| |
Matt |
Did you enjoy the run today Nick? |
| |
Nick |
Er yep - triffic... |
| |
Matt |
It seemed a bit cold out there today... |
| |
Nick |
Hmm. Not excessively. |
| |
Matt |
Are you intending to carry on doing the run? It's the 100th year next year... |
| |
Nick |
Yeah - I hope so... |
| |
Matt |
...if you can do it, because I believe that there's a tour next year? |
| |
Nick |
(SHOCK and SURPRISE) |
| |
Matt |
(continuing unabated) Beginning April/May in New York, according to Columbia, running for 74 dates... |
| |
Nick |
Well, no one's told me!! |
| |
Matt |
(Both laughing) OK, well, is that par for the course that plans are made initially and then you are told.... |
| |
Nick |
No - absolutely not. That would be ludicrous - it's not the case. |
| |
Matt |
(Quick
change of subject!) One of the things I was interested in actually, was
that you were doing some work on a film called 'Mon Ami Mate', about
Mike Hawthorn [Britain's first motor racing champ]? Did anything come
of that? |
| |
Nick |
(Searching
memory banks) Oh...er...no, it didn't. I mean, there are always lots of
film projects floating around, which one waits to see if they ever
happen. But there's nothing happening with that one as far as I know... |
| |
Matt |
So are there any other films that you may be working on...or solo work? |
| |
Nick |
No - I have no plans for anything specific at the moment. |
| |
Matt |
What about the band? Are there any plans... |
| |
Nick |
No I mean there are no plans for anything at the moment (laughs) |
| |
Matt |
So you are just going to take it easy for a while are you? |
| |
Nick |
Erm...I don't know. But I mean we just haven't made any plans yet. |
| |
Matt |
Are you pleased with the way that the last tour went? |
| |
Nick |
Yep. |
| |
Matt |
And 'Pulse', are you happy with the way that turned out? |
| |
Nick |
Yep. Very happy. Very happy. |
| |
Matt |
You sound quite contented. |
| |
Nick |
(Upon reflection) Yeah, yeah... |
| |
Matt |
Are you spending more time with the cars now? |
| |
Nick |
No, not really because a number of things... |
| |
|
(Both distracted by vintage car right behind us trying desperately and noisily to get into gear!) |
| |
Nick |
...nice to catch up on - you know, just have time with the family, just do a few things... |
| |
Matt |
Are you enjoying your new house? It looks a very nice place! |
| |
Nick |
Yes...yes it is... |
| |
Matt |
(Change of
tack) If you were going to go on tour again, do you think it could be
the last one? I know that there has been talk in the past about a final
tour, but I know that you've said [you'd make it clear if it was]... |
| |
Nick |
When has anyone ever said that it was the final tour? |
| |
Matt |
No-one's said that it's going to be the last tour... |
| |
Nick |
Hmm, yes. Well I think if we ever do a final tour then we'll probably announce it, yes, as that. |
| |
Matt |
I recall
that last year you said that if it was going to be the last tour then
you'd...but you've no intentions then to do one last tour - you still
want to carry on playing the drums... |
| |
Nick |
Oh yes, well I think if there's some reason why we should finish then doubtless we'll make some announcement, but... |
| |
Matt |
But you're perfectly happy with it at the moment? |
| |
Nick |
I can't see why we would want neccessarily to finish anything at this point... |
| |
Matt |
If, for
instance, the other members of the band decided they didn't want to do
much more, but you wanted to carry on, would you maybe join up with
someone else, do some more [solo work]... |
| |
Nick |
What,
Roger you mean, or Syd? (laughs) All that sort of stuff is conjecture.
