1 Rain (Part 1)2 Anywhere Else But Here
3 Path Of Reason
4 Riders On A Wave
5 Price Of Freedom
6 LU2
7 Rain (Part 2)
8 Angels And Stones
9 Wind And Gales Rain (Part 3)
10 When The Whistle Blows
11 Trying To Grow Young
12 Rain (Part 4)
13 Home Again
14 One Hundred And Twenty
15 Not A Broken Man
If progressive music and concept albums are "your cup
of tea" you will definitely need to
listen to "Freedom To Glide"
Let's start with an introduction to the band taken from
their website http://www.freedomtoglide.com/home
F2g is the coming
together of musicians Pete Riley and Andy Nixon. Both Pete and Andy have for
many years played together in the Pink Floyd tribute band Dark Side of the
Wall, an award winning Midlands based band that has toured the UK from
Whitehaven to the Isle of Wight –‘That’s how we both met.’
Unbeknown to them at that time, on the 13th March 2010 the seed was sown for what would become Freedom To Glide.
The tribute band were playing a concert in Manchester and after the band had sound checked Pete was chatting to Andy about a song ‘Hypnotized’ that he was recording. The song needed some acoustic guitar so he asked Andy if he’d be interested in taking a listen and maybe laying down the guitar. A week later, the track came back not only with guitar, but drums, bass and backing vocals! ‘It was just awesome. The song had now taken a totally new direction. Andy’s input had changed everything, musically we just simply clicked – Thinking back, it was one of those eureka moments.’
Unbeknown to them at that time, on the 13th March 2010 the seed was sown for what would become Freedom To Glide.
The tribute band were playing a concert in Manchester and after the band had sound checked Pete was chatting to Andy about a song ‘Hypnotized’ that he was recording. The song needed some acoustic guitar so he asked Andy if he’d be interested in taking a listen and maybe laying down the guitar. A week later, the track came back not only with guitar, but drums, bass and backing vocals! ‘It was just awesome. The song had now taken a totally new direction. Andy’s input had changed everything, musically we just simply clicked – Thinking back, it was one of those eureka moments.’
Soon after
‘Hypnotized’, Pete sent Andy a keyboard intro with all sorts of military radio
chatter and sound effects and the simple statement – ‘it’s a song about WW1
soldiers falling like rain on the battlefield, fancy a crack at this one too?’
The reply came back ‘Roger that…’
Rain was born!
During April both Andy
and Pete worked on ‘Rain’ but that wasn’t the only track that was being
written. Andy wrote demo’s for ‘Wind’ and an instrumental track that would
later become 'Price of Freedom'’. This was getting serious.
Geographically we live
over forty miles apart. Andy in West Midlands and Pete in Derbyshire. This
hasn’t been an issue though. We both have our own studios at home and the
recording is done separately then it comes together electronically via the
Internet and hard copies on discs. In fact we could be on the other side of the
world and still be creating music together. You don’t need to be in the same
room to create ideas and demos, but we do get together for the important stuff like
mixing and idea discussions – after all we are a band.
So we had a concept
for an album, we had the first set of demos songs steadily building but one
thing was missing – we didn’t have a name?
This proved to be the
hardest part about our collaboration so far. We spent hours and used up nearly
all of our free text messages sending ideas to and thro, but a name just simply
came out of nowhere, a phrase that just said it all:
Freedom To Glide
Freedom To Glide
Chatting with Andy
And Pete:
J.R.: Hi Guys, nice to have you both sharing your music and
your thoughts in TSB.
A.N.: It's an absolute pleasure Jorge thanks for having us along.
P.R.: Hi Jorge, great to meet you.
A.N.: It's an absolute pleasure Jorge thanks for having us along.
P.R.: Hi Jorge, great to meet you.
J.R.: From the comfort zone of
already successfully written tunes to
the uncertainty of new music. The Big Leap
from Cover Band to an Original Material Band. What can you tell us the writing
process, the fears and mostly the rewards of creating a brand new concept
album.
