|
Post by deathtoming on Jan 17, 2022 3:48:03 GMT
Well, after I pointed out the return of the missing drum, I realized that it also could have been footage from the other night. Very unlikely. He'd definitely want to have the same setup from night to night. What I meant was I framed it as a before and after, with Roger's drum missing for repairs, and then back again later in the same song. Of course it's clear the drum was getting fixed and would be put on later, but I can't say for sure that it was back by the end of the song because that footage of the full kit could have been from the other night.
|
|
|
Post by The Real Wizard on Jan 17, 2022 19:02:50 GMT
Very unlikely. He'd definitely want to have the same setup from night to night. What I meant was I framed it as a before and after, with Roger's drum missing for repairs, and then back again later in the same song. Of course it's clear the drum was getting fixed and would be put on later, but I can't say for sure that it was back by the end of the song because that footage of the full kit could have been from the other night. Right - very true.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Jan 18, 2022 3:28:29 GMT
Here's the pic I mentioned, to go with one of Crystal's answers from that interview I posted a while back: "We use Ludwig’s Speed King, and it’s a good pedal, but it breaks really frequently. When that happens, I have to slide between the snare and floor tom by Roger’s feet while he’s playing to switch out the pedal."
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Jan 28, 2022 3:21:54 GMT
Here's a Brian May interview mostly about Another World, but also about Queen in the '90s. “An Exclusive Interview with Brian May” From Burrn! - August 1998 edition (heavy metal magazine in Japan)Interview by Naomi Ohno Original text in Japanese translated to English by me [Intro paragraph omitted, as it just summarises the interview] Burrn!: When did you start recording your new album, Another World? Brian: Actually, I started right after I finished Back to the Light, so it’s already been 6 years. It ended up taking quite a bit of time. I was doing a lot of other projects too, but there’s no doubt this took a long time. It took me some time to decide on a concept for the album. At the beginning I had a completely different idea, and it took a while to realize what I really wanted. Back to the Light was like therapy for me. It was a really rough time in my life at the time, so for this album, rather than being this introspective, I wanted to face the world and make an optimistic, bright album. After my previous album I formed a band and toured for a year, and that was really fun. I think it was the best to adapt to an environment where I didn’t have Freddie or a band anymore. When you’re feeling pessimistic, it’s best to keep yourself busy, so that’s exactly what I did. When I came back from touring, the first thing I thought was to record songs I already had in my head, but John and Roger had already decided to work on the remaining Queen songs, so I had to complete that. Freddie was determined to record as many vocals as possible in his last few months. We helped him by writing things he could sing. Freddie felt strongly that it should be released even after he died, so instead of my solo album, I spent two years working on Made in Heaven. There were times I worked alone in the studio because there was some stuff I was emotionally attached to. In particular, Mother Love, I Was Born to Love You, and A Winter’s Tale. And we had to do promotional work with the release of the album, so without much enthusiasm, I did my duties as a member of Queen for a while. Mostly Roger and I took on that role and did things like interviews. Personally, I’m satisfied with Made in Heaven. It was a really difficult album to make, and I think we did well, but people don’t realize that. (Laughing) People see it as an album that was recorded in the studio by the four members, and didn’t realize how it was actually made. That was a jigsaw puzzle for sure. It was really backbreaking work. And I decided to work on the solo album after that, but I also didn’t refuse to discuss other projects if they came my way at first. For example, radio dramas, TV shows, movies, video games, really a lot of talks were had, and I thought things were really headed in the right direction. And during that time, I started thinking that I wanted to find my roots. Like, I want to know how I came to be interested in music in the first place. That’s when I tried songs of various artists like Buddy Holly, Conway Twitty, Elvis Presley, and others. And then I wrote a song especially about Freddie. I thought it was perfect for my album’s concept because I thought it would be about thinking back about everyone who has inspired me in my life up until now, and a collection of my heroes’ songs. However, while I was recording my album, my mother passed away. I had lost my dad 10 years earlier, and it was extremely painful. When I lost my second parent, the feeling of, "Ahh, I’ve really lost both of my parents," hit me, and I got very lonely and quite depressed. And, I felt like everything I had done up until now has been garbage. (Laughing) In other words, I had an inferiority complex. However, curiously, around that time the record company was making plans for a Queen compilation album. We were always lukewarm about things like that, but we did think it was a good idea to make a rock album. Like, Queen Rocks might be good for people who recently have had the wrong impression of Queen. I think lots of people buy Greatest Hits I and II, but most of the songs are light and pop-ish, right? That’s fine, but by releasing a rock album, we wanted people to remember that Queen had, at its core, heavy songs, too. And so, we went to work on this compilation album. Also, I wrote that song about Freddie I just mentioned. At the time it was still meant for my solo album but when I played it for the other members, they said it really sounds like Queen so why don’t we make one more Queen track, put it on Queen Rocks, and devote it to Freddie. And that’s what we actually did. I got the other members to play on it, and they really did a good job. I was happy with the results. But, I guess it never really caught on with listeners. Queen fans understood it, but the world in general didn’t really feel it. Burrn!: Why is that? Brian: I don’t know. For some reason British radio stations didn’t want to play it. Parts of Europe played it, but it didn’t become the hit I thought it would be. I was satisfied with it, but here a problem arose. It was about my solo album. I had lots of thoughts like, "I have a lot of heroes, but Freddie’s not with us anymore," and I fell into feelings of low self-confidence. I ended up thinking, "Even though I’ve done projects with all these people, I’m making a worthless solo album." I had some good cover songs, but I thought I needed to write my own songs to tell my own story. I mean, that’s what makes it a Brian May solo album. I realized that the variety of things that came out of all these projects I did all had various meanings to me. For example, the song I wrote for a robot in a video game isn’t any different from singing about my inner self, and the same could be said for the song I wrote for the movie The Gov’nor. This movie was about a street fighter-type person, but it’s still a part of me. The song Business is about a person working on a TV series. They’re so close to success, but things don’t quite work out, and there are lots of parts that overlap with how I feel. So, I thought I had to make an album that collected all the work I’d been doing. For a year and a half, I devoted myself to my solo album and gave it my all. And the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle was a song I wrote for the movie Sliding Doors. The movie was just released the other day, and an old friend of mine was involved and that’s how I was asked to write a song for it, but in the end, he wasn’t able to use it because of something to do with the record label. So, the song was in no man’s land. That was the song Another World. I invested a lot of passion into this song. At a personal level, a private level, and even at a musical level, in a lot of different ways I tried to go to “Another World.” And that’s how Another World became the theme of the album, and when that happened, suddenly everything became clear. And now with everything complete, I feel that everything recorded on this album has a meaning. Most of the cover songs were left out, but three remained. That in itself has a reason. Burrn!: So, the album wasn’t recorded in one go, but rather, over a long time. Brian: That’s right, I took a loooong time. Burrn!: You have several guest musicians on the album, with Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters being one of them. How did you meet him? Brian: I think the first time I met the Foo Fighters was at an awards show for Kerrang! Magazine. I’d seen their music videos before and also liked their music, and when I mentioned that to them, they said, “We’re huge fans of yours!” I was surprised. After all, their music is quite different from Queen’s, and it’s very modern and hard edge, right? But they’d been listening to Queen all along, and Queen was their Bible, and they were really excited. And then Roger and I went to a show of theirs, and we really liked it. It was awesome. Their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, is tremendously powerful. And I became close to him, and he told me, “Give me a call if you ever need anything from me,” so I did a crazy song about a robot with him. I wanted maniacal drums, and he pounded the drums everywhere! (Laughing) It’s a really good piece of work. Burrn!: I thought that song, Cyborg, was an unusual song for you. That first bit is mostly a death growl, isn’t it? Brian: I like the fact that it’s a little experimental. It’s a song that feels different from what I’ve done before for sure. Burrn!: You said The Gov’nor was written for a movie soundtrack, so can you tell us more about that? Brian: The movie used up its entire budget, and it ended up not getting finished. It’s a song I like a lot. Burrn!: Jeff Beck played on this song too, right? Brian: Yeah. I thought it’d make for a good metaphor. Jeff Beck is the governor for guitarists, and he has a dangerous existence like the king of the hill. Of course I sang about different things, but I thought I’d incorporate a little bit of Jeff, too. And that’s why I reached out to Jeff. Jeff is my hero, and I’m thankful that I can call him a friend now. There’s something magical about how he plays the guitar. He’s an anxious person like me, and is a perfectionist in every sense of the word. So, when we finished recording, he said, “I’m not quite happy with it, so let me have one more go at it,” and took the tape home with him. He said he wanted to do it himself. But then one year later the tape still wasn’t returned, so when I gave him a call, he said, “It’s a really good song but it’s not working out. It’s not good if the right mood isn’t created.” It’s a funny story, but in the end, I didn’t get the tape back from him until two days before I had to hand the record over to the record company. (Laughing) But the work he did was fantastic, so we quickly mixed it and finished it. Burrn!: In the song Another World, the drummer is Steve Ferrone, who used to play with Eric Clapton, right? Brian: He’s a unique player and has a magical touch. He’s flawless, and furthermore, he’s overflowing with kindness so works well with others. I had confidence in this song itself, but at first, I didn’t have confidence in the sound. There was something awkward about it, but when I got Steve Ferrone and bassist Ken Taylor to work on it, suddenly a warmth from overwhelming kindness emerged. A sense of transparency came from the backing track, and it was completed. It was the final session for this album. I had known about Steve Ferrone before, and had wanted to work with him. I also had Cozy Powell and Neil Murray on this album, and they were a state-of-the-art backing band. I thought at the time about how I really want to tour with them. I felt like the Brian May Band could go well like this. And this is how we get to the topic of Cozy Powell. Isn’t that right? Burrn!: You’re right. Would you mind talking about him? Brian: What a shock it was… to die in a highway accident….. The place where the accident happened is not that far from where I live. He was riding on the M4 late one night, crashed into the median, and died. No one can believe it still. It’s truly such a shock that it doesn’t feel like it’s real. Cozy was always coming to the studio, and was a wonderful person. He had energy, was positive, and always full of humour. Even when I was depressed or when I’d lost my confidence, he’d take in my ideas and say, “This is fantastic! I can’t wait to play drums for it!” The majority of this album depends on Cozy’s wonderful energy and sound. Really, in the truest sense of the words, he was the world’s greatest rock drummer. Also he was probably the most famous drummer born in England. Drummers are usually hidden in the shadows in the back, but Cozy was always different. He’d been in so many bands and had a lone wolf side to him, and was sure of himself. It was an honour to get a guy like him into the band. On top of that, he was more than a drummer, so I can’t even imagine hitting the road without him now. He was a really good friend. He didn’t have any kind of pretension to him, and was really a dearest friend. Burrn!: Did your recording sessions with Cozy happen before his recording with Yngwie Malmsteen’s Facing the Animal? Brian: It was mostly before that, but I’m pretty sure China Belle was after that. When Cozy came back after finishing his work with Yngwie, apparently he thought, “Brian’s still at it.” (Laughing) The recording sessions with Yngwie finished quickly. I think it was about 3 weeks. That’s amazing. Yngwie is probably more organized than me. He’s prolific. He writes a lot of songs and also works at a brisk pace in the studio, but me, I’m like a painter that uses a lot of palettes and takes time to paint paintings. Burrn!: So, would it be correct to say that Cozy’s drumming on China Belle is a posthumous work? Brian: I thought you’d ask me that. I’m not 100% certain, but… I started wondering myself if that was the case. But it’s probable that it was his last work. His playing on this album is magnificent. In particular, the drumming on Business, China Belle, and Why Don’t We Try Again were excellent. I have one very interesting story. I think you’ll realize just how highly I regard Cozy. It’s a bit of a long story, but I got news of Cozy’s death right before the album was going to be pressed. We had already been discussing how Cozy would tour with us, and he had agreed. He was really excited, saying, “I’ve been waiting six years, so I can’t wait to play.” The last message I left on his cell phone was, “I’m happy I get to go on tour with you again.” Personally, I’d been frustrated that I wasn’t able to tour for so long. I also relayed a message from Steve Ferrone, and it was totally ironic. Steve knew that Cozy had hurt his leg in a motorbike accident, so he asked me to tell him that he should consider getting a tricycle soon. And so I also gave him that message from Steve. And then that accident happened, so it’s an ironic story. But, I’m very happy that Cozy heard the album. He was really happy with it, and told me it was even better than he thought it would be. Burrn!: Bringing the conversation back to guest musicians, Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople, the original band that did All the Way From Memphis, is also on the album, isn’t he? Brian: Yeah, when Queen first went on tour, it was with Mott the Hoople. I think it was ‘74. We were still young and didn’t have experience. But, we had lots of ideas. Mott the Hoople is a great band to tour together with, because they had so much experience, and were models on how to put rock’n’roll into practice. Also, we were happy that their audience responded well to Queen’s music. We made a very good impression on people on that tour, and thanks to that, Queen started to get an audience. We were their support act only that one time, and after that, we didn’t need to support anyone. The reason why I recorded that song is because it deeply affected my life. I had always wanted to do this song. Also, both the mood and the lyrics tell the story of a rock band’s life, right? On the surface it’s a very simple song about a guy who throws away his guitar, but to me it’s a song with a significant meaning. I think Ian is excellent at writing lyrics. And this song leads to contact with the audience. That’s a very precious thing. When we were touring together, I would watch them on most evenings, and just by hearing the first chord, they establish communication with an electric audience. And then when the band comes in it’s totally like an avalanche. (Laughing) I wanted to paint that kind of scene. The feeling of the concert, and the feeling of being on tour for so long that you don’t even know how long it’s been. Burrn!: On the Japanese release there are two bonus tracks, including FBI featuring Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi on guitars. Have you known them for a long time? Brian: I have, yeah. They’re very popular in England. Their popularity is totally entrenched. From our generation’s perspective, they’re symbols of sincerity and not making compromises. They’re all about their own style and are pure, so they have quite the reputation in England. I like Rick and Francis very much. On stage, they’re simply themselves. They’re extremely well-grounded and honest, and pay a lot of attention to their own style. And probably, they’re the world’s best rhythm players. They’re tremendously solid, so when you hear them it’s impossible to stay still. I contributed to their Buddy Holly track on their latest album, Don’t Stop, so they returned the favour and participated on my album. Burrn!: Hot Patootie is sung by Meatloaf in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Do you like the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Brian: I do like it. But interestingly, I only saw it for the first time 2 or 3 years ago, so I’m odd that way. I mean, it’s really popular in this country and it’s a worldwide business! I was asked by the producer of the Rocky Horror Picture Show to write a new version. It was really fun, and I particularly liked this song. I did some research and found a lot of versions. It’s difficult to obtain, but there’s the original version, an album version made for England from the West End stage production, and also the movie version. There were lots of others, too, and I saw it as a challenge and tried to create the atmosphere of the ‘50s, because I myself like the ‘50s. This expresses a lifestyle, and it’s fun. Burrn!: By the way, what are the other Queen members up to? Brian: I think Roger just finished his solo album, like me. I believe it will be released this year. John has entered a reclusive life. He has six kids, so the majority of his life is spent looking after the kids. We exchange faxes and emails, and we also have a meal together once in a while. He’s doing well, but he doesn’t have the same wishes as Roger and me. He might come back one day, but it looks like he’s now devoted himself to life at home. Burrn!: Speaking of kids, your daughter Emily is singing backing vocals in Hot Patootie. Brian: That’s right! You noticed? She’s only 11 but has a wonderful voice. You probably wouldn’t know it, though, because she was only singing backing vocals. But I have to be careful about her. I’ve always made an effort not to talk about my kids. If you have famous parents, you might get attention due to the parents’ influence, right? I want to avoid that. But without a doubt she has a great voice, so I think about how she could put it to good use, but I also feel that I don’t want to put her in this world because it is a very harsh world! I want her to find her own path by herself. If she wants to be a singer, of course I’ll help her out. Burrn!: Emily’s older sister Louisa also sang Who Wants to Live Forever, didn’t she? youtu.be/-SbKPWf2BYMBrian: Yes, yes, you remembered that? I think she’s embarrassed by it now, though. She’s an adult now, and it doesn’t seem like she’s headed in that direction. I wonder what she’s going to be? She’s quite skilled with the camera, so maybe she’ll become a camera operator. Burrn!: By the way, why don’t you declare that Queen has broken up? Brian: We’re just seeing how things go. If someone were to ask us about it, I’d probably answer that presently a band called Queen does not exist. Queen was over when Freddie died. At the very least, the core of Queen is over. However, the work that Queen has recorded up until now will continue to live on. That’s something I take great pride in. I think I have to be very careful here, but for me, I don’t want to be Queen anymore. At least, that’s the case at this point in time. Burrn!: Does that mean your new song on Queen Rocks, No One But You, is the last Queen recording? Brian: For now, yeah. That was a one-shot tribute to Freddie, and wasn’t meant to imply that Queen would come back. Burrn!: I feel the same way. I can’t imagine Queen without Freddie. Brian: That’s right. That’s why I think it’s best to just leave it like that. It was a very precious experience. Queen never got old. It just got bigger and bigger, and then stopped. [end of article]
|
|
Ri
Ploughman
Posts: 486
Likes: 414
|
Post by Ri on Jan 28, 2022 3:27:39 GMT
Great stuff as always, thank you so much fot sharing!
|
|
|
Post by The Real Wizard on Feb 10, 2022 23:05:47 GMT
When I came back from touring, the first thing I thought was to record songs I already had in my head, but John and Roger had already decided to work on the remaining Queen songs, so I had to complete that. Freddie was determined to record as many vocals as possible in his last few months. We helped him by writing things he could sing. Freddie felt strongly that it should be released even after he died, so instead of my solo album, I spent two years working on Made in Heaven. There were times I worked alone in the studio because there was some stuff I was emotionally attached to. In particular, Mother Love, I Was Born to Love You, and A Winter’s Tale. And we had to do promotional work with the release of the album, so without much enthusiasm, I did my duties as a member of Queen for a while. Mostly Roger and I took on that role and did things like interviews. Personally, I’m satisfied with Made in Heaven. It was a really difficult album to make, and I think we did well, but people don’t realize that. (Laughing) People see it as an album that was recorded in the studio by the four members, and didn’t realize how it was actually made. That was a jigsaw puzzle for sure. It was really backbreaking work. Wow - this is valuable insight into the dynamics between the band members at the time. They all dealt with Freddie's death in their own way. Roger was gung ho to do Made In Heaven, Brian wanted to get away from it and be a solo artist, and John probably didn't realize how much he wanted to get away from it until later on (the fact that Brian and John were still getting along in 1998 is nice to hear too).
