Richard Sinclair Interview in Martina Franca in 2019 (English version)

前の記事の英語版です。

―I would like to know why you moved to Italy.

I've never been to Italy until 1990. In that year, Caravan was reformed by original members to do a TV show in England, on the central TV in Nottingham. After that, Caravan were invited by Rock’ in Umbria Festival. So we went to Italy and did Caravan’s live. It's magic time for me because it was really good, because we were able to prepare to play the original music again. There were 800 people in concert! They came from all over Italy to see Caravan. Amazing! By the way, they call themselves fans, but I don’t call fan. I don't have fans. I have friends, everybody who wants to listen to my music comes as a friend. There's not fan. I prefer having friends. It's good this way.

Anyway, that was my very first visit to Italy. I'd only see Italy on stamps when I was a young man. I used to collect stamps……all of them were beautiful. And I came to Italy and saw this country with my own eyes……It was really beautiful. There's something to do with the weather sunshine, especially in the south. And I came back here in 1992. I was invited as my band, Caravan Of Dreams……which was formed by Andy Ward, David Sinclair, Rick Biddulph, and me. My wife, Heather and we traveled in Italy. We did lots of different concerts because people wanted to see my band, Caravan Of Dreams. I was trying to regain the magic when original Caravan’s members were together, so I invited my cousin Dave Sinclair to this band. Because he is my favorite progressive keyboard player and song writer. It worked very well. I was very happy with what everybody did, and we were received very well by small audience in Italy. Suddenly, I came up with the idea that Italy is a nice place to live. But it took long time for me to live here.

After the tour of Caravan Of Dreams, I moved to Holland with my wife Heather. Holland is the place where I really loved all the way through, especially when I went there with Hatfield and the North. We stayed in Friesland, north of Amsterdam. There were many friends because of the music. I had a wonderful time there. And we moved back to Canterbury, where we had a very nice house. Then, we sold our house exactly the right time and moved to Italy. I saw these amazing houses called trullo in this location and various tree just outside, away from everybody else.

―By the way, I would like to hear your story about Caravan. Why did you leave Caravan after reforming?

I just couldn't stay playing the same music over and over again. I needed to find other identities. I tried to do for Pye’s sake. He is such a good leader and such a strong entertainer. He is one of the best entertainers in the music world in England. He makes sure what he does. He is a really good leader. His dedication to the quality of entertainment. But for me, it was just a bit too simplistic. The same music every night. It wasn't expansive. He doesn't get on with the music work 24 hours a day.

―Thank you. So, let’s go back to the question about your activities in Italy. You are living in a very nice trullo surrounded by beautiful nature.

 Yes. The environment here is just magic. There are less planes flying overhead, less horrible pop music coming out of radios and less mobile phones……which is making every day horrible. Why do I want to be in a place like that? So, I moved to a place which is away from all that thing. I could be myself and enjoy every day here. That's why I moved to Italy. Many places are wonderful. The weather is fantastic. It's different every day. It's very hot, very cold…… we can even get snow in winter! Do you believe that we have snow in South Italy? Because we're 500 meters above sea level……. That is why I live here. I enjoy all of them. Here is one of the greatest places of planet earth.

―Your life style seems to be really great. what are you usually doing in this trullo apart from musical activity?

 Every day is really a musical activity because I don't differentiate activities such as cooking, making an instrument, building or cutting from musical activities. I can consider they are the same things because my father treated them as the same. He said to me, “Whatever you're doing in your life, Richard, do it well as if you're doing it for yourself. Do the best that you can do.” So, I became to be good at woodworking, metal working, singing, playing the guitar. He said, “If you're doing it only for yourself, the best you could give that to the other person is not the best. Give it to the other person. You'll always have lots of work with happiness in your life.” That's true.

 Then, what do I do during the day? “Lots”(laugh). I drive, I see, I cut, I make, I chop…… I do many things every day. I look after 22 dogs at the moment, 10 puppies and 12 quite big adult dogs. I also look after six cats. I also cook. If you cook the food by yourself, it's the best in the world for sure, especially in the south of Italy where the sunshine makes the best grapes and the best wine……the best they could. Our water comes from the sky. We use very small amount of electricity, which comes to our trullo 3.5 kilowatt. That's enough for me. We can get everything here…… from this fantastic place.

