Batttttty talks about some very dangerous music with
Robin George

Robin George has an impressive track record which includes working with rocknroll legends Philip Lynott, Robert Plant, Glenn Hughes etc., and more recently with SITN's favourite rocknroll legend, The Blessed Lord Way Of Waystershire.

Here Robin talks about Damage Control, which is the new band he's formed with Pete.

He also tells SITN about the work he did on The Waysted Files, about Pete's close rapport with animals, and about how wonderfully amazing and important the internet is (but we already knew that of course!)

Hi Robin! Let's start with some Damage Control... firstly, who's in the band? Damage Control is me and Pete at the moment, pending the right drummer. I really wanted to bring in a great rock vocalist but Pete has convinced me otherwise (so far). I decided to record the album with basic drum loops to give us room to manouevre musically... trouble is, Pete now loves the simplicity of the grooves... ZZ Top and all that.

When did the idea start, and who's involved with the song-writing? The ideas started to flow during the Waysted mixing session. At the end of each day, I’d play Pete a few of my tracks, and in return he’d attack one of my beautiful guitars and execute some of his own ideas. At the time I thought they were new as he’d sing just a verse or chorus line at me (maximum volume, total performance). At first the dogs thought I was in mortal danger, I can’t imagine why... can you? Hah! See Pete shout at the microphone, see the dogs attack, can you calm a Boxer and a Mastiff at the same time..??? I thought not... But luckily, Pete can! The Dog Whisperer! I started writing lyrics and melodies that I thought complemented his ideas. ‘Imagine my surprise’ when about two months into the project I discovered Pete had already recorded a number of different versions of the tracks. These are: ‘Hole’1 and 2 (Victim), ‘Crazy’ (Alice) and ‘Hand to Hold’ (Wild). He just hadn’t thought I needed to know! He'd probably told the dogs, and just assumed the dogs would pass on the information! By then we were realizing that the different approach to the tracks was shining a new light on Pete’s songs, and we both liked the fresh direction. Something special seemed to be happening. It usually does when Pete's around!

How many tracks have you got so far for the new album and what are the track-titles etc? We’ve recorded 10 tracks for the album, and it feels like a good place to stop! We’ve both got plenty of new ideas, in fact Album #2 is already well on the go. Talking of dogs - here's a night-vision photo. They look like lean mean killing machines. I wouldn't want to meet either of those two on a dark night. And the dogs look pretty scary too. B'boom.

How far along the rocknroll road are you as regards having the whole project oven-ready. As soon as we recruit the right drummer (CV’s and CD’s to this address … we plan to audition in the very near future) Damage Control will be ready to roll.

And the $64,000 question... what's it like working with Pete? I have worked with a lot of crazy rock and roll people in my time, and Pete certainly is one of them!!! I now count him as a close friend and it's a pleasure and privilege to work with him... mostly! Shock and Roll! Is Pete the dark side of Damage Control? I think that's probably a 'yes'!

How did you get started in the music business and who were your biggest influences? Give us some background about where you grew up, places/venues where you first played live, bands you supported in the early days, embarrassing moments, etc etc. I got started like we all do, to get rich, famous and laid. One out of three is ok by me! I started in clubs and pubs, and worked my way up to resident rock band in Wolves, Brum and Bilston etc. every week. The dole repercussions were amazing when the press cuttings, badges, stickers, photos etc were used as evidence. Ooops! Hence ‘Go Down Fighting’ years before all the other dole trash songs! I loved progressive rock most of all and still do… ish.
I was born and bred in Wolverhampton and wherever I’ve lived and visited, I’ve always come back to my hometown. God knows why! Maybe it’s because of Slade! Or perhaps not… I supported loads of bands; most remembered are AC/DC for a couple of gigs, Uli Jon Roth for a UK/European tour and REO Speedfreaks or something. I don’t do embarrassing; I just watch and learn from others who do (not Pete of course!) Of course not!

You worked with Pete when Back From The Dead was being put together. At what stage did you first hear the songs, and how much work did you do before and after Chris George (no relation!) was brought in? How easy or difficult was it to work on, considering the dodgy pro-tools files, the change of personnel in the band, the deadlines etc. Take us through it all, so that we can all feel the pain of giving birth to it with ya. I didn’t produce the album, I only mixed it. The first time I heard the songs was the day the masters arrived - in the post! The album had been recorded in different countries, in different studios, at different sample rates, different resolutions etc. and as a professional album, it sounded a potential disaster to me. I really thought about turning down the project as it didn’t seem possible to pull it ‘back from the dead’… but... then… Pete turned up… Just when I thought it was safe to go back … etc. The deadline was, amazingly, Pete’s flexible friend. After a week of almost 24/7 battling the sound files into submission, Pete decided he’d like me to change the vocal sound on the whole album, or so he thought… maybe…? He reasoned that it sounded too good to be Waysted... too much like Free... or Cliff!