Seeing as Brian basically saw Queen as a perfunctory duty at the time, it's amazing the album was completed at all (never mind how good it turned out to be). I cannot imagine how hard it was for those three guys to finish those songs, and can only wonder how often it was only one or two of them in the studio. It makes me respect them all that much more, as it was out of dedication to Freddie's wishes that the tracks were released that they had to see it through.
Brian still managed to get in bits of solo work in the meantime, as tracks like Cyborg and One Rainy Wish came out long before the album did. I remember people criticizing him at the time for putting out an album with previously released songs, insisting that the anachronism inherently meant the album didn't flow well. People have said the same thing about Physical Graffiti too, and they're still wrong Wonderful - glad to finally see this in print. Can people finally stop calling Brian and Roger greedy now ? They do not call the shots on these kinds of things at all, and there it is in black and white. It's their label wanting to cash in, not them.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Apr 6, 2022 2:37:20 GMT
Freddie, John, and Roger are interviewed in 1984. Roger takes issue with the wording of one of the questions in this interview, but I can't figure out what the interviewer/interpreter could have said in English since the Japanese translation seems fine.
“The Rulers Restart! Yet Another Large-scale Concert Becomes a Hot Topic” From Ongaku Senka magazine, November 1984 issue Author unknown [original text in Japanese; translation to English by me]
Queen have returned to the stage once more. Given that it has been a long while, the members are a bit anxious. We asked Freddie, John, and Roger about this.
Ongaku Senka (OS): Regarding European tours – of course including the UK – is there any special significance when you play England, or is it no more than just another concert?
Freddie: I think of all of our shows the same way. Of course, London, too. Actually no, to tell you the truth, I don’t like playing in London. Of course we came from London, but I find London an especially difficult place to play. On one hand I do like it, since we have an emotional attachment to it, and it’s where we started off, but on the other hand a part of me also doesn’t want to play there. Well in other words, I’m fine with anywhere, but there’s a unique pressure when we play in London.
OS: What are your thoughts on playing there?
Freddie: London is where we started, but that was more than 10 years ago. Maybe if it wasn’t London, we wouldn’t be here doing this and we’d be touring around colleges instead.
OS: Do you think you can still connect with the audience?
Freddie: Of course. We still have fans, after all. Our followers probably know that we’ve been successful, and want to see us play in bigger venues. That encourages us. As far as we’re concerned, we’re still entertaining those people, even now.
OS: How long have you been living here in Munich?
Freddie: About 3-4 months, I’d guess. I was doing a show. Or maybe I should say a project. It feels like I’ve been working on it for an eternity. I think it should be over before the next tour, though. But it’s still not complete because there are too many good songs.
OS: Is the solo album quite different from Queen’s musical style?
Freddie: I think so. It’s very different. There were quite a lot of things that I wanted to do that I couldn’t do with Queen. It’s a completely different format. It’s a solo album so I wrote all 12 songs, picked 12 songs that I thought would go well… well, something like that.
OS: Was there something in particular that differed quite a bit from Queen’s style?
Freddie: Yeah. I wrote the kind of songs I’d never written before. For example I tried a reggae-type style and others that Queen would never do. I used an orchestra for one song. Actually we’d always hoped to use an orchestra with Queen. But Brian’s guitar could create sounds like an orchestra.
OS: Are you happy with the album?
Freddie: Yeah, I’m totally happy.
OS: Will you release a single?
Freddie: There will be one in September (Love Kills). CBS will release it.
OS: How important was it to have your own style, considering how much time was set aside to make your solo album?
Freddie: I spent a thorough amount of time. The project is done when I give the OK. Maybe I didn’t have to spend so much time on it. But I had to do so many things, like make videos… that’s why it’s still not done.
OS: Can you comment on the rumours that Queen is breaking up?
Freddie: No comment. We might break up tomorrow. But why do you [or I] have to say something like that? We thought we’d last 5 years. And then we thought we’d break up 5 years later. We’ve said things like that over and over. Like, OK!, let’s end it here. But one week later, we come back. It’s like that.
OS: How do you think you will change in the future?
Freddie: I make sure I don’t think about things like that. I’m not that much of a fool. Like, what would I do if Queen broke up tomorrow? And things like that. If Queen were to break up, I’ll think about things when it happens. Break up tomorrow? OK! Then I’d probably think about other things. I’ll let John take over from here.
OS: Why don’t you do solo projects, seeing how the other members are?
John: I can’t sing, so solo projects would be difficult. I’m also not good at writing songs. Going solo is not a simple thing because there’s also lots of responsibility. It’s challenging to write more than an album’s worth of songs and then work with other people. Moreover, at this point, I’m also happy with the way the group is going. I might get frustrated one day, but it doesn’t look like I’m at that point yet.
OS: Having been big for so long, do you still get excited when you get on stage, like in the early days?
John:Yeah, I think it will be like that, happily… I mean, it’s been almost 2 years since we had a concert. November of ‘82 in Japan was the last show. So I can hardly wait any longer. Since I don’t do any solo work while we’re off, I got so bored. I’m happy to work. By the way, to tell you the truth I’m disappointed. It’s regarding Radio Ga Ga in particular, which made the top 10 around the world but barely reached 15 in the US and the other singles fell flat. It probably wasn’t to the taste of record company execs or the American people. Also, I don’t think they liked our music videos. MTV seems like they prefer theatrical ones or heavy metal. Well anyway, we’re essentially English, and we live in England.
OS: Is it still fun to be on stage to perform in front of thousands of people?
John: Yaaay. I’m really looking forward to it.
OS: Do you still get a thrill from hearing the audience’s cheers?
John: I do. Truthfully I’m longing for it.
OS: Is there anything you’re finding unfulfilling?
John: Not really. I don’t write that many songs. Although in ‘85, I might get a bit bored and want to start something.
OS: What about producing some young talent?
John: That’s a possibility, but we’re busy, so it’ll be tough to make time for that.
OS: It looks like this upcoming European tour is going to be big. Can you tell us how much it costs, with the lights and everything else?
John: Yeah. I don’t know exact costs… but the lighting system and stage design may have cost 200,000 to 300,000 dollars. It’s all American-made and will be brought over by ships.
OS: Will you be using videos and film?
John: That’s the plan.
OS: Are you satisfied with not standing in the centre of the stage?
John: It’s been that way since the group started. The other three guys tried different bass players, but none of them fit. Then I auditioned, and I think I passed because my personality fit. I was probably seen as someone who wouldn’t want to grab attention. Freddie and Brian had all the ideas for the songs, especially in the beginning, and were already getting popular.
OS: Are the members friends with each other?
John: Recently I’ve been meeting Roger often. I helped out with his album a little, and we also went on two holidays together.
OS: Do you ever feel frustrated with the framework of Queen?
John: Yeah, sometimes… especially when we argue, or when we don’t see eye to eye… We all have different musical interests, and also different goals, after all.
OS: It’s been 10 years; do you think you’re seen by the band in a fair light?
John: I sometimes think that, but sometimes no! Personally, I’m interested in touring the Far East because we haven’t been outside of Japan. I want to play in China. But it’ll probably take a few years before that can happen. Well, it’s simply my wish.
OS: Will the concert in Vienna be the last one?
John: No, we’re going to South Africa for two weeks.
OS: Are you going directly there?
John: Yeah, directly. We’re taking time off in November and December. Freddie’s going to return to the studio. We’ve just confirmed we’ll be playing in the festival at Rio in January of next year. This is a big one. There will be lots of groups and it’ll be around 10 days. A large venue in Zurich closed, and we’d wanted to play there. There were also scheduling issues… Is this enough?
OS: Next up is Roger. Your solo album is good. That’s what I think.
Roger: Thank you. Great.
OS: You covered songs by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
Roger: I think they’re good songs. I did Springsteen’s song because I like him. He’s the best. He’s straightforward and makes me excited. As for the Dylan song, I covered it because I thought the lyrics had an even deeper meaning as a protest song now than when he wrote it.
OS: The lyrics are a social commentary… it’s a bit strange coming from a place related to Queen.
Roger: That’s right. When I’m in a band I can’t express my own opinions, because each of us have our own opinions. If I go solo, I can go all out with my own opinions, right? That’s why I did that song.
OS: Was it impossible to do it through Queen?
Roger: I can’t say it’s impossible. But I am completely opposed to nuclear weapons.
OS: In these past two years, did you ever meet each other as friends, or perhaps as businessmen?
Roger: No way. We’ve never seen ourselves as businessmen. Never. We see each other sometimes, and this year I’ve spent quite a lot of time with John.
OS: Do you still maintain contact with your fans? For example, through the fan club…
Roger: That’s an unpleasant word. That word evokes images of a master-servant relationship. It makes me shudder. Our existence is dependent on our fans. We would be nothing if fans didn’t like our records.
OS: I asked John about Radio Ga Ga, but maybe it’s best if I ask you. It’s a song about giving power back to the radio. Nevertheless, you must have spent a lot of money on the video for that song, right? What do you think about this contradiction?
Roger: It is indeed a contradiction. Well, I guess I’ll talk about it. In my opinion, videos have become too important. They take a lot of time and cost a lot of money to take, and many of them have an air of self-importance. Videos have become too powerful. And at the same time, we wanted the record to be a big hit. So then we had to make an expensive video that was disgustingly large-scale. That’s basically it.
OS: Have you ever been frustrated with the charts?
Roger: Which charts do you mean? I don’t know how it did in Europe.
OS: I think it’s a very good album.
Roger: It was criticized in the UK.
OS: Really?
Roger: It might be too early to draw conclusions, but I was disappointed that it only reached number 30.
OS: What do you think will happen to you in the future? Something like Bruce Springsteen? Or maybe Bowie?
Roger: I’d be happy if that happened. But in reality, I don’t know. Right now, all I think about is this tour.
OS: Are you planning on using a drum machine on stage as well?
Roger: No, we don’t feel like doing that.
OS: But do you yourself feel like it?
Roger: We’re planning on using a new guy called Spike. He plays the synthesizer.
OS: Why didn’t you use him before?
Roger: He was with Elton, and had a year-long contract. Damn it!
OS: Is there anything about the future that worries you?
Roger: I’m not thinking about it now. Although 6 months ago, we didn’t know if fans would be happy if we started touring again. But if we didn’t tour, the group might as well be dead. At this point in time, we’re not a studio group but we’re united as a performing group, so we’re feeling great.
OS: How do you discuss what songs to pick for the setlist?
Roger: We’re all different individuals, and we also all write our own songs. So, over time, the songs we want to play have changed quite a bit. For that reason, we’re compromising with each other, so there are times when we get fed up. It’s hard. But at the same time, there are some positives that go with it. It means no one is imposing their will on others, so it’s a good thing. If there was a dictator in the band that gave orders to everyone, you can’t say they’re in a band. They should just go solo.
OS: Queen has put on excellent shows. You have several tons of lighting and amps, and are always taking on new things. Have you ever thought it’s been excessive? In other words, do you feel like it’s getting beyond your control...
Roger: No. It’s interesting. It’s great. It’s like a circus. But it’s not like we’re not performing. We think music is number one. As far as we’re concerned, when we get up on stage we give it our all to the audience for two hours. Rock shows ultimately have to be rock shows. You get it, right? I don’t mean to plug up your eyes and ears. But we might have to monitor you. I think you’ll be able to go home feeling like a different person.
[end of article]
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Apr 10, 2022 3:38:19 GMT
FM: [...] But I’m still not done shopping. Oh that’s right, I also bought quite a bit of antique Tojiki [Japanese porcelain], Kutaniyaki, Satsumayaki [Japanese porcelain style]... when I was in Kyoto I went to a ceramic artist, and I asked them to make special rice bowls just for me. I bought two rice bowls that had some Japanese writing in the middle, and I thought these were good, so I asked them to make some with my name in it, and they accepted my requests. They said it will take about 6 months. (He reports this happily) Kutani-yaki is a style of Japanese porcelain and is one of the many kinds of Japanese art and antiques Freddie collected. Three plates in the Kutani-yaki style with Queen motifs were released as official merchandise in March and April in Japan, and quickly sold out. There have been a lot of Queen-related traditional Japanese goods for sale in Japan lately, but I think these plates would have caught Freddie's eye.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on May 24, 2022 1:42:19 GMT
Music Life asked Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick to write a review of Queen’s show when they opened for them for two shows in Wisconsin in January 1977, but they didn’t publish it until January 1978. Maybe it wasn’t quite what they were expecting? Anyway, this is not an interview but a unique article I had to translate! “Two Crazy Nights With Queen” From Music Life – January 1978 edition By Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick[Original published text in Japanese; translation to English by me] [Translation note: I preserved the lengthy sentences of the original article, as I presume that is what the original Japanese translator was working with.] There’s no need to deny it as I think it’s obvious, but this is the debut review work of myself, the great Rick Nielsen, and I don’t think I’ll win the Nobel prize for literature with this, but perhaps amidst the confusion my magnificent group that I love dearly, Cheap Trick, can maybe land on the cover of Music Life magazine (I wonder… Is it not going to happen… Yeah, it’s probably gonna happen…), and I’m waiting with great anticipation… So anyway this is titled “Two Nights with Queen.” This Queen tour of America is the wildest… is something I can’t say, but it’s a suuuuper large-scale tour, and a very important tour for Queen, and a tour that my dear Cheap Trick should commemorate (changing the style of writing a lot is the reason why Cheap Trick is a cheap trick). So, the two nights with Queen in question were indeed summed up in the word “excitement” (get your mind out of the gutter), and the jam-packed sold out crowd had all eyes on the awesome team up of Queen and Cheap Trick, yeah, just like I did. If I view this line up from the perspective of the audience, it has to be remembered as the best event of 1977, and as the three-hour music festival unfolds, switching from arenas to concert halls, I am grateful for the road crew and sound crew who went way out of their way, yes. And to the crowd of lucky people in a never-ending line with tickets in hand to watch what may become a historical event, as well as the hard-working scalpers in the area, I have to say, you’re doing a great job.. The audience members waiting in lines are apparently thinking things like, “I gotta have fun tonight,” or “I want to rock to the music,” or “I’m going to stare at Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John,” or “Cheap Trick? What is that?” Of course by the time the show ends, most of these wishes were granted, and I hope that the last question would at least change to, “Cheap Trick? Who is that?” And so the lights go off and the audience claps and cheers, and Robin, Tom, Bun E., and Rick appear and instantly 45-minutes of non-stop rock’n’roll erupts. And thus the audience’s desires were fulfilled! What a wonderful achievement we left them with. They were enchanted, if I do say so myself. During our set, in the confusion of the moment I glance over to the wings of the stage and notice Brian and Roger, watching our performance intently. Ahh, I am deeply moved. While we were eating dinner after the concert ended, the members of Queen came by and praised us, saying, “Your performance was fun.” Of course, being the polite people we are, we offered words of praise in response. And finally, Queen are up next. The lighting rig and stage effects are, in a word, fantastic. Brian’s hand-made guitar and Vox amp would sweetly tremble and sing along. John is Queen’s anchor, so to speak, and didn’t move aside from the time he played the triangle, but what can I say, he was great. Roger is in charge of the high notes in Queen’s harmonies, and indeed he’s sweet, and his drumming reverberates like thunder; he’s in top form and it seems like the audience recognized this well. Freddie, Queen’s leader, what an amazing showman he is! His costume changes and the way he moves towards the white grand piano centre-stage are all calculated, and the audience’s eyes are glued to him and move together with him… The way he leaps like a horse and elegantly strikes a pose is only something Freddie can do and no one else can imitate him. His vocal control and range are wonderful, and his vocals became a musical instrument, to which the other Queen members harmonized. Queen’s show is made up of medleys and encores of their hit songs, and after the show, the venue changed into a festival-like grounds, and became a place where everybody could share in the triumph. Nice, nice. Whoops, I was planning on writing more, but my handwriting is too big, and my hotel’s stationery has been all used up. (I don’t know how to type, so please be patient with my hard-to-read writing! I think my writing in English is easier to understand than my Japanese…) If I could say one more thing in the confusion of the moment, Robin, Tom, Bun E. and I are itching to go to Japan knowing that we have patrons… er, fans there. Please keep sending us those fan letters. Our faces all turn red when we read things like, “I want to make love with you.” Also, thanks for all the presents. The guys have asked me to pass along their thanks to you. These days, Robin is apparently always wearing neckties sent from Japan. I wonder if I should change my style, too… We can hardly wait another day longer to meet Cheap Trick fans in Japan… (PS: I think my songwriting and lyrics are better than my reviews, but what do you think?) [End of article] [Cheap Trick would later unseat Queen to hit #1 for favourite international group on the Music Life readers' poll in 1979, ending Queen’s four-year run at the top.] [Undated photo of Rick Nielsen with Brian. Looks more like 1980ish, so not from the time of the article. Nielsen posted this on his Instagram to wish Brian a happy birthday.]
