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You've
just felt the acid start to kick in when your friend pulls a prism
out of his pocket and presents it as a "Mr. Quimby's Trip
Enhancer". Nope, it's neither a flashback of one of your many
college experiences or anything out of a vintage Russ Meyer movie.
It's the seed of the mind-expanding musical genius of U.K. based Mr.
Quimby's Beard. The ultimate marriage of spacerock, prog and
straight-up psychedelia. Hellride
Music talks to MQB vocalist/keyboardist and effects maven, Hardy
about the storied history of the band, it's incredible music, and
the current state of Spacerock. Hardy: In 1983 Kidd & Ray along with a couple of friends formed a Punk band and called it "S.A.D." .The original line up (although non of the four had ever even tried to play an instrument) became: Ray: vocals Kidd: Bass Eddy Stoker: Guitar Bull: Drums 1984 After about six months Eddy discovered that if he pressed his finger on a string and move it up the fret board the note changed, so it was decided a new guitarist was needed. Up until then I'd only been involved as a song writer for the band as I also couldn't really play anything ( although I'd messed around with guitars bass' and keyboards when younger it had never developed past the making a lot of noise stage), but I stepped in as guitarist ( as no-one could be worse than Eddy ). Frankie Warsaw ( front man with punk band "Leather Face" now) while passing Ray's house heard us practicing and offered to teach me how to play the guitar. At this time Bull who still hadn't found the money for a drum kit or tried to play a set, dropped out, so we practiced without a drummer. About 4 months later we we're confident (if not competent ) enough to gig, Frankie although a fine guitarist not a drummer stepped in behind the kit, and even though it wasn't his chosen instrument, he was still the most impressive band member, quite honestly we were fucking terrible, but we loved it. S.A.D only lasted 4 local gigs and 1 dodgy demo which included a new member Matty (cover artist for SPCD 014 ) playing lead guitar, after which we never played with Frankie again.. If one person was responsible for the way we sound today it was Matty as he introduced the band to Spacerock not to mention mind opening drugs. So as our music turned more adventurous and included less and less lyrics, Ray featured on very little we did and we somehow ended up a three piece: 1985/87 Kidd: Bass, voices Matty: Lead Guitar, voices Hardy: Rhythm Guitar, voices Recording, under a working title of 21st Century Module we played some very weird music often using effected house hold items as percussion sounds and making synth noises with our mouths, the best tape ( and the closest to today's Quimby sound) that we recorded was a concept album entitled "Tonark" which included the original version of "The Forrest Song" ( later on our 1st MQB demo/album ).( We still recorded some songs under the S.A.D title with Ray's vocals during this period, nothing very memorable though. ). Mid 87/Mid 89 Nothing was recorded during this period because Ray, Matty and Kidd moved to London to work. Mid 89/91 Kidd: Bass, Sax, Guitars, Drum programming, voices Hardy: Keyboards, voices Kidd returned from London with a (very) small Casio Keyboard, and was now a better guitarist than myself, so it was decided that I would play keyboards and he would play everything else, which worked really well. So now recording under the name of "The Amazing Professor Tribbly And His Awesome Filling Machine" we recorded some of our finest work to date. Both "Bringin' Up The Acid (Out There)" & "Laugh in Ya Face" (1st s/t album) originally came from this partnership ( the only bit of B.U.T.A. that is the same now is the old people talking about heart burn & "Laugh In Your Face" was a 10 minute-plus jam ) along with other songs like, "The Rattle Lurwurp", "The Attack Of The Enormous Wur Wur Tubes" & "All For A Reefer". 1991/93 Ray ( now a good guitarist ) travelled up from London as often as he could and on each visit we recorded a couple of songs. The addition of a Korg Mono-Poly Synth & Zoom Guitar FX, give us a new sound, so we felt a new name was needed so Mr Quimby's Beard was born, although still only as a recording project and without a drummer. During this period we recorded over four albums worth of material which we passed amongst our friends. 1993 Ray: Guitars, Vocals Kidd: Bass, Vocals Hardy: Keyboards, Synth, Vocals FX Eddy Barrow: Guitars Gaz: Drums At
about this time Kidd joined Spacerock band Afresco Mantis (
initially as a flute player but now a flute/synth player ). I went
along to watch them gig and was bit by the gigging bug or something.
