"Evolution Ritual", SPIRITS BURNING's latest album, is a true masterpiece, a brilliant collection of free-form tracks played and recorded with many inspired musicians (read the press release HERE). One could classify it as a "prog" album, but that would be very reductive because Don's sound open vision makes it much more than that. A real alchemical work, in its letteral meaning. Believe me: in a record market that invests almost all its ideas and resources in retrospectives and theme compilations, an album full of new ideas like this is a real godsend! As we know, Don, a very talented multi-instrumentalist playing quite everything, involved Ursula Smith in a wonderful piece and the fact was so intriguing (and unusual) for me that I was prompted to ask him a few questions.
This is the first of a two-parts interview: the first is about Ursula's involvement on the record, the second one is about music, market and future projects.
1. How did your latest record come about?
"I wanted to do an instrumental Spirits Burning album between the second and third Spirits Burning & Michael Moorcock albums, both of which have lots of lyrics. Generally, I like to alternate between instrumental and vocal albums.
I also like to approach each album with some sense of newness or change. I had been talking to people like Bridget (Wishart) for maybe a decade, telling her that I wanted to do an acoustic-based Spirits Burning album. Now was the time."
2. What was the original concept?
"The original idea was to create an acoustic space rock album. As I invited people, I usually mentioned Third Ear Band as a targeted influence. I felt their sense of folk, primitiveness and otherworldliness were a good starting point. In my head, I could imagine acoustic instruments sometimes creating sounds that had more in common with a Hawkwind audio generator or synth, or percussives and rhythms that had a spacey tribal edge to them. However, some of the earliest invites who tend towards a more avant-garde approach were not available for the album, and as songs began to take shape and I worked on newer invites, I started to ease up on pushing the space rock part of the concept. Instead, I concentrated on keeping everyone focused on being acoustic or sounding like they were acoustic."
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| Don at the keyboards in his home studio (Fall 2020). |
3. Why did you even think of involving Ursula?
"Since the day I turned Spirits Burning into a collective, I’ve made an effort to invite and collaborate with musicians who I have listened to and admired throughout my life. As Spirits Burning has grown, I’ve been lucky to connect with musicians from Third Ear Band, Hawkwind, Van Der Graaf Generator, and many other bands that are close to my heart.
Of the Third Ear Band family, both Simon House and Pete Pavli had contributed to Spirits Burning in the past, and they were unfortunately unavailable for “Evolution Ritual.” As I was planning songs, and thinking about how to keep things acoustic, I took a good look at other violinists, cellists, and bassists. It seemed like a natural move to review other members of the Third Ear Band family, specifically, the string players, and then see if I could interest any of them in contributing.
It was around this time that I discovered Ghettoraga and reached out to you Luca, to see if you could help me connect with Ursula."
4. What was her reaction when you contacted her?
"Ursula wasn’t sure she could contribute, due to not having a clear way to do a recording. After an exchange or two of emails, she was receptive to try.
She didn’t really have any questions about the music or the project. I had given her info on the band, and what I was trying to accomplish with the new album. I had uploaded two pieces to Dropbox for her to consider, picking two pieces that I thought she would like, and that would be conducive to cello. I also gave her a link to a YouTube teaser video of a Spirits Burning & Clearlight instrumental album.
The two candidate tracks were “Strolling Into The Future” and “Your Better Angels.” The former had a clear arrangement, and she felt comfortable contributing to that one. The latter song was in its early stages, probably pitched and unpitched percussion only. Ursula decided that her cello part wasn’t working, and that’s how she ended up on just “Strolling.”
Coincidentally, each piece eventually ended up having a Steeleye Span violinist. Jessie May Smart would play with Ursula on “Strolling.” Peter Knight played on “Angels.”"
5. How did you work on the tune?"Ursula’s first concern was how to do the recording. Not everyone is set up with a home recording studio, or has access to a large studio. Plus, this was during pandemic times, so having someone come to her and do a remote recording, or putting her in touch with a recording studio were not an option.We established early on that she had Audacity, and could use that program to record. I provided some encouragement and recording tips. Ursula practiced a little with each piece, and then sent me a mix of her playing alongside “Strolling.” I reviewed it, and gave her a long-distance thumbs up to provide just her parts when she had them finalized.Within a week of us initially connecting, Ursula provided the final cello performance, and it was great. She had some concerns about the quality of the recording, including a couple of places where it sounded like her cello moved. I told her not to worry, as I felt that I could apply EQ to help reduce any noise, and some incidental sounds might not even be noticeable in the context of the mix. Plus, I cut out the parts of the audio where she wasn’t playing, which is something that I normally do."
