An interview
with Ray Wilson by Michel Scheijen for
Mostlypink.net
Ray Wilson’s membership of Genesis is one of the curious moments in the band’s history. The lead-singer of the indi-rockband Stiltskin took over from Phil Collins
in the 90s. A quite ungrateful job, after all. Looking back on his career, Ray made the best out of a ‘bad’ situation. He tours with the
Berlin Symphonic Ensemble performing Genesis classics, and with an acoustic band performing unplugged. www.mostlypink.net spoke to the
friendly Scotsman in Germany during his acoustic tour.
MP: How are you? RW: I'm doing very well, thanks. It's been
quite busy two months. We've played between twenty-five or thirty successful
shows in March and April.
MP: You’re touring with two different shows.
Isn't that a bit though? RW: I've got two album-releases this year. The
'Genesis-Live Classic' double album/dvd, and the new Stiltskin-album
coming up in September. There are also some financial commitments from my
companies. You'll have to work to bring in the money to use for promotion. That's
the way I do it. I wouldn't say it's though to go from
one idea to another. If I did too many acoustic shows, I'd become bored. It's
nice to have some variety. We started doing these Genesis Quartet-shows with
two violins, and without drums or bass. That's really great, and I'm very
pleased with that. I'm doing acoustic shows for many years, so that's very easy
for me to do.
MP: What's the difference between these shows
from artistic point of view? RW: Good question! There are a lot of
musical elements in the Genesis Quartet-shows. The arrangements and dynamics
have to be correct. Especially when you're playing with
violins, piano, and another guitar. With a chorus the dynamics get
bigger. A solo gig is a different kind of approach. There you can't really
build a dynamic, because you've got only one instrument. You make the dynamic
less, or reverse it. Dropping the chorus down instead of
building it up. For me as an artist it's all very common. MP: Which of these shows do you prefer? RW: I don't think I have a favorite. It's the
variety I like most, and that's why I do this different kind of shows. MP: Variety seems to be a metaphor for Ray
Wilson, because you're very all-round as a singer. RW: I don't have any limitations musically, and
I'm open to ideas. I'm a singer, and I'm lucky I've got a good voice. That's my
first instrument. I'm not signed to a record label. Since the last Stiltskin-album (2006) I'm completely independent, and I've
got my own companies in the U.K.,
Germany, and Poland.
Also my publishing is owned by me. Except for the songs I did with Armin van Buuren and Genesis. The song with Armin is signed through
Warner, the Genesis-songs I co-writed are signed
through Hit & Run. YouTube with Armin van Buuren (opens in a new window).
MP: Are there any Genesis-members involved with
the production of the Genesis Classic-project? RW: Apart from 'Calling All Stations' I've
never worked with any Genesis-bandmembers. The
string-arrangements were done by Tobias Unterberg. He's a cellist from Berlin. Genesis did
never perform unplugged or with an orchestra. Tony Banks is famous for his
amazing keyboard playing. His opinion about performing with an orchestra was:
"What would I do?". Apart from Steve Hackett
and Mike Rutherford, I'm the only ex-bandmember who's
still performing. I thought it would be a great idea to take the arrangements
and do something with them. Touring with an orchestra makes you very limited.
You can't do many shows, because it's very expensive. So I thought it would be
better to take a string-quartet and classical piano. I didn't know if it would
work really well or really bad when we started. We've been performing the show
for a year-and-a-half now, and I can say that it sounds very good. We've got
the songs working well, and I understand how to do them. In the beginning I
wasn't so sure about it. Some songs were good, some were not so good. Now, we
really got it
working, because people like it. The project is very popular. MP: Did you had to get
permission to use Genesis-songs? RW: You can do a cover-version of anybody's
song, without permission. You just have to pay GEMA, MCPS, or PRS because of
the royalties of the composer. That's standard. If you take a song, and change
it by writing another verse or change the chorus, then you'll need
permission. To be honest: I'm still a member of Genesis technically. I was
never fired, and there was never an end to my contract. I never received a letter
with 'it's over'. Still I'm the last singer of Genesis. But Mike and Tony are
not the kind of people who're going to make a noise about me doing a version of
'Land Of Confusion'. They aren't small minded.
They've got a very positive attitude towards artists doing their songs. MP: How do you keep developing yourself? RW: When I started my solo-career nine or ten
years ago, my goal was simple: continuing. If I can travel to different
countries, and enough people will buy a ticket to see me, I'm happy. Primarily
I'm making music, and that's what I want to do. It's lovely when you go
somewhere you've never been in you life. A couple of days ago I played in Moscow for two-thousand
people. I've never been to Moscow
before. That was an amazing feeling. When I was driving in from the airport I
saw a Scorpions-poster and a Armin van Buuren-poster.
I worked with those guys and that's a nice memory. Also Nazareth was there. Because of my band I know
those guys too. All these cooperation’s is what it's all about for me. I'm not
trying to be a millionaire, and I never see myself becoming a David Bowie. I've
got a good voice, I write good songs, and do great shows. That's who I am. MP: Once you’ve said that you always suppress
your emotions. For a musician or a vocalist
odd
habit, don’t you think? RW: Well, that's changed! When I had the success
with Stiltskin and Genesis in my twenties, I had to suppress
my emotions. Especially with Genesis, because that was such a
big challenge. I could never allow myself to be exited about it. I had
to stay calm, focused, and very professional. I couldn't really express what I
was feeling. That would make Tony and Mike very nervous. They hired me because
of my strong self-confidence and self-believe. They needed someone like that.
