Interview: Marillion Drummer Ian Mosley - Page 5

This time around we used Mike Hunter as a producer and he came in at a very early stage and just started recording everything we were doing. Then he'd disappear for awhile and then pop back and say "I've put these things together, so what do you think?". So the first track he played back for us was "Last Century Of Man," where he'd done this massive string arrangement for the second half of it that just kind of blew me away. Mike's a very talented guy — he's a twenty three hour musician and one hour football fanatic. A complete football nutter.

To answer your question though, I guess it's really a reaction to the last album. We really never go in with any preconceived notions, but if we do an album of short songs we will usually follow it with an album of long songs.

"Last Century of Man" seems to be a very political statement coming from this band.

I don't think we really have a political philosophy as such, but I think anybody you talk to these last couple of years will tell you that they are aware of things going on in the world. That things are getting out of hand. I think everyone is aware that things aren't quite how they should be. The things Steve writes are very personal to him. One of the reasons that Marillion have had the kind of longevity we've had is that the lyrics are very honest, very personal and they are real. But it's very disturbing at the moment and I think that song does reflect that. I think people are worried. Steve does a lot of work with "Make Poverty History," so he's even more aware of it than a lot of people.

Watching the Marbles On The Road live DVD, I notice that the stage presentation is more scaled back in terms of the theatrics.

I think it comes down to budget more than anything. Sometimes I feel like we're like Pink Floyd on a budget (laughter). But it depends on what setlist were playing. Tonight for example, we'll be doing a bit of the Marbles album and lots of the new one. But where it's needed Steve will be quite animated and theatrical. In the early days, of course, it was different as Fish was very influenced by Peter Gabriel and the whole Genesis thing. But we've never followed fashion — it's kind of the kiss of death to tell us what to do.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. …

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