Simon House (Melody Maker 19/10/1974)

[M Holmes]

MELODY MAKER October 19, 1974 (page 46)

HOUSE OF KEYBOARDS.   Allan Jones meets Hawkwind's new boy wonder Simon
House, master of space, time, keyboards violin - and the silent
interview

It's very perplexing this.   I mean, here's Simon House, Hawkwind's new
boy wonder keyboards,  Mellotron and violin exponent in a state which
could loosely be described as zomboid somnambulance, and here I am with
a hour's worth of tape to fill, and a set of questions that provoke the
most monosyllabic response you could hear this side of Van Morrison.

It's rather like Conversation by Numbers.   One nod for yes, two nods
for no.   If there is any part of the question you do not understand, or
if you would like me to repeat all or part of the question, please beat
your head against the wall three times.   If you are still conscious I
will repeat the question until you indicate your understanding.

The thing is, though, Simon is a potentially interesting subject for an
interview.   He was, after all, a member of the ill-fated but
interesting High Tide.

Now that's a subject that seems to stir some life, so all is not lost.
Simon, do you think we could talk a little about the band before we talk
about your exploits with Hawkwind?   "Uuuuh . . . Yeah.  I don't
remember much . . . Uuuuh, my memory's not all it could be."

They were an underrated band, though?

"I thought so, yeah."

What were the kind of problems that caused you to finally split?

"Uuuh, basically, it was money.   A bit of untogetherness getting gigs
and the record company wasn't too helpful.   Plus there were some very
strange people in the band.   It was . . . uuuh, a very strange scene.
They were all brilliant musicians, but a bit unstable.

"It was a drag because we made two albums, and were making a third when
we split.   The third could have been The One, y'know.

"Between the first and the second album there was quite a development.
I think the second album was very good.   It was very complex, perhaps a
little too complex.   I think if we re-formed now, the music wouldn't be
as complex, because we've probably got over that.

"It would have to be music with a good feeling, rather than very
technical music.   People still remember us, even in the States they ask
me about High Tide."

Now that was very good.   Consecutive sentences.   If we can keep that
up, it'll be fine.   But to continue.   Having established some of his
history with a few well chosen words, perhaps we could move on to the
period between the demise of High Tide, and the time he joined the
celebrated ranks of the Cosmic Warriors.   What had he been involved in
then?

"Well . . I played with the Third Ear Band for most of the time.  Uuuh .
. for about two years.   Then I had a year resting from the music
business.   Then I joined Hawkwind."

Well that disposes of that.   But it's rather a strange progression.
The musical evolution from High Tide, Third Ear Band and on to the
Psychedelic Warlords hardly smacks of logic.

But as Simon explains, both High Tide and Hawkwind can be traced back to
the same root.   They came into existence at about the same time.   He's
known the band since then, and he even used to do the occasional gig
with them when he was with the Third Ear Band.   It was, really, quite a
natural step to join.

"It was about the end of the hippy season," he recalls a little hazily,
referring to his first association with the Lords of Space, "which
Hawkwind is still maintaining desperately . . . though it's no longer a
very firm thing."

That's hardly a word one would associate with Hawkwind is it?

"What . . . Hippy?"

Ah . ..  . No.   "Firm."     Hawkwind have always been synonymous with a
kind of fluidity, in terms of their development, line-ups even, and
their attitudes.   "Yeah, it's very loose.   The band, though, is
changing.   It changes at its own speed.   It's changed since I joined"

In what ways exactly?   Simply with the addition of yourself to the
line-up?

"That, and now we've got two drummers.   And the music's changed as
well.   The songs that Dave is writing are different from the ones he
used to write.   Virtually everyone in the group is writing now."

Was the change perceptible to people outside the band.   After all,
critics still seem to maintain the same kind of attitude to Hawkwind.
There's something of a Standard Hawkwind Review which undermines
whatever progression has been made on succeeding albums.

"We're still unmistakably Hawkwind because it's still basically the same
people.   The foundation of the sound is the same.   But the last album
was a bit of a change, I think.   Because of the Mellotron, I suppose,
it's sounding a bit classical.   A lot of people seem to like it.   It's
selling very well."

That's a fact which can't be disputed.   For so long Hawkwind have been
regarded as little more than something akin to a psychedelic music hall
joke, and now here they are, with "Hall Of The Mountain Grill," in both
the English and US album charts.   That's a reasonably impressive state
of affairs for a bunch of fazed-out hippies to have reached.

What, essentially, broke the band in America, Simon?

"I dunno.  It was probably because no other group like Hawkwind have
ever played in America.   That whole kind of theatrical show, the whole
visuals and a dancer with big tits.   And we're very loud.   We haven't
had any hit albums until now, although we've been over there three
times.  And each time it's been getting better.    So it must be a word
of mouth thing."

It seems, somehow strange that Hawkwind should have captured the
imagination of an American audience.   As a band, they hardly reflect an
American influence, and on the surface, at least, it's difficult to
imagine American kids beaming out on Spaceship Ladbroke Grove.

Hawkwind have always seemed a peculiarly English phenomenon,
encapsulating a typical eccentricity and inspired amateurism.

"I don't think we're particularly English.   I don't know why you said
that."

Precedents for Hawkwind would be difficult to determine, but that would
seem to be a fair starting point.

"English music means to me a sort of folk music."

How, then, would you describe Hawkwind's music, in what sort of terms
could you define it?

"It's Space Music."

Well, I think we'll leave that line of questioning and turn to the
American audience.   Was it comparable to the type of audience the band
pull in this country?

"No.   The whole scene is different.   People over there are much more
violent.   They're much more ready to go right over the top.   The
audiences are bigger as well.   We always seem to go down best in
heavily industrialised areas.   And all the gigs we did in the mid-West
were all very good.

"It's like the north of England, I suppose.   It's a very oppressive,
heavy environment.   I suppose Hawkwind are a very dramatic escape, in
both visual and audio terms, it's an escape.   On the West Coast, we're
not as big.   They've got their own scene and they seem happy with
that."

The conversation turns to the recent Hawkwind confrontation with the US
taxation department.   It happened very much as it was reported in the
press, says Simon.   A dozen or so Federal agents, "straight out of
Hawaii 5-0" moved in and impounded their equipment until the band handed
over the money it was claimed they owed the Government.

"Ironically enough, that was one of the best gigs we'd done.   I was
oblivious of the whole thing anyway, so I thought it was petty amusing,
the worst part was that they insisted in taking our own personal
instruments off us.   They already had £30,000 worth of equipment.
They then insisted on taking my violin, which was the one thing that
really annoyed me."

In all truth, Simon seems so completely mellowed out that it would be
hard to imagine him being disturbed or provoked by anything.   Except
the press, that is.   There's this attitude that runs through the whole
Hawkwind organisation, which reveals an uncertain animosity, if that's
not too strong a word, towards the press.

It's a disappointment, really, at the fact that the press has constantly
failed to realise how big the band are.   It's possibly justified at the
moment, what with album sales in the States, and the kind of reviews the
album has received there.

Perhaps English critics are a little more discerning.   Simon thinks
they're just the right side of sub-normals.   At least, that's the
strong impression one gets from speaking to him.

"There's all kinds of malicious gossip in the music papers.   I hate
them"

Does the criticism worry you then?

"It doesn't worry me"

You could have fooled me.

It all sounds like a Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath press paranoia routine.
But Simon would seem to lack the stamina for a full force tirade in the
inimitable manner of Sabbath.   The silences grow longer.   Simon smiles
and the afternoon wears on.   He's got the prospect of a second leg of
Hawkwind's American tour to face, and a series of British dates to
follow.

In American he's becoming something of a star turn.   There seems to be
a focus of attention directed towards him, although he would be the last
person to admit it.   It's even been suggested that it's his
contribution to the band, and the last album, that has caused the
Americans to pick up on the band.   Although he would be the last person
to admit that too.

The silence between questions and answers grows longer.   The afternoon
wears on and the sun sinks lower on the horizon.   Simon smiles slowly,
"I'm sorry.   I'm feeling a bit out of it . . ."

Yeah.   A typical Hawkwind interview.

PICTURE:   Simon House in white polo-neck sweater sitting at keyboard
titled: SIMON HOUSE: monosyllabic