Interview: Mr. Andy Wells Multi-Instrumentalist, Songwriter, Producer
Greetings Andy For Taking Time From Your Work As Well As Recording Your New Album To Answer This E-Mail Interview.
Andy, Let's Start At The Beginning. Tell The Prog Community How You Got Started As A Musician. When Did You Start Playing And With What Instrument? Were You Self Taught? Did You Go To School? What Bands Influenced You As You Were Learning Your Craft?
My Dad Was A Jazz And Honky Tonk Player So We Had An Old Upright Piano In The Dining Room, Went To P&O Lessons With Local Farmers Wife At 9 Years But Could Already Play Simple Tunes. I studied Music At Grammar School And Went On To Teacher Training At Bingley Ttc. My Influences // My Elder Brother Would Play Beatles And Stones Records, But Mainly Sgt Peppers So That Had A Big Hit On Me As A Child Also Dads Jazz - Oscar Peterson Duke Ellington Etc, Lots Of Classical Music Too Especially Mozart & Bach. As I Entered My Teens I Latched On To Yes And Camel But Playing In A Deep Purple Type Band At The Time I Didn't Get To Play To Indulgently.Now Things Have Changed!!!!!! It's Great To Be Able To Play Just What You Like.
What Brands And Types Of Keyboards Do You Play? What Other Instruments Do You Work With?
We Use Mainly Roland Synths Which I Have 3 Of, A Super Jx 10, A Jx8p And A Jx3p, An Old Emu Sampler Keyboard, A Mini Moog, Arp Odyssey, Hammond B3 & Custom Leslie, Wurlitzer Ep 200a Electric P&O And A Few Midi Modules, Oh ! And The Old Tron That Only Partially Works.The Desk Is Tascam 24/16/2 With Various Outboard Gear By Roland, Alesis, Yamaha, Focusrite, Drawmer Comps Etc.
Ccl Computer With Cubebase Vs 5.1 Cubebase Sx, Steinberg Mastering Solutions. Wave Lab.
Cool Edit Pro 2 And Sebalius 2,
Lots Of Different Guitars, Acoustic & Electric But My Fave Is My White Custome Strat The Use To Belong To Rick Neilson "Cheap Trick"
Amp's Range From Marshall To Laney Synth Tubes, Rocktron & Boss Pedals.
How Do You Go About The Composing Process? What Instrument Do You Write On? How Would You Explain Your Style To The Uninitiated?
Sometimes Piano Sometimes Guitar It Depends On What Sort Of Feel And Arrangement The Song Needs, Guitar For Most Of The Riffy Stuff And Piano For The Progressive Side.Ummmhh!! The Style Is A Tricky One "Humanized" Starts Off In Full Heavy Guitar Mode Then " Waiting" Gets A Feel Like 90125 Yes Era, While " Soldier" Is Totally Classic Progressive Stuff, So Classic / Progressive Rock Would Probably Sum The Over All Sound Up .
Your Music Has A Vast Diversity From Rock, To 70's Prog To Classic And More. What Bands And Performers Influence You Now? What Do You Listen To? Who Would You Like To Work With?
I'm Still Influenced By The Old School Mainly, But I Try To Ignore Influence When Writing," I Suppose It's Always There In The Back Of The Mind" But I Try To Write As Individual As I Can.If I Listen To Albums Now It's Usually Older Stuff, Crimson, Yes. Bad Company Etc, Although Opeth, Spocks Beard, Porcupine Tree, Do Get A Look In, I Think They Are Carrying Modern Art And Progressive Music Forward Brilliantly.
I Would Love To Work With Mike Rutherford Again!!!!!
You Have Worked With Many Know Performers/Musician,,, Please Elaborate On What You Did With Mike Rutherford: And Sarah Brightman.
Worked With Mike When We Where Recording The Two J Verity Albums, Mike Wrote 2 Of The Tracks And I Did All The Keys, He's Great To Work With And A Good Laugh Socially.Uuhhmmm!!! Sarah Brightman , I'd Rather Not Talk About That " A Bit Embarrassing , Remember " Starship Trooper " Nuff Said.
The Classic Question. What Would You Listen To If You Were Stranded On A Desert Island (With A CD Player And Batteries), And You Could Have Any Ten Albums, What Would You Choose And Why?
I Won't Waffle On About The Reasons For Taking These Albums I Think It Speaks For It's Self.
1, Elgars "Cello Concerto"
2, Mozart " Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" [Serenade For Strings No.13, G Major]
3 Moody Blues "In Search Of The Lost Chord"
4 Steely Dan "Aja" [Summertime In A Box]
5 Nick Drake "Bighter Later"
6 Focus "Moving Waves"
7 Beatles "Sgt Peppers"
8 Pink Floyd "Wish You Where Here"
9 Walter Carlos "Switched On Bach"
10 Yes " Close To The Edge"
What Is The Name Of The Studio That You Own? What Is The Studio Equipped With?
Hydeaway Studio's [ Most Of This Question Answered In Question 2 Gear Wise ]
What Is Your Favorite Book? Movie? Hobbies/Interests Outside Music? You Are A Music Teacher. Where Do You Teach?
