By Andrew Bansal
Known for his multiple stints in seminal English space rock group Hawkwind, Nik Turner has been an innovator and an inspirer in the genre, and still continues to deliver the Hawkwind experience to fans and curious observers who didn’t exist to witness his original tours with Hawkwind back the late 60s and early 70s. Focusing primarily on the ‘Space Ritual’ album and its corresponding live show, Turner puts forth a mind-blowing exhibition of rock and psychedelia, just like he did at the Viper Room in West Hollywood last week, on the second show of his ongoing North American headline tour which he started off by playing a gig on his 74th birthday in Oakland CA. An hour before he took the stage with his backing band Hedersleben, I sat down with Turner to firstly smoke a joint and then do an interview. Enjoy the conversation below.
Nik, it’s a pleasure talking to you here. You started this tour yesterday, played on your birthday and now you’re in LA. How are you feeling?
Oh, I’m feeling great! I’m really happy to be here and it’s really nice to meet you, thank you!
We’re here at the Viper Room tonight. What’s your experience been with this venue? Have you played here over the years?
I haven’t played here before, no. I think I played Spaceland or something like that last time. I played a few places, like the Lingerie Club and the Troubadour the other times I’ve been in LA in the past. I’ve played the Echoplex as well. But, this seems a very nice venue. I’m thinking it’s not totally a big one but I’d rather play at a small venue that’s packed than a larger venue that’s half-empty (laughs). There’s a lot more atmosphere in a packed venue, with people very close together, touching each other and having a good time.
You were doing your soundcheck here earlier. Did it sound alright?
Oh yeah, it was good. It’s a nice venue and the people here are nice. That’s what really is important, the sound crew and the people running the club, and the fans who come here. I’ve met a lot of people and they’re very happy to see me. It’s quite lovely!
So, for people who’ve not seen your show and aren’t familiar with your set list, what do you usually do in your shows? Is it more of a representation of your career or are you focusing on certain specific material?
I’m actually playing quite a lot of Hawkwind material from ‘Space Ritual’. I was involved in Space Ritual, putting the show together, choreographing it, being involved with the people that had the concept, Robert Calvert, Barney Bubbles and the people that created the whole aspect of the entertainment. Barney was a very creative person who choreographed the show, designed the stage, and arranged all the lighting based upon the band members’ astrological signs and the corresponding colors that go with those signs. He used all that in the light show and said that one of the basic principles of the thing was the Pythagorean music of the spheres. Pythagoras said that there’s a chord going across all the planets of the universe, they’re suspended on it and are all vibrating at different frequencies. Those frequencies actually correspond to the Western scale and the octaves. Barney incorporated all that within the stage show when I was part of it, putting it together with him and I did quite a lot of choreography because Robert Calvert at the time was having a nervous breakdown (laughs). He’s dead now unfortunately, bless his soul, but at the time I was part of the creative process which was very interesting, and now it’s interesting playing a lot of that material to people probably most of whom never heard it or saw it. I did tours in the 70s with Hawkwind where we played a lot of that material but most of the audience that came to those shows are dead! I get people coming up to me and saying, “Wow, I saw you playing in 1994. You are Hawkwind!” And they were really knocked out by the show then. They hadn’t been to the original Space Ritual in 1973. Their only experience of Hawkwind is me and the shows and tours I did in the 90s. I was very happy to do them and had a great time. I played a lot of my own material and Robert Calvert’s material as well, along with the Space Ritual stuff. It seems to be this ongoing work of art that was created by Calvert and I helped him put together. Now I’m performing some of those songs and it’s still great because many people never heard them. My feeling about doing gigs is, I like to make them into healing experiences and I like to feel that every gig I do is the best gig I’ve ever done (laughs). So it’s all a very progressive, positive sort of thing that I try to embody within all I do, you know.
Do you feel that this material will keep you going for a number of years still, or are you also working on new music?
Oh yeah, loads of different stuff. I was headlining a jazz festival last Thursday near where I live. I play all sorts of different material, I write all the time and I’ve written loads of songs that are on albums, not just Hawkwind. I had other bands like Inner City Unit and Outriders Of Apocalypse with music based around Mayan mythology and lyrics based around the Quetzal Collateral, the long count, the prediction of when the next ice age would be happening, and all those kinds of things. I find it fascinating. I’m really into ancient cultures because I think they knew a lot of stuff that we don’t know (laughs). They were pretty smart, you know. They had all the science, astrology, astronomy, mathematics, civility and agriculture. I think Quetzal Collateral bought it all from Atlantis. So, I’m very open-minded and I try to see extra-terrestrial intervention everywhere I look (laughs).
