home back to interviews	My Way Ian Salmon December 1999
	It is Thursday sometime early in the evening. The phone rings… No… Not again. Arena has lost another band member. John Jowitt is gone. A deep sigh is my reaction. I wonder what will become of this. Who is going to replace him? The answer was not quite a surprise to me. Ian Salmon will replace John Jowitt. Not a bad choice in my opinion. On the contrary… after seeing him perform during the famous fan-club concert end of October. Before Ian took the stage with Arena, I had the opportunity to ask him some questions… Who in fact is Ian Salmon? A quite humorous answer follows: 'Bass and guitar player of Arena. I am about … [silence] feet high. The biggest thing next to Arena is of course Shadowland in which I play together with Clive. Besides that I have played bass and guitar on several albums like Martin Darvill’s The Greatest Show on Earth. I have played with Karl Groom, well known of Threshold and Shadowland. And I also worked with Mike Varty on his project Janison Edge. That is my portion of prog.'  Why does someone start playing the bass guitar… Ian: 'My father was a musician. I've started playing piano and I picked up the guitar when I was fourteen years old. About the same time I started with the bass guitar. So I learned playing them simultaneously. I started playing in bands soon after that and now we have arrived at the Arena chapter.'  Some musicians prefer a certain instrument. Does Ian as well? Ian: 'Well, it tends to be the instrument that is around my neck at that time [laughs]…' At that moment I wonder: 'Do all bass players have this sense of humour?' Ian continues: 'Sometimes there are moments when I am doing a bass line that I want to do a guitar solo… oh well… whatever.'  Ian plays some more instruments… Ian: 'You know… I actually did two gigs on drums. Well, it sounded a bit dodgy but I really enjoyed it. It was great fun. And as I said earlier I also play the piano. I know my way around on keyboards, but I cannot say that I can really play them. I am not Clive Nolan, you know…’ [laughs] To the question how Ian became involved with Arena, he answers: 'I’ve known Clive for quite some time now. I actually shared the same house where Clive still lives and did his ‘Arena stuff’. And as you might know I did one concert with Arena. So I was quite familiar with the music. Then John Jowitt left, so…' Does Ian see himself replacing or succeeding John? Ian: 'I tend to see myself as successor to John. Replacing John is impossible. I am a completely different person.' Nonetheless, it is still quite a difficult task succeeding John. Ian: 'Yes it is very difficult. I know how popular he is. I’ve known John quite well for some time and I do hear stories from him of course. But I am not John Jowitt and I am not pretending to be him. I will do it my way within Arena.' In the meantime Arena is working on the new album Chosen [the working title of Immortal? – eds.]. Does Ian have any influence on the writing process, or the sound of Arena in general? Ian: 'Arena has already a perfect set of writers, so I think that I won't be needed in that part at this moment. Where the Arena sound is concerned: I think I will have some influence on that. The music will have a rougher edge where I am concerned. Not that the music will become extremely heavy, but it will definitely have a rougher edge, which is something I really like…' Of course, I asked him about The Cage. Ian: 'I am very impressed. I have never seen such a group of passionate people with such a support for a band like this. We can be very proud of this as a band. Really awesome!' And the fan-club day? 'Fabulous, of course. It is great to see all these people. But it is also kind of scary, too. I think I really have to prove myself on stage tonight. I can't imagine a more critical audience than this…’ [laughs] Well, I do not know how you all think about it, but Ian definitely proved himself to me on stage that night. He has a great sense of humour, just like John Jowitt. Ian is a worthy successor to John. The applause said it all! What else do you need? Ian, Welcome to the Cage!!! By: Erwin Groeneveld By: name