Another wild week later, amazingly, the job was done. Fin came to the studio for a playback and photo session. He liked it too, so end of story. BUT….. the chorus vocals for ‘Price of Love’ did not exist any more. We hadn’t noticed because Pete was into Gtr Gtr Gtr and I thought the gaps were deliberate guitar sections... but Fin noticed all right; ‘Where’ve m’ fucking vocals gone?’ Mad mic set up ensues… vocals heard by most of the locals (summer, sangria, open doors, Fin at full volume and enthusiasm (lovely wee-bums as in Scottish and daughters and wife and dogs and artwork and I digress) album mixed.

Pete speaks really highly of you as a musician and as a friend - how and when did you first meet up with him? I first met Pete the day before the Waysted mixes started. His reputation, both good and bad, had obviously preceded him. The bad is mostly bollocks and the good is right on. Pete is a real gentleman and a good friend to have. With fronds like Pete, who needs anemones? Exakkerly!

Apart from guitar, what other instruments do you play? All of them that don’t involve blowing or sucking.

For the 'ampnoraks' who will read this interview, please give us a list of your gear - especially the guitars etc that you're using on the Damage Control tracks. I set out with a mission to use just one electric guitar on this album and it works for me. It is a B.C.Rich Mockingbird, pictured on the front of my new album ‘Crying Diamonds’. I have to admit I didn’t even change a single string from start to finish - steamy or what! I use most of my guitars on albums just because I can and I should. So this is an innovative approach for me (or am I just a lazy git?) Cough. There are a couple of Spanish-inspired acoustic moments which I play on an old Suzuki classical which cost me a fiver from an auction. It sounds great, so money aint always everything. I still use my old Marshall JCM 800 combo amp.

What recording gear do you use? How has record engineering/production changed for you over the years now that computers are involved? Obviously computers have changed my world of recording. I don’t have the time or energy to get into the analogue/digital debate because I really don’t give a flying fuck anymore… if it sounds good, it sounds good! I still have an analogue studio set up which I use less and less. But it looks really cool (according to Debz) lots of lovely lights and buttons and boring beautiful switches and stuff like that. The major influence for me is the instant editing and access, no rewind or fast forward time, so inspiration isn’t lost in those valuable previously missing moments. Also with an album like RAW, recording loads of ideas, then editing them to suit is great. I recorded guitar ideas without really knowing the end result (verse, chorus, mid 8, totally random, just going with a vibe) then after writing the lyrics… as Pete just said... Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nor was Nero… work that one out! Digital or analogue? It still bemuses me! Ask Pete!

What about the internet? How important is the internet to you as regards promoting your own music and hearing other people's music, etc.? What are the advantages and the disadvantages? How did we ever manage without it? What’s the internet? Seriously, isn’t science.... etc. Oh yehhhh, science is wonderful, And then some. A couple of years ago I released an album called ‘Lost and Found’ by the Byron Band via the net. To have total direct feedback from people buying the album was great… if time consuming. It meant so much to so many of David’s fans to hear previously-unreleased material from such a great performer. It also helped kill the vicious rumours that David could no longer sing or perform at that time in his life. So bollocks to those tossers who fuelled the rumours! David rocked!

You've worked with some huge names - Robert Plant, Philip Lynott, David Byron, Glenn Hughes, Asia, Magnum etc. Which have been the most fulfilling projects you've worked on, and why? Any disaster stories? Which of your songs/albums are you most proud of? I worked with Robert Plant in 1988 just before he recorded Now and Zen. Robert would come to my home studio to record his versions of my songs. Robert's used my song 'Red for Danger' on his album 'Sixty Six to Timbuktu' I really enjoyed working with one of rock's most famous vocalists. I grew up listening to Zeppelin, as did most of us, so it was another ambition realised to have him perform my material. He sang 'Flying', 'Machine', 'Stop', 'Losing You' as well as 'Red for Danger'. My versions of a couple of the songs are on 'Crying Diamonds'. I also rehearsed extensively in London with Robert and again the tapes are really good. I never knew at the time why he decided not to use the songs, but when he called me to tell me about using 'Red for Danger' he explained that at the time he wanted to get away from guitar oriented rock for a while. I've still got the tapes we recorded, and his vocals and interpretations of my songs are absolutely great. Maybe one day...

