Originally published by L.S. Media. July 27th 2010.
It’s the afternoon after the two nights before and I find Pete Trewavas in an unexpected jovial mood. I shouldn’t be really surprised, sure he has spent the last two nights playing and rocking out with two of the three acts he is associated with, the night before High Voltage with Marillion in Leamington Spa and the Saturday night with super group Transatlantic, but there is something different about the genial bass player that sets him apart from others in his position.
Whenever you see Pete on stage he always seems to prefer to let his bass playing do the talking for him, it is like the bass does all the introducing, to get to Pete you must appreciate the bass and how hard he works first.
Before I get to ask him about his thoughts on the weekend as a whole and the Sunday night set with Marillion, I find there is only one place I can start, that being the incredible performance by Transatlantic on the Progressive Rock stage. Those that I had talked too after the set agreed that the guys (Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, Roine Stolt and Pete) had simply blown them away.
The broadest possible smile appears on his face “It was immense, wasn’t it“, he agrees. No hesitation, no unnecessary words, just pure and simple enjoyment in the fact that he and the rest of the guys had done what they set out to do. “Its very powerful music actually”, he explains, “it works on a lot of different levels as well, there is so much going on, even in the quiet sections there is a ton of stuff going on, there’s always Roine (guitars) making a noise and Mike (drums) being really animated.”
Pete certainly isn’t wrong there, just watching the band can leave you pleasantly exhausted, they never seem to stop from the moment the first key is played but, and this is the important thing about the band, they never seem to let the music interfere with the dynamic that is generated on stage.
“What’s nice about Transatlantic“, he continues, “it’s a band with four showman, well five actually as Daniel (touring musician Daniel Gildenlow) is a hell of a showman on his own, you could watch him all night as well”!
With that endorsement of the band and the gracious words about Daniel there is only one way I can continue, the meeting of the ages as Steve Hackett (former Genesis guitarist and musician in his right) joined the band to wow the crowd with a version of an early Genesis classic “The Return of the Giant Hogweed”. The band had recorded the song as part of a special bonus package when the released The Whirlwind to rave reviews at the time.
At the very mention of Steve’s name, Pete becomes excited, it is nice to know that even musicians with so much history, talent and fan respect behind them can still get a sense of joy with working with legends such as Steve.
“Oh my God! It was so nice for me, I mean Genesis Live!” Pete Exclaims, the broad grin that he has had all the way through the interview now at its fullest. “Kids these days don’t know how easy they have got it, I remember when I was saving up, you know in the days when kids didn’t get things immediately, this is how sad I was”, he laughs at the formation of a memory, “ I used to walk into town with my mates and stare into the window of the record shop and we would all pick out what albums we were saving up for and after about three weeks I would have enough money to buy Genesis Live”.
Its hard to disagree with Pete over the current state of being able to buy music, the industry is either dying or flourishing, depending on which version you believe but there doesn’t seem to be much soul left in it when you can buy a track with just a click of the mouse and then delete it ten minutes later when you are bored.
When you interview someone like Pete Trewavas you allow them to reminisce as much as they like. At festivals you only get a certain amount of time before the next journalist is wheeled in to take your place and possibly ask the same questions that you thought were original.
After a moment or two Pete explains his musical thoughts on the “Return of the Giant Hogweed”. “So Hogweed” as he affectionately calls it, “I don’t know the original version , I only know it from Genesis Live, that’s what I based the bass line upon“.
“We did a little rehearsal with Steve on the Friday afternoon before I had to do a sound check with Marillion in Leamington, so I’ve had a busy weekend really”.
“He {Steve} turned up to this house in Hatfield and he had this little combo leading to his guitar and he started playing and that was it, it was just a special moment, the Hackett sound you know. Other people playing Hogweed, its fine but its just a version of Hogweed, but when Steve plays it, its like yes, that’s it”.
The broad grin has not once left his face and you can tell just by listening to him that this is the sign of appreciation that musicians, actors, everyday ordinary people strive for, just for somebody to love what you do.
Pete confirms these thoughts by adding “He is just an amazing (guitar) player, so underrated and a lovely guy as well!”
Pete is one of those rare Human Beings that I could listen to all day but mindful that he has other interviews to do and a third night of music to perform I reluctantly move on. I remark upon the fact that Marillion played a blinding set to a very enthusiastic crowd (including several pumpkin balloons, which looked as though they were having the time of their life) and then the following night to a massive festival crowd and then again that night to yet another crowd.
“Well tonight’s the big one for me”, he enthuses “Transatlantic was fun and everything but you know to be honest I didn’t want them (Transatlantic) to do this festival because I didn’t want it to take away from Marillion at all and I realise that Transatlantic is a strange, unique situation where people would have heard how good the London show was, (Transatlantic played in London as part of their Whirlwind tour) and it would be a chance for them to see the four or five of us on stage for the last time, for a long time together probably“.
“I didn’t want that to take away from Marillion as they are my main thing, I wanted tonight with the band to be big”.
As a fan you sometimes wonder if the band remembers the gigs and outdoor events as you do, and I am the first to admit that I cannot get to everyone, we discuss the Richmond Free Festival that was like a quagmire as the rain had come down hard the night before and Cambridge Rocks. “Richmond was quite good fun”, he agrees, “Boggy! We thought we were going to have trouble getting our van out but we managed it but now your right this event itself is huge, let’s face it, it’s a big event, there’s a lot of people here, the festival ground itself is left over from the pop festival that they held last weekend, so there is lots of infrastructure here, it’s a nice sunny weekend and it’s a big event for Marillion to play”.
I play Devil’s Advocate for a brief moment and put the question to him that it is deserved, both for him and the band. As ever Pete is gracious to credit other artists that are appearing on the bill “Well to be honest, for a lot of bands here it is a deserved moment, there’s a lot of bands that people love and lets face it, however people listen to it , whether through guitar hero or however people discover the music that is on this festival, bands like Focus, Uriah Heep, Asia or us (Marillion) don’t tend to get much exposure and we are very thankful to Classic Rock and the Progressive Rock magazine and Mama (one of the main organisers behind the festival)”.
Playfully and yet very gently put in my place I concur with him and tell him that the fans have felt like that as well. “Well we really care, the thing is, the sort of bands that are on this festival really care about their audience, a lot of the older bands do, you get to a stage where you want to give more back you know“.
The event wasn’t just about the established bands thrilling their fans once more it was a chance for emerging Progressive kings such as Touchstone and the immense Reasoning to showcase their talents as well.
“Yeah, there is a lot of good rock, a lot of good stuff going on”, he muses.
With that final thought I realise that I have massively overrun my time and bid a very fond goodbye to Pete and watch in awe as he goes through it all again, possibly the same questions and with the same good grace and humility you expect from one of Prog rock’s true gentlemen.
Ian D. Hall