NEIL COWLEY TALKS…
June 21st, 2006 by soyo
With Eastnor appearances with Chilled by Nature and his own trio imminent, and on the eve of the release of his new album under the ‘Pretz’ guise, Neil Cowley spills the beans on the who, what, why, where and how to Soyo
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Neil Cowley. I am a piano player come producer. I spend large swathes of time worrying about ridiculous trivia which has no real meaning or place and imagining up problems that aren’t really there. Occasionally as a remedy to this I write music which I present to the world, sometimes to press acclaim, sometimes to have it eaten by fang teethed critics with school band hangovers. Either way is fine. I hope to touch hearts. Without musical output I would find it very difficult to do so.
Lots of us miss Fragile State, how did the demise of the band happen?
That’s a good one…. Next! No it was very simple. The record company went bust. Two years of work felt wasted. Relationships became taut and other projects became attractive. I think we left it at a good time. I have real trouble being tied down to a sound. I’m always looking to say things in a different way and people begin to expect a sound and then they have the nerve to get bored with you. Thats just human nature. I think we left it at a very good time. We achieved pretty much all that we could. Without a vocalist it was going to be very hard to become any more widely accepted than we already had. But I had no intention of working with a vocalist. I hate them! No apologies…. and no offence to those charming singers who walk the globe avoiding me. Plus our contract was bought up by a new company that we had no relationship with, and neither of us fancied being told what to do by a bunch of strangers.
One of your new ventures is Pretz. Why the name Pretz?
Pretz is the phonetic spelling of a beautiful hideaway village I holiday in, in mountainous Switzerland. An old friend of mine has a house up there, and it’s the only place in the world where I can go and the voices stop!! Her father is the equivalent to the mayor in the village, and I’m hoping they’ll give me a hut for my retirement.
How did Pretz and the music of Pretz come about?
Pretz was the next step in picking myself up after the demise of ‘Fragile State’. Though the future looked rosy when I was free of the band, the truth was somewhat harder to cope with. No support structure, no record company, no backing meant that instead of stepping out into the world boldly to declare my intentions I spent a long time hidden away at home expressing my feelings quietly to myself. I became increasingly scared of playing the material to anyone, and in fact spent the first six months entirely on headphones in case anyone else should hear. Consequently, I became unable to appraise it any more, and put it away on a dusty shelf for a long while. That was until Chet from i-label convinced me to play it to him, and the rest has lead us to this point today. I still think it sounds best on headphones.
What can we expect to hear on your new album Soundcastles? The album sounds very organic, can you explain how you got that sound?
I’m glad it sounds that way. I’m not sure it is as organic as you would imagine. A lot of it was chucked through a Mackie desk, and real keys were used wherever possible (Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzers, Pianos) but so much effort was made to play digital instruments in a way that made them sound real, I’m glad it comes across that way. I use technology on technology to enhance the musicality of a part, or to make something synthetic sound human. Other people use, enhance and expand technology to make new inhuman sounds, which I greatly admire. I don’t tend to go down that road myself. Mine is an expression of classic human sounds under economic constraint! We don’t have the economy of the 70′s in music in order to book entire orchestras for days on end. Well I don’t anyway!
You also have an album out under the guise of the Neil Cowley Trio. How does that differ from the Pretz project?
The Pretz project is all about sonic perfection. I have the opportunity to go back and re-point or hone passages on the Pretz project, potentially a thousand or more times. This is because it is all about programming and overdubs, and I write as I produce it; all on my own with a keyboard and a computer screen. This makes it a very introspective project. The trio however is a completely different process. I write the music on a piano and then present it to the trio. We then rehearse it and develop it and then eventually record it in one take in a very grand studio with a grand piano. That way you are liable to get mistakes on the recording. It is in fact the mistakes that make it human and give it it’s charm. There are no mistakes in Pretz. The question for the listener is whether they prefer the human element of error, or the utopian perfection (that is shiny, unwrinkled sound… I am not suggesting I have made the perfect album!!!!!) of microchip aided music. I think there’s room for both.
Is Pretz is a one-off?
Not theoretically. Things are set up to repeat the process. Depends if it ends up getting pecked by seagulls at the Chalvey treacle mines. I think I have a change of direction sussed for the next album. Really looking forward to giving it a go. Could mean getting in touch with my roots in a big way.
Who inspires you musically ?
John Barry, Frank Zappa, Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, George Duke, John Martyn, Milton Nascimento, Taraf de Haidouks, Jill Scott, Joni Mitchell, Bert Jansch, Hermeto Pascoal, Harry Nilsson, James Brown, Ian Dury, The Average White Band, My Dad.
Who do you listen to from todays music scene?
I do actively look for new sounds from other countries more often than not. The Brits do a lot of good stuff, but I’m on a personal journey of foreign discovery. I adore Turkish, and Romanian music at the moment. Hold on, you asked me about todays music scene and I was about to rant on about past artists then. How telling. Today….. today…. today….. no nothing springing to mind….I’m slow to catch on!
What do you think of the music industry?
I don’t think of the music industry. I think of music and then a bunch of what now seem unavoidable commercial check points along the way. We live in an apathetic society where everything is delivered to our door, and we are all guilty of taking on board the musical tastes that we are spoon fed. I am as guilty as others of not acknowledging an artists talent until they are thrust in my face via the TV or Radio. If it’s on ‘the culture show’ I’ll consider it. If it’s on CDuk I’ll invariably ignore it. I’m a victim however you look at it. But I really don’t mind that there is a music industry. In a commercial world it would be a miracle if music avoided industry. It can be quite fun to play the game, and if something is good, it should rise to the top. Its the industry effluence that rises to the top in an instant through corrupt PR practices that you’ve gotta watch out for. But if it’s crap, it’ll always end up being pecked by seagulls on the Chalvey treacle mines!
Can you tell us what you will doing at the big chill?
Playing keys with ‘Chilled by Nature’, Pete Lawrence’s artistic guise and introducing my son to the word ‘festival’…
Whats your best big chill memory?
Definitely performing on the main stage with Fragile State two summers back. We knew it was our last one, and we gave it everything. ‘Four four four’ was the peak moment. Russell the bass player had turned up to the stage looking like he was in the middle of a ‘bad one’ which is very uncharacteristic, but even he managed a big grin to that tune. We were bouncing around like children. And there’s nothing better than looking back at the drums and seeing the king of punk and country gentleman Dave Ruffy. It was a top theremin moment. On the less personal side, I will always remember Tom Middleton playing Beyonce’s ‘crazy in love’ and seeing the place go nuts. And it was at restricted volume because of the time of night. Show’s the power of that song!
Is there someone at Eastnor that you simply cannot miss?
Well I can’t miss ‘Chilled by Nature’ with Pete Lawrence cos I’m playing keyboards and if I do he’ll kill me. But I’m rather chuffed to see the E.S.T. playing this year. An inspired booking. Seen them before at various south bank venues. They are a wonderful experience. Humble too.
Whats your un-hip guilty pleasure?
I’ve just discovered a new and glorious guilty pleasure. Christina Aguilera’s new single ‘Ain’t no other man’ has grabbed me by the hipsters and chucked me round my car whilst driving down the M4. Have got her website up on my screen now with the tune in rotation. Shameless!!
