Legendary space rockers Hawkwind play at Lincoln Engine Shed on December 6, and while founder member Dave Brock is pleased to be back on the road, he’s equally proud of the band’s first studio album for five long years, Blood of the Earth.
Listening to the work of art, it’s clear that the brand new tracks meld well with a couple of tried and tested – if re-worked – numbers that the band enjoy playing.
They’re clearly not just a bunch of ageing hippies, but instead work hard to develop and move forward with their music.
Sweet Obsession, for instance, was a solo release from 1984 which Dave has this time recorded with the band, to great effect.
“Falling in love and looking at shop windows, following your girlfriend around, having the courage to talk to her after a tiff – that’s what that’s all about,” he told Weekender.
“The album’s a bit different – you constantly have to do something different. It’s an art form.
“We started recording and started the album, didn’t like it and then started again.
“I haven’t listened to it since we completed it. Once the work’s done I tend to move onto the next thing.”
It’s fair to say that it would be worth a listen, Dave, and I tell him so. I enjoyed the first couple, which were instrumentals, and then it got into the best stuff, Sweet Obsession, Comfy Chair, and Prometheus – a strong middle section to the collection.
He laughs and we move on to talk about the tour, a 16-date affairs which is just the start, as the band moves on to Australia next spring.
“It’s nice to be in a position where we can do what we like,” he said.
“When you first start off you just live for the next day but these days there’ a lot more planning and we’re booking next year’s tour.
“We know most of the places we play at but I now find it a bit wearing! We do the tour bus and sometime stay in hotels but being such a light sleeper, I don't sleep that well on the tour bus... but I wouldn’t do it all if I didn’t like it!
“The music’s different every night. It’s the same numbers but we’re playing different solos and enjoying ourselves.”
And the fans enjoy it too, a surprising variety in the crowd
“We’ve got old ones and new ones. We do our own Hawkfest where we get to meet fans and friends and see their families and kids growing up.
“That means they range from very young to very old.
“It’s like when I was growing up in Notting Hill and we used to have reggae bands playing in the street with everyone joining in. that’s what music should be like.”
As for the next album?
Dave promises: “That won’t take as long as the last one! We’re doing it now. We’re writing new stuff all the time – it’s really boring if you don’t develop. We are artists.”
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