home back to interviews	Overhearing Distant Sounds John Mitchell - April 1998
	Here’s another ‘Overhearing Distant Sounds’. Having ‘overheard’ Mick, Clive and John Jowitt, it’s now time for the ‘new’ guitarist John Mitchell. Being passionate about music in general, he won’t be talking much about the guitarists in the parts we did play for him. No, it’s all about emotions, passion, and the whole album. Let’s press the ‘play-button’… IT BITES – YOU’LL NEVER GO TO HEAVEN We started to face John with his favourite band / guitarist. Start about It Bites and you can’t leave the room for another hour. Okay, a bit of a give-away, this one. That’s cool. That’s You’ll Never Go To Heaven by It Bites. The first album. This is an awesome track. If you ever ask anyone about It Bites they say ‘Oh, yes, I know It Bites… Calling All The Heroes.’ And it’s got nothing to do with that. It’s just like saying that the Stones is just about Satisfaction… There’s another version of this song on Thank You And Goodnight, which is their live-album. He [Francis Dunnery] is such a brilliant guitarist and they’re such great songwriters. I used to listen to their songs as a kid when I was a lot younger. When I was a bit depressed I used to stick on this track… which didn’t help. It didn’t cheer me up at all. That song has got a great deal of significance. It’s a good song.  STING – SHAPE OF MY HEART Because of his love for The Police we played him a song from the solo period of Sting. Not because of the bass player, but because of his loyal guitarist Dominic Miller. But there’s not much to say anyway…  This is off… no, don’t say anything… It’s something like Fourteen Summoner’s Tales. Okay, Ten Summoner’s Tales. I always forget what it’s called. What can I say about… well, Dominic Miller; he’s absolutely awesome. He’s done a solo-album as well… that’s good! I don’t think this is the best track of the album. I really like the single, If I Ever Lose My Faith In You. That’s my favourite track on the album.  DIRE STRAITS – MONEY FOR NOTHING (LIVE) Ask anyone about a famous guitar player and they will give you names like… Mark Knopfler! But not for John. No, he’s more into famous guitar riffs. And then he’s talking about really famous riffs… This is probably the most famous guitar riff in the world. Well, just about the famous guitar riff next to Layla. That’s probably the number one everybody knows. The most brilliant thing they’ve ever done, in my opinion, is their live-album, Alchemy. Personally, I think the best guitar playing was on the song Brothers In Arms. Awesome and very expressive. It’s quite a good song, Money For Nothing, but it’s not the best thing they’ve done. It was played by MTV because of the intro…  PRINCE – PURPLE RAIN Talking about famous guitar riffs. A lot of people think he’s just a very strange guy, but he’s a great musician and songwriter. Here’s also a leap to the new Arena album. Prince and Arena? Yes, Prince and Arena!  Yeah, this is awesome! What should I say about the album? Well, I’ve got a story actually about this song. I remember writing a song when I was about, I don’t know, fourteen or something. I’m giving my age away a bit now… I mean it’s a really bad thing when you’re writing music and stuff but I overcome that in a way being influenced by certain things. And this song that I wrote was like, I suppose exactly like this song, in terms of chord structure. Anyway… I was fourteen. I was allowed to do that and I made a mess of it as well.  It’s an awesome song. I think the best thing Prince has ever done is probably Sign Of The Times. I like it anyway. It’s a very long album, but it’s got so many great moments. There’s a great thing about Prince if we are talking about the guitar playing point of view. He’s so completely psychotic… like Dunnery. He’s just like a … you know, he can be melodic, but he can also make the guitar sound like a chain saw. The guitar is not supposed to be pretty and melodic, it’s supposed to have some kind of emotion in it. Or some kind of hyperactivity. It’s brilliant. He does it at Sign Of The Times where he came up with some interesting guitar sounds. Some of the sounds are like they are directly from the desk and others sound like they’re coming through a ‘wa-wa’ peddle, like it has been set at a certain position. And that gives a very strange sound. This song starts kind of low and then it just gets higher, like an epic song. And that’s probably the only term that can describe it… epic. Going back to the hyperactive, on the song Don’t’ Forget To Breathe [The Visitor – ed.] the first guitar solo is kind of mad. Clive wanted me to create something mad, so that’s the same kind of hyperactivity I wanted to create there. Not in terms of the notes, but in terms of the vibe, you know. PINK FLOYD – RUN LIKE HELL (LIVE) Of course, we can’t let the ‘big names’ out. And talking about big…. That’s what they are. John goes back in time with this song. But also to the (very near) future when we’re playing him the next song. Yes, there’s also a link between Pink Floyd and The Visitor. Or weren’t we allowed to say that, John? This is about building up a song! This is what the audience wants. This album has got such a great significance to me again. The Wall, you know. Frank, who did my guitar on the last tour, him and I went to school together. And we used to listen to Pink Floyd all the time. And that album in particular, is kind of a miserable album but it’s absolutely awesome. I don’t know who came up with the idea of a ‘rock star turn psychotic naughty kind of image’. This song’s particularly provocative with the vocals nasty shouting. This song, the whole album is brilliant. Even down to the last tune, the sort of judging tune, is brilliant. The Wall was a brilliant idea. A lot of people say Pink Floyd is all about Dark Side Of The Moon. But for me this album is my favourite, together with The Final Cut. These are my favourites. This is from Delicate Sound Of Thunder. Yeah, I’ve got it on tape. But the tape has got holes in it. From playing it over and over again. ARENA - SERENITY We confront the guitarist with some of his own work. Very recent work, that is. We were very lucky having ‘met’ The Visitor one day before this interview. And we thought there was some resemblance to Pink Floyd. Okay, it’s just two minutes, and it sounds great. John, who’s this?!  