bunch of new songs, moving towards a slightly different direction than my previous record. But I feel it's a kind of an obvious thing to happen, being my music in constant evolution".
One thing that Patlansky has not changed on Introvertigo is indeed the producer. Theo Crous has been worked with the South African gunslinger on both Dear Silence Thieves and on the new record too. "Naturally, given the great success of Dear Silence Thieves, I thought that was common sense for me working again with Theo Crous. Introvertigo was much easier to record, in comparison to Dear Silence Thieves because this time around there was a better understanding, a better chemistry and a better trust between myself and Theo. On my previous record, we were arguing a lot more about the direction I was going to take musically but the outcome of Dear Silence Thieves proved that his input on the album was spot on. When we enter the studio for the Introvertigo sessions, we knew already the way we both like to work, therefore the recording process of the new album was much smoother than the previous one we did together. Theo comes from a music background that has not got the blues on the far front but he rather comes from a more commercial rock scene. That aspect worked perfectly with me, because the core of my music is essentially blues and, as I was writing the new songs, I found this common rock ground with Theo in which my music core was fitting perfectly in. The outcome of Introvertigo was very satisfactory both for me and Theo because I have got what I wanted musically from the album and he has got what he wanted the record to sound like. In my opinion, it was a win-win result for the two of us and we hope, for the fans too".
During the last couple of years, Patlansky has been in Europe to promote his latest two albums several times, including this one. Out of the many countries in the world in which this young and talented artist has performed, the United Kingdom seems to have built a special bond with Patlansky and his music. "Personally, I have always thought that the United Kingdom had stronger musical traditions and knowledge than many other countries in the world. When it comes to blues/rock, in particular, you can easily sense that there is a strong music scene in this part of the world. One of the aspects that I have noticed in this last couple of years, whenever I had the chance to play in the UK, was the fact that when you get people in UK that is really into your music, they will become your most loyal fans ever. The crowds here in UK are really great ones to play for, very appreciative of my music. In a short amount of time, I feel that myself and the UK fans have built together a very strong connection. I am not saying this because we are in London right now, as we speak, but please believe me when I say that the United Kingdom is among my most favourite places in the world to play live. There is such a healthy music scene here, not just for me but also for other artists and I am very excited to come back here in the UK and play whenever I have the opportunity to do so".
(Photo by Bakkes Images)
One of Patlansky's fondest memories, as a musician, goes back to 2015, when he had the opportunity to tour together with the Guitar Maestro Joe Satriani. To play with such an enormously talented musician, must surely have inspired Patlansky musically in the build-up to record Introvertigo. "Without a doubt. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to be on Tour with such an incredible artist like Joe and trust me, the Man is a real force of nature. He is such a nice guy and from a personal point of view, one of the nicest artists I have ever met in my career. He made myself and my band feel at home every day, when we were touring with him and his crew. When you are a support artist, sometimes you may feel like you are in the way of things but that was not the case at all with Joe. I learned a lot from him, how can you not? What I really appreciated of him beside his stature as a guitarist, is the incredible level of consistancy he applies in his performances, night after night. He never has a night off or plays under par, never. That shows really how much he has got his head right, which is a skill that just masterful musicians like Satriani have. It was a world class experience working with him that I shall treasure forever".
Whilst touring with Satriani in 2015, Patlansky had the opportunity to test live, in many occasions, two very powerful tracks with his audience that ended up then in Introvertigo, Run and Stop The Blessing. Bluebird Reviews is curious to know whether Patlansky thought already, at the time, that those two songs would have been the driving force of the new album, in terms of radio airplay. "To be honest with you, the only reason why we were playing those two tracks in our setlists while touring with Satriani, it was because at the time those songs were the only two tracks ready from the new album. Playing those tracks gave us the opportunity not just to test them live but also the chance to get an immediate feedback from the crowds long before the album was released. The fact that Stop The Messing became a single here in UK, on radio stations like Planet Rock, was purely coincidental, as it was just coincidental what brought those two songs in the spotlight too. But I am glad it happened that way, because it gets always tough for me to pick a single song from any of my records and decide which would be a better single than another or more radio friendly. Every song is like a child for me and you don't get to pick and choose any of your kids, because you don't want to disappoint anybody, therefore I am glad that radio stations do that job on my behalf".
Patlansky is a truly eclectic artist on many different levels. Not only a fabulous guitarist and an excellent singer, Patlansky's songwriting gets better and better as the years go by. One of the songs from Introvertigo, called Western Decay, is not just a splendidly written tune but also one that gives the real feeling that the South African artist means every word he sings, when he worries about the future of the world we are living in. "That is a song about how much the world has changed from when I was a kid and the amount of freedom I had as a young boy, in comparison to this present time. I guess that life in South Africa, back in the days, was pretty much like here in Europe or in the rest of the world. You could go out with your friends, coming back when the sun was down and my parents wouldn't worry at all, because everything was going to be good. It's a total different game, now. Since I have become a father, I can actually sense on my own skin how much things have changed and it's a sad thing to realise. You get the feeling that those days of freedom are long gone and they are never coming back again, because the world is getting more and more crazy, as the years go by. That's what the song is all about. As I said, it really means a lot to me because it makes me appreciate even more the way that I have been raised and I feel blessed for that. At the same time, it makes me feel even more responsible about trying to be the best parent I can possibly be, especially in crazy times like these".