Gaz was at the gig and although we'd never talked I knew he was a
really good drummer back when we were SAD, so we asked him to join.
We'd done a few 4 track songs with Eddy Barrow playing lead guitar
so we got him involved and performed live for the first time as Mr
Quimby's Beard 6 weeks later. Hellride Music: You know that I have to ask you about the name of the band and how you came up with that moniker. It definitely stands out from the pack.... Hardy: I think the name “Mr Quimby” originally came from cartoonist Fred Quimby. When we first started tripping, Matty (who’s a Tom & Jerry fan) would often pull unexpected objects out of his pocket, like a prism or something and call it “A Mr Quimby’s Trip Enhancer”. A few years later he wrote a silly song (as he often did) about Mr Quimby who had a detachable beard, and Ray on reading it decided it would be a cool name for the band, as obvious as that really ;-) Most
people think it has sexual connotations but sadly (although it could
have) this wasn't the intention. Hellride Music: You've been described as a cross between Pink Floyd and Hawkwind - do you think this is accurate? How would you describe the MQB sound? Hardy: I’ve heard it said on more than one occasion ;-) and I still find it quite flattering. I suppose it’s fair to say that both Hawkwind and Pink Floyd have influenced us (along with, but) probably more than others, but I believe that we’ve added enough of ourselves to our music to give us a distinctly different and unique sound. I think of Mr Quimby’s Beard as Spacerock, but we’ve also been described as Psychedelic Rock, Prog-Rock and Festival Rock!! So take your pick. I suppose we cross over into quite a few genres, which is no bad thing. Our
new Euro 2002 Tour poster describes us as “Dark Psychedelia for
dark times”, so maybe we’re the forefathers of a new sub-genre
“Dark Psychedelic Rock” ;-) Hellride Music: As I listen to "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries of ..." I'm amazed at the textures and layers that are used in each song...the music is more of a "journey" than anything you tap your feet to, although this is entirely possible on songs like ending of "Mystery (part 1)" where there is almost a ska-like beat going on. In your mind, can you tell me what you want the audience to come away with after listening to the album? Hardy: You’ve already answered the question for me, as from the onset we set out to create an album which would take the listener on a journey, whether or not it's the same journey as the next man, isn't important, as long as they feel the album took them somewhere. But
not exactly a concept album. It's never really been a story as such,
more a loose idea or a seed that we've tried and plant into the
listeners imagination, the rest is up to them. All we have done is
“designed the set” so to speak and “handed out a few props”
leaving the listener the opportunity to fill out blanks. Hellride Music: How is "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries of ..." different from your debut album or 1997's "Out There"? Why so long between albums? Hardy: When we started work on “The Definitive…” it was always our intention to create a more complete album, that sounded more than just a mere collection of songs. “Out There” is good for what it is especially if you consider that it was recorded on an 8 track porto studio and the band's equipment was hardly what you’d call studio quality. “Out There” was our 2nd album but was never really recorded for release. We were just about to start recording our first (s/t) demo album when guitarist Ed left the band, so we recorded our less guitar based/driven songs first. Then shortly after finishing the 1st album Davey Trashbastard joined the band, so we returned to the studio and recorded the remainder of our set, “Out There”. Both albums were recorded in 1994 and were sent as demos to labels and zines etc. Demi-Monde offered to release “Out There” on their label and although we tried to persuade them to let us re-record the best of the two demos to make for a better “more complete” album, they were worried about “losing the feel”, and told us “Out There” or nothing, so for want of a better offer we signed. It was almost 3 years after signing before the album was finally released in Nov 1997. As the small print in our contract gave the record label the rights to any new songs we wrote, in fact if I’d had a tuneful fart on the planet Jupiter between Jan 95/98 it would belong to Demi-Monde, we decided to wait before starting work on a new album. So
work on “The Definitive….” started in 1998 and was released in
2000. Hellride Music: What led to the departure of Gaz (drummer) during the recording of "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries of ..." ? Who eventually replaced him and how has this changed the chemistry of the band? Hardy:
Gaz actually was still with Mr Quimby’s Beard up until after the
release of “The Definitive….” It was April 2000 when he left
the band. Gaz is an amazing drummer, but sadly musical differences
