from NME, August 25, 1973
Three months is a long time for a band to be out of the limelight: But Genesis feel they can afford it. BARBARA CHARONE talks to three members of Britain's only cosmic flower show - headlining this Sunday's bill at Reading.
"OBVIOUSLY we're out of the public's attention - but we come back that much stronger; some bands seem afraid to take time off; they feel they have to capitalise on their popularity."
Confident words from Tony Banks - the Genesis keyboard wizard - taking time off from a rehearsal session this week to answer questions like just what have the band been up to since ... when was it?
"What we've been doing is running through many different musical ideas. That's what takes up most of our time. The rest of the time is spent putting everything together, making it flow.
"We try to file all these little musical ideas into a giant catalogue in our heads. And quite often we'll find room for old passages - after all, joining on any two sequences is possible.
"Someone might come up with a really beautiful bit," lead guitarist Steve Hackett added, "but the problem is where to put it. Getting an album together is like working on a giant jig-saw puzzle, fitting all the various pieces."
Being closely involved with a long-term project makes Genesis wonder - wonder if the album is good, wonder about acceptance, and reception.
"Every album is critical. We still don't really make any money," Banks admits. "And our sponsors can't go on forever putting money into us without returns.
"'Nursery Cryme' was one of our biggest disappointments. We had taken three months off to make the album as it was our first with the new line-up. The negative reaction the album received made 'Foxtrot' critical. Two badly received albums in a row would have been disastrous."
"We've had producer trouble all along. Everyone in the group has very definite ideas about how he wants his bit to sound. We've had some weird scenes with producers, things like guitar solos without guitars," Tony laughs.
"Obviously conflicts and limitations with group writing exist. However, working within the framework of a group, produces better music than simply one individual. Musicians without criticism seem to get so terribly self-indulgent.
"Because of that very thing," bassist Michael Rutherford continues, "there's more pain and anguish with us. One day it's absolutely amazing, while the next day you're a ruined and dejected man."
NEVER a band to satiate the market with product, 'Genesis Live' appears amidst a lull in activity.
"When you're working on new material it's quite difficult getting excited about old material Our best number, 'Supper's Ready', isn't on the live album as we couldn't very well release two albums with identical sides.
"Some tracks on the album are better than the studio recordings especially 'Return of the Giant Hogweed' and 'Musical Box'. Aside from occasional flaws in the playing, the sound is very good," Hackett continues.
"Our last tour was our first attempt at combining visuals with the stage show. The white backdrop worked well on that tour. Presently, we're toying with the idea of using extensive backdrop projection in the new act," Hackett reveals.
"Ideally we'd like the visuals and the music to compliment each other. You can't always think in terms of musical visual pictures. Naturally we'd never dismiss a piece of music if we thought it inadequate for visual presentation," Banks stresses.
"Visuals added a new dimension to numbers we had been playing for a year. It was like playing the pieces for the first time," says Hackett.
"Unquestionably visuals effect the music," Banks continues, "but they should always serve as a plus, never a minus."
LAST MARCH Genesis set out on their first major American tour, working the country like they worked Britain in the early days, carrying their own lights and backdrops.
"Attitudes of American audiences were a bit like - 'well come on show us what you can do'. It's like they've seen it all. One night someone screamed out - 'you better be fucking good', - which doesn't exactly make one play better. What saved us in the end," Hackett admits, "was the visuals."
"It's quite a problem when you come face to face with an audience that doesn't like you," Banks continues, "a crowd that wants you to play loud and play rock. In those situations, it's easy to get the feeling that you're trying to educate the people which is obviously all wrong."
"I can now understand why so many English bands break up after American tours. You're in England, secure and doing well then once in the States it feels like you're getting nowhere. That situation can be quite a bring-down, smashed egos and all.
"But our American tour wasn't particularly straining. We didn't do that many concerts in a row because Peter's voice tends to go after two or three nights, which was good for the band anyway. So many bands seem to kill themselves just making it big."
The dream of a hit single plagues the band. They admit to not having clue as to what makes a single a hit yet one might exist on the new album. Could you imagine a three-minute version of 'Supper's Ready'?
"What we'd like to do is record something simple yet which still represents Genesis without being too complicated. Of course, that sort of record is quite rare.
"There's certain chord changes and rhythms that seem taboo in singles, chords that we seem to favour. If we honestly knew what made a good single, we'd do it," says Tony a bit bewildered.
"Being off the road is a nice change," Rutherford admits. "Change makes one appreciate something so much more. Of course, by the end of the summer I'll be looking forward to puttering around on stage."
As I left, the band began to rehearse, enraptured with new equipment. Michael Rutherford sported a bass guitar connected by plastic tape to a six string electric. Tony Banks, fascinated with his new mellotron and synthesizer, raved on about new sounds. And in the corner Steve Hackett sat playing with his newest toy - an echoplex that repeats an infinite number of guitar runs.
The future for Genesis could indeed be cosmic.
