I feel as if a proper bit of space time curvature is going on. Parallel lives colliding. As tonight, I will be onstage at the Albert Hall with my heroes, Hawkwind.
When I was 14, I had little side hustles to augment my scant pocket money. But I had only ever traded records at school with kids who had older siblings with a job, as they were the only ones who could actually afford new records.
But I saw Hawkwind’s In Search of Space in my local record shop and did what you did back then: I asked to hear it. They put it on a turntable, and I dived into one of the listening booths. I could not believe that there was 45 minutes of such wonderful noise in existence on this earth, and it became my first actual record purchase.
I was so into Progressive Rock back then. The guitars, oh man! And so I became enraptured by two dream scenarios: one, to meet Jimi Hendrix, the other to be on a stage with Hawkwind. Well, Jimi died, but I’ve always held onto that dream of playing live with Hawkwind.
The reason they called me Orbit a few years later, in my squat days, was because I was (and still am) obsessed with orbital mechanics, rocketry, solar chromatics, everything astro. I knew the name of each rocket in the Gemini and nascent Apollo programmes. A childhood spent bunking off school and sitting in the local library, working my way through the science and astronomy books, was where it all started.
There’s another aspect to this love. I was entranced by the whole Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, Michael Moorcock thing, based around Ladbroke Grove. It seemed so romantic to me, aged 18 and living in Hackney. I longed to be doing creative things (I didn’t enter the ‘music biz’ proper until 1983 thanks to Miles Copeland) and would take the tube west, to join long space rock jams in the squats in Elgin Avenue. It seemed such a special place. I live near there now, and even though it has become ‘posh’ there is still a vibe.
Back in the present day, when I first received a message from Hawkwind asking me to join them on stage, via a mutual friend, I was so wrapped up in other projects I put it to one side. Communications tend to slip when I’m in deep deadline mode. Code crunch. But my executive assistant Félicité said: “You really must reply to this, you love that band” And then it hit me. Wow! I felt simultaneously cosmically calm about the idea, it was meant to be, and supernovally stoked.
Being right there with them at the Albert Hall will be pure joy, and I plan to make some huge slabs of Orbit noise, when the moments are right. This is a band who love to extemporise, which suits me to a T.
Over the years, Hawkwind have done some incredible ventures and collaborations, and to my ear now everything Dave Brock and the band are doing sounds so fresh. On hearing the band strike up at Dave’s Earth Studios in Devon this week, I was absolutely thrilled by everyone’s musicianship. What a pleasure.
I told them and one replied that I probably saw this stuff in studios all the time. How little they know. I spend 90% of the time hunched over a laptop like a prawn at the moment. Big sounds in my headphones, but it’s not exactly Abbey Road Studio One every day.
And it’s these moments, being right in the action when a band first strikes up in a studio, such as I’ve had with Blur, U2, Limp Bizkit and others, are thrilling. It’s one of my favourite things in life.
It’s a wonderful studio they have. Earth Studios, in a remote Devon woods. I’ve been referencing it in emails as ‘Space Command’. Every inch an interesting visual, all the gear painted vividly, and of course to my geeky eyes, a seductive array of legacy electronics. I’ll put that down as the favourite ‘home studio’ I have ever visited.
Hawkwind has got me at a good time as an Orbit Renaissance is about to be revealed. I’ve not had this happen since the late Nineties, in my improv jam of a career and life. As for them it always seems to be a good time. It’s no wonder that they have been touring to rapt audience for 50 years – they just keep innovating.
This collaboration feels like a natural fusion. I mean, in the early Seventies, it was all coming from the same place. Everybody was listening to, and being inspired by everybody else’s music. Globally. Albeit with some deep detective work and cassette recording required to access and share it.
And now, immersed as I am in the Hawkwind universe, I’m getting acid flashbacks. That was my thing aged around 16. Out of school and in the workforce, then squatting in Norwich the following year, and a roadie for the band Crazy Lizard. And tripping fairly often. Epic inner voyages of galactitude and deep insight, combined with taking five minutes to plug a pair of headphones in.
You know, Hawkwind, as I re-discovered at their studio this week, really have wonderful musical chops, and total musical kinship. The amazing drummer, Richard Chadwick, is so on point with his sticks; I don’t think he knows just how good he is.
Dave Brock and Magnus Martin’s divine guitar playing, Doug MacKinnons lyrical yet pulse-compelling bass. The insane keyboard magic of Tim Lewis (who goes by the stage name Thighpaulsandra). All in beautifully mellifluous lockstep.
So everything was going well – doing this has been great to get back to playing live, as I have some live action of my own in the works – and we were all looking forward to the gig tonight. But the train strike is a bit of a thing. Hawkwind have previously filled the Royal Albert Hall to the rafters on a Tuesday night. Here, with the industrial action, so many fans in far flung parts of the UK have been thwarted in their travel plans, and as a consequence there are some tickets coming back online for sale. So for those who thought they had missed out, and can get there, hope is restored.
Meanwhile, for me it’s back to Hawkwind and Masters of the Universe. I am on the intergalactic highway now, come in from the outer ambient reaches. Dreams do come true!