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Jul 2, 2022 16:16:44 GMT
For fans of Hyde Park and A Day the Races! “The new album represents Queen as they are now!” From Music Life magazine – November 1976 issue By Kaoruko Togo
[Original text in Japanese; translation to English by me] It’s September 15th, about 3:30 pm. We are in London, in a room in the offices of John Reid Enterprises on South Audley Street. I am face to face with three Queen members, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon. This is my fifth time meeting members of Queen like this. The first time I met them was that unforgettable time in May 1974. Two years since then… for sure it has only been 2 years, but it can be said that it was an important two years for Queen. With their second visit to Japan having caused hysteria not seen since The Beatles, and having triumphed several times in the US, they have become “Queen of the World” in both name and reality. It has been around 6 months since I last saw them, and they’re doing incredibly well. From left to right, Roger, John, and Brian are sitting on a large sofa, and their simple naivete from 2 years ago have been replaced with a brilliance befitting of a top band. Perhaps due to this, I started the interview with a slight sense of nervousness. By the way, no doubt our readers are wondering where Freddie is. He is not here. Or rather, apparently he won’t do interviews. There was an English reporter who tried to talk to Freddie when he was right in front of him, but he immediately responded, “I refuse to do interviews!” The slightly nervous Freddie is getting ready for big jobs with work on the new album and the large-scale free concert at Hyde Park, and can’t afford to spend time with interviews and photoshoots, it seems. Personally, I wanted to speak to Freddie as well, but there’s nothing I could do about it. [Kaoruko Togo with the guys at John Reid's office for this interview. Photo by Watal Asanuma.] – The new album’s title is… –
Sensing a somewhat nervous tension in the air, Roger begins with, “Hey what’s the matter, let’s just relax and go from there.” “Yeah, it’s true that two years ago, we couldn’t have imagined where we are today. But, we always thought that Queen was special. No one else can imitate us.” Hearing these words from Roger, Brian continues. “We think of ourselves as the strongest band. And, I think we’ve always had an anti-drugs stance from the beginning. We don’t think good music can come from getting high off of drugs.” Essentially, that’s how much confidence they have in their own music. It’s true that the music press’s criticisms of Queen from the early days have become legendary, but these days no one calls Queen’s music fake or phony. “That said,” John chimes in, “after becoming successful we’ve been forced to think a lot about money and other problems. When Queen started off, we never thought we’d have to think about money like this…” Roger and Brian nod eagerly in agreement to John’s words. So, what have Queen been up to since leaving Japan? “After playing in Japan, we went straight to Australia. Of course, for touring. Our debut album wasn’t much of a hit in Australia, but this tour was a huge success. We were unknowns when we went there three years ago, but this time, all of our shows sold out,” explains Brian, happily. John adds, “We did around 5 or 6 shows in total. The audience reception was good each time. We even did an afternoon and evening show.” They returned to England after the Australian tour, and after a break, went to work on the new follow up album to A Night at the Opera. A Night at the Opera was much talked about in every way possible, so there is great interest in what the new album will be like. Isn’t that what the fans want to know, too? “I think the title will be A Day at the Races. You can guess why, right? ‘Races’ can refer to the course of one’s life, or the flow of a person’s life. It’s kind of an obvious title, but we suddenly thought of it, and decided to use it.” Roger continues, “Brian just explained it, so you understand the title, right? We’ve completed around half of it. But we had a few shows starting in September, so we’ve paused for now. We’re planning on returning to the studio after the free concert on the 18th.” A Night at the Opera was recorded in Scorpio Studios, so where are they recording this time? Roger explains… “We’re using a variety of studios, rather than limiting ourselves to one place. We started with Olympic Studios, and then The Manor Studio, and next I think we’re going to Sarm Studios.” The Manor Studio is famous for being used by several artists from Virgin Records. John explained more about The Manor: “The Manor Studio is owned by the president of Virgin Records. However, it doesn’t mean that only artists from Virgin use it. It’s in the countryside outside of London, and the environment is really nice so a lot of artists use it. We also used it for 6 weeks, and it went really well. We did our first recordings at The Manor, and then changed locations, and the studio we’re using now is in the middle of London.” –There are plans to use Japanese on the new album!–
The most noteworthy thing about the new album is that for the first time, Queen will produce it themselves. As you know, Roy Thomas Baker has been the producer since their debut album. Brian spoke to us about how it was leaving Roy and producing on their own. “We thought we reached the point where we should produce on our own. It’s not that we left it all to Roy, as we had some parts that we did on our own, but ultimately it was Roy who put it all together in the end. But he’s now busy producing other bands. And we thought it might be a good idea to try it ourselves. Yeah, it’s going quite well.” Roger and John also nodded in agreement. So, what will the contents of the album be like? Will it have a single consistent image like A Night at the Opera did? “Ummm, let me see,” starts off Roger, while thinking. “It’s not like we have a single image in mind right from the beginning. Rather, it might be better to think of it as the opposite of that. At the final stage, we consolidate it in a single, total image.” Brian adds, “That’s usually how our albums are made. I think A Night at the Opera was a newsworthy album in a lot of ways. But, in my opinion, it has a lot of experimental pieces and is not quite finished. There are a lot of good parts, but ultimately they’re just good as single parts. Among the songs on that album, though, I do like The Prophet’s Song.” Roger added his thoughts to Brian’s opinion. “My favourite album is Sheer Heart Attack. There’s a lot of variety, and above all I like how dynamic it is.” Let’s return to the new album. Could you tell us a little more about A Day at the Races? Brian says, “It has a wide range of musicality, and there are some songs that have a similar feeling to songs we’ve done before, but there are some that are really heavy, there’s rock’n’roll, and it’s an album that is representative of who we are now.” A Night at the Opera used the Japanese instrument koto, so how about this one? Roger laughed mischievously and answered, “Actually, we’re planning on having a song with Japanese in it. But I can’t go into details now, because it’s our secret. I think it will be half in Japanese, half in English.” What? Can you imagine a Queen record with Japanese in it? Apparently for Queen, it's not just Freddie that loves Japan. Are there any Japanese words they remember from their second visit to Japan? I ask them to say something in Japanese, and the three of them start mumbling things but it doesn’t sound Japanese to me. But then all of a sudden, Roger starts laughing out loud, and shouts out, “ Pantsu nuide~!” [“Take off your underwear~!”] Everyone bursts out laughing at this. –Free concerts are one kind of a challenge–
Joking aside, Queen’s stage show has a reputation for its splendour, so will they feature new stage equipment and costumes? Brian: “We don’t have a dedicated designer for what we wear on stage, but all four of us are planning on wearing new outfits. Roger has a Japanese kimono, I made a blouse with billowy sleeves, and John made something new, too.” “Look, this is Freddie’s new outfit,” says Roger, showing me a picture of Freddie on an industry journal. What’s this, it’s a picture of Freddie wearing white classic ballet tights clinging to his body! The contours of his body are defined as if he is nude, and I blurt out, “Oh my, how sensational!” Roger laughs out loud at these words, says, “Yeah, it really is sensational,” and laughs loudly again. “But you know, Freddie has been a fan of classic ballet for a long time. This kind of mood suits him well. The black nail polish he wears on his left hand has become his trademark. Oh that’s right, he was saying how Japanese fans sent him a lot of black nail polish. It’s a colour called ‘miner’s black.’ Freddie has a bit of an East Asian feel to him from our point of view, I think. His new house is amazing. Furniture he bought in Japan and things he bought in London are all Japanese style. Freddie picked all of them, and arranged things himself, apparently,” says Brian, explaining Freddie’s obsession. Now, that free concert on the 18th where we can see the new outfits is quite the talk of the town, and I’m planning on seeing it myself as part of this assignment. Isn’t it quite rare for Queen to do a concert like this? “That’s right. It’s not a common thing,” starts Roger. “It wasn’t someone’s idea, it was something that we wanted to do. 4-5 years ago free concerts were common and a lot of groups did them, but they don’t happen often these days. The last free concert was by the Rolling Stones, I think. There have been smaller ones too, but the last big one was by the Stones.” That’s right, the last free concert was by the Rolling Stones as a tribute to Brian Jones. How long ago was that? “Umm… it was in 1969, so it was 7 years ago. That’s why it has been 7 years since the last big free concert at Hyde Park,” says John somewhat proudly. With tens of thousands of people in attendance for the free concert, isn’t there a lot of preparation to do? “That’s right,” replies Roger, as if he had been anticipating this question. “We happen to be in the middle of the preparations, but there are a lot of problems and it’s stressful. You can imagine what it would be like if you held a large concert right in the middle of Tokyo, but we’re dealing with a lot of government red tape. That’s understandable, right? Also the public doesn’t realize that it’s free, so every day lots of people phone our offices and ask about how to get tickets and other things. Anyone can come without a ticket.” “It’s exciting, though. I think it can also be seen as a challenge. We had a blank slate and chose the venue and sound by ourselves,” says Brian, looking inspired. –You’re saying Kiss and Aerosmith are coming to Japan too?–
Will the free concert feature some new songs? “Yeah, we’re planning on doing a few songs, including one that will be a single. But I think mostly at its core it will be songs we’ve been playing up until now,” explains Roger. However, they haven’t decided yet which song will be the next single. The hit single Bohemian Rhapsody was a very long track for a single, but was a big success, contrary to what many were expecting. Roger expanded on this and added: “There were people that were concerned that Bohemian Rhapsody was much too long. But in the end, it was a great success. People who had never heard of Queen before came to know our name with that song.” Should hit singles be seen as important after all? What’s Queen’s opinion on hit singles? Roger spoke for the band and answered this question as well. “I don’t think hit singles are absolutely necessary. I think it’s possible to be successful with albums only, but if you release singles and albums, it’s possible to get more people to hear your sound. Older people tend to gravitate more towards singles than albums. But Led Zeppelin, for example, hasn’t had a hit single in years but they’re still really successful. To put it simply, it all depends on what the whole group wants to do.” “I have the same opinion as Roger,” says Brian. “I think singles can be helpful for a group, but it will never be at the core. I think they do help to tell many people what kinds of ideas the group has at the moment, but in turn I think that helps the album.” However, with Queen, the lyrics – including those for Bohemian Rhapsody – are very abstract, and can be difficult for us Japanese to understand. Roger nods emphatically, and starts talking. “Like you said, it’s true that we have lots of songs with abstract lyrics. Freddie’s lyrics are especially like that.” But when I tell Roger that I think his lyrics are simple, powerful, and typical rock’n’roll lyrics, he agrees happily. Another happy note: when I tell them that Queen would likely be again voted #1 in the Music Life readers’ poll this year, the three of them become very happy. John and the others ask, “Will we get trophies again?” and other questions. The members seem very concerned about the results, knowing that they are determined by the votes of the readers. What opinions do the members of Queen have about KISS and Aerosmith, who are presently their competitors? John asks in a serious manner, “How popular are KISS and Aerosmith?” I answer that both KISS and Aerosmith will likely come to Japan in the spring next year and have successful concerts, to which John responds, “Hmm, KISS and Aerosmith are going to Japan too…” again with a serious expression on his face. Have they seen KISS and Aerosmith live in person? Brian responds, “I’ve seen Aerosmith before, a long time ago. They’re simple, and I think they’re a good band.” Roger interjects, “There’s nothing particularly original about them, though.” “KISS is going to Japan? Then I wonder if they’re going to spit fire on stage in Japan, too? Actually, although we wouldn’t go as far as spitting fire, we tried to use fire in our shows in Japan. We couldn’t get permission from the Japanese side, though. There were quite a few things that we could do in the US that we couldn’t do in Japan,” says Roger, looking a little unhappy. “KISS is a really theatrical band, right? If they can’t get permission to spit fire in Japan, wouldn’t it cause problems?” [Brian flipping through a special Queen, KISS, Aerosmith edition of Music Life during this interview] By the way, the decline of British rock has been much talked about, so what does a British band like Queen think about British rock? Brian answers: “It’s true that there aren’t any bands that are active and have a new feeling. But I think there will be something new around next year. Is American rock more popular in Japan?” Yes, because there are more American bands coming to Japan. For example, The Eagles, Neil Young, and America are coming to Japan and getting popular. I tell them that I want British bands to do well, too, and Roger responds with conviction, “We, Queen, will definitely go to Japan next year. And we’ll definitely have success again.” When I look at the clock, it’s already close to 5 o’clock. I feel like there is still a lot to talk about, but we promise to see each other again at Hyde Park on the 18th, and I say my goodbyes to Brian, Roger, and John. “You must be tired because it takes so long to travel from London to Tokyo, and you came all the way just to see us. Please send our regards to our fans in Japan.” With firm handshakes and messages to pass on to fans in Japan, the members wave and head down the stairs, and disappear into manager John Reid’s room. [end of main article] [The main article had a sidebar with some extra info. Direct translations below:] - As everyone knows already, the four members of Queen bought new homes; Freddie’s house is in Kensington, and Brian and Roger’s are in Barnes - When we asked Roger about whether he bought a new house, Rogers responded, “Yeah, a small one, but I’m going to buy a bigger one next year!” - Freddie’s girlfriend Mary and Brian’s girlfriend Chrissie are both untalkative and quiet - After the free concert on the 18th, Roger took a 3-day holiday in France with his girlfriend and Pete Brown from John Reid’s office - There was a bit of a commotion backstage on the 18th at Hyde Park. The kimono that Freddie always wears during encores was nowhere to be found. Realizing that they forgot it at home, Mary rushed there and back with the kimono. However, there was no encore that night, so he didn’t wear the kimono. - Kiki Dee and Queen are good friends, as they share the same management office. On the 18th, they spent time together at John Reid’s home in Kensington before the performance. - Since it’s an outdoor concert at a park, the backstage scene on the 18th was a busy one with family members and even a dog. John’s wife and son, Veronica and Robert, are among those there. Robert wore red overalls and has blonde hair, looking like his mom. John smiled and silently watched his son toddle around. - Roger Waters of Pink Floyd and members of Arrows were backstage. Roger Waters had a long talk with Steve Hillage after his set. The two appear to be good friends. - There were rumours that Elton John would appear on stage with Kiki Dee, but he didn’t, so during their hit duet Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, there was only a life-sized photograph of him. [This issue of Music Life featured coverage of the Hyde Park show, including the back stage photos by Watal Asanuma. Here’s a quick caption that accompanied the photos:] Before hitting the intense stage, the individual members of Queen spend their time looking more relaxed than expected. Freddie is the only one who is nervous, apparently, and shuts himself in the camping van, not coming out until before the start of the show. Brian is smiling as usual, talking with friends and having tea. John sticks by his wife and son, Robert, and Roger is going from one place to the next and hasn’t settled down, although he gives us a smile and a wink when we make eye contact. [Backstage with Pete Brown, Roger, and John Reid. I don't know who that is behind them with the sunglasses. The second photo is of Kaoruko Togo. Both photos by Watal Asanuma.] [There is another write up of what was happening backstage elsewhere in the magazine. I’ve translated/summarized some of the things not mentioned elsewhere:] - Queen arrived backstage during Kiki Dee’s set; they did their soundcheck the previous day - Queen arrived in vans carrying their instruments, and transferred quickly to a trailer used for changing clothes. Freddie didn’t leave this trailer until their set, and did a short radio interview from there as well. - It was obvious that Mary was concerned and preoccupied about something - Chrissie shyly said, “We’re always looking at Music Life” [the end]
|
|
oreno
Ploughman
Posts: 252
Likes: 317
|
Post by oreno on Jul 2, 2022 18:13:27 GMT
Magnificent stuff, thank you so much
|
|
|
Post by Chopin1995 on Jul 16, 2022 16:11:07 GMT
Another fascinating interview. You are doing a very important job, translating all these interviews and articles, hidden behind the language barrier and attainable only to people fluent in Japanese. Now the rest of the world can learn something new about this band. Thank you very much!
