What have been your musical epiphany moments?
There have been plenty of those moments, however, off the
top of my head, there are a few that come to mind chronologically. I grew up in a household with parents who
grew up in swinging London,
England. My earliest recollections were sitting around
the television watching the Ed Sullivan show.
We listened to Motown and The Beatles, and many of the unheralded groups
that came out of Britain
during the British Invasion. Those
British groups that emerged during the time that The Beatles came out were most
likely the conscious and subconscious impetus for me to want to start
playing. I loved them as a child (and
still do). In my early adolescence into
my early teens, I remember hearing “Violet” by Hole, Jimi Hendrix’s version of
“Hey Joe” and “Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin. Those songs made me feel like I had a way to
transmute a lot of the depression and loneliness I felt as a child.
Into my later teenage years, Creedence Clearwater Revival
did it for me, and then I discovered Alice In Chains (a little late, I might
add). Now I find myself re-experiencing
those epiphanies traversing back into the 60s and 70s, discovering bands that I
never tapped into, and re-exploring some that were subversive to me the first
time I heard them.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What
comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
I usually just noodle around on the guitar and work off a
riff that comes about, or a chord progression.
At this point, a melody will typically pop into my head. I’ll “sing it out” so to speak. Words sometimes come out, and sometimes they
don’t and it’s just jargon. I’ll usually
create the skeleton of the song this way, intuitively, letting everything flow
without overthinking it. I’ll then go
back and structure it, write new parts if it needs it, refine existing parts,
and write the lyrics last; I plug them into the melody. I like to go with the whole Mark Twain
approach “Write drunk, edit sober.” FYI
these days I always write whilst sober.
The same goes if I’m collaborating with someone.
Who has influenced you the most?
I don’t know that it was a “person” who influenced me more
than a movement or a wave of something.
The British bands from the 60s and 70s and the bands that emerged during
the time of the grunge movement influenced me the most. I suppose guitar playing wise, Jerry Cantrell
was a big influence for me. He knows how
to make a single note sing! And Eric
Clapton when he was in Cream.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new
motivation?
I look to the one thing that has been consistent in my life
– change. Any new experiences, feelings
and revelations from those experiences tend to precipitate ideas and
motivation. Having said that, I
generally find that I am unable to create whilst undergoing these experiences. I need time to process them! Additionally, I can’t let anything get
static, nor can I cease to create small goals for myself if I want to stay
inspired. If I get too comfortable with
anything, I usually make a change. The inspiration comes in waves, though. Sometimes I don’t write for months and I just
have to accept that and set out to create new experiences to draw from. I really like to have someone present in the
room and/or place that I am creating in.
The person’s presence alone gives me motivation; he/she doesn’t have to
be engaged in what I’m doing whatsoever.
Experiences inspire me to create music more than listening to music
does.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the
band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Interestingly enough, I don’t know that I feel like I have a
hometown! I was born in England and
uprooted at three. I grew up in the
Greater Toronto Area in Ontario,
Canada and I
moved around a lot, in spurts. I settled
in suburbia for almost a good 20 years with only two moves with the family
during that time. I suppose that the
music reflects both Canadian and British heritage because I literally grew up
with both cultures. I had very “adult”
and “expansive” experiences considering I lived in suburbia, mainly because I traveled very far by local buses to get to the city a lot of the time, because
it was so boring and most of the players lived in downtown Toronto. I am sure that the music is an amalgamation
of British rock from my childhood (and from my recent re-visit to England for a
year in 2018), and the quintessential Canadian feel-good rock from living in
the Greater Toronto area. The drummer
and co producer of Plutonian, James Last, is from England, and so is Tony, (key/organ player on Plutonian). So, in a nutshell, there is a lot of British
rock influence.
Where'd the band name come from?
The band name “Alison Solo” is actually my real, legal
name. I wish I had a more interesting
answer!
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the
soundtrack for?
The Joker sequel.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple
Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000
word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
I know I’ll get some slack for saying this because it sounds
like a cop-out. I would write a 1,000
word essay on Free Bird (another musical epiphany!) The song always got to me on various
levels. Everything from the lyrics to
the guitar solo, and even more recently, the bass line! Also,
I often associate it with the scene from Forrest Gump when Jenny is
standing on the ledge of the balcony about to jump, and Free Bird is
playing. Perhaps it is a nostalgia
thing, as it brings me back to my childhood.
