Alan Clark - new interview

[Pottel]

guys, jeez, calm down, all of you, not going to bother reading through the dissing (or whatever you want to call it) back and forth on here, but i will need to close this thread if the actual topic is snowed under by childish bickering/pissing contests.
and before anyone feels attacked personally, not targetting anyone personally, just want this to stop and continue with the topic at hand, or else,..closed. (and this goes for all threads. FOCUS on the topic and refrain from becoming personal)

[quizzaciously]

I think we just generally look at things from a different perspective, apart from having generational, geographical, language and other gaps. Chris looks at this forum as a place "to discuss Mark and the music of Dire Straits in a sensible, realistic and polite way", to me it's more like a chat with friends to quickly express your thoughts and get a quick response. Messages here go really fast and nobody's going to read older messages. I never dig old messages here, I'm only interested in the ongoing conversation, and truth be told, I get enjoyment from all these discussions, even when people attack me which happens all the time.

Chris, this is definitely not a place to discuss Mark and the music of Dire Straits in a sensible, realistic and polite way. It's a really tight group here at AMIT and just a bunch of core members that barely expanded over the years. You've got Dusty, LE, superval99, jbaent, and occasionally dropping Pottel, all the usual suspects that you can count using two hands. I don't know any one of them personally, but they all are fine folks, and I'm sure you too. The Internet is a shitty place to be in, people troll here, you never know their intentions, you always get triggered by things that otherwise be absolutely normal to you.

I can say for myself I know not a lot of people read AMIT and participate in the discussion here, let alone band members, so it's a good place to be completely in zero gravity with your thoughts and let your fingers write what you think. As LE mentioned, me having a public outlet for my thoughts — I would never ever say things publicly in the way I tell them here. And as you don't know my intentions from just my words, you can mistakingly think I'm a bully. I'm not. I love Guy Fletcher, I love Mark Knopfler, and I love Chris Whitten. As you say, end of the story.

[Pottel]

mmmmmmmm.......

[Jules]

Out of all the people being mentioned the only person that plays sessions outside the Dire Straits envelope is Danny Cummings.
People make their life seem uber busy and successful on Facebook and Instagram, but even Trevor Horn spends much of his time playing tribute gigs to his own productions.

Alan, Phil and Trevor are still playing sessions and in case or Trevor producing, but they are mostly doing it in Italy, with some of the big names there, and also on some UK productions by Trevor as well.

[Chris W]

I think we just generally look at things from a different perspective

Maybe?
My perspective is you can discuss a band, you can discuss music without being brutally personal about people. Critique their playing, but if you don't know them, do not pass judgement on their personality or motives.
That is just being a decent human in my opinion.

[Chris W]

Alan, Phil and Trevor are still playing sessions and in case or Trevor producing

Nothing really of note.
The second and third albums I ever played on were huge smash hits in Italy, but they aren't on ny resume because people outside of Italy have never heard of them.

[Chris W]

Well, thanks for calling my comment "absolute bullshit on many, many levels". Speaking of toxic.

And it would be easier to know more about your "education and background" if you told us a little bit more about it, don't you think?

LE

But you went ahead and guessed it anyway.
No one has asked me about my background. It's not up to me to swerve people away from fantasy and guess work when I have no way of knowing what they are about to post.

[Jules]

Alan, Phil and Trevor are still playing sessions and in case or Trevor producing

Nothing really of note.
The second and third albums I ever played on were huge smash hits in Italy, but they aren't on ny resume because people outside of Italy have never heard of them.

Well, nothing really of note worlwide, of course, but big artists in any European country is a big deal in that country and it is work in the end, that sentence of you sounded like artists that doesn't sell big worldwide are not worth...

[Chris W]

guys, jeez, calm down, all of you

It's a perennial problem with certain fans.
Not something that comes from all members. Those people are the ones that should be told to grow up.

[Chris W]

Well, nothing really of note worlwide, of course, but big artists in any European country is a big deal in that country and it is work in the end, that sentence of you sounded like artists that doesn't sell big worldwide are not worth...

Just pointing out I played on huge Italian albums in the early 80's that I don't even mention. I hired Phil Palmer as a sideman for one of them.

[Jules]

Well, nothing really of note worlwide, of course, but big artists in any European country is a big deal in that country and it is work in the end, that sentence of you sounded like artists that doesn't sell big worldwide are not worth...

Just pointing out I played on huge Italian albums in the early 80's that I don't even mention. I hired Phil Palmer as a sideman for one of them.

Also Phil played with some of the biggest artists in Spain, Alejandro Sanz which is big also in South America and known in North America (he won several grammy awards), Danny Cummings played with people like Jarabe de palo (also big in South America) and Radio Futura in the 80's, and also yourself played with some of our big bands, Presuntos Implicados.

All works of note, althought not in a Paul McCartney or DS size.

[Chris W]

Sure Im just talking about the last 5 - 10 years.
Most of the people being discussed are mostly playing tribute shows. Only Danny regularly plays with Mark on new original material.
I am now only playing on new original material, but it is slim pickings as a lot of records are made with programmed percussion these days.
It's 100% true that the only way to really survive as a full time musician is to play live regularly.
Given the choice of playing someone else's amazing songs, in a very nice arena to 3,000 people, or play original songs in small sweaty clubs and paying yourself $100 a week, I'm sorry but no one here would choose the latter.
That's what riles me about these discussions. Lots of holier than thou pronouncements, mostly made by people who've never walked the walk.

[Jules]

Sure Im just talking about the last 5 - 10 years.
Most of the people being discussed are mostly playing tribute shows. Only Danny regularly plays with Mark on new original material.
I am now only playing on new original material, but it is slim pickings as a lot of records are made with programmed percussion these days.
It's 100% true that the only way to really survive as a full time musician is to play live regularly.
Given the choice of playing someone else's amazing songs, in a very nice arena to 3,000 people, or play original songs in small sweaty clubs and paying yourself $100 a week, I'm sorry but no one here would choose the latter.
That's what riles me about these discussions. Lots of holier than thou pronouncements, mostly made by people who've never walked the walk.

Yes, that's why I always try to remark that they are proffesional musicians that have bills to pay, not millionaires that doesn't need to work again, and any money for work is good money, and if you can choose, as you say Chris, the best payed work is the best work indeed.

[Jules]

I'm reading the Ed Bicknell message before I post it and there is something very interesting about "Terminal of tribute to"... nobody thought the song could be about ANY tribute band, which makes sense...

I'm posting the Bicknell message soon, promise.

[Rolo]

Would be the same if Guy Pratt, Snowy White, Tim Renwick and Dick Parry starts out the Pink Floyd Legacy as the most important members from PF.

Well said, Rolo