Oh, it’s Pink Floyd again [laughs]! That’s basically been mentioned during the recording. Clive thought it would be a good idea… on the last tour I’d left my acoustic guitar at home, because we wanted to simplify things a bit. And suddenly we realised, a bit too late, just before… we needed to fill the space between Empire where Paul did his changing, so Clive said 'well, let’s get some chords down really quickly' and we jammed a bit and it kind of turned into this. It was born from necessity; it wasn’t a piece of music we had written.  And it’s kind of ‘Gilmoury’. It’s quite nice, I think. To be honest with you, when learning the guitar I never sat down and worked out his guitar solos. He was a great influence from the musical point of view, not from the guitar playing point of view. Yeah, it’s kind of ‘Floydie’. If I’m going to be criticised about this part… the rest of the album doesn’t sound like David Gilmour, does it? The trouble is, having a slow four-four beat with a kick and snare and having a big epic guitar solo on top, it’s hard not to sound like Floyd. But there’s no denying. Cause they invented that ‘art’. Like on Shine On You Crazy Diamond, that’s basically what it’s been hung for, hasn’t it? But at the end of the day it’s one bit of the album. And I think it’s a nice part of the album. It’s a nice break. It fits in very well.  The good thing about this album is the dynamics of it. One minute it's really intense and then it chills out and you get the chance to get your thoughts back together again. If you listen to, for instance, Pantera, it’s on one level all the time. And that’s what makes this album good. It’s got a very good start and a very good finish. I have to say there’s no padding. The whole album is just so intense, you know. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, in guitar playing ways. QUEEN – BICYCLE RACE The Visitor is predicted to win the race… as a great prog album in history. An-other statue in musical history is Queen. And when you’re talking about Queen, it’s hard to stop this guy.  Bring on Nolan! We both love Queen! Don’t start me on Queen. I’ll fill up a whole issue of The Cage! I love Queen so much. They had such a massive significance on me. I’ve got so much respect for them… I’ll fill up a whole issue of The Cage about them I don’t think anything can represent Queen more than Bohemian Rhapsody. And the fact that they’ve got the guts to release it as a single… wow! There was a time when Queen went away from their basic roots, which was rock music. Some people even put them in a prog rock level, but I don’t think they fit into that. Well, I don’t like the brackets anyway. I don’t think you should put anything in brackets. I think they mentioned prog rock because they were a bit adventurous, you know. If you love a band like Queen as I do, you have to fault them as much as you love them. You can’t love everything they’ve done. And in that respect they lost the plot a bit in the eighties. Having said that, I must admit I love their Kind Of Magic album. It’s such significance with my youth. When I was younger, one of my favourite songs is Who Wants To Live Forever and that’s off that album. Which is in the middle of the Eighties. So forget everything I’ve just said.  No one came close… It’s such a sad thing he died. I must say one of the few times I’ve ever broken down in tears was when Freddy Mercury died. My sister came up and said ‘Freddy Mercury died’, and I was so upset. And Clive feels the same way about this, too. It sounds harsh and cold, but I didn't shed a tear when Lady Di died… but she didn’t have any significance with my life at all. Yeah, Freddy Mercury, man! I mean, that’s pretty much the biggest musical hero ever. The great thing about the Freddy  Mercury Tribute was that nobody could sing like him. No one came close… They’re such a brilliant band. The pompousness of it all. And yet so tongue in cheek. Everybody says Freddy Mercury was the most arrogant person ever, but he wasn’t. That was what he wanted to put across to everybody. They wanted to sell the whole thing and they did so well. And you believed in them, you believed in everything Queen ever did. Their videos, their ideas, their film stuff, the Highlander thing, and just anything about them. There are a few songs I don’t like but they’re just an awesome band. You’re going to have trouble stopping me talking about them. You have to play something else now… RIVERDANCE - RIVERDANCE And now… something totally different. This Irish group fascinates the world. But is it so typically Irish, or is it just a big dancing show? Let’s ask John…  Like having a ship engine next to you. I could tell you this is not something traditionally Irish. You have to respect the Riverdance phenomenon. I like a lot of Irish music. Riverdance… it’s worldwide. It’s brought the