Britský gitarista Dave Hill z legendárnej glam rockovej kapely Slade. V rozhovore porozprával, ako im zmena imidžu otvorila nové obzory a vysvetľuje úspech glam rocku
V Slade ste spolu s Donom jedinými pôvodnými členmi, ktorí sa stretli ešte v skupinách Vendors a N Betweens. Ako si spomínate na toto obdobie?
Pamätám si na tie roky s veľkou láskou, pretože to boli vzrušujúce časy v hudbe a splnilo sa mi to, o čom som sníval – byť v kapele a cestovať po svete.
Ako v šesťdesiatych rokoch fungovala klubová scéna? Bolo ťažké sa do nej dostať? Ako ste získavali koncerty vo vašom prvom období? Bola nevyhnutnosť hrať v kluboch, alebo sa dala spraviť rock and rollová kariéra aj cez rádiá?
Tie roky hrania po kluboch, krčmách a tanečných sálach boli cestou, ako si sa mohol stať skvelou kapelou a jediným spôsobom, ako to zvládnuť.
Mohli by ste zaspomínať na váš debutový album Beginnings. Vytiahnuť z neho nejaké zaujímavosti z nahrávania?
Najdôležitejšie na začiatkoch bolo, že sme mohli nahrávať naše živé vystúpenie a skúšať ich dávať von, keďže sme boli financovaní šéfom vydavateľstva, takže sme si to užívali. Bol to ďalší splnený sen. Páčili sa mi všetky skladby z tohto obdobia.
Na tomto albume ste nahrali aj pieseň od Franka Zappu – Ain’t Got No Heart. Ako k tomu došlo?
Frank Zappa bol veľmi kreatívnym umelcom v čase, kedy sa hudba menila a stávala sa viac podivnou v skvelom slova zmysle. Tá skladba bola pre nás tou pravou.
Aký príbeh stojí za manažérom Chas Chandlerom, ktorý kapelu prehovoril k zmene imidžu aj k zmene hudobného štýlu?
Chas Chandler nás povzbudzoval, aby sme boli sami sebou. To je to, čo na nás obdivoval a jediný krát, čo sme zmenili imidž bolo, keď sme sa stali skinheadmi (pozn. redakcie – Slade boli súčasťou hnutia Mods –). Stali sme sa známejšími, ale mne osobne sa to nepáčilo. Neskôr sme sa vrátili k našej podstate, skladali sme vlastné songy a vytvorili si imidž, ktorí sa páčil predovšetkým nám, a prežili sme s Chasom úspešné obdobie, kedy nás manažoval (pozn. redakcie – Táto spolupráca trvala dvanásť predtým, predtým sa Chas staral o Jimiho Hendrixa).
Na jednej strane ste inklinovali k hnutiu hippies, na druhej ste drsnejším prejavom smerovali k subkultúre mods a skinheads. Bolo to v tej dobe bežné podobné prechody medzi subkultúrami?
Ako som už povedal, mohol si skúšať myšlienky a idei tej doby, kvetinové hnutie bola jednou z nich a skinheadi tou ďalšou. Móda sa v tých dňoch rýchlo menila. Bola to veľká zábava a stalo sa vtedy veľa vzrušujúcich a šialených vecí.
Čo bol ten zlomový moment, ktorý rozhodol o tom, že britská inváziu na čele s The Beatles bola vytlačená progresívnymi a psychedelickými kapelami, ku ktorým ste sa s ďalšími albumami zaradili aj vy?
Myslím si, že hlavnou vecou bolo to, že televízia dostala farbu, takže všetky kapely z éry šesťdesiatych rokov zrazu vyzerali fádne. Bolo to potom rockové oblečenie, ktoré som nosil v sedemdesiatych rokov, ktoré vystriedali sixties, kedy sa ľudia bavili a v hudbe to boli šialené časy. Žiarivé a farebné. Smerovalo to do glam rocku, čo bolo pre našu kapelu skvelé. Napísali sme úžasné piesne a popritom vyzerali hrozivo, ale svet nás miloval.
Čím glam rock osviežil rock and roll? Ako ste si vysvetľovali jeho úspech?
Keď nás uvidel Chas Chandler, tak nám povedal, že sme tou najsviežejšou kapelou, s ktorou sa kedykoľvek stretol, preto nás chcel produkovať a manažovať. Veril v naše schopnosti a veľkosť, ale museli sme na tom tvrdo pracovať. Rock and roll sme sa učili od veľkých umelcov z USA a stali sme sa rock and rollovou kapelou novej generácie, generácie glam rocku – nablýskaného, vplyvného, zábavného.
Dave and Don, you are the only remaining former members of your current band. You have also been playing together in bands like Vendors and N Betweens. How do you remember these years and playing in these bands?
I remember those years with great fondness it was very exciting time in music and it was always what I wanted to be… in a band and travel the world
How was a club scene working in the 60s´? Was it difficult to get involved? How did you manage to play a gig when you just started playing? Was playing in clubs a necessity, or was it possible to create a rock´n´roll star just through playing on a radio?
Those years of playing clubs and pubs and dance halls were very much the way you became a great band and the only way to make it
Let´s remember your debut album Beginnings. Which interesting moments from the recording process would you point out?
The main thing about beginnings, it was great to record our live show and try things out we were be financed by the boss so for us it was a dream to do it, I enjoyed all the songs we did.
Beginnings also included Frank Appal´s song – Ain´t Got No Heart. What was behind that idea?
Frank Zappa was a very creative artist and it was a time when music was changing a become more freaky in a great way and that song was just right for us to do
Could you explain to us what is the story behind your manager that time – Chas Chandler, convincing you about changing your image and your music style?
Chas Chandler encouraged us to be ourselves, that’s what he loved about us and the only time we changed the image was when we became skinheads, it was to get us known which was ok I didn’t like it personally, but it got us known, it was later when we went back to ourselves, and wrote our own songs, chose our image ourselves we became a great success with Chas producing and managing us
At some point you were leaning to a hippie culture, sometimes to Mods and skinheads subculture. Was switching between cultural influences less surprising back then?
As I say above you try ideas, the flower power was one and the Skinheads were another, fashions always changed a lot in those days it was fun and a lot going on exciting and crazy
What was the breaking point when British invasion of bands like The Beatles (Mersey sound) started to being pushed back by progressive and psychedelic bands, which you have also contributed to with your albums?
I think the main thing is that television became color so all the bands from the sixties seem to be black and white on TV, it was now rock music great clothes like what I wore the seventies had arrived and took over from the great sixties bands people were having fun and it was a happy crazy time in music, colorful glitter, it had gone to glam rock which was great for Slade we were writing great songs and looked outrageous what more do you need and the world loved us thankfully
What made glam rock so refreshing, in contrary with his father – rock´n´roll? How do you explain its success?
Chas Chandler told us when he met us that we were the most refreshing band he had ever seen and wanted to produce and manage us, he believed in our greatness but we had to work hard to make it rock and roll is what we learned from the great artists of America and we became the rock and roll music of a new generation, glam rock, glitzy, entertaining, powerful and loud.
