A Chat with Fish About Asparagus, Parenting Woes, His Film Career and, Of Course, Music (20
Interview date: 03.05.2006
Derek Dick, better known by his stage name Fish, one of the main culprits and co-authors of Marillion‘s timeless masterpiece “Misplaced Childhood” (1985), a record that in the eighties firmly crowned a new branch of rock music that people in the UK today call “neo progressive rock”. After leaving Marillion, Fish put out a whole pile of top-quality studio albums, all of them unmistakably his. He’s an exceptional bloke. Full of laughter and positive energy, blessed with that innate Scottish sense of humor. Of course I was shaking like a leaf before the interview, because I found myself face to face with a music legend I have a special respect for. Fish is humble and, unlike me, he certainly doesn’t shout about it from the rooftops. With his genuine honesty and calm, but a lively and razor-sharp tongue that made him incredibly easy to talk to right away, he proved to be a fantastic conversation partner with a big personal intellect. Fish is a huge nature lover, a devoted dad, a film actor and, when needed, an uncompromising musical perfectionist.
Aleš: “Why did you decide to do a tour on which you play the entire Marillion studio album “Misplaced Childhood” live?”
Fish: “I wanted to go out on a different kind of tour, I wanted change and something new. We’d already played “Misplaced Childhood” in 2001 at the Fine Club Convenction festival, and people told me, why don’t you do something like that more often? Then the 20th anniversary of the album’s release came around and we said, why not take advantage of the opportunity?”
Aleš: “What about your solo albums? You’ve put out plenty of them, the latest two years ago?”
Fish: “Erm… my last studio album “Field of Crows” came out in 2004, and the following year I just didn’t feel like recording a new studio album. I simply couldn’t find the right inspiration. Not enough time had passed for the right ideas to pile up, material good enough to serve as the basis for creating a new studio album.”
Aleš: “We’re all really excited that we can hear a cult album like Misplaced Chidlhood live again at your shows! You’ve just released a double live album from this current tour.”
Fish: “Thanks. Last year I signed a deal with Snapper Records. First, a double “best of” album came out on the label, titled “Bouillabaisse” (in translation: fish soup), which is always a very welcome move, because it lets you freshen up, renew, draw attention to yourself, or rather underline your musical name on the scene. That compilation was followed by a live album from last year’s leg of the current tour, where we play the whole Misplaced Childhood album, titled “Return to Childhood”!”
Aleš: “Current activities, besides the tour?”
Fish: “My main worry right now is that I have to look after my asparagus at home in my garden.”
Aleš: “You used to be a forester too?”
Fish: “Yes. I love gardens, I’ve got a big garden at home that I look after completely by myself. Right now I’m worried about whether the asparagus will come up nicely from the seeds I planted before we set off on this tour.”
Aleš: “So you’re a big nature lover?”
Fish: “Yep. When I came back from the last tour, it was a similar situation. I’d planted seedlings and seeds, and when I got back from the tour absolutely everything in the garden had died. I was gutted, so now I’m really worried about what’s happening with my seedlings.”
Aleš: “Are you happy with the tour?”
Fish: “The tour is going great and I’m very happy with it. Every show is packed, and there are plenty of people who don’t actually know my solo career well but come exclusively to my shows to hear Misplaced Childhood live. The current tour is a real success. And I’d really love to have the chance to play a show in Slovenia too. In a case like mine, having such a huge album as Misplaced Childhood, it’d be downright shameful to just ignore it. Things like playing that album live are important to do, because they help you renew yourself as a musician!”
Aleš: “What are the differences between playing Misplaced Childhood back when you were with Marillion and your interpretation of the album today?”
Fish: “My current band brings a somewhat sharper sound to the live interpretation of the album, and in the twenty years since the album came out my voice has changed quite a lot too. My vocal approach to interpreting Misplaced Childhood has changed as well.”
Aleš: “And what did the other Marillion members say about your decision to play Misplaced Childhood live?”
Fish: “They’re not bothered by it at all. My decision isn’t a problem for them, since they don’t have to play the album live, right? Okay, joking aside. We’re all authors of this album and we all earn from its name whenever it’s played on radio stations or in any other form of promotion. Mark Kelly and Steve Rothery, for example, recently donated some money to charity from the earnings on this record. Misplaced Chidlhood is still an album, or something, that somehow keeps us all connected, even though I no longer play with them in Marillion.”
