Formed in 1985, Galahad are one of those bands who must be admired not only for their creative output, a series of well-respected CDs, EPs, long-deleted cassettes and singles, but for their sheer tenacity: they?ve endured most of the typical hardships associated with a career in progressive rock, some unexpected ones as well, but now, in moving into their 18th year of existence, show very little sign of stopping.

The following interview was conducted with Galahad vocalist Stuart Nicholson not long after the release of the band?s latest release, Year Zero. Visit http://www.galahadonline.fsnet.co.uk/ for more information.

JB: Year Zero is not as much an album featuring songs as it is a kind of progressive symphony: what can you tell me about the writing and recording of this album?

SN: ?Progressive symphony? is an interesting way of describing the album, although it sounds it bit bombastic, but a fair description it is!

When we had finished Year Zero, we let it lie for a few days and then came back to it, listened to the whole piece with fresh ears and, at the risk of sounding a touch arrogant, we came to the conclusion that we had created something just a little different, certainly different from anything that we have heard before from any other so called 'progressive' band or indeed any other type of band from any generation. We were very satisfied with the end result, especially considering the early problems we had recording the album. I think it stands up very well as a great contemporary album...but then again I would say that as I'm in the band!

From our perspective Year Zero is essentially an album of ?music,? it's part of any genre as such, it's not a straight rock or prog album, it's not jazz, ambient or classical etc.. it contains elements of all those influences plus a whole lot else besides. The idea was to create a kind of musical journey, to which hopefully the listener would enjoy listening and gradually become pulled in and want to listen to the whole piece in one sitting! Not easy I know, but it is only an hour long a bit shorter than some other epic/concept-related albums! So, hopefully, Year Zero is not too hard-going!

JB: What was the hardest part of recording and/or writing this album?

SN: The hardest part was carrying on with the album after Neil, the bass guitarist, went literally AWOL; unfortunately, he also owned the Studio in which we had been recording the album!

It took a long time to prize the ADAT masters from Neil in order that we could carry on recording elsewhere, at that point we had only recorded the drums, everything else was still guide so there was still a hell of a lot of work to be done.

In fact the bass guitar on the final version, give or take a couple of drop ins, is actually Neil?s guide track which luckily we could use in the final version as he never made any further contribution to Year Zero. (Without going in to detail he had a few personal problems and decided to shut the rest of us out and he literally disappeared, to this day we still don't quite know what caused his strange behavior or what exactly he is up to at the moment! He is the Syd Barret of Galahad!)

Eventually we managed to transfer the ADAT tape recordings on to a digital recording system 'Pro-Tools' at another studio which actually and ironically made recording Year Zero a lot easier, that is also when we met up with engineer Jamie King who finished the album with us.

JB: How do you see this album in terms of your catalog to date?

SN: We see Year Zero as easily our most accomplished and cohesive album to date as well as the most ?Galahad-like? album we have produced. It is certainly closer to what we have always strived for in an album as far as atmosphere, sound, recording quality/techniques, etc. are concerned, mainly because it was produced solely by the band and its members; we had no outsiders tampering with our ideas or with the way we recorded and laid down the various instruments and tracks.

In the past we have had quite a problem with producers/engineers who could not understand where we were coming from and who consequently managed to destroy a lot of the spirit and soul of the band on tape, actually sucking the life out of the recordings! Although, in our opinion, most of our music is quite strong I feel that production has let us down in the past. Hopefully this time listeners can feel the soul, spirit and passion on this album as we were so focused on the problem, probably more so than on any other album. It really was a labor of love. I think all of the remaining four members made a big contribution to how the album was put together, something which has not always been the case in the past.

Ultimately, we have been around a while now and generally know exactly what we want in a recording. Apart from the initial problems with Neil, it has easily been the most satisfying and pleasurable recording experience yet!

JB: I love the various suites on here. What can you tell me about each of them?

SN: To be quite honest, it's difficult to talk about each individual section separately as it could take hours! Essentially, I had an idea to record an album which consisted of one piece of ever changing music, a kind of musical roller coaster ride! At first I wasn't sure how everyone would react at this idea as it was something that we had never done before, which was one reason for doing it, to try something different, but it didn't take long for everyone to sign on to the idea, Dean in particular was very enthusiastic, as it meant he could experiment with some jazz and some classical ideas, which eventually found their way onto the album!

Therefore, we wanted to make sure that there was plenty light and shade and musical diversity in order to maintain the listeners interest and not repeat too many sections which might have become boring to listeners. To that end I think, in general, we succeeded.

95% of the words were written before any music, as the ideas having been floating around on paper and in my head for a while. Lyrically it's not really a cohesive concept album, as such but a lot of the themes are all related. Year Zero was also very much a band-written album, the vast majority of the album, apart from the keyboard-led classical/jazz suites etc was jammed, written and honed by all of together in the rehearsal studio, with everyone putting in their ideas as were playing. We have not written this way, so overtly, before...and we are all very pleased with the results.

JB: What can you tell me about the song "Ever The Optimist"?