―I also would like to ask you about your musical inspiration. What is your musical inspiration derived from?

 That's it. There it is. Look just outside my trullo. Do you want to listen to this? This is the sound of planet Earth. It's my inspiration. Without too many human beings, birds give me inspiration. Every animal that is here gives me inspiration. What they consider music was just really beautiful outside. This is very quiet sounds. That is the inspiration that I can get here.

―You told me that this is like a heaven, didn’t you?

 No, I didn’t say “heaven”. Because Everybody is trying to work their way through the different religions to heaven, good. Okay(laugh)? I think they should know they're already in heaven now. I said this is “paradise”. People don't treat the planet earth and see it as “paradise.” We just cover the earth with concrete madness and digital system now, but here is lovely, beautiful place. Very wonderful place.

Every morning I get up early because it's just such a wonderful thing to get out of the door of my trullo and see this beautiful scene. There is different sunset or mist or……it's just fantastic. Every day has a different color, so that's the inspiration.

I like difference and changing. I've always said that was the reason why I elect bands because I couldn't keep doing the same thing…the same announcements, the same jokes, the same stories! Two years is enough for me. Then I like to play with new people that have bright new ideas. If you're just going to keep playing same harmonic structures, then it's just like playing an instrument. I find that all tonality is all my instruments every day, and find something new from them. I write two or three new ideas for sounds every day of my life. I've always done that rather than recorded the things. I think I can remember them. You can also remember them by finger positions and sound on guitars. That's the inspiration. Planet earth has all the harmonics of everything that you need. And I know the Pythagoras to put this inspiration into 12 notes scale.

 Some people are in tune to digital machines that only make noises like Ehhhhh (laugh). But you can get in tune to your environment naturally.

―You really love this place.

 Yes. Although I know there are lots of wonderful places besides here. I don’t have much money, but it’s easy to live here. It's nice and cheap. I could be involved with my own creativities here. Although I’m not so much interested in football.

―Didn’t you play football？

 No, I did badly. I did used to play tennis with my son, Jason. We played tennis normally, but Jason got very good. He is a real sportsman. I also used to do a bit of sports at school when I was a student. I went to the Archbishop school in Canterbury. I was good at long jump and high jump like my cousin, Dave Sinclair. He was a very good pole vaulter and because of that, he wrecked his back. He got pains in his back because he used to be a pole vaulter.

―You were the member of track and field club in Canterbury?

 No. I did it for fun and I had to do it at school because we used to have into school competitions, especially in South East Kent. There was a grammar school in Canterbury and Dave Sinclair, Hugh hopper and other members of Canterbury scene went to grammar school, but I didn't. I didn’t go to grammar school because I had an education from my father and my mother, who could read and write beautiful grammar and things like that. So I didn't have to go to grammar school. I just read and write as I wanted to do it. I have my full ability of spelling and full ability of grammar and reading other people's stories. And I love all of them making myself.

 Are you OK? (seeing the interviewers’ face)

―I’m sorry…… I’m not so good at English, so could you speak more slowly?

 Oh, sorry, I’m sorry. Okay, I’m in Italy and speak more slowly, slowly, slowly……(laugh)

―Thank you so much!! So, lets’ go back to the next question. I also want to ask about your humorous lyrics.

 Lyrics? About Pip Pyle or Hugh Hopper?

―No, no, your lyrics.

 Some of mine? I’m not sure which one. Which lyrics?

―In Hatfield and the North……

(singing) ♪A bed in the sky would make me higher up than sleeping under this bush, If I had a magic broom, I'd rev it up♪

―Also in Caravan, especially in “In the Land of Grey and Pink”.

Okay, they are very simple lyrics. When Caravan were rehearsing “In the Land of Grey and Pink”, when they first started, I chose the words “In the Land of Grey and Pink”. Grey and pink is what skies are like often around planet earth. It’s about all the changing skies above the land. And as I said before, land is paradise. The skies on the magic place with all these colors……so “In the Land of Grey and Pink” lyrics means what is really the sky.

―What is the inspiration of your lyrics?

