Well, I had HOPED to resume publication of I.N. when I returned from the desert, but other commitments have made that impossible - so, with this LIMITED ISSUE, we bid you adieu... it's been a wonderful run, & I appreciate EVERYONE's support over these last 15 years... but, with this issue, I declare IMPROVIJAZZATION NATION a thing of the past!
Improvijazzation Nation - Issue # 76
INTERVIEW with Nigel Potter
I first ran into Nigel at the tail-end of a tour in Iraq, on some threads where we were discussing the NEED for peace, with various/sundry folks "collaborating" on how to achieve it... as a result of those dialogues, I listened to his music as soon as I hit America's shores again (after 6 months of not being able to hit one page that had music on it, 'coz the SA had ALL music sites zoned out)... when you check his music out, you'll see (right AWAY) what I "heard" in his music that made me want to interview him! Without further ado, then, here is Mr. Potter, "in his own words"....
ZZAJ: I notice a lot of “layering” in your playing, particularly on tunes like “EDEN”; is it “training” or “practice” (or a little of both) that’s allowed you to get to that level of comprehension?
ZZAJ: What kind of “processes” & gear do you use? You seem to be able to achieve very high-quality recording & great sound integration. How important IS the “process” (and the gear) to the end result?
NP: Ouch, this one's gonna' hurt (LOL)... Equip: Fender Squier stratocaster (My albino baby); One Distortion pedal; a Starforce bass (Second hand, 50 pounds - ED: remember now, Nigel's talking about currency, not WEIGHT), think of it as a plank of wood with four strings. And...a Casio 571 keyboard (40 UK pounds second hand) So my savior is my software. I use Cubase SX for all the recordings, for the finishing touches, Wavelab. The software really is all here. I feel like a kid in a sweetie shop every time I plug into it. I can do things with this software, that back in my band days would have cost hundreds of pounds to achieve in a regular studio. I find I still hit and miss with the quality, although I am always working my hardest to get what I am after. But as I always like to say, as an excuse (LOL)... 30 plus years as a guitarist, 2 years at everything else. I still have along long way to go, and I enjoy the learning, frustrating at times though it may be. I have no Midi capability, so it's all me, apart from the VSTI drummer (Groove Agent)
ZZAJ: My readers
like to know a bit about where the player “hails from”? Give us a bit of bio
sketch, please, Nigel.
NP: Well, began playing back in the early mid 1970's,in bands, although I
had been playing a year or so before then. But, man was I ever basic!!
Had my first band before I even knew what a bar chord was. Always my own
bands, always our own material. The first band that really got going was
GUNSLINGER. You know, studio, gigs, gigs studio, the whole nine
yards. We were a three piece, our biggest influence then was Motorhead.
On drums was Andy Lamb, a real powerhouse drummer!! On bass and vocals,
Alan Davey (My cousin), who later went onto to become Hawkwind's bassist.
Now longest serving member next to Mr. Dave Brock himself. Was as they
say, the whole rock 'n roll thing. (LOL) Pretty wild and intense
stuff. But the band split with Alan Auditioning for Hawkwind, and myself
auditioning for Motorhead. I played on Alan's audition, and both Alan and
Andy played on mine. Had another band after that, MERCHANTS OF SORROW.
It did it's time and I learned SO much from that band. Andy again on drums
and a guy called David Meecham on bass, another GREAT bass player. After
that, reality hit.... Band split, flat broke, sold EVERYTHING, not even a
guitar left, and it stayed that way till about 4 years ago, when my wife Susan
bought me my Strat for Christmas . A friend of mine David Law, who runs
the Hawkwind Museum website, heard some of my early home recordings and told me
about sites like Soundclick, and here I am.
ZZAJ: Your guitar playing is inspiring, without doubt… who are YOUR
inspirations (guitar-wise, or else-wise)?
NP: Jimi Hendrix, I loved the way he played, was described to me once as:
"Throwing rage into the guitar" biggest influence, Jimi Page. First time
listening to "You shook Me" off of Zeppelin 1.
That mid song break with just page and Bonham. The sound of his Les Paul
echoing, man I was sold for life on being a guitarist. But also, it was
Page's mastery of mood, and atmosphere, songs like No Quarter.... So I
bought the how to play Zeppelin complete works and learned every chord I could.
I later had the opportunity to tell Jimmy, the thought that he was listening to
MY music was an out of this world experience for me Also Robin Trower, man
knows how to flow with a mood.. Finally Dave Gilmore, class and emotion, so much
feel in his solos. Away from the guitar, people like Gandhi, HRH Dali
Lama, and also many of the good people at sites like Mixposure and The Anubes (A
small forum). They have all had real lasting impacts on me, both on music,
and every other topic under the sun, your good self included.
ZZAJ: Do you play live? If so, is it solo, or with others? & IF live,
where/how frequently?
NP: No, unfortunately, my health is not all it should be these days.
