Mike Oldfield Interview

Indeed although after reading the interview I realised the influence of 80's King Crimson in that opening section which hadn't occurred to me before. It all goes round  and there nothing new under the sun.

 

I don't think that it is as much an influence, as it is a method of communication. When you hear the Kevin Ayers' albums with Mike, you will find that the guitar strength is also there ... it might have come from an 18 year old fascinated with someone that put out such a monster guitar sound ... but heck, this was already in place at the Fillmore in San Fran for a year or more, when you heard ... Cheap Thrills!

 

But aside from the hearing other things, that might (might!) influence you, in the end, it is about you and the musicians you are with and the learning and sharing with them ... when I listen to the Dr. Dream album, I do not hear a King Crimson connection ... I hear an album by Kevin Ayers ... and I think the personality and tone of the music and lyrics was well defined ... to make it come alive, and I never thought that it had any connection or feeling that brought out ... another artist ... it's its own, and I think that Mike deserves that credit, though he is a year or two behind it.

 

I doubt it.

 

The one thing we forget, is that in those days, even though it is not as visible today as it was yesterday, you flipped the radio dial and you heard 5 languages ... or 6! IN EUROPE!

 

This is not the case in America.

 

Thus, being a bit more familiar with the other cultures, made it easier for the arts and the music to be shared in Europe a lot more than we conceive.

 

You and I talk about Amon Duul, Can, and Oldfield ... did you ever realize that Godard, Truffaut, Wenders, Herzog, Bunuel ... and many others ... went through the same thing? ... and no one was concerned with "influence" per se. But you take one little piece of music, and we automatically think it came from one place ... and that is way too simplistic to be understood properly.

 

In the late 60's, Carl Orff was HUGE when it came to Carmina Burana ... the anti-establisment sentiment in the piece went well with all the turbulence in the 60's ... and in my years, AT FIRST, Magma was the same thing done with ELECTRIC instruments ... and the vocals ...were out of this world!

 

Now, Mike saying that it was an influence, is almost a joke ... Magma, rarely featured guitarists, and the main reason why? ... Christian never wanted to take the focus off the completeness of the music, and he didn't want to have the choral parts fighting a guitar for placement in the music ... and he said so when we talked in 1999 ... he says it wasn't intentional at first ... it just happened that way!