INTERVIEW WITH A FODDER #10: BAZZ SMITH, TOUR GUIDE
Been a busy year in Fodder-Land. First came the release of the fantastic album Variety in July 2013… then came the very welcome reissues of Monkey Banana Kitchen and Schizophrenia Party in January 2014… which in turn led to a European Tour, which took place over the month of May this year (2014).
The tour saw the “Schizophrenia Party” band of Alig Fodder, Grahame Painting and Bazz Smith, joined by new member Bee Ororo, visiting Switzerland, Germany and France, on their first tour in…well, in quite awhile!
And, to top it all off, we now have a new Fodder record coming out on September 30... a limited vinyl edition of Just Love Songs (which you can buy here or here), a collection of re-worked Fodder classics of recent vintage. We're being spoiled, right?
I'm getting ahead of myself though.
Let's dial it back to the Spring of 2014 and give the floor to our favorite drummer, the legendary Bazz Smith, who has kindly agreed to talk us through this Family Fodder tour. Ok?
Which show/shows really stuck out for you on this tour?
To be honest all the gigs were great, but the one in Hamburg was amazing! The club was full to the brim, so some people had stay in the entrance hall of the club to listen. The organizer who is a musician, told us that the new generation of musicians in Hamburg were very influenced by Family Fodder, and quite a few had come to see us. So there were two girl singers from different groups at the front of the audience, and they knew the words to all our songs - they were singing from our opening song (New Kind of Love Song) to the last one (Backstreets of Affinity). The audience were with us all the way as well - truly amazing gig.
The mini-residency in Perpignan: Other than the three Family Fodder sets, what performances did attendees see/hear?
Yea, that was very interesting. Seeing 3 different support acts for Family Fodder, that were all members of Family Fodder. Alig did the first support spot on accordion, playing some great tunes - traditional french, classical, folk, etc. While playing he was walking around the people outside the club who were having their sunny aperitifs. It was really enjoyable to see him enjoying himself.
The following night it was Grahame and our wonderful new lead vocalist Bee to take to the boards. They played a blues set that was full of emotion, power, high-tension and supercharged, wow! Bee and Grahame weaved over, through, and around the audience like two surfers riding waves. What a show.
The final night of self-support, and it was my turn. I played two compositions for drum kit. The first was based on Japanese festival music and contemporary rhythms. Titled 'MILES AWAY', it depicts traveling from Japan to Europe and the different colours each has - especially the weather and music. This piece also features electronics. The second composition was a piece I dedicate to the great Congolese guitarist Pepe Felly Manuaku, with whom I also play (Kinshasa2Brixton). Please check him out. Called 'KOBUNDA' - Congolese for worrior - it is a based on some great Congolese rhythms. The audience were dancing and reacting to what I presented, so I was very pleased.
Having only four people on stage must have necessitated a fair amount of rearranging, song-wise. Which songs do you feel benefited most from a streamlined Fodder?
Well we didn't have any problems as we - The Schiz Band - have always toured as a four piece. In the eighties it was Alig: keyboards, guitar, bass. Grahame: guitar, bass, cello. Ian: main vocals, keyboards. Myself: drums. In fact it was a really good test for us, as this tour we played some numbers we had never played live. We played 'Film Music' and had to work on it quite a lot - especially the tempo - but it come out really good.
When we played Hamburg the gig was great - the audience knew most of our tunes and were singing along. However, one guy wasn't happy that we sounded too much like our albums. He actually rushed on stage screamed into one of Grahame's ears, 'You sound like the records' - amazing!
There was a review of 'Schizophrenia Party' a months ago and the journalist said that it was an album with lots of edits. Wrong! We we recorded 'Schizophrenia Party' live with a few overdubs. I'll contact this journalist and put him right.
We are all well seasoned musicians with a lot of very diverse musical experience.
It’s been 30+ (true?) years you’ve played live with Alig and Grahame. Was there a familiarity there as you started playing again? Or does a break that long create an essentially “new” band?
After such a long break, although I was a little concerned, at the same time I was confident that it was going to work. As I said in my last interview, it has always been easy playing with Family Fodder for me and I'm sure it's the same for Alig and Grahame - we really have a good vibe together.
Of course it was a little like a new band, because Bee has joined us now, but she fitted in beautifully. She's a great front person, with a lot of diverse musical tastes, which is really important for Family Fodder, as we never know what musical direction we are going in.
Which song/songs seemed to go over best with the audiences?
In general we had a great reception for the whole set and the newer songs - 'The Pain Won't Go', 'Hippy Bus to Spain', 'It's 1965', 'The Onliest Thing' and 'Back Streets of Infinity' - went over extremely well also.
It seems that 'Bass Adds Bass' was the most popular for dancing - yes audiences do dance to us - but 'Film Music' and 'Dinosaur Sex' received the best response, particularly the improvisation section of 'Dinosaur Sex'.
Favorite musical moments from the tour?
Definitely the improvisation section of 'Dinosaur Sex'. Alig hitting some incredibly wonderful low dinosaur notes on the synth - making any building shake - as well as playing guitar at the same time. Grahame was on bass for this one and getting some amazing sounds. We were flying every time we played this section.
Favorite non-musical moments from the tour?
I have a few non-musical moments from the tour which I can share with you - nothing particularly crazy but ... .
Our first stop was the sunny city of Perpignan in France. We played three nights in a great little club/bar/record shop called the 'Ubu'. If anyone reading this ever goes to Perpignan, please check out this club. Staubgold, the record company which have just released a compilation with 'Monkey Banana Kitchen', 'Schizophrenia Party'' plus some singles on it and vinyl releases of 'Monkey Banana Kitchen' and 'Schizophrenia Party' are based in Perpignan and it was a pleasure to meet Markus Detmer the man responsible for the releases. He showed me around Perpignan, etc. Markus is also a wonderful DJ. It was one of my favourite non-musical moments.
Another favourite non-musical moment was in Koln, Germany. As I walked past Koln's famous church - amazing - a man approached me looking as if he had just walked off a Hollywood cowboy film set. Anyway, he started preaching to me, you know, 'Blah,Blah,Blah. Then he asked me a question: 'Who runs the world'? I told him I didn't really know. He said, 'Come on guess', so I gave him an answer which thought would please him and get him off my back. I said 'Jesus'. He said, 'No,no,no. Are you crazy! It's George Osbourne in London'. I apologized and then walked on down the street, with him screaming at me, 'You're wrong it's George Osbourne, it's George Osbourne'. Another non-musical moment.
My favourite one goes to Grahame. After doing the last gig on the tour in Wurzburg, Germany, Grahame, Bee and myself, decided to go for a celebratory drink in Wurzburg at 2 o'clock in the morning. However, all was closed and Grahame wasn't amused and came out with: 'What's the point of being on a 'Rock Tour' if you can't get a drink at 2 o'clock in the morning! Absolutely ridiculous'! He was so serious that Bee and myself laughed till we cried and then Grahame joined in. An amazing line.
Having completed this tour, are you more or less likely to want to do another?
Definitely. We worked really well together musically and socially, so we're all up for it. We're actually getting together in October to work on some new material - in Neuchatel, Switzerland. We may do a local gig at the end of October, if possible. We should be doing some gigs this autumn/winter in London, if the conditions are right.
We're looking for an agent and we'd like to play in the States and Japan. Is there anyone out there who can help us???
We have the 'Vibe' and we're ready to 'Rock' - we wanna move!
Thanks, Bazz!
Places to go:
Family Fodder Official Website: http://familyfodder.co.uk/
Family Fodder Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/familyfodder