INTERVIEW: Fish
- Tym Altman and Ron Singer
(This is the second part of the interview; the first part of the interview is in the previous issue of Consumable).
Consumable: What was the story behind Robin Boult and Frank Usher. They're not in the band anymore?
Fish: Yeah, they didn't want to tour. Robin wanted to do a lot of work for cinema, and advertising, and stuff like that, and when I said they'd have to come on tour for 10 or 12 months, it intimidated them, and they decided they didn't want to do that. We're all still friends. Robin and/or Frank could come back to the band. J.J. (Belle) is the guitarist at the moment, but J.J. might leave in the next few weeks. But that's the way it is when you're a solo act. Other musicians can leave and decide to do something else. The difference is there aren't a lot of lawyers kicking about, and it doesn't become a big confrontation situation. And in the few years as a solo artist, the chemistry changes which I think is good for the music. For example on Sunsets On Empire , the new album, there's guys that contribute that are not from the outfit that was playing live. Like Steve Wilson did a lot. And it's still got the fresh identity, and the hallmark of what I do, and the chemistry is always positive.
{Just a few days ago (Sept. 9) it was announced that J.J. has in fact left, and Robin will take over for him.}
C: How did you hook up with Steve Wilson?
F: I was introduced to him through a friend. We had the same ideas about directions.
C: Do you like his Porcupine Tree stuff? Do you listen to it?
F: I prefer No-Man. I like the No-Man stuff. I like the Signify album, it's really good. If Steve can commit to a lot more touring, then I can see Porcupine Tree being a sort of noveaux Pink Floyd.
C: I guess the Internet has become a very important part of your life now.
F: Without a shadow of a doubt, yes.
C: Do you feel it's expanded the music scene for fans and musicians?
F: It's created a new awareness for what I'm doing. The Freaks list (an Internet mailing list for Fish & Marillion fans) in particular has been the backbone of this tour. Without their input and without the vibe they've created on this tour, I don't think this tour would be as successful as it is. I've always been a person who's enjoyed and recognized the importance of a contact with the fans. And our website is going to be expanded dramatically in the next few months. We've picked up a Sony digital camera.
C: What do you think of some of the new prog bands to the scene, like Flower Kings, Arena, Spock's Beard, and Porcupine Tree?
F: Spock's Beard I like, and Tree I like, and eh....Arena I think are total shite. What Mick Pointer (former Marillion drummer, played on their first album Script for a Jester's Tear ) has done... I have no respect for Pointer at all. I mean, he never played drums for ages, because there was more money in the kitchen industry. And as soon as the arse fell out of the Southern English kitchen market, he decided he was going to be a musician again. And I still think he's a shit drummer.
C: So, them doing Grendel...
F: All he's done is gone back, and done exactly what I hate about the progessive scene. He went back and picked up a singer that sounded reasonably like myself, and followed the strict formula. It's just a money making thing. His artistic integrity is bunk, as far as I'm concerned. I think a band like the Smashing Pumpkins... Or the new Radiohead album...they're progressive albums. That's what I kind of aspire to, and that's what I try to do. You know, the word 'progressive' became very, very dirty. Like in the film 'Jaws', you've got a bit where the mayor goes to the police guy and says, "Look, just say baraccuda, or say jellyfish, just don't say shark. If you say shark everybody is out of the water..." And that's kind of where the word 'progressive' is. It's still a dirty word. You know, the Pumpkins would never say "we're a progressive band". But what it comes down to it, they're pushing things a wee bit further. The OK Computer album, there's a lot of light and shade, there is long songs, there's not a lot of radio songs. But Arena, they're just wanking over an era that's been done. It's like doing Beatles covers.
C: What do you think about Oasis?
F: I like what they do. The problem with Oasis, is Oasis stand out because they are a lot better than a lot of the other shites on the British scene. And no matter how much you hate the image, or whatever, or Liam, or the attitude, Noel can still put down some good melodies. The lyrics are, I think, wanting, but the melodies are great, and melodies are what sells the songs.
C: I know you've been asked this probably a million times, but was that true that you tried out for Genesis?
F: I never auditioned, I was never asked. There was a rumour that went about on the net, and I think it was kind of an obvious rumour when Phil left. I didn't know what was happening, and I ended up phoning Tony (Banks), and Ray Wilson got the job. Tony said that my name had been put forward, along with, like, Roger Chapman's and others. They wanted someone that was kind of new. They didn't want somebody that had a history. But I would never have worked. Like, you'll see tonight, I like the freedom of speech. And in Genesis I would have been a sessionist. It would have been very difficult to establish a personality within that band. And, you know, Ok, I'm a fan, and all that, and I like a certain era, and certain songs, but when it comes down to it... nah. To be honest, I think the Genesis management would have objected to the fact they would have to make it to a million bars every night. It's not the Genesis image.
C: What's your relationship with Marillion these days?
F: It's ok. Well I think that a lot of people try to make it out to be very antagonistic, and very negative, and it's not. We've all aged, there's a lot of time passed. We've got kids, we've got our own careers. You know, they're now indie. When they got dropped from EMI, I've got a lot of sympathy for them. You know, they're the same age as me, and it's a tough fuckin' business. It's a very age-ist (?) industry. And, you know, musically we do very diverse things. But as people I've got no problems at all.
C: Think you'll be collaborating any time soon?
F: I left the band 9 years ago. Steve Hogarth has been in the band for longer than that. They've done a number of albums that I don't relate to. It's like saying, "Do you want to go back and have sex with an old girlfriend" that you knew 10 years ago, and expect to recreate the same magic. And there is the added bonus of "Do you want to go back and have sex with an old girlfriend, and with her husband watching."
It doesn't work. I don't want to. And I would never go back - God forbid that the band should split. For me to go back and sing "Forgotten Sons" or "Script..." (both from the first Marillion album Script For A Jester's Tear) and stuff, to me it would be boring. I couldn't sing it...I have no interest...I mean I've been doing my own thing. I enjoy my freedom. I enjoy the gigs. I have more fun now than I did back then. And that's not being disrespectful towards the band.
C: When you play Marillion songs...Like tonight you'll probably be playing some. Do you play them more because the fans want to hear them?
F: 'Cause I want to do them. I want to play the stuff I want to play.
Fish's official website can be accessed at: http://www.livjm.ac.uk/fish
