TEE "The Earth Explorer"

TEE is a five piece flute front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Their so-called 'European' sound is unique considering their far-east origin. The imaginative tunes with complex ensembles and rhythms will definitely catch the attention of prog lovers all over the world. Their sound will remind you bands like Camel, King Crimson, Asia Minor or even Frank Zappa on some parts. The band was formed in 2004 when... more

Kevin BARTLETT

You may not know his name but you have definitely heard his music more than once or twice in your life. Maybe on HBO, or on MTV, or on VH1, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel. Doesn't ring the bell? How about American Idol Rewind, or Dr. 90210? We had interviewed Kevin Bartlett a couple of years ago when his second solo album GLOW IN THE DARK was released. Bartlett has been quiet since that time but but he has been secretly brewing new projects. A few months ago he had put a new song...more

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FRIGHT PIG Barque At The Lune *** REVERSAL OF GRAVITY Scuba Gear ***

Interview with JUDY DYBLE feat. TIM BOWNESS and ALISTAIR MURPHY by Hande BURDG

Dale Juday wrote: "The name may be known to you, or it may not. She made her mark with a career full of beginnings. The beginning of what was to become King Crimson or the beginning of Fairport Convention, etc. Although her unforgettable voice was recorded for all time, her name seemed to be relegated to liner notes, credit lists and CD rarities of special appearances. A name perhaps known only in Rock and Roll encyclopedias or Who's Who in music"... and here she is now, the woman who sounds like an angel when she sings, our current interiview guest, Judy Dyble...

TPF: Judy, first off, congratulations on the release of your 4th solo album "Talking With Strangers". It is already getting great reviews. If I am correct it took about 18 months in the making. Could you please tell us about that process?

JD: After making three albums with Marc Swordfish, which were becoming more and more electronic and slightly sonically overpowering, I thought it might be nice to veer off in a slightly different direction, and having made ‘friends’ with Tim on Myspace, he suggested that he and his friend Alistair might perhaps be able to help with the next heap of songs. And without much more ado that’s what happened, they worked on the songs that I had already written and suggested new arrangements and tunes and additions and gradually over the months the album began to take shape. Actually the first time I heard their ideas for Grey October Day, with Alistair’s slow jazzy piano, Laurie’s sax solo, and Tim’s vocal I was completely blown away with how gorgeously melancholy it sounded..

Basically they would send me rough ideas to fit the songs, then drive over here and record my vocals and take them back and slot them around whatever they were doing. It was their idea that one of the songs should be a long autobiographical piece and they asked me to write down my musical life in song form, which Tim then adapted to fit the music that he and Alistair had composed around the words… Then we thought about who we could ask to contribute to the album apart from the small core of musicians that had already laid down the basics, like Mark on bass and Laurie on Sax and I emailed most of them and Tim emailed some and fortunately nearly all said yes. And so the process evolved and grew around the spare time that Tim and Alistair had. And the result is what you hear. Craig Cumming mastered it beautifully in Nashville.

TPF: Reading the lyrics, it looks like this album is much more personal than the previous ones. Would you agree with that?

JD: All of the songs on the previous albums were personal but the treatment of the songs on this album has been more sympathetic to the meanings of the lyrics instead of drowning them in electro-wizardry as on the previous albums. On those the music appeared to be more important than the words or the story behind the songs, and the desire was for an overall trance effect which didn’t really give the words or my voice the room to breathe, but that was Marc’s sort of trademark music and as such is a valid statement.

With this new album the music and the arrangements curl themselves around the words and voices and lets them be heard.. And yes, most of the songs are deeply personal, but I would hope the words will resonate with the listeners and people will find something in the songs that have a connection to their own experiences and that they can relate to. Which I guess is what every song writer hopes for...

TPF: You walked away from the music scene in the early 70's for 30 years, and when you came back the industry was much more different than it was back then. Yet it seems like you have adapted quite fast. Have you ever felt like "How is it going to work? Will people even care about my music after so many years?"

JD: No, it didn’t occur to me to think either of those things, because I a) had no idea how it was going to work, and b) did it because I wanted to see if I could still sing! It was in the nature of an experiment for me, because I had no idea what sampling was and didn’t have the foggiest idea how things could be recorded on a computer.

It was so very different from the way I had been recorded in the past, then it was either a big studio with the latest big whizzy buttons and faders and lights that lit up in different colours or in someone’s back room with a Revox tape recorder and a little microphone. In those days, there was no way you could take a copy of what you had done away with you, you had to wait until men in brown lab coats had cut an acetate on a big disc cutting machine and then you could hear that, but only a few times as they weren’t designed to last. Sorry that was a sidetrack!!

As I am technologically challenged I leave it to others to do the recordings now, I’ve only just got the hang of the Internet so anything, which involves microphones and computers, is beyond me. Luckily both Marc and Alistair know what they are doing and both have been kind to me in my ignorance! As for wondering whether people would care about my music, I didn’t even think that it would see the light of day, let alone would be of interest to people..