 What is my lyrics inspiration? Uh……They come from the actual sound of the harmonic you're playing when you do a collection from. It is difficult to describe it. Because I didn't know the actual tonality of what I play at the time. But that's what it is when you play the cords, the base designed 12 bass notes. I mean, it’s the possibilities which these 12 notes get a massive Pythagoras. That is what I call the “idea”, then we can find the harmony. You have all that harmonics happening as it goes through, move forwards or sideways according to whatever or how you imagine your music to be going. And you've got each 12 notes. So, you can fit your own language on it.

Okay, this is like…… there is melody like Ba-Ba-Ballaba-Ba-Bo-Ba (scat singing), that's got a rhythm “Ba=Ba=Ba-lla-ba=Bo=Ba”(knocking the table), and you can fit lyrics to that. (scat singing for a while and it is shifting to “Bossa Nochance” lyrics) ♪A bed in the sky would make me higher up♪……so ♪higher up♪, “up” is going to up. You naturally find these lyrics from the harmonic structure because if you want to sing.

Sometimes I just can't think of verbal entertainment poetry. It is probably because of having difficulty of traveling or eating something……anyway, the brain is not functioning to make the total entertainment, song writing. So, I’ll give it to other people, especially people who are on the planet now……Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle! Their lyrics are fantastic! They wrote that had much more grammatical form and interesting and ideas as far as it being a joke.

The ones in Hatfield and the North……just such amazing lyrics. (singing “Fitter Stoke Has A Bath”)

♪You won't believe my life's a mess. You probably think it's groovy. Meeting people every day♪

This poetry is really quite fun, it's just fun. Pip’s lyrics tells a really nice story and it has a great melody. And he is a very good song writer. He is one of my favorite song writers, actually.

―I think so, too.

Yeah! And Hugh Hopper, too. Two great song writers. They are top of the list.

―I also would like to ask about your voice. When did you start singing seriously?

  Never seriously. Always never seriously(laugh).

―OK(laugh)……then, what do you think is the most important thing when you're singing?

 To listen to what you're singing and to be tuned to it. But sometimes it is very difficult especially in my life…… because most of the environments where we are singing, when I was in…… what you call “seriously” pop bands and rock bands like Caravan, were very difficult to do. Because the band were playing too loudly and the acoustics of the holes were absolute crap. Really horrible.

So, what's the most important thing? Sing every day from the moment.

I was lucky in my life because my father was a great singer in Canterbury, the best in Canterbury. And he was a bass player, drummer and banjo player. He played all these different gadgets singing song. Even in his actual life, when he actually talked, his talking was singing.

―Would you talk about the story of your father? Is your singing style inspired by him?

All my singing style is inspired by my father, Dick Sinclair. He was a very giving person. He really did sing to other people. He had a very good voice. He sang the songs of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and many other famous singers in England, not only just the American singers. 

My father had a magical personal because his ability to entertain people with skill that he had in his life, which is music, woodworking, repairing instruments, repairing furniture. The furniture he did the best in England was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Furniture. The top of the head of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury. I was born in a family like that. So, it was naturally for me to install it to be an entertainer.

My father’s stage was certainly like musical. He cut a bit of wood as a joke on stage……that was like jiji-jiji-jigijigi-ji (mimicking a sound of cutting wood by a saw), which is not very loud. If things aren't so loud, you got more chance to be imaginative and use your own voice even when you talk, okay? My father would cut a bit of wood if we wanted to cheer everybody up, when he was on stage. It was funny and it sounded nice. And he played what they call “singing songs”. It was certainly like musical. It was same with Pip Pyle when he was washing up. He was a bit of a noisy boy (laugh). He would be singing and enjoying washing up (mimicking Pip’s noise)…… but using it as a rhythmical music (laugh). So……what was your question?

―What is the most important thing when you're singing?

 To enjoy and to listen to what is around you. I go outside and sing with my guitar listening to what the birds are picking up. If you do so, you find that they're more imaginative than you. You are playing because you are really into these harmonic things concentrating on these nice cords. Suddenly you realize you are surrounded by other insects or things that tuning to do their own song, including you. So, you can join them. Join them and sing. Do it every day wherever you go and whatever your environment is. There is always a tonality how you could use it.

―What is the most important thing when writing the songs?

I think it is to enjoy what you're doing. It is difficult for me to enjoy political writing and things like a disaster or misery……for example, someone's committed suicide. I don't want to write something about people killing each other. I'd like to think that I'm creating happiness rather than the total sadness or aggressiveness. So, I'm no keen on a lot of Rock stuff. It doesn't make me happy. I'm no impressed.

And I think I could say that I worked with the nicest writers. I'm a lucky man. Working with Pie Hastings, Dave Sinclair, Peter Bardens. I'm very lucky to work with Hugh Hopper and to be involved in Robert Wyatt’s music…… all those people I play with. They're my favorite songwriters for sure. And special is Phil Miller. For me, it was quite difficult to get all the notes because he couldn't sing it. He could only play and be trying to find out what was actually that melody. I’m into the simple things like Nan True’s Hole, which Robert made a song.

(At this time, Max, who is Richard’s dog, comes to us. He is whining.)

Hello, Max! Max likes singing. (Richard sings to Max) ♪It's a good job. Doesn't have their lyrics. Do you like singing?♪

 Yes. So, the question was…

―The important things when you are writing the song.

The important thing is to be inspired by the tones or things on your own brain or different ideas. They may come from someone else's book or another story (On this point, Max starts singing again)……or dog’s singing !(laugh)

(To Max) Hey, Max. Hey, it's enough! We're doing an interview. Go away. Stop, man. (laugh)

It's very difficult to talk for me to talk them into words because I tend to write something moving on the harmonies. And it is moved down to spirit like jazz. It is moving.

You find thousands of ways to play the same song. You can sing different melodies to the same time harmonic movements. You can even make the harmonic movements move more.

If you only use a few like they used to do in the sixties and seventies, The Beatles is very good. Their songs have very simple construction. My favorite song writers in the sixties is The Beatles by far. Even now, I find it hard to find song and poetry that equals The Beatles. Some people love The Rolling Stones and some people love The Beatles, for me, I love The Beatles because they have more melodic structures. More expansive, more story time and less sexual sort of macho dancer. Of course, I enjoy the entertainment that The Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan give, but not for long.

I like a bit more all the sounds of the planet such as birds, dogs, cats and human beings singing in different countries. I think they have a totality. You know, everything got their own noise……like Max. (laugh) He loves music. They are all inspiration. You are also inspiring me because you are asking questions about what it really is to write the songs. I never asked myself. Always I’ll pick up guitar and play. Suddenly I find new harmonies. Even if it's just not thinking, I know what they are. I just put my fingers in different positions and try, not because I think I can't play that because it doesn't sound good. It all sounds good to me. You just have to sort of fit it together so moves and does something.

You find your own way to play the guitar you can do to tune it. Whenever, however, what you want. You just have to have fun and find it feel yourself a different way every day. Whether you will be a folk guitar player or Spanish guitar player or not …… all those things you can include into your playing to entertain yourself first. Because when you're entertained by your own thing doing that's what music writing is.

You're trying to entertain people because people want to hear it, because it makes their life have more meaning or more happiness. And you get paid to your music so you can keep doing it. That is the only problem with me. I forgot that should be, you know, making money from it. I would like to make more money, but I'm happy enough just to play my guitar.

―I really think your music makes people happy.

I hope so because it makes me happy to know that my music makes people happy. It makes me happy to know people happy for my music, which sometimes brings me tears. I know that you feel the same because when a lot of music that I hear is very good, it sometimes brings me tears of happiness. I think “Goodness, the world is good!” So, it is important to listen to feedback to you. You say “What is the most important thing to do when you are writing and singing”, and my answer is still “to listen”. Listen where the noise that you are making is going and see if you could the response that you are getting back.

―What is your most favorite song that you wrote？

The next one. Always the next one and all the ones I haven't finished. About my favorite songs have already recorded……I let people tell me what their favorite songs are because I don't really have my favorites. A lot of people tell me what they like, and it became one of my favorite songs. I like the song because people enjoyed them. They all become favorites for me to do so, so I don't have a choice. Other people choose the favorites. My favorite songs of other people’s tune are Phil Miller and Pip Pyle’s songs because they are such good melody makers. They are really supersonic. I was the first bass player in In Cahoots for quite a long time. It is lovely to play solo bass in In Cahoots.

―This is my last question. Could you tell me your next plan for your musical activity?

Here it is. This is the plan. Just play music. Just think about it. To meet lots of people that are interested in trying to get them to sing and play music. I have endless ideas.