between him and the rest of the band came to a head and Gaz chose to
leave. He was replaced by long standing friend Chris Walton, whose
brother Jim had already been a guitarist in MQB for the 6 months
prior to Gaz’s departure. Both Jim & Chris have helped to add
a new twist to the Quimby sound, fresh blood and new ideas come hand
in hand. With no disrespect intended towards any of our past members
the current line up is without a shadow of doubt my favourite line
up, they’re all so easy to work and get along with, something that
I think really shows through especially when you see us live. Hellride Music: How has the touring been going for the band? I understand you played the Strange Daze Festival in Cleveland Ohio last year to great acclaim... Hardy: The whole US tour was great, playing with Harvey Bainbridge & Nik Turner was a great honour. I’ve been a fan of Hawkwind for quite a long time so jamming with two of their past members was a real thrill. Also working with Strange-Trips & “The Solar Fire Light Show” was a great experience and certainly a major contributor, to not only the success of the tour on stage, but also to our enjoyment off stage. We met so many great people while in the USA and were treated so well, that it would have been difficult for us not to have enjoyed ourselves, needless to say we hope to return in 2002 ;-) The Strange Daze Festival was an obvious highlight for us. I remember looking at the early Strange Daze line-ups in Aural Innovations and thinking how good it could be if Mr Quimby’s Beard could one day be somewhere on the bill. Then to find yourself stepping out on stage to headline the event a few years later, was unbelievable. We’re planning to release “Mr Quimby’s Beard Live At SD2001” CD in the very near future, which will be our first Live release and will give a lot of people their first chance to hear our live show, but as there is no planned video release, if you want the full Mr Quimby’s Beard/Solar Fire Light Show experience, you’re gonna have to come out and support one of the gigs ;-) Since
the 2001 US tour, we’ve been fortunate enough to support both
Hawkwind and The Ozric Tentacles back over here in the UK, both were
great gigs and hopefully will lead to many more further gigs with
both bands. Hellride Music: What is your opinion on the current state of "Space Rock"? Hardy:
I wasn’t into Spacerock in its heyday, that is if it ever really
had one. I’m a relative new comer to the genre, I wasn’t even
aware that Spacerock existed until about 1985. Its not the kind of
music that you’re gonna hear on main stream TV or Radio, so unless
you’re lucky enough to have someone open your ears (and mind) to
it, it could easily pass you by unnoticed. The age of the Internet
is helping someway towards changing that, giving new bands a
worldwide audience and the music listener a far greater choice.
There’s certainly a lot of good up and coming bands out there, but
as far as I can tell it’s always been an “underground”
“cult” genre and most likely always will be!!! Hellride Music: Hardy, my thanks for the interview!
Jerry Kranitz's Interview With Hardy (and Kidd in part) For Aural-Innovations ( AI ) #8 (October 1999) AI: Tell me about the difference between Unsolved Mysteries and the "Definitive" Unsolved Mysteries. Looking at the track listing for Unsolved Mysteries on the Mr Quimby's Beard web site I only recognize four of the song titles as appearing on Definitive. Hardy: I think it might be easier to answer this question by starting much further back in time. When we recorded the first Quimby album we were financially limited to six songs with drums, (as Stone Studio had no facility for recording drums) and as we'd just lost our lead guitarist we were forced to record the songs that didn't rely too heavily on guitar solos. About a month after it's completion we went back in the studio to record the songs we'd left off the first album, now with a new guitarist (Dave Thorburn) we recorded what became "Out There". Neither of these releases were intended to be anything more than demos as both were recorded on an 8 track porto-studio and although they've now been really well received, we know they could have been so much better if we hadn't had to submix so many times. We were just about to release "Out There" (Nov 94) as a promo/demo tape when Demi-Monde approached Stone Premonitions offering us a 3 year 3 album deal, on the condition that "Out There" was the first of the three. We tried to explain to Dave Anderson that if we were to re-record the best tracks from the two albums at Foel Studio the result would be a complete theme album rather than two albums each containing a separate collection of songs, but Demi-Monde were adamant that it was "Out There" or no deal (I think Dave Anderson was concerned that the feel of the album would be lost if we re-recorded it) so we signed. Another three years passed before the release of "Out There", and we never recorded the other two albums. Apparently they were part of an option that Demi-Monde had, but did not take up.. I went back into the studio in the