TPF: I have noticed that you have a very loyal fan base and you are very active on the Internet communicating with them. Do you think the Internet helped you grow your fan base and introduced you to audiences from different age groups?

JD: I am positive that the Internet has had a massive effect on the ability of people who have liked what I have done in the past to find me and talk to me about my past and my present and my future. I get quite a lot of messages via my website and I do reply to them. Which kind of startles people! Yes the Internet has introduced a lot of people from different age groups, simply because I have connections to so many different genres and bands.. Fab eh?

TPF: If I am not mistaken you haven't worked with Ian McDonald after Giles, Giles & Fripp era. It is great to have you two perform again on the same album. How did he get involved in this project?

JD: This is the first time I have worked with Ian since the early days of the Brondesbury tapes, and even though it was not face-to-face, it was lovely to hear his flute playing so beautifully on my songs. I especially love what he did on Jazzbirds.. It captures the essence of the song and is a just gorgeous piece of playing. He got involved because I emailed him and asked him if he would, and he said yes!

TPF: After you left Giles, Giles & Fripp, they added Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield and became King Crimson. Ironically the one and only cover song on your album is "C'est La Vie" written by Lake and Sinfield. And your interpretation is absolutely beautiful. What made you decide to do a cover of this song?

JD: I have always adored this song since the time I first heard it. Through friendship with Pete Sinfield we (my late husband and I) were given an early copy of the ‘Works’ ELP Trilogy and this track just fell into my heart from Greg’s part of the album. I knew that I would love to sing it somehow and so I stuck it in the back of my mind as a ‘one day I’ll sing this beautiful song’ so there we are. I do seem to end up with one cover song on each of my albums.

TPF: Your voice is as good as it has always been. What do you do to protect it? For example do you do warm up exercises daily?

JD: Thank you for saying that! Probably the 30 years rest had a lot to do with it… I don’t really do anything to protect it, it’s better now that I have stopped smoking, but the inhalers and all the prescription drugs do have an effect and sometimes I can’t reach the notes I want to.. I try to drink more water, one ENT consultant told me that water is the ‘oil’ for the vocal cords and I should drink lots of it. I do attempt to do some warm up exercises, but usually I forget.. Useless eh? But I guess because I am not pushing my voice by doing lots of gigs, I am avoiding straining it..

TPF: Are you planning to tour in the near future? And I also remember you mentioning once you don't like airplanes too much. So does this mean we won't get to see you perform outside of England or Continental Europe?

JD: No I have no plans for a tour at the moment. It depends on whether I can be talked into it. Perhaps some one off gigs might be a possibility, it’s not that I don’t like flying, it’s travelling in general that tires me, and I wouldn’t want to not be the best I could possibly be if I sing live. It’s a question of balance I guess. Perhaps I will do a rare gig somewhere..

TPF: A few months ago you performed with Jack E. McAuley. Even if it was just for one song from Trader Horne. There are many Trader Horne fans out there... are you two planning to collaborate on any kind of new material? And also there was talk of re-releasing the LP, will this be happening?

JD: Jack was playing the Gloss Club, which is a part of the Irish centre in Hammersmith and invited me to go down there and maybe sing a song with him. So that’s what I did, I hadn’t seen him for 20 years and hadn’t played with him for nearly 40. We had been asked to do a gig in Japan in 2006, but sadly I had to have my back operated on at the precise time we were due to do the gig, so I had to cancel my appearance. I think the flight there and back would have been disastrous

So the 2008 little sing was the first time we had sung together and it was a lovely comfortable thing to do. He is such an impeccably good musician is Jack… I would really like to do some more with him.. I hope we can. The original Trader Horne album was reissued earlier this year, with some of the worst inaccurate sleeve notes I have ever read. I don’t know who wrote them, but I wish Esoteric had asked me to proof read it!

TPF: Who did you grow up listening to? Who were your biggest influences musically?

JD: I grew up listening to quite a lot of classical records, my mother loved Kathleen Ferrier and the light classics. We had a drawer full of old 78s, a few jazz, but mostly classical.. The record player was also in a drawer. It wasn’t a good idea to close it while it was playing a record. Sort of a homemade radiogram.. The radio was a main source of music when I was young, The Home Service with two way Family Favourites and the Billy Cotton Band show till Radio one replaced the Light Programme and it got all hip after they’d seen the Pirate Radio ships off. The most interesting programmes were on Radio Luxemburg, with its fading reception and eerie whistles in the middle of listening to ‘24 Hours From Tulsa’ and then on Radio Caroline and Radio London - the pirate stations. And always the top 40 on Radio one with Alan Freeman.. which coloured our taste of what was hip to listen to in my early teens. But there was also the Third Programme, which played Jazz and not only classic classics, but new music, Boulez, and Stockhausen and Scriabin, which I didn’t really understand, but which resonated somewhere in my psyche, and filled me with wonder.. Eclectic I was…

TPF: And lastly, which CD's are in your stereo these days?

