Interview date: 04.09.2008
Once the buzz after the Ten Years After show had settled, Leo Lyons, the band’s bassist, agreed to a short chat with RockLine. Ten Years After, legendary heroes of the late-sixties British “white blues” boom, had just wrapped up a set that, more than 40 years in, was still intense and charged with energy. Leo and the other three members of the band, Joe Gooch (guitar/vocals), Ric Lee (drums) and Chick Churchill (keyboards), spent the post-gig time signing autographs. When the crowd scattered to the rest of the evening’s business (mostly drinking and eating) while waiting for Mitch Ryder to hit the stage, Daniel and I walked up to the legendary bassist and….
RockLine: Last year you celebrated the band’s 40th anniversary.
Leo Lyons: That’s right. And next year it’ll be 40 years since we played Woodstock…
RockLine: So there’s always a fair bit of interesting stuff going on for Ten Years After.
Leo Lyons: We’re constantly traveling and playing shows. Just like 40 years ago. These days I can’t even say exactly where we played.
RockLine: How do you stay in shape?
Leo Lyons: Love for it is what binds us. We simply enjoy playing, performing. Wherever we are and wherever we end up. I just let go, performing relaxes me like nothing else.
RockLine: Joe Gooch’s transition into the band, stepping into Alvin Lee’s shoes, has been more than successful.
Leo Lyons: It has. He’s an excellent musician. We’re really happy we found him, and we get along great with him on stage.
RockLine: Plenty of bands that went down your road didn’t manage to pull off a comeback. Did you use some special formula?
Leo Lyons: No. There’s no formula behind it. It just happened. We were lucky. The upside of a lineup change like that is that the new member always brings energy and freshness into the band, and that rubs off positively on the others too, so the band gets a real push and strives to be creative. Many bands that got back together found that the energy between the members just wasn’t there anymore. That’s why they didn’t last.
RockLine: So far you’ve put out just one record with Joe Gooch, “Now” in 2004. Is material for a new album already in the works?
Leo Lyons: We’ve put out two records, the second one was the live album “Roadworks”. And the new record is ready too. It’s due out this October, it’ll be called “Evolution”, and a DVD will come out with it.
RockLine: What will the new album sound like?
Leo Lyons: It’ll be different from the last one, that’s for sure. But it’ll be a typical Ten Years After album. All Ten Years After albums differ quite a bit from each other, and the new one will bring those differences too. We hope people will like it.
RockLine: Leo, do you remember your show in Slovenia, in Postojna, two years ago?
Leo Lyons: Yes. I remember.
RockLine: Joe Gooch seemed even more confident and convincing here in St. Veit than he did two years ago in Postojna. Have you played a lot in those two years?
Leo Lyons: Yes. We’ve had loads of gigs in that time. We play around 150 a year, and Joe has settled into the band even more effectively in that period. Overall, he’s much more self-assured as the link between the audience and the band.
RockLine: Mr. Leo Lyons, thanks for the chat, I hope we’ll see each other again in Slovenia next time.
Leo Lyons: Thank you too. Thanks for coming out to the show here tonight.
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