ARCHIVE
jULY 2019 • UNCUT• 41
H
Owweretheselivesets
recorded?Thesound
qualityis amazing.
PETERBAUMANN(synths,keyboards,
f l ute) :Werecordedallthoseona little
four-trackmachine!Veryoftenwe’d
listenbacktothem,butsometimes
we’dthink,“Ah,tonightwasn’tworth
listeningto.”Butwe still took it along to
everyconcert.
DoyouthinkPhaedramarkeda
bigchangein thegroup’ssound?
BAUMANN:Wefeltit wasa progression
fromZeitandAtem. Thetimeshad
changed,theequipmentwegothad
changed,andRichardBransoncameto
Germanyandsaid,“Hey,I wanttosign
you!”Wewerethesecondartistthat
Virginreleased,afterMikeOldfield.
And,likeMikeOldfield,yousold
a lotofrecords...
BAUMANN:IrememberI waswithmy
girlfriendinItalyonvacation,andI got
thistelegramfromRichardBranson
saying,“Yourrecordis inthecharts,
you’vegottocometoLondonanddo
interviews.”I said,“What charts?”
It wasa bigsurprise.
Howdidyoudecidewhich
bandmemberwouldstart
animprovisation,andwhich
instrumentsyou’duse?
BAUMANN:Usuallywewoulddecide
ona key,andwe’dstartit withonenote.
Thereweresomeabstractsoundsontop
ofthat,andthenthesequencerwould
beintroducedaftera fewminutes.The
sequencerhadmanydifferentmodes
thatyoucouldchangelive,sothere
wasnevera completelypredictable
sequencethatyou’dplay.Noneofus
wereconventionallygreatmusicians,
butthecombinationreallyproduced
something quite unique.
“SometimesEdgarwas,I would say,
living in a paralleluniverse”
PeterBaumann,MickGlossop &SteveJollifferecall
Mellotrons, metaphysicsandtheMarseillemafia
whatdoyourecallfromthe
recordingofRubycon?
MICKGLOSSOP(engineer):Thefirst
thingI rememberis themsettingup
thesethreetowersofkeyboardsand
synthesizers.ChrisandEdgarboth
hadMoogmodulars,andPeterhad
anothercollectionofstuff.Theyalso
hada Rhodeselectricpiano,Mellotrons,
maybea stringsynth.It tooka day to set
it allupandgetthelevels.
Didyouedittheimprovisations?
GLOSSOP:I’druna tapeandthey’d
playfor 20 minutes.Theymightthendo
anothertake,maybetwoorthreetimes,
thenthere’dbea lotofdiscussion– in
German,ofcourse,soI didn’tpickup
onthedetails!Withina fewhoursthey’d
arriveata pieceofmusicthatwouldbe
thebasisforthetrack.Thentheymight
addanotherpartoranotherinstrument,
ortheywouldtakea pieceofone
instrument,we’dcopyit toanothertape,
thengotoanotherpartofthepieceand
copyit backontothemulti-track.I don’t
thinkweusedanytapeediting,becauseit
wouldhavebeentricky.Thoselong,slow,
shiftingchanges...verydifficulttocut.
DescribeEdgarasa person...
GLOSSOP:Edgarwastheoldest,hehad
this paternalistic vibe about him. He was
biggerthaneverybodyelse.SoI guess
hewastheleader,butI thinktheywould
haveregardedit asa democraticsetup.
BAUMANN:WhatwasEdgarlike?He
wasa veryveryinterestingperson.He
hada lotofcharisma.Sometimeshewas,
I wouldsay,livingina paralleluniverse.
Hisphilosophies,hisinterestsandhis
mistrustofthemusicbusiness,it made
himunpredictableina goodway.Hewas
a heavyweightintermsofpersonality,
intermsofhowheviewedwhatwewere
doing.Hewasuncompromising.He
wasalwaysinterestedinmetaphysics,
whateverwasouttherethatwasthe
furthestexpanseofthehumanmind.
Listeningtothemusic,one
mightimaginetherewas
somehedonism...
BAUMANN:Comparedtosomeheavy-
dutyrock’n’rollbands,wewerequite
tame,that’sforsure.I wasn’tdrinkingat
all,butwewereallsmokingsomehash.
ChristopherandEdgarweredrinking
butnotheavily,justwithdinner.But
wewerealwaysa littlebitina fogfrom
smokingpot– andthemusicitself gets
yououtofbeingtoosquare.
Howhadthingschangedfrom
1967,whenyoufirststarted
playingwithEdgar,to1978,
whenyoujoinedforCyclone?
STEVEJOLLIFFE(flute,keys,vocals):
In’67wedidn’thaveanymoneyand
weusedtotravelinanestatecarwith
everythingontheroof.Whenwefirst
startedit wasjustEdgarandme,thenwe
startedauditioningdrummers– wehad
thisSwedishguywhousedtothrowhis
cymbalsaroundtheroomasaneffect.
Wethoughtwe’dbettergetridofhim
beforehechoppedsomebody’sheadoff.
Butthenin1978,wehadsomuchgear–
twoarticulatedtrucks,plusvans,cars...
Touringwiththatmuchgear
musthavebeenintense.
JOLLIFFE:Wewereduetoplayin
Marseilleinthisgreatbigtentonthe
beach,butoncewegottheretheroadies
said,“Ifyouplayhere,yourisklosing
allthegearbecausethesaltwillgetin
anddestroytheequipment.”Sowehad
tocancel,packupandleaveasquickly
aspossible,whichwasquitetrickyas
mostgigsinMarseillewereorganised
bytheMafiathen,andyoudidn’twant
toupsetthem.Sowepackedit allinto
thetrucksandwentbacktothehotel.
But[themafia] werealreadythere,and
theycameuptomeandsaid,“Areyou
TangerineDream?”I said,“Well,it’snot
justme,there’sa fewofus...”Theyended
upholdingusupatgunpointandsaid,
“Ifyoudon’tgiveusallthemoneyyou
madeinSpain,thenyouwon’tgetoutof
Francealive.”It costusa lotof money,
thatgigthatwedidn’tdo!
INTERVIEWS: TOM PINNOCK
“Noneof usweregreat
musicians,butthe
combinationproduced
somethingunique”
PETER BAUMANN
Q&A
PeterBaumann
in the studio
CéSAR RUBIO PHOTOGRAPHY
