A conversation with DAVE KILMINSTER

By Rita Bayer

Dave Kilminster is a highly regarded UK guitarist whose radical technique and mesmerizing sounds were featured alongside rock luminaries John Wetton (former ‘ASIA’ and ‘KING CRIMSON’ vocalist/bassist), drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and (ex ‘Uriah Heep’ keyboardist) Ken Hensley on international tour and on recordings. He was also writing, recording and touring with keyboard legend Keith Emerson who complimented Dave’s playing in the press: “Dave is a marvelous guitarist,” Keith told one journalist, indicating that Kilminster challenges him musically. “He’ll speed up Hoedown by a third and I’ll think What? Okay! We’ll go there.”

Since Dave won the first, prestigious “Guitarist of the Year” competition in 1991, he wrote, transcribed and recorded for practically every issue of Guitar Techniques in the last years, as well as hosting his own ‘Killer Licks’ column in Guitarist. Furthermore he has his own Sky TV series called ‘Killer Guitar’ on the Musicians’ M-Channel featuring both his electric and acoustic playing and he’s a featured instructor at the Academy of Contemporary Music in the UK.

In 1996 Dave recorded the classical guitar album ‘Playing With Fire’ along with former student Fraser T-Smith. Recently he released his highly acclaimed sophomore album Scarlet.
His latest effort is a song-based rock album. All tracks - written, sung, performed and co-produced by Dave, featuring the amazing Phil Williams and Pete Riley (KEITH EMERSON BAND) on rhythm instruments, his multi talented girl friend Anne-Marie Helder on backings who complements Dave on vocals brilliantly and even a string quartet.

Since June 2006 Dave Kilminster is touring with Roger Waters. THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON TOUR features an all star big band line-up, a veritable who’s who of the session world namely: Andy Fairweather - Low Guitar; Snowy White – Guitar; Dave Kilminster - Guitar and Vocals; Graham Broad – Drums; Jon Carin- Keyboards; Harry Waters – Hammond; Ian Ritchie – Saxophone; Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold, and Carol Kenyon - Background Vocals.

As some of you know, I frequently conduct interviews with Dave since Dec. 2004. On April 16, 2007 I finally got it to see him live on stage for the very first time & to hook up with him before as well as after the show. I guess, you can imagine, musicians don’t have plenty of time. They are always in a hurry :-)), so we only got it to talk about the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON tour; the other questions (solo album ‘Scarlet’; other music related stuff) are going to be answered by him via email a.s.a.p. I’ll add this part then, posting a note on Ytsejam.com.
Besides from being an exceptional musician, Dave is an extremely positive, extrovert guy, and a wonderful story teller who is obviously having the time of his life - wholeheartedly enjoying his current ride….very lovely to meet up with him and to see this AMAZING show, of course.

Dave Kilminster: [bursts out laughing – I guess, this question made him laughing because we already talked about such things while he was signing my stuff - right before we started with this interview]
I’m great, thank you. I’m having the time of my life.

R: You had a day off yesterday – what did you do?

Dave: Yesterday [still laughing] I went down to a little market just by the river here.... They were selling books, jewellery, antiques....And there was a really nice old man, who was making jewellery of cutlery.... old forks and spoons which he sort of hammered and made them into bracelets, rings, necklaces…. I bought far too much. [laughs] Then we did the normal sight-seeing stuff.

our view from where we were sitting - Cologne /Rhein bank / monumental cathedral

R: You’re on the road since Wednesday until mid July again. Do you know if this is going to be the end of this world tour?

Dave: I think, it probably is. [laughs] I saw an interview with Roger in an English magazine and it said, he wasn’t touring next year. So.... I guess, we’re not touring next year!!! Well, he has so many interests and he has got a lot of other stuff he wants to do as well. He wants to improve his golf, playing more tennis, enjoying life, I guess. Maybe even another album .... but I don’t know.

R: How is the response of the audience on your performance – you feel that the FLOYD fans accept you?

Dave: I think so. I hope so! [both laughing]

R: I hope so? I think so?

