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“Utterly
amazing”, “Outstanding
finesse in detail”, “More Floyd as you can get”…these are just a few of the commends on
Dutch Floyd’s tribute shows
to Pink Floyd. The Dutchmen are approaching the
classic Floyd-sound in a very
sensitive but distinctive
way without loosing authenticity.
Much to the delight to both
fans and critics who embrace them.
Dutch Floyd is currently touring to celibrate
the 40th anniversary of ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Guitarist and vocalist Bart Logtens is giving some insights about
laboring in the service of the Pink Floyd-legacy.
*Dutch Floyd deals with
a passion for Pink Floyd. Besides passion, what else
is needed to be general accepted
as a serious tribute band?
-I guess you need to find
out what all the original bandmembers contributed to the particular sound of a
record or tune. Including vocal
parts. You need to be
true to the original parts, but also need to
include the feel that Pink Floyd in their 'classic' line-up
was able to stamp on every single recording. And that is probably the hardest part.
*So, how does Dutch Floyd
conquer this?
-Luck is one
way to discribe it. We're lucky to
sound like we do naturally,
which is very much like Pink Floyd sounded. Plus you have to authenticity
of the sound right. Really listen to
what is played, and try to
re-create that with the same intensity.
*Because of the modern technical applications it's a lot easier today to
shape the Pink Floyd-sound likewise it was in their heyday's. Isn't it a bit tricky that with these modern tools every whizz kid can perform a Floyd-show?
-Yes and no. Al the modern tools in the world can't make you play like
David, Nick, Roger or Richard. A good example is Dave Kilminster, who
handles most of Gilmours parts
at Roger Waters' shows. He plays those
parts note for note, but still
he can't help to put his
stamp on it. A different feel, different vibrato, i'ts
almost like handwriting; there's no two alike. Sure
technology makes life easier and the use of new, smaller gear clears up a lot of space on
stage. But soundwise the real deal is hard to beat. That why
we lug the Hammond B3 around!
*On composing it's
claimed that Roger Waters
had less sense of putting some
emotion into music than David Gilmour. Waters was more of a lyrics
writer, and Gilmour the composer. Did you notice that
while putting the music and show together?
-You can say that Waters was the lyrical part and Gilmour the melodical part. Although Waters did write some
truly stunning material, like 'Nobody Home', and Gilmour (co-)wrote songs like 'High Hopes' . The most memorable songs were conceived by the both of them, I think.
*There are a lot of Pink Floyd-tribute bands, and most of them are very succesful. How come that there's
still an audience who hungers
for the Floyd-sound?
-Pink Floyd were
one of the most succesful
bands ever. Next to their
albums, their live perfomances
were regarded as the most spectacular ever. Both tonally as
visually. Now that Pink Floyd doesn’t perform any more (bar Roger Waters ‘The Wall’-shows), a good tribute band is the next
best thing.
*What about the quote "There's nothing that compare's to the original Pink Floyd"?
-I agree! You can't be the real deal. Sometimes we get told off for copying Pink Floyd, but these people don't understand that we mean no harm. We love this music, and we just
like to get together and play
it the best we can. See if we can get that
buzz that Nick, David,
Roger and Rick used to get!
*So...did you achieve that buzz?
And what's it like?
-If everything works and sounds the way I want it, and you
see that people are moved by what we do, that buzz is certainly
there! I guess you can compare
it to finishing first in a
race, or completing that
20-level playstation game in one
go.
*What's your opinion about
the worlwide succes of The Australian
Pink Floyd Show who even
made it to sell their own
CD's and dvd's?
-The Australian Pink Floyd
Show or 'Aussie Floyd' were
the first, or one of the first, on the scene. They do it very
well, and trough the years they developed
a stage show which is comparable
to Pink Floyd's own show, although scaled down a notch. The number of shows they're playing gives them
a budget that no other tribute can dream
of. They sell CD's and DVD's
but any band can do that. If fans are willing to pay
for it, you
can sell it! They will
have to forward royalties to Pink Floyd on the material they sell.
*Is it Dutch Floyd's
desire to get similar succes, and to be as big as 'Aussie Floyd'?
-No, it's not.
I think that if you play
as much as they do, you will get tired
of it, eventually. There's no new material to learn, and
the classics you have to
'do' every night of the
week. I would be happy with 15-20 shows a year or mabe 25, but that would be more than
enough for me.
*Would a big Floyd-reunion tour with Gilmour, Waters, and Mason be disastrous
for the interest in tribute
bands?
-No. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite would happen. If there was a reunion, it would spark
new intrest in Pink Floyd which
would in turn result in
more interest in tribute bands.
*What's for a musician
the irresistible challange
of performing the 'Dark Side Of The Moon'?
-It's a collection of great
songs to start with! Then there is the wide range of tones and effects to
deal with. And the fact that much
songs segue into the next makes it a interesting
piece. 'Money' all the way to
'Eclipse' is one complete
piece, without audible silence!
*Can you reveal anything about the upcoming 'Dark Side Of The Moon'-shows?
-A thrill to perform! We're honoured that Gwen van Genderen is singing with us, and
we spend a lot of time getting
the harmonies right. I listened to
recordings of the first two
performances and I think we
do it juctice. We stay close to the original part, but try to put some more intensity and dynamics
into it.
*Pink Floyd never went on a large scale tour in 1975 for promoting
the 'Wish You Were Here'-album. Wouldn't it be
a challange for Dutch Floyd to give
this album the tribute it deserves, and
go on tour with it?
-The reason we chose to
honour 'Dark Side Of The Moon' now
is that it's 40 years ago since
it came out. But the whole of 'Wish You Were Here'
is a personal favorite of mine, and
in fact the whole band. So maybe we'll
try our hands on that next year.
*And after that, would Dutch Floyd have the
courage to perform for the first time ever the controversial
'The Final Cut'-album integral
on stage? Even Pink Floyd hasn't
done that! For example: ‘Dutch Floyd performs 'The Final Cut'...on
stage’. It sounds great!
-‘The Final Cut’ has undoubtly
some of Gilmour’s finest work. 'Fletcher
Memorial Home' is an all time
favorite of mine. The hard, honest
lyrics from Roger, and that larger
than life guitar solo gives me goosebumps everytime. But I don't know if an
audience would be interessted in hearing it front-to-back live. Maybe as a one-off. But I don't see us
doing it anytime soon...not now John. HaHa!
Feb 2013
Michel Scheijen for www.mostlypink.net
Dutch Floyd tourdates:
16-02-13 Zoetermeer
Boerderij - www.boerderij.org -DSOTM Show
02-03-13 Beek Asta Theater - www.roosterrockpromotion.com
- DSOTM Show
16-03-13 Weert De Bosuil - www.debosuil.nl
- DSOTM Show
20-04-13 Ulft Dru Cultuurfabriek - www.drucultuurfabriek.nl - DSOTM Show
31-05-13 Verviers
(B) Spirit of '66 - www.spiritof66.be - DSOTM Show
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