(Photo by Bakkes Images)
Introvertigo is an album that doesn't just showcase Patlansky's love for blues but also for a quintessentially 90's rock sound, superbly executed through his unmistakable artistic touch. We ask Dan Patlansky which were the 90's rock bands that made a particular impact on him. "Definitely Soundgarden. They were such a big influence for me. Them and the Rage Against The Machine. When the project Audioslave came up, back in 2000, that was for me the best of both worlds I could possibly ask for, musically, because that band was including 3/4 of the RATM plus Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as the lead singer. Cornell is for me one of the best singers ever. Obviously, I listened to many other big rock bands of the 90's, people like Nirvana, that kind of stuff. Truth to be told, I don't think that the 90's was the best ever music era, at least for me personally but there were certainly some decent stuff made in that decade".
Another highly interesting tune present on Introvertigo is, without a doubt, Heartbeat. In this song, Patlansky displays in full his ability on both acoustic and electric guitar, by mixing and alternating the two different guitar types on the same track with very inspired brilliancy. "The genesis of that song it's quite interesting, because that was the last song we recorded for the new album. The only thing I had for that song were the lyrics but I had no music ready at all for that tune. So we started messing around in the studio and then, little by little, we came up with the riff, then the melody and so we thought "Hey, we are getting somewhere, here!". One of the winning factors about that song, for me , was that it wasn't an over-thought tune at all. It was almost a last minute kind of thing. We did not know until the very end whether Heartbeat was going to become an acoustic tune or an electric one, because we had the platform to build the structure of the song in both ways. I like to play my music differently, either whispered in a more soft and gentle way through an acoustic gutar or more loud and boombastic through an electric guitar. It's a great accomplishment this song, for me, because it shows two different dimensions of my music style. Although it's complicate to play this song live, because I cannot play the acoustic and the electric guitar at the same time when I am on stage. You need some kind of magicians to be able to do that! (chuckles). It's possibly one of my most favourite tracks of the albums, because of the unusual dynamic occurring on Heartbeat".
Patlansky is a truly eclectic musician able to express his talent using different layers of music, in the same way he expresses his personal feeling, through those different music layers. By using different music styles as instruments of expressions, one would hope that, at least, the musical Vertigos are finally over for the South African artist. "Possibly. I agree about what you just said about feelings. Music is a platform that allows me to express who I am, as every art form does with any artists. It can be a painter, a photographer, any kind of. Obviously, rock is a far easier platform for me to express feelings like anger through, because has got a raw sound in itself, an "in-your-face" type of music approach. You may be able, I guess, to express anger through blues too but, because I love both genres, I guess that this album gave me the opportunity to dislodge feelings like anger and love using different sounds, the ones I really love. Fundamentally, my idea of Introvertigo is like, say, going out shopping at Xmas time and be surrounded by hundreds of people doing exactly the same. That idea of chaos surrounding you, the feeling that you don't want to be there, that is kind of what I was trying to express by using a made up word like Introvertigo. But you know what? You can dislodge any kind of feeling for a while through a record, but an Introvertigo kind of feeling is something I feel I have to live for the rest of my life with, because chaos is something that will never cease to exist, in every aspects of modern society. With the sole exception of when I am on stage playing my music or being surrounded by the love of my family, the best feelings ever in the whole world".
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Introvertigo is out now and it's available on Amazon
- Details
- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
The Jelly Jam - (From L to R) Ty Tabor (Vocals, Guitar), Rod Morgenstein (Drums), John Myung (Bass)
There are things in the world of music that happen really fast, some other that take all the time they need to be put in place. The latter certainly applies to The Jelly Jam, a formidable supergroup of avant-garde rock made by King's X guitarist Ty Tabor, Dream Theater's bass player John Myung and Winger/The Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein.
It took 4 albums, including the freshly released Profit and 15 years of history as The Jelly Jam (although just as a side project while performing with their respective bands) to make finally possible to get the band touring for the first time ever. Their brand new album, Profit, is a marvellous and excellently played concept album about an imaginary Prophet, embarking an heroic attempt to save the world and to open the eyes of Those Who Will Not See.
To talk about the band's new album, their forthcoming US Tour and their history as The Jelly Jam, Bluebird Reviews meets Rod Morgenstein, whose career as a drummer includes several Grammy nominations with The Dixie Dregs and multiple chart topping singles with the rock band Winger.
BBR - Hi Rod, welcome to Bluebird Reviews, many congratuations to you and the band for your new, splendid album. Profit is a record full of spirituality and symbolism. Who, within the band, came up with the idea of writing a concept album like this?
RM - We have to thank Ty Tabor for coming up with this concept. In fact, when the creative process began, about three years ago, John, TY and I got together and we each had a handful of ideas. It wasn't a huge amount but, just by jamming a little bit together, the ideas just started flowing. After a week or 10 days of hanging out together, we ended up nearly having an album worth of music, in terms of drums sections being cut, the bass tracks done and a fair amount of the guitar parts done too. When we parted company, Ty had, at that stage all his melodies completed but being also the lyricist and the vocalist of the band, he still had no idea on what the album, conceptually, was going to be all about. A little while after that recording session, which was the fourth for the band altogether in almost 15 years, in conversation Ty told John and I that the whole idea about the album was coming together in his head and that it would be a concept album. The whole idea about the album, lyrically, was all about Ty and his creative juice. Once we went back home, after that session, he had the opportunity to gather together the material we recorded, and by adding all the ideas he had in mind, we ended up with what I consider a truly excellent album.
BBR - It has been 5 years since your last record as a collective, Shall We Descend. How much do you feel the band's sound has moved on and developed since that album?
RM - When we started recording Shall We Descend, we realised that our style was developing nicely and we were creating an interesting sound, recognisable to everybody as The Jelly Jam. Like many musicians, when I finish to record an album, I barely listen to it again, because of all the time that myself and the band spent creating the music, recording it etc. You may listen to it a bunch of times, once it is completed, to ensure that you are completely satisfied about it. But then something kicks in and you almost get tired to listen to it over and over again so you move on to other things. The fact that this is the first time we are going on tour, as a band, meant that we all needed to go back to our previous records and listen to them again, in order to gather a setlist for the shows. I found myself listening to material that I had not listened to for almost ten years! When that happened, I was so pleasantly surprised to hear how strong the music was at the time and still is now and how cohesive we have been as a band since Day 1. That said, this new record has, to me, such a maturity of sound. I guess it is because, although the three of us have not played a gig together yet, in those four different periods of time when we met in the studio, we have done a fair amount of playing together and getting to know each other better as musicians. I feel that there is a comfort level that kicks in, when you start doing record after record and that is why we are getting more locked in, by playing with John and Ty. Also, due to the fact that this is a concept album and every song is related to the next one, there is, within the band, the strong feeling that we have further evolved, on Profit, in terms of sound and cohesiveness. Given how much our sound has moved on through this new album, it's going to be even more interesting to see what happens when we convene together next time in a studio to start a new record. I am sure it's going to be, again, something completely different but still with a distinctive Jelly Jam sound.
BBR - Do you feel that The Jelly Jam project allows you, as a musician, to unleash your drumming skills in a way that suits you more than any other music project you have been involved into, throughout your glorious career?
RM - Let's see.. I have truly loved every band that I have played in and I say that because to me, the greatest challenge, as a musician, is to try to be true to the style of music that you are playing every time. What I mean by that is, when I play in Winger, I don't want to have people walking away saying stuff like "What the hell is a jazz-fusion drummer playing in a hard-rock band?". When people would come to see the Dixie Dregs, in the same way, I wouldn't want people walking away and saying: "What the heck is a meat and potato rock drummer doing in an instrumental/fusion/rock/jazz band?". My goal has always been, regardless of which band I am playing with, to have people walking away from a gig, saying "God, I really, really dig that drummer, he really played true to the band's style and he also added elements to the band's sound that I have never heard that way before". Say, for example, the style of Winger's music today. It is quite different from what we were doing back in the 80's. I have always tried, and hopefully achieved with Winger, not just to hit the drums hard, in true rock style, but also to add my experience as a fusion drummer too, by inserting in the sound, here and there, curves and twists that no one can hear from a normal rock drummer. Take for example, one of our biggest hits as Winger back in the late 80's called Seventeen, which was one of the most played videos on MTV. There is a little section, right in the end of the guitar solo where when we recorded that song, the producer asked me to add something that no one has ever heard before in a rock song. I used a technique called Beat Displacement, which makes the music sound like it has been turned upside down and at the time, this was something totally innovative to hear in the sound of a rock band. Truth be told, I was specifically brought into Winger to bring these kind of foreign musical elements to the sound of the band. Nowadays, with Winger, we apply much more to our sound those element of musical escapism. But coming back to your original question, it's not that I feel that The Jelly Jam gives me more freedom to express myself as a musician more than any other band I have been involved in. It's just a matter of a different challenge, for me, because I love playing with The Jelly Jam as much as I love playing with any band I am or I have been involved into. In terms of freedom, there is certainly lot of open space in The Jelly Jam music, as far as what I am able to do, as a drummer. We are not AC/DC, where you hear exactly the same drum beat style almost every time, say, in an album like Back In Black. Which I totally understand, because it is exactly what is needed for that kind of music. But in The Jelly Jam, it is a much busier style of playing and the drums have a lot of freedom to change things up without impacting the song negatively. I wouldn't say that is like being in a jam band, with The Jelly Jam. It's kind of 50/50 between improvisation and mixing things up a little and the way we had originally planned to build a song. With John and TY, due to the fact that they are such superb musicians, nothing that I can do can really thrill them anyway! (chuckle).
BBR - I believe that a song like Perfect Lines defines you perfectly, as a band, with all those twist and turns, typical of The Jelly Jam musical philosophy. Is this song solely related to The Prophet's state of mind and his personal journey on this record or is it more an autobiographical song for any of the band members?
RM - That's an interesting question. I don't really know, to be honest. The only one that could answer this question would be just Ty. I am just assuming that everything, lyrically, was just part of the story and the concept of the record, without having anything to do with anybody in the band. That was a very interesting song in the way it came together. I forgot how far into that song we were, when we recorded it but a certain point, the guys asked me: "Hey Rod, could you just sit at the piano and write something that sounds classical, 'cause that might feel really great with the song?". So I just sat down and start noodling and eventually I came up with the piano part that you can hear in the song. Ty wrote a really beautiful vocal melody on top of it, really wonderful. I think it is the most Prog-Rock orientated song on our new album. I read a review the other day from someone who is totally into Prog-Rock kind of stuff. He kept going on saying things like "That was great, I want to hear more Prog stuff like that by The Jelly Jam". We just want all to know that The Jelly Jam is its own thing. It's not Dream Theater, it's not King's X, not any of the bands that I or the boys play in. Whatever you want to call it, this is The Jelly Jam sound. Over the course of the four albums, the sound of our band has grown constantly and it has moved into different directions. Yes, our style includes surely some progressive elements but we don't think of ourselves as a Prog band. We are more than that. I remember the days with the Dixie Dregs. We, in the band, knew that the majority of our fans were musicians of some sort. With The Jelly Jam, you don't have to be necessarily a musician to love our music. We don't do those 10 minutes-plus long epic tracks. Instead, our songs last for a standard duration of 3-4 minutes, with proper verses and choruses. That allows virtually anybody, musician or non-musician, to listen to our songs and be totally absorbed by them.
BBR - Profit is, to me, the record where all of you guys have really stretched your tremendous skills as musicians with outstanding results. Do you feel like the band, through this record, has finally found the "Treasure chest that will save them from the rest" (excerpt from the song Heaven)?
