10Q's with AFTER HOURS
Guitarist Tim Payne fields the questions.
What
are you currently up to Tim? (recording, gigs, plans etc.). Been a while since
the album came out in May?
“That’s right Jason. At the moment we are in the midst of rehearsing and getting
a live show together for After Hours! Chris Pope (d), Martin Walls (b) and I go
and play some blues stuff now and again at a mates bar, but apart from that,
we’re not too busy. It’s strange, after you finish an album, even one as much
fun as “Against The Grain”, you kind of want to put some distance between each
other for a little while, right? The other guys all work full time and have
busy lives. I’m probably the only one in the band that has time on my hands?”
“Sean and I have been goofin’ around with new amps
and establishing some ground rules for arrangements but this might be
pre-empting your next question?”
That’s
alright mate! Could you take us through the songs on the new album “Against The
Grain” please? E.g. ideas behind them, the song writing process…?
“Well, for me song writing is not a methodical procedure
and if I sit down with any intention of composing it immediately becomes too
premeditated, so I’m possibly not the best person to answer this. Personally it
works best when I’m doodling and find a theme accidentally? Also, if there’s
some current news stuff that seems pertinent, I sort of incorporate that, so
it’s more emotional than intellectual!”
“Sean had
a huge effect on this record, as he not only plays guitar but wrote and
arranged the keys as well, which obviously puts a different slant on things. An
example of this is “Angel”, which at one point we were going to drop; but Sean came up with
a really cool piano part, which just required minimal support from the guitar
(again his idea), and all I did was throw a solo on to it. We took away lots of
unnecessary parts and fills, and that seemed to lift the feel of the whole
song!”
“Martin‘s ideas were all fairly much based around acoustic guitar, which
is the opposite end of the spectrum to me but just as effective! He came up
with the opening chords and verse for “Eleventh
Hour”, which is for me an outstanding moment on the album, and it was a
really key moment! I really love the vocal melody John put to this with Chris!”
“Chris,
as well as being a mind blowing tub thumper, contributed some killer idea’s for vocal melodies too and John simply had to change things or
shift them ‘til he
was happy. Unbelievably, it was fairly painless and we didn’t really get hung up or become entrenched in a “my way or the highway” thing,
which was definitely not the case many moons ago…..”
“We all
agreed that it’s equal
input on the songs, even if three or four of us didn’t necessarily add to the composition. By standing back and letting
someone else follow their idea to a conclusion, you are still contributing to
the big picture… It equalled itself out over the course of the album! The
only real exception was the title track, which John and I wrote and demo’ed for the 2nd album back in the
previous band! It had been turned down by the record company back in 1991, but
even this, was re-invented by Martin and Chris’s contributions!”
What made the timing right for
the band to get back together when you did and in hindsight, could the band
have possibly weathered out the grunge storm and carried on back in 1991?
“I don’t think so, no! Fate and the
planets really came together this time! It was very much a bunch of strange
coincidences and a lot of luck! We certainly didn’t expect it!”
“I don’t think the grunge thing totally, really did for us! I
reckon we didn’t need any help shooting ourselves in the foot back then! But,
the one thing we do have now is a sort of
“united we stand” thing going; no external pressure to succeed; just
being able to get together and enjoy doing what we do for the sake of it!”
“We got back together famously as the story goes, after I bumped
into Martin and we gave Johnny (Francis) a call, but it could all have been
different! When we went to meet him he’d already gone back to Wales after going
to the wrong pub; but we overcame all the crap and went into record a song at Rob Aubrey’s
studio in Southampton, and it went from there!”
“Rob had previously worked with ex members of Asia and various
other notables… but he was errr, cheap too, LOL! I asked Chris to come and do
the drums and a mate of ours, Ray Drury (from The Producers) played some
fantastic Hammond organ, but I always felt Sean was gonna be the ‘ace in the
pack’ so to speak …and when I bumped into him in a supermarket, literally,
and asked him to come and have a listen to what we were doing, that was the 5
of us back together!”
