Stephen Gould is one of those rare people who sparkles with enthusiasm for music. You just know that his home is stuffed to the rafters with a variety of physical formats, each one lovingly preserved and looked after and, as our discussion unfolds, his absolute love of the music to which he has dedicated the vast majority of his life shines through.
For those of you who don’t know, Stephen (AKA the Progmeister) is not only a DJ on Midlands Metalheads, but he is also the founder of Fusion, a new music festival that is dedicated to those bands that seek to expand their horizons beyond perceived boundaries. Dub it progressive if you will (although Stephen worries that the term has become just a little to co-opted by those who would remain firmly in the past), or call it what you like – Fusion (which began this year as a single day event) is now a fully-fledge three-day festival with a line up to die for. We got in touch with Stephen to discuss the challenges of inaugurating a new festival, the remarkable coup that saw a reformed England added to the line up and much, much more. Fusion promises to be a very special event indeed and, with tickets already flying out, this is not something to think about too long!
The first thing is to ask about Fusion festival. This is the second event; can you tell us a little bit about the genesis of the idea and secondly how the first event went?
Right, well. I’m sixty years old and I’ve been into prog since I was fourteen, so it’s played a major part in my life for many years. And I’ve been involved with a radio station called Midlands Metalheads Radio for about three and a half years and I’ve been running a prog show on that, every Sunday, four ‘til seven. As a consequence of that, I get the opportunity to go to gigs and festivals to do interviews and reviews and so on. We were at HRH prog in North Wales, last year, which was in November, and the friend who was with me, I said: “You know what? I’d love to organise a festival.” And he said: “why don’t you then?” So, basically, when I got back home, I started putting the wheels in motion. I was originally going to hold it at Kidderminster Town Hall. Then, a friend of mine said “have you ever thought about Stourport Civic Centre?” and I said “no…” and he said “I think you ought to check it out!” So, I went down, had my guided tour and I was really impressed with the venue. It’s a really superb venue, they’ve got plenty of facilities, the sound’s great, the audio is great and so I made my mind up that we were going to hold it there. Obviously, because it was the end of November, I had to organise a date and so, orifinally we had September 1st booked as the date for the very first one, but one of the bands that I wanted to be there was a band called sonic tapestry. They were actually at HRHR prog last year and they went down an absolute storm, and we got to interview the guys while we were there and I really wanted them on the bill, so I put it to them about doing it on September 1st, but unfortunately, because their bass player was on holiday, we had to reschedule and because a lot of the dates for this year were booked, the only other possible date we could get was March 31st so, obviously, it meant that we didn’t have a great deal of time to plan it and put it all together. But we got a line up together quite quickly and we ended up with ten acts. We were struggling to get a decent (what I would call a decent) headliner, that would pull… a few people in the know said that I’d left it too late and that I hadn’t left enough time to organise it. But, I went ahead nonetheless and the day went swimmingly well. We could have done with more people through the door, but because of the fact that it was thrown together, literally at a minute’s notice, we didn’t get the people through the door, but we had nothing but positive feedback from the people that were there, the bands that were performing. The sound quality on stage and in the auditorium was fantastic, we had a fantastic sound and lighting guy. It did cost me money, I’ve got to be honest, but I didn’t consider it a loss because at the end of the day we learnt a great deal, we got a great deal from it and we got a lot of positive feedback, so as far as I’m concerned, it was definitely worth doing. So, it would have been very easy to say that we wouldn’t do another one because obviously it cost me money, but I thought “why not go to the next level?” So, I decided not to just have the one day (because it was on the 31st March), but we’d go a whole weekend. So, when I went down to o sort out the bill with the civic, they checked their diary and we ended up with the 22nd-24th March next year and obviously then it was just a matter of getting everything sorted because we’ve nigh on twelve months in advance, it gives us a lot more time to get things sorted and, obviously, start promoting the hell out of it. And the non-headline bands came together quite