A.N.: There were no fears in creating this album for the simple reason that we started out with the sole intention of putting together an album mainly for our own amusement and if anyone liked it then, great! As it turned out, we released an EP of three songs from our not yet completed album and we were knocked out by the reaction. We sold out very quickly. We realised we were on to something. At this point we had around 2 thirds of the album written. We don't sit in a room and write together as we live 40 miles apart. Ideas go back and forth through file sharing, emails, texts and good old phone calls. If either one of us has a strong idea to develop then they have all the room they need to try things out. It may be a little slower but I think we get the best out of ourselves that way.
A.N.: There were no fears in creating this album for the simple reason that we started out with the sole intention of putting together an album mainly for our own amusement and if anyone liked it then, great! As it turned out, we released an EP of three songs from our not yet completed album and we were knocked out by the reaction. We sold out very quickly. We realised we were on to something. At this point we had around 2 thirds of the album written. We don't sit in a room and write together as we live 40 miles apart. Ideas go back and forth through file sharing, emails, texts and good old phone calls. If either one of us has a strong idea to develop then they have all the room they need to try things out. It may be a little slower but I think we get the best out of ourselves that way.
Being the singer I tend to tackle the melody
and lyrics as they need to be written in my vocal range and with words that I
can at least spell! ;) Seriously though,
I'm passionate about lyrics especially with this subject matter. It demands the
best of you. The great thing about collaborating is that you can be given an
idea/concept for a song, which is always the place to start but not as easy as
it may sound. Lyrics are easier to write when you already have a title. Pete's
idea of "soldiers falling like rain on the battle field" is a prime
example. It all fell into place once we had the concept.
P.R.: To be honest, though I love playing in a very successful Pink Floyd tribute band, my real love is for original music. I’ve been playing in bands since I was in my teens and all of them except Dark Side Of The Wall and a previous Floyd band have been originals. Playing other people’s music is a great way to learn new techniques and styles, but writing your own songs is far more rewarding.
P.R.: To be honest, though I love playing in a very successful Pink Floyd tribute band, my real love is for original music. I’ve been playing in bands since I was in my teens and all of them except Dark Side Of The Wall and a previous Floyd band have been originals. Playing other people’s music is a great way to learn new techniques and styles, but writing your own songs is far more rewarding.
So the transition
from covers to original was a natural one really. The beauty of what we are
doing is that Andy and I really ‘click’ when it comes to ideas and writing. As
Andy said, we didn’t originally set out to write a full blown concept album, it
just sort of grew all on it’s own.
Our writing methods may not be conventional in the usual band sense, but it really works for us. The great thing is that from a spark of an idea, or a simple melody shared between us, we create what we hope is a unique and recognisable sound all of our own. Clearly the Pink Floyd connection is talked about a lot, which is fine as we both love Floyd but it’s important to create you own sound and not become just another Floyd ‘clone’.
Our writing methods may not be conventional in the usual band sense, but it really works for us. The great thing is that from a spark of an idea, or a simple melody shared between us, we create what we hope is a unique and recognisable sound all of our own. Clearly the Pink Floyd connection is talked about a lot, which is fine as we both love Floyd but it’s important to create you own sound and not become just another Floyd ‘clone’.
J.R.: Rain credits: Andy on
guitars and vocals, Pete on Keyboards, but who play the other
instruments? Any additional musicians or just the two of you?
A.N.: We cover the main body of instruments between us. Pete on keys and myself on guitars, bass and the odd (easy) keyboard part. We rely on other musicians for things like, pipes, trumpet, female backing vocals and of course our great friends Elation Community Voices, a 100+ strong choir!! We’ve met a lot of great people along the way.