The Book I Found Most Fascinating Was Charles Darwin "Origin Of Species" I Also Read Keith Moons Biography Written By His Aid Butler. This Book Is So Bloody Funny But At The Same Time Poignantly Sad In Parts, But Never The Less Essential Reading."Films" Mmmmhhhh"" Dune, The Many Faces Of Dr Lo, Dark Star, Soilent Green, A Night At The Opera.
I Like To Walk In The Countryside Around Here, There Are Great Views And Woodlands To Walk Through It Takes The Mind Of Things You Don't Want To Dwell On, I Get Inspiration Out There.
I Teach In The Metropolitan Area.
De Butler. This Book Is So Bloody Funny But At The Same Time Poignantly Sad In Parts, But Never The Less Essential Reading.
What Do You Think Of The Music Field Today? Do You Think Progressive Rock Has A Chance In Today's Rap/Hip-Hop/Teeny-Pop/Hardcore Attitude? Is It Now Underground Music?
Well!! You Would Ask That, The Whole Commercial Side Of The Music Industry Is A Sore Point With Me Being A Music Teacher,When Music Is Put Entirely In The Hands Of Marketing Executives Who Know Absolutely Nothing About Music And What It's All About In The First Place, Music Is Dead In The Water, That's Why We Are In This Hole Now.
It's A Good Job There Are Small Labels And Bands Willing To Take A Chance, I Think Things Are Slowly Changing Though, You Can't Sell Music To Kids Packaged Like So Many Tins Of Baked Beans Forever "They Grow Up" And That's Why The Marketing Moguls Target Ever Younger Audiences I'm Sure It Will All Come To A Head An Will Settle Down Eventually. [I Hope So Anyway].
Prog Underground "Nahh!!" There Are A Lot Of Kids Wanting To Stretch Their Musical Outlook Now Especially Music Students Who Look For Inspirational Alternatives To Classical Music, Progressive Bands Give Them A Good Source For That.
Let's Do Some Soul-Searching. What Does Music Mean To You Personally?
Music To Me I Suppose In Part Is Making A Living But It Also Like To Many Others Is A Source Of Enjoyment, Like Some People Enjoy And Get Satisfaction From Writing Books I Get This From Writing Music, It's All To Do With Knowing Your Doing Something Worthwhile With Your Life And I Suppose Creating Something To Share With People. The Band Pilgrym. Tell The Internet Community About This Project. Is This A One-Time Project? Please Discuss The Album And Members In The Group. Who Wrote The Material?
Pilgrym Is A Band Project Instead Of Me Bashing Away At Everything Myself I Got Labeled By The Music Press As The Todd Rundgren Of The Uk Because Of My Hermit Like Existence In The Studio And Playing & Recording All The Stuff Myself. Pilgrym Gives Me An Opportunity To Bounce Ideas Of Others And It's Working Great, We Have Been Working At Hydeaway For Only 5 Weeks Now And Have The Basis For The Full Album" Pilgrimage" The Guys Are All Local I've Known Them For Ages And They're All Great Players. Pilgrimage Is A Prog Album " But Not Concept" We Are Trying To Create An Album That Sounds New But Has That Time Honored Old School Feel. It's Working So Far "Touch Wood". You Have A Classical Project In The Works Called- Lost Toys. Would You Please Elaborate On What This Album Is About? How Did It Get Started? What Kind Of Musicians And Instruments Are You Using?
"Lost Toys" Is Something I've Been Writing For Some Time Now But Haven't Had Chance To Record Due To Lack Of Studio Resources, Hydeaway Has Just Been Upgraded So I Set About Recording In The Spring And Just Recently Finished It .The Music Was Inspired By An Edwardian Children's Book [Can't Remember The Name] But All The Pieces Are Written Around The Characters I Remember. It's All Classical With Carefully Arranged String Samples And Synths Tacking The Part Of Traditional Instruments, Brass, Woodwind, Etc
You Have An Old Mellotron From 1976. Where Did You Find It? Are They As Difficult To Maintain As Steve Hackett Says? What Do You Like To Use The Mellotron For In Your Compositions?
It Came From An Auction In A Job Lot Of Old Movie Projectors And Sound Gear From A Local Tv Company Who Where Moving In To New Premises, It Didn't Work To Start With But It's Getting There Bit By Bit.And Yes They Are Not The Best Thing To Play And Very Temperamental.
What Would Be The Pinnacle For Andy Wells In The Music Field? And Also In Life?
Just To Stay Healthy And Carry On Playing. There Are A Few Prog Festivals In The USA, Particularly Nearfest, Would You Like To Someday Play In The US?
If The Occasion Arises Yeh!!! Why Not "We'll Se How Things Pan Out With The New Album, With The Right Support Who Knows!!!!! You Have An Open Forum. Do You Have Any Words To The Prog Fans Out There? Or To Young Inspiring Musicians?
Keep Picking Up Instruments, Bashing Away On Guitars, Singing & Hammering Those Keys " Just Don't Stop Playing" Aw Over & Out.Thank You So Much For This Interview, Andy. Best Wishes And Thank You For Sharing You Answers And Thoughts.