Hawkwind’s music goes back so many years, and its space rock was very innovative back then. It influenced a lot of musicians and evolved into heavier forms of psychedelic rock and metal. Have you kept in touch with that? Have you seen Hawkwind’s music influencing the world?
I definitely do, and I think my music influences people, but aside from what I did with Hawkwind I like to go forward and I’m moving on. I’m doing an album with Billy Cobham at the moment, and my record company wants me to make another album while I’m here in October. I’m going to be in San Francisco recording an album. I like to create new music and new ideas, and I feel inspired by lots of diverse things, you know. I like ancient cultures, mythology and science fiction, and all sorts of things. I just like things to be exciting (laughs). So yeah, I do write lots of stuff and I’m working on lot of diverse musical forms.
And are there any younger or newer groups over the years that impressed you?
Well, I like Jello Biafra. He’s a good friend of mine. There are a few others but I can’t name them because I try to listen to music that I can learn from. I listen to Miles Davis a lot, you know. There’s a lot of music going on and I’m glad that it is, but I haven’t got time to listen to everything. I’m not trying to produce music that I think people want to hear, I don’t work like that. I work towards the idea that I’m creating something from my soul. I want to touch people. It’s just a very personal thing. It’s not me saying, “I’m a fantastic musician and I can’t give people my time.” That’s not how it works and I’m totally committed. I was talking to some film guys about ideas that I have. I live in Wales on a farm where I’ve got some land, and one of the things that I’m going to do is, I want to have space rock holidays for the fans. I’ll invite them, make it a membership only, and they can come and play. I’ll organize workshops with them and get bands together. I’ve got performance space. I’ll get them all playing music with me, I’ll record them and they can have the holiday of their dreams (laughs). It won’t cost them much, because I like to give myself to people. I’m not a materialistic person, really. I’m very spiritual and I would like people to be happy, in a nice way and not in a hypocritical me ripping them off sort of bullshit like that. I just want people to be enlightened, raise their spirits, give them a good time and touch their soul.
I have one more question for you. You use so many instruments in your music like flute and sax. In your opinion how important are those instruments in heavy rock music?
I actually find that I really like woodwind instruments. I really like jazz. I find it very inspiring and I try to play it in some context. I find a lot of people like Miles Davis inspiring and I don’t want to play like John Coltrane or Charlie Parker, I want to play like me. I think I’ve created something different in rock music. Prior to me playing my saxophone in Hawkwind, I can’t really remember any sax or woodwind musicians that played in rock music! Roxy Music had one guy but they were a show band, really. They weren’t like me. I was just playing free jazz in a rock band. I was inspiring people. I used to go to a music shop in London when we had a record that was being successful and the guy in the shop would say, “You can have anything you want for cheap!” I would ask him why, and he would tell me, “90 per cent of the people that come in here want to play saxophone, saying they wanted to play like you!” (laughs) I think all that’s fantastic and I’d just like to say that I think if people have any inkling towards playing music, they should play and express themselves in whatever way they want to, and just enjoy themselves. I say to people, have a good time and don’t give a fuck. You play for yourself, and if you’re enjoying it, people will enjoy it. That’s what I do, I play for myself but the outcome of it is that people like it. Because I’m having a good time, they have a good time (laughs).
Related: Gig Review: Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, Witch Mountain & Hedersleben Perform At Viper Room
Nik Turner links: website | facebook
Remaining tour dates:
09/04 – Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone Cafe
09/05 – Lafayette, GA – Meltasia Fest
09/06 – Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Fest
09/07 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
09/08 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
09/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot and Saddle
09/10 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater
09/11 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
09/12 – Boston, MA – Middle East
09/14 – Montreal, QC – IL Motore
09/15 – Toronto, On – The Garrison
09/16 – Rochester, NY – Bug Jar
09/17 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
09/18 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
09/19 – Rock Island, IL – RIBCO
09/20 – Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club
09/21 – Saint Paul, MN @ Turf Club
09/22 – Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret
09/23 – Saskatoon, SK @ Vangelis Tavern
09/24 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino
09/26 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue (early evening show)
09/27 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
09/28 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater