Interviews: Interview with John Lawton (O.T.R., Ex-URIAH HEEP & LUCIFER'S FRIEND)
Posted on Friday, November 21 @ 14:45:19 EST
Topic: Interviews
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John Lawton:
Bringing Hard Rock Back to Its Basics
by Tommy "Hashman" Hash
In this day and age of massive production, big melody lines, and huge arrangements, going back to the real basics of hard rock is something that hard to come by and as much as we love all of that - something that is stripped down seems like a breath of fresh air, sometimes we need to take a break and hear some straight ahead blues driven rock and roll. OTR (a.k.a. On the Rocks) is a new project formed by ex-Uriah Heep & Lucifer's Friend vocalist John Lawton and ex-Focus axeman Jan Dumee, where the worlds of the musical pasts collides into the world of the new for a record that hearkens the glory days of Nazareth, Aerosmith, & Johnny Winter as well as past endeavors for a sound that is not only timeless, but also much welcome - proving that Mamonama is a record that is much needed in the world of production monstrosity.
Having come together with a group of Brazilian musicians, recording the record across the globe in separate studios, you would have never noticed due to the record?s raw vibe. Getting together in the first place came about by connections with various people and the departing with past bands - however, after the band caught the attention of Lion Music boss Lasse Mattsson, well needless to say, the rest is history.
"OTR was organized by a friend of Jan and myself," begins Lawton "a guy called Rodrigo Werneck, who lives in Brazil. Rodrigo knew Jan from his work with the Dutch band Focus. Jan had just left the band , and Rodrigo felt we could work together. I met up with Jan in London and we discussd the idea, he played me some material he had been working on, which I liked. I then went over to Holland and worked with him on some demos. Jan knew some Brazilian musicians which he also felt would be good to work with, and so On The Rocks (OTR) was born"
As strange as it may seem, there was no blueprint for how Mamonama would turn out ? even with the band members working in two separate continents on the record. Nevertheless, the end result would yield excellent tunes. "Actually, I don?t think we had any vision as such," explains Lawton, "Yes there was always going to be influences of these former bands in whatever we did, but not intentional. Jan writes in a style which is comparable to Peter Hesslein from Lucifers Friend and of course the vocal, is always going to be compared to Uriah Heep, but I think we have developed our own style in the process of recording the album Mamonama"
"The recording was done in two parts and in two different countries. Jan went over to Brazil to record the basic tracks with the other guys, Xande (Figueiredo, drums), Marvio (Ciribelli, keyboards), and Ney (Conceicao, bass), unfortunately, I had musical commitments here, so I could not make the trip, but of course, we had agreed the song arrangements and keys beforehand. Jan would send me MP3's of the tracks as we went along so I could hear what was being recorded. Jan then came back and I went over to Holland to record the vocals and backing vocals. (Jan) went back again to Mosh studios in Brazil for the final mix and mastering. It seemed at the time, to be a long drawn out process, but we got there in the end."
Even though there might not have been a vision on the album, some of the songs themselves that ended up on the record had been in the works for some time, "Musically, some of the tracks had been written by Jan for Focus before he left the band," says Lawton, "so there were some jazz influences in there already, but as a vocalist, (they were) not the kind of melodies that were easy to catch. I had to change some lines to suit the vocals, but all in all, the basic structure was there. I think of all the songs on the album, the track "Hello" is the only one lyrically that I had pre-conceived ideas about. My mother died a few years ago from Altzheimers Disease, and I had often thought, although she was no longer able to recognize family, even myself, there must be something which she can relate to, but no longer capable of getting across to anybody. It was a sad time and I think that comes out in the song. The title track "Mamonama" is about a fictitious place where everything is good that once there, you will never want to leave. "Corner Club" is about a place where guys, even gals can go, to escape the 9 to 5 life that gets a lot of people in a rut.
And the rest of the songs are left to the listener for their own interpretation."
Xande, Marvio and Ney are accomplished rock musicians in Brazil, they caught the attention of Jan Dumee where their mix of a powerful rhythm section provided by both Xande and Ney as well as Marvio's arsenal of Hammond's, Rhodes', and Piano's (no big synth here) would contribute greatly to Mamonama's organic sound, "Jan had met and worked with the guys on previous trips to Brazil," elaborates Lawton, "he recommended them as being just what we needed to bring this project to life. He was right, I think the guys have given the songs the kind of feel that you don't often get with European musicians; especially Xande the drummer. He has a way of laying down a rhythm where you wonder, "where is he going with this" but all three of them are excellent."
Of couse, there are hopes for a tour, but the financial situation around the world has a lot of bands on edge about taking on such an endeavor, "we are looking to put OTR on the road as soon as possible. The world economic situation is not the best at the moment and I think a lot of tours are suffering because of that, but we hope to bring OTR and Mamonama to the world live in 2009."
Although tour plans are up in the air at this point, there are some ideas about a new record being brought to the table, but let's face it, Mamonama needs time to get it's due and soak in before anything goes to the drawing board and onto tape/hard drive for the follow up - however, Lawton still keeps busy doing other musical endeavors outside of OTR, "I do a lot of guest appearances around Europe," concludes Lawton, "which is kinda nice; working with other musicians is very invigorating and keeps me on my toes. Jan does a lot with his jazz/fusion combo, so we are busy, but OTR is what we are really all about. (As for the future of OTR) we don't really know right now, who knows what the future holds for any musician. That's what makes it magic, you just don't know what's around the corner"
Copyright & Publishing: 2008 Tommy Hash for Ytsejam.com
CLICK HERE to Read a Review of Mamonama.
Please Visit:
The OTR Website
OTR at MySpace
John Lawton Website
John Lawton at MySpace
Lion Music
Lion Music at MySpace
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