quickly. Originally, I was looking to do fifteen bands over the whole weekend, but we’ve now got sixteen bands including three headliners. Now the headliners were a bit of a problem. We tried people like Riverside, who were a possibility at one point, but that fell through. Pendragon – they’re recording a new album. Arena were happy to do it, but they said we’d have to move it to April, which I wasn’t prepared to do. There were a number of bands who we were contacting and it just wasn’t working, so I was starting to panic a bit but I’ve got to be honest, I’ve got to give a lot of thanks to a guy called Mike Morton, who’s the lead singer with a band called The Gift, who are actually performing on Friday night. He approached me and said If I put the band on the line up, he’d help me to put some headliners in place because he organises a series of festivals called resonance, down south, so, he has a lot of contacts. So, by a process of elimination, we ended up with Focus on Friday night, on the Saturday night, we’ve got a bit of a coup. We’ve got a band called England and, if you’re a real prog fan you’ll know about England, because they’ve got quite a history with the Mellotron. Back in the day, Robert Webb, the main guy behind the band, if you go on the net and have a look, he actually sawed a Mellotron in half for transport purposes! They called it the halfotron! Basically, they haven’t been together as a band for forty-two years and they’re getting back together, three out of the original four members are actually performing on the Saturday night for the first time in forty-two years and they’re playing their legendary album, Garden Shed, in its entirety, for the very first time live. So, we’re very, very fortunate that we’ve got such a cult band headlining the Saturday night. Prior to them being on, we’ve got a Genesis tribute band – the book of genesis – and then, headlining on the Sunday, we’ve got a band called IO Earth, who hail from Birmingham. Obviously there are loads of other bands playing, but all in all, we’ve got sixteen acts and the general feedback we’re getting form people is very exciting and we’re now in the position of promoting. My design guy is very close to getting the poster ready [the poster design is now complete and looks amazing! – ed.] and we hope to have that ready in the next seven days and it’ll just be promote, promote, promote. But I’m already getting messages from people telling me they’ve bought their tickets. I think there’ll be a lot of overseas interest, especially in England as they have a bit of a cult status, but overall, the general vibe of this one is way, way better than the last one.
Getting England, as you say, is one hell of a coup and as soon as that was announced, it seemed that it sparked a lot of interest on line – you must have noticed a big jump in hits on Facebook and so on.
Absolutely! I think, form what I can gather, although they’ve not been together for so long, it’s almost become a cult. They’ve almost become a cult band, England, even though they’re only really known for one album. They did do another album called Last of the Jubblies, but it’s really Garden Shed that everyone knows.
It’s funny how that can happen – a band releases one album that becomes incredibly highly sought after. It must be exciting for the band as well.
Absolutely, what’s happened now is that the main… Mellotron is actually made by a company called Streetly Electronics, who are based in Birmingham. They’ve picked up on the fact that the festival is going ahead and they’re so excited about it that they’re lending Robert, the main guy behind England – Robert Webb – they’re actually lending him a Mellotron 4000, which is the very latest version of the keyboard. They’re actually lending it to him for use on the night.
Wow! That’s the sort of thing that’s going to be a real once-in-a-lifetime, “I was there” sort of gig…
I think so. And the fact that they’re doing a one-off gig… As far as I know, there’s no intention to do any other gigs, so, they’re getting together and doing all the rehearsals and getting it all together for this one gig. Initially, you know, I was a bit apprehensive because I thought that they’ve not really been an issue for a very long time and I did have my reservations, initially, because I thought that they’ve not been together for a while and I wasn’t sure if people would remember the band, and so on. The more I spoke to Mike (he’s very good friends with Robert Webb), the more I thought it could work. And the fact that it’s going the way it has, has sort of blown my expectations, really.
You said you’ve been a huge follower of prog – you must have noticed that, certainly to my mind, in the last ten years or so there’s been a huge resurgence in interest, not just in classic prog, but also in bands who are taking those influences and running with them to create something new and exciting, so it seems like a very good time for this kind of festival.
