Christopher Hamlet Thompson is a great rock singer. He was in great demand by greats like Jeff Wayne, Mike Oldfield or Alan Parsons. However, his solo career never really took off after several exits and re-entries with Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The quality of our own oeuvre was too unsteady. Now the 67-year-old family man wants to return to the charts with the recording of "Toys & Dishes".
eclipsed: Please tell us a little about the creation process of your new album. With the young guitarist Arno Krabmann there is also a new name.
Chris Thompson: The whole thing wasn't planned as an album at all. I wanted to write a hymn to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. I then asked Arno Krabmann, who doesn't live so far away from me in Holland [Thompson lives in Belgium; note], to work with me on songs. In this way we were able to work long enough on the songwriting and record very comfortably again and again. That was good for the album.
eclipsed: So no covers this time?
Thompson: No, not a single one, all brand-new originals. A broad mix of energetic rock'n'roll styles, of which I am proud of its diversity.
eclipsed: "Toys & Dishes" is about normal family life, about the role of a father. Are you catching up on what you missed on the road after all these years?
Thompson: True enough, you hit the nail on the head. It is a great happiness to have a young family - especially at my age - and also stimulating to be able to write songs about it. Of course there are other stories on the record as well.
