H, the other Steve Hogarth
A bit exhausted from touring intensively, the men from Marillion decided to put in some breathing space. Time for a few odd jobs here and there. Singer Steve Hogarth finally found some time to resurrect an old dream of his, a solo project ("H") and of course an accompanying album CD (" Ice Cream Genius"). Is there trouble in the Marillion household, is Steve not satisfied with the others anymore, do we detect arguments and intrigues ? Curious as ever we travelled to Amsterdam and asked the relaxed and above all very sympathetic frontman for an explanation.
First the question that everyone's been dying to ask: why this solo-project ?
First let me make it absolutely clear that there's nothing wrong with Marillion and that we are in no way fighting or hating eachother. This being said, we can get back to the order of the day: my project "H". As you may already know, I already had some experience before joining one of the most populair British bands. My career started in the post-punk era in the early 80's with The Europeans and later I strolled across a few other musical trails. I was used to use all my ideas.
With Marillion we play more polarized music, and I can't use all my ideas there anymore. Also we work according to a certain pattern, in which each band member has his say in choosing the songs. It can happen that one of my suggestions is rejected because it doesn't fit in a certain concept or sound. Until now those ideas stayed on the shelf and I'm gratefully using this breather to put some things on an album. Luckily there was enough interest for my project and the record company gave me the neccesary (financial) space to work some things out.
You got some help from a few well known musicians. How did you end up picking them for your band ?
When I finally got the approval for "H", I started looking for like-minded persons. Dave Gregory from XTC was the first one I looked up. I've known him for quite a while and apart from being fans of eachother's work, we also became good friends. Through him I ended up with Craig Leon, who took care of the production. He has worked with among others Talking Heads, Ramones, The Bangles and more recently Jesus Jones. These aren't exactly mainstream bands and that was exactly what I was looking for. I met Richard Barbieri when he opened up for us with Porcupine Tree. I knew him from his work with Japan and when he heard my demo's he was immediately sold. Initially I was thinking about Chris (Fantz) and Tina (Weymouth) of Talking Heads for the rhythm section. They wanted to work with me, but were in the middle of a 'Heads' project. Of course I couldn't wait any longer, so I talked it over with Craig. He introduced me to Clem Burke (ex-Blondie) and jazz bass player Chucho Merchan. They already worked together live with The Eurythmics and liked my experiment. That's how I surrounded myself with a real "supergroup" in a very short period of time.
There are a few very diverse songs on the album itself, that have nothing to do with eachother. As I understood this was exactly the intention ?
Very true, yes. It was never my intention to make a flowing album. This album doesn't have one global sound and doesn't follow a specific concept. It is a sought-after mishmash of unattached ideas from past years. In the studio we worked from song to song, not worrying about the final result. Each track is a seperate idea, that was completed independently from the rest.
Is "H" just Steve Hogarth or did the others have some say in the material ?
"H" is my baby and I take sole responsibility for it. The songs were already finished before we entered the studio. This doesn't mean the guys didn't have any say in the music. I gave everyone enough space and opportunity to contribute to my project, or rather my experiment. It is possible that my (possible) next CD will be recorded with totally different people and will cover a totally different genre. Everything depends on what "Ice Cream Genius" brings about and what goes on in my head the moment Marillion's activities allow for something similar. Now all the attention is directed at this album, we're also going to promote it live. By the way, I'm also here in Amsterdam to make a video with Niels van Iperen, someone you might know from his work with Belgian's dEUS. I really won't run out of work.
Do you know what the other band members think of your solo CD ?
Not directly, no. I learned from mutual acquaintances that they're fairly positive about it. It seems there is a little bit of envy and none of the other guys will give their approval or disapproval face to face. Our bass player's wife even thought some of my solo songs were better than anything she's heard from Marillion so far (laughs). I'm afraid things were probably a bit quiet there for a few days. Personally I think people should do what they want to do and I'm not the sort of person who will critically put other people's work under a microscope.
Meanwhile, a few members of the fanclub are waiting to meet Steve in the hotel's bar. In the elevator, on our way down, Steve says the new Marillion CD is completely finished and that it's one hell of a strong album. Perhaps somewhat different than before but above all a bit heavier. It will be released in April and until then we'll have to make do with all sorts of solo projects by the band members.
Wim Vander Haegen, Mind Magazine, March, 1997
Translated by Mark Bredius from an article in a Dutch magazine