SN:?Ever the Optimist? is more a piece of music than a proper song. Dean just started playing this Moog run and we all thought, ?Wow! That sounds great!? and everyone gradually joined in and the tune gradually built up and became bigger and bigger with a kind of shuffle drum beat leading to Roy's beautiful sustained guitar melody and then the massive guitar chords backed by Mellotron. Vocally, I fancied singing some fairly minimal but meaningful words over the top of the chords, but in an ethereal and mysterious way, there is a bit of a Yes influence in there, which, I guess is pretty obvious. It is supposed be an uplifting piece, which hopefully it is!

JB: Some would see progressive rock as having originated with, say, Krimson, while others would argue that it actually started with The Beatles or The Moody Blues. While it might not finally matter, I wonder how you feel about the origins of the genre: who did it and what do we owe them?

SN: If progressive means moving forward and stretching musical boundaries, then I think Sgt. Pepper was definitely a watershed album, although it could be argued that Revolver was too as that included quite a few new ideas including the Indian influences etc.but Sgt. Pepper was more overt and certainly more orchestrated. Then there was the SF Sorrow concept album by the Pretty Things, which was highly original for its time.

If progressive means a style of music, then In the Court of the Crimson King was probably the first album of it's kind, although the Moodies? Days of Future Past was a bold and brave experiment with an Orchestra, but still quite poppy in places. Procul Harum also did it, but I believe that was a bit later, and then there's Deep Purple, we could go on and on...It depends a lot upon what your definitions of ?progressive? are!

JB: Speaking of that, I hear a surprising amount of Uriah Heep in your music (maybe I'm alone in that). Do you think they've been shortchanged in the grand scheme of things?

SN: That is surprising, I've never heard that before! They are certainly not an influence on us at all. I think I am probably the only member of the band with any Uriah Heep albums in his collection. I think I have Salisbury, Demons & Wizards and The Magician?s Birthday, not that I have heard them for years! They were always a band that I quite liked, not one that I loved and played all the time. My favorite track of theirs is probably ?Sweet Lorraine.?

As far as being short-changed is concerned, I couldn't really comment not being that familiar with their music. However, I gather they are still going strong so good luck to them, they still deserve some continued success as they have been hard at it for so long. (Has Mick Box's moustache turned gray yet?)

JB: Can you talk a little bit about your songwriting process? What say do individual members have, how deep do collaborations run, etc.?

SN: Musically Galahad is a democratic collective, anyone in the band can submit ideas which will then be considered by all the band members. We all have ideas, some more than others and we write in many different ways. Sometimes tunes and melodies come first, other times lyrics come first. Sometimes I write with Dean, other times with Roy. We also jam ideas as a full band in the rehearsal studio which sometimes materializes in to usable musical chunks.

I have always written all the lyrics as a matter of default really, I guess the rest of the band take it for granted that I'll write some words! However I don't mind, as at least it means that I know what I am singing (most of the time!) about and it makes me feel useful as if I am contributing something meaningful to the creative process in some small way!

JB: Galahad actually have a sense of humor. Isn't that a dangerous thing in this day and age?

SN: I cannot see that a sense of humor is ever dangerous, I think the opposite mindset is much more dangerous and destructive. I think it is very important to keep everything in perspective. At the end of the day it's music, not life and death!

People must also always be aware that it is also entertainment, yes there are serious, very serious moments and messages etc, but as I said before you need a bit of light and shade both in terms of the music itself and the lyrics and the overall feel of the album. In other words, hopefully the music evokes all manner of emotions, some sad, some thought-provoking and some humorous, providing, of course, you get the jokes, which are sometimes not that obvious!

JB: The band has been together, in one form or another since 1985. (Perhaps I should say: The band has been together since 1985!) What propels you at this point in time?

SN: ?In one form or another? is quite correct! Galahad 2002 is a completely different beast to Galahad 1985. The membership has changed, I think our musical horizons have broadened over the years and there has been a lot more music flowing under the proverbial bridge in the last 17 years, much of which has rubbed off on the band members. Galahad is bit like an extended family as we are in contact with most ex members and even get together socially ever so often, it's like our own exclusive little club!

We love being involved in making and performing music, that's it, it's that simple. As long as we can carry on writing, creating, rehearsing, playing, recording and releasing music we are happy. Of course, it would be great to sell more and more, be successful and make a decent living out of it, but we are pretty happy with the way things are. Also, as music does not provide our main source of income we can take more chances and experiment a bit, we don't have to write to order or write what we perceive what people want to hear.

It's also about the social side, the camaraderie as we are all good friends as we have known each other for so long (apart from Pete the new bass guitarist as he has only just joined, he is only 18 and was 1 year old when the band first formed, he wasn't even born when Roy wrote ?Ghost of
Durtal.? Spooky!!) We have such a laugh with Galahad, we'd be mad to give it all up. As long as we enjoy it we will carry on for eternity....

JB: What's the one album you own that if the other members found out about, you'd be thrown out of the band. (Or at the very least be teased mercilessly?)