Initially launched in 2002, Bard ought to have been Massive Massive Practice’s remaining album, since founding bassist Greg Spawton’s private life was in items and so was the band’s line-up – however destiny had different plans. With the long-deleted document reissued, Spawton and former vocalist Andy Poole informed Prog about their love-hate relationship with these songs and that period.
On Massive Massive Practice’s 2024 tour, one of many highlights was the deepest minimize on the setlist. Lengthy, proggy and drawing on founding member Gregory Spawton’s ardour for historical past, The Final English King preceded the work of the band’s present iteration, courting again even earlier than the tenure of much-missed lead vocalist David Longdon.
The music was from their third album, Bard, from 2002, when the acclaim and status BBT now take pleasure in appeared gentle years away. They’d already been going for 12 years by then, and – with disillusionment setting in – the document was going to be their final hurrah.
The band had been successfully a duo: Spawton and co-founder Andy Poole, with a free musical collective round them. Poole, who left in 2018, has performed a vital function within the new, limited-edition reissue of Bard. A eager adopter of music software program Professional Instruments, he was the album’s de facto producer, and it’s from his archive of fabric that BBT’s engineer Rob Aubrey has remixed and remastered it.
“On the time, Bard did really feel like a starting of an ending,” Poole says. “We didn’t know whether or not we had been going to hold on. And plenty of the topic materials was autobiographical, across the dissolution of Greg’s first marriage. I can perceive how, in subsequent years, he hasn’t been overly eager on revisiting it.”
This Is The place We Got here In, A Quick Go to To Earth and Damaged English stay stuffed with attribute melodic concepts and musical vigour – however in addition they drip with unhappiness as Spawton bought divorced from his first spouse, with their two younger youngsters caught within the center.
“Bard takes me again to an sad time within the band’s story and my very own private life,” Spawton says now. “It’s a wierd factor to look again on, as a result of they had been such troublesome, depressing occasions, however with completely happy days by the tip of it. By then I used to be all sorted with my second spouse, Kathy.”
Whereas liking the album on the time, he went on to hate it, later describing it as “a horrible plod’ and including: “It’s wallpaper music, nothingy, and I really feel nothing about it.” He minted his personal phrase for anybody who introduced the album up; he would affectionately label them as ‘Bardstards.’
One known as it a Sunday morning album. I believed, ‘No, no, no!’ However listening again I might hear that chilled-out vibe
Andy Poole
His reflections do the music a disservice. Bard stays an fascinating hodge-podge of BBT’s old-school, Genesis-level prog, however with vestiges of the document’s personal period. For context, 2002 was the yr of Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia and Spock’s Beard’s Snow, the latter that includes BBT’s present drummer, Nick D’Virgilio.
“I hadn’t heard Bard in so lengthy that after I performed it again, it did really feel type of new,” says Poole. “I couldn’t all the time bear in mind what was coming subsequent. There’s Damaged English, this nice lengthy monitor with a feminine vocal [guest artist Jo Michaels]. It’s bought this instrumental part and so many concepts shoehorned into it. It goes all over, with this La Villa Strangiato guitar solo factor on the finish.
“One early evaluation stated it felt like an album you’d placed on on a Sunday morning to sit back out to. I believed, ‘No, no, no: this can be a rock album!’ However truly, listening again I might hear that chilled-out vibe. On the time Greg and I had been absorbing chilled Ibiza stuff – Groove Armada, Zero 7 – in addition to bands like The Blue Nile and Prefab Sprout. For those who put all these collectively and blend them with our born-and-bred prog, you get Bard.”
It was primarily recorded within the eating room of Spawton’s Bournemouth residence. Third founder member Ian Cooper, who’d already moved on, rejoined briefly so as to add some synth elements. Phil Hogg, from Spawton’s faculty band Equus, stepped in when drummer Steve Hughes refused to play on the album after listening to and hating the demos. Pianist Tony Müller discovered himself promoted to steer vocalist, with former incumbent Martin Learn busted right down to backing singer, quickly to exit altogether.
Their earlier document deal, with IQ’s label GEP, had lapsed after 1997’s English Boy Wonders, so the document appeared in 2002 on the Spawton/Poole indie label Treefrog. To drum up curiosity they flyered exterior different bands’ exhibits, doling out free sampler CDs to anybody who’d signal as much as their mailing checklist. Regardless of some constructive critiques within the prog press, they shifted simply 300 of the 1,000 CDs they’d made. BBT had been an act on the wane.
However they quickly picked up a contemporary head of inventive steam. There adopted two strong information with new singer Sean Filkins – 2004’s Gathering Pace and 2007’s meatily creative The Distinction Machine – and their fortunes modified decisively when Longdon entered the image for 2009’s breakthrough LP, The Underfall Yard.
“Folks say that was the pick-up level for Massive Massive Practice,” Poole displays, “however from [1994 debut] Goodbye To The Age Of Steam to The Distinction Machine, there’s fairly an enormous physique of labor and there’s some actually great things in there.”
