interviewpage
Peter Gee - interview September 2004 |
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Victory: Hi Peter, how are things doing over there? Peter: Hi there. We have some rainy conditions at the moment but I'm fine thank you. How about you? Victory: Can you please tell little what is happening in your life at the moment? Peter: Well, my playing is more in the church than on a stage at the moment. Due, to financal reasons, you know living in London IS expensive, I and Nick has moved to western England. So at the moment I'm living in a small village. Talking about music; I have actually written songs for three albums. One will a gospel album while the other two will be progressive rock albums. I'll handle the most instruments by myself but I'll for sure use a drummer and a leadguitarist. But I'll try do to as much as I'm able to myself and then bring in others at the very end of the recording. I'll get Karl to mix the new albums, I just like the sound he gets. I want to work with one who thinking the same as I do. Victory: So, you are recording your stuff at your home? Peter: Yes, I'm. With the new technology comes new opertunities. It's not like the old days when you had to redo all the things if something went wrong. Today you store all of the stuff on a hardrive and you're able to do quite much with it. Eventhough I don't consider myself as a technical person I can still handle the basic things. Victory: How do you feel about the musical scene today, how has it changed since you started over 20 years ago? Peter: When we started out in the UK, in the beginning of the 80's, we went to hundreds and hundreds of clubs, but today we have a situation where only a few clubs are arranging gigs and those are mainly for cover bands. Victory: How did the "we must copy our music instead of buying it"-book affect you? Peter: Because people can download and copy music, this has affected Pendragon in a severe way. Our album sellings has dropped dramatically since it started. Actually that's one of the reason why we moved away from London. in the future we have to release more products more quickly, so we can survive. But we must not forget that there are fans that are loyal, that will continue buying our music. They help us continue doing what we love. Victory: So, I guess you're working beside being a musician? Peter: When I bought my house I was still working fulltime for Pendragon, and other stuff involving distribution with my favorite band Camel. But I lost that job when I moved from London. Now I work in an office and at my sparetime I do my music. *laughs* Victory: I understand and I hope that you can survive and continue doing great music! You have also released some solo albums, one being "Vision of Angels", what can you tell us about it? Peter: VoA describes my personal side. It's quite soft but the next albums will be more hardrock influenced tracks. It's a couple of them there. I tend to write more slow songs, because I usually write from my heart. Victory: What about the forthcoming Pendragon album. What will it be compared to your previous effort, "Not of this world"? Peter: Tthe previous Pendragon was probably the most dark and personal album so far. I think the new album will be faster and maybe more major chords and some new sounds. Not only keyboards and the screaming guitars. Nick has half of the music finished already. He'll probably start to record early 2005. I believe 2005 will be a good year for Pendragon, with a new album tour and we'll also give our fans a reminder that we're still alive. Musically, the next album will be melodic, because its a trademark Pendragon sound. It'll probably has a more straith forward rock sound. Victory: I cannot wait to hear it! Talking about your time in the music business, which are your most exciting memories so far? Peter: When I was 20 years old I played at a festival in England infront of 30,000 people. that was very exciting. Another great memory was playing in hammersmith venue in London, that gave us a feeling "we made it" ! Our first concert in Poland was also a fantastic, there was a very special atmosphere there. We had a headline concert in Holland, 1993, that was a fantastic concert. There has been some great memories over the years...and hopefully many more to come! Victory: I'm sure you will Peter! And the usual question, what about your favourite groups? Peter: It depends on what kind of mood i'm in, but the classics as Camel, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Magnum, Saga and some more. But I also enjoy classical music in the vein of Beethoven and also some Jazz. Some pop stuff is also enjoyable such as Radiohead and coldplay. Victory: Thanks for this interview Peter, it was great talking to you. I'm really looking forward to your next album. Do you have any final words for our readers? Peter: Hi to you all, thanks for supporting Pendragon all over the years. Due to you we can continue doing music and doing what we love! Hopefully we'll both release our new album and go on tour next year - hopefully we can see you all then! Take care it was nice talking to you, we have to keep in contact. Victory:Thank you very much Peter I had an excellent time talking to you. |