Aleš: “Do you still see your old comrades?”
Fish: “Of course, we’re still great friends! For example, Mark Kelly came to one of my shows on the current tour two weeks ago. It was a special kind of experience for both of us, talking after the gig.”
Aleš: “What do you say about the old days with Marillion, or about the mark you left in the eighties?”
Fish: “I don’t think about them much. We had a good time, we played good songs. Recently Misplaced Childhood was voted number 82 on the list of the best albums of all time in the UK. I’m more interested in what’s going on now and what will happen tomorrow, I’ve kind of left the past behind me, even though it’s nice to remember the times with Marillion.”
Aleš: “Still, what was behind your decision to go solo?”
Fish: “You know, the music business is a fucked-up thing. There are way too many people in this business, absolutely too many, who are placed between the album and the shop, or to put it another way, between the band and the fans. They all want to make a buck. For every little favor they offer. Today I have my life under control and I handle everything myself. I also have an overview of the marketing and promotion of my albums and of where the money I earn as a solo musician goes. And most importantly, I wanted real contact with people. Simple contact with people who listen to my music and who maybe know me even better than I know myself. I wanted to get to know them. It means the most to me when I can chat like this with people like the four of you right now, and learn from people. I feel reborn, like a completely new man. I can say I’m happy with my life. If I hadn’t decided to leave Marillion, we definitely wouldn’t have met here tonight and had the chance to get to know each other.”
Aleš: “In the eighties Marillion were a superband!”
Fish: “In the eighties we were stars, we were gods, we were untouchable. And that’s how we behaved toward the fans too. I lived a debauched life and didn’t care about anybody, not even myself. The unhealthy lifestyle was literally destroying me and I started to suffocate from living like that. I felt I was going to go under. I was losing myself. The only way out of that abyss was to leave that unstoppable agony of my personality behind me, to leave Marillion.
Bojan: “Did you ever think about writing a sequel to “Misplaced Childhood”?”
Fish: “No. Misplaced Childhood is a complete album with a clear beginning and end.”
Bojan: “So it’s not like Star Wars?”
Fish: “Hehehe,.. Don’t worry. It’s not!”
Aleš: “How do you work with your current backing band on stage?”
Fish: “The band really enjoys playing Misplaced Childhood. We all work together great. You know, sometimes you have to look back a little to be able to move forward. You simply take a step back so you can take two steps forward more easily, and I’m really curious how this current decision to play Msiplaced Childohood will affect the band down the line, how we’ll all feel at the end of the year, how it’ll affect my inspiration and the writing of new material for a new studio album.”
Aleš: “And after the tour? What are the plans?”
Fish: “I don’t know exactly what the plans are yet. Whether I’ll be shooting a film, or whether I’ll be completely free for 2 months, resting and taking a holiday, spending time with my daughter. In the summer, so July and August, I’m playing a few open-air festivals. Later we’ll go back on tour. In stretches. October, November and December will be full of shows again. In between we’ll take shorter breaks. I don’t know yet how it’ll go. But when we’re on tour in the autumn, my band will have to be ready to write new material. During the autumn tour we’ll take a 14-day break and the band will come to my place and we’ll try to write, compose and record new material. I’d like the new studio album to be finished by next March. But like I said, I can’t say for sure yet what will happen. I’d like the new album not to just follow “the formula”, but to sound fresh and different. Otherwise the whole thing is pointless. You have to deliver a product that’s high quality, that’s different, that has a clearly recognizable vision and that’s a constant step up from your earlier work.”
Aleš: “So it’s about the constant development of your musical spirit, of your very being?”
Fish: “You know, that’s also why I don’t listen to other people’s music, because they don’t perceive music the way I do. Everybody perceives music in their own way.”
Aleš: “You’ve always been a great interpreter and you’ve appeared in a few films, what’s going on with that?”
Fish: “I love acting. I enjoy it. I should shoot in Slovenia!”
Aleš: “Whoa!!???”
Fish: “Really. Two films were all set, but I don’t have the time for it right now!”
Aleš: “Why not?”
