Interview mit Jason Sawford von The Australian Pink Floyd Show

10.2.2011: Ich hatte die Gelegenheit, mit Jason Sawford, Keyboarder der “Australian Pink Floyd Show”, ein Interview zu führen und ihm dabei Fragen über die aktuelle Europa-Tournee der Band, zu stellen.

Die “The Australian Pink Floyd Show” sind derzeit auf ausgedehnter Europatournee. Über 40 Konzerte stehen bis April auf ihrer Tournee. Der Tourstart vor 2 Wochen in Polen, war äußert erfolgreich. Die Band spielte vor ausverkauften Hallen und präsentierte als erste Rockband eine 3D-Show. Ich sah die “Australian Pink Floyd” das erste Mal 1997 in London, als sie in der Battersea Powerstation mit anderen Tributbands auftraten. Seit damals hat sich einiges verändert, der Erfolg der Band ist ein Phänomen. Mit einem Equipment, von dem viele Chart-Stürmer und andere Bands nur träumen können, spielen die “Aussie Floyd” vor einem immer größer werdenden Publikum.

Bei den Proben, die im Januar in London stattfanden, schaute auch ein gewisser Guy Pratt vorbei: Guy Pratt bei Rehearsals TAPFS. Hier noch einige weiterführende Links: Tourdaten 2011, TAPFS Wien Gasometer, Fotos vom Tourstart in Polen.

Jason Sawford (Keyboards) gründete 1988 mit anderen die Band. Der Höhepunkt seiner Karriere, war 1996, als er neben Rick Wright, bei David Gilmours Geburtstagsfeier “Comfortably Numb” spielen durfte. Diese Woche konnte ich ihm einige Fragen stellen, leider blieben aus Zeitgründen einige interessante Fragen unbeantwortet.

What goes on tour, stays on tour!

Interview mit Jason Sawford, Keyboarder von den The Australian Pink Floyd

von Werner Haider, 9.2.2011

PS: What can you tell us about the Songs played on this Tour?
Jason Sawford: As the tour is billed as a ‘greatest hits’ tour, we cover most of Pink Floyd’s best loved songs. We cover all periods from Pink Floyd’s history from the early Syd Barrett era to the Division Bell, and of course lots of stuff from Dark Side of The Moon ,Wish You Were Here and The Wall.

Apart from the better known songs are there any relics that you play?
Jason Sawford: We like to include some lesser known gems from the Floyd repertoire. We are currently playing Careful With That Axe, Eugene. Dogs and Arnold Layne. We have also been working on Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun and Echoes-which we hope to include in the set over the next few weeks.

Are you changing the Songlist from time to time?
Jason Sawford: We have about 3 separate songlists that we hope to rotate from show to show. It’s also a matter of getting the light show ready for certain songs so we have concentrated on getting one set perfect during our last leg of the current European tour. I think we’ll start to include a few other songs over the next leg if we can.

How do you decide which Songs you want to play on a tour?
Jason Sawford: There are certain songs that you ‘have’ to play each time. Songs such as Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, Another Brick in the Wall. Once we get these in the set then we discuss amongst ourselves other songs we want to do. We may take the light show and the projections into consideration as to what song goes where in the setlist. We may also feel that a certain song we haven’t played for a while should receive a hearing. Sometimes we will look at the repertoire and see if there’s any songs we haven’t played before, for instance Coming Back to Life, which we chose to play because David Fowler had a fondness for the song and had already learnt the guitar part so we thought it would be a good new song to tackle.

Do you ever get bored with the “Best-of” Material?
Jason Sawford: Not really. There are so many songs to choose from that it’s possible to have a varied set each year.

The 2011 Tour just started in Poland. How was the Feedback from the crowd so far?
Jason Sawford: Poland is a fantastic place for us to play. The audience really enjoyed the show and we had an enjoyable time there.

Any favourite Show so far?
Jason Sawford: On this current tour-probably Katowice in Poland would be one of my favourite gigs but I’m sure there will be more to come.

Did the Band enjoy the Concerts so far?
Jason Sawford: Yes. The band are enjoying this tour very much. The new show with the new 3D graphics and some great people working behind the scenes have made this tour rather special.

Please tell us about the visual part of the Show? What does 3D mean? Do we have to wear glasses to see the effects?
Jason Sawford: The 3D is an illusion of 3 dimensions applied to the projections used in the show. We had these visuals especially created for us by John Attard and his team based in Los Angeles. John Attard has been involved in special effects for movies such as Gladiator and Harry Potter.
The technology that we use is new and we are the first band to actually tour with this technology. Special glasses to experience the 3D are provided for the audience at the show.

What’s your favourite Moment of the Show?
Jason Sawford: I love the scream in ‘Careful with That Axe, Eugene’ and there’s a projection of a filmed explosion on the screen that appears to come out at you if you wear the glasses.

After the Spring-Tour in Europe, are there any more concerts planned for this year?
Jason Sawford: Definitely. There are many things in the pipeline, including a U.S tour later in the year.

Your Crew on this Tour is 1^st Class: with Clive Brooks and Colin Norfield you got People who worked with Pink Floyd in the Past! Must be a pleasure to have them with you on tour!?
Jason Sawford: They are fantastic guys to work with. Colin Norfield is a very experienced sound engineer and is behind the superb sound you will hear out front. He’s very supportive of us and it’s wonderful to work with him as well as many other people who have helped us put the show together.

I can imagine that they telling you a lot of anecdotes from the Floyds Past?
Jason Sawford: A few things-but as the saying goes: ’what goes on tour, stays on tour’, so they don’t mention the juicy bits.

A big “Thank You” goes to Dave Phillips and Hayley Short (Zoo Management Ltd), all Photos used with permisson from The Management.