|
|
|
Post by borrISO on Jul 26, 2022 10:28:16 GMT
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Sept 5, 2022 19:24:40 GMT
Freddie talks about Mr. Bad Guy, Michael Jackson, and other acts, in his last interview with Kaoruko Togo (editor in chief of Music Life). I had translated one of his answers before for a different thread, but this post is the full article. “An Exclusive Interview with Freddie ‘Mr. Bad Guy’ Mercury’ “The solo album is my mysterious portrait” From Music Life - July 1985 By Kaoruko Togo Pics by Koh Hasebe and Midori Tsukagoshi
[original text in Japanese; translation to English by me] Is Queen breaking up at last? It's an unpleasant rumour for fans that has been flying around prior to Queen’s sixth visit to Japan, but upon closer inspection, there is no need for such concern. From their nostalgic songs from their early years to their most recent hits, it was a concert with an overwhelming sense of beauty of Queen’s dazzling uniqueness. And, the one that represents Queen’s sense of beauty is vocalist Freddie Mercury. Apparently, this rumour of Queen breaking up started when Freddie released his solo album, Mr. Bad Guy. That said, he has a high level of enthusiasm. I’ve interviewed him several times in the past, but I’ve never seen him this animated before. He seemingly has a lot he wants to talk about, and doesn’t really give me a chance to ask questions. It was in this relaxing environment that we had the interview in the reception room of the luxurious suite at the hotel he was staying at. –The meaning of the title!?– Music Life (ML): I found the setlist of the Japanese tour very interesting. It had a best-of-Queen feeling… it reminded me of Queen’s first time in Japan. Freddie: Yeah, we wanted to go that route. From songs like Seven Seas of Rhye, Liar, Keep Yourself Alive, to our current songs. I think the fans want to hear the earlier songs, and it’s also fun to play them. Sometimes there are parts that we’d forgotten, though (laughs). For example, I rediscovered how difficult Seven Seas of Rhye is on the piano. ML: Well, I think many people felt a deep emotion. By the way, I’d like to ask you about your first solo album, Mr. Bad Guy. Is there some meaning behind the album title, Mr. Bad Guy? Freddie: Actually, it was originally going to be called "Made in Heaven" after one of the songs on the album, but when the idea for the album cover was developed, it was decided that "Mr. Bad Guy" was a better choice to suit the feel of the picture of me in sunglasses. There's no particular meaning musically speaking; it's simply an expression of my personality. There's no relation to the content of the album, and there's no deep meaning. But, well, I think it suits my personality (laughs), Mr. Bad Guy sings love songs.. and well, that's basically it. ML: The title is easy to remember. And when did you actually start recording? Before your single, Love Kills, for the movie Metropolis? Or was it after? Freddie: It was after. Love Kills was written after Georgio Moroder asked me to. I wasn’t going to at first, but we made a deal to use parts of Metropolis in the video for Queen’s single, Radio Ga Ga, in exchange for the song. –Secrets from “Mr. Bad Guy”-- ML: The topic of your solo album came up in your recent interview with MTV, and it was mentioned there as well, but everybody thought you’d be the first to release a solo album. Freddie: Yeah, Roger and Brian had already released their own solo projects, but it’s merely how it came to be. It’s often thought that the lead singer releases their solo album first and breaks up the band, but it’s just that it didn’t happen that way for us. Before, I had no intentions of going solo, but then I did, that’s all. Also, if I were to do it, I didn’t want to just jump into it. I wanted to take my time to prepare for it, and also prepare myself mentally before starting it. It was tough because I had my solo project and the Queen album happening at the same time, but personally, I wanted to give my all to both and make good albums. Ultimately, it took almost one year to complete. I did a bit, then went to South America, came back and did a video, and then continued in the studio, so the actual time spent recording was around 4 months, I think. There was also the European tour for Queen during that time, so I had work to do for both Queen and the solo project. At first I was supposed to release the solo album earlier, but in the end the completion was delayed and that’s why it’s getting released now. ML: Before the solo album was released, I’m pretty sure I heard that you recorded several songs with Michael Jackson… Freddie: We did three songs in total, but they’re unfinished, so they basically stopped at the demo tape stage. After that we both got busy and haven’t found time to finish them, or one of us wouldn’t have an opening on their schedule. One of the demos is called State of Shock, and it ended up on The Jacksons album, Victory. It was me singing on it, but Michael phoned me in Munich while he was recording Victory, and said we should finish the song, but I was busy and couldn’t find time for it. And that’s why ultimately, Mick Jagger was featured on it instead of me. There’s another song called Victory that I wrote with Michael, but it’s unfinished. Michael titled The Jacksons album “Victory,” so that’s why the song itself is unfinished. ML: You’re fairly close with Michael. How did you meet him? Freddie: I’ve known him for a long time, back around when he released his album Off the Wall, and he would often come see our shows in LA. After the big success of Thriller, he stopped going out as much, so I would go over to his house quite often. That’s where we’d work on songs together. –I wanted to make something simple– ML: You naturally have a strong image of being the lead singer of Queen, but what are the main differences between the music of Queen and your music? Freddie: Depending on the person, when they hear my album they’ll say it’s either quite similar to Queen or completely different. But naturally there are some similarities to Queen. After all, I'm the singer of Queen, and my voice is associated with Queen. It’s not like I can change my voice, either. But for most of the songs, I’ve tried a different approach from Queen. I’m trying to push my colours. Also, I never felt like making something completely different from Queen while I was recording. I just wanted to write songs the way I wanted to. I think it’s fine if there are some parts that are Queen-like, because the important thing is the song itself. Fundamentally they’re all love songs, but I tried hard to get the best results for the songs themselves. I went with the approach that even if it resembled Queen a little, it was fine if the song was good. It’d be a lie if I didn’t do what I wanted to do, wouldn’t it? For sure there are some parts here and there where you’d think it was Brian that was playing, but when I had the guitarist play the way I wanted him to, it just ended up sounding like Brian’s guitar. True story, even Brian himself was saying that everyone will probably think it’s him playing (laughs). ML: My personal impression was that it was a very simple pop album. Freddie: That’s it! (he hits his knee as he says this) I wanted to make something simple. You can’t make love songs complicated, because love is complicated enough as it is. I just wanted to express the complexities of love that anyone would experience. Nothing new in particular, but something that anyone could relate to. For example, with Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow, someone you love is trying to leave you, and there’s only one day left, but you try to somehow rekindle the love – this is a situation that anyone could experience, right? I wanted to make these things into songs. ML: Was there a meaning behind purposely not calling on the other members of Queen? Freddie: It wouldn’t be a solo album otherwise. If the other members participated, their tastes would surface and ultimately we’d get something completely the same as Queen. I can call it a solo album because I did it myself. –I packed this album with freedom– ML: I see. I just said it was simple and pop, but there are strong electronic dance music parts to it too, aren’t there? Freddie: That’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to do heavy metal-style stuff like from the early years in Queen. I wrote songs the way I wanted to, and I wanted to make simple and moreover deeply meaningful work. The lyrics, too, were kept easy to understand and simple, and not too complex or intellectual. Generally love songs should be simple. With that in mind, I prioritized feelings over words. The melody, feeling, and the way I sing are more important than what I sing. No matter what words are used, the issue is the degree of tension. My goal is to express the song, and not to sing beautiful lyrics. That’s why for each song, I made the meaning important and told small stories. ML: Talking about simplicity, do you have any interest in the advancement of studio technology? Freddie: I don’t care much for the technology itself, but ultimately I know what kind of sound I want. I don’t know how it’s done, but I ask the engineer, “Make me a sound like this.” But apart from a small number of people, I don’t think anyone hears a record and is moved, like, “What amazing technology!” (laughs) They’re first moved by the music, and then after that they wonder how they did it. Personally, in the end the important thing is the result, so I have the engineer work at it over and over until I get the sound I want. ML: Personally speaking, I don’t like records that rely too much on technology. I think the human voice is the most wonderful instrument, and for that reason as well, I was interested in your album. Freddie: Yeah, technology can be replaced. Whether it’s the drums or bass. But only the vocals can’t be replaced by machines. By the way, which song did you like? ML: I like Side B’s There Must Be More to Life Than This the most! Both the melody and the lyrics are wonderful. Freddie: (Looking satisfied…) Everyone tells me that. That song is on that Michael Jackson demo tape I talked about earlier. We sang it only accompanied by my piano, but he really liked it and wanted it on his own album. But I was trying to make my solo album, so I went and told him, “You’ve already made enough money so surely you don’t need it?” (bursts out laughing) I did the orchestral arrangement for this song, too. ML: The other tracks are also very passionate love songs, aren’t they? Freddie: That’s what my love songs are like. Emotions, painful souls… it’s stuff that exudes from my inner self. I myself like Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow. It’s a simple song, and that makes it difficult when writing the song, but at the same time the results are big. The person you love is leaving you… through this song, my love says it all. It’s like, what else is there left to say? ML: That’s right, you’ve never expressed yourself this much before in your lyrics before, have you? That’s another reason why this solo album was of profound interest for me. Freddie: For sure, this is the album that has featured my personality the most, because most Queen records have four personalities together. The solo album is 100% me. But on the other hand, there are aspects that are difficult to do because there’s too much of me. –We get closer to the truth about Queen breaking up!-- ML: Changing subjects a bit, are there any recent bands that have caught your eye? Freddie: They’re pretty good (pointing at a magazine in front of him with Go West on the cover). Also, Tears for Fears are good. Umm, what was that song called again? ML: Everybody Wants to Rule the World, right? That’s a really good song, isn’t it? I like it, too. What do you think of Frankie Goes to Hollywood? Freddie: Well I like them, but I don’t know if that’s their style. It might be producer Trevor Horn’s sound. In that respect, Tears for Fears is good. When you listen to their songs, you can really tell it’s coming from the songwriter’s heart. Wham! are also good. They’re a bit too commercial, but they have a lot of good songs, and George Michael’s singing is wonderful. ML: Well, that brings us to our last question. You’ve probably been asked by everyone already but… Freddie: It’s, “Will Queen really break up?” right? ML: That’s right! (laughs) But what do you really think about the future of Queen? Freddie: If we were to break up, we would have done so already by now. I don’t know what will happen in the future, and sometimes we fight, but that happens often to anyone, right? Right now there are no problems. ML: Queen is a special band for Japanese fans. So, we want you to continue forever. Freddie: Yeah, when we first arrived in Japan, we were aware that something new was happening. After all, this is now our sixth time in Japan (laughs). – After the interview, Freddie showed us the music video for I Was Born to Love You, which had just finished production. Giving commentary here and there along the way, he truly seemed to be in good spirits. Just like Freddie had told us, with Freddie’s heart and soul poured into the album, this may be an exact portrait of Freddie. The group is planning a break of around 6 months after wrapping up the world tour with these shows in Japan. I want to believe that each member will do their individual work, reexamine themselves and Queen, reassemble the four strong personalities as “Queen,” and take another first step. [end of article] I wrote about the photograph of Freddie at the TV before in another thread: "Freddie had the video for I Was Born to Love You already ready to go on the TV, so he played it for everyone in the room. During the part where he was chasing the woman in the video, he said to the interviewer, "Look at this part! Don't I look gorgeous?" (Togo would later say she had no idea what was so gorgeous about it.) After the video finished, Freddie said he wanted to watch it one more time, so they did. And then he said, "The volume was a bit too low, so let's watch it again." Then someone from the record company came to the room, so they had to watch it for a fourth time."