When you take Phil Collins out of a band, and put someone else in, that person
has to have a lot of self-confidence! As I said: I had to stay composed nearly
all the time. And that's the suppressing of my emotions. All of my twenties I
worked so hard trying to get somewhere that I never really enjoyed it. Even when I was touring with Genesis. We did forty-five
shows in sixty days, and it was such a hard gig on the voice! I was singing
Peter Gabriel-style, Phil Collins-style, and then my own style. It was a
challenging job for a singer. To be perfectly honest: I enjoyed gigs obviously,
but I was counting the days until the tour was over. Not because of enjoying
gigs, but because of fear! The kind of pressure of losing my voice and canceling
the tour was on me all the time. When it was over I relaxed and looked back.
Then I wished I had enjoyed it more. Now I wish I'd been mentally the age I am
right now, and from an experience point of view my age back then. I would have approached
it differently. Now I'm forty years old, and it's been the best time of my
life. I can make my own decisions, do what I want to do, and people come to my
concerts. I can entertain them, because I've got a lot of songs to choose from.
Right now, I feel very comfortable and confident in who I am, and where I am.
At this point in my life I'm exactly where I should be. I'm good in what I do,
and people enjoy it. What more is there in life? MP: Would you do another tour with Genesis? RW: Of course I would happily work with them again!
Even with Phil Collins if he was there. Although I don't think it would happen.
MP: The 'Calling All Stations'-album didn't get
the appreciation it deserved. Why? RW: There were reasons for that. It's still the
fourth best selling Genesis-album...that's quite an achievement! Taking Phil
Collins out of a band is a big thing. Like taking Mick Jagger out of the Rolling Stones. When you do that,
you'll have to have a plan for two or three albums to give yourself a chance. Also to let the audience get used to the new person. It all
needs time! Mike Rutherford didn't really want to carry on, and I can
understand why. But I still think it was the wrong decision. We should have
done another album. What harm would it have done? If it had been brilliant,
then maybe we would have the third or second best selling album. If it wasn't
so good, we just didn't release it. The very welfare can make these decisions
with no problem at all. I just felt it would have made sense to have tried. I
also understand Mike's decision, because he's entitled to do. He's one of the
founding band- members. However, I decided to embrace my time with them, and
continue. MP: Thank you very much for your time and
answers, Ray.
Michel Scheijen
Ray on tour:
7th May Erfurt (Germany) Alte Oper Erfurt
- GENESIS Klassik
12th May Rankweil (Austria) Altes Kino
- GENESIS Klassik Quartett
13th May Ehrwald (Austria) Zugspitzsaal
- GENESIS Klassik Quartett
14th May Oberwaltersdorf (Austria) Bettfedernfabrik
- GENESIS Klassik Quartett
15th May Vienna (Austria) Metropol-Theater
- GENESIS Klassik Quartett
20th May Malbork (Poland) - GENESIS Klassik
21st May Isernhagen ( Germany ) Blues Garage
- GENESIS Klassik Quartett
29th May Naunhof ( Germany ) Bürgersaal Naunhof
18th June Suchy Las ( Poland ) Ul. Szkolna 20
- GENESIS Klassik
22nd June Lennep ( Germany ) Klosterkirche
-
acoustic band
23rd June Schafstedt ( Germany ) Kerzenhof
-
acoustic band
25th June Wismar (Germany) SOLD OUT
St.-Georgen-Kirche
- GENESIS Klassik
5th Aug Zehdenick (Germany) Klosterhof
- GENESIS
Klassik Quartett
6th Aug Ehmkendorf (Germany) Parkbühne
- GENESIS Klassik
12th Aug Villach (Austria) Draubühne (open air)
- GENESIS Klassik
13th Aug Walchsee (Austria) Skatpark (open air)
- GENESIS Klassik
14th Aug Leoben (Austria) Hauptplatz (open air)
- GENESIS Klassik
27th Aug Wroclaw (Poland) Wroclaw Rock Festival
Zajezdnia MPK
& STILTSKIN
09th Sep Hildesheim (Germany) Amtshaus
& STILTSKIN
1st Sep Mielec (Poland) Hala MOSiR,
XIV Miedzynarodowy Festiwal Muzyczny w Mielcu
17th Sep Aschaffenburg (Germany) Colos-Saal
& STILTSKIN
23rd Sep Hamburg (Germany) Downtown Bluesclub
& STILTSKIN
24th Sep Landstuhl (Germany) Stadthalle
& STILTSKIN
25th Sep Augsburg (Germany) Spectrum Club
& STILTSKIN
30th Sep Isernhagen (Germany) Blues Garage
& STILTSKIN
2nd Oct Münster(Germany) Hot Jazz Club
& STILTSKIN
15th Oct Jena(Germany) Volkshaus
- GENESIS Klassik
31st Oct Hassfurth (Germany) Rathaushalle
-
acoustic band
4th Nov Zella-Mehlis (Germany) Waldmühle
-
acoustic band
17th Nov Giengen (Germany) Giengener Musikwoche
-
acoustic band
18th Nov Worpswede(Germany) Music Hall
& STILTSKIN
19th Nov Siegburg(Germany) Kubana Club
& STILTSKIN
20th Nov Netphen ( Germany ) Georg Heimann Halle
-
acoustic band
24th Nov Berlin(Germany) Postbahnhof
& STILTSKIN
25th Nov Bad Harzburg (Germany) Schloß / Kursaal
- GENESIS Klassik
