After a twelve-year break, Roger Chapman surprises with "Life In The Pond", an album that focuses on diversity both lyrically and musically. Even at the age of 79, "Chappo" is bursting with power and is fully in the juice. He proves that (also) in the eclipsed interview.

eclipsed: There hasn't been a solo album from you since 2009 ("Hide Go Seek"). Did your old family mate Poli Palmer persuade you to go into the studio?

Roger Chapman: It didn't take a lot of input. It just happened. In late 2019, I met Poli at a studio near where I live. I asked if he wanted to hear some new song drafts from me. That worked so well then that we went from there.

eclipsed: Did the Covid hiatus give you time to write songs?

If you ask the man from the US state of Mississippi about his musical influences, you travel with him, the born narrator, first back to the small town of Tupelo in the 1980s. It was here, in the birthplace of Elvis Presley, that Murry, who now lives in Ireland, gained his first musical experience. "There were a lot of churches in this area. I also went to church services regularly, plus I sang in the church choir, which rehearsed almost every day. At home I sang with my ma while she did the housework. I grew up listening to church music and gospel." Then a real aha moment for young Murry was a Tom Petty gig, "The first shows I went to were country concerts in the area, not bad. But then when I saw Tom Petty for the first time, it was awesome. I thought: Wow, this guy looks weird. I look weird. This all sounds a little weird. But that's the coolest guy I've ever seen! I want to do that too."

Jazz enthusiasm in Scotland has always been strong, but since Jack Bruce the northern half of the UK has not produced a jazz musician of distinction. That is about to change, because with the drummer, composer and bandleader Graham Costello and his entourage, Scottish jazz is taking a completely new look. However, the Glaswegian is a stranger to the term jazz. "I don't really like to resort to the word jazz. My music has nothing to do with swing or the typical jazz reflex of building long improvisations on a short theme. The whole jazz tradition is completely irrelevant to me. I see myself as a composer who is more oriented towards noise and minimal music. Before I formed my band Strata, I had played in a noise rock band myself. But categories like jazz and rock belong to the past for me. Previous generations may have needed them, but for me they don't mean anything anymore."

It still exists, the much-vaunted "independent scene": In Germany, the independent Hamburg company Hypertension Music has stood for it since the late 80s. Behind this is not only an in-house label, but also a concert and artist agency.

Flashback to the year 1988: Christian Thiel from Hamburg and his (life) partner Irene Bodschwinna are big fans of singer-songwriter sounds, but have trouble getting discs by Paul Brady, Rick Vito or The Bacon Brothers in Germany. In those days, that works almost exclusively via foreign orders. "Irene and I assumed that other local fans of this style of music had similar problems getting hold of the material of their musical heroes," recalls Thiel, now 64. "So we started an import service for US and UK folk." Thus Hypertension was born

By 1971, the myths of the Sixties had faded, and a young, innovative rock scene was conquering the mainstream. It was an unprecedented creative spectacle: The musical balance sheet of 1971 contains more grandiose albums, unforgettable songs and promising newcomers than ever before or since. And: Rock music never had more of a future than at this unique moment in its history. How did it come about? And what were the consequences? A tour through a musical year that was as wonderful as it was wondrous

Actually Dieter Dierks doesn't like to be looked into the notes, but for eclipsed the great German producer made an exception. The trained actor, long considered the "sixth Scorpion", talks about Klaus Meine's voice, his meeting with Billy Joel, drinking bouts with Rory Gallagher, his inventions and a dream in the second part of our big interview.

eclipsed: Dieter, what do you appreciate about Scorpions singer Klaus Meine?

"I just lost one of my closest friends in our longtime tour manager and Al Schmitt, the legendary engineer who worked with us on 'Toto IV', has also passed on. Sorry, that brings me down." With these words, Steve Lukather apologises for his tardiness. Quickly, however, he switches gears. Because the actual reason for the conversation is quite a positive one, after all, with "With A Little Help From My Friends" the first sample of the new Toto line-up is released

eclipsed: Why did you do a streaming event? There is not necessarily a concert atmosphere.