Alan Hewitt is no stranger to Blackmoon Magazine, having been interrogated by us in the past!
With so much going on in his life at the moment, we thought we’d take the opportunity to find out some more, and keep our readers in the picture ...
As resident keyboard player with The Moody Blues, Alan spends much of his life on the road, but in-between times keeps himself busy with his own incredible solo career.
With the launch of his brand new project, ‘Alan Hewitt & One Nation’ , currently taking the World by storm; plus the recent success of John Lodges album which was co-written by Hewitt - we are sure that there is no end to this great man’s talent!
We were once again very grateful that he found time in his schedule to meet up with Helen Robinson ...
So here you are on tour with The Moody Blues – how does it rate as a ‘day job’?
Incredible!
We have a great group of talented people that really enjoy what they’re doing.
There’s lots of musical freedom to express your ideas and the music is wonderful to perform.
What more could you ask for?
You’ve worked with both Justin Hayward and John Lodge on their solo albums and tours too – most recently with John on his album “10,000 Light Years Ago” ; how was that?
Perfect! John had been wanting to do another solo album for a while, so we would write songs while we were
on tour with the Moodies, and then go back and forth until we finally would have something we really liked.
Then I would go to work in my studio working on arrangements and recording.
After that was ready, we booked ‘The Mix Factory’ in Naples and spent a week or so recording vocals, bass and guitars.
I took it back with me to LA to put the finishing touches on, and mix with my long time partner Paul Klingberg whom I worked with Earth, Wind & Fire .
And it’s doing really well - One of the songs on the album I co-wrote “In My Mind” has been nominated by the Prog Awards for “Anthem of the Year”!
It’s a great tune! In fact it’s a great album. I know John is pleased with it.
And what about Justin? How does working with him compare?
Well, I was asked to do Justin’s solo tour to support “Spirits of the Western Sky” which was great fun.
We rehearsed in Genoa, Italy before embarking on an east coast US maiden tour.
It was filmed and released as “Spirits Live” at Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta.
I played keyboards and sang backing vocals.
It has since been released for the PBS television network in the United States, so check it out!
It always amazes me that you ever get time to focus on yourself Alan, but your own solo career has been really successful, and also varied – what keeps it fresh for you?
I love doing new projects and trying to bring them to fruition.
I really love doing different things, but they all have my stamp on them - So even if one is Jazz or one is Rock, there’s things that make someone that knows my music go, “hey that’s Alan Hewitt!”.
I take that approach whether it’s a film, television or an album .
The thing that makes the happiest is being able to still create and be a conduit to write new songs and compositions.
It’s a gift I don’t take lightly.
And it is a gift!
Your new record is no exception – Alan Hewitt & One Nation : Evolution. It has already won Global Music Awards for Best Album and Best Instrumentalist in 2015.
It features some pretty high profile guests too – how did the project come about?
I’ve always wanted to do a full on fusion record and I was lucky enough that a record label was willing to take a chance on it. I knew some of the musicians I wanted on it and started out by getting a hold them to see if they were interested. To my surprise all of them on my wish list were totally into it.
So then it was time to go to work and write the songs, do the arranging and temp recordings, which I always do.
Since I play most of the instruments, I like to lay down the keys, initial drums, bass and guitars.
But the magic begins when we re-do the tracks with some of the best musicians on the planet , and they add their identity to each track.
This project came together so effortlessly and was a total joy to do.
You have a break from ‘The Moody Blues’ coming up - what are your plans?
I’ll be doing some shows with “One Nation” in August.
We are playing back to back shows at OC Tanner Amphitheater which is in beautiful Zion National Park .
Both shows will be recorded and filmed as well. There is also a Christmas tour with Alex Boye in the works.
I’m always doing music for television and film as well as just having a good time!
Well you live in the Capital of Good Times! Is Life in LA as Crazy as it always looks?
It’s as crazy as you want to make it, but I actually choose the opposite and try to keep things calm and serene as much as possible.
Really?
Yes ... ... ...
Really??
Really ... ... ...
OK I believe you ...
Before I hijack your fridge for Iced Tea, is there anything you feel compelled to tell the World?
One thing that drives me to stay in the public eye is to keep making people aware of the cruelties that animals have to go thru everyday. If it wasn’t for PETA, Humane Societies, ASPCA and others we wouldn’t
know how severe it is. I know people want to just bury their heads and pretend that it’s not happening, but it is in the worst way. Just last week they had a dog eating festival in China butchering over a million dogs, some
that were pets and had been taken from their owners front yard.
I urge people to get involved because you can make a difference!
