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We caught up
with Bob Catley, formerly the lead singer with Magnum, during his
soundcheck on 18 December 2000 at Trillians Rockbar @ Newcastle upon
Tyne, UK. This is what he had to say to us:
MM - You are half way through your tour, how
has it been going so far and what have the crowds been like?
BC - It's been
going terrific, the crowds have been brilliant, it just gets better and
better. We started off in Spain that was good, then we did Stowbridge
which was good, then Nottingham which was amazing and last night at
Glasgow which was good.
This is my own band now and it's the first time we have toured together
and it just keeps getting better and better. We are going through till
Christmas Eve, so I'll be able to go home on Christmas Eve which will be
nice.
We have a lot of good shows coming up and I've got Kip Winger on with me
which is brilliant. I think it's a good package, he's great. Two rock n'
roll heroes together! A couple of legends in our own lifetime.
MM - Who's actually in your band at the moment?
BC - I have Paul Hodson on keyboards and Al Barrow on bass guitar
both from Hard Rain, Colin Alltree on drums, he used to be our drum tech
but now he's been demoted to our drummer, he's excellent, and I have a
guy on guitar Vince O' Reagan who I've known before, we all work
together as well as separately.
MM - This tour is to promote your album
Legends that came out last year, when will the new album be out?
BC
- The new album will be out in April 2001, Legends is my second solo
album. I've just finished recording the new album which will be called
Middle Earth, and the songs are inspired by J R R Tolkein and Lord of
the Rings. I will be doing the full British/European tour in April
and May to promote it with the same band.
Gary Hughes writes all the songs for me and he knew that I always wanted
to do a Lord of the Rings album. The songs are really beautiful and I'll
be playing one of those songs tonight.
MM - Just one?
BC
- Yeh just one at the end of the show to give people a taste. I'm still
trying to get the words in my head, so if I get the words wrong no one
will know because nobody's heard it.
MM - Is this album going back to more the Storytellers Night and the
fable Legends then?
BC - Legends, each figure on there is either mythical or real, dead
or alive, from Greek mythology to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.
Phantom of the Opera is on there, Jason and the Argonauts are on.
Wuthering Heights is on with Cathy and Heathcliffe. They are all kinds
of Legends.
MM - Do you find it easier singing about things like that as opposed to
personal experiences?
BC - It's all the same to me, on The Tower there was a lot of
personal experience stuff on there, again written by Gary, and that was
a similar album I think to Storytellers Night, more so than Legends
which is more of a contemporary rock album. Middle Earth is going
to be a nice album, it's going to be a fantasy album as Lord of the
Rings is a fantasy tale.
MM - I'm sure all the old Magnum fans will love it.
BC - Oh yeh, funny you should say that as me and Tony Clarkin have
started working together again. In the new year I'm going to start
recording some new songs with Tony towards a Magnum album which will be
out later in the year. So the Magnum fans are going love that!
MM - Does this mean Magnum are going to be reformed as a band?
BC
- Yeh, well we will be touring. Who's going to be in the band apart from
myself and Tony I'm not sure yet. It will be a Magnum reunion in some
form.
MM - Do you think Magnum will stay together or will it just be a one
off?
BC
- I don't know we'll have to see how it goes. Next year is our 25th
anniversary, so that's definitely going to happen. After that we'll see,
but I will still carry on working with Gary Hughes and do my own tours,
with my own career, I won't not stop that.
I consider myself very lucky to have both in the gang. Tony Clarkin is a
great song writer and so is Gary Hughes. I'm very privileged to be able
to work with both of them.
MM - Are you still a part of Hard Rain?
BC - Hard Rain doesn't exist, it hasn't existed for a year. I left
Hard Rain a year ago and that kind of knocked the whole thing on the
head. It was good while it lasted but it didn't work out for me, I had
too much going on with my own stuff and I had to just leave. After
that it pretty much folded. But it will be nice to work with Tony again.
MM - Hard Rain was more like the last Magnum album, the Rock Art
album.
BC - Yes, well it was the follow up to the Rock Art album. The time
is right for some really good Magnum songs again now, so we are really
into it and it will be nothing like Hard Rain, not if I have anything to
do with it.
MM - You're not trying to put Magnum to rest are you?
BC
- To rest! no no! I want to dig it all up again. Revive the corpse of
Magnum.
MM - I don't think the fans ever went away.
BC - No the fans are brilliant, the fans never go away, you can't
live without them. We only did what we did with Magnum because of our
fans and we'll never forget that. They really are brilliant people.
MM - We have seen you as the lead singer
for many years now but do you actually play any instruments?
BC - No.
MM - Have you ever tried?
BC
- No, I'm not interested thank you. I bought a guitar some years ago and
had a little go on it and thought forget it. I just couldn't be bothered
to learn properly and gave it away. I'll leave it to other people
who can play it properly. I'll just stick to my singing as I can do that
pretty well. I'll stick to what I know and forget guitar playing.
I have a little dabble on the drums now and again at sound checks, but
I'm just a singer.
MM - What bands or artists are you
listening to at the moment?