RM - I do, I truly do. We have done enough recordings and, little by little, I think we now feel comfortable hanging together as friends and musicians, like we know each other better every time we get together. I do believe that this can be heard on our new album as well. I am absolutely positive that our connection as artists and friends will grow even more the moment we will get together on a stage and play our songs to our audiences. During the rehearsal period for the live tour, we felt immediately that we were bringing our songs together very quickly and very nicely. The fire and the excitement is there, we are feeling that this tour will bring things within the band to another level. I guess that, by touring for the very first time, we can stop calling The Jelly Jam our side project, as we have done for the last 15 years and calling ourselves, finally, a band. We are going to hit the road in the middle of July for three or four weeks in The United States and we sincerely hope that we can bring our show soon to audiences around the rest of the world too.
BBR - Rod, the original form of what it is now The Jelly Jam was Platypus, where the band was originally a quartet. How difficult has it been to channel the sound of the band from being a quartet to a trio?
RM - It has been very easy. When we started that project, about 17 years ago or so, John called myself, Ty and Derek Sherinian (keyboards), asking whether we wanted to be involved with him in a project all together and we said "Sure, let's do it". The four of us convened at my house in Long Island and each of us came in with some ideas. We did not have yet a clear direction or a concept on what the project would have been all about, therefore each of us came in with one or two songs or simply sketches. We gradually built on the project and if you listen to the first Platypus album, it is really a fun record but it is all over the map, in terms of sounds, starting with high energy to then moving to the next track, which was a very Proggy one, an instrumental kind of song that perhaps would have sat much better in a Dream Theater album. In essence, the Platypus record was fun, yes, but it was a collection of songs that were not related to each other, neither in terms of lyrical content nor musical togetherness. When Derek departed the band, the three of us decided to continue on and since we had done two records together as Platypus, we evolved very naturally and fairly quickly, I have got to say, in this beautiful creature that it is now The Jelly Jam. Something that, to me, it is an incorporation of heavy and vocal-oriented cool rock songs that also add that special musician element to them. It did not take a lot of work or extra effort for the evolution from Platypus to The Jelly Jam to happen. I just remember when John and Ty came to my house to start putting together material for the first The Jelly Jam record. Things came together so quickly and the way we were building song by song was so organic, just by noodling together as an ensemble. By the end of that day we created two of my favourite Jelly Jam tracks of all time, which are I Am The King and I Can't Help You. In our live shows, we are playing both those songs and we are planning to do at least a couple of songs from each of our past records. We are extremely excited about doing these live shows and we are working very hard on making The Jelly Jam touring on a regular basis. I believe it's a doable thing, even considering how busy we individually are with the other bands we are in. And hey, we certainly have plenty of material that we can pick and choose to be played lat our shows, being this our fourth album!
(Photo by Internet Archive)
BBR - Fallen is for me one of the most intense moments of the album. Almost a metaphore of what is happening with the band. The right album falling at the right time, falling with the right concept and the right songs. How special was recording that song, Rod?
RM - Fallen is my favourite song on the record, at the moment. It is perhaps, the most basic and simple drumming that I have ever played on a record. As a drummer, my favourite stuff to be played doesn't need necessarily to be something where I need to show off. Every time I listen to that song, the lyrics get me choked up and Ty's guitar solo it's breathtaking. It's truly magnificent.
BBR - Profit is a record that put The Jelly Jam definitely on the shortlist as one of the best progressive rockbands worldwide. Do you feel like this record is your personal masterpiece to date? Because that is what I think.
RM - Well, I am genuinely excited about this new record. I had no idea it was going to turn out as wonderful as it is. Personally, in all 60 albums I have done in my career with several bands, it gets incredibly hard to say: "Hey, that record is my best record of all time" on any of those albums. But one thing I would say for sure, is that Profit is way up there at the top of the list as one of my most proud achievements as a musician. The cohesiveness on this album is awesome, the storyline is so beautiful, the message is so great. Everything about it is so perfect. I am looking at the cover of the album right now as an LP and I am so damn proud of it, I think the artwork should be hanging in a museum, it's real artistry! Profit is a humongous achievement, I believe, not just for me, but also for Ty and John.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Profit is out now and The Jelly Jam Tour Dates can be found on the band's Official Website
- Details
- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Many people would have been tempted, at a certain moment of their lives, to retrieve back to that comfort zone that is their place of birth. The place where you were born and raised, where your family and best friends live and you know they will always be there for you.
Ryan McGarvey has never been tempted by that. Since a very young age, the Guitarist and Singer/Songwriter from Albuquerque, New Mexico has always aimed to go to the next step of his musical journey, to risk the unknown and to push himself always to the limit.
He has certainly succeeded on that. McGarvey, since his 2007 debut album Forward In Reverse has not just collected numerous awards and played with the cream of the blues/rock worldwide but also gained the unanimous blessing of the music press on being one of the most inspired and talented guitarists of the last decade of rock and roll.
In the last couple of years, McGarvey has been incessantly touring his latest album to date, the 2014 The Road Chosen and Bluebird Reviews has had the opportunity to talk to this extraordinary artist at The Borderline in London, United Kingdom, where we discussed about life on tour and what the future has got installed for McGarvey.
(Photo courtesy by Supro)
BBR - Ryan, welcome on Bluebird Reviews, great to finally meet you. This has been, so far, a sort of Neverending Tour for you, after the 2014 The Road Chosen album. Have you written new material whilst touring the world, in the last couple of years? If so, when can your fans expect to hear a new Ryan McGarvey's album?
