- Steve in conversation with The Path

All pictures are picked from the 'Momentum' tour book

Through Billy Budis and Kudos Management I was able to get in touch with Steve Hackett - and I had the following conversation with him. If some of us were in doubt - Steve has a good portion of humour, both in his music and his conversational habits. Anyway - here is our little discussion, starting with a few introductional words about myself - just to make him a bit more comfortable ;-j

A FEW LINES ABOUT MYSELF:

Born in Oslo, Norway, August 1966. Political scientist - and working in a consulting group with information plans and strategies as our main products. I've been into the world of Genesis - including your solo career - since 1978, and I have most of your solo albums. BTW - we met in Oslo during your Momentum tour in 1988 - and I think I only managed to ask you something about playing with your brother - who wasn't there. I was unprepared, and very nervous... ;-j

Internet gave my passion for Genesis and related music a new breath, and has given me the possibility to get even closer to the musical mysteries of the "fab five". Working with The Path, my web-site, combines two of the most important passions of mine - working with design and layout, and making me feel that I am a part of the world of Genesis. I really hope the following interview can build further awareness among people regarding another chapter in the story of Steve Hackett - and Genesis...

QUESTIONS FOR STEVE - AND HIS ANSWERS:

Thomas: Firstly, welcome to The Path - one of several crosspoints on the World Wibe Web dedicated to your music with and without your old band Genesis. Is it a surprise for you to see all the attention directed to your music on the Internet?

Steve: I must say it is a surprise to find the sheer volume of requests circulating via the world wide web especially as all music is played initially into a vacuum - the void into which we all have to spill our ideas until it finds its echo in a (hopefully) receptive audience.

Thomas: It's a paradox - my first involvement with Genesis was 'And Then There Were Three' in 1978, the first album without you in the ranks. And now I'm interviewing you with a feeling that you are as important as anyone else as a member of the "Genesis family" - 20 years later. Do you think you've had enough "freedom" to be judged as an individual artist in your solo career?

Steve: "Freedom via excommunication was the only option" ... or was it Henry VIII who said that? Anyway "Judge me when I'm dead and gone" ... or was it Howlin' Wolf who said that? The truth is in the listening ... 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was luckily a hit for me this year and fortunately it's an oeuvre that I doubt anyone in Genesis has the inclination for ... classical guitar with antiphonal interplay between the orchestra and soloist, something I've rarely heard done convincingly even by the past masters ... so I regard it as a somewhat open field!

Thomas: Did you listen to the post-Hackett Genesis albums - and in case, what do you think about the band's development after you left? And what about Peter's and Phil's solo music?

Steve: I will say this ... over the years each of the class of '71 has produced at least one track that held significance for me which reinforces the opinion that it was a bright bunch I unwittingly joined.

Thomas: Have you listened to 'Calling All Stations' - Genesis' latest album?

Steve: Not yet. I've been too busy working but I will get around to it.

Thomas: 'Valley of the Kings' from your new album sounds really fresh - and I have to admit that it is one of my favourites - but there is also a lot of the seventies in it. When did you write that piece?

Steve: I didn't write it , I dreamt it and it combines many contradictory elements - a construction that shouldn't work but DOES, like the pyramids and the period it reflects.

Thomas: 'Firth of Fifth' is regarded as one of the signature pieces in the history of Genesis. Were you afraid of any bad feelings when you changed the instrumental part in the middle?

Steve: None of the Genesis songs are cast in stone for me so rather than repeat a section which was originally written for piano (which on 'Revisited' was given Russian Ballet style lightweight orchestration via pizzicato strings, chimes etc.) I used another section of music which used rhythmic elements in a strange cameo fashion combining C major and F major cadenzas that severely put the orchestra to the test as they would never usually be required to play anything that 'angular'.

Thomas: Listening to your version of 'Watcher of the Skies' with my eyes closed makes me feel that I'm listening to it live - 25 years ago. The liner notes say "keyboards", but do you have a Mellotron there?