Dave: [still laughing] YOU have to tell ME. You can tell me tomorrow or after the concert. So far, it’s all been great. I guess, if someone doesn’t like it - maybe he won’t write to me, I don’t know. [both laughing] I guess, I’m a bit more of a rocker. It’s a bit more energy, a little bit more showman-ship....I try to keep it to a minimum but it still comes out because that’s the way I play music. I can’t help but perform music. I can’t stand there and play very soberly. If I’m playing music, I feel like it’s going through my body which is why I’ve to move with the music. I can’t dance at all...rubbish! [me laughing] – with the guitar...music starts.....and I play music. I become part of the music by moving with the music. I’m performing that way. It might be unusual for fans who like David Gilmour who just stands there and looks at his guitar....that’s not me. I can’t do that. I’d be cheating the audience if I did that; also I wouldn’t be performing properly.

R: Did you get out of the tour what you expected so far? Could you build up new contacts for instance?

Dave: I don’t really live life like that.
I mean, when I was inside America I met some promoters who were very interested in getting gigs for me. They love kind of flashy guitarists. So I made some good contacts in that respect, I guess.
I don’t expect anything. I like to be surprised. If you expect too much.....you might be disappointed. I enjoy all as much as possible and most has been beyond my wildest dreams. [me laughing] For instance, me and Bruce Willis. I met him backstage in New York. He enjoyed it SO much that he came to one of the Hollywood Bowl shows. He came over to me and said: ‘Hey Dave, how are you doing?’ I was like – he remembered me, he remembered my name!!!!......It’s just completely mind-blowing. It’s totally wild. I LOVE it!

R: To put it in a nutshell – you just enjoy the ride.

Dave: YEAH, EXACTLY! I’m not someone who’s out to make work in all this kind of stuff. It doesn’t interest me. I’d rather see what life's got in mind. I’ve no plans when we finish in July...who knows... I’ve lots of possibilities but no plans whatsoever.

R: What was the best moment on and off stage so far?

Dave: Wow.....mhmhmh....I think, maybe Israel. Nobody knew what to expect when we went to play Israel. There were about 56 000, 58 000 people. I can’t remember exactly. It was such a warm, friendly, amazing audience. It was INCREDIBLE. We didn’t know what to expect and they just blew me away COMPLETELY. It was probably the biggest audience I had ever played to at that time. It’s totally AMAZING playing to so many people and also playing music that is such a huge part of people’s lives and consciousness. They don’t have a lot of live foreign acts in Israel - it’s a real privilege to play there.
The worst moment of the tour last year – a couple of days later when all the fighting broke out again. I was like … we played there a couple of days before….
I just feel so sorry for the people on both sides … I’m sure, they don’t want to be crazy and killing each other.....it’s such a crazy world sometimes.

One of the best moments off stage: There was a band dinner last year. Roger got up and he made this little speech – he mentioned all the people that he played with and how much he missed them all… but he said “I’ve got to say that this is the best band I’ve ever played with”. That’s a HUGE compliment.
A comment we hear from fans all the time is that they think, it’s the best show they’ve ever seen. I’m so happy to be just a small part of that. Also we just heard that we’ll be doing the LIVE EARTH festival as well. I think, that’s going to be one of my best moments. There’s supposed to be 2 billion people watching....I’m going to be slightly nervous. [both laughing]

R: You’re still nervous by now and then?

Dave: 2 billion people. Yeah! I’m nervous. [laughs]

R: Try to forget about the amount of people …just enjoy!

Dave: I’ll try.
I don’t get really nervous now. I get nervous if there’re specific people in the audience, I guess. Next month my mom and my 2 sisters are going to be in the audience. One of them has never seen me playing guitar ever and the other one has seen me playing classical guitar once.

R Really? How is that possible? You’re playing for 30 years now….

Dave: I don’t know. They have big families. One of them has 6 children, the other one has 3.

R: Wow. But you’ve none, right?

Dave: No. Maybe I’m too selfish for that at the moment. There’s still lots of stuff I want to do first. If I do something, I want to do properly. I don’t think I could have a child - and carry on touring around the world and concentrating on my music. There’s no rush. [laughs]

R: Well, there’s no rush for MEN in your age…. [laughs]

Dave: Exactly, yes.
Also - I never played near Bristol, the place where they all live. This tour we start in Manchester, then Birmingham, London and we go to Ireland. We don’t play in Wales, even not in Scotland which is a shame because the Scottish audiences are amazing. I think we definitely could play more shows.
I love being on the road. I’d be happy if Roger came up today and said “I’ve got gigs until…[me laughing, saying: “until 2009”] EXACTLY! GREAT! FANTASTIC. I’d be so HAPPY! It’s such a COOL job.
You know, when you’re self-employed you just have to work all the time..... it’s very difficult to make your living from playing music. Especially at the moment. If clubs, pubs have a band they often prefer cover- bands. If you want to do your own thing you’ve to play for free – it’s tough to make your living from…. I’ve been teaching and writing for magazines also. That helps.
Now I get paid. That’s GREAT!!!!
[me laughing – then I said that I won’t ask him how much he earns now but I pointed on his shopping bag. Dave was laughing – he showed me all the stuff he had bought and he proved in detail that each thing was sort of ‘sale of a Century’. I agreed – we were laughing again]

