In hindsight(2020), the end of September 2016 was a major turning point in world history. In the U.S., Donald Trump had cemented his stranglehold on the Republican party as the nominee, and would be elected the 45th President a matter a weeks later. In the U.K., the Brexit referendum had been held in June, with the people voting in favor of leaving the EU, leaving the country bitter and divided. The times they were a changin' indeed!
Thanks to my friend, the amazing music writer and critic, Dom Gourlay, I was invited to come to Liverpool Psych Fest and document what I saw and heard. One of the first chaps I met was the lovely, hilarious and talented Will Carruthers. Will has had a long and legendary career in music. He joined Rugby UK space-rock pioneers, Spacemen 3 in 1988 as their new bass player, and immediately made his presence felt laying down incredible bass lines for the band's 3rd and in my opinion, best album, Playing With Fire. He went to work with Spacemen 3 until they broke up and then continued to play bass with both Jason Pierce and Peter 'Sonic Boom' Kember, as they splintered off with Jason forming Spiritualized and Sonic Boom putting out solo material. Later in his career, Will joined forced with Anton Newcombe and The Brian Jonestown Massacre for a couple of albums as well as Icelandic Psych Rockers Dead Skeletons for a spell.
Liverpool Psych Fest for 2016 arranged to have Dom interview Will to talk about his career and his newly published memoir, Playing the Bass With Three Left Hands I was there to capture the proceedings. What resulted was more than just an interview about music, but an incredibly wide-ranging conversation about everything from love, drugs, politics, and the impending collapse of western civilization. At once thoughtful, joyful, existential, yet always entertaining. Looking back on it now, a lot of the things that Will talked about then, seems prophetic, and resonates in a deeper way. I don't really have any excuse as to why I didn't put this out sooner, but in some ways I'm glad I waited, as I think it's more meaningful now.
So, I'm hard at worked editing the whole piece. What I've put together is a short teaser to give you a taste of what's in store. My friend Daryle came up with title, which I think sums it up perfectly, A Conversation on the Edge of the Apocalypse. Coming soon!
Me and Will at Liverpool Psych Fest, Sept 25th 2016
Teaser Video Clip "A Conversation on the Edge of the Apocalypse"
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