P.R.: Between us we can pretty much cover the main parts in the recording process, but to embellish our sound it’s great to bring in other talented musicians. But it doesn’t stop at just the music. Andy mixes our music and does an amazing job of it, though I do have to step in to correct his mistakes all the time – haha ;D. The final mastering is done by a fantastic engineer friend of ours to put the final polish on the recording ready for release.
A.N.: We cover the main body of instruments between us. Pete on keys and myself on guitars, bass and the odd (easy) keyboard part. We rely on other musicians for things like, pipes, trumpet, female backing vocals and of course our great friends Elation Community Voices, a 100+ strong choir!! We’ve met a lot of great people along the way.
P.R.: Between us we can pretty much cover the main parts in the recording process, but to embellish our sound it’s great to bring in other talented musicians. But it doesn’t stop at just the music. Andy mixes our music and does an amazing job of it, though I do have to step in to correct his mistakes all the time – haha ;D. The final mastering is done by a fantastic engineer friend of ours to put the final polish on the recording ready for release.
On top of all this,
we also produce all of our own cover art, photography, marketing material and
even videos for instance the Rain Part 1 film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hghhhlWSOg. You could say we have the full package :D
This project has led us to meet some of the most amazing people, from choirs to
WW1 re-enactors – it’s been a fantastic journey so far.
A.N.: It's also been an amazing learning experience. As Pete says, we produce and manage everything to do with Freedom To Glide. It demands an enormous amount of time, effort and the commitment but it also requires particular skill sets which luckily, between us, we have. Pete is a graphic designer, photographer, videographer amongst many other things and to have all of that in house is a huge advantage to say the least! It allows us to be in total control of our creativity, production and management. A dream for any artist. We learn a lot from each other's abilities. Obviously, I have to step in and correct his mistakes all the time - haha, touché! ;D
P.R.: Haha, thanks Andy, but seriously, we kind of are in a very unique position because of our combined skill sets, it really does give us full creative freedom.
A.N.: It's also been an amazing learning experience. As Pete says, we produce and manage everything to do with Freedom To Glide. It demands an enormous amount of time, effort and the commitment but it also requires particular skill sets which luckily, between us, we have. Pete is a graphic designer, photographer, videographer amongst many other things and to have all of that in house is a huge advantage to say the least! It allows us to be in total control of our creativity, production and management. A dream for any artist. We learn a lot from each other's abilities. Obviously, I have to step in and correct his mistakes all the time - haha, touché! ;D
P.R.: Haha, thanks Andy, but seriously, we kind of are in a very unique position because of our combined skill sets, it really does give us full creative freedom.
J.R.: Looking forward to the next
natural and awaited step: "The Live experience". Any plans of forming
a touring band?
A.N.: We certainly do have plans to tour, with a five piece band. That in itself is a task not to be taken lightly but of course we're very excited about it. Playing live is the very reason I picked up a guitar in the first place so it simply has to happen. There’s the possibility of the choir making an appearance at one or two shows so we’ve got a lot to look forward to! Watch this space!
P.R.: As Andy said live shows are why we wanted to become musicians. If money was no object, we’d really go to town on the live shows. But why stop there, if money was no problem we’d make Rain into a West End stage show!! But we have to start small, so until then we’ll make our live performances as impressive as possible on whatever budget we can find – but it’s good to have a dreams isn’t it.
A.N.: We certainly do have plans to tour, with a five piece band. That in itself is a task not to be taken lightly but of course we're very excited about it. Playing live is the very reason I picked up a guitar in the first place so it simply has to happen. There’s the possibility of the choir making an appearance at one or two shows so we’ve got a lot to look forward to! Watch this space!
P.R.: As Andy said live shows are why we wanted to become musicians. If money was no object, we’d really go to town on the live shows. But why stop there, if money was no problem we’d make Rain into a West End stage show!! But we have to start small, so until then we’ll make our live performances as impressive as possible on whatever budget we can find – but it’s good to have a dreams isn’t it.
J.R.: I would love to see this show! :-)
Next question: The future: "The Wait" is the prequel to a trilogy started with "Rain". Could you give us a "sneak peek" of the follow up album?
