The big train is unstoppable: Even Corona and the departure of no less than three longtime members couldn't slow down Big Big Train's ride. David Longdon and Greg Spawton are proud of what their band embodies. In a double interview they revealed the idea behind the new studio album "Common Ground" and that they even already know what the next record will be about.
eclipsed: "Common Ground" was recorded in difficult times. What was different this time?
David Longdon: We are an international band and we have always worked with file sharing. In fact, this time we had agreed to record the new album together in one room, but ironically we couldn't because of the pandemic. So it was business as usual.
A Grand Tour was a cultural tradition in the 17th and 18th centuries, a kind of educational trip for young academics from a wealthy family. At the end of their studies, they set out to visit artistically outstanding sites throughout Europe. They visited historical monuments and buildings and later discussed the impressions gained during the trip. Big Big Train are joining this tradition with their new record and are undertaking a grand tour into the past and present.
For the Big Big Train founders Greg Spawton and Andy Poole it was and is a main concern with their creative creature that the sound is constantly expanded through regular reshuffles. On the most recent work "Grimspound", as on "Folklore", a proud eight henchmen and women are at work in order to be able to implement this requirement. "Above all, they are the same creative partners as on the last album, you can talk about a kind of well-rehearsed team," says 51-year-old Spawton. "It's a lot of fun to be a member of this band like never before. Because you're always working on new ideas. Sometimes this form of uninterrupted creativity is almost spooky."
eclipsed: What's the deal with the album title "Grimspound"?
RETRO? ROCK! - Blues Pills and the New Generation Rock
Greg Spawton and Andy Poole founded Big Big Train. Since then, they have been meticulously making sure that the band constantly expands their sound through regular reshuffles. On the most recent recording "Folklore" there are proud eight accomplices at work, which gives the whole a sporadic orchestral character. "When I joined the band in 2009," says singer, flutist, guitarist and keyboarder David Longdon (51), "Greg and Andy urged me to get as involved with the sound cosmos as possible That's what he did on "folklore" more than ever. In an interview with eclipsed he is happy that "our band is already another big step forward in their creative development".
eclipsed: You called your new album "Folklore", but there are too many folkloristic elements you can't hear. Why this title?
With every new album the British quintet Big Big Train approaches the Neoprog-Olymp more and more. This is probably primarily due to the fact that their pieces are conceived retro, entirely in keeping with the Seventies tradition and its sensational, experimental formations such as Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator or King Crimson. And it also guarantees that the voice of David Longdon, who has been frontman of the group since 2009, has an almost uncanny resemblance to that of Peter Gabriel.