back end of 1997 to start work on a follow up to my solo album "The Light" (which we'd recorded after the completion of Out There) but as the rest of the band became more and more involved it was decided to make this the third Mr Quimby's Beard album, and not just a hastily recorded selection of songs like the first two Quimby releases, but a more planned project this time, with a running theme as I'd previously done with The Light (I dislike the term concept album, but I suppose that's what it is). In the beginning of '98 we let all interested parties know that we were beginning work on a new album to be released soon, but due to one thing and another the initial recording of the individual songs wasn't completed until the end of that year, by which time many of the radio programs and zines that had been supporting us since we started were asking for at least some promo songs to play/review, so we released the unfinished Unsolved Mysteries as a promo only release, to meet this demand and to generate interest in the Definitive version which would follow. Meanwhile I continued to write and record the link songs and add the FX and Synths that were missing from the other songs, then I remastered the whole lot and what was "The Unsolved Mysteries of...." (a collection of songs that seem like unfinished parts of a bigger picture and leave the listener waiting for more as Scott Heller so rightly reported in the last issue of Aural Innovations. I'd still love to know where he got his copy from :-) ) became "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries Of...." and finally after six years of trying we have released an "album" that we're all pleased with. As for the difference in actual songs go, well.... they're all different mixes from the Unsolved promo version, but it's really hard to explain in detail without going through each album one song at a time, so lets just say some songs have been left off, some have been changed completely and some new songs have been added. AI: Is the Definitive Unsolved Mysteries intended to be performed live in it's entirety? Hardy: We've only just started rehearsals again after quite a lengthy break due to amongst other things the work we've been doing in the studio recording and then remastering The Definitive, so we're still in the process of working out what the set will end up like. Ideally it will include most of the Definitive in the same order as the album but with other old favourites slotted in between the new songs, but at this stage it's hard to say what we'll do. AI: Tell me the story of the Beard itself. Has it been an on-going tale since the first album? Is the story and the Beard's power to keep war in check representative of any particular political views, as so much fantasy and sci-fi is? Hardy: I think the original mystical beard came from a fantasy adventure I made for my Amiga computer where the owner of the ginger beard couldn't be harmed by any non magic weapons (I haven't a clue why) and it just sort of continued from there. It's never really been a story as such, more an idea or a seed that we've tried and plant into the listeners imagination, the rest is up to them. Thus each listener has a different perception of what it's all about, we just try and steer them ever so slightly this way and that. By keeping lyrics to a minimum the listener is able to make up their own personal story. It's amazing how differently people interpret it, but this just proves it works. The main thing is that the music takes the listener on a journey whether or not it's the same journey as the next man isn't important, and as long as they feel the album took them somewhere I know we've achieved what we set out to do. AI: How did D-Jam (now Deejam) from the first album happen to get resurrected for Unsolved Mysteries? Hardy: The D-Jam on the first album was in fact just the start of a much longer song that we never recorded which was at first exactly what the title implies, a jam (in the key of D), but like many other Quimby songs over time it developed into a much more structured song, which we felt was now different enough and strong enough to be included on the new album and as we've always came out of "Darkness" and into it when playing live, it seemed natural to include it on The Definitive... AI: You had mentioned that Mr Quimby's Beard started as a punk band. Tell me how you developed into a Spacerock band. Hardy: In 1983 Kidd & Ray along with a couple of friends formed a Punk band and called it "S.A.D.". The original line up (although none of the four had ever even tried to play an instrument) became: Ray:
