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Humming Bird Music
59 Posts |
 Posted - 26 August 2009 : 05:57:00
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FRANCIS LICKERISH - Interview / Q&A
A big thank you to Chrissy Powell who runs the Enid Society myspace page for giving permission to publish the following interview from February 2009. Visit Chrissy's Enid myspace page - it's a great archive of Enid goodies and wonderful memories! Enid Society MYSPACE
Francis speaks about his memories, his music, his inspirations, his new band Secret Green and their debut album 'To Wake the King'.
Hello Francis and thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview for the Enid Society MySpace page.
Most of us know your work from your time with the Enid, as a founding member you stayed with the Enid for many years and recorded four albums with them. Were you surprised that people remembered you after staying away from the music scene?
Francis Lickerish: Yes. Given that often I don't even remember myself, I was very pleasantly surprised and touched. I am quite moved by the positive response from people, and grateful too.
Do you feel the music business is much changed from that time?
Francis Lickerish: Not much! It is an entirely different creature; one that I am struggling to comprehend! Back in the day, one made a demo, sent it to A&R at some big record company and hoped for the best. Now it is all independent. I have a sense that this is a much better scenario in a lot of ways, but I need to get my head around how it all works. I would be very grateful for help and advice from folk!
What was the catalyst that prompted you to put a band together now and how did you go about finding members for it, or for choosing the name "Secret Green"?
Francis Lickerish: That is some question. The last time I played with the Enid. was in 1988 at the Dominion in Tottenham Court Road. After that, it seemed I had other what you might call Life Tasks to attend to and it seemed I had to re-invent myself. As a consequence, I stopped playing altogether for the best part of 15 years. No guitar, no lute, no nothing. Looking back, I can't say that this was a particularly good thing, but life is weird, so who knows.
In 2006 I got married to Helen and she gave me a lute as a wedding present. This re-fired my interest and I began to re-connect with John Dowland and the other renaissance composers that I love so dearly. I was surprised at how quickly it all came back. That was one trigger. The other is rather more difficult to explain. It has to do with my relationship to India and certain things that I have learned in my travels there, and in Europe. In 2005, I walked across Spain on the Camino Santiago; I've investigated the Cathars in Southern France, Druids in Ireland and Switzerland. and so on. I'm sure you get some sort of picture. Anyhow, I just sort of started to write again. A trickle at first, re-vamping some old ideas, and then the project gathered momentum. I had to learn how to use music technology; I bought myself a new Stratocaster etc, etc. Bit by bit the project became more real, more solid until now; the first album of the planned series is just about done!
“Secret Green” as a name represents the lost roots of an ancient culture. We live in a de-racinated society. Ask an English person to name an English folk song and you might get "Streets of London" as an answer! Before I go on, I need to be very clear that I am by no means and no how a nationalist or a patriot! England has now within it an essence of the whole world and an opportunity to become a model for true international co-operation in these very dangerous times. Anyway, around and about the 11th and 12th centuries, great things were happening. Something wonderful was moving through the world Aether. The great Gothic cathedrals were being built, The Rosicrucians and the Templars were formed, and the Cathars were in the process of transforming Europe. The troubadour movement was arising; the great mystical romances were being collected, condensed and presented in a form that made them accessible to the ordinary person. The Legends of Arthur and the Graal are part of this awakening. Tragically, as seems to be the way with every great evolutionary impulse, a dark and powerful counter stroke soon came about. In my view, we are living in extraordinary times, times of great danger and even greater opportunity. I am of the opinion that England. has a task to perform and in order to perform that task we need the power and magic of our heritage. England. is all head and no Heart. To me, Arthur, Merlin, and all the others represent the still beating heart of Albion, or Britain. if you like. This all sounds very grand. I hope people take the music as it is. The message is there if you want it, but please don't feel obliged. Above all, these are songs about a return to dignity, hope and courage.
