Gareth David Noon – Serpentine – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Dave Prince
Sunday, 19 April 2015 03:20
Later this month UK AOR demi gods Serpentine release their third album ‘Circle of Knives’ on AOR Heaven. This marks the recording debut of the band’s new line up featuring singer Adam Payne and bassist Owen Crawford. I recently caught up with Serpentine’s keyboard wizard, Gareth David Noon, to find out what lies ahead for the band and what we fans can expect from their highly anticipated new album.
With the new Serpentine line up established and with the release of ‘Circle of Knives’ imminent, how are things in the band at the moment?
Things in the band have seldom looked peachier to be perfectly honest. The new line up is made up of myself and four other guys I am honoured and blessed to work with; all talented and all genuinely good guys. We are all pulling in the same direction and all hoping for this album to be well received so that we can make a fourth!
How did working with Gary Hughes come about?
Working with Gary has been an experience which has given us, in my opinion, our best record to date and was just something that kind of evolved naturally. Our UK tour with Ten in 2012 let both bands into each other’s worlds and we all got to know each other well. After the tour finished Chris, myself and our manager contacted Gary to see whether he would be open to collaborating with us, not something that he normally does, and after a meeting up in the North West he agreed his collaboration and production of the album. It’s worked really well and it was a cool experience.
I understand that Neil Kernon was due to mix the new album, but you ended up going back to Sheena Sear who did a marvellous job on your first two albums? What was wrong with the initial mix?
Nothing, specifically. It just wasn’t what we anticipated sonically. Neil Kernon is one of my all-time favourite mix engineers so I was sorry we couldn’t get the album finished together, it was just that his idea of how it should sound and ours didn’t match. No biggy. In the end we took the album back to Sheena Sear and she did a tremendous job. She knows us well and maybe that factor helped…she anticipated what we all wanted. Gary’s input with the mix in terms of notes and opinions was great too and we all got what we wanted in the end. The album sounds massive!
After the success of the triple threat AOR bills in recent years – will you be involved with another one soon? Also if you could choose your own bill who would you have on the tour?
Well, we are working on some live dates at the moment. The tour we did with Ten and White Widdow seemed to go down well and since then of course we were lucky enough to be asked on to a tremendous bill with FM and Vega, so I guess you’re right! If I could choose any two bands to tour with off the top of my head where I would watch both bands sets fully every night, I think I’d have to go with something like Boulevard and Toto. Proper AOR purist stuff and two of my favourite bands in the genre. I’m not sure I have the budget to pull that tour off though [laughs]
I understand that you now live in Switzerland – how does this affect the affairs of the band?
Well, you’re close. I actually live in Germany overlooking Switzerland across the Rhein. Up to this point it hasn’t really affected the band at all. I told the guys when I moved I’m available for everything and anything band related and that’s been the case. We played Planet Rockstock in December and HRH AOR 3 last month, not to mention making the ‘Circle of Knives’ album. It’s maybe a little more complicated than it was, but as long as the band still want me I’ll be there.
With so much happening in the Serpentine camp – various line up changes etc. – do you find it strange to be releasing your third album whilst you are still a young band?
That’s an interesting question. I guess yes and no. There’s been a bit of a gap since the last album came out, but we have still released three albums in five years with this new one, which I guess isn’t too bad going. We have always been into creating new music and evolving, so I suppose it’s a natural progression and not just resting easy on having released the first two. On the other side of that coin though, in some respects this feels like our “first album” because we now have Adam’s voice on there instead of Tony’s. That’s the real change that a casual fan will hear. I guess the new album is a testament to overcoming adversity and embracing change. We’ve always just shrugged our shoulders and rolled with the punches. Chris and I have always been the two constants in the band and it’s still always felt like Serpentine to me. I think if either of the two of us ever left it would be impossible to really call it Serpentine anymore, but that’s not something that’s ever crossed either of our minds.
With Matt you recorded two acoustic songs, which I loved! Is there a possibility that you could at some point do some acoustic shows/sessions for radio?
We’ve actually discussed doing some more acoustic stuff in the future. We have recorded a new acoustic version of the ‘Whatever Heartache’ with Adam for a film called The Forbidden Note which is premiering at Cannes Film Festival this year, so that’s quite exciting. We also have a brand new electric version of that song coming out on a special collector’s edition of the ‘Circle of Knives’ album that we will be announcing very shortly. There’s plenty of ideas floating around of things we would like to do…it’s just a matter of getting around to them!
With the line up settled and with two albums and a third on the way – have you thought about recording a live album/EP/DVD?
Yes, we have discussed recording some live stuff for a couple of years now. I think with this album the time is probably right to do that in some format, be it a DVD or a couple of live recordings for a Tour only EP or something, maybe with a couple of studio re-recordings of some of the old stuff with the new line-up…something like that. I think it’ll be down to fan demand. If people really wanna hear that stuff then let us know.
Having only heard the new line up via YouTube clips – you sound heavier than ever before but still with the unique Serpentine sound. Was that a natural progression or a more thought out process?
Well, the new album is a little heavier yes, and THAT was definitely a thought out thing. We wanted to make an album that wasn’t just a lazy follow up to the first two, sounding exactly the same. But we also haven’t done any live dates yet with our own sound guy, so I’m not sure it’s too easy to judge exactly how the “live sound” is going to mature at this point. We’ve always been heavier live than on album anyway, and I think that’s only natural in a concert setting. You are there to entertain and attack your instruments as if your lives depend on it. I’m glad you said “with the unique Serpentine sound” though, because what we have always been about is a pounding rhythm section, classy vocals and the interplay between guitar and keyboards, and I still think all those ingredients are very much there.
What are your personal highlights from the couple of tours that you have played over the years, such as opening Firefest?
That’s a great question, and I’m not sure where to even begin with that. We have been so lucky to gig with some of the bands we have, but personal highlights…Definitely our first ever gig in London, which was a very special night. Firefest goes without saying…amazing feeling when the curtain went down and the people took to us so well. Singing backing vocals for Jimi Jamison that night on ‘Eye of the Tiger’ was also incredible! The Pontypridd show on the Ten tour, 5 star hotel and the first few rows singing every word at Rockfest Madrid…I could go on. [laughs] Those stand out for different reasons, but we have had so many great nights on the road. It’s been an amazing journey.
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