Spirit of the Age Tour 1995
Hawkwind rolled into New Haven,CT from NYC on April 11th and we were lucky enough to be able to isolate most of the band for a chat and here is what we learned!!!
RC=Richard Chadwick
SH= Scott Heller
DB= Dave Brock
RT= Ron Tree
CA= Carl Anderson
CB= Chris Bruce
RC- Come on ask me a question..hit me hit me hit me....
SH- How is the US tour going so far?
RC- Fabulous.. We got Ron along with us, a new invisible (madman). He really helps us out. He fills up the space in the middle, where there was one. Good character, he has revitalized and invigorated us all. SH- Sounds like he gave you a chance to change the set and play some songs you haven't played in a while.
RC- Yeah exactly. So it's working out ok.
SH- Heard about a HW convention this summer?
RC- A HW Convention? We are trying to get that going. Isn't the venue being moved?
DB- Oh yes....... In Mid Wales.
SH- In August?
DB- I hope so. Doug Smith. our manager is suppose to be organizing it. SH- Have you actually talked to any past HW members about showing up yet? Harvey, Huw....
DB- NO!
RC- No not so far. We are sort of more concerned about getting on with this part of our lives, at the moment. We did hunt around for a venue. Dave went off to an old friends who owns a really huge manor in Rochester area of England. And we thought the show was going to be there... and all of the sudden the venue was changed. The new place to be in mid-Wales. At that point we came over here. That's all we know..
(The HW convention that was planned in August has been cancelled and resheduled for April/May 96')
SH- How did you come up with the name Psychedelic Warriors ofr the band title for the White Zone?
RC- The whole idea was to release it under a different name, so that people might buy it who don't know HW, not necessarily connecting it with us, perhaps buying it because it is us or writing it off because it is HW. Whichever, it has a ying ad yang.
SH- We were listening to it in the car on the way to the HW show in NYC and right from the first notes you can recognize it as HW.
RC- It's just us. We didn't deliberately try to do something different. We were just making music that we thought would be interesting to release in a different format. In a way it is different from the next step we are going to be taking.
SH- What next step?
RC- The next step is other people joining us, who will remain secret for the time being.
SH- Do you think that the next lp you record will be more of a space ROCK album?
RC- Yeah, it will definitely have more song structure to it, than instrumental, sort of cosmic ohm type jams. More structure. It won't be first chorus, end chorus, sort of unliberated rock.
SH- It had been mentioned that CRUM (keyboard player in Dave's Agents of Chaos band) was going to play with you?
RC- He has family obligations, with kids at home. We did rehearse with him briefly with the idea of coming over here. It was going well. (Recent word is that CRUM is int he band now)
SH- Any chance of hearing Lord of Light. We heard you did play it at a soundcheck.
DB- Don't knw. That was just briefly, not even with vocals.
SH- Ron, who we spoke to a bit earlier said he would really love to play that one.
DB- Well, we'll have to practice it.
SH- What's next?
RC- EBS (Emergency Broadcast System), our english record label that we sort of got together. Because we have a huge catalog of old material, live recordings, studio outtakes of the last 20 years of HW music, which we all have the masters for. Now we could start releasing these things with proper graphics, sound quality, the rest of it.
SH- There had been mention that the Wierd Tapes might come out in a CD format. Do you think it is possible?
RC- yeah, but we need to remix and clean up some of the recordings. They would be part of new compilations on EBS. We have been going through all kinds of various tapes of the band. There's loads of stuff around. For instance, there is no recordingof Time for Sale that Robert Calvert got together with the band. We found a really good live tape of this from the Hammersmith Odeon in London. So we keep finding little gems like this.
SH- That's great news for us fans.
RC- And the theres all the new material that we got together. Because we record where we rehearse, an enourmous amount of material gets recorded. Like on Electric Tepee, that Going to Hawaii, that was just the three of us jamming together and we recorded it. That's why it's slightly distorted. It was just a magic moment. And we have lots of things like that.
SH- What's your favorite era of HW, besides the current era in which you play?
RC- It's hard to say really, because I've seen most of them.
SH- Now that Capt. Rizz has been released on EBS, are there chances that you will release other bands besides yourself?
RC- yeah, we will if we find anything that takes our fancy and fits the bill in one way or another. We are always looking out t see whats groovy. Nice thing about havng your own label is that you don't have to do it on the terms of whether or not it sells or not.
SH- Have you heard any bands lately that you would recommend to the Hawkfans?
RC- uhhhhhh.. Children of the Bong.
RT- Captain Sensible is the last good band I've heard! Police Bastard, who else? There ain't many.
SH- Children of the Bong, aren't they a techno band?
RC- Yeah, fucking brilliant! I really like them. I like all sorts of music.
RT- The Sweet.. yeah.. All you HW fans try and find the Hellraiser single and play the B-side, you'll be blown away!
SH- Ron, who did you become a member of HW?
RT- I just wrote to Dave Brock. I've known him and the band for quite some time and did some support gigs with 'em and just said " Give me a job singing, I'll do a good job for ya". You know they were a three piece and a bit sparce. And they said yeah allright and here I am.
SH- So your previous band was DS 2000?