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap,
rock and roll moments?
I used to feel like my entire musical trajectory was one big
Spinal Tap moment! It felt like
everything was always falling apart. It
wasn’t, the stars just weren’t aligned.
In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve had one. Yet.
Unless playing on a stage with a drummer who was so bad that he couldn’t
even play the right song and I kicked him off the stage along with the rest of
the band and played the rest of the set on my own counts?
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you
and for your fans?
My live experience has changed dramatically for me over the
past few years. Getting on a stage has
always felt like home; albeit, I am not immune to performance anxiety! All I can say is that there was a time when I
think I was “taking” from the audience with my own insecurities. My performances these days are more “giving”
in the sense that I have faced a lot of those demons, so I feel that I’m not
coming from such a “self-centered” place.
Essentially, the stage used to be the only place that I felt like I
could be myself. Now that I feel more
comfortable in my own skin, I don’t look exclusively to the stage anymore to
feel at peace. People who have seen me
perform have always remarked on my “stage presence.” The performances are usually intense without
having to do any crazy acrobatics or contortionist stuff. It has always been a spiritual experience for
me and subsequently, my fans hopefully feel some sort of a catharsis, too.
What makes a great song?
Authenticity. To
elaborate, I believe that a great song is a song that is written in
honesty. As long as it is honest and is
not contrived and does some great “emoting,” then it is a great song.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Without guitar accompaniment, I wrote my first song at
eight. I can’t remember that far
back. I do however remember the first
song I wrote on my first guitar at eleven.
I had written it at a family member’s place. I was sitting on the balcony with the family
member and his friend. He was trashed
and just kept on saying to me “It’s a hit, it’s a hit!” Haha.
I even remember the lyrics. They
went something along the lines of “Sometimes I feel so all alone. And all my troubles get to me. I always dwell on the past. And all I have is you on my mind.” It was sort of country rock.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
I’m really really proud of my new album “Plutonian.” More than anything else I have ever
done. It’s probably because it had the
most integrity. I did things all on my
own terms, the way I wanted them. I
didn’t have anyone telling me what to do or how to do them. Specifically, Sister Rosetta Tharpe off the
record is the show-stopper for me, for multiple reasons.
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
This may sound strange, but I haven’t listened to much music
at all for the past year and a half. I
know that there are some really great writers out there, yet I incessantly find
myself delving into the past when I do listen to music.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Vinyl. 1000%. I want an album experience.
Whiskey or beer? And
defend your choice
I didn’t realize that this needed a defense! Haha.
Beer because it tastes great and it lasts longer. You can stay up a lot longer and still speak
with clarity and remember everything the next day. Fun fact: These days I opt for good old West
Coast H20.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new
music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record
store to lose ourselves in?
Toronto
is my hometown, or suburbia GTA because I lived there the longest. I recommend Sonic Boom which is right
downtown Toronto.
What's next for the band?
Well, we are looking forward to uniting, as James Last
(drummer and co producer of Plutonian) and Tony Edwards (key/organ player on
Plutonian) reside in England. James will be joining me here in Vancouver, Canada
once this lockdown eases. We are also
looking forward to meeting Tony!
Haha. James and I haven’t even
met him yet. I promised him a seat on
the big stage, so I guess we’ll have to fly him out. I had planned a vinyl release, and then COVID
happened. So, I want to press the record
on vinyl and then get this band on the road!
We’ll need a bass player. Wink
wink 😉
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our
readers, the waveriders?
My new release “Plutonian” was recorded in England and Canada. It was mixed by the legendary Ron Nevison
(The Who, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Chicago,
UFO, and many more!) I think we have
settled on a genre, as it is a cross genre album. It is most commonly referred to as “Classic
Psychedelic Blues Rock.” You can find it
exclusively at www.alisonsolo.bandcamp.com and I am working on getting it onto
vinyl. Final thought: Do everything with
integrity.
Comments