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Jan 29, 2023 4:00:34 GMT
I haven’t translated an article in a while! This one features Roger talking mostly about Foreign Sand and Yoshiki. He was in Nara, Japan, in 1994 for a live performance. GiGS magazine - August 1994 issue Interview by Yoshida SatoshiOriginal text published in Japanese; translated to English by me GiGS: To start off, please tell us about how you got involved with the event at Todaiji, and the goal of that event. Roger: The aim of GME (The Great Music Experience) is to have a cross-cultural exchange of music. This event at Todaiji was the inaugural one, and from now until the last year of the 20th century, there are plans to have a series of concerts going around exciting settings, like at the pyramids of Egypt for example. It’s crossover music in the real sense of the word. And I got involved because I made a song with Yoshiki. The goal of that song, too, was to have an exchange between an Eastern artist and a Western artist, and I thought it perfectly fit the goal of GME. And then I learned Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell would also be involved, so I got even more interested. [Roger and Yoshiki: Foreign Sand live in Nara at the GME] GiGS: Now that the event has concluded, what’s the most memorable thing about it? Roger: My heart was pounding it was so nerve wracking! (laughing) No, it really was. There wasn’t much time to rehearse, and with so many things that had to be decided in a limited amount of time, I couldn’t stop worrying. When it’s a 3-4 hour show, there’s no way you can perform without rehearsals. There were actually people who didn’t decide until the very last moment what song they would perform, for example, or who is going to support who, who is going to sing here and who is going to play… lots of decisions to be made. GiGS: Now, onto Yoshiki, how did you end up meeting him? Roger: He gave me a letter. It was a complete package with videos and other things, and it said what kind of artist he was, what kind of group X (X Japan) was, and he wrote, "I want to play with you as soon as possible, so please have a look at this and give it some thought." I became interested right away. He happened to be in London working with George Martin, and I thought it was a good opportunity so I invited him over to my house, and we really hit it off. He is a perfectionist, and has a clear vision of what he wants to do. That appealed to me. After we decided to work together, right away he sent me music that would form the foundation of the song. I wrote some lyrics, and he worked on the tape that I sent back to him and sent it back to me, and I changed the lyrics… that continued a few more times, and then I went to Los Angeles and did a proper recording at his studio. GiGS: Around when did this happen? Roger: I met him for the first time around 9 months ago. It’s a song called Foreign Sand, and the contents match the title of the song. When you first make contact with a different culture, it’s a given that you won’t know anything about that culture. But the song is about how instead of getting into a conflict, let’s make an effort to understand each other. Friendship is the way to solve any problem. GiGS: So, it’s a song with a message? Roger: Yeah. Like, don’t be scared even if you don’t understand each other. GiGS: There are some similarities with Teo Torriatte, aren't there? Roger: Yeah. That’s similarly a positive song. GiGS: What was the recording process like? Roger: He has a superb studio in LA, and I have a house in LA, so doing it there made the most logical sense. And we’d sent tapes back and forth a few times before I went to LA, so the framework of the song was quite established already. This was possible because we both had a clear understanding of what kind of song we wanted to make, right from the beginning. In LA we got a real 28-person orchestra and made a large-scale arrangement. It’s a song with lots of classical music components, so it was necessary to have a large scale. GiGS: How much time was spent recording? Roger: It didn’t take that long, and it wasn’t difficult, either. We were a unique duo, so we just needed to extract the most charm from that as possible without making something awkward. It was more fun than it was difficult. GiGS: You mentioned that Yoshiki was a perfectionist… Roger: Quite the perfectionist, yeah. But Freddie was a perfectionist, too, and the partnership between Freddie and me went incredibly well. It seems like I like these kinds of people. I often laugh about this with Yoshiki, but I’d ask him, "What should we do with this part?" and he’d always respond back, "Let’s just see how it goes." But even when we would just see how things went, it always worked out in the end. And perfectly. GiGS: What was your first impression of Yoshiki? Roger: I’d seen the videos so I knew about his look, but… when I thought about it, 20 years ago we were also wearing make up, had long hair, and wore strange clothes! We’d experienced the theatrical world of X, so I’m not uncomfortable with it at all, and personally I like it. And besides, he wears completely different clothes day-to-day (laughs). GiGS: With both of you being drummers, is that another reason the two of you were drawn to each other? Roger: There’s that, too, but more importantly, beyond drumming we’re both adventurers that try lots of different things. Drums are just one part of that. We’re both musicians, rather than drummers. GiGS: I think you’re a pioneer in that you shine the spotlight on the drums as one part of a band, instead of just leaving it as a rhythm instrument; do you find that’s another thing you have in common with Yoshiki? Roger: Hearing that makes me very happy. Thank you. I’ve always strived to have the drums have a presence as one part of a band, one part of a song. That’s something you could also say to Yoshiki. When I first met him, he said to me, “Queen is an entity I love, and has influenced my drumming.” I was very happy. GiGS: Yoshiki is a perfectionist when it comes to songs as well, and during recording sessions with X, he would have the singer, Toshi, sing several hundred times. How was he with you? Roger: There was nothing like that. He has perfect pitch, and I have pretty good ears, too, but he has had proper training and is perfect. I told him in advance, “If you think my sound is off even a little bit, tell me,” and he would sense really subtle issues and tell me. Subtle differences that I couldn’t even detect. That’s really something amazing. He was a good advisor for me. GiGS: When did you write the other song, Final Destination? Roger: It’s a song I wrote a few years ago, and when I had Yoshiki listen to a rough version of it, he told me that he wanted to work on a new arrangement for it right away. So we worked together to completely rearrange it. We both played drums on it; first by alternating, and then the latter half builds up with twin drums. We have completely different styles, so I think that contrast produced interesting results. Yoshiki’s way of thinking is quite close to classical, so when you compare it to the original version that I wrote, there are lots of parts that were added. It even has irregular rhythms, so it’s quite dramatic and wonderful. It’s a fairly complex arrangement, though. GiGS: But you’re from Queen, which made a business out of dramatic and complex arrangements. Roger: Exactly! Sometimes it was so complex it made my head spin (laughs). But it’s certainly true that Yoshiki’s way of thinking and that of Queen’s have some things in common. For example, with harmonics and how counterparts were used. GiGS: What’s that helicopter-like sound in the intro? Roger: We couldn’t use a real one, so the sound is from a synthesizer! GiGS: Among the members of the band you recorded with is Phil Chen, who is well-known for his playing with Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart and others. What about guitarist Jim Cregan? Roger: He’s also a guitarist for Rod Stewart, and also played with Cockney Rebel. He’s a good friend of mine. GiGS: Are you happy with your performance with Yoshiki? Roger: Very much so. But – and I’ve always been this way – no matter how good something I make is, right after I’m tired of it, and it takes 2 to 3 years before I finally recognize its merits. I get bored hearing it in the studio several hundred times, and it gets to a point where I don’t even know what’s good and what’s bad. It was like that with Queen, too, especially with songs that I wrote. I could be objective with songs that other people wrote, though. So, right after a song is done I try as much as possible not to listen to it. GiGS: By the way, at Todaiji you performed with other Japanese artists aside from Yoshiki, so what were your impressions? Roger: I knew about Hotei (Tomoyasu Hotei), but it was my first time hearing his music. He’s a very good person, and I thought he was wonderful musically as well. He told me he’d been to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. But there was a mess of people then, so I couldn’t properly meet and greet anyone. [Below: Hotei would reunite with Roger when they performed with the SAS Band in September 2019] GiGS: After that event, you could say you disappeared for a while… Roger: Yeah, actually for almost 2 years, I distanced myself from music. After a large presence like Freddie left, I couldn’t see what I wanted to do with myself for a while, and I even got to seriously thinking about quitting music. That’s how much of a grand entity Freddie was. And after I put all my efforts into the tribute concert, I went travelling somewhere, to give both my soul and body some rest. I actually did something like that for a year. But I came to the realization again that I was no one but a musician, so little by little I started to feel like I wanted to give it another proper go at it. I was able to think that life without music was meaningless. GiGS: I hear there’s a solo album almost ready. Roger: That’s right. I knew that writing songs was something I had to do, so I started writing a little and made demos in my home studio. It’s a studio that was only recently completed. The album is called “Happiness?” If it was just “Happiness” it would be boring, so I added a question mark! GiGS: I also hear there’s a Queen album being worked on. Roger: There’s no doubt there will be a final album featuring Freddie. It will probably be next year, though. GiGS: Is it true that while recording the album Innuendo, Freddie knew he didn’t have much longer to live, and recorded material that could be used for one more album? Roger: We all knew about his life. That’s why instead of thinking this and that about what to do for the next album, we just tried to create as much material as we could. Of course, that was because that’s what Freddie wanted. And, by continuing to focus on work, he didn’t have to think about other things. I really think he was a courageous man because I’m sure it was really difficult. It was physically painful, too. So, the mission for the rest of us is to take the material we have now and make the best music for Freddie. We don’t have any other Queen material beyond this, so we have to make it top quality. That’s why we want to take our time with this. John and I finished our parts, and Brian’s currently making progress on the work. GiGS: Finally, you’ve reached the peak of the music world, so what sort of thing still moves you? Roger: Simply put, the feeling of wanting to reach a sense of fulfillment. I have to work to attain that, and really, sense of fulfillment = Happiness. [Below: Yoshiki with Roger backstage at a Queen show in Saitama, Japan on January 26, 2020]
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Feb 17, 2023 4:43:17 GMT
This post gives background information on pictures of John and Roger from May 10, 1974, taken at the Hotel St. Moritz in New York. This is also the story of Queen’s first interview with Music Life, as told by Kaoruko Togo, one of the two journalists involved, through excerpts from her book published in 2019. The other journalist involved is Haruko Minakami. (Original text in Japanese; translated to English by me.) Kaoruko Togo was sent to New York in May 1974 by Music Life to rendezvous with fellow journalist Haruko Minakami, as Music Life was invited by CBS/Sony Records to interview their acts, Mott the Hoople and Loggins and Messina. Togo was looking forward to the Mott the Hoople show, but she was also well aware that the opening act was Queen, a group that was garnering a following in Japan despite the fact that Queen II hadn’t been released there yet. [Photo by Minakami] [Minakami interviewing Ian Hunter, May 9, 1974] Translated excerpt from Togo’s book: “Having finished our interview with Mott the Hoople, Haruko Minakami and I went for lunch with CBS Records staff at a restaurant on West 53rd Street, next to the CBS office. [...] There was some noise near the entrance and in comes a group of 4 to 5 people. Among them was a blonde-haired man in a white suit, and I thought to myself, oh! It was Roger Taylor. There is no way he wouldn’t stand out at a restaurant frequented by local businessmen. We glanced over in their direction a few times, and then Haruko and I mustered up the courage to go to their table and said ‘excuse me’ to them. Roger looked up at us a bit surprised, and I blurted out to him that we were journalists from a Japanese music magazine, and that we had seen their show. I tried to assure them that we were not strange people, but Roger had a blank expression on his face. I don’t blame him, since East Asians that were complete strangers to him suddenly started talking to him. We continued with our rapid fire talk, telling him that Queen’s debut album was well-received in Japan, and that their popularity was quickly on the rise. Still, he seemed doubtful. Probably at that time, Japan wasn’t in Roger’s thoughts at all, and I don’t think he even knew their album was being sold in Japan. Luckily I had the latest issue of Music Life with me, so I opened it up in front of him and showed him pictures of Queen. His face suddenly lit up at that moment and his demeanour changed completely. ‘It’s true! Wow, it’s Japan!’ The group he was with surrounded the issue of Music Life and there was a big commotion. When we informed him that Elektra had granted us an interview with them, Roger immediately asked, 'How about you come to our hotel room around noon tomorrow?’ and gave us their room number. We said, “Thank you!” and left. [...] The next day, we went to the hotel along Central Park, and were greeted at the room by a smiling Roger. John Deacon was with him (he was credited as Deacon John on the album at that time). Freddie was out shopping, and Brian was feeling unwell and wouldn’t be able to join us. ‘Well, we can have him say hello at least…’ And with that, they opened up the door that was connected to the room next door and introduced us to Brian. Looking sickly pale and like he’d been bedridden, he shook our hands with a smile and said, ‘Sorry I can’t join you for the interview’ while profusely apologizing. He was a thin and tall young man, and it was a pitiful sight to see because it was plainly obvious he was feeling unwell, but he was exceptionally likeable.” Here are some pictures that Minakami took from their interview at the Hotel St. Moritz that day. Togo is included in one of them: So, where is this first Music Life interview with Queen? Well, the tape was sent to Japan, but since the journalists were at the Hoople show in New York at the invitation of CBS/Sony records, it was deemed inappropriate to print an interview with a band from another label, Elektra/Asylum. Music Life only mentioned that Queen was the supporting act for Mott the Hoople, and the interview with John and Roger was never published and has since been lost. On top of that, Togo and Minakami were later advised to get shots for hepatitis after coming into contact with Brian.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Apr 29, 2023 19:03:20 GMT
“Let’s Disclose Everything Now” From Music Life magazine, August 1985 issueInterview by Midori Tsukagoshi [original text in Japanese; translated to English by me] Queen came to Japan for the 6th time in May. Despite disturbing rumours of the group breaking up being whispered, the show was spectacular, and their Japan tour was another huge success. We present to you an interview with Roger Taylor and John Deacon, following our interview with Freddie in last month’s issue. The truth about whether they will split up, Queen’s path going forward… they disclosed all the internal matters they couldn’t talk about before. Music Life (ML): I’d like to start by saying that the concert this year was the best. It was very moving, and I thought it was better than any other performance. Roger: Really!? Thank you very much. We ourselves also think that this world tour was our best so far. John: Before coming to Japan, we did shows in Australia and New Zealand. It’d been 9 years since we last played Australia, and it was our first time in New Zealand. Sydney in particular was great. Roger: That’s right. In Australia we had 70,000 people in total over 4 shows, and tickets were all sold out, and we were #2 in the charts at that time, so it was great. But it looks like we made a mistake with the seasons. Australia’s weather is supposed to be great usually, but when we went, it was raining non-stop! (laughing) ML: Oh dear, oh dear. By the way, how was the reaction of the Japanese audiences? Roger: It was really good! I’m not just saying that; I really think it was. But the security was really strict, so I also thought that maybe they couldn’t get into it as much as they could… but everyone sang along, and it was great! John: That reminds me, yesterday Roger and I were talking and wondering how many times we’d played the Budokan. It’s probably 15-16 times, or maybe it’s 17? ML: The stage design and setlist were different, but impactful as always. When did you start using that stage design? John: After The Works was completed. I think the European tour was first. After that, the South American tour, Brazil… and then Japan. The person who designed it was… Roger: Me! (laughing) And then I thought up ideas with our tour manager and our stage designer based in Los Angeles. Basically we wanted to create the feel of the movie Metropolis. ML: I was overwhelmed by the stage, but I was also really surprised at the inclusion of songs from your early years, like Liar and Seven Seas of Rhye. I never thought I’d hear those songs… Roger: Yeah, we all collaborated on the song selection. We started off touring with this set in Europe at first, but midway through, we thought why not include songs from the early years. And that’s how we decided to have a 5-song medley of earlier songs, and worked it into the setlist partway through our European tour. John: We’ve performed so many songs over the years that there are some songs we’d forgotten about, and it was tough trying to remember them! (laughing) ML: By the way, I’d like to ask about the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil in January earlier this year. You’ve played in Brazil before, but it was your first time in Rio, right? John: Yeah, we went to Argentina and Brazil in 1981, but we only played at a soccer stadium in Sao Paulo. It was the first time playing in Rio, and both the venue and the audience were amazing. Roger: It was also the largest-scale concert we’d ever done. We played twice, on the first day and on Friday evening, and 250,000 people showed up each time. Everyone sang together, and the atmosphere was wonderful! There was also no violence. John: We were also lucky because it didn’t rain on either of the two nights we performed. It was an outdoor stage, so it’s problematic when it rains. The ground becomes covered in mud and sticky, and oh boy. It rained the day Rod Stewart played. ML: Did you have a chance to catch any other bands? Roger: Yeah, of course. I saw Whitesnake, and I met Cozy. And… oh right, I saw Rod Stewart. John: The venue was really far so I didn’t go see anyone. But bars in Brazil all have TVs, and part of the event would be shown every night and all the young people were watching. AC/DC was great. ML: Could you tell me some interesting stories? Roger: Ahhhh… (laughing) there are lots of them, but none that I can tell you (laughing). It was like a 10-day party, after all. John: Yeah, there was a lot happening… right, well here’s a story about the first day, when we had a terrible time. The traffic in Rio is dreadful. That is to say, when the roads get congested, the people of Rio abandon their cars on the road and just walk. That’s why we played it safe and took a helicopter to the venue. But there ended up not being any traffic, and we arrived super early. Roger: Yeah, we had to get there by 6, and there was no way we could be late. Although it was good that we were early, we didn’t have to get on stage until 2am! Next time, we’re taking the bus no matter what!! (laughing) John: Also, it was fun meeting people I’d never met before. I met him (pointing at a picture of Neil Murray from the April edition of Music Life) for the first time then. Oh, this photo was taken at a party at a hotel (pointing at a picture of Brian surrounded by local fans), and Brian’s face looks like he’s drunk. He jumped into the pool. (laughing) [first photo by Justin Thomas; maybe the second one too?] ML: Whaaaaat? I can’t imagine Brian jumping into a pool! Now that I think about it, his hair and pants look soaking wet…. But anyway, the point is you had fun in Rio, right? (laughing) Roger and John: Yeah, very much so! (laughing) ML: By the way, it’s been almost 12 years already since Queen were formed… John: I knoooow, it’s been 12 years, 12 years! (suddenly pretends to be an old man) It’s been 14 years since I met the other members. ML: During that time, you established your musical style, made several wonderful records, and carved out an illustrious career in the history of rock. And now each of the members has started working as individual musicians. Is there a special reason why you’ve started doing work beyond the group? Roger: Hmmm, personally speaking one reason is simply that I like doing work. John: And also, it was really difficult making The Works, to tell you the truth. Of course, we’re hoping to keep continuing as Queen. But the reality is that it has become tougher to keep the group together. When we entered the studio, we were full of hope, but before we knew it, it seemed like a lot of time had passed…. (recording The Works) took too much time, and I got a little tired. Musically-speaking the four of us didn’t have the same opinions… of course ultimately it got sorted out. But I think all bands are like that after they’ve been at it for many years. ML: Queen members are all independent as musicians, so it must be difficult. John: Our plans moving forward are to take a break for a while, and then get back in the studio in around November. We’re also planning on changing our producer. ML: Do you already have ideas for a new album? Roger: I have some vague ones in my head, but nothing concrete. But I want something different from The Works. The Works has modern sounds, and older ones, with lots of components interwoven, and I think it’s a good album, but we have to constantly keep changing. I think David Bowie’s “Tonight” was a mistake. He released the album too quickly, and it wasn’t distinctive enough. ML: Is there anything you want to do in particular during your off-time? John, I heard you were making a solo album? John: I’m thinking about it. There’s a small studio in London that I use, but I don’t have time to even think about it when I’m touring. But when I think about myself singing, well… I have to get someone to help me with the singing (laughing) ML: What about you, Roger? Do you plan on making a third solo album? Roger: I don’t have plans for a solo album, but I’ve been producing a few works recently, like Sideways Look, Jimmy Nail… Jimmy Nail made it into the UK top 20 charts. It was the first record I ever produced, so I was especially happy! ML: Are there other acts you want to produce? Roger: Yeah, there are lots. Jeff Beck, and I also want to do Rod Stewart. I could probably do good work with them. ML: Did you hear Freddie’s solo album? John: I’ve heard a few songs, but I haven’t yet heard it all the way through. Made in Heaven is a good song. Roger: I like Made in Heaven the most as well. ML: And finally, I’d like to ask a serious question, as there are rumours of Queen breaking up being whispered… Roger: (puffs out air and snickers) ML: Of course, I don’t want to believe these rumours, but I’d like to know the truth. John: Well, we’ll break up one day. But who on earth would know when that’s going to be? Roger: These 14 years, whenever there was a question about Queen breaking up, I made an effort to clearly deny it with a “NO!” Those are just rumours. As of now there are absolutely no plans to breakup. I wonder if everyone wants Queen to break up that much (laughing) John: It’s true that it has become difficult to go on tour, but as long as we keep touring, we have to change the performance and our approach completely. But it’s set that we’re going to start work on our new album in November. ML: It’s a relief to hear that. From now on, no matter what kind of activity you do, please keep continuing as Queen forever. I believe this is what all of your fans are feeling. Roger and John: Thank you very much. That’s right, that’s waaay better than breaking up. ML: Well then, this is truly the last question. What do you want to do in the future, as a member of Queen and as individuals? Roger: Personally, I want more kids! (laughing) As for Queen, I want us to have more success in America. We might be popular to a certain degree in America, but our previous album’s sales were not very good… well, there are always ups and downs with anything. That’s why I want to make it big in America again. To do that, we’ll have to do a looong tour focussing on the midwest (laughing) Roger and John flatly denied that Queen were breaking up. They even spoke of their ambitions, saying they want to achieve greater success in the United States. With their sights fixed on the future, their eyes still have not lost their glitter. [end]
|
|
Dimitris
Ploughman
Posts: 476
Likes: 282
Member is Online
|
Post by Dimitris on Apr 30, 2023 5:40:33 GMT
Japanese interviews were the best, always the reporter was well informed or liked Queen, many questions to the point ,seemed like they never bored to give interviews their answers were more interesting .