vocals 1984 After about six months Eddy discovered that if he pressed his finger on a string and move it up the fret board the note changed, So it was decided a new guitarist was needed. Up until then I'd only been involved as a song writer for the band as I also couldn't really play anything (although I'd messed around with guitars, bass', and Keyboards when younger it had never developed past making a lot of noise stage), but I stepped in as guitarist (as no-one could be worse than Eddy). Frankie Warsaw (front man with punk band "Leather Face" now) while passing Ray's house heard us practicing and offered to teach me how to play the guitar. At this time Bull, who still hadn't found the money for a drum kit or tried to play a set, dropped out, so we practiced without a drummer. About 4 months later we were confident (if not competent) enough to gig, Frankie although a fine guitarist not a drummer stepped in behind the kit. And even though it wasn't his chosen instrument he was still the most impressive band member. Quite honestly we were fucking terrible, but we loved it. S.A.D only lasted four local gigs and one dodgy demo which included a new member MATTY (brother of webmaster Greg and cover artist for SPCD 014) playing lead guitar, after which we never played with Frankie again. If one person was responsible for the way we sound today it was MATTY as he introduced the band to music like Pink Floyd & Hawkwind not to mention mind opening drugs. So as our music turned more adventurous and included less and less lyrics, Ray featured on very little we did and we somehow ended up a three piece: 1985/'87 Kidd:
Bass, voices Recording under a working title of 21st Century Module we played some very weird music often using effected house hold items as percussion sounds and making synth noises with our mouths, the best tape (and the closest to today's Quimby sound) that we recorded was a concept album entitled "Tonark" which included the original version of "The Forrest Song" (later on SPCC003). (We still recorded some songs under the S.A.D title with Ray's vocals during this period, nothing very memorable though.) Mid-'87/Mid-'89 Nothing was recorded during this period because Ray, Matty and Kidd moved to London to work. Mid-'89/'91 Kidd:
Bass, Sax, Guitars, Drum programming, voices Kidd returned from London with a (very) small Casio Keyboard, and was now a better guitarist than myself, so it was decided that I would play Keyboards and he would play everything else, which worked really well. So now recording under the name of "The Amazing Professor Tribbly And His Awesome Filling Machine" we recorded some of our finest work to date. Both Bringin' Up The Acid & Laugh in Ya Face originally came from this partnership (the only bit of B.U.T.A. that is the same now is the old people talking about heart burn & Laugh In Your Face was a ten minute+ jam) along with other songs like, "The Rattle Lurwurp", "The Attack Of The Enormous Wur Wur Tubes" & "All For A Reefer". 1991/'93 Ray (now a good guitarist) traveled up from London as often as he could and on each visit we recorded a couple of songs. The addition of a Korg Mono-Poly Synth & Zoom Guitar FX, give us a new sound, so we felt a new name was needed so Mr Quimby's Beard was born, although still only as a recording project and without a drummer. During this period we recorded over four albums worth of material which we passed amongst our friends. 1993 Ray:
Guitars, Vocals At about this time Kidd joined Spacerock band Afresco Mantis (initially as a flute player but now a flute/synth player). I went along to watch them gig and was bit by the gigging bug or something. Gaz was at the gig and although we'd never talked I new he was a really good drummer back when we were SAD, so we asked him to join. We'd done a few 4 track songs with Eddy Barrow playing lead guitar so we got him involved and performed live for the first time as Mr Quimby's Beard six weeks later. AI: You said your original involvement in the band was as a songwriter. Do you have strong interests as a wordsmith?... poet?... general writer? Hardy: I was originally only a songwriter for S.A.D as the bands line up had been decided before I met them and although I'd never been in a band I'd already wrote quite a few songs/poems which were lying around doing nothing, so I offered them to S.A.D, who at that time had wrote very few songs of their own. It was definitely a case of quantity rather than quality though as most of the stuff I'd wrote at the time was pretty crap, but they were using it, so I kept writing it. These days I get a much bigger buzz from writing a song that doesn't rely on words to tell the story, so I only seem to write lyrics when I feel they're really needed, but I've always felt the need to be creating something, whether its some "out of it" board game, a computer fantasy adventure or a new album it doesn't really matter as long as I'm creating something I'm happy. AI: I see that Tim and Terri from Stone Premonitions appear on your albums. Did you all hook up through some kind of Sunderland musical scene? Hardy: Stone Premonitions put an advert in a local music newsletter back in 1994 looking for local space/psych bands to promote. We had just finished recording a live four track demo, so we sent them a copy, not really expecting a reply as this was the first demo we'd sent anywhere and it wasn't what you'd call studio quality by any stretch of the imagination, but fortunately for us Tim & Terri loved it for what it was and they had the foresight to see that if given the opportunity to record in a studio MQB had potential, and after meeting T&T we had no doubt in our minds that SP & MQB were made for each other. As for Terri performing on "The Light" & "TDUMO" ...well that's an easy question to answer. When you're looking for someone to do harmonies and Terri's offering you don't say no. She has such a good voice that it would have been stupid of me to struggle backing up Ray's voice in keys that I was never going to reach, especially when you have someone in house with Terri's vocal talents. Tim's involvement in Mr Quimby's Beard is a bit more complex. He's (I think it's fair to say) a very reluctant Lead Guitarist and I don't think he realizes just how good he is. Just about every good Guitarist I've met loves to let you know (e.g.. they'll show off at every opportunity), but Tim is very different. We had recorded our first two albums with Tim as engineer before I even knew he played lead (the Rabbits Hat & Body Full of Stars both use Martin Holder as lead guitarist). So when I asked Tim if he fancied playing lead guitar on The Light and he did such a good job I was, although more than pleased with what he'd done on that album, quite pissed off that I'd never asked sooner. (Imagine how much better SPCC 003 and Out There could have with Tim on Guitar. Dave Thorburn's a great thrash metal guitarist but MQB aren't what you'd call thrash metal.) So as MQB were between lead guitarists while recording TDUMO I persuaded Tim he was the man for the job, and what a fine job he did. AI: Is that Tim's voice on A Glimmer Of Hope? Hardy: Yes. Tim's lived in quite a few different areas around the country and has a lot less distinct accent compared to the rest of the clan, who all have very distinct north eastern accents. It's hard to explain this via e-mail but basically people from other parts of England (never mind the World) seem to struggle to understand people from the NE of England. AI: I keep seeing Ozric Tentacles show up in Mr Quimby's Beard reviews as a comparison. I don't think you sound anything like the Ozrics. Definitely more along the Hawkwind axis. Hardy: The Ozric comparison seems to be a one quite a lot of people make, with both bands being English, we both released a CD on the Demi-Monde label and musically I think its fair to say that both Ray & Ed Ozric are influenced by amongst others Steve Hillage. The Hawkwind Style of Spacerock is definitely my favorite type of music, but we've never set out to make any of our songs sound like them, I suppose when you've been listening to something you like for so long it's bound to come out in your music. AI: I noticed that Kidd is the synth player with Afresco Mantis, whereas he's the bass player with Mr Quimby's Beard. Is playing in Afresco Mantis an outlet for the synth player in him, or/and an opportunity to explore other musical interests? Any double-header live shows between the two bands? Hardy: I think it might be better if Kidd answers this one: Kidd: I started out in Afresco Mantis as purely a flute player and although I have always enjoyed messing about with Synths/keyboards it was simply an act of fate that I ended up playing them with the Mantis. Afresco Mantis were originally a five piece: Bert-guitar-vocals, Jim-guitar, Daz-bass, Chris-drums and Cobman synth/keyboards (the latter two are both talented artists who have between them designed all past Quimby album covers), until I joined them shortly after their first gig. We went on to do many gigs with this line-up (quite often double-headers with Mr Quimby's Beard, twice the trouble, but twice the fun), until Jim moved away to study music at university. We continued without a lead-guitarist and refined our sound to suit one guitar, which culminated in the recording of our (now deleted ) first tape Arizona Bush which we hope to re-master and re-release in the future. Within the next twelve months Cobman lost interest with music and left the band leaving us with no keyboard player. We struggled along as a four piece for quite a while with no keyboards until I dug out an old Casio I had. It instantly sounded much better for it and I enjoyed it. Since then both me and Bert (alias Polly) have acquired quite an array of Synths & keyboards and now share responsibility in the shshshshswoooosh department along with our flute and guitar playing. AI: Tell me about The Light and how you happened to do this solo project. Anything similar planned for the future? Hardy: Guitarist Eddy Barrow had just left the band, as due to other commitments practicing and gigging had became impossible for him, but he still wanted to record when he had the time, so me and Ed started writing a studio only album. I think we'd wrote and recorded (on a 4 track) about four songs when Mr Quimby's Beard started work on our first album and the project was shelved, initially until it's completion, but it wasn't till after the arrival of Dave Thorburn and the recording of "Out There" that I re-contacted Ed, who by this time I think had lost interest. So I continued, now at the