RMG - I have indeed. I'm expecting to release the new album by this fall and then to be back on tour again to support the new album. There are quite few musical projects I am involved into right now. There should be a live CD and DVD hopefully released this summer to celebrate the amazing time I had on the last couple of years on tour. Then I have also an album of rock material ready to go, an album of blues songs ready as well, which is something I wanted to do for a very long time and I am also considering to release an album of acoustic material, which is something else that I really wanted to release for quite some time. Quite a lot going on. We are playing some new stuff in what I call right now Part 2 of The Road Chosen Tour and it's very interesting for me to see the way the crowds react to the new songs.
BBR - You have been always recognised as one of the most inspired and talented guitarists worldwide of the last decade of blues/rock. Given how constantly you are touring and playing night after night, how often do you get to do some practice on your guitars?
RMG - I get that a lot and I am also a complete hypocrit with myself because I am always the one telling everyone "Hey, you have to practice more because if you skip a day, you'll need two days to get back to where you were". And that comes from somebody that never gets to practice anymore, really! (chuckles). I guess that, the fact we get to play every night, helps me to make it up for that. At the end of the day, I pick up a guitar at least once a day anyway, even when I am at home, when trying something new, like a new guitar riff or an idea for a song I have in my head. So the chances I get to skip practicing on guitars are virtually zero.
BBR - Ryan, out of all the three album you have written so far, which is the song you are most proud of?
RMG - It's a good question. I was trying to think about this the other day and I guess, for me, is more a matter of having a favourite song for each album I have written so far. It's all related to state of minds, feelings, on why I have written some particular lyrics on a specific track in a particular time and what they mean to me. On some of the slower songs, the ballads, I can picture exactly what I was writing about. To those slower tunes, I also like to give things a twist, because I like to write and sing my songs in a way that doesn't feel necessarily related to personal stuff but they could be songs in which virtually everyone can see themselves and their lives reflected in somehow. I love the fact that after the shows, people come up to me and say how much they felt connected to some of the songs and what they meant to them. To come back to your original question, I would say that some of my favourite songs from my albums, perhaps the ones closer to my heart are My Heart To You, Always & Forever and So Close To Heaven. I guess I like those songs particularly because I liked the arrangements and every aspects about those tunes.
BBR - Many fans and people in the music industry have always applauded and highly appreciated the fact that you release albums containing solely original material. Have you been ever tempted to record and release a cover album containing songs of artists of the past and present, very close to your heart?
RMG - I thought of doing something like that. Most of my favourite music, growing up, have been covered by the late great Jeff Healey. I have always loved the way that he covered songs in a very wide spectrum and in a very cool way. We have been playing live few covers through the years and I would love the idea of recording an album of covers, one day, and to give them my own interpretation but still respecting the core of the songs themselves. Maybe someday will happen, you can never tell!
(Photo by Rhonda Pierce0
BBR - Ryan, why do you think that a genre like the blues has been able to survive for almost a century now, in an industry where even iconic bands like Radiohead do not sell records anymore as much as they used to?
RMG - I guess that the main reason is that the blues it's one of the very few pure and honest genres. It's one of those styles that speaks very openly to people, you just can't fake it. I have to say, though, that yes, certainly the blues is a very genuine and honest genre but I guess that what you asked is mostly related to the type of artist you are watching, on the night, more than the genre that he or she is playing. It happened and still happens to me, at times, to see somebody playing live and to think "This guy really sucks". But some other time there have been artists that have been mindblowing to watch. Their music was speaking to people and the crowds were finding a true connection with what the artist was playing because they were able to feel what he was playing. But, coming back to your question, at the very end, it all comes back to the blues. The younger generations may go to a rock, a rap or even a country music concert and during the performance, not to be able to figure out that some of the guitar riffs on some of the songs may come straight from the blues. The root of all genres.
BBR - How was the music scene of Albuquerque, back when you were a kid and how eventually did it influence your growth as a musician?
RMG - It was pretty cool. There was a good number of bands, blues bands back in those days. I remember playing in a bar band for something like 4-5 hours every night, for good crowds or sometimes even for a couple of people. But into my head, back then I always had goals and I have always been a very motivated person and wanted to move forward. I remember that, at the time, there was a club I always wanted to play into but I had not managed so far to get any bookings there. When I then succeeded to finally play there, I was getting so many booking request from that venue that I was getting a bit bored and tired of it and just wanted to move to something bigger, more challenging for me as a musician. I have always wanted to move forward, in my career and grow up more and more as an artist. Growing up musically, in Albuquerque, has been certainly a positively, formative experience for me.
BBR - Ryan, the number of followers you have in Europe is almost superior to the one you have back in the States. I have bumped into few people today telling me that this is is going to be the fourth or fifth time they are coming and watching you playing. What is really the secret behind your phenomenal popularity?
RMG - To be honest with you, it is really hard right now, in the States, touring regularly for an artist. Over here, in Europe, it is completely a different world. The kind of promotion we get in Europe is different and bigger. It's different for an artist or a band in terms of fans appreciation too. The fans here in Europe come and see us, on an average in a Tour, something like five or six times, following us around in many different parts of the continent. Maybe the fans here in Europe have got more opportunities to follow us around because countries are in a much closer proximities then in the States. But it's truly remarkable, here, as I said, not just the promotion that we get as artists but also the loyalty of the European fans. If you get somebody coming to one of our shows for the first time and he or she will love what they hear, than the fan here will not just come to more than one show but will also buy your entire discography! And at the next show, that very same fan will know already by heart all the lyrics of each song and sing them loud. It's so rewarding to meet the crowds after our shows, all dressed up in our merchandise, coming up to me saying: "Man, I saw your advertising poster in the streets and I couldn't miss the chance to come and see you and get to hear you playing live again", which is so awesome to hear for me. I had that happening at home in the States sometime but that certainly doesn't happen as often as it happens here.
