Derek Shulman interview

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Hi folks just letting you know about an interview i did with Derek Shulman of Gentle Giant.

http://figure8magazine.co.uk/default/derek-shulman-gentle-giant-interview/

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matty3198 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: October 19 2013 Location: Bath Status: Offline Points: 51	Topic: Derek Shulman interview Posted: July 03 2014 at 07:00
	Hi folks just letting you know about an interview i did with Derek Shulman of Gentle Giant. http://figure8magazine.co.uk/default/derek-shulman-gentle-giant-interview/

Saperlipopette! Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: December 20 2010 Location: Tomorrowland Status: Offline Points: 10048	Posted: July 03 2014 at 07:34
	A very interesting read, Matty. Thank you!


HolyMoly Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin Joined: April 01 2009 Location: Atlanta Status: Offline Points: 26133	Posted: July 03 2014 at 08:17
	Enjoyed it.
	My other avatar is a Porsche It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran

irrelevant Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 07 2010 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 13382	Posted: July 03 2014 at 08:24
	Good read.
	New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385

HemispheresOfXanadu Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: June 28 2012 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 4339	Posted: July 03 2014 at 08:56
	Thanks for sharing! I've been hoping for a new interview with someone from Gentle Giant since the Steven Wilson remaster was announced. Plus you asked everything I've been wondering: "What was the mentality of Gentle Giant back in the day?" "What are you up to now?" and "Have you considered reforming?" CHeck, check, and check.
	@ProgFollower on Twitter. Tweet me muzak.

Tom Ozric Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15916	Posted: July 03 2014 at 23:51
	Excellent !! Thanks Matty, nice job

bridgingloansguru Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Bringing Spam Guru Spam from India Joined: July 04 2014 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 5	Posted: July 04 2014 at 07:28
	Great interview! love it

Evolver Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams Joined: October 22 2005 Location: The Idiocracy Status: Offline Points: 5482	Posted: July 04 2014 at 08:42

	Trust me. I know what I'm doing.

moshkito Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 16163	Posted: July 06 2014 at 12:03
	Hi, Haven't read it yet, but will in a second. Here are some thoughts before the reading. -- It was a different time and place. There was some freedom that top ten mentality today prevents from being heard a lot more. -- This band, did not join a "progressive" thing. They went about doing their thing, as a counter to the pop music process they had been a part of prior. Same for many other bands. -- Derek has been a part of a recording/producing group, for a long time. One should check out where his name comes and goes. He's even mentioned in the Dream Theater book as one of the folks that told them to stick with it. -- Would I want to see a GG today? NO. Emphatic NO. Because folks in the PA will trash it senseless, becuase it ain't metal enough, it ain't folk enough, it breaks into 17 categories, the lyrics are weird and bizarre, and any other reason that we can easily blow through in this board! -- Would it be heard? YEAH, by many of us that are now geriatric and harmless, and a few others. Will we like it as much? We are getting too old to know the difference and decide that! Anyhoodle ... this post was just for fun, not anything else! Read it! (edited previous post later) " I think the days of bands that, of my era, whether it’s the Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, or Yes, or King Crimson, or Gentle Giant, they are, I guess, quasi- legendary, primarily because the medium, media, and the media outlets were very limited. Now it’s so fragmented: whether its social media, whether it’s, you know, live appearances, whether, I mean the recording business is almost down the toilet, people stream music, so therefore music has become secondary. " I've said this for years in different words, and this is the main reason why I have wanted the PA to take down the top 100 albums, and just make it the top 100 bands ... to help spread the genre, and not limit it to a handful of bands, that had a far better support than almost the other 90 bands mentioned put together. The fragmentation, helps, break apart the media controls, and in that sense it is good, as there is a chance for many more wide differences, from cultural to anything you can think of, but the fact still remains that as long as we are "tied" to a top ten mentality, we will only compare to a few things, and not give the lesser and newer ones a good listen, and a proper listen, because ... it doesn't sound like the others, or previous ones! But a site like this one has to help that better, and in many ways it does, although I think not enough specially when reviews say things like ... it sounds like blahblah! Reminds me of that other interview that was done by some italian guy and he was lecturing Green on what "progressive music" was, and he said that we just played it, we didn't write it down or anything. Which, of course, blew that definition right out of the water, but everyone made a point of ignoring that! Edited by moshkito - July 06 2014 at 12:33
	Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com

infandous Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 23 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2446	Posted: July 09 2014 at 12:03
	Great interview, thanks! I agree with Derek and Ray, I would rather that Gentle Giant be remembered for the great band they were, rather than doing endless nostalgia tours that would make them a parody of what they once were (much like another, more popular prog band that is releasing a new album and has become a parody of what they once were......I won't reveal the name, but I think you can guess ). What Gentle Giant achieved back then is simply not possible now. They were not a huge band by any means, but they sold records steadily, had good turnouts for tours, and did achieve some degree of fame in some parts of the world. With that kind of music, I just don't think it's possible anymore. Hopefully, someone will come along and prove me (and Derek) wrong.

Man With Hat Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team Joined: March 12 2005 Location: Neurotica Status: Offline Points: 166178	Posted: July 09 2014 at 21:48

	Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.

The Bearded Bard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 24 2012 Location: Behind the Sun Status: Offline Points: 12859	Posted: July 09 2014 at 23:57
	Nice! Thank you.


moshkito Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 04 2007 Location: Grok City Status: Offline Points: 16163	Posted: July 13 2014 at 11:02
	Hi, The super nice thing about it, is that Gary has a really good OVERVIEW of the whole history, and is capable of talking about it. I think he knew that when they did their last album, that the freshness was now impossible with the record company at your neck. Time to close shop and say goodbye! Today, however, is very different. While I think that they would not get the recognition or critical comments to help, I look at bands like Djam Karet and some of the comments, and I find that folks here, in many cases (and threads!!!) are into the "sound of the music!!!!" (poor Julie Andrews!) and not the music itself, which means that GG and many other bands would have a hard time today. If a GENESIS did "A Lamb Dies Down on Broadway" today, they would be trashed as pretentious, weird, and a total waste with sounds that do not fit rock'n'roll and whatnot. In the end, it all becomes a part of the TIME and PLACE that was forgiving and allowed the artists to be more open and creative than today. However, with today's freedom of not having to worry about a distributor or record company, I simply find it strange that more "progressive" bands do not spread their own work through the internet and sell it that way. Many bands did, like Marillion and Dream Theater, that basically built empires out of their direct connections to the fans ... and we still talk about the record companies and blame the death of the music on them, when it could be said that the "individual" is too concerned with his/her "social appeal" to have the courage to do something completely different! You have to have the inner courage to do it, or it won't happen. You can not think ... I wanna sound like Nirvana, or Pink Floyd, or Genesis, or "progressive"! You have to think about yourself and how to present it, and that's that! Without that inner strength, your music will likely not go far! Edited by moshkito - July 13 2014 at 11:02
	Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com

GhostPony750 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Newbie Joined: December 24 2013 Location: Somewhere Status: Offline Points: 25	Posted: July 14 2014 at 13:09
	Oh, nice interview! I must say that I agree with their philosophy, their reason to not regroup seems legit. :P Still, Gentle Giant will remain a classic, unlike these pop artists who aim for hits. (Black Eyed Peas, completly forgotten nowaday) Hmm... Do you think Genesis died for the same reason? I Know What I Like attracted a whole new public, waiting for that song.