WhoIsWho

Hello dear Stu,
How is life in cold wet England? Where do you live?

[sn] I live in the south of England in a place called Ferndown near Bournemouth, cold in the winter but generally warm and pleasant in the Summer months. It's a beautiful part of England, very close to the sea and the New Forest. life is full and fun..most of the time..mainly taken up with Galahad and music in general!!

What was your occupation when you first heard the news about the Tsunami?
[sn] I was sitting in my lounge on Boxing Day when I saw the news and couldn't believe what was being said and what we were watching, I was both mesmerised by what was unfolding and scared at the same time!!

What did you tought when you realized that this catastrophe was zo big?
[sn] It took a while to hit home, however, I did think that the fataility figures given to begin with were going to be far too low having seen what had happened, then sure enough, unfortunately, they started risng dramatically hour by hour and day by day it was like something out of a disaster film only far more real but at the same time almost incomprehensible and unbelievable

Is there a picture of the disaster that is burned in your head?
[sn] There are so many images of what happened repeated in the media especially on Sky News etc..they are firmly etched in my head and I don't think they will ever leave!

You're involved in this project, who did contact you, were did you know him from, have you worked together?
[sn] A guy called Danny Mayo contacted me on behalf of Dave, Matthew and Rob. He very kindly asked if I would like to be a part of the project. Naturally I said yes...anything we can do to help on even the smallest scale is worthwhile.
I've known Danny a long time, he has been to many a Galahad gig over the years as has Dave Robinson who runs F2 records. I know the Magenta guys a little through Galahad having played on the same bill with them a couple of times.

Did you know the song 'All Arround The World", do you think it is going be a succes for all those victims of the Tsunami?
[sn] I didn't know the song before I received an MP3 to get familiar with but I do now after singing the chorus several dozen times last weekend!!
In my humble opinion It's a good catchy pop song with a proggy twist (even a few Mellotron prases), great simple chorus which is what you need for a track like this.. .nothing to long and complicated. Having said that I haven't heard the finished version(s) as I guess they must be still mixing at the moment. Can't wait to hear the finished product!!
I just hope that the guys will be able to get good distribution and a fair amount of exposure in the form radio airplay both terrestrial and on the Internet and Sky and also magazine exposure. If they can do that I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be successful.
But success is relative, it could still be regarded as a success even if it only raises a few hundred pounds, but hopefully it will raise thousands as well as keeping up, in some small way, an awareness of the problems caused by the Tsunami which aren't just going to disappear in a few weeks. It will take months, years for most of the areas affected to get back to normal.
Also, I think just getting everyone involved was a fantastic success as it was no mean logistical feat. I really do my hat off to those guys.

How was it the recording weekend?
[sn] Absolutely fabulous. We had a fantastic couple of days. Everyone was very friendly and accomodating, no clashes of egos..it was a very warm friendly atmosphere. THe waiting room was basically a pub which was wonderful except that we probably drank too much whilst waiting for our respective stints in the studio!!

Did you know all the musicians, did you met them before?
[sn] I knew some of the musicians of old from playing gigs with them in the past. It was great to catch with so many of them such as Nick Barrett from Pendragon, John Jowitt from IQ, Jadis , Bruce Soord from Pineapple Thief, Tracy and the Landmarq guys and Alan Reed from Pallas who is always good fun. We just swapped stories, old anecdotes news etc...
Also got chatting to a few guys who I had never net before, who were all very friendly, it's always great to get other peoples perspectives on life and music etc...

Is there anything happend that weekend that will stay wih you?
[sn] Yes, the feeling of everyone coming together, the camaraderie, the way it was all so laid back and easy with, as I said before, no ego's getting in the way. It was interesting to hear the track gradually evoving ion to somethingh wonderful. The finale was also wonderful with severral dozen of us crammed in to the studio all singing the chorus together being conducted by Alan Reed who was flailing his arms around like some mad conductor...absolutely brilliant!! won't forget it for a long time.

What are the members of Galahad doing at this moment?
The last album got many good reviews. Any plans for a new album? Will there be some touring again?
[sn] We have written all the songs for the new album and hope to start recording shortly. It will be called ironically 'Empires Never Last'. I couldn't possibly tell you when it will be ready...hopefully some time this year. ENL will be more song based than Year Zero and soundwise will be a little heavier, well that's the idea at least!! Once the album is out we hope to put a string of dates together including quite a few in Europe..but I couldn't say when at then moment.

What is your occupation next to making some nice music?
A profesional Dreamer, I saw at you site, what is that?
[sn] That is just a joke, basically, I'm just trying to say that I have dreams like everyone else, you write, rehearse and record an album in the hope that a few or maybe more than a few people will pick up on it and give you the recognition you feel you deserve. An acknowledgement for all the hard graft that has gone in to keeping the band going as a creative force over the years would be nice!! the same for any band really.
But that's enough about Galahad and myself, the focus for this interview has to be on this project to raise funds to help victims of the Tsunami. And to that end I sincerely wish the project all the success it so very much deserves, especially after all the effort that the organisers i.e. Rob, Dave, Matthew, Danny and no doubt others who I haven't met or don't know have put in during the last few weeks.

Is there anything else you want to say to the people All Around The World?
[sn] Not really, other than..buy this single when it comes out, you could be saving someones life or even helping them to build a new one!
Apart from that stay safe, be happy and live life!!

Thanks Stu for all the help and support,
Nick Gielkens of the lovely South of the Netherlands.

Hello Martin,
How is life rolling in the lovely South?
[mo] Life is good but it's pouring with rain here at the moment!

Had a long talk with Dave Robbinson, of F2Music and the man who had the same dream, but just needed a small spark to start this 3.5 liter, 375 horsepower V8 with a 6 speed manual overdrive engine.
We talked about the recording weekend, Dave said it was hectic to organizise but so much fun to do. All the musicians gathered in the studio, no big ego's, all very helpfull and full fun.
The single sounded already great, althrough Rob Reed had to mix another 120 tracks into the piece of work. Some recordings had to take place this week.
The problem was to find a good company with connections and promo activity who wants to distrubute the single, without making money of it. Alway s money is the problem in this world. He hoped that he could sell the single aswell through his own label as by a bigger brother in law. And that the price could be low.
What the outcome will be, Dave agreed that the single was already a success, with all the spontaneously help of everyone involved this was a victory for solidarity.
We spoked about his book he wrote in a previous live, kids, Magenta's plans (that were a bit disturbed by this ProgAID), tourplans, the geografy of the Netherlands, about President Bush and that he makes it nescerray that there'll be another ProgAID next year, the possibilities to do a live ProgAID and and and...
But there was some important game, Wales-England, that afternoon so we said thank you, speak to you soon and a kiss for your wife and lay down the phone.
Thanks David for all the effort!