From the above interview, Queen with or without Live Aid would have continued for at least 1986.
Jonh states twice that on November are going back to studio and change producer.
Probably soundtracks Highlader and Iron Eagle movies were planned.Also David Richards came in as a producer in 185-86
John: Our plans moving forward are to take a break for a while, and then get back in the studio in around November. We’re also planning on changing our producer.
John: It’s true that it has become difficult to go on tour, but as long as we keep touring, we have to change the performance and our approach completely. But it’s set that we’re going to start work on our new album in November.
|
|
|
Post by merplot on May 12, 2023 22:10:37 GMT
I wrote about the photograph of Freddie at the TV before in another thread: "Freddie had the video for I Was Born to Love You already ready to go on the TV, so he played it for everyone in the room. During the part where he was chasing the woman in the video, he said to the interviewer, "Look at this part! Don't I look gorgeous?" (Togo would later say she had no idea what was so gorgeous about it.) After the video finished, Freddie said he wanted to watch it one more time, so they did. And then he said, "The volume was a bit too low, so let's watch it again." Then someone from the record company came to the room, so they had to watch it for a fourth time." Yikes, a pretty bratty portrait of Freddie painted there. The fact that they keep referring to Brian in these pieces as "Christ-like" is fascinating and says a lot about his personality, both good and bad. "IR: I hear that you often spend your holidays with Roger. Are you particularly close with him? John: That’s right. I get along with Roger in particular. It’s because he’s a friendly guy." That follows. I never got the sense that John and Brian were particularly close. If I could interview Brian today and force him to be very candid, there's so many things about group dynamics I'd ask him. Japanese music interviews have so much more substance than anything the English or American press ever did. Thanks so much for these.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Feb 18, 2024 5:29:55 GMT
Long interview with Roger from 1994, covering a wide variety of topics about the past, present, and future. Some of the content about Yoshiki overlaps with an earlier translation I did because it was the same visit, but this interview covers more topics.
”I can speak about my thoughts freely now that I don’t have responsibilities tied to Queen” Music Life magazine, July 1994 issue
Interview by Yuichi Masuda Original text in Japanese; translated to English by me Music Life (ML): I’d like to start by talking about your new solo album, followed by a talk about your older work with Queen, even for the younger fans. You’ve already released two solo albums, as well as three albums with The Cross. Why did you decide to release this latest album as a solo work under your name? Roger: With The Cross, I wasn’t anything more than a member of a band, so the work wasn’t something I could call my own. There was only a part of me in there. In contrast, this is a solo album, so the songwriting and performance are my own. The Cross was an experiment, and ultimately wasn’t very successful. It was a useful experience that I was really interested in, but I ended it over two years ago. What I’m doing these days is truly done individually. I think this is what I myself had desired. This album is, in other words, a truly personal work. There’s more of a candid storytelling compared to my previous work, and I’ll be happy if evidence of growth can be seen, too (laughs). ML: The Cross is no longer in existence, correct? Roger: Yeah, for a few years now. ML: I’m sorry to keep talking about a band that is done now, but The Cross’s music was very simple rock’n’roll, and unlike Queen, I got the impression that you were striving for something that could easily be replicated live in concert. For your new solo work, I only received the cassette yesterday and have only heard it a few times, so I don’t know if my judgment is correct. But my impression was that it is more mature, or mellow, in other words. Roger: I do believe it’s more mature, but I don’t think it’s mellow in the true sense of the word. Because lyrically, more than Queen, more than The Cross… more than anything else I’ve done, it’s harder. The Cross was basically a band used to get back to basics, and I wasn’t the only one writing the songs, so it wasn’t necessarily me being reflected. The first album with the whole band only had two songs written by me. And with this album, aside from the song I co-wrote with Yoshiki, I can say clearly that it was all me. I tried to keep the music simple, and did the best I could to keep it in its truest form. That said, I hope it’s not so simple that you’d react negatively (laughs). ML: I haven’t listened to it in detail yet and I haven’t yet accurately grasped the lyrics, but from what I’ve read, the title of the song “Happiness” comes from a quote from Picasso: “Everything exists in limited quantity – especially happiness.” Roger: No, I only found out about that quote after I wrote that song. When I wrote that song, it was at a time when Freddie’s death and a lot of other things had me thinking seriously about my life, and I wasn’t confident about whether I should continue with music or not. I suddenly realized, “This is what I’m doing, this is what makes me happy, and to stay happy it’s extremely important to keep working.” I think happiness is something anybody wants, anybody looks for, but always out of reach and can only sometimes be experienced. When I was having those thoughts, I came across that quote by Picasso in a book about him and his words. It perfectly fit what I was thinking. I thought it was a good quote. It’s true that happiness in particular is in limited quantities. After all, it’s always something I’m trying to make mine. If you always have it, then it’s no longer happiness, and just becomes ordinary conditions. To stand up, you have to fall down once. That’s how life is, and that’s how it should be. He was able to put that into words exceedingly well. “Everything exists in limited quantity” means you can’t always have what you want. Anyway, I just thought it was a wonderful and simple quote. ML: Can you presently, while acknowledging that there are limited amounts, say that you are in a happy situation? Roger: Yeah, of course. I’m very optimistic, and I think I’m a fortunate person, with a wonderful family, and being able to live like I am. Also, I think I’ve had a good life right up to now. I have absolutely no sense that I’m unhappy. I think I’ve answered your question (laughs). ML: Another song that has interesting lyrics is Nazis 1994, and as the title suggests, it appears to be about neo-Nazis. Roger: Yeah, that’s completely correct. There’s something terrifying about the return of neo-Nazis. Among some youths in places like Europe and America, there are those that believe that the Holocaust never happened. It’s because of propaganda claiming it didn’t happen. And neo-Nazis are actually spreading those lies. This point of view was born from ignorance, fosters ignorance, and encourages hate. It was such a terrible thing that I wrote a song about it. Because without having responsibilities towards Queen or the other members, I can now say what I’m feeling very freely. I’ve made a lot of money and have no need to secure my livelihood, so I felt like I could speak my mind freely. So that’s why I had them let me speak (laughs). ML: Does that mean that compared with before, there’s a lot you want to say through your lyrics? Roger: It’s more like I’m in a position where I can speak. I’ve gotten older and have had a lot of experiences, and hopefully have gotten wiser as well, and so just like everybody else, I arrived at a point where I have my own opinions. With that being the case, why not same them (laughs)? It might be too late if I wait until tomorrow. ML: There are people who actually try to use music as a tool to make things happen or change people’s hearts. Do you think music has that effect? Roger: I think it’s possible to make things happen. Of course, you have to take responsibility and do it in an appropriate way. Depending on the subject matter, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to use music in this way. However, I don’t really understand the idea of persuading someone. It’s no doubt best to just leave it at proposing an idea. It’s not good to lecture someone. I do think it’s valid to say your opinion and present the fact that there’s this kind of opinion too, though. ML: In other words, you want to give people an opportunity to think? Roger: That’s exactly it. --- ML: With regards to your interviews about your current album, probably 10 out of 10 people have asked you this already but… you co-wrote and performed together with Japanese musician Yoshiki, didn’t you? Roger: Yeah, but this one’s only my fourth interview so far (laughs). ML: So, is it 4 out of 4? (laughs) Roger: Hahaha… no, it’s not like every single person is possessed by that topic (laughs). But, of course I was expecting that question. It’s only natural. ML: What kind of events led to the start of this? Roger: Someone connected to Yoshiki gave me a letter. There was an explanation of who he was and about X JAPAN, and I thought he was an interesting person. And, when he was in London recording a solo album with George Martin, he sent me a message asking if we could meet, so I invited him over for dinner at my place in the English countryside. He came over, we ate together, and had a fun evening. I brought him over to my studio and showed him all the equipment and such, and we hit it off. I think we identified with each other. He’s quite the perfectionist, and had many qualities in common with Freddie. He has a big perspective on his path, how he wants to show himself, how he wants to present himself to the world, and how the world will react to him. I like this kind of perfectionism and extremely strong belief in one’s self… I thought we could work together well. Afterwards, he sent me a few of his own songs, and I sent some ideas back, and he made some small changes based on that and sent them back to me… he came up with the title of Foreign Sand, the song we co-wrote, and I thought it was a great title, too. Then I wrote lyrics and sent him a version with rough vocals. We agreed to meet in LA after that, and then recorded together at his studio there. ML: What are your impressions of the track itself? Roger: It’s wonderful. I like it a lot. I think he’s extremely talented. It has a good melody and a good arrangement. I like the final section in particular. That part where the phrases rise to the top in alternating fashion. I think it’s a good song, and I like the sentimental feeling, too. Also, a Western artist like myself working together with a Japanese artist like Yoshiki and joining together… instead of being scared of a different culture I don’t know and I’m not familiar with, I stretch out my hand and embrace that culture, hoping to understand even a little bit. It’s wonderful, isn’t it? In other words, it’s the idea of not being scared and instead accepting and having a deeper understanding, without fearing the unknown. ML: I believe Yoshiki is also significantly influenced by Queen… Roger: Probably yeah. Actually, he told me so. Apparently he loved Queen a long time ago. He talked to me about this and that when he was a kid. ML: It must be of great interest to you, working together with people of the next generation like him, who have been influenced by you. Roger: That’s right. As I get older and travel around, I get surprised by the influence Queen had. Of course it was a fairly long career, but I’m still surprised by that level of popularity. Our old records are still selling. Bohemian Rhapsody became a big hit in America again about a year ago. It’s unbelievable. I’m happy about it and it’s a great thing, though. ML: In a similar fashion to your collaboration with Yoshiki, “a fusion of Eastern and Western cultures” was one of the goals of the event in Nara last weekend, wasn’t it? Roger: It was a “Great Music Experience” (laughs). I thought it was a great initiative… did you see it? ML: I went on Saturday (May 21st). Roger: Saturday, eh… Saturday wasn’t very good (laughs). Sunday’s show was better. It was a new experience for me. There was an extremely interesting lineup, and wonderful artists gathered together. I’ve been a big fan of Bob Dylan since I was a child. Even now, among current songwriters, he’s undoubtedly the best in the West. Joni Mitchell is, to me, the best female artist. That’s based on my taste, though. Ry Cooder, INXS, they’re wonderful, too. I love them. I was very interested in them, but I heard The Chieftains performing with an Okinawan music group and thought it was amazing. There were a lot of similarities in their sounds and melodies. The Japanese taiko drums were wonderful too. They blended well with the music. I thought it was a very interesting project. On the opposite end was a band like X JAPAN that is popular in Japan now (laughs). You could say it was a release of great culture. ML: I believe you could see, from the stage, many fans wearing clothes and makeup similar to those of X JAPAN. Roger: You know what, I couldn’t see a single thing. However, I did hear a lot of shrieking and yelling (laughs). ML: I heard that the basic concept of the event was to take the cultural heritage of music and convey it to the 21st century. Roger: Apparently the goal is to realize it in 5 or 6 years’ time. ML: Do you also have a similar way of thinking? Roger: Hm, I wonder. There’s no harm in it, but I think it’s extremely bold and takes courage to say. I don’t know about the 21st century. When different cultures meet, and when that many outstanding musicians gather, I don’t think harm can come out of it. That in itself is a wonderful thing. I don’t know about the next century, though. --- ML: I’d like to return to talking about the album. I believe you are featured on this album on vocals as a singer like never before, and you can say more through your lyrics than before, like we have already discussed. At the same time, is there a stronger desire than before to sing? Roger: Yeah, I have a little more confidence in my singing than before. With Queen, it was normal to sing along with Freddie and Brian, and I would occasionally sing by myself, but now I have experience and I think my voice has matured. That’s why without a doubt I have more confidence, and the record places great importance on the vocals and lyrics, especially the lyrics. That is to say, my answer is “yes” (laughs). ML: How did you pick the musicians involved in the recording? Roger: It’s made up of musicians I’ve liked from before, and I have a funny story about the guitarist, Jason Falloon. A close friend of mine says to me, “You have to listen to this young guitarist! He’s playing with his siblings and father at this really small venue, and they all play instruments, and his dad’s a guitar teacher… let’s go see them.” So, late one evening I went with him. And, I got to the venue and was surprised. The guy’s playing surprising songs, like Voodoo Chile with just an amazing technique. So I asked him there, “Will you do some work with me?” He came the next day, and we did just a little bit of work together. As a result, I made quite a good connection. If we were to do live concerts, there’s no doubt I’d take him with me. He’s featured quite a bit on this album. He plays in the style that I like. To put it simply, it’s “really fun guitar.” I didn’t want to use session musicians. This way feels more natural. ML: So that means you’re releasing the album as a solo artist, but for live shows you want to go out as a band? Roger: After all, it’s going to be necessary to have musicians for the music (laughs). In all likelihood, it will probably be the same members that were used for recording the album. And we’d play my songs. ML: Do you already have concrete plans for a tour? Roger: No, nothing has been decided. But we’ve had a few talks for sure. ML: These days, around the world, the situation around rock music in particular has gotten harsh, and it’s been said that it’s difficult for any artist to go on tour. What are your views on this? Roger: Really? I haven’t been on tour in quite a long time (laughs). I have nothing I can say about it. I really don’t know. Pink Floyd would probably say, “That's not the case.” (laughs) ML: I believe there are still situations where tours promote record sales and create a hit song, but it seems like it’s more often the case that MTV and others become media for direct promotion. Roger: It’s true that things like MTV can reach more people with music in one go than tours can. That said, I think records are sold to a certain extent due to the artist’s ability, and people who buy them will say, “This is good. You should get one,” and recommend it to others, leading to more sales. I think that kind of word of mouth is largely effective. Like, “This is so-and-so’s album.” Well, I don’t know, though. I haven’t been on tour in a long time, so I don’t know. ML: Speaking of MTV, before things like that were common, Queen was making amazing videos since the early 70’s. If something like MTV had existed back then, I wonder if you would have made videos that would have been truly surprising? Roger: That’s true. Also, there are many people who say that we were the first to make a music video. I still remember having a meeting with the American record company and trying to persuade them about the power of videos. We would tell them, “If you make this, people will see it even in Europe and Australia.” But they would say, “No, no, there’s no use in making videos in the US, it won’t catch on.” How wrong were they? Now, the power of video has already been proven. However… I’d be extremely thankful if we never had to watch the videos from back then again (laughs). We went overboard. You’ve seen the videos from back then too, right? We just had to try anything and everything that came to mind. Although I think we had to play those games to a certain degree. --- ML: Now, as I mentioned earlier, I’d like to talk a little about the past. Even while you stayed away from touring, rock fans kept regenerating, and among young fans in their teens there are likely many that learned about Queen for the first time after watching the tribute concert for Freddie, or those that will hear this solo album and trace its lineage to Queen. What do you think about the fact that those kinds of things will spread the music of Queen? Roger: Yeah, there are other unimaginable channels as well. For example, there’s Wayne’s World. In the United States, that movie became a hit and a completely new generation came to know Queen. It happened in other countries too. Also, there’s a movie called Mighty Ducks. Bob Dylan’s manager was telling me that his son used to listen to Dylan all the time, but when they heard We Are the Champions in this Mighty Ducks movie, he started listening to Queen all of the time (laughs). The music of Queen gets discovered that way. And so in a new way… it’s a bit of a strange way, but we get hits around the world to this day. However, the music itself, in other words the essence of the music goes along with that for sure, and I think that’s why it continues to survive. It’s musically strong, and to survive you undoubtedly need enough musical content and intellectual structure. It seems like it has actually survived. When I travel, I’m constantly surprised at how unbelievably popular Queen is in various countries. When you think about how we’re not actually active currently, this is amazing. But I have to tell you that there’s one more Queen album left with Freddie’s involvement. We’re touching things up a bit at the moment, and Brian is currently working on one his songs for that album, but, well, it probably shouldn’t take longer than a year. Anyway, it’s surprising that Queen has been popular for this long. And it’s because of the other, younger generation. Even my son tells me that we’re quite hip these days (laughs). Well, fashionable things usually fall out of fashion the next year, though. ML: How old is your son? Roger: 13… no, the other Sunday he turned 14. ML: Then you have to buy a