Absolutely. I totally agree, Phil. I mean, I’ve got a great deal of respect and reverence for the bands of the seventies and I got to see all the big bands back in the day – it’s one of the advantages of being an old bastard! And I’ve got ticket stubbs to prove it. The trouble is that a lot of what you’d call the real, die-hard prog geeks, they tend to be stuck in the seventies and they’re not prepared to accept that they played a major influence on so many people and so many bands. I think you’ve got to accept the fact that prog has moved on – that’s the whole concept of what it’s all about. Prog is short for progressive so really, the fact that bands have moved on, surely that should be enough to warrant the fact that it’s prog. Unfortunately, there are a number of what I would call “proglodytes” who are holding on to the golden decade of the seventies and they’re not prepared to move on. When you look at the number of bands that are coming out now and that have been influenced by these bands – you look around the world and there’s so much music around. It’s absolutely mind-blowing. There’s almost too much choice.
I totally agree and you mentioned a couple of bands earlier on – you were thinking about Riverside and that’s a perfect example of a forward thinking, modern prog band. A polish band with that really fluid prog sound that harks back to the seventies but which is also forward looking. It’s exciting to hear bands like that, who are taking those influences and running with it.
Yeah, absolutely! One of my favourite prog bands of all time has got to be Gentle Giant. As far as I’m concerned, they’re the epitome of what prog is all about and I was very, very… how can I put it. I was in total reverence really. I went to see Dave Kerzner recently at the Robin and his daughter, Kerry Minnear’s daughter, Sally Minnear, was playing on stage and Kerry Minnear was the keyboard player with Gentle Giant and I was so blown away by the fact that he was there. It was almost an “I’m not worthy” moment! I had my picture took with him, I spoke with him and I got his autograph and, for me, they are the epitome of prog. You can hear their influence on bands like Haken, Spock’s beard. It must be quite humbling to think that you’ve influenced all these modern bands.
Dave Kerzner – a great artist and he did some work with Sound of Contact I think…
He did, he was a big part of the band, in fact, I’ll tell you a story about that. Sound of Contact supported Spock’s Beard on a tour a few years ago and it was when they were promoting the album Dimensionaut. We were at the Robin in Bilston, checking them out, and they’d got John Wesley from Porcupine Tree playing with them as well. After the gig I was talking to John and asking him about Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson and all that type of thing and he pointed to this guy in the background and said “oh, Simon’s over there!” and I said “oh, really?!” and I just carried on talking and I never thought anything of it. So, I carried on talking and it was only afterwards that I realised that the Simon he was talking about was actually the drummer and vocalist… Simon Collins, son of Phil! I had the opportunity to speak to Phil Collins’ son, but I don’t think they’re going anymore. There are no more and Dave Kerzner is putting all of his time into a band called In Continuum. It’s a bit of a super-group actually, it’s got Nick D’Virgilio, Jon Davison from Yes… so yeah, he’s a man of many talents and a man with many fingers in pies is Dave.
It seems that the progressive scene is very open to collaboration, almost the same way that the blues scene is, and you get a lot of musicians willing to lend their time and talents and I think that’s one of the things I’m really looking forward to with Fusion – I think there’s an opportunity to really see that community together in one place.
Well, the original HRH, to be honest with you Phil, it used to be in March and what they did last year was that they had one in March and one in November and I thought “oh my god, are they having two a year now?” But the reason they had two was because they’d moved the date to November, so, from last year on it’s every mid-November. So, I know there were quite a few people who were a bit disappointed because they liked the fact that it was mid-march, so I do feel that having it then, in March, we’re actually filling a gap that HRH have created by moving to November.
…And a gap in general because there is a bit of ‘festival fatigue’ that kicks in by September because it feels like there’s one a week throughout the summer. But the early part of the year – there’s an HRH Hammerfest and another one, HRH metal, but there’s not too much else. For people looking for that classic rock / prog vibe – this is a perfect opportunity to see some great bands.
What I like about it, Phil, is that we’ve got a mixture of the older, classic bands like Focus and England, but we’ve also got newer bands like Final Coil, Spiral Key, Dec Burke (who played with Frost, and he’s also in a band called Audio Plastic with Richard West from Threshold) who’s got three solo albums out. The last one’s called Book of Secrets and I definitely suggest you check that out. We’ve got him, we’ve got hat’s off gentleman it’s adequate. We’ve got a local band from Stafford called encircled, who recently released their album, I think it’s called the Universal Mirth; a band called Leafblade. I’ve been recommended to these guys, but I know very little about them. They’re on. We’ve got the Gift, of course and a new band that I’ve been mentoring for the last few months called Hey Jester. They’re very young – in their early twenties – and I’d like to think they’re in a similar vein to Muse. I think they’re the new Muse if you like. We’re very excited to have them on board. They’re opening the festival on the Friday night.