Keith Emerson, Pete Riley, Dave Kilminster, Phil Williams

R: If you think of touring with THE KEITH EMERSON BAND which was kind of a family thing on stage and off stage, with room for jamming on stage and think of touring with an all star big band line up like it is now, having to take over the bits of David Gilmour, playing each night the same stuff, each night in biggest venues, all perfectly arranged – what are the positive aspects of each way of touring?

Dave: [laughs] Well, I really have enjoyed both. I LOVED jamming with Keith Emerson. He was one of my musical heroes. He still is. Essentially they are two completely different things. One of them is a rock concert and the other is a rock show. With Roger it’s the visuals, the lighting, it’s the music he creates, the sound effects and stuff. All is very organized. Everything is played to click track. We all have in-ear monitors. It’s a great discipline to have.......but it’s essential like a show, it’s like you went to ‘We Will Rock You ’.

R: Isn’t it boring for you to play each night exactly the same stuff?

Dave: No. Not for me, not for any of us, I think. We continually improve, I guess. This is why we have sound checks. It’s like: ‘can we sort this out, can we change the lighting on this?’
I think, I’m playing all a lot better than last year. I always want to improve.....whatever I do. So, I don’t get bored. I think: ‘how can I make that better? How can I make it more like the original – with more passion’ whatever. I do that with everything. It’s my personality, I guess.

R: You know, I’m reading your tour diary frequently – therefore I know that you, Keith, Phil and Pete are good friends – touring with Keith is sort of a family thing….

Dave: This is like a big family as well now. It’s a huge family. Not just the band, the crew as well. There’s not anyone I wouldn’t like to hang out with. We’ve dinner together, we go for drinks….. Everyone gets along amazingly well.
I love Pete, Phil and Keith and I hope we can work together again because I think, what we had was very special. It’s a different thing to what we have with Roger. It’s just..... emphasis on different aspects of music, I guess.

photo: Simon Wimpenny

R: You haven’t heard anything from Keith in the meantime? I mean, you still don’t know if you’re a full band member of THE KEITH EMERSON BAND?

Dave: Well, he got Marc Bonilla to fill in for me. I don’t know. I saw Keith when he came to the Hollywood Bowl show last year because he lives in LA. We got to hang out. We went out for dinner. It’s really, really lovely to spend some time with him. We went to a karaoke bar...... sang some silly stuff and got drunk…

R: and there’s no talk about a KEB album together with you? Maybe it’s a secret, I don’t know.

Dave: No, it’s not a secret. It is possible. I’ve been far too busy since the beginning of last year to consider that. I’m hopefully going to see him when we play Hollywood again. Who knows .....I’d really love to record an album with him. We already started to write some tunes and I think we could make a great album. I love that style of playing as well. It’s more improvising, you’re just going out on a limit. We all go in the same direction, it’s more an organic thing. It’s a bit more a mess, I guess. [laughs]
Well, Roger Waters tickets are very expensive. You can’t have bad shows. They have to be good. And they are!!!! It’s incredible high standard. I’ve never plaid with musicians like this. Consistently playing of ridiculously high standard. It’s amazing. It really is.

R: You see all positive.

Dave: Yeah, yes it is all positive! I enjoy both and I like to do both. It’s like asking what my favourite style of music is, or what my favourite music is to play – ANY! [both laugh] I love playing all music. Anything that has got a rhythm, that has got a soul, anything that moves people…. [laughs] I wasn’t a big FLOYD fan …

R: Yes, I remember when we talked before the tour – you even did not know many songs, you had to practice a lot, I guess.

Dave: I had to learn a lot stuff but I’m a quick learner. [laughs]

R: …but you like what you have to play now, right?

Dave: Yes, of course! But I didn't realise… at that time. It probably took a few weeks being on tour to realise how much this music affects people. When you look out and you see people crying because of the tune you’re playing......those reactions are still special whether you’re playing the same stuff each night or not.
The only time it wasn’t 100% positive maybe was when we played ‘Leaving Beirut’ in America a couple of times which is very anti-Bush…..
I played bass guitar on that one ...…so I enjoyed it. [me laughing] I played Roger’s bass in fact.

