Interview with Mick Rogers Part 2
February 2002
What does the future hold for EarthBand
Looking forward to starting touring again, our first gig is in Germany on
May 3rd. The crazy thing is, is that it doesn't seem long ago that we broke up for Christmas and were saying, "see you in a few months". Time goes really quickly. We got together early this week to have some new pictures taken
with new boy Pete May and I feel there is a general excitement about the gigs this year. Pete has been Cliff Richard's drummer for the past 13 years and has also worked with various other people, which I'm sure he will tell you about at a
later date. Pete's a great player but the only thing he has working against him is that he is a Man Utd supporter - but we can't all be perfect!! One of the main things about Earthband is that we always enjoy our live gigs and getting together
to tour. Manfred is working on the new album everyday. and we are very anxious to have new product out as we realise that it's been a long time since people have heard something new from Earthband. The albums do take a long time to produce
but that's only because Manfred wants to feel it is right, and you can't blame him for that. The band have all done their bits and pieces for the album apart from Noel and a few guests, but I don't want to give anything away at the moment! For
my part I'm very pleased with the sound of the guitar and I think its some of the best guitar that I've played for Earthband although it is different from the type of guitar playing that I did in the 70s, but then again my playing has changed
anyway.
How important are the fans to you?
They are incredibly
important because without them we wouldn't be touring or making records. It never ceases to amaze me that we can be 6 hours on our tour bus or a comfortable train, and then in the evening I'll look down into the audience and see the same faces
as the night before! I also love the fact that the age group of our fans ranges from teenagers right through to people in their fifties. Manfred, the guys and myself view the message board frequently and it's nice to see people asking
questions and talking about the band and of course we look forward to seeing them again this summer at the gigs.
Do you intend to play any new material this summer?
We realise that one of the problems with the people who hear the same set every night is that it is
frustrating for them not to see us play something different. We understand this but at the same time it would be impossible for us to totally change the set, and as Manfred always says, even if we learnt two new songs it wouldn't be enough to
satisfy the people who hear it every night. As far as this summer is concerned, I don't know what's going to happen regarding playing new material, as it's something we have yet to discuss but we will try and feature something from the new
album as soon as we can.
Finally, what's your favourite song in the Earthband set?
The truth is that I like playing all of the songs in the set as each has something that I like. I could be very selfish and say 'yeah Father of Day is the one for me' and obviously I do enjoy playing
it, but I also like Shelter from the Storm. One of the things I am looking forward to is singing something new in the set which I hope will be soon, but I guess it would be something from one of the old albums. That's cool though because there
are some great songs which still haven't been done. Thank you for talking to us Mick, and we look forward to your article called 'The Nifty Fifties' which is all about your rock and roll years. Interview by JAS
Weybridge
February 22nd 2002
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