NIGEL
HOBBS
By
Nicky Baldrian
After four years of struggling
1999 finally sees the return of ex Walk The Wire keyboard player
Nigel Hobbs with his new album "The River's Too Wide"
and oh boy what a fantastic musical journey this record is.
Walk The Wire were a UK based band who gained considerable praise
in the rock press,(even Kerrang rated them at the time, a mighty
achievemnet considering grunge music was in full swing), anyway
having heard three rough tracks earlier on in the year, i think
it's safe to say that Nigel is gonna turn some heads.So i caught
up with him prior to the albums release for a mini interview.
N.B: What happened
with Walk The Wire?
N.H: To be honest, so much water has passed under the bridge
since Walk The Wire that I would rather concentrate on what's
happening now and look to the future. But I will try and answer
your question with some words from the liner notes on my new
album..... Walk The Wire split up after eight years of chasing a
dream (only to find that when we found it, the dream wasn't what
we were expecting!) Don't forget that before we recorded the
album we had been together for 7 years and we had got to the
stage where there was nothing more we could do with the band
given the musical climate at the time. People were pulling in
different directions and the band just sort of fizzled out rather
than anyone saying "Right, that's it. I quit!" There
was a little animosity when the drummer and guitarist were
replaced by two guys from the French band Tilt but I'd rather not
dwell on that too much. If you want to dig deeper, there will be
a copy of a full length interview I did after the band split
which will be on my forthcoming web site!
N.B: Do you have any fond
memories of those years with Walk The Wire?
N.H: Sure, in our original line-up, we achieved some great things
- a bloody good album, good magazine reviews, doing Radio One,
playing at The London Astoria with FM - we got further than we
ever thought we would but there was nowhere left for us to go
after that but backwards. It's a shame there was a little
bitterness at the end though. But it's history now and I'm
pleased to be involved in happier activities.
N.B: Why did you decide to
beacome a solo artist?
N.H: Well, after WTW split I spent a short time writing some film
soundtrack stuff for a video company. I didn't really find that
musically stimulating enough and I got straight back to writing
songs. I had actually amassed a huge amount of material that I
had kept back because it was either unsuitable for Walk The Wire
or because I had intended to include it on a second WTW album.
So, in the winter of '95 I found myself without a band to play my
songs, no studio to record them in and no record contract. On
reflection, the latter was probably a blessing. What I did have
was a few ideas and some good friends. I knew there was close to
zero chance of using any of the big, expensive, commercial
studios in London, so I built my own - far away from city life,
and named it Sleepy Hollows (by contrast to other studios I had
worked in, this one is extremely relaxing!). And it's there that
I have locked myself away for what seems like all of the last
eighteen months or so. How naïve I was to have believed I could
do it in under six! The result of this will be my new album
N.B:Tell me about the new album
and which direction does it flow in musically?
N.H: Well, the new albums contains nine songs and clocks in at
just under an hour. It consists of some new songs, some songs
that I wrote a few years ago but were not suitable to use with
Walk The Wire, and two instrumentals. I'm incredibly excited
about it because I'm so pleased with the strength of the
material. It's difficult for me to tell you a musical direction
because I allowed myself total creative freedom when I wrote the
songs and I didn't have the restrictions that being in a band
places upon you. You know, when you're part of a five piece unit,
you may have an idea which you can hear as a completed song in
your head. You play it to the band and by the time the
arrangement has been thrashed out, it has sometimes changed
radically from what you originally had in mind. Sometimes egos
are involved and sometimes you bow to the 'democratic view' even
if it goes against your gut feelings for what you think the song
should sound like.
Well the beauty of doing this as
a solo project is that I could record the songs exactly as I'd
intended. I could get the other guest musicians into the studio
and say "this is what I'd like guys" and they'd do it -
and the songs ended up much as I had imagined they would. If you
want a guide as to the musical style, then I would say that two
songs have some similarities to my writing style as it was with
Walk The Wire but in general there is a bit more influence from
my 'progressive rock' roots. Obviously there is more emphasis on
the keyboard and orchestrations but it's still a rock album.
There are some great contributions from two of the previous Walk
The Wire guitarists (Andy Webb and Kevin Skingley) and also a
good freind of mine called Barry Oldnall. The best advice to
anyone is, of course, buy it and find out!
N.B: Originally you were going
to call it "Lightning Road", why have you decide to
change the title?
N.H: Well, Lightning Road is the title of a song that I wrote for
Walk The Wire and it's included on the album with a much more
acoustic arrangement. I liked the title of the song and the
images that it suggested to me from the lyrics. I had even got as
far as having the cover designed! However, another song ('The
River's Too Wide') which started life as just a melody for a
chorus eventually ended up as being a 19-minute epic! The song is
very visual and I felt that it just naturally became the
centrepiece for the album. So 'The River's Too Wide' it was. This
meant getting scrapping all the artwork that had been designed,
getting back in touch with the photographer and then several
weeks of intense work (mostly with him trying to make sense of
all my crazy ideas!) However, the end result is definitely worth
it!
N.B:What are your plans for this
album?
N.H: To get it promoted as much as possible and to get people
into what I am doing here and now. Obviously I get asked alot
about the old WTW days but really that is well and truely in the
past and it's time to move forward.
N.B:Do you have a deal yet?
N.H: The album will be released initially though my production
company 'Lightning Productions' and promoted through our internet
web site. I have had some preliminary discussions with some
companies for a possible overseas deal but nothing has been
agreed as yet. Unfortunately, because of the long delays I have
had in getting the album through the final production stages, the
launch puts me right up against the Christmas season. Everyone's
money goes on big names and their greatest hits CDs. It's tough
being an unknown!
N.B:What about
touring? Will you play any of the old Walk The Wire material?
N.H: Touring would be fantastic! I have some musicians in mind
for a band but I will wait to see what the initial reaction is to
the album and then we'll probably put some dates together for
early next year. As to playing Walk The Wire songs - well once
again, I wouldn't want to go out and play a show which wallowed
in nostalgia but it would probably be nice to play one or two of
the old classics. In fact two of the songs on the album I wrote
for Walk The Wire and we did in fact play them live. 'Lightning
Road' and 'Living a Lie' would make an appearance and then maybe
'The Knives Are Out Tonight'. We'll have to see!
N.B:Lastly,it's
great to see you finally back on the scene,is there anything that
you would like to say to your fans?
N.H: To those who were fans of Walk The Wire and have stuck
around to see if any of the band members ever appeared again -
God bless you and thank you for your patience! I have worked long
and hard to produce something that I am personally very proud of.
I hope you like it too. To anyone new who has never heard of me
give it a try. There just might be something on it that takes
your fancy!
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