Dave playing Roger’s bass

R:Really?

Dave: YEAH! We played that number and I played bass….I was just having a great time…at the back playing with Graham. Again that’s a different discipline as well. I ain’t played bass on stage before. We were on rehearsals and Roger said: ”Can you play bass on this?” ….. I was thinking ‘Ok, give it a go’

R: Great!
What do you miss the most since you’re on tour with Roger – work-wise and personally? Maybe you miss your teaching and writing….

Dave: [bursts out laughing] You MUST be joking! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I love being on tour. New experiences all the time - new cultures, new people, the sights, new tastes and smells…..It’s FANTASTIC!!! It is the first time I have been to Cologne as well. You know, if I was at home on a Sunday… I might sit in the garden or I drive out and have a Starbucks coffee …. Yesterday we went to Cologne Cathedral … FANTASTIC!!!!. I don’t miss ANYTHING.

R: Lovely to hear. I’m very happy for you, really!
What are you doing to keep yourself in a good shape on tour – what are you doing for relaxation?

Dave: My only indulgence on tour probably is massages. I make sure that I get a massage once or twice a week because when you are travelling all the time or even when you are playing ….especially the shoulders, they lock up a bit - so you just get someone to work on your back. And also like here - there is a swimming pool and a gym. A lot of the guys actually go running….

R: You too?

Dave : Not so much, I prefer walking actually. I walked for about four or five hours yesterday.That is a nice exercise and you also get to see stuff. We are always in the van, going to the airport, going to the gig and back to the hotel, so in fact… if I can walk, I am actually much happier. So walking is a great exercise for me as well. Also I do the gym and I LOVE …. we got a ping-pong table backstage, this is GREAT!!! I played for about an hour and a half just before we went on stage and my shirt was dripping…. I was like “ok, I am not going to wear that one tonight then” [both laughing].
It would be very easy to get out of shape. There is always food. There is food backstage, there is food in the hotel, there’s food on the plane. It’s very easy to get out of shape, REALLY. [laughs] ….before the show you can order these AMAZING food…it tastes very good… so you HAVE to eat it ….[both laughing] …it’s BAD, it’s BAD !!!! I really have to go to the gym more, DEFINITELY! [still laughing] I am going to try to be careful for the next few months.......especially for the TV thing, the Live Earth Concert.

R: It is going to happen in summer, right?

Dave: July......the seventh, I think.

Dave’s signature on my jacket - still space left over for Keith, Phil, Pete…. ;-)

R: Do you know how much crew you take with you and how much local crew you usually use? Do you have an idea?

Dave: No idea.
I think we maybe have a crew of twelve or fifteen people that come with us all the time.

R: That’s not much…

Dave: No.
Well, we don’t take much looking after - we are all professionals. We have one guy that looks after the guitars, one guy that looks after the drums, one guy that looks after the keyboards, one guy that looks after Roger’s bass…

R: what about the medical attendance - you don’t take a doctor with you ?

Dave: No,no, no...

R: and if anyone is falling ill?

Dave : Well, we just contact the local doctor. Yeah, we have done that before…but we have been pretty fortunate so far. There has been a bit of a food poisoning in South America and some of the band and crew were suffering a bit… we just got a doctor in who gave them some stuff, so they were ok.

R: What equipment do you use here on tour?

Dave: oh, that is exactly the same as on the website. [view gear-list & photos here]

R: So you take ALL with you?

Dave: Yes. I’ve got 2 electrics, [photos below: Dave's green and tabacco Richie Kotzen signature series Fender Telecaster] a 6 string acoustic, a 12 string acoustic, a pair of Cornford amps, a pedal board, Cornford cabs as well. That’s pretty much it.

R: and you even use everything?

Dave : Yeah, everything gets used because it obviously costs a lot money to ship equipment. They have to ship it or to fly it to the next concert, that’s expensive. If you're not using it…. they'll throw in the Rhein or whatever…[me laughing]

R: Did it ever happen that anything arrived too late or you lost a guitar or whatever?

Dave: No, everything is VERY professional and very good organized. [laughs] I was thinking about this the other day…I thought, my career so far is slowly going up…I met Roger Waters doing these HUGE gigs… where do I go from here? And I was thinking....‘ok, it’s hardly worrying…’ [laughs] ......I’d start going back down, you know. Everything about the tour is the best you get.

