Rain


 

“Living With Liberty”

 Interview with the exquisite musician Dominic Shaw

By Sergio Vilar

Dominic inside that musical scene in particular would include you?
Although much of the interest shown in “Cerulean Blue” has come from the Progressive world, I think this album owes more to Peter Gabriel, Blue Nile, Radiohead and Elbow than the current neo-progressive rock bands. Someone from a record company once said that the CD was a progressive-influenced one, rather than being Progressive itself, as the connections with Beethoven, Brian Eno or the minimalist composers like Philip Glass were just as important as the likes of Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd.

How has your career been developed until the present?
Although I’ve had ambitions to be involved in music since the age of 12 when my life was turned around by hearing the music of early Genesis, it’s taken me a long time to get the point of releasing this, my first “proper” CD. I’ve written and recorded a lot of other music such as an album of string quartets to accompany an art book, a pair of ambient CDs and an album of instrumental, sound-track style pieces but never felt totally happy about releasing any of these. I’ve spent a lot of time producing and engineering other musicians’ music as well.

Which are your bands or favourite soloists? From where does your sound come?
I think Peter Gabriel has to come pretty high up my list, from his work on the early Genesis albums right through his solo career to the present day. Also the other great, early progressive bands such as Van Der Graaf Generator, the Yes of “Close to the Edge” and the Pink Floyd of “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Wish You Were Here” - I think these are my starting point musically. In the world of classical music my favourite composers would be Wagner, Sibelius and Richard Strauss. Others I like would be Joy Division, Blue Nile, Brian Eno, Radiohead, Elbow,  Mike Oldfield, The Who, Rush, The Doors, Fairport Convention. The sound of “Cerulean Blue” comes from this mixture of classical, progressive, folk, ambient and minimalism but most of all, I think, from the spirit of the great progressive music and it’s ideals of innovation, emotion, subtlety, profundity and atmosphere.

Do we speak of “Cerulean Blue”. Reason that name?
“Cerulean Blue” is an artist’s pigment that gives a strong, sky-blue colour. The story is something of a spiritual journey, a reaching for that which is unattainable, and in the final track the hero says that he’d like to climb up Mount McKinley, lie down in the snow and stare at the sky – an image of achieving peace or maybe even of death. Also in the first track the hero’s eyes are referred to as being “sky-blue” in colour which links to the cover image and all the things those eyes saw on their journey. “Cerulean Blue” is an image of an ultimately unattainable spiritual goal that may give us great motivation in life but is also a source of great sadness, in that eventually we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that the life that we actually live is something else, a more mundane compromise, which is no less a thing because of that.

Could you give me a profile of each one of the tracks of the disc?
“The Lammas Lands” – On his arrival in America, the hero dreams a romantic dream of what if might have been like for the first English settlers coming to the “New World”. The music also depicts this dream-like vision which bears more resemblance to the ancient English myths of a sacred land in The West, such as Avalon or Atlantis.

“Parsifal” – The hero visits New York and meets a follower of the archetypal psychology of Carl Jung. The music makes deliberate references to the New York composer Philip Glass and the choir adds an unearthly voice of the collective unconscious. The title refers to the Arthurian story of Parsifal, particularly as re-told by Richard Wagner in his final music-drama.

“Starcrossed” – Here the hero becomes involved in a UFO cult in Southern California who dream of salvation by aliens. The music has strong flamenco and samba flavours (reflecting the South American influence!).

“The Silver Apples of the Moon” – The hero meets the ex-wife of one of the Apollo astronauts who has retreated into a fantasy world of insanity. Here there are very deliberate musical references to “Dark Side of the Moon”, referring to both the moon itself and to its ancient meaning as a symbol of madness. The story also takes place around 1972/73 and so our hero would probably be hearing this album on his travels. The title comes from a poem by W.B. Yeats.

“Light and Magic” – The Hero visits Hollywood. This leads to thoughts about the tradition of Hollywood sci-fi movies, hence the musical quote from “Watcher of the Skies” by Genesis, which would also have been a current release in 1972. It’s also a great opportunity to pay homage to this astonishing track! The music also has a hypnotic, jazz-like feel, thanks in part to Iain Ballamy’s wonderful sax playing.

“Jerusalem” – The Hero meets a down-and-out visionary on the streets of San Francisco. The song depicts his vision of the Apocalypse (incorporating references to the lyrics of “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis). Musically, this is the climax of the album.

“Cerulean Blue” – The Hero comes to the end of his journey at Mount McKinley in Alaska. Here, the string quartet which has been introducing each song takes over and adds a reflective coda to the album.