The members of the band found me really. It was a bit spooky to be honest. First of all there was Jon Beedle, an old admirer of the Enid We sort of drifted together as a result of MySpace. When I began to write in earnest, Hilary and Willie somehow just appeared. I hadn't heard from either of them for years and years and suddenly we were back in touch and working together. It really was most strange. Matt Hodge came into the band via Jon. Jon knows every musician in the whole world. If you ask if he knows a Guatemalan chest bassoonist, he will produce a raft of phone numbers. Matt is great. He can read! He plays percussion and is an all round good musician. All the band are first class musicians, which makes my life much easier because I can just give them the score and they know the music! Great stuff. I am privileged to have such a high calibre band.
A series of albums? What do you have planned?
Francis Lickerish: A song cycle about England basically. Nothing flag wavy or nationalistic or patriotic or anything. As I said, I believe England and the English language has a specific task in the coming time. I'd like to develop that notion musically. Sounds very grand I know, but it won't be overt or preachy, just embedded in the architecture of the music.
It sounds as though your period of re-invention has brought you in a full circle back to your music, and also to the musicians. Would you say this is true?
Francis Lickerish: Yes very true. It seems to have been a necessary excursion into the interior!
What are you referring to when you speak of a counter strike?
Francis Lickerish: The medieval period held great promise. As I have said, the great gothic cathedrals were being built, the Templars, Cathars and Rosicrucians were moving; all sorts of powerful evolutionary forces were abroad. And then they were crushed. Take the Cathars as an example. Their model of synergetic community was wonderful. Look what happened to them. Look what happened to the Templars, etc., etc. I use an original Templar song on ‘To Wake the King’. It comes as a message of hope and courage.
You have likened ’To Wake the King’ to ‘Aerie Faerie Nonsense’, the Enid’s second LP. Would you explain the connection?
Francis Lickerish: ‘Aerie Faerie’ was the album with the most 'me' in it. If you listen to ‘To Wake the King’ it has that same sort of happily chaotic feel to it that ‘Aerie Faerie’ did. Also, ‘Aerie Faerie’ was probably the most hopeful of the four Enid albums in which I was involved. ‘To Wake the King’ is a very hopeful album.
How long have you spent writing the material for the new album?
Francis Lickerish: Some of the thematic material is quite old and had its first airing with a band called ‘Rutterkin’ way back in the last century! Some is quite new. All in all, To Wake the King represents three years of pretty much solid hard work. I would have loved to have had more opportunity to collaborate with Willy Gilmour ‘cos we work very well together and are very much on the same page musically (apart from when he starts to write fugues in 10 dimensions....Don't ask!). It has been a tremendous learning opportunity. I've had to re-learn composition, counterpoint and harmony; I've had to re-learn the guitar and stuff. It's gone from being a bit of a whim, or a fancy to become my whole life. I am Possessed!!!
The album was originally to be called ‘Songs to Wake the King’, why did you decide to amend this?
Francis Lickerish: I think ‘To Wake the King’ sounds better. That's all.
Do you write the lyrics and compose the music? As an instrumentalist how difficult (or easy) do you find writing lyrics?
Francis Lickerish: Yes. I've written all the music (except for My Lord Beedle's Content of Desire) and all the lyrics. Some of the lyrics are adaptations of traditional ballads. (Tom O'Bedlam, for example) but they are not attempts to present those ballads as such, they are very much songs in themselves that use archetypal images. I've always written lyrics. In the Region (the album as a whole I mean) originally had lyrics, but when the singer committed suicide, we went instrumental.
I find lyrics difficult to write. I have to tie them into the music and the motifs of the album and so they are a lot of work and I try to use the word aether as much as I can. I don't know how good or bad they might be; I'll leave that judgment up to you. The songs on To Wake the King are all connected lyrically and thematically. Each element of the album has a theme that appears when appropriate. For example, there is an Avalon motif, a Merlin motif and so on, but you don't need to know this, it's just part of the overall architecture of the album.
At the first Secret Green gig you played “Earthbeans”; what has happened to it since?
Francis Lickerish: “Earthbeans” has transmogrified into a song called On Merlin's Ground. It's an Atlantic sea scene and has a special place on the album.
Other than the Enid are there any other bands or composers that have influenced you?
Francis Lickerish: Lots of influences. I listen to rivers and the sea. Rain at night in a wood is one of the most reassuring sounds ever! Mountains, Thunder, Wind. The Moon, of course. Too many to mention! I suppose if I have to be specific I would say that medieval pre-renaissance music fills me with wonder. It is from another world and the skill and mastery of the composers of that period leaves me breathless. It is almost perfect music. Folk music too, affects me. There is a certain quality that you might find anywhere that influences me. I can only call it 'otherness'. One might find it in Vaughan Williams or Bob Dylan or Captain Beefheart or Martin Carthy or Rameau or some Hebridean song or Guillaume Dufay of some obscure piece of 11th century polyphony. I don't know what it is, but I try to capture it. It's like that 5th taste, whatever it's called. You can't describe it but you know it when you hear it.
Comparison between The Enid’s back catalogue and Secret Green is inevitable. How do you think Secret Green’s new material will stand up?
Francis Lickerish: I have no idea! Well I hope. One has to remember that RJG is a creative genius and whatever one's relationship with him maybe, one cannot deny, nor would one wish to, that without his influence, this album could not have been written. It is nothing like his style, it's mine and I have my own musical vocabulary and way of writing, yet without Robert's influence and teaching, I couldn't have written these songs. Hopefully, you can hear me in these songs and maybe you can recognize me in early Enid stuff. It isn't the Enid. We have Hilary as a vocalist for a start! It is inevitable that there will be some similarities ‘cos I wrote a fair bit of the early stuff and so did Willie.
I understand To Wake the King was recorded at The Lodge studios, how did that come about?
Francis Lickerish: The Lodge is an excellent studio and they gave me a very good deal. Some of the equipment there is from the ‘Touch Me’ days!
What was it like collaborating with RJG and other ex band members?
Francis Lickerish: Robert and I didn't collaborate. This is my album. He does put in a guest appearance at the end of Nimue, but that is as far as it goes. It was really very good to re-establish contact with RJG after all this time. I can honestly say we have a lot in common and will probably remain good friends; he was the model of grace and consideration. He is also a very good cook!
I've already spoken about Willie and I. It was fantastic to see Dave Storey again and he is such a good drummer! He plays on ‘Ecchoing Green’ and it was tremendous fun working with him again, a real treat! It was almost like we had never lost touch. Jason Ducker puts in a cameo appearance on ‘Camlann’. He is a very musical player and great to work with. As for the rest Max Read is a very talented engineer and also contributed a great deal to the production. He was a godsend really, this stuff isn't easy to record and when it came to mixing the album he took over from Joe. Joe Willes was the main engineer during the recording processes. He did a very good job too. All in all, it was a great pleasure to work at the lodge and they were all very professional helpful and encouraging. I would recommend the studio to anyone, no matter what level they are at.
On the technical side, what musical equipment did you use in the studio? Did you have a producer or did you do this yourself?
Francis Lickerish: I used my Fenders, (Stratocastor and Telecastor) Lute, various acoustic guitars and the wind guitar. (Don't ask), My Mesa Boogie Nomad amps. I'm not a great one for fix, so most of the guitar sounds are straight into the amp. An assortment of keyboards, a five string bass from Argos Jon Beedle has the same attitude, although he has about a trillion different guitars. (28, really). He mainly uses Strats. Jon likes Fender amps, which are very nice but a bit noisy he is also a fabulous balalaika-ist. Hilary has a fabulous voice and is so good that often only one take was needed. The Orchestra is all samples played and arranged by me. We had a rather special chap called Alan Wilson to do some percussion. And of course there was Giles Holybrook with his monstrous bassoon.
How do you feel your guitar style has developed over the years, and have you any hints and tips for aspiring players?
Francis Lickerish: I'm a weird sort of guitarist. Ask Jon! The guitars on To Wake the King are very hard working but mostly quite unorthodox. I don't really write guitar music, it's more music that is played on guitar. If one were to take Steve Vai, for example, a wonderful player and extraordinary musician, with him the guitar is in front and the music is behind. Take away the guitar and his fabulous playing and it dissolves. With me, the music is in front of the guitar. Although they are guitar parts, they could be played on an oboe, let’s say, and the music would still stand up.
Hints for aspiring players? Don't treat guitar playing like a competitive sport, as Jon would say. The technical standard of playing these days is tremendous, but there are about a billion Joe Satriani clones who have not one atom of originality or individuality in their playing. Yes by all means develop a stunning technique, but when all is said and done, it is songs that people remember and if there is none of the person playing in the song, it will be aesthetically dead and pointless. Music is magic and magic is hard to master. Technique is not a substitute for magic, but magic can exist irrespective of technique.
Could you describe the equipment and the processes involved in composing and recording this album?
Francis Lickerish: Blimey! Initially I wrote the orchestra parts at my home studio. I use Cubase and a selection of samples. I also write the vocal lines and guitar parts at home then get together with Jon and Hils to refine and adapt. On a couple of occasions I have had the pleasure of travelling to Inverness to spend a couple of days writing with Willie. You can hear the results in Ecchoing Green and in Camlann. I wanted the guitars and drums and vocals to be as well recorded as possible and so we went to the Lodge. It was a question of transferring the orchestra (24 bit, 96 kHz for the nerds) onto their system and going from there. The basic structure and orchestral foundation was in place when we went into the studio.
How does making music now, now that your band is diverse and you have day jobs, compare to the Enid days when the band was all under one roof?
Francis Lickerish: It's different!!!! The Enid. had the luxury of time and we could rehearse. My goodness did we rehearse! I can remember spending two weeks rehearsing three bars of Albion Fair. We had to, there was no other way. I was talking to Dave Storey and Robert about this recently and we were all amazed at what The Enid were able to do live! Having said that, Secret Green is very committed and proficient and when we do begin touring, we will be very well rehearsed and we are all determined to find a way to not use backing tapes or midi. I think we can do it.
In future concerts will Secret Green be playing a mixture of old Enid songs or just their new music?
Francis Lickerish: Probably not. We might once in a while, but we are an entity of ourselves and I don't want to be an Enid tribute! However, having said that there is some talk of possible joint Secret Green/Enid ventures involving enormous versions of Fand and Albion Fair. Watch this Space.
Many bands need to network in order to raise awareness of their music to their audience. In the 1970s and 80's the Enid Society had directories, mail shots & picnics which, among other things, kept their fans interested and provided feedback to the band - but how do you (and the other Secret Green members) envisage this is going to work these days, and do you think the internet offers any advantage?
Francis Lickerish: I don't really like the idea of a Fan. It seems a bit derogatory. I prefer to regard the relationship as a kind of partnership. Fans gives a bit of a bovine spin to the notion. No band can exist on any level without this relationship. I'm sure the internet plays a very important role, after all it is under the jurisdiction of Lord Ganesha, but then serendipity and the aetheric forces, the time spirits and the various hierarchies.
Do you have an event to launch the release of “To Wake The King” planned?
Francis Lickerish: Wait and see. It might be a secret surprise! Or it might not.
Do you intend to tour, and if so, will this cover most areas of the country?
Francis Lickerish: Yes, yes and yes! First and foremost we are a live band and we intend to tour as much as we possibly can.
Do you have any dates and venues confirmed yet?
Francis Lickerish: Maybe!!!???
And finally - Will you still be needing a big posh car and volunteers to roadie and sell T-shirts?
Francis Lickerish: Without a doubt!
Thank you Francis for that interesting insight. Here’s hoping the future holds many good things for Secret Green.
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Francis Lickerish - Interview / Q&A
