New Horizons Music - Interview with composer/keyboardist Rory Ridley-Duff

8/14/2019 New Horizons Music - Interview with composer/keyboardist Rory Ridley-Duff

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New Horizons MusicBringing You The Best in Progressive Music

Rory Ridley-Duff Interview

Rory Ridley-Duff is one of the co-founders ofProtos. Born in

Sussex, England, Rory first broke onto the music scene when heco-wrote two tracks for the album Seaside Rock, in 1981. Thisventure led to Protos's first album release,One Day a New

Horizon,in 1982. Since then, Rory's keyboard playing and

composing skills have drawn praise from around the globe. This isthe full English translation of Rory's interview with Nobuhisa

Nakanishi forEuro Rock Press- Japan's leading progressive rockmagazine.
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Interview questions by Nobuhisa Nakaniski

1. Please tell

us brieflyabout

yourself. Forexample,where you are

from, whattype of family

backgroundyou have,etc.?

I was born in aplace calledLittlehamptonand grew up ina farming village called West Wittering on the south coast ofEngland. My mother, Ilse, is Austrian. She had to flee with hertwo sisters during World War II and eventually settled inEngland. She developed a good reputation as an artist locally -some of her paintings have been exhibited in London. In her30s, she met my father, affectionately nicknamed Chunky. Hisparents worked in India helping indigenous people establish their

own businesses during the rule of the British. He went toCambridge University to study English, but later switching tomusic. In adult live he became a marine engineer but died whenI was three years old.

2. When did you start to play music? Were you self-taughtor did you learn music formally when you were young?

At the age of two - so the story goes - I had an upset. I hadworked out how to climb onto a cabinet and put records on therecord player. Once I finished listening, got down, went to the

piano and started to cry. My mother asked me why I was upset.I replied through my tearsCant play it! I wanted to play musicfor as long as I can remember.

I was four years old when I had a few music lessons but thesedid not last. Some years later, when I was about 8, my mothertried again but I hated being taught how to play music. Ipreferred to compose my own. Before I took any exams, at just9 years old, I refused to go to piano lessons. The love affair withcomposing grew in my teens. We sold a piano and replaced itwith a combined organ/synthesiser. My formal music education

did not restart until I was 19 years old.
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3. Who were early influences?

My first records were Tubular Bells byMike Oldfield, Sheer Heart Attack byQueen and Goodbye Yellow Brick Roadby Elton John. The first rock concert Iwent to was Supertramp in Brightonwhen I was 15 years old. After that I

was became totally hooked and wantedto write as much as possible. Myfriends got me listening to Deep Purple,Led Zeppelin, The Who, Genesis and Pink Floyd. I laterdiscovered Yes, Camel, ELP and other progressive rock artists.At first, I did not like Genesis, but after a friend - Helen Peters -lent me Selling England By the Pound they became my favouriteband. I eventually did my undergraduate dissertation on themusical output of Genesis band members up to 1986.

4. You formed Protos with Stephen when you were at

school. Please tell us how you got interested inprogressive rock? What was the original formation? What

kind of music did you play

back then?

Both Steve and I liked thesame kind of music but hadfew records. We got togetherevery weekend to listen to themusic we liked, arrange musicthat I was composing and

working out our favouritetracks so we could playthem. When Seconds Outwas released, Steve and Iworked out theharmonies/melodies to LosEndos so that we could playit. Mostly, wecomposed/played our ownmusic. Tracks like Protos,The Maiden, Panamor, The

Fugitive and HuntingExtremely Large Animals were all written while we were atschool. In our early performances, we played entirely our ownkeyboard/guitar compositions. It was only when Iain and Nigeljoined us in the early 1980s that we started playing coverversions live.

5. Later, you enrolled on a Jazz/Popular music course atthe Chichester College of Technology. Does this mean that

you majored in music? Or you just took a course? Thereyou met Iain Carnegie and Nigel Rippon. Please tell us

how you met them and how you (re?)formed the band.

Yes - I did 5 years full-time study of music starting with aFoundation Course in Jazz/Popular music at Chichester, andfinishing with a degree in music at London University. I was


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amongst the first intake of about 25 students at Chichester whostudied all aspects of Jazz/Pop/Rock. By Christmas 1980, I hadlearnt to write music and arranged all the Protos compositions fordrums, keyboards, guitars, flute, clarinet and bass. Iain andNigel were in the same college department - students of classicalmusic - but they each loved progressive rock/heavy metalmusic. Nigel joined us first when he agreed to play bass guitarfor a lunchtime concert. Iain joined later, after we saw him play

with another progressive rock band called Night Flight. That lineup was stable for nearly two years until Iain and I left to studymusic in London.