BBR - B.B. King once stated: "I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed". What colours has music brought into your life as a musician and as a human being?
RMG - That's a tough question. It's a very beautiful one, wonderful for sure, although I cannot immediately tell you what the colour might be. I think of this musical environment as a tight-knit big family, where people you have never met in your life which you are a fan of or bought their CDs have the extraordinary capacity to bond with you almost immediately. The minute you run into them, it becomes a completely mutual thing, because you find out they feel exactly the same thing about you. And if you see someone that you really admire, you feel connected to, it becomes, as I said, an instantenous bond. I remember, once, I was at a merchandise table in Denver, Colorado, at a music festival, after one of our shows. After we had been there for so long time, meeting and greeting fans, selling our CDs and all the merchandise, there was still a huge crowd waiting to meet us but the organization told us to move away because there wasn't time left anymore. As we were leaving, a guy steps out of the queue and comes to me saying: "Hey Man, I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the show" and all that stuff. As I thanked him and we were parting company, he said something like he was going on stage and play later and headlining the show, so I said: "Wait a minute. Are you Bernard Allison?" And he said Yes, and I went "Oh, my gosh, I love your music, Man". So, to cut a long story short, in the end, we hugged each other, like old friends would do, with all the people around us taking photos and what have you. It was like that special feeling that gets through me when I get to see friends like Kenny Wayne (Shepherd) or Joe Bonamassa, probably two of my closest musical friends. The special bonding, the cameraderie, that great friendship on and off the stage. Hey, I think I made up my mind about the colour you asked in your question. Let's go for red, a very harmonic colour, which defines probably in the best way possible what I just said.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
- Details
- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
(Photo by Adam Kennedy)
The moon in Uk tonight is more brighter than the normal, in this beautiful evening in Farnham, South of England. It may be because, paraphrasing the title of the album of one of tonight's performing artists, the Time Has Come for the british gunslingers Ben Poole and Stevie Nimmo to join forces and take on tour together their new albums Time Has Come (Ben Poole) and Sky Won't Fall (Stevie Nimmo).
When The Northern Light (Stevie) and The Southern Breeze (Ben) get together with Bluebird Reviews to talk about their tour together, one gets the immediate feeling that this is something that these phenomenal blues/rock artists wanted to do for a long time. (Nimmo) "The idea came up quite quickly. Ben was already with Manhaton, our record label and when I joined in as well, it was like: "Two musicians, using the same musicians as our rhythm section, having two records being released more or less at the same time. This is so obvious, why we shouldn't go on a tour together?". (Poole) "It was such an obvious thing to do together indeed because, as Stevie was saying, we were sharing the same rhythm section on our respective albums and artistically and financially it was the most wise choice to do too. Plus, it gave us the opportunity to do something special together, at the end of our personal sets every night. Despite the fact that we play our music using different styles, every night it was always special to finish the show together combining our styles together on stage. We really enjoyed working together on this tour and we hope that the fans had the same feeling too".
To share the same stage, for Poole and Nimmo, might mean as well to change the setlist they play every night fairly often, especially now that they both have new albums out. (Nimmo)"My setlist has been pretty much consistant from the beginning of the tour. I picked what it was, for me, the right mix of some of my older material and stuff from my new album. What it really changed, every night, was the way that each song started, then developed in something very unexpected and ended up in something even more unexpected. Some songs have some kind of structure on which it's dificult to escape from but other songs haven't and you just can play the latter exactly in the way you are feeling in that particular moment. To let it loose according to the way I feel every night, that it's the best way that it works for me on stage. (Poole) "I feel pretty much the same about improvising on many songs, as Stevie often does on his sets. Also, should one of our sets go on for a bit longer than what we initially planned,for any reasons, I don't know, because of a little banter with the crowd or a guitar solo that went on for a little longer, there is never any big deal or any argument between the two of us. Because we both know that, sometimes, when you really feel a special bond with a crowd or something magical happens on stage when we play our sets, you just have to let it flow because it's right to do so. We both respect so much one another and we don't mind dropping one song in our setlist in favour of the other, when that happens".
To talk with incredibly talented artists is a trye joy. There are laughters, banters and smiles all around. With such great friendship between the two guitarists, BBR wonders what they have learned from each other, by touring together. (Nimmo) "That he needs to practice a lot more! (chuckles)". (Poole) "I was going to say the same thing about you! (giggles). Seriously, it has been such a big honour to watch Stevie playing and singing. I have certainly learned few tips about techniques on vocals by watching him every night on tour. The camaraderie between artists playing this genre is something truly unique in this business. There might be one or two exceptions, sometimes, as it always happens everywhere but on the whole, all the people and fellow musicians I have come across in this business have all been extremely generous with me and there has always been great support between one another. No egos, no competition, just the desire to play our music and support each other. We all try to make a living as well, at the end of the day, so what is the point really to fight one another?". (Nimmo) "The mutual help and respect between artists is the key to be able to keep playing our music and share it with our fans. You may have noticed as well that, on this tour, the two of us are neither the support nor the main act of one another. It has been like this since Day 1 and it will be the same way until the end of this tour. We even help each other with tips during the sound-check, with things like, say, "This mic sounds better positioned elsewhere" or stuff like that. It’s on those little but important things that you see the mutual respect and the appreciation of what we both do as artists and friends. We want our shows to be good, to sound good and we would do anything we could to help and support each other in the best way possible to make that happen".
