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Interviews....
Alun Parry....
Photo Credit: Sharon Dobson
Covfolk: Al, thanks
for taking the time to chat with Covfolk. Your'e playing
the German Folk Fest at Coombe Abbey this Saturday 30th
July, is this your first visit to the Coventry area?
Alun Parry:
It's my first visit to Coventry itself, although earlier
in the year we played Leamington Spa which isn't too far
away. We're really looking forward to it though. I've a
mate in Coventry who is a big Coventry fan. He tells me
he remembers Phil Neal missing a penalty at Highfield Road.
I wonder if any of your readers can back him up?
CF: Who are
the Alun Parry band? what's the line up for Saturday?
AP:
There are 3 of us in The Alun Parry Band. Myself on guitar,
harmonica and vocals. Chad Draper on bass guitar, and Howard
Northover on drums. Howard is actually on his jollies this
weekend though at an annual drumming festival in France,
so Martin McGuffie (an excellent songwriter in his own right!)
will be taking over his drumsticks for the day.
CF: On your 'Corridors of Stone'
album, we hear the deep 'Life of Crime' to the rousing 'Thursday
Night Drinking Song, what inspires you? As your home town
is Liverpool, you would not be short of musical influences.
AP:
Certainly Liverpool is a great melting pot of musical ideas.
I think many port towns have that wealth of cultural input.
The world has been arriving at the Liverpool waterfront
every day for decades. One of my grandfathers was a sailor,
which is not uncommon in Liverpool, and so its unsurprising
that the city of Liverpool has access to so many cultural
influences.
In terms of the ideas for my songs, the
inspiration is life itself. I think my affinities do lie
with the underdog and I tend to see the world in that way.
Life Of Crime, for instance, is dedicated to anybody who
has ever worked in a coffee kiosk. I wrote the song in Lime
St Station, and the coffee kiosk workers there are crammed
into a tiny, hot, uncomfortable space. The prison comparison
seemed obvious.
It's funny though, everytime I think
I may have run out of inspiration, something else will attract
my notice and before long it's expressed itself in a song.
CF: And some
lighter questions! What
music are you currently listening to , folk or other?
AP:
I'm actually listening to Joe Brown at the moment. He's
on tour at the moment and I'm wondering if I can scrape
together the money for a ticket. I'd say my favourite band
of all though are The Saw Doctors, so they won't be off
my CD player for too long!
CF: What occupies your time when
your guitar is in it's case?
AP:
I'm a keen football follower so that takes up some of my
time. Other than that its going to see local acoustic acts
play. I love it when I see a local act blow the room away.
You expect brilliance from big stars, but when you see someone
new do it on your doorstep its all the more satisfying somehow.
I'm also a keen reader, and I like to spend time with friends
chewing the fat and generally attempting to put the world
to rights. I've just got this football management game too
which I'm probably spending a bit too much time on, but
to be fair I've only just got it hehe.
CF: 'Buskernomics'!
Would you like to explain this for any new visitors to your
site?
AP:
Sure. I started off as a busker. The way busking works is
you offer your music for free and people show their appreciation
for it by giving you money. I've basically brought that
principle to my website.
These days, people can get your music
free anyhow with very little effort, so you either send
lawyers chasing your own fans (no way!) or you trust your
fans to show their appreciation and pay you what they think
it's worth.
So basically, everyone can hear the music.
If you want it you can download it for free. Or you can
decide to repay my trust by sending on some payment for
it, but you decide the price.
It's a revolutionary way of distributing
music online, plus I think its a sensible way for musicians
to get new fans and supporters. Nobody will ever get to
like my music if I build a fortress round it. But I trust
people enough to believe that people who download and like
the music will keep supporting me.
After all, busking is how I raised the
money for my first guitar. I trusted people then and it
didn't do me any harm did it :-)
Besides, I think our world today
needs a bit more trust and a little less fear being spread
around.
CF: Many thanks
for chatting to us, Alun!
Visit Alun's
website and hear his music by visiting http://www.parrysongs.co.uk
©
Copyright Covfolk Online 2007
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