So on Friday we’ve got hey Jester, The Gift and then Focus. On Saturday we’ve got Hat’s off gentleman it’s adequate, I am the manic whale, book of genesis, England, we’ve got final coil, Spiral Key, Frank Carnucci – he’s a very interesting act. I’ve never seen him live, but I’ve heard some very, very good feedback about the guy. He certainly puts on a good show. The Book of Genesis… who else have we got… Oh, I guy called Steve Tilling, who goes under the name of Circu5, and this will be his debut gig, which I’m quite interested to see because his album is absolutely superb. Emperor Norton is another band. And then there’s Hats off gentlemen it’s adequate. They actually played HRH prog last year and they replaced Touchstone because they were meant to play but they had to back out because they’d been in a car accident or something and Hats off gentlemen it’s adequate stepped in, literally at the last minute, and they totally blew everybody away. They were one of the highlights of the weekend, I think.
I’ve been going through the line up since it first emerged and the two that have jumped out, so far (apart from the headliners) are hats off gentlemen it’s adequate and spiral key. They’re really interesting bands.
And that’s what I like, Phil. You’ve got a mixture of the newer bands, like the very, very new bands like Hey Jester – who’ve literally only played a few gigs. They played the Robin and that was only their fourth gig, so I’m very, very excited that they’re involved. They’re a very, very new band. Then you go right the way to the other end of the spectrum and you’ve got England who haven’t played for fourty-two years! Then, you’ve got everything in between. It’s a really nice mix and I’ve had nothing but good feedback from everyone who’s been involved. They’ve checked it out and said what a great line up it is and I’m really, really happy with it.
On a side note, you’ve got the posters coming together and it’s great to see that, like the bands themselves, you’ve taken a great deal of trouble over creating the poster and the aesthetic of the festival because it’s such an important part of prog.
Well, you wait until you see the final poster, Phil. It’s going to blow everybody’s mind!
You see so many festivals emerging and some go on to become major fixtures of the English music calendar. How do you see Fusion (if you’ll excuse the term) progressing?
Well, I’d like to see, initially… when I first came up with the concept – coming up with the name was important because prog, although it defines the music that we love, I always find it a bit potentially misleading. I recently read Greg Lake’s autobiography, Lucky Man, and he said that back in the day they hated the term progressive rock. So, in some respects, I didn’t really want to promote it as an out-and-out prog festival, even though it is. To me, I’ve always felt that prog encompasses so many different genres including classical, jazz, rock, blues… the whole shooting match is in there, so to me, it’s a fusion of genres. So, I felt that Fusion, to me, was a more apt description even though people tend to think of jazz fusion! To me, it was an apt description of what the music is all about because it brings in every genre you can think of and what you get from that is a style of music that pulls on everything. Going back to Kerry Mennear, for example, when I was talking to him at the Dave Kerzner gig, he said he doesn’t actually like prog! He’s more into classical music, and so he actually bought that element into the band back in the day. To encompass that aesthetically was very important.
It has become the case that people are obsessed with genres and labels and, like you said, a lot of the progressive bands hated that term because it implied a similarity that wasn’t necessarily there. Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes… you’re listening to very different bands, so calling it Fusion and having that open-mindedness definitely allows for a more diverse line up and driving the notion of prog forward.
I’m all for that, Phil, and nothing would make me happier than to make this an annual event and I’ve already got bands asking about Fusion 3 because they couldn’t get on the line up for this one and they’re saying “please, put me down for 2020!” So, I think Fusion 3 is highly, highly likely. At the end of the day, financially, I’m not in it to make a lot of money. If I draw even, I’ll be totally happy, I really will, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s the privilege of giving bands a platform where they can present their music and present it to fans of other bands that are maybe not too dissimilar and maybe open people’s ears to new bands, new groups and new styles of music.
Find out more about Fusion here.
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