A music magazine in Japan

2. During those 23 years, was there still any interaction between the
members?

All of the original band members remained living in the Bristol/Bath area and saw each other intermittently over the years. At certain times various combinations got together fleetingly – I think we were all still interested in what music the others were involved in. James and Andy worked together for a few years in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as the Korgis and achieved some chart success with a couple of songs.

3. How did the three members get together this time?

The realisation gradually dawned that there was still a great deal of interest in the band on the Internet and elsewhere (we were still receiving fan-mail 20 years on!) and that it might be possible to re-float the ship in some shape or form. Not able to bear being nagged by Ruth any longer, Mike suggested the project to the others, but it quickly became clear that they had already started to think similar thoughts so very little persuasion was necessary. Ruth was very pleased with herself.

4. We can sense a kind of up-to-date stylish sound and atmosphere in the
new album, but were there any certain points you put attention to in the
production of the album?

By 1998, when we began to record ‘something For The Weekend’, James had built a state-of –the-art recording studio in Bath and had become fully conversant with the technology and rather adept at utilising it. From both a musical and technological point of view we had absolute freedom to experiment, as we had decided to launch the project on our own record label, DAP Records, with no one to answer to but ourselves. From the artistic point of view, I think we tried to take our experience of working with George Martin as the starting point and to develop our music and recording further from there.

5. Can you please give us your favorite song in the new album and the
reason?

Crun chooses ‘The Vegan’s Hatred Of Fish’ as he loves eating fish and has spent many years of his life trying to come to terms with people who for some strange reason don’t eat it.

Tim’s choice is ‘Youth Of Today’ because he got the chance to play his cowbells!

Richard prefers ‘Grooving Along The Highway’ because it’s happy and sad at the same time.

James: ‘Fascinating World’ – at an early stage the album was to take it’s title from that track because James’ wanted it to be a kaleidoscopic view of the world.

John likes ‘Wildebeeste’ because on first listening it is so bizarre and silly, but then you realise that it is in fact a rather apt depiction of the modern city-dweller’s rat-race. Maybe it’s like that in Japan too!

Mike goes for ‘Time For Bed’ because it completely sums up James’ attitude to life and his fellow humans. This song is sublime and transcendental.

6. We hear that you have also commenced your live activities as well, but
how is the response from today's audience?

We’ve met many of our old fans from the ‘70s, which has been fantastic. They love the new CD and are very impressed with the new live band with Tim Richard and John. We’ve heard it suggested more than once that this is the best Stackridge line-up ever! New converts are knocked out by the whole thing, and it seems to click particularly with young people, teenagers and ‘20s. Ruth’s prediction appears to be coming true.

7. Would there be any possibility of a Japan tour as STACKRIDGE?

We would be greatly honoured to visit your country and to perform our music in concert if a promoter could be found.

8. We have heard that the original name was STACKRIDGE LEMON. Where did
this name come from?

The name was Crun’s idea. I think he was eating Lemon Sole (a type of fish) at the time!


9. What kind of musical style was the band seeking in the early days?

We were seeking an individual sound and musical style in order to set our quirky song writing apart from our contemporaries. That is main reason why an unconventional instrumental lie-up was so useful to the band, and we hope this will continue to be the case.

10. Are all the members from Bristol?

All the band members are from the West Country – from Bristol, Bath and Somerset. The band formed in Bristol.

11. How was the Bristol music scene when you first started out?

Bristol had a thriving music scene in the late ‘60s, with many clubs featuring folk music, jazz, blues as well as rock music. Stackridge formed with the express intention of standing out from these conventional scenes by becoming musically and stylistically diverse and eclectic.


(To Mr. Crun Walter)

12. You had joined the band from the second album. How did this happen?

"Actually, I was involved in the original band that started in late ’69, but by the time the band was ready to record their first album I was ‘resting’ from the music business.

13. How did you get your nickname Crun?

"My nickname comes from a character in ‘The Goon Show’ – a bizarre and funny radio show that was very popular in England in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He was called Mr Crun Bannister and apparently the resemblance to myself is singularly striking!

14. How did you come to participate on the last album on Rocket Records,
"Mr Mick"?

"I think the band at the time were trying to recapture something of the more successful style and approach of the first three albums, and I happened to be available at the time.


