Exclusive interview with Bernie Tormé
www.rockgig.co.uk have been lucky enough to
catch up with guitar legend Bernie Tormé and asked him a few questions about
his new CD and forthcoming UK tour.
RG. Your new double CD has been
financed through a PledgeMusic campaign. Where you surprised how successful
this was?
BT. Totally blown away to be honest.
I never expected it to be anything like that! I think it was at 100% of the
pledge within a day! I thought I would struggle to get anything! Man I have the
best fans anyone could possibly have, unbelievable.
RG. 10% of any money you raised
after the PledgeMusic goal was reached will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust. How did you get involved
with the Teenage Cancer Trust?
BT. I am not involved in any other
sense other than contributing to Teenage Cancer Trust, it seemed to me to be a
very worthy charity. Like everyone else you come across these terrible things
that touch your life that happen to teenagers and kids, it’s just something
small I could do to help a bit.
I've been
very conscious of childhood and teenage cancer for a long time, when I was
eleven or twelve I spent quite a long while in hospital after a major kidney
operation, and one time I had a lovely sparky kid called Michael in the next
bed. He had leukaemia. I went home eventually. He died.
RG. You are working with Chris
Heilman, who of course we remember from the Tormé line up of the late 80s. How
did your paths cross again?
BT. It’s a real pleasure for me
working with Chris again, he's such a lovely guy, he really was the glue that
kept Torme together for those few years, none of us really got on all that well
together, it could be quite dramatic to say the least, but we all loved Chris!
Chris and me never really lost touch, I stayed at his place in LA when he
was in Shark island.
When he came
back to Blighty after years in the land of LA he turned up at quite a few GMT
gigs, and once Robin and I had a blow with him because John was not too keen on
doing some GMT shows and Robin and I wanted to do them anyway. So it might have
been temporarily GHT! McCoy obviously changed his mind and did the shows anyway
as it turned out, but Chris was next in line as it were!
So
when I wanted to do some recording and gigs again of course I asked Chris, he's
such a great guy to work with, a good mate, a great bass player, really locks
in, and a really easy going person. It’s a real pleasure for me working with
him again.
RG. Will the Chris and new drummer,
Ian Harris, be your touring band for the UK dates in October/November 2014?
BT. Short answer is YES! It’s been a
bit of a revolving door to now, unavoidable because of availability really, but
Chris and Ian are definitely doing the tour, and I'm really looking forward to
that, great band, it will rock!
RG. Those of us who have “pledged”
our support have heard the first track “Crash and Burn” from your new double
CD, and it sounds great. Have all the other songs been written yet and how
would you describe them? Does the new CD have a name yet?
BT. Thanks, I appreciate that!
Yes
everything else has been written and of course it’s all absolutely wonderful!
But I'd rather play music than try to describe it, not too good at
describing it, I'd rather leave that to journo's. It is like what I
normally do, lots of hell guitar, but it is definitely not an attempt to play
safe. Pretty varied, rockers, bluesy stuff, psychedelic stuff and some rootsy
stuff too.
It’s not in
my opinion possible to do a one style double album, so it has taken and is
taking a lot of thought and hard work from me, and that’s been really good for
me. It's been a real challenge. Not made any easier by having to change
drummers midstream, but such is life, Simon Jeffrey did a great job, and Ian
Harris has come in and really kicked some new life into it too. No easy thing
to do after Simon, but he's been brilliant.
Some good
tunes too. Can't wait for people to hear them!
CD titles?
OMG! Well I have had so many suggestions online and offline it’s been
terrifying, I've had about a half million suggestions, I was like a fucking
rabbit in the headlights! Some great ideas, some maybe not quite so great! And
some maybe a bit completely silly! But all entertaining! I'm pretty settled on
'Flowers & Dirt", it kind of suits it, but I'm worried about which
disc is which!
RG. www.rockgig.co.uk are
looking forward to the UK in October/November 2014 (catching you in York) and
to hearing the new material live, can we also expect to hear some of the older
Bernie Tormé material? Any chance that Lightning Strikes will make the set list
(well for York at least)?
BT. Oh definitely older material
too, people know and want that. Older Bernie stuff, a few choice GMT tracks, a
few Gillan tracks too. And new tracks of course too.
I am
hoping to do varying sets at different shows to keep it interesting for both
audience and band. I have been playing Lightning Strikes live at the last few
shows I did, so do remind me closer to the York gig and we will play it!
RG. Have we heard the end of GMT or
are there plans for you John McCoy and Robin Guy to get back together sometime
in the future?
BT. GMT took a break originally because
McCoy at the time had some other stuff he wanted to do, production stuff and
also a solo album. I don't think the solo album has happened yet, but the
production stuff did and is ongoing, and he also got involved with the Tyla
Gang as a bass player, so he's been doing a lot of touring with them, and still
is. They are doing a new album for Universal soon.
Robin has
always had a lot on his plate, so the situation of us all being available to do
stuff became a bit of an insurmountable problem.
Thats not to
say it won't come together again, I'm sure it will at some point, but there
would have to have a good reason to. No plans for it at the moment but it
definitely is more than a possibility at some stage.
RG. Finally, if we were to
listen to the music on your iPod would we find any surprises?
BT. Nothing but surprises
probably! I listen to everything that does not sound even vaguely like me, I
hear far too much of that! Everything from Gorecki to Bonny Prince Billy and
all points in between. Currently listening to a lot of English Folk, Copper
Family and The Young Tradition. I go through phases! I always go back to the
blues.
Many thanks
to Bernie Tormé for sparing the time to answer our questions.
Bernie Tormé
and his band are on tour in the UK in October/November 2104 and www.rockgig.co.uk would recommend that you check
them out at your local show.
15 Oct Leamington Spa,
Zephyr Lounge
16 Oct Wolverhampton, Bilston, Robin 2
17 Oct York Fibbers
18 Oct Great Yarmouth, Legends of Rock the Originals
22 Oct Brighton, The Albert
24 Oct Dorchester, Corn Exchange
29 Oct London Borderline
30 Oct Manchester Academy 3
31 Oct Kinross, Backstage
1 Nov Newcastle, The Cluny
13 Nov Troon, South Beach Sessions
14 Nov Aberdeen, The Moorings
15 Nov Edinburgh, Bannermans
16 Oct Wolverhampton, Bilston, Robin 2
17 Oct York Fibbers
18 Oct Great Yarmouth, Legends of Rock the Originals
22 Oct Brighton, The Albert
24 Oct Dorchester, Corn Exchange
29 Oct London Borderline
30 Oct Manchester Academy 3
31 Oct Kinross, Backstage
1 Nov Newcastle, The Cluny
13 Nov Troon, South Beach Sessions
14 Nov Aberdeen, The Moorings
15 Nov Edinburgh, Bannermans
Get full details
and tickets for the tour at http://www.bernietorme.co.uk/shows.html
To get you in the mood here is Star
To get you in the mood here is Star
NH