There’s a very good 45-minute album in there, however the issue was it was a 60-minute album. So you find yourself with a little bit of a curate’s egg
Greg Spawton
Because the ranks of their followers – the ‘passengers’ – grew, so increasingly Bardstards had been born. Remaining copies of that document offered out, grew to become uncommon and began going for a fairly penny on eBay. It grew to become a badge of honour to have the ability to refer knowledgeably to it, from its brief, interstitial instrumentals – Harold Rex Interfectus Est, Malfosse and How The Earth From This Place Has Energy Over Hearth – to the epic For Winter and aching nearer A Lengthy End.
Remarkably, the one audio components Poole couldn’t discover had been a few of Jo Michaels’ backing vocals and some percussion elements by Phil Hogg. The 2 kindly resupplied these for the reissue, with different modifications being primarily beauty – an upgraded Mellotron pattern right here, a re-amped bass there.
“Andy performed bass on the document,” says Spawton. “I did take into account re-recording a few of it to make all of it a bit extra Rickenbackery, however I resisted. Just a few occasions it actually wanted some Taurus bass-pedal grit in there so I believed, ‘Fuck it!’ and added it.
“However the primary backing tracks sounded fairly good – Andy did a very good job again in my eating room. The unique album’s sound high quality suffered as a result of we simply ran out of cash to combine it correctly. There’s a very good 45-minute album in there, however the issue was it was a 60-minute album. So you find yourself with a little bit of a curate’s egg. However it’s not horrible!”
That’s in all probability as shut as he will get to embracing his personal interior Bardstard. The reissued version is a bodily affair – vinyl and CD solely; no digital – with two bonus tracks. Headlands is a stunning piece from through the authentic album periods, and the opposite is that majestic reside model of The Final English King, recorded throughout final yr’s tour by the present line-up, and sounding enormous.
There was all the time a very good music in there ready to get out; we simply didn’t fairly know learn how to get it collectively at that stage
Greg Spawton
It’s not shocking – Massive Massive Practice now contains some monster musicians: D’Virgilio, guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom, keyboardist Oskar Holldorff, violinist Claire Lindley and, settling properly into the function, frontman Alberto Bravin. When Bard first emerged, Spawton had performed a handful of pub gigs, a number of membership help slots with Jadis, and one washout pageant in The Netherlands. His personal bass-playing has been seasoned by way more recording and reside work within the ensuing 20 years.
This yr his band will return to the USA, board Cruise To The Edge for a second time, and play Canada for the primary. The Treefrog label’s lengthy gone, with present album The Likes Of Us launched on premium prog imprint InsideOutMusic. A follow-up is underway. Issues actually have modified, once more.
“We knocked the brand new model of The Final English King collectively in 5 hours,” Spawton remembers. “After we performed it, I had an enormous smile on my face. There was all the time a very good music in there ready to get out; we simply didn’t fairly know learn how to get it collectively at that stage. I’m a late developer in this stuff; but it surely’s good to be just a little older and nonetheless really feel you’ve bought extra to supply, and which you could nonetheless be taught and develop. It’s a little bit of a cliché, but it surely positively is the case in my life.”
As for Poole, the final gig he even attended was his swansong present with the band, at London’s Cadogan Corridor in 2017. He’s not musically lively, however he’s educating himself to play drums for enjoyable, and continues to be smitten by music, waxing lyrical about Black Midi frontman Geordie Greep and US chamber pop/indie rock artist Sufjan Stevens. He and Spawton have had some rocky moments prior to now, however there’s a particular sense of rapprochement within the air round this reissue.
“Definitely after I was leaving the band, my friendship with Greg had soured,” Poole admits. “However it’s been years now, and I’ve been prepared the band to do good issues. It’s been such a troublesome journey, primarily shedding David – which is simply probably the most horrible factor – however all the opposite setbacks too. It’s with immense delight that I see every part they do, and I do observe every part they do. I really feel extremely happy with being concerned with it.”
There’s the identical banter as ever. We did a photoshoot for the reissue, and it was with the identical bonhomie
Andy Poole
“The reconnection with Andy and Ian has been one of many nicest issues to return out of this,” provides Spawton. “Andy particularly has been extremely engaged – this may not have occurred with out him. And the timing feels proper. I feel there’s sufficient water below the bridge for him to look again extra fondly on Massive Massive Practice, quite than simply be pissed off with how issues ended. It’s introduced the previous gang again collectively and we’re on good phrases once more. It’s been a very constructive a part of the method.”
The three males even have their very own WhatsApp group. “It’s the Massive Massive Practice Founders Membership!” grins Poole. “We’ve been placing stuff on there and there’s the identical banter as ever. We did a photoshoot for the reissue, and it was with the identical bonhomie as there was proper at first. Folks don’t change, do they, actually?”