A.N.: The next album I'm afraid we have to keep under wraps for now. What we can say is that it will be the 2nd album in a Trilogy and it will definitely sound like Freedom To Glide. Not much of a sneak peek but there are things we simply don't know ourselves yet as we're still in the writing stage and new ideas crop up all the time. It's a very organic process. For example, you mentioned ‘The Wait’ Jorge. Now that album was originally intended to be a 2 or 3 track EP featuring ‘Wind And Gales’ coupled with another exclusive track or two. But after writing those exclusive tracks we realised they were so well connected to each other that we felt we should develop it into more of a concept piece and so it became a 6 track mini concept album in its own right. It became the perfect predecessor to RAIN.
P.R.: Writing again after finishing and producing Rain feels great. We have so many ideas to take forward and we may possibly look at a new EP release later in the year? Everything is up in the air at the moment and we have a lot to do between now and the release of album 2, but both of us are very excited about how the first set of songs are sounding. Watch this space : )
Next question: The future: "The Wait" is the prequel to a trilogy started with "Rain". Could you give us a "sneak peek" of the follow up album?
A.N.: The next album I'm afraid we have to keep under wraps for now. What we can say is that it will be the 2nd album in a Trilogy and it will definitely sound like Freedom To Glide. Not much of a sneak peek but there are things we simply don't know ourselves yet as we're still in the writing stage and new ideas crop up all the time. It's a very organic process. For example, you mentioned ‘The Wait’ Jorge. Now that album was originally intended to be a 2 or 3 track EP featuring ‘Wind And Gales’ coupled with another exclusive track or two. But after writing those exclusive tracks we realised they were so well connected to each other that we felt we should develop it into more of a concept piece and so it became a 6 track mini concept album in its own right. It became the perfect predecessor to RAIN.
P.R.: Writing again after finishing and producing Rain feels great. We have so many ideas to take forward and we may possibly look at a new EP release later in the year? Everything is up in the air at the moment and we have a lot to do between now and the release of album 2, but both of us are very excited about how the first set of songs are sounding. Watch this space : )
J.R.: Thank you guys! It was lovely
to have you with us at "This Strange Blog"
A.N.: Thank you so much Jorge the pleasure is all ours. We’ve spent so long bringing the whole Freedom To Glide/RAIN project together it’s a delight to have been asked to come and talk about it all.
P.R.: Indeed, thanks Jorge, we appreciate you chatting with us. Hope you’ll invite us back later in the year to chat again, we should have more news on the next album by then. And we’d just like to thank everyone out there for supporting us and our music, we couldn't do any of this without you guys and gals :D
J.R.: You will be always welcome!!! Cheers!
A.N.: Thank you so much Jorge the pleasure is all ours. We’ve spent so long bringing the whole Freedom To Glide/RAIN project together it’s a delight to have been asked to come and talk about it all.
P.R.: Indeed, thanks Jorge, we appreciate you chatting with us. Hope you’ll invite us back later in the year to chat again, we should have more news on the next album by then. And we’d just like to thank everyone out there for supporting us and our music, we couldn't do any of this without you guys and gals :D
J.R.: You will be always welcome!!! Cheers!
Do you want to listen to some f2g?
Music Video reproduced by kind permission of Freedom to GlideIf your equipment is not compatible with this video clip, please check the YouTube link:
Thanks f2g for sharing this song with us!!!
For more f2g:
http://freedomtoglide.bandcamp.com/
First award for Freedom to Glide?
This Sunday (Jan 12th 2014) Shaun Geraghty's Internet-radio prog
show "The Prog Mill" will feature the "The Prog Mill Listeners
Best Prog Album chart of 2013"
Will f2g make it to the top 10?...
...the answer will be at Shaun's show: Tune in to http://www.staffordradio.com/ this Sunday at
10:00 PM UK time.
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