ICS: How did it feel winning Classic Rock’s Showman of the Year award? JW: Well it was a surprise in the sense that I never actually thought of myself as a showman, never mind the Showman of the Year. I’m a musician and a composer. The award was lovely but I think it was more in recognition of the touring production of the War of the Worlds; the scale and the ingredients we’ve done. I was surrounded in the room by some of the greatest rock legends of all time, so that was a wonderful evening just to be part of. ICS: Did you ever imagine that your musical version of the War of the Worlds would be so successful, for so long? JW: No. Thirty years ago when I started composing and producing it I was challenged and had an opportunity in my own career to do something that I’d never done before and that, to me, was what it was about. Thinking in terms of longevity at the time I could never have predicted what it has become and continues to do as a record, as now our shows and all sorts of other things around it. In hindsight, I can see the history now that it has built up; it’s remarkable. But at the time, (when I started composing it) no way. ICS: How does it feel to watch your work come to life on stage and right in front of you? It’s wonderful. As the conductor I’m right in the middle of the sound which, from a musician’s point of view, is where you always try to be. It’s very exciting, but all around me is technologies and other areas of live performance that all come together in this very large scale production. It’s thrilling, it’s absolutely thrilling. ICS: How profound an affect did your parents have on your life? JW: I am from New York and I had a mum who was one of eleven children and who grew up in Brooklyn as very much part of an Orthodox Jewish family. Whereas my dad from Buffalo (upstate New York) and his father rejected all religions which was ironic because his father was a rabbi. So my dad really turned into an Atheist and stayed that way throughout his whole life. No matter whether I was in New York, or when I moved to England there was always this opposite of views between my parents that, in a way, has definitely affected me and my life. I don’t believe in God but my wife and I have raised four children on the basis of Jewish history and traditions. So I guess I’m a mix of both my parents from that point of view. ICS: Do you think this influenced how your music is written and composed? JW: Not consciously, I know what moves me in musical terms, no matter what the genre of music. I know what reaches me in emotions and physical reactions, like dance music for example. I have a son, who is 23. He’s a DJ at some of the top London clubs and is a musician and writer in his own right. He’s very passionate about music and looks at it differently (from me), but we have common ground because together we love music and all that it can bring. He now hires me, without pay I should say, to play on a lot of his tracks. So we have great fun together in our studio and as a family we all love music, we’ve all been influenced by music without a doubt. ICS: As a musician, what is it that really gets your creative juices flowing? What really inspires you? JW: Well If I’m doing projects of my own, there is some form of subject matter that reaches me and then I try to interpret it through music or through some form of live production. When I’ve worked with artists, who are writing their own music, if I am moved by what they write, I really enjoy the involvement. So I guess the starting point of my inspiration is the source of what it is, no matter where it’s coming from. ICS: Queens, New York is very much rooted in Hip Hop, how does it differ now to when you were growing up there? JW: I think that Queens, which is part of New York and therefore the east coast of the United States, which around my time was very rooted in fantastic pop song writing and production. There was a building in New York called the Brill Building that had songwriters from floor to floor, from top to bottom, who was writing some of the greatest pop songs of the day. Queens did definitely have musicians that came out of that area who were part of that. So I was always rooted in great melodies, great rhythms and passion. The music that comes out to me has to be passionate and real to reach me. People, who can write, perform, sing and do the whole thing in some form that’s the heart of it to me. There have been a lot of wonderful musicians that have come out of Queens ironically. ICS: Are you looking forward to the UK tour? JW: Absolutely. I just came back from Australia and New Zealand where we did our 2nd tour. So to be coming back to the UK so quickly to do yet another tour has amazed us all and we’re thrilled that the audiences and new audiences want to see us. It’s fantastic. ICS: The shows down under had a lot of new additions to what was seen at Wembley last year. How did that go? JW: The tour that we did there was what I’d call the Mach II version of the tour that we did last year. So they were seeing things that in Great Britain hadn’t been used before in our first production. It’s definitely grown. As to the reaction, we arrived with trepidation to how the show would find its audience as it did last year here in UK and our answer resounded loudly that it was a giant success for us that both the audiences at the sold out arenas and the critics were overwhelmingly taken by what we did on stage. ICS: What are your plans for Christmas and after the tour? JW: Our last show of this tour is December 22nd at the new 02 Dome. Right after that, my family and I are going to have a good chill out because the last couple of years it’s all been touring and things related to the War of the Worlds. We’re not going to be thinking about anything other than having some good quality time together. ICS: Thanks for your time, Jeff. JW: You’re very welcome.
The Jeff Wayne interview
What do you think? Let us know =D
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Katherine Dubay
from Grand Rapids.Michigan,USA |
00:30:07 26 November 2007 |
| Someone please ask Jeff if he is planning a USA tour....SOON !? Please |
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