BC - I don't get time, you're joking aren't you! I wish I did have
time! When I'm at home I listen to all sorts, when I'm on the road and
there's so much going on we just watch videos more than listen to music.
We watch Bottom.
When I go home I have quite a varied record collection, and I'll listen
to anything that's good. If it's good music, and there's lots out there,
I'm easily pleased.
MM - Are your music tastes more Rock orientated?
BC - I love heavy rock, soft rock, folk rock, any old rock. More the
classic rock, the older albums I suppose. I like some classical
music, the popular stuff. I don't like Jazz though, I like the odd bit
of dance stuff, a bit of everything really.
MM - Do you think it is easier or harder for bands to get started
these days?
BC - Easier or harder, I'm not sure, it's all hard, it always was,
there's nothing easy about it unless you touch dead lucky.
Sometimes it's who you know not what you know. You can be the best band
in the world but not get a record deal because you are not the kind of
music that's popular at that time. I really feel for bands.
Magnum had the same problems all those years ago, but we kind of touched
lucky. Jeff Lynn from ELO put us in touch with Jet Records and we got a
deal with them. So if you have a friend that can put a word in for you
then that's good but it's not always possible, and there's a lot of good
bands out there, but you struggle some times to get what you deserve.
It can be real hard work and can be really heart breaking.
MM - Have you any advice for bands starting out?
BC - My god, don't do it! Yeh, go on you'll have a great time. I
don't know there's nothing I can tell anybody, just be true to yourself,
enjoy it and have a great gig. But don't always expect to get paid!
You have to get used to doing it for the love, the money will come
later. It's not so bad once you get going, it's often well worth doing,
if you're strong enough. It can be a bit horrendous some times and you
can get ripped off. Everybody gets ripped off, I have, I've been ripped
off loads of times. But it's ok, I still do it.
MM - Is there anything that you regret of wish you'd done
differently?
BC - No, not really if I'd done things differently then certain
things wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have met my wife or have two
lovely girls. I have two grown up daughters now.
I wouldn't have met half the people I know now if I had done it
different, so I guess it's best to leave it the way it was.
There's certain things I would have liked to have changed but on the
whole it's been a pretty good life. I wouldn't change anything really,
nothing major. It's had it's ups and downs, rich one year and broke the
next, it's a helter-skelter.
MM - How's your mum keeping? Is she still helping out with the
information service?
BC - My mum, yeh she's fine, she still does that. She's 77 now, she
couldn't make it tonight but I'll see her at London tomorrow night. She
still helps out on the information service and I've got Annie Minnion
doing the internet and the website. She manages me now. She's also my
agent and she does the merchandise on the road. She also organises all
my interviews and everything, you know the woman's brilliant. Everybody
is, my mum does a great job for me, my family all support me and my band
are great. I've got the fans who all support me, what can I say, how can
I be so lucky?
MM - Years ago when people wrote to the fan club your mum would write
back by hand to each and every letter, it was such a lovely touch.
BC - Yeh, well that's what she's there for, it's the personal touch
isn't it, direct access to somebody that they want to talk to, she's
great. Now we also have a great big website full of stuff. I'm very
lucky.
MM - How have you found the internet?
BC - It's opened me up to more people. Yes, it's made a big
difference. Well it's instant access to information isn't it? you
haven't got to wait a week for the postman to deliver.
The internet is fantastic, we can't do without it now. What did we do
before it came along? I let Annie do all that stuff for me, I'm useless,
I can't type and send an email to save my life. I've got a mobile phone
which is switched off in my bag, I don't know why I've got one, I'm not
very high tech am I? I'm more kind of low tech.
MM - Do you ever see a time when you want to pack it all in and won't
want to tour any more?
BC - I don't think so I love it too much. You're joking, I love it
far too much. I just want to keep on doing what I do for as long as I'm
physically able to do it. For as long as people keep coming to see me in
this form or Magnum. Why not? Who wants to stop that life? It's a
brilliant life and I'm very lucky to be able to do all this and I see no
reason to stop.
It doesn't matter how old you are as long as you have your health and
you can do it on stage. I don't run around so much as I used to as I
can't be bothered, but people still come for the music and that's
enough. Long may it reign, long may it rock n' roll. I don't see me
packing it in, no way!
MM - Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans out there?
BC - YEH! WAZZUP! Just keep enjoying the music please and I hope
I've managed to bring some good songs to you all and long may it be so,
I'm not finished yet. Try and come and see me on the road and have a
lovely Christmas.
I'll be on tour next year during next April and May so come and see me,
you know you are all welcome.
MM - How are you going to celebrate the New Year?
BC
- We are having a big party, we are having a 2001 party! A sort of Star
Trek dressing up party where we all go mad, so I'll be doing that with
all my family and friends. Then I'm back on my head working with Tony. I
finish Christmas Eve then I start work again on the 3rd January.
MM - Thank you for taking part in this interview and we look forward to
seeing you back on the road next year.
BC - It's been an absolute pleasure.
This interview is the first in a series of live
interviews done for The Mayfair Mall. We will be bringing you more
live interviews over the coming months!
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