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| Ursula on cello during a rehearsal at St Andrew's Hall (Norwich) in 2008. |
6. Did you ask her to play something specific (such as with a score) or did you leave her free to decide what to play?
"I rarely tell anyone what to play, unless they ask for some level of guidance. However, this song was atypical. Usually someone starts a song with one or two parts, and I manage a queue of musicians and their instruments that builds upon the starter material. For “Strolling,” Andy Dalby (once of Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come) had actually worked out and arranged a full song, including some string parts. For this song, we would be replacing some of Andy’s parts, one by one, and adding new parts too.
I gave Andy’s version to Ursula, and told her to consider adding cello anywhere in the song where she felt inspired, which she did. In some places, her part would replace one of Andy’s. In other parts, she provided something new that helped provide energy and spice to the piece, which is exactly what I had hoped."
7. How did she react to the track done?
"I think Ursula was happy with it. She did note that it had a quirky feel, in context with the rest of the album. I would agree with that. It’s kind of where the album takes a couple of turns, before reverting back to its roadmap.
She also had an experience that many Spirits Burning musicians have when they are only part of the early stages of a song. Basically, she didn’t actually get to hear the final mix, with all the new musicians and performances until the album came out. So, it probably felt like a different piece on a certain level.
In terms of the whole album, Ursula felt that "the tracks covered a wonderful range of moods, landscapes from the feeling of ritual dances and feasts to reflective spaces and scenes.” She also mentioned that some of the other tracks reminded her of what the old Third Ear Band was trying to do, but with different resources."
8. Are you satisfied with the way the piece came out and with the record in general?
"Absolutely. For “Strolling,” I set out to build a band that took Andy’s initial score to a new level, and we did. The ramp up for the song went from Andy to Ursula, to Gabe (Monticello), who did acoustic bass pizzicato and bowed parts that were initially tricky to isolate and weave with Ursula’s parts. Next was Jessie May Smart, who provided a wonderful collection of violin parts, which became an additional lead instrument. Then, I replaced Andy’s faux accordion part with my melodion performance, and last, and most special, the drum parts were by original Blue Oyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard. It’s a great song by a great ensemble, which is how I hope to describe every song on an album.
I am quite happy with the album as a whole. Most of the early listeners and reviewers have understood the attempt at creating new sounds and musical adventures through an acoustic-based focus. It definitely brings a smile to my face when I see the album being described as contemporary folk, or a review mentions that there is an avant-garde element."
9. Do you plan to present it live when possible (maybe with Ursula)?
"Once upon a time, I would have told you that a Spirits Burning live show was an impossibility. Given the hundreds of musicians involved with the band, and that they are scattered through many parts of the globe… it’s kind of mind-boggling to even consider who would be in the band, what songs from over 15 studio albums would we do, when would be a good time to play post-pandemic and without affecting day jobs, and where would this gig be, given where everyone lives?
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Don in his home studio (Fall 2020).
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However, once upon a time, I did add to my bucket list the desire to play live in England with Bridget, and then we checked it off. We did two gigs in 2017 (in a club in Bath, and then at Kozfest). We created a seven-piece band that had three Hawkwind family members, and did a one-hour set that featured three different lead vocalists and a couple of instrumentals.
The key to making the line-up work was that we created a core band in a single location (Bath area), where they could practice once a month or more over half a year. I would then practice with their practice recordings, and provide recordings of how my parts fit in. The key to the set-list was that Bridget and I worked out what Spirits Burning & Bridget Wishart songs we should do, and then Steve (Bemand) and I worked out a best-of SB set.
All of which means: I don’t know if Spirit Burning will play live again. It was a lot of work. If we did, I’d like to think that at least one song from "Evolution Ritual" would be in the set. And, I would love it if we had one or more acoustic-based string instruments in the ensemble. That would be quite special."
(end of part one - to be continued)
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