One Day a New Horizon

6. How did you get a chance to record, "OneDay a New Horizon"? Please tell us about the

label AIRSHIP RECORDS. How did you metthem?

We learnt of Airship through their Seaside Rockproject (a double-album featuring local bands). I cantremember who told us, but I do remember going along to theirstudio to ask if we could be on the album. We paid for the studiotime then got the money back selling the album to our friends.We were the only keyboard-based progressive rock band on thealbum, but they still included us.

Soon after, we saw Gemini play with a band called Nightflight atthe Regis Theatre (Bognor Regis). Gemini were selling an LP andthis intrigued us. We asked Richard Sharples (the businessbrains at Airship) and Sam Small (the recording engineer) howGemini financed the album. We worked out that we had to sell250 LPs at GBP 3.95. The project went ahead in late 1981 andwas released in April 1982. We sold all the albums at gigs,through family/friendship, and at the college.

7. Please explain how the recording proceeded? Anyinteresting story or fond memories?

We put down the keyboards to a click-track then added synthbass, guitars and drums later. The drumming was difficult. Neilwas good playing live when he could follow my leads and cues,but in a studio he felt unsettled and it took longer than weexpected. Sam Small was incredibly patient.

My most vivid memories came late in the recording. Firstly,there were no computers at this time. Sam, Steve and I wouldrehearse the mixing we wanted over and over again. Each of ushad a set of knobs and sliders that we had to control, withmarkings on the mixing desk for volume levels at different pointsin each track. When ready, we did a take and if we liked it, wekept it.

The second vivid memory is listening to the entire album on a
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mono speaker. Sam the engineer - explained that the albumdid not just have to sound good on a top quality audio system,but also on a small radio. We made sure that the tiny speaker inthe cheapest mono radio would not crackle when our music wasplayed.

8. Please tell us about live gigs Protos had back then.

Where did you play? What

was your repertoire?

Our early gigs (when playingas a four-piece band) were atlocal clubs, school discos andprivate parties in and aroundChichester (where Iain, Nigeland I were studying music).After releasing One Day aNew Horizon, we twiceplayed atRock at the Regis

sponsored by Airship (BognorRegis). We played threetimes outside the Cathedral

in Chichester as part of the regional Arts Festival. The Rock atthe Regis gigs felt spectacular - the first time we felt (andplayed) like a professional rock band. Airship hired a theatrewith professional sound and lighting.

Normally, the sets lasted about 45 minutes because there wereseveral bands playing on the same night. Ours always includedThe Maiden, The Fugitive, Hunting Extremely Large Animals and

Protos. Other numbers were switched in and out as we testedout new material like Superpowers, The Rally, Departures, A BitBlue, Tempest and Aftermath.

In 1982, we played only our own material but by 1983/84 Iainpersuaded us to introduce cover versions of Thriller (MichaelJackson), All Night Long (Lionel Richie) and Firth of Fifth(Genesis) to mix things up. We rehearsed Cinema Show butnever played it live. Iain also argued that we should have avocalist so we attempted parts of Jesus Christ Superstar with asinger called Danny Walton. Steve and I resisted this and by

1984 - at our final gig for the Chichester Arts Festival - wereverted to all instrumental progressive rock, including a coverversion of Firth of Fifth by Genesis.

For a while we had a manager called Brian Gartside whoarranged gigs in Brighton andLittlehampton (further along thecoast). Outside the Chichesterarea, however, we played to smallaudiences.

9. How about the compositionprocess? How do/did you write

music?

In the early years, I wrote most of
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the material and arranged it with Steve. Steve then starteddeveloping acoustic guitar parts and I would add backingkeyboards and work out melodies. Tracks like Thing of Beautyand Panamor evolved using this approach. Steve was acompetent classical guitar player and when combined with pianoaccompaniments the combination was pleasing to us both.

When albums like Animals (Pink Floyd, 1977) came out, we

enjoyed double-layered keyboard/guitar passages and combinedkeyboard/guitarsolos. We worked these into many of ourtracks (The Fugitive, Protos, The Maiden and Hunting ExtremelyLarge Animals). I think a characteristic of our music was the waywe focussed on strong melodies and interesting harmonicchanges rather than virtuoso guitar or keyboard playing.

Later, as my Jazz/Rock training progressed, I felt more confidentimprovising. This comes out on tracks like Aftermath and A BitBlue (on Into the Mouth of the Tiger). This was quite a change.Earlier we learnt our material note-for-note.