typical cultural type of music into the spotlight, that’s a good thing. I started playing violin very early, but not this kind of Irish fiddling. I studied classical music from a very early age, also with piano. I didn’t have a very musical family. I had this image of when I was younger going to church with my mum and dad. My dad was sitting to the right of me and my mum on the left side of me. And I remember them singing, and my father had this very, very low voice. Like having a ship engine next to you. And my mother had a sort of cat-sound voice (bless you, mother). Neither of them could really sing, so yes, I’m sure I am adopted [laughs]! I’m glad I learned to play the violin and the piano. It helps me playing guitar now. I decided to pick up the guitar… from the ‘chick-pulling angle… [laughs]! IRON MAIDEN – IRON MAIDEN (LIVE) Let’s rock! Now John gets very enthusiastic about music! This is what he likes! But not just from the rock side of it… no it has even got something to do with being British… Yeah! It rocks! The same with Arena… what do we do next? I’ve got this album… a lot of people don’t like this… but Matt [Goodluck – ed.] and I were sitting in the office the other day and we were talking about Powerslave and we said we’ve got to get all their albums on CD, man!’ Matt and I have got the same musical taste… Iron Maiden… they’re like a British institution. Just like Queen. And this is the song from their first album. It’s the old ‘who is better’ again. A lot of people prefer Paul Di’Anno. I love their first album, because it’s very raw, almost punky. It’s like the old Marillion argument. Who’s better: Fish or Hogarth. They’ve both got characteristics.  I haven’t bought anything from Iron Maiden since their Seventh Son album. I thought if you got this great what else is left? Same with Arena… what do we have to do now [laughs]!? It’s a great album with loads of tracks, it rocks and… where do we go from here? But we’ll find a way. We’re not going to do a ‘post-Brave thing’. Ha, ha. You don’t have to print that… MARILLION – EASTER While the sound of the last song still echoes in our ears, guitar player Steve Rothery starts playing the next song. Again John starts about British music and playing with emotion. I love this album, Seasons End. For me it’s the best thing Hogarth ever did. The song The Space, the high bit at the end, you know ‘Everybody In The Whole Of The World’, that is absolutely phenomenal. I remember the first time I heard that, I almost broke down in tears. It’s probably not cool to admit that, is it [laughs]? I like the whole Marillion picture, you know. I think every album has so much character. I think that Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden and Marillion are so completely English… There’s a big difference between the American Prog Rock and the English and there’s something very English about Marillion. Some really ‘country garden kind of thing’. Even though Fish is Scottish. This song particularly… this is probably Steve Rothery’s best guitar solo. It’s awesome. That’s what I love about Steve, he’s not the world’s greatest technician, neither am I, but this solo is just so emotive. It’s such a passionate piece of music. This whole song, even that end bit; hats off to Hogarth, really. It’s brilliant. SPOCK’S BEARD – IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS This is the first song John didn’t know, so far. And he thought he should have known it. Because Arena played with them on the LA Prog Fest last year. He even used their guitar. But let’s put that aside. We let the man listen…  I have another album of them. I have just never listened to it. They did the Prog Fest thing when we did it and I was very impressed with them… live. They got this really cool sort of atmosphere about them. I don’t really know them that well, but this sounds very good. They’ve got a Japanese keyboard player. He’s got very cool clothes and he’s got a very laid back sort of vibe over him. They really impressed me live. The guitar player doesn’t use a plectrum; he just plays with his fingers. He plays really integrated things with it, like Mark Knopfler, but he’s a guitar wizard. I had a guy in the studio the other day, who played guitar without plectrum. I can’t imagine how you play lead lines without plectrum. It seems like a strange thing to me. This sounds intense, man! Somebody gave the second album to me to check it out. I listened to it once. It’s something I have to listen to more often. I quite like it. I’m stuck in the studio a lot, so I don’t have the time to listen to it very often. They smile… they don’t take themselves too seriously, which is one of the things a lot of people that do progressive rock do. They should lighten up a bit. In the end it’s all about making music and it’s fun to do. There are moments when it is heads down, but you know… they had a sense of humour and that was cool. U2 – BULLET THE BLUE SKY (LIVE) Screaming guitars, screaming audience… U2 starts off with one of the most intense songs they’ve ever made. A song with a political message. Is Mr. Mitchell also into political songs, or even songs with a message? I certainly agreed to most things he had to say. You, too? It’s Kermit The Frog [laughs]! The way he sings those first lines… don’t you think so? They tried to upset a lot of people but it didn’t work out that way. The Joshua Tree is my favourite U2 album. I really like the Unforgettable Fire and Zooropa because there are some great tunes on there, like Stay. One of the best things they’ve done, in my opinion. And this song… Well, the thing about The