present before going back. Roger: Absolutely. I have to go buy something (laughs). ML: Now, I think it’s an extremely difficult question, but how would you concisely describe what kind of band Queen was in a few words if you were asked to do so for the benefit of people interested in exploring Queen? Roger: It’s impossible to do that in two or three words. For young kids? That’s a tough one… Hm, we were about as successful as these guys (pointing at the photo of Gene Simmons on the cover of the June 1994 issue of Music Life), and wore ridiculous clothes… (laughs). Pheww… no (he places a book on top of that issue of Music Life so that cover is no longer visible), Queen was… Queen was a band that appealed to the visual senses very much, and as for music, we strived to not make any compromises. And, we made extremely complex sounds. Although it wasn’t all like that. Songs like Another One Bites the Dust or Crazy Little Thing Called Love… those weren’t complex, but they were good songs. No matter what, we always aimed to keep the standards of our music high, and did our best to clear away obstacles for the structure of our melodies and harmonies. At the same time, we wanted to preserve the excitement of a strong rock group, and furthermore, to keep our visual look interesting. I guess that’s about it. That’s all that immediately comes to mind now (laughs). ML: With regards to the visual aspects, how do you feel when you look back at old photos, including all the outfits and such? Roger: Hahaha… I don’t like to look back at them if it’s at all possible. Well, it’s the foolishness of youth. That said, it was fun for what it was. We, too, were having a lot of fun. It’s true that we were dressed up like fools, but the young people of today are doing the same thing. Things go in circles. It’s fine for young people to do those kinds of things. It’s a wonderful thing. What’s wrong with it? It’s the privilege of being young. Of course, I wouldn’t think about wearing that kind of thing now, though (laughs). ML: Now, if it’s okay with you, can we have you do simple commentaries on a few Queen albums? It doesn’t have to be all of them. Roger: Of course (as he says this, he prepares a page in Music Life’s June issue, featuring an ad for Queen’s reissues). Here you go (laughs). ML: I think all musicians feel strongly about their debut albums, so what kinds of thoughts do you have about Queen’s debut album? Roger: What I remember is that we didn’t have enough time in the studio, and had to work at night. Also, we fought hard against the studio hands to get the sound we wanted, but ultimately we couldn’t get that sound. Still, I think it’s a good album, because it’s our first album. If I listen to it now… for sure it’s not the sound we wanted, but there are a few strong songs on this album. ML: I seem to recall that at that time, it wasn’t well-received by the British press, and there was a fair bit of criticism. Roger: Yeah… but that in itself is very British. They hate success. The more we succeeded, the more bad press we got. That’s why I’d get genuinely concerned when we did get positive reviews (laughs). I always thought that the people of the world know a lot more than the press. Yeah, the British don’t like success. They are jealous. Traditionally, they celebrate some meaningless artist, and then believe that they have power because they created these artists. That’s not the way the media should be, though. And, if an artist genuinely succeeds, it’s not always the case, but they crush them. Or, they at least try to do that. ML: And now on to the second album, Queen II, where the vinyl release had a Side White and a Side Black. These boundaries disappeared with the CD release. I assume you had no idea that something like this could happen in the future. Roger: Hm, maybe we should have them call it the “White Section” and the “Black Section” (laughs). I had thought of that before. What you said is true. But with this second album, we got closer to our ideal harmonies and sound, and we saw it as a giant step from our debut album. We were able to get a bit more control around this time, and Freddie was writing extremely complex, good songs. We experimented a lot with this album. I think it’s a very experimental and daring album. Personally, I like it a lot more than the first album. ML: At that time, you recorded several vocal harmonies layered on top of each other, and wrote “No Synthesizers!” like a band policy to show that synthesizers weren’t used. Roger: That’s right, over and over, the three of us would… It was actually a very primitive recording method. We only used a 16-channel console, and we recorded vocals on all of the channels and then brought them together on one, and then again vocals, vocals, vocals…. It was multitrack recording, and we were pioneers in that kind of recording. ML: Synthesizers were already in use at that time, and it would have been easy for you to get, but you purposely avoided using them, right? Roger: For sure, we could have gotten one if we wanted, but we didn’t like them very much. They still weren’t very good at that time. You could only produce one sound at a time, and couldn’t play chords. Simply put, it wasn’t polyphonic. So, we saw it as an extremely tedious instrument that was difficult to put any emotion into, and didn’t like it. Synthesizers these days are like completely different instruments, though. They’ve been refined, and have become surprisingly versatile instruments. However, that wasn’t the case back then. ML: Getting back to the British press we discussed earlier, you were often called successors to Led Zeppelin around the time of the debut album, and were said to be doing somewhat tricky things like Yes after the second album. Roger: Hahaha… but the structure was quite different, and frankly, there was absolutely nothing similar to Yes. Because, the complexity of Yes was in their instrumental… arrangement of their instrument, whereas the complexity in our music was mostly centred around our vocals. The debut album did indeed have influences from Zeppelin. We love Zeppelin. They are a wonderful band. Yeah, there was an influence. As for Yes, I did like them quite a bit back then, but I don’t think there was a big influence. ML: And the next album, Sheer Heart Attack, led to comparisons with The Beatles because of the variety of songs… Roger: Hahaha. That may be true. Well, a lot of ridiculous things have been said (laughs). I loved The Beatles. Each of us loved The Beatles back then, but we bear no resemblance to them. Sheer Heart Attack is a powerful, good album. I liked it a lot. The complexity was reduced, and the focus narrowed… like you said, the songs got shorter, and with the variety increasing a little, maybe you could say it was in the style of a Beatles album. Yeah, in that sense. That said, the sound wasn’t like that of The Beatles. ML: And now, with A Night at the Opera, with respect to the overall impression, I think what we would have to call the Queen sound was established, and this was widely recognized. Roger: Yeah, that’s exactly how it is. ML: With A Night at the Opera and the follow up, A Day at the Races used as stepping stones, we could say that Queen was starting to get recognized world-wide… Roger: Yeah. I’ve always thought of those two albums as one set of work. They both had a lot of effort put into them, and one is like the sequel to the other, so you can’t truly compare those two. I think they were both powerful. A Night at the Opera might be more mature as a piece of work, though. ML: Queen came to be known as a big artist by this time, and with lots of hit songs as well, I feel like you must have earned increasing freedom with your work, as well as financially-speaking. And I think those results are linked to the success of the albums that followed, but what do you think? Like, you were able to become more experimental… Roger: I’m not sure about that. I don’t think that News of the World was more experimental than A Night at the Opera, or perhaps Queen II. That said, I think it was a good album. Still, there was something not quite satisfying, or… News of the World is not an experimental album at all for me. It’s a good piece of work, but not very experimental. There were interesting parts and a few big hits, though. ML: Synthesizers started getting used around this time, right? Roger: No, The Game should be the first time. ML: Up until then, it was understood even by fans that it was a policy for Queen not to use synthesizers, so when you first started to freely use synthesizers, what kind of decision was made? Roger: One day suddenly, synthesizers became the darling of the generation. It turned into a fantastic instrument. It became polyphonic, you could play chords on it, layer sounds on top of each other, and you could easily have it play a variety of sounds without walking around plugging things in here and there. For those reasons, we suddenly started to see it as an instrument with some value. Like, we could produce nice-sounding sounds of string instruments… Also, the “No Synthesizers!” was a response to the incorrect criticism that we were using something that we weren’t, and it was a way for us to claim, “No, we did it with our own voices and guitar.” Besides, it’s not like we avoided using it because of those comments. I think we should adapt as the circumstances change. That’s what we did. ML: Next up is the double live album, Live Killers. Fans should understand beforehand that bands like Queen that do complex things on albums cannot exactly reproduce them on stage. I’d imagine there was quite a bit of trouble on that end when it came to recording the live show. Roger: Recently, I know there are a lot of bands that use samples, tapes, machines, and other musicians unseen, but we have never done any of that. We wanted to do everything live on stage with just us. So we simplified the performance and made it suitable for the stage. It increased the effects we used, but the playing itself became simple, and it simply became more exciting than playing exactly how it is on the record. The stage and the recording are completely different things, so we treated them completely differently. I don’t think Live Killers is a very good album. I never thought it was good while listening to it because I didn’t like the recording conditions. However… I haven’t heard it for several years (laughs). ML: Even though you don’t like Live Killers, do you still listen to the work from the Queen era? Roger: It has been quite a while. But, I do listen on rare occasions. I’d listen while thinking, “I haven’t heard this song in a long time,” while the CDs were being made in England, and that was a lot of fun. There are songs that I really have fun remembering, although there are a lot of songs I’ve forgotten about as well (laughs). ML: What is your favourite album as a fan of music, and what album do you regret being a part of? Roger: Jazz is the one I regret the most. It’s not a very strong album, and there were too many songs. I don’t think all of the best songs were chosen for inclusion. There were some good songs, though… I think the best one was… this is a very difficult one, but A Night at the Opera is a good album, and Innuendo is also a really wonderful album. Freddie’s singing on Innuendo is top notch. ML: Even among Queen fans, I think there are many who stopped listening after the ‘70s, or those that moved on from rock music, including Queen. I would often hear those same people say, “This is a true masterpiece that has been a long time coming!” when they heard Innuendo. Roger: Yeah, that’s a really interesting thing. Personally, I was very satisfied with that album. The sound is good, the songs are good, and the vocals are wonderful. Strangely, when we were recording that album, Freddie already knew that his own death was getting nearer… that might be why he put everything into it, more than before… I really like that album. It’s very moving. ML: I think what you just said was quite an impactful truth, so would you mind if I ask you about it in more detail? About how Freddie knew his death was approaching… Roger: I don’t really want to talk about it in more detail. ML: But he told you about what was happening, and you went on to record the album knowing this? Roger: …Yeah. ML: And, as it has been mentioned before, you recorded material for one more album during that time? Roger: That’s right. We really kept on recording. Because that was Freddie’s wish. So, we have to finish off the job (laughs). That’s our duty to him. ML: I understand. Now, as for yourself, I’m sure you have a tour planned to go with the album’s release, so can you tell us what you know about a rough schedule? Roger: A tour is possible. But truthfully, I still don’t know. Anyway, I’ve come to Japan, haven’t I? And I’ve finished my part for the Queen album, but there’s still work to do next year. I want to do live shows as soon as possible. I’m seeing how this album is received. If it’s well-liked, I’d want to do some shows for sure, and if it’s not… I doubt it (laughs). Anyway, I do want to. It would probably be very different from Queen, so I think it’s very interesting. Of course, it would also be very different from The Cross. It’s a personal challenge for me. ML: The Cross never came to Japan, and if you don’t include the concert in Nara, Japanese fans haven’t seen you on stage since the last Queen show in Japan, so you absolutely must come to Japan on tour (laughs). Roger: Thank you. I’m really enjoying myself coming to Japan after 10 years. But it doesn’t look like much has changed. I want to come again and play for a Japanese audience. ML: You say things haven’t changed much, but when you first came, 3000 girls greeted you at the airport. Roger: Yeah, that has changed! That has changed for sure (laughs). But you know, I was surprised to see lots of girls at the hotel in Osaka. Everyone knew about Queen from before. There were lots of them, so maybe I haven’t been tossed aside quite yet (laughs). ML: I wonder if you have positive memories from those events from your first time in Japan? Roger: Of course. It was fantastic. It’s a great memory now. That said… back then, it was tough when I was young (laughs). But it was really a good memory. The girls were crazy. ML: I wish the same thing happens again. Roger: No, no (laughs). Give me a break. Some crazy… housewives? (laughs) --- ML: It’s rude of me to bring up age, but when you get to around your age… Roger: What’s it to you that I’m 22 years old? (laughs out loud) ML: Musicians not only produce music, but they do things like produce other artists and get involved in other areas of music, or have dealings with completely different businesses. Do you have any interest in those things? Roger: Nah, that’s a no. I’ve thought about it, and actually, I’ve produced some records in the past, and I spent too much time on other people’s music. I’m a great believer in the philosophy that I am a musician, a singer, and a drummer. We’re supposed to be good at only one thing, so it’s usually a mistake for musicians to try to become actors. We should stick to what we are good at, know well, and really do well. It’s arrogant to try to do too many things. People who think, “I’m a rock star so I can be a movie star, too,” may not truly love what they are doing. ML: Since the ‘70s, fans and others have been saying, “Roger is the most rock’n’roll among the members of Queen.” Just as there is a limit to happiness, are there limits to having a typical rock’n’roll lifestyle? Roger: If that means something like Keith Richards, it’s not necessary for me at this age (laughs). That’s a difficult one. Of course I’m a rocker, and that’s true to this day. Once you’re a rocker, you’re a rocker until you die. But I don’t stay up late anymore. I like alcohol so I do go drinking, but I don’t drink until I get sick. It’s true that people change as they get older. They really do change. And, if it’s possible, I’d like to become wiser. Not that a little craziness is particularly bad, especially when you’re young. I do enjoy that, too, but you can’t be like that your whole life. For example, 50-year-old or 60-year-old rockers would look foolish without dignity (laughs). I think the longer we live, the more we need to change, and we need to grow. ML: Being the rocker that you still are, what kind of music are you listening to? Roger: If it’s something I like, I’ll listen to anything. Anything is possible. If I like it while listening to it, I can like it. For example, Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia. I also like Salt-N-Pepa for that kind of style. What else do I like… sometimes there are albums that I like. But, I don’t like most albums. 90% of it is common stuff. I’m trying to think of what else I like… I love Pearl Jam. There’s quite a lot. There really is a lot of variety. There are several songs by Nirvana that I like. I don’t like all of their stuff, though. I’m trying to use this (the table of contents of a Music Life issue) to help me, but nothing comes to mind (laughs). (He turns a page and briefly sees a picture of Kurt Cobain, but for some reason suddenly closes it again.) Well anyway, I guess it depends on the song. ML: Your solo album is all you, minus your collaboration with Yoshiki, so you’ll likely be seen even more as a songwriter going forward. There was a strong impression that Freddie and Brian were the two major forces of songwriting with Queen… the writing contributions by you and John were appreciated later, but while you were seen as a drummer, in the early days was there any dissatisfaction due to thinking you weren’t justifiably seen as a songwriter or artist? Roger: No, there wasn’t any of that. At the beginning, I wasn’t very concerned with songwriting. That changed with each song I wrote. Freddie was always a great help. And in the end… it’s actually a strange thing, but ultimately it became very equal. Freddie wrote most of the hits for the first 10 years, and Freddie and Brian wrote the majority of the songs, with John and I usually writing one or two songs per album. But for the next 10 years, John as well would write a few songs… or rather, profusely. In that way, we progressed in a strange way. I, too, gradually became accustomed to songwriting, I’d say that might be what I enjoy the most now. So, Freddie and Brian wrote most of the songs for the first 10 years, but for the next 10 years, the circumstances changed quite a bit, and finally we decided to share everything equally. That’s why recently, the songs we write are all credited as “written by Queen.” Of course it may not have been completely equal, and Freddie may not have written as much as he used to… but, things went well because of that, and it was very democratic. No problems came about because of this. Rather, thanks to that, we were able to work hard at writing songs without any worry. But the beginning is the beginning, and that way of doing things was fair at that time. In other words, it’s no mistake that Freddie was the one who had the vision and the ideas. ML: Since you’re releasing a solo album, you must have the feeling of wanting to be recognized as a singer and also a songwriter even more than before. Roger: Yeah. In the ‘80s we wrote quite a few hits by ourselves, so ultimately it was as if it got offset… but for sure, I think I’d like that. I’d like to be seen as a person that is an all-around musician as well as a singer. ML: Well, wrapping things up, can we have a message for two kinds of fans? First of all, to the younger generation who may start listening to Queen. And then, to the female fans who have chased after Queen for 20 years, missing their chance to get married (laughs). Roger: Hahaha, what on Earth! Hm, a message? To start, for the younger people, it would be to please give us a listen (laughs). What should I say… I’d be happy if everyone discovered our music and then enjoyed themselves. And to the long-time lovers, thank you for following us for so long (laughs). I give my thanks for spending time and so on on us. Everyone has truly been faithful fans. Japan was the first country to notice us on a large scale. That’s all thanks to you. Thank you. Pic by Koh Hasebe during Roger's promotional interviews in Japan in 1994
|
|
|
Post by Chopin1995 on Feb 24, 2024 19:38:05 GMT
Interesting to read Roger's opinion on Queen albums at that time, specially Innuendo.
Thank you for yet another translation from the vaults of the Japanese magazines.
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Mar 12, 2024 2:46:19 GMT
“I’m surprised by the deep-rooted support of Japanese fans” - John Deacon From “Densetsu no Kuiin” (commemorative Music Life issue, July 1979)
Interview and text by Kaoruko Togo and Midori Tsukagoshi Original text in Japanese; translation to English by me [I’ve translated parts of this interview before, in particular the part about Costello and Petersson. This is the first time I translated the whole interview.] Music Life (ML): John, you have the reputation of being the quietest in the band… John: Yeah, I bet. It’s easier to perform that way, particularly on stage. Isn’t everyone that way? ML: I heard you recently had your second child. John: (looking happy) Yeah, it’s our second boy. The oldest is Robert, and the youngest is called Michael. ML: You’re always smiling and look happy. John: (smiling) Yeah, I think if you smile, you start feeling happy. Even when something bad happens, I make an effort to think of good things and smile. It’s better than being serious and worrying. ML: Now that you’ve achieved success as a member of Queen, what do you want? John: I want to go back to my home and have time to relax and take it easy. We were working non-stop last year. It’s hard for the four of us to be together all the time. It’s already been 6-7 years together. I’m sure other bands can say the same thing. ML: Last year, I was surprised when I saw your hairstyle at the concert in New Orleans. Is there an explanation for this? (laughs) John: Ummmm (laughs) I made it a little shorter at first, but I’m bored of long hair. And shorter hair is easier to manage (laughs). These days, long hair is not very fashionable in England. Maybe things are changing in England, but nowadays it’s only Japan [the band] that has long hair (laughs). I heard Japan is popular in Japan. Their music is so-so but they have an intense image. ML: Lately, you’ve been more eager about song-writing, haven’t you? John: Yeah, although I don’t write very much. My musical influences are different from the other members. I wonder if the feeling is different. ML: Yes, well, I think it’s very poppy and melodic. What kind of music did you grow up listening to? John: I used to listen to things like the Top 20 on the radio when I was about 11 or 12. Cliff Richard, The Shadows… and the likes of Cream and Rory Gallagher for the blues, and I listened to quite a bit of soul singers, too. Of course, I think I have a fair bit of influence from The Beatles. ML: I’ve heard you liked American funk music, and now, disco has become mainstream in the US. John: That may be true. But, for example with Van Halen, I think they came on to the scene with quite a push from British bands. ML: What do you think about current British new wave music? Acts like The Stranglers and Graham Parker are popular in Japan as well. John: I think it’s a good thing that bands like that are being well-received in Japan. I think Elvis Costello is the best. All of his songs are amazing. I bet he’ll find success in the US as well. It’s a wonderful thing when British musicians make a strong impact in the US. His lyrics include some very political ones, but he was still accepted. He’s still young, but that’s not a problem. ML: Graham Parker has a song called “Discovering Japan” on his latest album, where he sings about how Japan is being overly Americanized. What are your thoughts on this? John: I don’t think that’s the case. Japanese culture is different from Western culture. I thought that when I first came here four years ago, and I still think that with this visit. I come to this conclusion having seen several countries. ML: It’s been three years since your last visit to Japan, but you were voted #1 in the Music Life readers’ poll for favourite bassist. John: What? It’s not Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick? ML: The final results showed you at #1. John: Really! Thank you very much! (looking truly happy) So, we are still popular in Japan. I’m surprised by that because we haven’t even been here in three years. ML: Yes, but you’ve been voted top group for four consecutive years. John: I’m really happy. When we first came to Japan, bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin were popular back then. ML: Queen fans have changed a little bit over time, haven’t they? John: That’s right. I wonder if the average age of our fans has gone up by three years? The fans have also matured that much. But still, it’s a surprising fact that we’ve been able to maintain our popularity over these three years, because everything changes in three years. On top of that, lots of bands have been coming to Japan, and now, even just in Tokyo, they’re here in great numbers, with Bob Welch, Journey, Boston, and Bob Marley. It wasn’t like this three years ago. I’m really happy that with so many concerts, people are choosing Queen. ML: Do you have any advice for the amateur bands that have popped up in Japan with the aim to be like Queen? John: Listen to lots of records. And, find what makes you different from us. But imitation is also important at first. At first, I played bass copying what I heard on records. ML: How many bass guitars do you own now? John: Maybe four or five. There are two ready for the stage because I change it up for ‘39. My favourite is the Fender Precision. Last time, in the US, I found this old Precision. It’s from about 50 years ago, and the pickups are totally different. I’m thinking of using it for our next recording sessions. I haven’t tried Japanese basses yet. [end of article/interview] [Prior to interviewing John, the Music Life staff had finished interviewing Brian and Roger at the hotel. They were packing up their photography, lighting and other equipment, as well as the coffee and tea etc. when there was a knock at the door. It was John, ready for his interview, smiling as always. The Music Life staff had completely forgotten about him, so they quickly started putting everything back while trying not to raise John’s suspicions. Also an anecdote well-known to Japanese fans: at one point during the interview, he asked for some tea, and when he asked for a second cup they accidentally poured him coffee without realizing it at first. John finished the cup without a single complaint and said, “This tea tastes like coffee.”] [Tom Petersson took #1 in the Music Life poll for bassists in 1979 (published 1980), but John was back at #1 for 1980 to 1982. He fell to #27 in 1987 and was unranked a year later, but he slowly came back and was at #5 in '95.] Photo by Koh Hasebe in April 1979, during this interview.
|
|
georg
Global Moderator
wrote several books
Posts: 1,054
Likes: 1,355
|
Post by georg on Mar 13, 2024 1:18:51 GMT
It’s always a good day when you translate one of these articles, dtm – many thanks!
|
|
|
Post by deathtoming on Apr 6, 2024 18:41:47 GMT
“Queen’s Success Started With Believing In Ourselves” From Music Life magazine, April 1981 issue
Interview and Japanese text by Kaoruko Togo [translation from Japanese to English by me] [Translation note: the Japanese text made reference to the formation of a “Queen management” group a few times, so I used those words. I think they’re referring to Queen Productions but I wasn’t 100% sure so I left it at “management.”] Music Life (ML): Queen was voted best group again in the Music Life readers’ poll. Congratulations. Let’s start with your thoughts on that… Freddie: I’m very happy. But I was voted #3 in the worst dressed poll, ahaha. ML: Ahh, please see that as half a joke, more or less (laughs). Anyway, you could say that presently, Queen is the most successful band in the world, but I hear you’re still living in London? You must have a strong attachment to London, when you could be living anywhere in the world. Freddie: Actually, around a year and a half ago, I thought about moving to New York, and I went around looking for a home there. The place was next to The Dakota, where John Lennon lived. But I’m the type that changes their mind quickly and my determination weakens. When you have a lifestyle like this with lots of tours, you get somewhat distracted. And, I just bought a big house in London. So, I think I’ll be living in London for the time being. Well, it’s where I grew up, so I guess there’s a bit of a sense of attachment. ML: But maybe it was for the best that you didn’t move to New York? There was that incident, after all (the shooting death of John Lennon). Freddie: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. That said, I’m planning on spending a few days in New York after our tour in Japan. ML: Is there a place you’d like to live, even in your dreams? Freddie: Uhhhh…. There was a time when I thought it’d be nice to live in Japan. But I change my mind so easily (laughs). And Japan is far away. But I’m thinking of making an exact copy of a Japanese garden at my home in London. ML: There are musicians who say they have been disappointed by the over-Westernization of Tokyo and other cities. Your knowledge of Japan is very well known, so what are your thoughts on this? Freddie: Personally speaking, I thought it was really wonderful. When I first came to Japan, I was very impressed. Even though it’s Westernized, there are plenty of traditional parts that remain, and Western things are only adopted. I have no idea what they could be looking at to say they are disappointed in Japan. ML: Also, you have an interest in Eastern fine arts and handicrafts. I think it’s difficult for foreigners to understand some aspects of the simple beauty of Eastern arts. Freddie: I think of myself as not being narrow-minded, at least (laughs). I’m interested in both Eastern and Western art. Like you said, Eastern fine art charms you with the delicate beauty of its colours and shapes. Also, I think I am personally very influenced by Western art from around the 16th century. ML: Given what you said about yourself, I’m interested in what would be produced if you were to make a solo album. Freddie: OH! (laughs) I can’t imagine that at all myself, either. Roger has already finished a solo album, and it’s not like I haven’t thought about doing one. But there are no concrete ideas. I’m perfectly happy now writing and singing songs for Queen, and writing songs is a little like solo work anyway. When it’s completed as a Queen number, it’s no longer personal work, but when I’m writing songs, it’s close to individual work. ML: Changing topics a bit, among Japanese children, it’s common to have people they idolize, like baseball players or sumo wrestlers. Who were your idols when you were a child? Freddie: I had lots of them (laughs). Uhhh…. It’s hard to name a specific one, though. For musicians, it definitely has to be Jimi Hendrix. ML: For me, it has to be The Beatles. That’s why I was shocked by the John Lennon incident. Freddie: Yeah, I was really surprised by that, too (he makes a face while saying this). People have to keep living every day no matter what happens, but I also thought it was important to be careful, with that in mind. John Lennon’s case was a sad event. ML: I strongly agree. By the way, Queen is about to approach its 10th year. Have these felt like long years, or did they go by quickly? Freddie: I can’t believe it has been 10 years, and I have the impression that those first few years went by quickly. Now, I have some time and can think back to those years sometimes, but back then we were sure absorbed in it all. ML: From the outside it appears to have been smooth sailing, but I’m sure from your perspective there must have been lots of struggles, too. Freddie: That’s right. Even for things that didn’t seem tough at the time, there are times now when I think about those days and think wow, we went through a lot. In particular, the very beginning of our debut was difficult. There was some trouble with the record label, and I wanted to quit many times, but we didn’t have money so we couldn’t quit even if we wanted to. I think those days were the toughest. Also, we had worries about our taxes until our management was solidified. We now have a system sorted out so we don’t have any problems, though. ML: Did you believe you could be successful as you are today, back in those days? Freddie: I think it started with trusting in myself. I think motivation comes from those thoughts, and back then, we needed to believe in ourselves. It was necessary to keep those feelings going. ML: I see, so you had conviction. By the way, there has been a recent increase in musicians creating their own management companies, with The Police being an example of success with this. Queen went in that direction quite early, didn’t you? Freddie: That’s exactly it! (He says this quite proudly…) We wanted to do it ourselves right from the beginning, but we needed to learn how to do it first. We went with several managers, thought we learned what we could, and then went on to establish our management group. ML: What kind of system do you have in place, specifically? Freddie: There’s a person that handles publicity, dealings with record companies, tour schedules, and matters relating to the publishing of our songs, but ultimately, the four of us have the final say. Thanks to that, everything’s going smoothly now (laughs). ML: Do the staff that deal with things like the sound system or lighting rig belong to this same company? Freddie: Not in the form of a company, but they are attached to Queen. There’s also the job of managing the fan club, and there’s a branch of this fan club in Los Angeles, too. There’s also someone in charge of those troublesome taxes (laughs). Well, it’s not quite a corporation, but you could say it’s a solid organization. ML: It must be difficult dealing with both music and business. Freddie: I guess, well for sure the individual responsibility on the four of us will increase, but it will work itself out once it gets started. Besides, it’s been five years since we established the office, and in the end, we’re the ones that decided to do this. ML: You said earlier that the four of you have the power to make the decisions, but what happens when your opinions don’t align, no matter what? Freddie: We get other staff to join our meetings, but if one of the four of us has a strongly opposing opinion, we discuss it thoroughly. For the most part it pretty much works out well that way! ML: When you first broke out into the scene, most of the songs were written by you and Brian, but Roger and John have been more actively involved in song writing recently, pushing forward each member’s personality, don’t you think? Freddie: Yeah, we’ve been working with each other as a group for 10 years, so I think we’re in a very good state now. We also have a desire to do lots of different things in the future. Also, lately I’ve become a little lazy when it comes to writing songs, and the other members are helping out at the right time on that front, so it’s good that my responsibilities have lightened (laughs). ML: Are there any plans for the Queen management group to do any work outside the scope of Queen? For example, movie production or discovering new talent…? Freddie: No, nothing like that. It’s not that we couldn’t do it if we tried, though. The four of us have other companies as well, so it’s possible to do something through them. For example, if I decide to produce someone else’s album, I could do it through my own company. However, we manage a recording studio as Queen as one of our investments. ML: Queen is enjoying success, but for you, which country’s rock scene is easier to be involved in, America’s or the UK’s? I have a feeling they’re both quite different… Freddie: Ummm, they’re both difficult (bursts out laughing). There isn’t a single thing about it that’s easy. I think it depends on the state of the band at any given time, as well as the changes in the circumstances. For example it’s necessary to respond according to the conditions, like this year we’ll focus on the US, and next year we’ll turn our attention to the UK. Like you said, the conditions in the US and UK are quite different, and we think of them as different regions. Using different bands as examples, Blondie and The Pretenders each have American aspects and British aspects to them, and that’s one reason for their success in both scenes. I hope we can also make the right judgements based on the conditions. ML: On the other hand, new acts keep coming on to the UK rock scene recently, and the UK music industry also seems to prefer these new acts, and appears to be cold towards veteran bands. Freddie: That’s true about the music industry press in particular. They’re only interested in new things. They promote things just because they are new. Queen and those guys have been fighting a Cold War these past 3-4 years (laughs). ML: That becomes very clear when you read the British music magazines. After all, there are extremely few articles about Queen considering how successful the band is (laughs). Freddie: Right? (laughs) Well, regardless of what happens, they just go ahead and make stuff up. Besides, no matter what’s written about us, the sales don’t suddenly go up or down because of it. There’s no influence. ML: There must be a lot of interview requests. Freddie: Apparently there are. But actually, there was this one incident before. There was an article in a music magazine with my interview, and below a picture there was the title, “Is This Man A Prat?” I don’t care what they write, but don’t you think that was a little horrible? Naturally I got angry. Since then, I lost my will to say yes to interview requests. ML: Despite that, Queen’s popularity and talent have increased, so there’s nothing to do but stay strong. You’re still going to keep trying different things without being constrained, right? Freddie: That’s right. We did the Flash Gordon soundtrack, and that’s our only one, but if we were to do another movie soundtrack, personally I’d like to emphasize the lyrics more. Only two songs had them on that album. ML: Thank you for the long time you spent with us. Please keep doing your best and aim to reach #1 again in our readers’ poll. Freddie: Thank you. We would like to continue doing our best. [Pic by Koh Hasebe during this interview, backstage at the Budokan in Tokyo]
|
|
Ri
Ploughman
Posts: 486
Likes: 414
|
Post by Ri on Apr 6, 2024 19:28:21 GMT
Thank you for translating another great interview!
|
|