Q


Shindig!: First of all, can you tell me how The Hawklords’ Space Ritual ’09 project came about?


Nik Turner: Well John Curd [promoter, Straight Music] approached me some time ago and asked if I would like to put a gig on at The Roundhouse with either Hawkwind or The Hawklords performing. I did this gig in Kent, which was a memorial benefit concert for Robert Calvert to raise a bit of money for his wife, assembled all these guys that had played with Robert and took it upon myself to organise this concert. Then also there’s this Barney Bubbles book that’s just come out, and I thought, to promote Barney’s book for one thin, and to promote Barney for another thing, ’cos he was a really good and dear friend, “Why not have a memorial concert for Barney Bubbles?”, so I tried to combine the whole thing really. Because Barney had designed the stage show and presentation of the original Space Ritual, we invited these people from The Pentameters Theatre to perform one of Robert Calvert’s plays, ‘The


20 uestiOns


RICH DEAKIN talks to Hawkwind alumnus NIK TURNER as he plays with experimental jazz outfit Sirr before The Hawklords’ Space Ritual ’09 show at


The Roundhouse in London. Discussing Nik’s impending return to that venue for the first time in over 30 years the conversation also turns to Robert Calvert, Barney Bubbles, Pythagoras and the music of the spheres. Brainstorm? Here we go!


Stars That Play with Laughing Sam’s Dice’, which Barney had also done the stage design for. The focus of the gig is on Barney rather than Hawkwind or Hawklords as he designed The Space Ritual show. In it he incorporated Pythagoras’ music of the spheres, which is a sort of idea that there’s a chord going through the universe and all the planets are attached to it. They’re all revolving, creating a different tone, and between them Pythagoras defined that the difference between each planet was so many semi-tones, and it constituted, ultimately, the Western scale. We’re trying to incorporate that into the show. But we’re not really trying to reproduce The Space Ritual as it was in 1973, we’re just trying to be inspired by, and take the spirit of it, and put it into 2009.


NT: Well they all are really, Barney, Bob, Mike Moorcock… unfortunately all of those people are manic depressives and they go through very extreme stages.


SD: I notice that The Roundhouse show has also been billed as an “Implosion Special”, presumably as a nod to the days of the underground?


“When we had a #1 record it was quite natural.”


NT: Yeah, that’s right. John Curd wanted to do it as a “Sunday Implosion” tribute to Barney Bubbles, Hawklords performing the original Space Ritual, plus loads more.


SD: What were the original Implosions like in the early ’70s?


SD: You mentioned Bob Calvert too when we were talking about Barney Bubbles, he’s often likened to being a tortured genius…


NT: Awesome! We’ve got bands that played at those things playing with us. Quintessence were a band that used to play at The Roundhouse a lot. John Curd is the one who’s putting it together, and he’s choosing what bands he wants. He’s got Amon Düül as well.


SD: The Roundhouse was obviously the venue of many a Hawkwind gig back in the ’70s. Do you have any particular fond memories?


NT: Well there was The Greasy Truckers, that was pretty cool you know? We recorded ‘Silver Machine’ at The Roundhouse and then we went into the studio, took the vocal off that Robert Calvert had sung and put a vocal on by Lemmy, and that was ‘Silver Machine’.


SD: Why did you take Robert’s vocal off?


NT: I don’t think it was very strong really. When were recording in the studio and putting a new vocal on it Robert was, I think, having a nervous breakdown in hospital, so we just had to get on with it. Lemmy got the job.


SD: Did commercial success take you by surprise?


NT: No, not really. I never thought that we were going to be successful anyway. I just thought it was fun playing in a band, and when we had a #1 record it was quite natural.


SD: The success of ‘Silver Machine’ enabled Hawkwind to finance the Space Ritual tour as well didn’t it?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92