Joshua Tree is, the A-side is really awesome and it’s a bit downhill on the second side. They tried to upset a lot of people but it didn’t work out that way. Trying to get rid of people is a bit hard. Quite frankly, going on stage in a lemon, that’s got to upset people, but they got away with it [laughs]. This song is about Nicaragua. It’s a very political song. It’s a very atmospheric song. Brilliant guitar playing, you know. The Edge is awesome. Again, he’s not a technician but he’s got great ideas and he creates such a great atmosphere. In this song particularly. It’s a very intense song; it’s as it has been made to be played live. It’s so big. The song however is very ironic; a lot of it is about ‘the American dream’. And then it’s strange that all these American people are screaming, they adore them. I’m very into lyrics; it’s highly important to me what people are singing about. I’m not the most political person in the world. You won’t find me arguing about whether what-ever party should be in or out. It does make a difference, but it’s not something I get passionate about discussing it. When I see footage of people chopping trees down, it upsets me because I grew up in the countryside. I went back to a piece of woodland with Sasha [his son - eds.] the other day, and half of it was missing, and that upset me.  Unfortunately people are lemmings. And no matter how good your intentions are, there are always a certain amount of people who want to do things for their own gain. It’s a downward curve as far as I can see. The damage was already done about thirty years ago. My mum always said to me that she was probably from the last generation that could actually say it was a quality planet to live on in terms of life and air, you know. That’s kind of bad news for your kid and my kid, isn’t it!? But back to U2, they couldn’t be U2 and not be political. Bono wouldn’t be Bono if he wasn’t parading in front of Sellafield and telling everybody how bad it is and that’s why people love it. He always has been an angry guy: the way he looks, his appearances, in many ways. At the end of the day his heart is in the right place. In twenty years time they will be forgotten and they play in small clubs again. But you know, they’ve been there! All the people I’ve met who have been big are nice people. Like Bill Bruford, he has been there… he has done all that big stuff. He’s got nothing to prove anymore. He was cool to work with. YES - TEMPUS FUGIT / OWNER OF A LONELY HEART / OWNER OF A LONELY HEART Last but not least we played John two bits of music. One song from 1980 and one which was made several years later, by the same band. Yes, it’s time for Yes… Oh dear, we need more tape… It’s ironic that they call it progressive rock because there’s nothing more regressive than prog rock. It’s like Clive said; it’s about writing a song and trying to take the song further than you ever want to take it. Experiment with it. It’s not about trying to go back in time and recreate something that happened in 1971. And I hope with this new album, people won’t say that anymore. Because we tried some new things that we had never done before. And that’s about being progressive. If you look it up in a dictionary, you will read ‘moving’.  Man, let’s face it; Drama rules. There's something about that album, that’s un-Yes, which made it so good. Let’s face it: Trevor Horn isn’t John Anderson. But it was raw… the production was raw. Chris Squire even sounded a bit punky. You know, he’s a really huge Sting fan.  And that’s about great musicians liking great musicians. People forget about this album because of John Anderson. And I think Trevor Horn did a great job. He’s not the best singer, but he’s got character. But don’t talk about Yes when John Jowitt is in the room. It could take for hours… I’m so passionate about music. About 90215… it’s so brilliant. It was done in 1983 or 1984 and here we are in 1998 and it still sounds great. That’s from the recording point of view. Not even about the songs, yet. The song that ends this album, Hearts, that’s just Trevor Rabin all over! The last guitar solo he plays, is just so… You listen to the song and you think it can’t get any better, and then Trevor cracks into the last solo and it’s just like shivers down the back of my spine… it’s such an awesome piece of music. I’ve got total admiration for this guy as a songwriter. I don’t think Yes could have come any further with Steve Howe. Trevor Rabin brought life back into it and gave them a roundabout for the eighties, which was with Owner Of A Lonely Heart. If I ever think I’ve got too much bass or too much top end or anything, I just put on this CD in my studio and listen to it as a reference. I can’t add anything to this. It’s just brilliant. As well as the live-video; that’s got just so much character about it. The problem with Big Generator is that John Anderson wasn’t involved in the writing anymore. Trevor Rabin just writes a song and that’s a song. There’s no space for experimenting and that’s what John Anderson likes to do with it… experiment. When I spoke to Bill Bruford, it became clear that everybody in Yes seems to hate everybody. And it’s all lawyers talking to lawyers. I don’t believe in a band like that. If you can’t be in a room with anybody and have a civil conversation with him on a friendly basis, what are you doing in a band together?! And I’m not about buying someone’s al-bum to find out I paid for his holiday to Jamaica or a new swimming pool. I’m into music. If they don’t believe in what they’re doing, why should I believe in it? By: Marcel Kolenbrander