Rain Studio

Musically, it is a work of a great artistic wealth. How long did it take you to carry out it?
Work on the album hasn’t been continuous so it’s hard to say. The album has evolved through various stages, starting out as a collection of songs with different lyrics. This was completed as a demo CD around 2002. The collaboration with the original lyricist didn’t work out, so I decided to re-write all the lyrics and narration myself. As I was doing this, the storyline started to evolve and so the concept of the album was born. I later re-recorded a lot of the instrumental parts and remixed and re-mastered. This new version was completed around spring 2004 and, after the artwork and video were completed, released in February this year. A long process!

How did you choose the thematic one for the lyrics and the concepts for the disc in general?
I had always intended that the album should have a theme and a structure rather than simply being a collection of disconnected songs. The original demo incorporated the idea of interludes for string quartet, narrator and sound effects between the tracks as I had very much enjoyed composing for string quartet on my previous (unreleased) album “Thamesis” and have always loved the sound of the spoken word on recordings. When I decided to re-write the lyrics, I was sure that I wanted a storyline to link the narrated section and the lyrics and came up with the idea of a journey being told in the form of postcards. I also felt that I wanted the story to be a simple, human one, rather than the usual sci-fi or fantasy themes of concept albums.

How much material did it exist for the album and finally it didn't end up being part?
Right from the start, the core musical ideas of the seven tracks were quite well formed. I felt they complimented each other well and so there were no tracks that were worked on other than these seven.

What did you find the finished album? Was the result the prospective one?
I have to admit that I was quite pleased with the final album. I think it was the first time when a recording I had done felt “presentable” to the world. I think this is a case of my ability to write, sing, play and produce finally starting to catch up with my imagination! I have always dreamed of being able to produce an album that at least stood up alongside the great albums that I love and so when I heard the fantastic comments from Phil Collins, Tony Banks and others it was a proud moment! 

Do I suppose that you should already be working in the material for your next album, truth?
Yes I am already thinking about ideas for my next album but nothing beyond just considering what sort of shape and feel it might have.

Do you plan to continue inside the thematic one conceptual or will it have a different focus?
The next album will certainly be “conceptual” in the sense that it will have an integrated structure but at this moment I don’t think it will be a narrative one. I think it is more likely to be a thematic or philosophical work… but this could all still change!

Let us pass to another topic. Which is your perception of what happens at the present time to the music? 
In the world of commercial music I don’t find much to interest me at the moment. The music industry seems to be carrying on it’s obsession with selling music made by the very young, for the very young. This seems very strange to me as most of the people making the best selling albums (and buying them!) are 25-50 years old! I’m not saying that young people can’t make good music but most of the new music I hear sounds very naďve and childish – and why shouldn’t it? It’s being made by those who are just starting out artistically. In all other areas of the arts – literature, film, painting, jazz and classical music etc – artists are very rarely considered to be making their best work until they are into their thirties and forties.

In terms of the progressive music scene, I must admit I’m always a little disappointed to find so many “progressive” bands slavishly recreated the sound of music from the early seventies. Why would anyone want to listen to a poor copy of “Dark Side of the Moon” or “Foxtrot” when they can listen to the original? I hate to be critical of other musicians but one of the things that really attracted me to the early progressive bands was the fact that they were “Progressive” (!), in the sense that they were doing something new and exciting. Their focus was on the future and what hadn’t been done before and experimenting with the possibilities of music. Can we imagine what the music of Genesis or Yes would have sounded like if they had based it on what was going on 30 years before? They would probably have sounded more like the Glenn Miller Big Band! The irony is that the musicians who are being genuinely progressive (Bjork, Radiohead etc) are not talked about in the Progressive world because they aren’t considered “Prog”! I do think that progressive music needs to move on or will become just anachronistic and die out.

On a more positive note, I think that young people are starting to tire of shallow pop music and are starting to look for something with a little more depth. There is a whole generation of people who have grown up since the late seventies and eighties when progressive music was considered by journalists to be boring and old-fashioned and they are re-discovering this music with an open mind. The recent success of bands like Muse and Mars Volta is very interesting in this respect.

Is there some band that has surprised you lately and that you can recommend us?
Goldfrapp “Felt Mountain”, Elbow “Asleep In The Back”, Mogwai “Happy Songs For Happy People”, Sigur Ros, Fritz Doddy “The Feeling of Far” (available at CDBaby), Chas Smith “An Hour Out of Desert Centre”, Paddy McAloon “I Trawl the Megahertz”. Special mention has to go to Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen”. You can get this on a disc with his other masterpiece “Tod Und Verklarung” by Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic which is probably one of the best classical recordings ever made.

Thank you Dominic. Would you like to add something more?
I’d certainly like to thank you Sergio at Nucleus for giving me this opportunity to talk to progressive music lovers in Argentina (and beyond!). I’ve been overwhelmed by all the kind comments and reactions to the album and I really appreciate everyone who has helped out. Thank you!

www.telosmusic.net

Nucleus interview: 25/05/05