Glenn Hughes also recorded an albumsworth of my songs. The demos which were again recorded in my studio are really excellent… Glenn was on fantastic form. The album was picked up by a major and they put us in the best studios to re-make the album. Result, crap! I was producing the album, but had to go to L.A. to finish some Notorious mixes (with John Kalodner) and when I got back, the management had re-formed Trapeze in my absence, which was a great idea but totally the wrong songs for the band (even though I say it myself!). The album was never released. I’ve recently re-mastered the original demos with a view to releasing them as an album, but apparently Glenn doesn’t want it to happen… Pete and Glenn are mates, so I played Pete some of the tracks the other day… Pete also thinks they are ‘fantastic performances, incredible vocals, Villa Rule'

I first met Philip Lynott when I auditioned for Lizzy in the early eighties. He was a rock star and I was a young guitar player but he treated me as an equal. I thought he was a really good guy. Apparently, Phil remembered me from the audition and called in to the studio when I was recording my ‘Dangerous Music’ album. He had a bass in his car, and ended up playing on ‘Showdown’.

When the album was released I was surprised (and really pleased) to read an interview with him where he said how much he rated the album and wanted to work with me. Later he contacted me when he wanted a guitar player for his single ‘Nineteen’. We were doing TV promotion for the single when Phil asked me and Brian Downey to re-form Lizzy with him. It was not destined to happen. Phil sadly died a short time after the band was re-formed. On a personal level we were writing for the new album, and Phil had plenty left to say. He was inspirational to write with as both a musician and a poet. In retrospect it was pretty obvious he was not a well man, but at the time I was really shocked to learn he had died. Tragic.

Heartline was probably your most commercially successful song in your own right, yes? Tell us about that period of your musical career. It was pretty cool. The band (I called it Dangerous Music after the album) was on a UK club tour when the single was released, we went from playing fullish houses to people queuing round the block, hanging from the rafters, rapturous reception etc. overnight. The record was doing really well here and breaking in the States when unfortunately Bronze Records went bust. I more or less went down with them which was a tad of a pisser, to say the least!!! Still onwards and upwards is the only way to go.

Going back for a moment to your most recent album, Crying Diamonds, tell us a bit more about that, and about the artwork for it, and also about the other Pre-Raphaelite-Space-Age-Tarot-Card-esque paintings on your site. Are they water colours, oils, Photoshop - or what?

My wife, Debra does the paintings. They are inspired by the lyrics to the tracks, or so she says. She has just finished another five for the new album tracks, so we’re getting them reproduced a.s.a.p. They are watercolours, but Debz mixes weird stuff like glitter in with the paint, so in real life they sparkle and shine. We did have a run of excellent copies made as a competition prize but the ‘record company’ apparently lost them… shame, they were very difficult and expensive to copy.
As for the music on the album, after so many people had covered these songs, I knew they must have something good going for them. My versions of the songs were written and recorded over many moons, in between many other projects, and feature lots of great musicians and mates, so it’s a very special album to me.
‘Crying Diamonds’ was put out by a faux record company called ‘Zoom Club Records’ (ah yes - known to SITN as Exhume Club) as an album called ‘Rock of Ageists’. They didn’t release it. It escaped. In the old days, they wouldn’t even have bothered to put a hole in the middle! The sound quality of the pressings was abysmal, but it did make a very pretty drinks coaster. Hah.
The album did get some really good reviews by the very few journos who heard it, so it seemed worth re-mixing and mastering the songs, adding another few tracks, which I’ve done, and now it’s really ready as a rock album. It’s due for release in January.
Most of the artists you’ve mentioned have covered a track or more, but not many have been properly released… yet!!

The three co-written tracks particularly count, as obviously David and Philip are no longer with us, and I can’t find Pete Green (Daniel Boone) for love nor money…. if anyone knows his whereabouts… (No no no, I'm not listening! I ended up finding Fin after a challenge like that - and look what happened after that! I know what would happen, and there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to build and run yet ANOTHER website!) It’s also the first time I’ve recorded a cover… Philip’s ’Kings Call’, a great song. I originally recorded the song for a tribute album for Phil called ‘Spirit of the Black Rose’ which apparently helped towards funding the statue of Philip in Dublin. Which brings us neatly back to Damage Control and ‘RAW’. One of the things I’ve loved about making this album (in addition to Pete’s scintillating company!!!) is that apart from the sections from Pete’s misty past, it’s all brand new stuff. I’ve been getting to the studio in the mornings to hear material I’ve never heard before, which after all the re-mastering, re-mixing, and re-recording is such a breath of fresh air to me. Not a re- to be heard!
Can’t wait for the start of the next album… as I think I said we’ve already started writing…

It's all good! And what are your hopes for Damage Control as a touring band? We want a 3-piece Rock and Roll Back To The Roots Kick Ass etc. touring band, so watch out for backing singers, orchestras, keyboards… NOT. Hah yeh!

What's the most rock 'n' roll moment you've had so far? All of them, every minute of every day… and then, along comes Pete Way!!! Indeed he does - and nothing's ever quite the same again, is it! Robin, thanks for taking the time to talk to SITN - good luck with the new album, and good luck with re-training your dogs to bark at the postman!

© Batttttty - 6th November 2005

Photos on this page © Debra Derryn and © Francesca George and Damage Control logo © Charlie Charlesworth