Fish: “Actually, shooting films wouldn’t be any kind of problem, I just can’t manage it right now. I’m a single parent and I have to look after a 15-year-old daughter.”
Aleš: “Ah, I get it. Girls that age can turn into a real nightmare!”
Fish: “Often we don’t see each other for three weeks at a time. And just yesterday I had a horrible parenting day. Something unexpected and extremely unpleasant happened at home and I was on my feet the whole time over my daughter, and so were my mum and dad, who look after her when I’m away like this. So I have to be home a lot, too.”
Aleš: “You mentioned Slovenia?”
Fish: “In Slovenia I was supposed to shoot together with Ben Kingsley and Colin Frith. I was supposed to work on the shoot of this film for three weeks and I really liked the script. Unfortunately the dates overlapped with the tour dates, which had already been “booked” beforehand. For acting in films they call me a month or six weeks before shooting starts, while a concert tour has to be confirmed at least three months before it begins! So the shooting window unluckily clashed with the tour dates.”
Aleš: “So Fish the actor, is that still your future?”
Fish: “Of course. Right now I’m in talks about shooting something this summer, something that’s supposed to be shown on TV later too, I hope I’ll be able to pull it off, at least as far as the time crunch goes. Acting is a big challenge for me and I’d like to level up that skill in the future. In fact, acting is an extension of what I do at my concert performances. What I learn in front of the camera I can then effectively carry over to my stage act during the shows. My live performances keep getting better precisely because of that.”
Aleš: “What attracts you most right now on the “trendy” pop scene and how do you see it?
Fish: “Actually I don’t follow anything. Sure, I listen to some new fad here and there, but nothing special. When it comes to new stuff, I kind of leave myself to my daughter’s taste in music. For example, she puts on Foo Fighters at home and plenty of new bands whose names I can’t even remember. She’s got loads of new stuff recorded. Say, just two songs from each band. And then we listen to it together. Today’s problem is that everything is moving toward favoring individual tracks, like mp3s, while people focus less and less on albums as a whole. They’re actually missing out on a lot there and that’s a huge shame. Listening to just one song from an album is like reading just one chapter of a book and skipping the rest.”
Aleš: “You’ve made excellent solo albums. For example, on the album “Raingods With Zippos” there’s a long epic title track that somehow stands out especially among your work?”
Fish: “I enjoy that. It’s simple, when you feel a kind of “click” and the click becomes an idea… You know, that idea just grows and grows and develops, and when you look at it in the end, when you compare the original idea and the final creation, it’s always a pleasant surprise. Of course, some ideas just aren’t good enough for the concert stage, even though they sound great in the studio. I’m very proud of the song you mention and fans of my music really like it, which is why I included it on the current double “best of” compilation “Bouillabaise”!”
Aleš: “What can we expect from the new album?”
Fish: “I really don’t know yet. That’s why I’m on tour, this is where the ideas get born. I take solo albums very seriously. I don’t just write a few great songs and fill the rest of the album with so-called “filler” tracks. An album has to look like an album. It has to have a common thread from start to finish and there can’t be any duds on it.”
Aleš: “You said the new album will already be finished in March? Things are moving really fast for you!”
Fish: “You know, I’ve already got ideas. But I’ve no clue what will happen with them. I have the chance to work with plenty of great musicians and I’d like to make full use of that opportunity. So I don’t know exactly where I’m sailing at this moment, and I don’t know which of these people I’ll ask to collaborate on the new studio album. But the whole thing is very much tied to my garden. When I’m at home planting seeds, messing about with lettuce, potatoes, you know, that’s when I’m at peace, alone with myself, and that’s when inspiration comes, that’s when ideas get born.”
Aleš: “It’s clear from that that you love spontaneity above all.”
Fish: “Absolutely.”
Aleš: “What can you tell us about tonight’s show in Augsburg?”
Fish: “Come and enjoy the party!”
What happened after we said goodbye is covered in great detail in the concert report, but still. Fate had it that day that we got to know this magnificent gentleman up close. He came running after us, caught up with us at the crossroads in front of the Spectrum hall after we’d already left the venue following the interview, and together with him we headed off for a “white” German beer. It was an unforgettable day and it was certainly followed by an unforgettable concert night.
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