RT- No, no 2000DS and I just played bass for them. It wasn't my band, it was Gary and Paul Banford's band from Wales. They put it together and I played bass with 'em. I left 'em because they are a bit mad. They are really mad. My band is called the Sewer Suckers and Capt. G's and the Sunrain Dreams. They are little bands I've got in my hometown but uh... I just do the off gig with 'em.
SH- Pause..............
RC- Come on.....it's a busy world... Questions Questions.. Is this our final american tour? Come on ask it, ask it... No it isn't!!
SH- Rumor has it you may be back in September?
RC- Yeah, everything is a rumor... We are going to try and come back.
SH- We have been trying to use the internet as an information tool...
RC- yeah, we have access ourselves.
SH- Yeah, I remember your post to the HW electronic mailing list at the beginning of the tour. (They used Robert Godwin's account to send a message to the BOC/HW newsgroup (boc-l@spcvxa.spc.edu)
RT- Robo-ron.. call me Robo-ron. Obi-ron roboron!!
(laughs throughout the room!!! We love you obi-ron. You're our only hope!)
SH- So what are your favorite HW songs, Ron?
RT- Oh god... I'm doing them at the moment. I like Levitation from Stonehenge, that version. Psi Power, Lord of Light, Born to Go, 7 by 7, all Calvert's poetry, some of the Turner stuff. Shit loads of stuff. There's so much I just can't think of it all just like that.
SH- Richard, how did you like playing 7 by 7? We have some live tapes from the British tour 92' where you play it and it sounded excellent.
RC- It's funny actually, because we rearranged it slightly. It's much faster that the original, but they didn't seem to mind. I mean we've played most of those songs that Ron mentioned, except Lord of Light.
RT- We did that in a soundcheck. I've never sung tht before.
SH- Have you done Steppenwolf?
RT- No, but I can do it. That will be done at some point, I'm sure, same as Lord of Light. When, i don't know...
SH- We heard you are playing the Isle of Man in June?
RT- Yeah-Man... Ask the Police-man...
SH- Do you think that you will lay down any new songs with Ron between now and the Hawkcon in August?
RC- Yeah, I'm sure we will. We were recording stuff before we left for this tour.
RT- Yeah, if I can get out of bed!
RC- So far we have recorded Sputnick Stan and a version of a song called The Alien, but we will probably change it. We have been playing it on this tour. There are a couple of other pieces, keyboard pieces..
SH- How was the response to Sputnick Stan in Toronto?
RT- It's difficult to tell because all you hear is the crowd cheering at the end and you never get a chance to talk to all of 'em. The only way to get a fair impression is to ask every single person.
SH- I think a lot of people are familiar with the song Sputnick Stan from the Business Trip.
RC- It's not on it.
RT- It's not released yet.
SH- Oh, I guess, I have been listening to too many live tapes.
RC- Bootleg!!
SH- Not for sale..
RT- Boot in the head for bootleg. Boothead!!
SH- So what is your overall opinion of people recording the shows to trade, not to make money?
RT- Well, somebody gets one, trades one, then it goes on again and again, eventually somebodys going to tape it and bootleg it. It's fair enough that is starts off as a good idea, but somebodys going to get it in the end and think "ah Ha!, I can make some money". Money, power, greed......
RC- Taping is very different in England. you go to record fairs and there's loads of low quality bootlegs around.
CA- A lot of US bands have really been helped by the taping scene, as it helps to spread their music around. Some of them are very popular now.
CB- The Dead is the best example. Metallica allows taping at their shows. Phish, the Allman Brothers...
SH- I think if it gets widespread enough people won't go for making bootlegs because there is no value in it.
RT- Theres no value in a rough tape that makes the sound of the band really bad. It's going to put people off anyway.
SH- When you get back to England do you think you will ocassionally get on the internet? Do you have this type of access?
RC- We should have. We are going to start to, because Doug Smith, our manager, is really into it. We are all computer friendly you know, but mainly the music side.
CB- Now that you are using triggers (devices that allow one person to trigger synthesizer sequences to match a beat or tempo) how has your set changed and your actual drum kit, since say 91', the last time I saw you?
RC- I'm not using any electronic drums at all anymore.
CB- Are you still following Dave's sequencer, say dave is running a certain speed, do you have a mid-line going between you to?
RC- I trigger it.
CB- Oh... you trigger it!
RC- Just press go and we start...
CB- And they follow your tempo from there.
RC- I would really like to get back to a stage where we can jam, instead of using triggers.
CB- Instead of being locked in.
SH- So when you are back in England, what is a day in the life of Richard Chadwick like? Do you get together once a week to rehearse?
RC- We get together usually up to a week at a time. I get up in the morning, blow a bag, get into the sunshine, get some food for the day. Then in the afternoon we rehearse until tea time. Eat and then do it again in the evening until about midnight. And do that for the next five days. Take the weekend off and do it again.
SH- Do you go see live music on the weekends?
RC- Oh yeah, the bands you were asking about. Me and Ron went back to Bath and saw Cybernaut, this brilliant techno band. They are not famous or anything, just fucking great! The next night we went to see Police Bastard. I really like to keep in touch with what's going on. It's the only way you get new inspiration. Or you will dry up.
And there is where we ended so Richard and Ron could go get some food before the show. Richard and Ron are really great chaps and friendly to talk to. I hope you find the interview informative and that I have the chance to do this again in the future for you!