JD: Lately, my own!! As I am rehearsing for the launch gig in London and need to learn all the words. I still very rarely listen to music but when I do it is something like Sand Snowman, Francis Shaw, Lunar Dunes, The Temple Cloud Country Club, Kings Cross, No-man.. Andrew Keeling. Bits of this and bits of that. Things that people send me. But mostly silence… while I think about what to write next..

TPF: Thank you very much Judy for taking the time to answer our questions!

Tim Bowness and Alistair Murphy worked with Judy Dyble on this album and we wanted to ask them a few questions as well... First, Tim bowness, one half of Mo-Man also the co-founder of the label BURNINGSHED.

TPF: Tim, I know Judy is a fan of No-Man but how did you two meet and decided to work together on this album?

TB: We got in contact via MySpace. A creative form of internet dating! :-) It was a case of Judy liking what No-Man were doing and my liking Judy's work with Fairport Convention and Giles, Giles and Fripp. We discussed music, exchanged compliments and when Judy asked for advice on her new album, I suggested that myself and Alistair would be interested in working on material and, luckily, that was the answer Judy was looking for.

TPF: You not only co-wrote the melodies with her and Alistair but wrote lyrics for Never Knowing and Harp Song as well. Reading those lyrics it seems like you wrote them with Judy's life in mind. Can you please tell us about the writing process both musically and lyrically?

TB: With Harpsong, myself and Alistair encouraged Judy to write about her fascinating life experiences. We always had an epic, autobiographical piece in mind for the second half of the album.

Judy came back to us with a poem called The Harp Song. From this, I took some words and some ideas and then developed themes, added words and shaped what I'd done to the melodies I'd written. Some of the ideas I developed a little further - the transformative power of music and the impact of the death of Judy's husband, for instance - but I was always writing lines with Judy's life experiences in mind. As all the words were re-written to work with the melody, my Harpsong ended up being considerably more minimalist in its style than the original poem.

The piece was written by myself and Alistair in a few sessions last Summer. For something so complex and long, it came together surprisingly naturally and easily. The vast majority of the music was written by Alistair, while I wrote all the vocal melodies and the Crimson-esque riff which rudely shakes up the middle section. The production and structure was mostly a process of joint decision making between myself and Alistair. The album prelude Neverknowing was created as an afterthought, after hearing Simon Nicol's lovely playing on Harpsong. I partly had Judy's flight from London in the early 1970s in my head when I was writing the words. It was great to hear Simon and Judy playing together after such a long absence.

TPF: What is the project you are working on these days?

TB: It's been an interesting year. Alongside the Judy album, I've done guest spots with OSI and The Opium Cartel, and No-Man are about to release a double DVD, Mixtaped/Returning, which includes a film of our London gig and a career-spanning documentary. The next major project is an album by a band with Nosound's Giancarlo Erra, called Memories Of Machines. It has a melodic and atmospheric sound with some similarities to later No-Man. Guest performers include Peter Hammill, Jim Matheos, Colin Edwin and Huxx from Paatos.

TPF: Thank you Tim.

And now off to our next guest Alistair Murphy... Alistair co-produced, co-wrote most of the songs on the album and played piano and not only that he is the engineer of "Talking With Strangers".

TPF: Hello Alistair... Thanks for joining this interview... Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with Judy Dyble's new album? Starting with how you guys met...

AM: I met Tim about 7 years ago. He promoted a gig by Peter Hammill in Norwich. Hammill along with Bowie were the two musicians who really got me interested in writing and recording music. Finding out that Tim had organised the gig I sent him an album I had just released called 'Islands' and we got talking. Later he released two albums on his label Burning Shed that I had produced for the legendary Terry Stamp of Third World War. We also have written together, including the track 'Song of the Surf' featured on the latest No Man album. When Judy approached him to work with her he suggested me. Thanks Tim!

TPF: You also co-produced and engineered this album. And I have to admit it was brilliantly engineered. It is obvious that you approached this project very sensitively. Can you tell us a little bit about the recording process? I heard you recorded Judy's vocals at her house?

AM: Up until a few years ago I still recorded on analogue multi track but recently went over to digital. This album was mostly recorded on my laptop with contributions coming from such exotic locations as Austin - Texas, New York, France, London and even LEEDS! Mostly the tracks were laid down in my studio in Norfolk and then mixes sent out to the various locations. It was then my job to weave the different tracks with their different sound qualities together. It worked out quite well, I think. Most of the mixing was done sitting on my bed with a pair of headphones. We recorded Judy in her music room with her greyhounds...

TPF: Are you currently involved in any other projects?

: I am in the process of recording a new album with Mark, the bassist on Talking with Strangers. It is provisionally called 'Sometime Soon' and will be coming out Sometime Soon (Spring 2010).

TPF: Thank you very much Alistair!

Here are some useful links where you can find out more about our guests:

JUDYDYBLE.COM

BURNINGSHED.COM

Alistair's Website: CROMERZONE.CO.UK

Tim's Website: HOTSDESIGN.CO.UK/TIMBOWNESS