To tour together is often the perfect opportunity to write some new material together that may end, perhaps, on the two British artists' next records. (Nimmo) "We almost did it for Ben’s album, you know. It was discussed before this tour took place but it didn’t happen. My point of view has always been and still is that I want to write a song WITH someone rather than FOR someone. I like the feeling of being in the same room with the fellow artist I collaborate with, to get to know that person, know what he is like, know what he sounds like and then start writing material together. I am sure that, to write with Ben is something that it’s going to happen soon. We know each other pretty well by now, I know what he sounds like and on that respect, to be on tour together has been very beneficial for both of us". (Poole) "To work together is something we spoke about and Stevie said he’d love to help to write some material with me in future. Stevie has got such a natural flow, an ability to write lyrics that, I must admit, it is something I struggle with, sometimes. Stevie writes his whole material all the time and he is very gifted. When I write new songs, I may need sometimes the help of external songwriters to write lyrics on some of my songs. To write something together it’s something I definitely would love to do with Stevie and I hope it’s going to happen soon".
The Stevie Nimmo & Ben Poole Tour has been a highly successful one, as expected, so perhaps now that the tour is over, it is a good time to relax a little or maybe are these two hugely talented Blues/Rock Brothers starting to tour again straight away? (Nimmo) "I shall take some time off and play in a couple of festivals this summer. It will be a fairly relaxing summer for me, not overloaded with tour dates. That was a deliberate choice, because I like to live my life as well. Balancing personal life and work is very important for me. In September and October I shall be busy like hell and it will be great playing with Robin Trower on some dates. Then in November and December I shall be touring around Europe, than back in UK and France until 2017. As you can understand, I shall be so busy that a summer break it's really very much needed for me to have the batteries fully charged for what it's going to happen next". (Poole) "I'll have a little bit of time off myself too after this tour, because the last four-five months have been insanely busy for me. After this little break, I shall be playing few festivals outside the United Kingdom, in places like Spain, Germany, Austria and France. In September my European Tour will kick off and I shall be touring several coutries including the United Kingdom in October and I cannot really wait to be back On The Road full time. You never know, myself and Stevie may cross paths again anywhere. After all, the world is much smaller than what many people think it is!".
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Sky Won't Fall by Stevie Nimmo and Time Has Come by Ben Poole are both out now and available on Manhaton Records
- Details
- Written by: Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
It's a pleasant, breezy evening in the south of England, when Bluebird Reviews gets the opportunity to meet one of those artists that is constantly rising, year after year and album after album to music stardom, the young and hugely talented Laurence Jones. The gig tonight in Aldershot, Hampshire is not only going to be a special night of music just for the fans of one of the most inspired British guitarists and singer/songwriters but also for his manager Golly Gallagher, that lives in this quaint Army town.
There is a certain energy in the air, even prior to the concert tonight. Some of the fans can hear from a distance Jones doing the last bits of his soundcheck and it certainly doesn't take a magician to read the happiness beyond the smiles of the many fans waiting to enter the venue and see this phenomenal artist.
When BBR meet Laurence Jones, we are greeted with a warm welcome and one of the wonderful smiles that every night Jones gifts his fans with, during his live shows. Jones looks in great shape, very relaxed and happy, which is quite incredible, given how long he has been touring his current album What's It Gonna Be.
BBR - Laurence, What's It Gonna Be is and has been a hugely successful album for you. A record that, in our opinion, establishes you as one of the best blues/rock acts worldwide. Which are your immediate memories in recording this album?
LJ - Just having a great time with my band. I have always done that type of recording with session musicians before and it was great to be there, for a change, just with my band. As you know, I produced the album myself together with my bass player Roger Inniss and I learned, through that experience, a lot of tips while producing the album that producers I have worked with in the past taught me. It was just great, there was no pressure whatsoever and we did exactly what we wanted to do. The whole experience of recording the album with my band has been totally free-style, we just plugged our instruments in and we were off!
BBR - You started playing music since you were eight years old. Did your parents encourage you to play an instrument and was the guitar your very first choice?
LJ - Yes, absolutely. My dad had a classical acoustic guitar and he used to play The Animal's classic House Of The Rising One to me. I remember that, since I was a child, I wanted to be able to play that song better than him! (chuckles). He made me practice something like two or three hours a day and I was so determined, as I said, to be better than him. Then last year, when I played at the Royal Albert Hall for the Lead Belly tribute night, I ended up being on stage with Eric Burdon himself and I knew my dad was in the audience that night. I said to him, after the show, "You see, I am better than you now, because I actually got to play with Eric on stage!" (chuckles).
BBR - Laurence, your songwriting style on What's It Gonna Be shows phenomenal maturity. What is the process that you follow when you write songs?
LJ - There is not a certain order that I follow, while I am writing and that is the beauty of it. A song may come to me by writing the lyrics first then the melody and the vocals, or I can start a guitar riff and build a song around it. Especially with this album, I wanted it to be more about songs and connecting with people, rather than just blasting the album with plenty of guitar solos, which occasionally some guys in this business do. I saw a lot of people in the audience, night after night, coming to my shows and connecting to certain songs from my previous album Temptation and I just wanted to follow that same emotional path, on What's It Gonna Be.
Laurence Jones with bass player Roger Inniss
BBR - How was your experience working as a producer with young Toby Lee (11 years-old blues/rock guitarist), on his debut EP album?
LJ - That was really cool, actually. He is just a great talent and he has got a lot of potential, for his age and he is very confident. It was so good also because having produced my own album previously, I had more of an understanding about how to produce an album. So I put a good team around us, with Phil Wilson on drums, Jack Alexander on bass and Victoria Klewin on vocals. Plus, as a very special guest, the great Bernie Marsden on one of the songs. Toby is going to go a long way, definitely.
BBR - The last 12 months have been for you quite special. The Lead Belly Tribute nights at the Royal Albert Hall in London first, then the one at The Carnegie Hall in New York gave you the opportunity not just to play in two of the most famous venues in the world but also side by side with the cream of blues and rock and roll. Was there ever a moment in which you had to pinch yourself and realise that you were indeed "living the dream"?