How did you hook-up with AOR
Heaven and what expectations do you have of the album in terms of getting
exposure for it?
“Well, Martin sent a demo of one
of the songs to Georg Siegl, via a good mate in the industry, and bless him, he
decided we were worth a gamble! He’s actually been simply brilliant; if all
record companies had his ethics and straight talking, there would be a lot more
rock music out there. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if it wasn’t for
Georg, simple as that!”
Any plans to re-issue the first
two albums and are there any unreleased songs from
back in the day that could be added to any re-issues?
“Not really mate, LOL! Georg
re-released the first album on the ‘AOR Heaven Classix’ Label in 2010, but I
wont be sorry if the second album never sees daylight again to be honest! There
are guys going, who John actually recorded songs for, who call themselves After
Hours, but that’s only come to light on Youtube since we got back together, and
you can hear by the quality of the demos that they’re definitely not us, so, in
a word no, there’s nothing else to disinter!”
Is melodic rock/AOR music in a
healthier state now than ten years ago? How important has it been to have
specialist magazines like ‘Classic Rock Presents AOR’, ‘Classic Rock’,
‘Fireworks’, etc. in the High Street stores raising the profile of the music?
“I personally
feel it is in a healthier state now than ten years ago yes, and you cannot
underestimate the support that the mags you’ve mentioned have contributed.
Thankfully, enough time has elapsed since the 80s for us to evaluate the rock
music of that period without the clichés that used accompany it now!”
“ .. The UK is still lagging behind though. Fashion gurus might
kick us all in the nuts and, sadly, people follow them blindly, but personally,
style never goes out of fashion and for me there is so much quality that is
simply ignored here, because the media can’t dictate the terms or simply don’t
get it, that it has to be good that there are people out there prepared to
listen!”
“The U.S has a far deeper sense of what rock n roll is all about
and radio stations there are the bastion of this conviction! That’s what’s so
wrong over here. One digital rock station that mostly plays only very well
known play-listed names is simply not good enough and ultimately portrays
mainstream rock more as a parody of itself performed by old geezers that have
been around forever, than showing the new guys that are working really hard!
This merely reinforces the idea that Classic Rock and AOR are a thing of the
past and that it doesn’t evolve, which is obviously not true!”
That’s a good point.. Why do
you think, with the possibly the exception of FM, that the wave of late 80’s UK
AOR/melodic rock bands never made a big impact in the US?
“The poor production quality of
many UK recordings was definitely a factor, plus a U.S home market that more
than sustained itself with home grown talent, which probably played a part as
well?”
“We should perhaps more
importantly ask though why did so many U.K AOR bands never get a look in here
at home? Our first album went down well on the continent but didn’t do much in
the UK.. It did even less in the U.S, because it was all done on a miniscule
budget and lacked real quality in terms of production and recording time! I
don’t know…”Take Off” cost £4K. Ok, so it was a long time ago but even so…? I
did all the guitar parts for that album in 12 hours. I started at 11 o’clock at
night and finished at 11am in the morning!! Lots of coffee, right??”
What have been the live
highlights so far and why?
“The
highlights are constantly evolving; listening to the new album; after 20 years
out of the picture, speaking to you guys, reading good reviews and thinkin’ what if only? It’s all
good!!”
In this age of downloads and
declining CD sales has the internet helped you get your music out there or has
it in some ways hindered it by websites offering free downloads etc.
“It’s a double edged sword, it really is! It helps and
equally scuppers any chance of recovering costs unless you have a loyal and
discerning fan base! We will wait with fingers crossed!”
What do you enjoy doing in your
spare time away from music?
“I dig motorcycles, but broke myself up fairly badly in 2002
and although I’ve had a couple since, I really only want an old Brit Bike now
which potters around; maybe a Triton or B.S.A Cafe Racer!! Go on; please buy
the album, LOL!!”
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Next session: Sunday 1 December
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.
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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024
ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)
Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)
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