(To Mr. James Warren and Mr. Mike Evans)

15. You had left the band after the third album "The Man In Bowler Hat". Can
we acknowledge this as a temporary break up of the band?

Recording ‘Hat’ with George Martin represented a huge effort on behalf of the band and we were already pretty exhausted after four years on the road. The completion of the album was certainly a watershed for Stackridge and the events of the subsequent year can be seen as part of the evolutionary cycle of the band over the whole period.

16. Can you tell us of your impression and any interesting episodes that
occurred in making the third album, "The Man In Bowler Hat" with George
Martin?

Working with George Martin was a revelation – he was a true professional and a real gentleman. We introduced him to vegetarian food (not as widely popular in 1973 as now). We gained some fascinating insights into his work with The Beatles as he could be easily persuaded to reminisce – he had some priceless anecdotes. Working from 10 to 6, Monday to Friday in studio was a bit of a novelty to us – we had recorded at night when working on the first two albums, but we were part of George’s world and that is how he chose to manage things. Above all, it’s nice to remember what a nice man he is and what a pleasure to work with. Oh, and we got to play on the ORIGINAL Moog synthesiser which The Beatles used on "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer".

17. Did the compilation album "Do The Stanley" occur on contract basis?

By the time MCA released the ‘Do The Stanley’ album, the band had signed to Elton John’s label, Rocket Records, so it’s debatable whether that release was strictly under contract. We don’t know.

18. What kind of live shows did you put on in the early days? Any
interesting episodes?

Fairly outrageous and decidedly NOT trendy – we didn’t wish to be perceived as ‘rock stars’ and follow the obvious fashion. We introduced silly numbers in our live show – signature tunes from radio and television shows like ‘Juke Box Jury’ and ‘The Billy Cotton Band show’. Mike was never happier than playing the fool, performing such oddities as "She Taught Me How To Yodel" and "The Laughing Policeman" and, of course, we had a natural pair of clowns in Mutter Slater and Crun. Pete Donovan, (one of our road crew and very tall and slender) used to dress up as an Egyptian Pharaoh and beat a huge military drum on "Purple Spaceships Over Yatton".

Some memorable shows include playing Bickershaw Festival with the Monty Python troupe (it was very cold and very wet!), Cambridge University May Ball on an open stage in a thunderstorm and the Reading Festival with our infamous schoolgirls. In 1972 we did a tour of Northern Ireland – at one stage our van was stopped by a tank and we witnessed a large car bomb in Londonderry while having breakfast in our hotel. In November and December of the same year we toured a special pantomime show based on ‘Treasure Island’ with a comedy jazz band from Bristol, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra’ – that was a great show and great fun.


19. The only recordings of the early days that Japanese fans can get are
the two BBC live albums. Would there be any other BBC recordings left?

We are at the moment putting together two new CDs of recordings of the live band and other items from the early ‘70s – some of which have not yet been heard. We would also very much like to re-release the original Stackridge recordings in CD format.

Are there any other live recordings other than the BBC recordings?

Many of the fans that we have regained contact with through the Internet have provided tapes of old live shows. The best of this material is being included in the two new CDs, which will be released on the Dap Record, label in the spring. We will keep you informed.

21. We can hear various influences in STACKRIDGE's music, such as folk,
pops, The Beatles, etc.. In Japan, you seem to attract a wide variety of music
fans who listen to folk, pops, progressive rock, etc... How do you
personally think of STACKRIDGE yourself as a band?

We think of ourselves as a band that is versatile and unpredictable – right from the beginning we have always made a virtue of defying easy classification, and this has ended up being our trademark. The individual members of the new band come from diverse musical backgrounds and each brings his own personal mixture of music to the overall synthesis. This will result in a lively and rich creative medium in which to breed new ideas. Someone said in 1971 that our music was 30 years ahead of its time: well, lets see if we can prove them right. We certainly intend to try!

Finally, thank you for your interest in STACKRIDGE. We very much look forward to coming over to Japan to play some of our music to you. We hope it will be some time soon.

STACKRIDGE November 1999

Questions by You Suzuki