Stone Studio at first by myself, but later with the invaluable help of Stone Premonitions Tim Jones & Terri-B (both also members of The Rabbit's Hat & Body Full Of Stars) and Dave Musgrove (of NE Spacerock band "Krom Lec") . I also enlisted the help of Mr Quimby's Beard's Kidd & Ray on one track so it's not what you'd call a totally solo project, more a collaboration of like minded people working under the banner of my name. The actual concept behind the album is quite a heavy one about how too often people are tempted by false promises of better things/times, only to find after burning all their bridges that the path they've chose is not pathed with gold and once again they're back where they started only this time more alone than before. Fortunately (as with "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries Of...." ) although a "concept" exists it was done in such a way that each individual listener interprets it in their own way. As for similar future projects there's been talk between Kidd and myself of starting a new album utilizing the ever growing number of Synths we now have available to us, and although we've not yet started even writing it I can guarantee it will be full of our usual offering of spacey sounds. AI: Tell me about the Mr Quimby's Beard live experience. Hardy: Hopefully you'll have the chance to see and hear for yourself soon, as the next planned new release after The Definitive... will be a live video & album. It's still only in the planning stage, but it's definitely something we hope to do in the very near future, but for the moment lets just say we're tight, loud and because we use optokinetic lights very colorful. People usually think of us as a jamming band, but other than certain sections of certain songs we're really tight and what often appears as a jam is in fact a highly structured piece of music which will sound exactly the same time after time. This doesn't mean we restrict live songs to just sound the same as their studio counterparts. When you play a song for a few years it's important that it keeps developing and hopefully improving, but when your relying on in-house P.A's (and their own mixing guy) and can't always hear the rest of the band it's nice to know that each member of the band knows exactly when each change is about to happen. Mr Quimby's Beard live shows go on for as long as the venues allow us, (we'd quite happily stay on stage all night ), so it's hard to say what length an average set lasts. AI: Marijuana Nightmare, Bringin' Up The Acid, and The Forrest Song are kick ass rockers that I'd love to hear live. Do you still perform these at shows? Hardy: I'm glad you like them: Marijuana Nightmare and at least some part of Bringin' Up The Acid have been played at every gig we've done since they were wrote, but unfortunately, because of it's intensity coupled with the fact it literally rips our throats apart, it's hard to find the right place in the set to put The Forest Song. If you play it near the start your throat hurts and the vocals suffer for the entire gig. If you leave it till nearer the end you can't put the same intensity into the screaming and the song loses it's frightening feel, but we're looking into ways of adapting it so it still scares the crap out of people without doing us too much damage and if we achieve this we'll most likely be doing all three this time around. AI: Do you get to play many shows? In your area? Around England? Outside England? Festivals? Hardy: Not half as many as we'd like. I'm not sure if it's bad luck or just bad timing, but every time we hear of an up and coming festival and try to book it we're told we're too late. But basically we're up for virtually any gig that's offered as the whole point of writing music is so people can hear and hopefully enjoy it. The Plan at the moment is to do a UK tour and then next year we'd love to do some kind of tour in the States. Events such as "Strange Daze" seem made for us and the US appears to be buzzing with loads of great Spacerock bands at the moment. AI: What's in the future for Mr Quimby's Beard? Will the new disc be released soon? Hardy: Due to the amount of workload recent Stone Premonition releases are generating for the already overworked Tim & Terri-b, we've just started our own label in partnership with Stone Premonitions called "Freaky Fungi", still under the Stone Premonitions banner, but concentrating solely on the Spacerock side of things. Freaky Fungi will run along side Stone Premonitions as a separate division on which we plan to re-release our first album and my solo album. Afresco Mantis have also expressed an interest in joining and then there's the live Quimby video and album we're planning, so I think we have a busy but really interesting time ahead. As for "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries Of...", well that's going to be "Freaky Fungi's" first release and should be released by November the 1st 1999 and if the initial interest is anything to go by, the future's looking great.
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