R: So, you never regret …

Dave: NO!!!. And everyone here is really professional. We have the best sound guys, the best lighting guys.....we got the lighting guy who is used to do the PINK FLOYD stuff. Our sound guy is the guy who did QUEEN for that.....20 years? Little things do go wrong but they generally get sorted very quickly because they’re just ridiculously organized.

R: How do you go about sound checking, how long does it take usually? Do you do it in groups?

Dave: We do all together and it takes 15-20 min.

R: Not more?

Dave: No, we do the same every time, it is just a test. We do a little bit of „Shine on“, a little bit of „Mother“, a little bit of „In the Flesh“, that’s pretty much it.

R: What is going on backstage before you appear on stage?

Dave: That depends. We play ping-pong and darts.

R: no styling? You don't have makeup artists?

Dave: No. Do I need makeup? [laughs – me saying “No, no...not YOU!!”- Dave still laughing] No, the boys are doing stuff on the computer....and the girls are doing their hair and makeup which takes about 2 or 3 hours generally… ... No, I’m kidding but it takes a while. [laughing the whole time] We’re just hanging out and have fun. We have food-fights…..all the usual stuff. I don’t warm-up for singing because I don’t have to sing up to the 4th number. The first couple of numbers I just sing along....... so, I’m playing the guitar, singing in the background. That’s the way I warm me up for when I sing my own things. It works really well.

R: Roger is not coming up with final advices, or you all are having a drink together - something like a ritual, you know what I mean?

Dave: Oh, we have a little ritual. It’s kind of a group-hug, we all form a circle…. It’s actually really nice. A little bonding thing before we go on stage. That’s fantastic!!!

R: [laughing] everything is fantastic…

Dave: YEAH! [laughing]

Dave: Thank you !!!
I feel very good! I just have to loose a little more weight. [laughing]

R: Describe how you feel on stage, the atmosphere, how much you can realise of what is going on on stage as well as in front of the stage.

Dave: That depends. In South America, the places were so big. Sometimes you don't even realise how many people are there til near the end and they put the lights up and you think ...„oh, my God! So many people are here“. It’s incredible, really incredible. Also, because of the in- ear-monitors … it actually cuts out a lot of the ambient noise…so really, you don’t hear as much of the audience-reactions as you'd like. You have the ear-monitors in....you can hear the clicks....you can hear yourself and whatever is needed to play the show….

You can see the audience… more so on this tour. It's not as big.... the audiences are much closer, but you can’t hear them properly until you take off the ear-monitors… you think: “wow, God, they’re noisey!“
So that’s the problem with the in-ear-monitors. They do separate you a little bit…. with Keith we just had monitors on the floor, it was loud on stage. [laughs] It just takes a while to get used to the ear-monitors. If you switch them off you don’t hear anything because they are especially moulded to your ears. It is a little bit uncomfortable sometimes. In the beginning I didn't want to wear them. As you get used to it, it’s fine. I can hear the audience a little bit through my microphone though.

photo: Simon Wimenny

R: so you like to interact with the audience.

Dave: TOTALLY !

R: How do you go about interacting with the audience usually? You fix a certain person, a certain group of people right in the beginning trying to hold contact with them the whole evening?

Dave: That really depends on the audience… Sometimes there’s a group of people shouting and waving, and generally getting into the gig… or maybe a few factions scattered around the arena… Sometimes it’s a group out on the wings that maybe have slightly restricted viewing… or maybe just some beautiful woman in the audience that I’ll communicate with… Or sometimes everyone is just so wrapped up in their own emotions at that time that they’re not really making eye contact, and so you just disappear inside the music with them… Some parts of the show I usually play with my eyes closed...

R: Describe your relationship with Roger Waters in 3 words.

Dave: That’s a really tough question!! I could give you three words, but you wouldn't necessarily know exactly what they mean in this instance… or what context to put them in… Ok, here’s the first three that come to mind…
Respectful, Trusting, Unspoken…

R: What do you appreciate most on him?

Dave: He has loads of amazing qualities… Creative, hard working, very intelligent and quick witted, warm, funny, with a wicked sense of humour, loyal, generous… Too many things really...

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Part 2: all about Dave’s solo album SCARLET & other music related stuff: here

For further information on Dave Kilminster visit:
wwww.davekilminster.com
www.myspace.com/davekilminster

For more information on Roger Waters and the DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Tour please visit :
www.Roger-Waters.com

Former interviews with Dave Kilminster: