Interview with Roye, conducted by Attila on October 28, 1996, covering the time
of Roye's leaving Nektar, the band Snowball, the re–union, Man In The Moon, and
post–Nektar.
Returning From The US
Returning from the US was a real difficult decision for me, as I really didn't
know what I was going to do with myself. I had turned a few things over in my mind
and because I had a fair few ideas for new songs, I decided to approach my record
company and ask about the situation regarding a solo album. This was to be my first
mistake. I was flatly denied any possibility of a solo career or any future recording
with this record company.
Snowball
And so, I happened to run into an old friend that I knew from the old old Nektar
days, who was managing a band in the south of Germany called Snowball. This was
to be the remnants of a jazz rock band called Klaus Doldingers Passport, and a good
band it was as well. Very lively and full of beans. We did an album together called
Defrosters, and it was basically a pile of songs that they had written without a
vocalist / guitarist, and so enter Roye… It wasn't exactly music for
the masses but it was exciting live, and it gave me some good practice on chords
that I had forgotten over the years. One thing I did learn while I was with the
band, was that volume wasn't everything in the world of live rock music. I had
become quite fond of a little amplifier that I had brought back from the States
with me called a Mesa Boogie. This was the best recording amp that I had ever used,
and it was only a lot later that I found something I liked better. We did a few
short tours of the immediate European countries, and even did the East Meets West
concert in Berlin, which I must say left me a little in doubt who was the performers
and who was the audience…
Nektar Reunion?
So Snowball came and went, and here I was still looking for a band. It wasn't
until a once close friend of mine introduced me to a gentleman who was in the commercial
film industry, that the idea of putting Nektar back together again for another album
was really a prospect…
The Lost Tapes
He had suggested that I nip over to Jersey and sit down with the other boys and
see what we'd come up with. I still have some of those tapes we did in Mo's
cellar and believe me if that lot had made the studio it would have been some of
the best music that anyone had heard from Nektar. But alas, is was not to be. Too
many years, too many internal problems. And so Taff and I decided to look for another
rhythm section, at least one we could work with…
A New Nektar Is Born
And so along came Dave Prater and Carmine Rojas, who were one of the most stunning
drum / bass combo I had heard in a long time. They were up for anything, and David
has to be one of the most powerful drummers I had ever played with, while Carmine
had the sweetest touch on the bass, but could pull the fillings out your teeth when
needed… A great combination.
Enter "Man In The Moon"
Between Paul Higgins, myself and several others, we literally built a 16–track studio
in Jersey and spent the entire summer recording Moon. At the end of this we
realized
that sixteen was not enough, so we had to transfer over to 24 in another studio,
where Paul was working at the time. And while we were there we decided to mix it
anyway, and so Man In The Moon was released to the public in Europe, and I'm sorry
to say not in the USA… Not a bad album, although I think a lot more thought
could have gone into it and a damn side more hard work too… One thing I do
know, though, is that the first chance I get to rerecord the title track, I
will! It didn't come off as I had planned, but next time 'round it will…
Post–Nektar
And so Nektar was finally put to bed and there I was once more without a band…
Although I was messing around with a group in London called Quantum Jump, whose
bass player is responsible for the production of WAL basses, and the keyboard player
is now one of the most sought after producers in London itself. Still I needed a
band to work with, so I decided to go back to NYC and see what I could find. I was
living in an apartment belonging to a friend, doing nothing really… Reading
the ads for bands that needed a guitarist or vocalist. I even went to an audition
for a band that had advertised for a rhythm guitarist and at the end the manager
came up and said the guitarist would be interested only if I would play at half
the volume and without any effects plugged in… It was about five minutes
later that I was enjoying a hamburger on Broadway… I spent my thirtieth birthday
in NYC and had the best time ever. Surprising how many bars there are on Broadway…
Time went by and still nothing happening… I was on my way back from an evening
of stuffed potato skins and propping up a bar that I heard the distant sounds of
a band rehearsing, way up in one of the apartment blocks on Broadway. To cut a long
story short, I rehearsed with this band and eventually played a night with them
in the place I had the potato skins, and it was good. The keyboard player was definitely
well into Billy Joel and played a mean piano. However, through the guitarist and
the shop he worked in, I found the guitar that I had always wanted… it was
a Schechter. Although I spent more than I rightly should have on this guitar, it
was well worth it and I play it to this day. A beautiful machine…
Miles Copeland (The Police)
Anyway, things were looking up because I had met an old friend by the name of Miles
Copeland (of Police fame) in N.Y.C., and he was interested in what I was doing with
myself these days. As it turned out, he was looking at putting a band together with
a bass player pal of ours from the English band Climax Blues Band, as that band
had folded and the bassist had an awful lot of songs to sing. Well, I had a lot
too, so it was to be that I went back to the UK to meet up with him and run through
a few things together. Enter Grand Alliance and the start of a new album.
The Copeland Project
Derick Holt was the bass player with the Climax Blues Band, who were touring the
USA around the same time as Nektar were. In fact, when we were not playing, they
would hire our PA and personnel for a few weeks at a time… I met Derick as
I got off the train in Stafford, which is now where I live in England. I asked him
how I would recognize him when I see him because we had never actually met before.
He said you will, and sure enough I did – he was the only person on the station
platform wearing a clown's nose… We wrote some good music together of which
only some reached the studio, and having put the album together, we went on tour
to the States together with a drummer by the name of Brendan Day, a really good
all-round drummer, that was grossly underestimated in the musical circles in Britain.
On The Road Again
We toured with the likes of ZZ Top and other artists, but what surprised me was
that The Police were looking for a support act for their new tour, promoting Every
Breath, and Mr. Copeland, who was their manager and ours now, didn't put us
on the tour. It would have been perfect, but I suppose politics play some strange
games sometimes… We played concerts and bars and just about anywhere just
to play, but we ended up going back home and writing some more songs for what we
thought was going to be another album. Alas, Mr. Copeland decided to pull the plug
on us and to this day, I don't know why. Maybe he read the message in the bottle…
Conclusion
Derick went on to do Night Of A Thousand Guitars with lots of the old rock guitarists
from way back. Brendan is playing with a club band and I re–married my
guitar. I still play(live that is) now and again, when the mood takes me, but I
do an awful lot in my hobby room… I must have spent a fortune by now on gadgets
for hard disk recording and all that that entails, but like all musicians who have
purple blood, I just cant leave it alone, and no doubt will be laid to rest one
day with a guitar at my feet…
I hope you have all enjoyed my story and remember, the breaks are only just 'round
the corner. If you see one, grab it. You may not get a second chance….