Interview with Geoff Dunn (February 2003)

Thanks to Geoff for doing this exclusively for Platform End.

Q. How did you get the EarthBand job? Did you know Manfred/ Mick before you joined?
A. I didn't know either before I joined. A mutual friend put Manfred in touch with me and I was asked to send some tracks in (fall 2001? or when Pete May joined). I think Manfred liked what I'd done and asked me down to have a play, but what with one thing and another I wouldn't have been able to do all the gigs, and wasn't around when they were getting together with the other drummers. Manfred called me again and told me who was going down and could I recommend any of 'em. I said Mr May. All in all a lucky escape!
So lulled in to a false sense of security and feeling fairly happy the phone rang at the end of last summer "Hello Manfred here", I ended up going for a play and that was it.

Q. How long did it take to rehearse the whole Earth Band set?
A. Manfred asked me this, they reckoned from previous tortuous experiences it would take at least 3-4 days, I said 1 or 2, I think Manfred raised his eyebrows at that. I'd been used to having to learn things quickly, I had live CDs of the shows, done a bit of homework and I think we ran through the set the first day for about three hours, then the next day a straight set rundown of about an hour and a half, at which point M was happy and stormed the exit. So fairly painless.

Q. Where do you prefer to play - in bigger venues with some thousand people in the
audience or in smaller clubs?
A. Smaller venues mainly, or the ones that have a good sound.

Q. Are you influenced by the atmosphere in the audience during a concert?
A. It definitely helps with the vibe of the whole experience, but I'm also aware of how you can be active in changing it too.

Q. What is your favourite music style, band, Lp/Cd? What kind of music is are you listening to at the moment
A. I like anything that I feel is good and don't gravitate towards any one genre.
Some CD'S I bought in the last couple of months:-
JOHN MAYER, JONI MITCHELL'S NEW ONE, VANESSA CARLTON, ALEJANDRO SANZ,
CHAKA KHAN OLD CATALOGUE, BRIAN BLADE, JONATHA BROOKE, LEWIS TAYLOR, ARVO PART. SHELBY LYNN

Q. Are you working with other bands at the moment?
A. Yes I am still a freelance musician so I have to earn a crust, things are fairly varied at the moment but no one band in particular.
I have my own band called First Light, which has been going on and off for a good few years, we are currently finishing off our second CD. It was started by myself and Guitarist Ronnie Johnson who was also Van Morrisons MD, it's a great band, and we do gig occasionally in London. (so anyone interested join our mailing list mailing list-forward emails ???)

Q. What was for you the greatest moment in your life as a drummer?
A. ???????????????? three girls in a bed??????? just kidding, be nice though.
I think I've been pretty lucky and have had many great moments and played with a few leg-ends.

Q. Is there a band/artist you are dreaming to play with?
A. Most of them are dead now so I'm F*****
Joni Mitchell, em??
I'd like the production side to develop more as I enjoy this.

Q. After having played at 20 Earth Band gigs so far - do you have a "favourite" song?
A. 20? all of a sudden I feel old, Er no

Q. Do you prefer studio or live work
A. A mixture of all things otherwise it makes Geoff a dull boy, that's not quite right is it?

Q. If money was no object and you had it to spend on a production, what kind of music would you do
A. ????? Definitely would have an Orchestra involved

Q. What's the weirdest gig you ever played?
A. This was fairly interesting:
When I was around 19 I did a private party in Essex, it turned out that this gangster had just come out of prison, it ended up, after the client did a little extra negotiating on what time we were supposed to finish, with the band playing for just him and his wife in the garden, watching us with a shotgun sitting on his lap.

Q. Does anyone ever give you grief about playing "too fast":-)
A. Well with my highly evolved artistic sense you would notice that I don't play fast all the time (because we all need a rest now & then) hopefully I do it in a musical groovy way which contributes and is in context with "whats goin on" a great track by the way, so when the need arises and when M doesn't give me the "look" I like to thrash away with me mate Mick and express myself !!
Slow sex is good too! so I don't play like that with everybody :-)

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