Once Nigel and Iain joined, we produced some bandcompositions. Each of us brought passages of material torehearsals (both Nigel and Iain were competent keyboard playersas well). We debated and argued until we agreed how it could beworked up into a full-length composition. This is how Tempest,The Rally and A Bit Blue evolved.

The Music Scene in the 1970s/1980s

10. When the album was recorded, the musical scene wasdominated by the punk/new wave movement, and I thinkdemand for the prog music was weak. Please explain the

situation back then.

That was definitely true nationally, but locally classic rock musicwas popular. Chichester is a harbour town with many smallsailing clubs around the area. There was a strong rock discoscene that drew in kids from the schools and colleges. Thesediscos never played pop music, although they were laterinfluenced by punk. The most popular disco was called Freebird,after the Lynryd Skynyrd track. It had a big following locally andkept rock music including prog popular in the Chichester areauntil the mid-1980s.

11. AIRSHIP RECORDS also released another ProgressiveRock rarity, and album by GEMINI ( Counter Balance)which is surprising considering the then UK music scene.

Were they helpful towards Progressive or non commercialRock in general ?

Yes - Airship encouraged many local bands including thoseplaying progressive rock. There was strong contingent of progrock bands in the area with Protos, Night Flight and Gemini allgigging at the same time. Although Richard Sharples was


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commercially sharp (and creative) there was a measure ofidealism in their approach. They loved to make music, I think,and tried to make it viable for local talent rather than seek bigmoney by getting in musicians from outside the area.

12. Did you know the GEMINI people or other Progressive

Rock bands?

We knew the musicians in Gemini and Nightflight (the band thatIain played with when we first met him in 1981). I once steppedin to play with Nightflight when their keyboard player was ill, andeven dated the cousin of one of the Gemini twins for a shortperiod. We knew Nick May (the Enid / Whimwise) who also livedin Chichester - but the relationship was one of mutual respectfrom a distance rather than a close one. There was also MarkRowbottom (later drummer with Lady Grey Down and ThievesKitchen). Mark, Steve and I were close friends, we supportedand helped each other at gigs as well and socialising togetherregularly. Steve later played with Marks band Stepping

Sideways for a while.

13. You also regularly played at the local festival. What

kind of festival was it? Please explain the takes included in"Into the Mouth of the Tiger".

The Chichester Arts Festival is one of the largest inthe UK outside London. The town has a FestivalTheatre that attracts actors, comedians andmusicians from the locality as well as the Londonstage (like a small-scale Edinburgh Arts Festival).

The Festival office liked to arrange outdoorlunchtime rock concerts and supported us by paying forprofessional sound equipment. We would hire Benny Lillywhite(who we first met at Rock at the Regis). He always produced aterrific sound for us live and would record the gigs.

The takes on Into the Mouth of the Tigercome from twoRock atthe Regis gigs (in early 1982), one concert at Chichester HighSchool (in 1983) and one of the outdoor Chichester Festivalperformances (in 1984). We always felt the sound at the Rockthe Regis gigs was warm and rich. Outdoors it is hard to get a

good sound. Benny had a good mixing desk and combined directlines from our equipment with sound picked up from variousmicrophones around the drum kit. The recording quality - for thetime - was close to that of commercially produced live albums(and at no extra cost to the band).

We found tapes of the live performances in various garages andattics after releasingOne Day a New Horizon. With one or twoexceptions, they still played okay, so we transferred the audio todigital and released them as a CD.

14. Around the end of original Protos, there was a littleresurgence of British Progressive Rock with the debut ofbands like Marillion etc. What was your feeling towardsthis movement? Did this movement affected the activity of

Protos?
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I never took to Marillions music. Maybe Ive not made enougheffort to hear it but the first material friends played to mesounded like a pastiche of Genesis material, rather thansomething original. I never became a fan. Protos had disbandedby the time Marillion became popular and my solo materialbecame more influenced by classical composers (Ravel, Debussy,Satie, Stravinsky) music from the US (Al Jarreau, Pat Metheny,George Benson, Chick Corea) and jazz/funk / experimental

artists in the UK (e.g. Level 42, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush,Thomas Dolby).

After Protos

15. When and why was Protos disbanded?

We initially disbanded in 1983 when Iain and I went to London tocomplete our music education. I went to Royal Holloway College,London University while Iain went to the Royal Academy ofMusic. Nigel stayed in Chichester to take a course that enabledhim to become a teacher. Steve at that time became apostman and later joined the civil service. We still met upregularly during study breaks. The following summer (1984) wegot together to write and perform again at the Chichester ArtsFestival. This was still a productive time. We revised the Maidenas well as putting together a new version of Tempest (these werelater recorded by me for the Passing Decades album). In thatsense, we were still actively composing. However, this turnedout to be the last time we performed together.

We stayed in touch and remained close friends. Iain was BestMan at my marriage to Caroline, while Steve gave a reading byBertrand Russell during the ceremony. I gave a speech at Iainswedding (in 1992) as well as an unusual wedding present: ascore/recording of Variations on a Theme By Iain Carnegie. AtSteves first marriage, I played a wedding march chosen bythem.

16. Please tell us about your musical and other activitiesafter disbanding Protos, especially about SLY and

DANZANTE (and about Clive Nolan's involvement in the

later).

Even while in Protos, I started branching out and writing musicfor theatre. This resulted inA Light in the Dark, music for achildrens ballet scripted by Brian Gartside. I also wrote amusical called Belloc, also scripted by Brian Gartside. This wasperformed for a season at the Alternative Arts Festival inChichester (a bit like the Fringe Festival at Edinburgh).

I also started writing classical works for symphony orchestra butit was not until the final year of my music degree that I heardany of these performed. During my music degree, orchestralworks like Space evolved. I also experimented with a more 80s


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feels in compositions likePassing Decades,London 125andGhost Rap.

Sly was a diversion from serious writing - a bit of fun for thesummer period in Chichester. We quite liked the music of Sky(John Williams) so we put together a tongue-in-cheek bandcalled Sly. It was a satire. Nigel would introduce everything inan Australian accent and we pretended to be Sky for a day,

visiting the Chichester Festival for a special gig. In a sense, wewere a progressive rock tribute band before this idea ever tookoff commercially.

Danzante was potentially a more serious undertaking. CliveNolan and Martin Pyne were also students at Royal HollowayCollege (London University). We were all composers there andshared an interest in progressive/jazz rock. They invited me toform a band and we played about half a dozen gigs and produceda demo tape. Recordings do exists (somewhere!). Working withDanzante resulted in the development of my

recording/engineering skills. We also rehearsed material I hadwritten that later became part of thePassing Decadesalbum.Night Time, for example, was written for a student at the LondonFilm School. The was first recorded by Danzante. We tried outPassing Decades and Space during gigs. Subsequently, I re-recorded them several times until they evolved into the piecesthat were later published. One track fromA Question ofExpression Suite for Piano, Marimba and Vibraphone - wascommissioned by Martin Pyne. He wanted something that hecould play with his fianc (later wife) Sarah Walker - she nowpresents music programmes for the BBC.

Clive, Martin and I were all strong writers/arrangers: we allspecialised in composition and orchestration with (the late) BrianDennis and Eric Levi. I lost touch with Clive after he startedplaying/touring with Pendragon, but still have a connection toMartin Pyne (his wife and my wife are best friends). Danzantedisbanded amicably in 1986 after I started producing recordingsfor other students at the university. I also spent time helpingIain Carnegie record/produce his first solo efforts.

17. What made up your mind to re-release the Protos

album?

There is no greater incentive to release music than knowing thereis an audience who wants to hear it. The most importantexperience was talking to Japanese, English and US buyers ofOne Day a New Horizonafter an auction on eBay. YasushiTsuruta had a pivotal role his enthusiasm and support wasvital. Steve and I had started talking about getting music offtapes onto CD but it was only after I sold the first copy ofPassingDecadesto Yasushi that we began to take the idea seriously.Yasushi contactedWorld DisqueandGarden Shedand after a

frantic (and exciting) round of correspondence, it quickly becameclear that this was a viable project.

Dave Martin, who runs a UK progressive rock festival, and TomHayes who runs the US prog rock web-site Gnosis, also
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encouraged us to re-release the material. They alerted us to theway the UK/US record collectors had learnt about One Day NewHorizon. Dave Martin had bought/sold several copies to placesaround the world and talked about the impact of the music, notjust the LPs rarity. It was a revelation that people were truefans of the music rather than making an investment in a rarerecord. Yasushi sent us copies of articles that had appeared inthe Japanese press during the 1990s and we finally began to

realise the impact the music was having in Japan. With ordersfrom Garden Shed and Marquee Inc., we put some of our ownmoney into a new company. This financed industry-standardmanufacturing forPassing DecadesandOne Day a New Horizon.

18. You have also released three solo albums. Please

briefly explain the concepts and music on the individualalbums.

The idea behindSpace and Other Singlesis to make progressiverock music accessible to people who normally only buysingles.The idea comes from memories of Ennio Morriconis sweepingorchestral piece that hit the top of the UK charts in the 1980s(Theme for the Life and Times of Lloyd George). Steve and I feltthat the opening and closing sections of Space potentially had a

similar popular appeal. It could if released effectively helpattract a new generation to this type of music. We edited twoextracts to stand-alone tracks then wrapped them around othersto create a history of my music writing and live performing.

The albumPassing Decadestakes its title from the openingtrack. In the 1980s, I was influenced by jazz/funk, particularlyMark King and Level 42. I still liked progressive rock butcombined this with new musical forms and influences comingover from the US. Passing Decades (the track) was a hybridbetween 1970s and 1980s-style composition and I gave it this

name to capture how it bridges two generations of musicwriting. It was released exactly two decades after the trackPassing Decades was originally recorded. Visually, I took up thepassing decades theme with pictures of my daughter (Natasha)and wife (Caroline). Not only did I wish to convey the notion of agirl transforming into a woman, but also connection betweendaughter and mother, and the journey from childhood innocenceto adult sensuality.

A Question of Expressionis an exploration (and challenge to)contemporary classical music as a form of human expression.While studying twentieth century music, my friends and I wouldoften despair at the emotional void it created in listeners. Once,I was with my composer friend Richard Churches watchingsymphonic works at Londons Festival Hall: there was an atonalcomposition by Pierre Boulez performed along with other French
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music by Ravel and Debussy. When the Boulez work finished, anelderly man sitting next to me did not clap. I asked him why andhe answeredIts complete bollocks, isnt it? We split our sideslaughing but had to concede the point he was making.

It changed the way I wrote classical music. Each track on thealbum tries to evoke different aspects of human feeling. Fromthe joy of falling in love (Renaissance) to the brutish attack on a

person (Interrogation), or the numbing sadness of human loss(When the Pain is Over) to the calm of travelling through placesuntouched by human life (Space). Each composition attempts toreconnect classical music with human feeling.

19. How about the possibility of reforming Protos. If yes,how is your plan (live gigs, recordings) ?

We have discussed this and plans are progressing.Originally all four members were open-minded butIain now says he would prefer to focus on new

musical ventures with Gordon Giltrap. He is also aproducer for the Phil CollinsLittle DreamsFoundation and this makes additional demands on

his time. Steve and I plan to work on new Protos material andhave already identified another 50 minutes of promisingmaterial. Nigel will join us in the recording stages to add guitars,cellos and percussion. Our goal is another album in October2007 (pictured, right). There are many hurdles to overcome, butthis is the plan.

New Beginnings

20. How about the musical projects by Stephen, Iain and

Nigel? Have you already got any specific ideas?

Iain is recording an album with a band called Bedsit Messiahs(seewww.iaincarnegie.com). At present, they only plan studiowork and a sample track is available on the web-site of TimOxbrow. Their album is about half finished and Iain hopes tocomplete it in the summer of 2007. At present they are notsigned to a label and Iain has not yet made up his mind how torelease it.

Nigel has produced 14 albums with a UK progressive-metal bandcalled Stone Cold. Weve started discussions on how to releaseone or more of these through New Horizons Music.

Steves primary interest is in writing/playing more material withProtos. So long as we have the energy to write and there is amarket willing to buy, Steve and I will continue producing analbum each year for the foreseeable future. If he has soloaspirations, he keeps these close to his chest but I wouldcertainly support him if he wanted to do this.

Weve also been discussing work with a talented instrumental
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rock guitarist called Rob Fowler who lives in Seattle (USA). He isputting the finishing touches to a band project called DigitalChemistry. We hope to release his music through New HorizonsMusic in 2008.

21. From your viewpoint, what does progressive rock

mean?

This is a difficult question. Originally (to me at least) it meant aform of rock music that progressed beyond the popular norms ofthe day and usually included keyboard playing as an integralcomponent of music writing/performance. Now, it is often morebackward looking, a type of music that draws its inspiration fromthe styles of well-known recording artists in the mid-1970s. Ilike to look both forward and back, and never forget that music isa listening (rather than a writing or performing) experience formost people. I write music to listen to. For me, the best musicdraws on the familiar to create surprises for the listener. If youdrift too far from the familiar, you lose the listener altogether. If

you spring too many surprises, it is too intense to listen to. Ithink progressive rock thrives when it touches emotions whileremaining dynamic and sensitive to other musical cultures.

22. Finally, please give your fans in Japan a message.

We are deeply grateful for the way your enthusiasm and interesthas changed our lives. More than any other group of fans,people in Japan have kept the music alive and made it possiblefor Steve and I to write more music. Please accept our warmestthanks and best wishes.

New Horizons Music Ltd, 2007 All Rights Reserved.

New Horizons Music - Interview with composer/keyboardist Rory Ridley-Duff

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Transcript of New Horizons Music - Interview with composer/keyboardist Rory Ridley-Duff