Comments on: Drifting and Tilting, The Songs of Scott Walker

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:27:06 +0000

I had a feeling that was the case for the pig- there were a couple of moments where I heard the “thud” before any contact was made. Thanks for the insights – I wouldn’t feel bad about revealing how it was made, I find it fascinating. Nor are you cheating by having ear pieces to help you. At the end of the day I’d rather see someone perform the song accurately by whatever means necessary rather than to having to guess and possibly get it wrong.
Personally, I’d love to see The Drift performed in it’s entirety. How awesome would that be? Just for the spectacle of someone going “what’s up doc?” in a Donald Duck style more than anything, haha!

By: 11V

11V — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:04:27 +0000

I feel very mildly cheated that it wasn’t actually the pig being punched we heard! Nigel, I’d like to ask how much direction Scott gave you – both in terms of musical interpretation and the meaning of the songs. Clara is reasonably straightforward, but the likes of Cue, Jolson and Jones, Patriot, etc are very oblique. Did Scott shed any light on meaning or was his direction very open (not something I’d expect)?

By: Nigel

Nigel — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:17:30 +0000

Hi Craig- I hate to give away all the secrets but…we had ear pieces which gave us a click or pulse with the first beat of a bar slightly louder than the rest. In Scotts music its so difficult to count exactly, that you can get easily lost. Strangely the beat of the bar had nothing to do with the lyric which is what usually occurs in more mainstream writing.In certain circumstances we also had our note fed to us on the first beat of the bar (from Mark who led the band at the back) as pitching for things like ’she knows this room’ from Clara are impossible to pitch. Incidentally it was Mark making the sound of the pig being punched- he had the sound of the punch patched into the keyboard and had to watch Tony hitting the pig through a monitor.Any other queries?lol

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:06:52 +0000

Quick question for Nigel – did the performers find it difficult to get the timing and phrasing right for the vocals? Due to the lack of a “conventional beat” in alot of the Drift songs it must have been quite tricky at times knowing when to come in on cue (pardon the pun). Unless there was a conductor assiting you in the pit? (Again- sorry to sound thick, I literally couldn’t see anyone in the pit from my vantage point)
Amazing news that the show might get another run. I travelled from North Wales to see it the first time and would gladly go again.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:39:23 +0000

yes I was in Black Rider which then went on tour around the world- that was a great experience working with Tom waitts and Marianne Faithful- all my adventures are on my website if youre interested :nigelrichards.org
If you could send me the pics in a bigger format that would be amazing. My email is nsr130165@hotmail.com

By: me

me — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:16:54 +0000

Hello Nigel, welcome and thanks for your comments. Did you perform The Black Rider at the Barbican? If so, I saw you – I enjoyed the production very much. I thought Clara was longer than the recorded version. Latterday Scott very popular in Japan? Wow. Sad to hear that it was a huge ball rather than a donkey’s head, oh well!

I think the references to Scott Walker being reclusive are widely exaggerated – he appears prepared to do interviews for selected publications, just not for everybody and only appears when he has work to promote – highly reasonable I think, particularly in this media-saturated age.

Yes, you’re very welcome to post my pics on your website, I can provide larger versions if you give me your email address. I had to use a 5mp non-DSLR as the shutter sound on my Nikon is deafening!

By: Nigel Richards

Nigel Richards — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:24:58 +0000

sorry Philip not Patrick! Duh!!

By: Nigel Richards

Nigel Richards — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:24:04 +0000

really glad you liked Clara. as a response to your enquiries: Scott chose all the singers personally. I had previously worked on The Black Rider with Tom Waitts so he and the director and producer recommended me. It was then a case of sending many different CDs to show our range and what sound we were.
Everything was live except for Richard strange (he who was responsible for introducing the Sex Pistols to the public) who reported the crowd in Clara. The donkey and the hitting of the pig were patched through the MD’s keyboard at the back of the stage. the interlude in Clara was a longer insert to allow for more choreography.
once again can I correct you that it was Patrick who was the dancer and Owen was Mussolini.
There is talk to do the concerts again and possibly a world tour- apparently the later Scott is very popular in Japan. Personally I found Scott very surportive and enabling. I expected a recluse but found him a very warm man. Oh yeh- and the huge ball daubing paint during my song was just that- a huge demolition ball covered in [paint. Any other questions?
OK so does anyone have any more photos- and can I use these on my website??

By: me

me — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:07:33 +0000

Thank you Polly. I agree with you that Clara was the most fearsome of the pieces. I really, really, really wish I’d caught a glimpse of the man himself as you did. Oh well.

Interesting that you commented on the humour of the staging of Patriot – Scott Walker talks frequently of the humour in his work. The only humour I can find in The Drift are those lines “The grossness of spring lolls its head against the window, the grossness of spring lolls its bloody head….” and also “Don’t think it hasn’t been fun because it hasn’t…” (both from memory, perhaps therefore not the exact quotes), then there’s the Donald Duck “What’s up doc!?” Come to think of it, perhaps he’s a comic genius!

By: Polly.

Polly. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:47:16 +0000

Brilliant review!

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

As with all good things, it all passed far too quickly for my liking, most of it I remember as a blur.

I couldn’t get over how true to the albums the music was!

Clara for me was the stand out performance. I must have held my breath throughout the whole performance as when it was over, my heart was beating like a drum.

I loved Owen Gilhooley in his pink shoes and butterfly laden stockings, whoever thought that sketch up has a weird sense of humour – but it worked.

My favourite SW song is “Farmer In The City.” When I heard that Damon Albarn would be the vocalist for this my heart sank…. It had reason to……

As soon as I got back to my hotel, on went my iPod with that song on full blast, I needed to wipe out that awful excuse of a performance and replace it with the real deal :) Maybe I’m just biased :/

I was told that Scott himself chose the vocalists for each song, he was obviously happy with Damon’s singing. Personally I would have thought that Michael Henry was more qualified as he has a similar operatic style to Scott’s.

It was good to see Alistair Malloy on stage. “two men smashing breeze blocks.” He was the man to the right of the stage.

I went to the Saturday night performance. After the audience had applauded the cast we stood up, then turned toward the mixing box to applaud the man himself. Scott stood up to graciously accept our applause, he then turned to his co producers to include them in the applause before thanking us, his audience. I have waited 42 years to see SW in the flesh, at last my waiting is over. (I’m female, i can say that..)