Oh, that doesn't stop me having these crazy ideas about doing gigs, but I know
they cannot happen in reality, but it's nice to dream now and again. I did
have one fan ask me recently if there was a chance that a gig could happen in
the NEW EDEN project in the UK (LOL)..... He wanted the entire Warriors Of
The Rainbow CD performed live, just for him (LOL)... Some of our dialogues
on MIXPOSURE make me feel like we have common feelings on issues regarding the
damage done by politics & politicians.
ZZAJ: Can music aid in
healing the human condition?
NP: Man, I really really hope so. I look at this way, people
like Hendrix with "Machine Gun" really really got to me. Remember sitting
in a darkened cinema watching him play that on the screen, which they divided
into two for the song. One side was Jimi on stage, and the other side was
scenes from Vietnam. I cried my eyes out, and when I looked around, many
others were crying as well. So, I think if musicians can have that impact,
for a greater good, a common good, then it would be wrong of us not to try.
I have been told many many times that it's pointless, that I am daydreaming...
Well, perhaps I am, although I like to think I'm pretty realistic.
How many forces for good is there in the world? A force that can make you
dance, want to trash your room, fall in love, sail to the stars, and just, want,
peace for God's sake. There are times when I just HAVE to do something.
It's just bursting from the inside outwards. As Gandhi once said to two
warring factions: "For the love of God, just stop it !!" I heard a song by
fellow mixposure artists, who had all got together to do a song called :Stop The
Fight". It was Maria Daines band, Peter (Badmouth) and Jim Rustemeyer.
That song hit me like a sledgehammer, it if hits me, it will hit others.
End of the day, who can really fault us for trying, if we don't make the
difference, if it doesn't matter, then we have at the very least declared our
feelings are not the feelings of those wielding the misuse of power. Most
folks just want to live, and raise families.
Lot of musicians are REALLY trying their very utmost to make an impact. We
just want peace.
ZZAJ: You seem to
dig good ol’ fashioned R&R as much as I do, & you’ve got some fine lyrical
talent. How do you do it? Lyrics first, or song & then lyrics layered on top
of that?
NP: Most times, 99.9 percent is music first. Sometimes I know what I
want to write about, so that steers the song writing, but sometimes it is the
mood of the music that will decide the tone of the lyrics. As an example,
if I know I want to write a blues number, I'll go straight for the
diminished/minor and seventh chords, they softly cry the blues, you just have to
play a chord like an A minor to feel it's mood. Minor, boy loses girl,
major, boy gets girl, simplistic but a good guide. When I am writing
lyrics, it will start as me mumbling rubbish lines, whatever comes into my head,
then out of that, will spring a line, a phrase, and the rest will just follow.
Again, lyrics have to be emotion centered, like layering of a song.... You
are trying to express a universal emotion, like the blues, and everyone will
know it when you get it, and when you don't, so be honest. If you are
going to write an anti war song, pour your heart and soul into it, if you are
writing a rock n roll song, get into that feel, don't just think it, feel it!!
My back ground is 4/4 rock n roll, verse chorus, et cetera, it is only since the
internet that I have expanded to include instrumentals and different styles.
ZZAJ: Do you have other players on your MIX tracks, or are the
instruments all done by you? If you’re doing these things solo, how do you make
the instruments flow together (as well as you do)?
NP: I am on several tracks that are on Mix, but I don't think
currently there is one of my page.
Although some are on other sites. I have been fortunate to work with many
amazing Mixposure artists. Always deeply humbled to be asked. On
solo material, you have to have a bed track.
That is to say, generally to have one instrument play the whole song through,
beginning to end.
You can always later edit out the sections where you don't want that instrument
in. Then you build, instrument by instrument. A straight rock song
will have say 4 - 8 tracks rolling together.
A song like Eden,10-20, songs which are epic, like warriors, may have as many as
40+
A track may only be say, a single note bent and echoed for a certain spot, but
if it feels like it has to be there, it goes there.
ZZAJ: If there were
one player (or group) you could have an opportunity to play with, who would it
be? Why?
NP: Oh, so many many people I would have loved to have jammed live with.
So many of them on Mixposure (You know who you are) Led Zeppelin or Pink
Floyd.
ZZAJ: There are lots of “young” players (not necessarily in age; it
could be only in length of time playing); what are your “words of wisdom” to
them for the “hard times”?
NP: Bottom line advice, NEVER quit. It's your dream, more than that,
it's what you ARE.
Every fiber of your being is geared toward this, you live breathe eat and sleep
it. Never quit, because no one else can write YOUR songs. They are in you,
and no one else. When I am away from music, I think about what I am going
to do next, and when I am playing, I think about nothing else. Music will
always be good to you, respect it, cherish it and shield it against the know it
alls, the critics and the plain mean spirited. Always be ready to listen
to those trying to help, but choose which advice you think best suits YOU and
simply disregard the rest. And, most importantly of all, HAVE FUN.
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