I don't want to read an interview where I'm saying: "oh, if the rest of
the band left I'd...". It's make the decision when the time comes... |
| |
Matt |
Oh
exactly. One thing I was interested in is that I know that you've been
working on the book, but I understand that it's been stopped? |
| |
Nick |
No - it's been delayed. But it's rolling along... |
| |
Matt |
Is it coming out at some point next year? |
| |
Nick |
(A most definite) Yep! |
| |
Matt |
And what sort of format is it in? Is it...very much narrative? |
| |
Nick |
(laughs) Book format mainly! Words and pictures - words and pictures... |
| |
Matt |
A lot of pictures that no-one's seen before? |
| |
Nick |
(Genuinely) Oh I hope so - we're still collecting pictures, but hopefully... |
| |
Matt |
Good, good! And I understand you've been working on a video anthology of the band as well, or have been for a while now... |
| |
Nick |
(Surprised) oh, er, what? No. |
| |
Matt |
A lot of people have been under the - misapprehension presumably - that you've been working on that. |
| |
Nick |
No - not at all. All we were doing was cataloging what we've got. |
| |
Matt |
Is there a lot of stuff there that could potentially come out in the future or is it not of sufficiently good quality? |
| |
Nick |
There's
some stuff - there's some stuff a lot of which is pretty naff, and some
stuff that's...sort of...to transfer...We don't have...I would not say
that they were particularly good archives. There's some stuff there,
some of it's quite good... |
| |
Matt |
I think there's some quite good stuff in some of the European countries - the TV stations have some good material... |
| |
Nick |
Yeah
but some of the best of it is 'sort of' missing and there's some good
and some quite funny things - odd things that aren't particularly good
[quality] for the period but nothing that I sort of... Erm, it's not
brilliant. |
| |
Matt |
That's a shame really. It would be nice to bring out something: a representative record... |
| |
Nick |
Well,
I don't know. I think when you are going through the history, the
actual music tends to sound pretty...a lot of it sounds dated now in a
way that - recordings tend to be quite well done. The best of the best
tends to be very acceptable, but I'm not mad about the live shows from
1969, things like that. I think I can live without those!! (laughs) |
| |
Matt |
(Also laughing) So you're not keen on some of the bootlegs that are around as well? |
| |
Nick |
I
HATE bootlegs. I absolutely disapprove of bootlegging. WE should be
allowed to make the decision about what of our work we will put out. |
| |
Matt |
That's right. And also the way you USED to do the new album [live] before releasing it... |
| |
Nick |
That's right - obviously all that's gone out the window. Which is a shame... |
| |
Matt |
That's right - because albums 'evolve'. |
| |
Nick |
Yeah
- absolutely. I agree. I'm opposed to bootleggers generally, and I'm
not very sympathetic to that particular cause. I think that if you WANT
to run things like the Grateful Dead do, that's fine and that works
very well. If the band makes a conscious decision about how they want
to operate then that's fine. So I'd say that from my point of view, I'm
not very keen on it, and tend to take a rather jaundiced view when
people want to get their bootleg albums autographed! (laughs) |
| |
Matt |
It must be very galling for you! |
| |
Nick |
It's not very galling, it's just irritating! |
| |
Matt |
You were
saying that the quality of the videos is not sufficient...how about
some of the old tracks that never came out, demos, etc... |
| |
Nick |
Well
there aren't...(big intake of breath) erm...lots of old tracks that
never came out. Nearly everything that we worked on eventually came out. |
| |
Matt |
I know that a lot of people are keen for 'Scream Thy Last Scream' and 'Vegetable Man' to come out... |
| |
Nick |
(chuckles) I think nearly everyone's got a bootleg of those anyway in pretty fair quality!! |
| |
Matt |
Things like 'Household Objects' - it would be interesting to hear what was completed for that... |
| |
Nick |
(Raised
eyebrow) Yeah...or not as the case might be! I think it's of interest
to the...what one might call the 'trainspotter', but I don't think it's
of great interest to the majority of people in terms of music. From a
historical point of view it's probably interesting. Exactly. So if
you're a musical archeologist OK, but for anyone interested in
music...put it this way, I wouldn't buy it myself!! (laughs) |
| |
Matt |
OK - last
question. Thirty years of the band. Any particular outstanding moments
that you can remember - or any low points, or high points... |
| |
Nick |
No - absolutely fuck all I'm afraid. Nothing happened at all - thirty years just gone - WHOOOOSH!! (laughs) |
| |
Matt |
Just flown by... |
| |
Nick |
Yep
- just flown by - nothing happened. One starts one day, next day -
(laughs) thirty years!! No, of course there are, but nothing...er... |
| |
Matt |
"...that won't be in the book"! |
| |
Nick |
Yep. They'll be in the book. |
| |
Matt |
A good trailer for the book! |
| |
Nick |
(laughing) All those stories you've always wondered about! |
| |
Matt |
Will it lay some of the rumours to rest? Some of the famous tales? |
| |
Nick |
(Ponders
briefly, laughs) No I don't think it will. Hopefully indicative that
there is still a LOT of confusion about a lot of the stories. Everyone
has a different version of the stories and tracking down some of them
has been extraordinary. I mean - yes - there will be a few things which
will hopefully be either exorcised as being nonsense, or if they're
true, perhaps shown as they REALLY happened, from the horse's mouth of
whoever they happened to...I've hoped to acheive one or two things,
particularly relating to Syd. But it's not an exposé - apart from
anything, the rest of the band are bigger than I am! |
| |
Matt |
Has Roger seen any of the book yet? If he has, what has he said? |
| |
Nick |
No,
but I have communicated with him. Well, actually, that's not true. He
has seen a copy...he's seen - I haven't finished it. I've just been in
contact with him. |
| |
Matt |
Is the relationship er...getting easier between him and... |
| |
Nick |
"We're just good friends"! (laughs) No - it's better now... |
Interviews 
