July 2007
Can you give us some background on how the reunion tour was proposed?
From what I have been told the reunion idea had been mooted a while back but nobody had taken the idea too seriously at that point. The first I knew about it was when I received a email from Alan, basically he got in touch to let me know that they were thinking of doing a tour and that they would like me to be involved. That was back in February ! We had a meeting and then a rehearsal to see if we still had it! And we did!
Have you started rehearsing the songs for the tour yet? How have rehearsals gone so far and what are your initial feelings when you first played a Shed Seven song with the new lineup?
Yes we have been rehearsing since May (we are good at keeping secrets!). The first rehearsal was rather special, there was a strange moment for all of us when we had just set the gear up. We just stood there and said "which song shall we do first?" Rick suggested Going For Gold and when that opening riff was played the room just filled up with magic. I knew from that moment that it was the right thing for us to be doing.
How is it going to work with you and Joe sharing guitar duties? I should imagine it will be pretty loud, but how are you planning to play it, so to speak!?
Yes it's going to be loud! I think one of the best things for me is that I am having the opportunity to play with Joe. We have really got our heads together to make this work. You know most of tunes when they were recored had two guitar parts so you could say that this tour will be the first time some of the tunes have been able to be played as they should be. Dont want to say much more than that it would spoil it.
Obviously Fraser isn't involved in the new tour. Does this mean that you will take over certain keyboard duties? What was the reason that Fraser didn't want to get involved?
Again I don't want to spoil anything! Stop fishing, lol!
The tour is billed as a Greatest Hits one. This means that you will presumably be playing stuff off the albums that we're done after you initially left. Have you been having to learn these songs from scratch, and how do you feel about learning this new stuff? Also, any plans to play anything off the 'One Hand Clapping' unreleased album?
I am not going to say what tunes we are planning on playing, wait and see!
Did you and the band genuinely expect the level of response to the tour? Are you surprised / shocked by the level of interest from fans all over the country?
No! I can honestly say that no-one in the band or those involved in the tour expected the response that we have received, it has been simply overwhelming. With a doubt this will be the biggest tour the Sheds have done. I mean come on 3 nights in London? Crazy!
Maybe prompted by this level of interest, is there any plans or suggestions what will happen once the tour has finished? Maybe another tour, or even new recordings?
At the moment all our focus is on the tour and nothing more. However if you had asked me in January if I thought that there would be Shed Seven tour this year I would have said don't be silly. One thing this has all taught me is expect the unexpected! I can't predict what's going to happen, look at the last two weeks!
Let's talk a bit about Albion. You remained out of the musical spotlight for a while after leaving the Sheds and the various other projects you were involved in afterwards. What prompted you to get back into being in a band. Any plans for any releases or gigs in the near future?
To be honest it was nothing to do with being back in the limelight. Alistair from Albion owns a studio and I was invited to join them to write and record, I have always loved recording, I get a buzz from hearing a song come together. Who knows what will happen, you know, I have a lot going on, my film company (Digifish) has started to really take off this year. We are fully booked up, up until the Sheds tour! Again film making is very similar process to writing and recording, I think that's why I love it so much. I have just made a video for a great band from York, you will get to see it in the next few weeks!
How do you think you will feel when you step on stage in Aberdeen at the end of November?
Well it will be my 1st concert for five years! Think I will feel rather excited!
Anything else we should be looking forward to Paul Banks wise? Any particular message to the Shed fans??
What can you say but THANK-YOU! the amount of messages I have received welcoming me back into the line up has been amazing. So yes, thank-you and see you down the front!