LJ - It was certainly a great experience and what I am going to say about artists and cameraderie may surprise you a little bit. It was great to share the dressing room with Buddy Guy at The Carnegie Hall in New York, although I had barely the chance to see him when he got on stage for the soundcheck and we just said hello, you know, the usual thing but he is such a great guy. What really stood up for me the most that night, though, at the Carnegie Hall, was what happened when all the artists present that night were down below and I had to go back to the dressing room to get a drink. I found my good friend Walter Trout practicing, in my dressing room, all alone on his own. Walter saw me and said" Can I be in your dressing room, please? It's so nice and quiet" and I was like "Sure, no problem". So I pulled up a chair and sat next to him and it was really a surreal moment for me. He played a song called Transition from one of his early albums with the same name, which was coincidentally the first blues album I have ever heard in my life. Walter said he has never ever played that song live in his career and the fact that he played that song to me, in that room, with only the two of us there, meant a lot to me and made me feel so privileged and honoured.
(From L to R) Walter Trout, Laurence Jones and Dana Fuchs
BBR - You have been working for such a long time with your manager and mentor Golly Gallagher and played hundreds of concerts with that very talented bass player that is Roger Inniss. How important is it for you to be surrounded, on your day-by-day- musical journey, by a band of brothers like this?
LJ - It's so important. You spend all of your time together, in a tour van, even more time than I spend with my family, to be honest and it's vital to have great bonds between all of us. Last year we did something like 250 gigs together, therefore you can imagine how important it is to get on well with everyone. Golly is a true inspirational figure for me. He taught me so much about this business, with all the great experience that he has. He was in the music business long before I was even born, you know (smiles), working for Sony and many other majors. Golly really showed me the way and taught me how important it is to have a good team around you and I feel privileged to have him as my manager.
BBR - Laurence, we understand that your new album is rumoured to be released late this summer and produced by a real authority of the business, Mike Vernon. Is the new album yet untitled or have you already thought how your next album is going to be called?
LJ - I always like to be a step ahead of the game! (chuckles). I always like to think forward about the next album and the songs I am going to write. To write songs is something that happen very naturally and I feel very fortunate, in that respect because I know that some people in the business really struggle often, when it comes to write new material. I just keep writing and writing because there are so many experiences on the road that I like to write about and share with the fans through my songs. We will be releasing the new album in July/August and it was indeed a big honour to have Mike Vernon to produce my album. He has been working with top artists in his career, people like Bowie, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and on the famous John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers album, an album that really set the scene for the British Blues, back in the day. It was great working with Mike and I was really surprised about how much he let me be myself throghout the recording process. I have been working with producers in the past where they costantly tell you what to do and tell you "that is the way it's going to be". With Mike, it was a completely different ball game. He just stepped in at the right times, when he knew it was right to do so while we were working together. In comparison with What's It Gonna Be, on the new album you will find less overdubs and more of a raw, live sound. We loved working in that way and I am sure the fans will love that too. The raw, straight-to-your-face kind of sound on the new album will be exactly the same one the fans will hear when we will play the new songs live, once the new record is released. The whole experience of recording with Mike was very relaxing and I sincerely hope to work with Mike again in future. The new album is going to be called Take Me High and I cannot wait to play the new songs to the fans.
BBR - We are aware that your summer tour schedule is building up nicely, with several dates already booked around Europe. When will the American fans have the opportunity to see you there again on tour?
LJ - We are going back to America by the end of August. So far we have just three dates confirmed, one in New York, one in Massachussetts at the Blues'N' Brews Festival in Nashoba Valley and one at the Chenango Blues Festival. It's going to be awesome and I am really looking forward to play there.
BBR - You have previously stated that "Music is my healer". How much has the support of the fans helped you through the healing process?
LJ - It helped me massively. I have had loads of people come up to me, since I have been working with the charity Chron's and Colitis UK (Laurence suffers of Chron's Disease himself) saying: "You are an inspiration and your music really gets me through the day" or things like "Just to see you going up on stage knowing what we are going through with Chron's Disease is amazing". Without playing music I would get easily down and thankfully, I get to challenge my feelings into my music and just trying to be true, to me and to everyone that love my music. If it help the fans as it helps me, that would be the best feeling ever. I can't thank the fans enough for the support. We do a lot of fund raisings for this cause and we raised £15.000 last year, which is amazing and again, I cannot believe how incredible and supportive all the fans have been so far.
BBR - Laurence, the blues is among the very few music genres worldwide able to survive and reinvent itself through time, without losing contact with its history and tradition. What is, in your humble opinion, the secret of this genre's longevity?
LJ - Like you said, it's all about history and people, nowadays, crave for history. It's a bit like going to places where it all smells of history, say a place like Rome, for someone from Italy like you or a place like my hometown and Shakespeare's land Stratford-Upon-Avon for me. History is always there, it's part of our heritage and it's something we know that we can relate to anytime. In the same way, the blues and its history can be found in so many different genres that it could never be lost, ever. It's in pop music, rock, soul, you name it. Blues is the common ground, the genesis for all genres. Think about the 60's and 70's, when England had a massive blues invasion, influencing our music culture. Bands like The Rolling Stones made of the blues their music manifesto in those days. They were not just one of the biggest bands in the world but also the only band able to take a blues tune to the No.1 of the music charts worldwide ever with Little Red Rooster. The Blues is always going to be on top in any time of the world, because it is the root of everything, when it comes to music. And we all know that nothing, without roots, it's going to survive.
Giovanni "Gio" Pilato
Take Me High is due to be released by the end of July 2016 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon
