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Famous Bristol Musicians Stackridge / The Korgis |
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Stackridge web site |
| Interview by Kevin - Bristol Rocks |
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Stackridge are a progressive rock group that was formed in 1969 and
is still
around today. You can read a history of the band
HERE James
Warren, an original band member kindly agreed to the interview
below. |
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| Kevin:
James, I have read up on the history of Stackridge and I see
that you joined the band in 1969. Can you tell me about the best and
worst times you had with the band during the early 70's?" |
James: The best times were many
and varied - playing at festivals, having a laugh in the van on
the way back from gigs, meeting all sorts of people in each and
every corner of the country, the wonderful privilege of not having
to get up to do some monotonous day job etc., etc. But the
highlight was undoubtedly recording with Beatles producer
George Martin. This was our 1973 album "The Man In The Bowler Hat" -
recently re-
mastered on the AngelAir label. George was a gentleman and a
consummate musical arranger. In only 12 days he effortlessly
produced the band's masterpiece, brilliantly blending the cream of
London's orchestral session-players with our own idiosyncratic sound
to make the album we'd always dreamed of making.
The worst times were due to the psychological immaturity of
the various individual members of the band. A very familiar story of
course, duplicated a thousand times over in every musical ensemble
that's ever graced the stage of rock's hall of fame (or notoriety).
Jostling for attention and dominance, insecurity and
competitiveness, in short, egomania in all its various forms - this
is what made things miserable - much more than any amount of
sleeping on floors or travelling unfeasibly long distances for
pitiful remuneration.
My advice for anyone starting out in a band: please get
into Buddhism; read some Matthieu Ricard or Eckhart Tolle. Learn to
be a team player, cherish your relationships with the other guys,
don't allow ego to spoil things. |
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Kevin: Many bands that I read about that made
money from music in the seventies have complaints about the
contracts that they were offered by the record companies, how did
Stackridge fare with this side of the business? |
James: I'm very sad to say that Stackridge
never made any money. Our experience was that record contracts were
highly unfavourable to the artist to an extent that wouldn't be
tolerated in today's world.
Basically, unless you were in the Elton John league there was
no chance of recouping; our royalty payments were microscopic. The
unspoken attitude of record companies back then seems to have been:
"Count yourselves lucky: we've enabled you to release an album! What
more do you expect?" |
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| Kevin:
In
1979 you formed the Korgis and your single 'Young and Russian' made
the UK top 20. Tell me about the highs and lows of your times with
this band. |
James: It was tremendous fun to begin
with.
We'd had a 4 year gap since the folding of Stackridge so Andy
Davis and I were suitably refreshed and eager to get our teeth
into something new. The concept behind the new project was 'quirky
pop' and I think it's true to say that Blondie was our most
significant inspiration. Andy wholeheartedly embraced the
'post-modern- with- a- hint- of- kitsch' sort of attitude prevalent
in their work and 'Young'N'Russian' was the foretaste of our new
direction.
My contributions to the first Korgis album were still Stackridgian
in flavour, but I enjoyed making use of the new synthesizer
technology which gave the arrangements a characteristically '80s
electronic edge.
We recorded in composer David Lord's top-floor apartment in
Camden Crescent Bath, on a shoestring budget of course, but it all
felt very fresh and full of promise.
Phil Harrison and Stuart Gordon who gigged as The Shortwave Band
were our indispensable session-players during this period and we'd
often carry on until 3 or 4 in the morning most nights of the week,
having a great time.
The first Korgis hit 'If I Had You' was the highlight of the
album and was played to death on national radio. We appeared on Top
Of The Pops and the song reached number 13 in the charts.
They were amazing days - joyous and optimistic; at last we'd
tasted real commercial success!
By the time we came to record the second Korgis album, David Lord
had a 'proper' studio at a premises in the centre of Bath. The same
team re-assembled and for a while all was well - the creative
juices flowed and there was still the sense that we were going
somewhere with the music. Unfortunately all was not well.
Andy, always a very private person, had in fact been finding it
very difficult to cope with the pressures of our amazing good
fortune and suddenly decided to opt out.
I had to replace all his vocals - often with rather amusing results
- but ominously it initiated a new phase in the relationship
between me, Phil and Stuart.
Basically the balance had been irretrievably upset by
Andy's departure and a nightmarish scenario of competitiveness,
mistrust and general egomania gradually enveloped our little world.
Most of it due to my personal inadequacies I might add.
The single 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' became a
huge worldwide hit, which only served to exacerbate and intensify
the tensions that existed in the band.
To cut a long story short, things deteriorated to such an extent
that I insisted to the record company that I needed to carry on with
The Korgis alone.
I'd become convinced that Phil and Stuart were surreptitiously
bent on taking over the project and also started to get the feeling
that I was being completely ripped off by Rialto.
The latter assumption turned out to be correct but my
suspicions concerning my fellow musicians were probably the outcome
of stress- driven paranoia.
In terms of highs and lows this was the pits: I was
probably experiencing a nervous breakdown without realizing it.
The terrible pity of it is that I threw away a terrific
friendship and scuppered a golden opportunity that could have
benefited all of us.
Dear readers, don't do as I have done.
In recent times Andy Davis, our old friend John Baker and myself
have occasionally resurrected The Korgis to record a new album or
make the odd live appearance, and it's all very relaxed and
pleasant. The fun has returned.
If only one could have had the mindset of a 56-year old when one
was 27 a helluva lot of misery and upset might have been avoided.
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Review - Polish Club - Fri July 13th 2007 |
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