Steve: A digitally stored and regurgitated Mellotron MK2 was the foundation using masses of Lexicon reverb and extra bass to recreate the effect of what it sounded like in various Italian Palasports where its sombre strains were originally heard ..... the join into the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was like a seamless docking operation in deep space - technically possible but a production technique that took a mere two years in the asylum to create.

Thomas: I'm sure no-one would have been surprised to see 'Entangled' or 'Blood on the Rooftops' listed on 'Genesis Revisited'. Was it difficult to decide which songs you wanted to include on the album?

Steve: The criteria for choosing the songs was always - did it live up to the live performance (the original recording that is)? I felt there was no point attempting "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" for instance as that was already done proud on "Selling England", similarly with "Entangled" and "Rooftops", but the other things I've attempted speak for themselves ..... little Cinderella songs like "For Absent Friends" for instance.

Thomas: You have written several classical oriented pieces in your career - from 'Hammer in the Sand' in 1980 to this year's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Is the writing process very different when you write classical pieces - and music for orchestras?

Steve: The process is always different - every successful (in artistic terms) song is like a new language in itself as it expresses emotion in a uniquely personal way. The form is different in classical stuff from rock but the main difference is that to me classical music has the ability to float above gravity, above the action depicted, in a divine or disconnected way.

Thomas: One of my favourite classical composers is Rachmaninov - and I know he has inspired Tony Banks a lot. Do you have any such favourites - or important sources for inspiration?

Steve: All the classics have something to teach which is why they've survived without the benefit of videos, the 'right' clothes, 'look' or hair-do - I'm humbled every time I contemplate what's possible between composer, conductor and a great orchestra.

Thomas: You are obviously writing more instrumental stuff these days. Is the lyrics less important to you now?

Steve: When writing lyrics it's important not to waste a single word, similarly with wasted notes in an instrumental piece when you could just as easily spill your tears or your guts.

Thomas: Kim's cover art has always been closely linked to your music. Is her paintings inspired by your already written music, or is it more reciprocal?

Steve: Sometimes the song comes before the painting and sometimes vice versa but we certainly have influenced each other in the past and it continues but there has never been any separation in my mind between the visual and the aural fields.

Thomas: What kind of music are you currently listening to?

Steve: As I reply to your question, Classic FM is playing a clarinet piece by Rossini .....

Thomas: Both 'Waiting Room Only' and your version of 'I Know What I Like' make me smile. Humour has always been an important part of your music, hasn't it?

Steve: Yes, I wish rock would take itself a bit less seriously these days, which is why I like "Blur".

Thomas: What kind of humour makes you laugh, Steve?

Steve: Dry humour, surprising, wicked, and if all that fails I've only to think of the three Derek and Clive albums that all women find offensive and console myself in the knowledge that there is an unbridgeable divide - boys will be boys darling!

Thomas: I know there are some box sets coming up with old Genesis material - and I know everyone were involved "repairing" some of the bad audible parts. Do you think there will be a short reunion in that connection?

Steve: 'Que sera sera' as Doris once sang :-)

Thomas: I know a lot of people would love to see you play live in Europe with the Revisited-band you toured with in Japan last winter. Are there reasons for any hopes in that direction?

Steve: 'Who nose sera sera' as Cyrano de Bergerac once said ;-}

Steve - thanks for your time. I really wish you good luck with the US release of 'Genesis Revisited' - and with all your future musical adventures. Be sure, there are many of us wanting to share the results of your musical travels - your music.

Kind regards,
Thomas

Some related links:

- The official Steve Hackett site.
- 'Please Don't Touch' - a beautiful tribute site made by Ian Barrow.
- 'Spectral Mornings' - another important source for Steve Hackett fans.
- A Steve Hackett Artist Biography on EMI Classics.
- Steve's wife's - Kim Poor - beautiful site.
- Doug Melbourne's review of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.