We decided here at Mama HQ that it was high time we sat down with the band and figured out what on Earth is going on. Especially the not so new guys. Here’s the resulting interview!
Webmaster: Guys, welcome to the interview that was never supposed to be an interview. I wanted to ask you a few questions to put on the website. Where do we start? Okay, what are your musical influences?
Andy: I’m a massive prog and rock fan. Outside of Genesis I love Rush, Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson in the prog world but I also like U2, INXS, Van Halen and Marillion who I suppose are prog too! I also love Billy Joel’s piano playing and a bit of Steely Dan, but who doesn’t?
Dave: I love all kinds of music from folk to rock, from ambient to jazz, from pop to prog, you name it I probably listen to it. As far as influencing my playing goes, it has to be Chris Squire from Yes, followed by Scott LaFaro, a double bass player who played with several jazz groups in the late 1950s and early 1960s until his untimely death in 1961.
Simon: I’m literally all over the place. I was brought up on a wealth of different genres such as blues, rock, soul, pop and calypso (West Indian Dad). My earliest musical memory was when I was two years old and I heard Green Manalishi by Fleetwood Mac. It stirred a huge emotional response in me and that got me hooked. So even to this day, Peter Green is still my biggest influence and inspiration. Mum was huge Beatles fan so their music was always playing in the house. I started listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest when I was about nine or ten years old. I found punk and new wave a short while later and a little after that, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King. The Police were a favourite of mine combining reggae and rock riffs. In the 90s, my favourite two bands were Tool and Bad Religion. The important thing I have taken from this is I have never limited myself to genres. Musical influence can come in many guises, you just need to be receptive to them.
Webmaster: How about favourite non Genesis songs and albums?
Andy: Turn of the Century from Going for the One. One of Yes’ best tracks for me. Album? Going for the One by Yes. What isn’t there to like? From the opening steel guitar of the title track through the beauty of Turn of the Century to the hair on the arms standing to attention in the finale of Awaken. I know most people would go with Close to the Edge for Yes’ best album but I just think GFTO sonically has everything.
Simon: The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Iron Maiden. It’s almost impossible for me to give you a favourite album but if I was at gun point on the question then Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden.
Dave: This is really difficult to answer as it changes day by day, week by week. If I had to say one thing it would be Heart of the Sunrise by Yes. For an album, it’s a very difficult choice to make but the more I have thought about this over the years the more I keep coming back to The Hissing of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell. Joni is my favourite musician of all time. Her lyrics are like short stories and no-one can sing like Joni, although Laura Marling come close. Joni, like many folk guitarists, invented new guitar tunings, she also played several other instruments, most notably the piano and zither. When I found out that my gran had a zither I tried really hard to play it but just could not get a tune out of it. Joni has written all kinds of music including folk, pop, rock and jazz but on this album she hits perfection.
Webmaster: Okay. Favourite movies?
Simon: Blade Runner. The original cut, not the acutely awful monologued US version.
Dave: I used to go to the cinema on a regular basis but now I never go. I can’t stand the noise of other people either talking, eating or looking at their phones! My favourite film that I watched at the cinema is Blade Runner. I had read the book and the film brought that book to life.
Andy: I must be one of the few people who actully went to the cinema to watch The Shawshank Redemption. I don’t think I have come out of a cinema so quiet yet uplifted. Cinematic genius.
Webmaster: Best gig ever?
Andy: Best concert would have to be INXS at the Royal Court in Liverpool around 1993/94. They had played Wembley stadium only a couple of years prior so to see them at such an intimate venue was fantastic. It was in the days when you had to actually queue up for tickets and they were sold only out of the old HMV in Liverpool, so we had to get down early to buy the tickets. There’s just something special about seeing a band in a small venue with other like minded people singing and dancing along.
Dave: Really difficult because I have seen so many great artists including Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, Renaissance, Roxy Music, Sparks, Supertramp to name but a few but it is probably Curved Air. They played all my favourite songs, including Phantasmagoria and Sonja Kristina was on great form.
Simon: Best concert without doubt was Peter Gabriel, 1993 at Earls Court in London (Us on Tour). We had very special tickets in an inner circle next to the stage. Me and my (now) wife stood next to all the musicians in this location including Sinead O’Connor who was doing Vocals for that gig. PG was in touching distance but we avoided strange and stalker like behaviour, LOL. PG gigs always focus on sound quality and this was no exception. Mr Tony Levin’s bass went through you and whilst I am not a religious person, it was akin to a religious experience (I can imagine).
