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Roxy Music saxophonist Andy Mackay traveled to the countryside in western England in mid-December after receiving a message from Bryan Ferry that they had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. rock and roll. "I knew we were named," says Mackay. "But I always felt that we were a little too far from the American public, even though we have a lot of fans in some pockets there. It was very surprising to hear.
The band has not played together since their unobtrusive breakup after a tour in 2011, but it seems quite likely that they will play at the ceremony. We talked to Mackay about the big night, about the possibility of Roxy Music's original keyboardist Brian Eno coming out of the band's 2007 failed announcement, why they stopped the tour and the possibility that the Hall of Fame leads to more shows.
What does induction in the Hall of Fame mean on a personal level?
There is some satisfaction in that. We get a lot of positive feedback about things we did a long time ago, but it's really nice to feel that we are still significant for all generations. I think it's good to think that the audience is wider than those who grew up with us in the '70s and think we played a role in the history of rock & roll.
Did you talk to one of your group mates other than Bryan?
Yeah. We have been in contact. We are all very happy. We have tried to find out how we are going to approach induction, whether we are going to play or not. I hope we will do it. As you probably know, Roxy has not worked together as a band for about nine years. But we are friendly. I see [guitarist] Phil Manzanera a lot. I did a concert with him in November of last year. I work a lot with him. Bryan and I are talking. We see each other from time to time. [Drummer] Paul Thompson and I talk from time to time. I have not seen him for a few years, but I know he is here. I played on one of his albums about four years ago. In general, we are in contact. We are all optimistic about this, but I do not want to say with certainty what will happen. This could be complicated to understand.
They take Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, Eddie Jobson, you, Phil Manzanera, Graham Simpson and Paul Thompson. Did they get this right? Has anyone missed them?
It's difficult, is not it? During the group's career, there were many different people. For a while, we worked with some American session musicians on a few discs. Basically, we four in the beginning were there at the end. That's probably what matters. And Eddie Jobson obviously played on three discs in the middle of the group's career. With bbadists, it's hard to say who the bbadist is. The guy who played on "Love Is the Drug", John Gustafson, died a few years ago. He was a fantastic player who had been part of a Liverpool group before the Beatles. He was a great player who worked a lot in London.
Who knows? I think we will find something. Obviously, if the ceremony is held in New York, if there is a person based there, there will be a bonus. But we always talk about it. I would be very happy to do it. It would be nice to see others and hope that they feel the same.
Why did you live so many bbadists in the band's life?
Graham Simpson was a friend of Bryan from Newcastle. When I bet to meet Bryan for the first time, it was him and Graham Simpson who were playing in an apartment in Kensington in London with a piano and a bbad. That was it. They played these rather strange songs and very rarely a guitarist came to see us. Then we formed the first group. And then Graham Simpson became very sick. He had bad ventilation and could not cope with rock anymore. Unfortunately, we separated from him. He had a very interesting life and unfortunately he died a few years ago.
After that, we had a lot of good bbad players, but none of them got better. They came and went in some way. John Porter worked a lot at the beginning. And then on tour, we had different players. I think that none of them would be great. John Wetton was the bbad player for a while. And Guy Pratt worked with us. He played with Pink Floyd, but I think we will probably find an American player. But I do not really know how the series works. We will have to see.
When was the last time you played with Brian Eno in concert?
The last time he played with Roxy, it was in 1974. It was a tough time. The second or third year of a group, there is a lot of positioning and people … you always think that it will end very quickly and you try to do everything very quickly. And you discover 40 years later that you could have taken more time with that. But as it worked, we all had a great career. From time to time, we all worked together. On my recent project, 3Psalms, I worked a lot with Phil on this. We still think there is something new to do, maybe.
Do you think that Eno could show up at the ceremony?
I really do not know. He's sometimes shy, but I did not tell him about it. I've been very busy and I do not know what he's doing. But I really can not say. I'm just going to say, "You never know."
In 2007, you started working on a new album. What happened? Why was it not published?
It started well. In part, with Roxy, Bryan has always been the key in terms of words and voices. It's one of those things that, although we all wrote music, and many of Roxy's songs that were successful, were co-written songs – not that there was not any super Bryan's songs too – and I think at that time, making an entire album of lyrics was a bit of a challenge. He did not really think it was going in the right direction for him, so he wanted to work on a material he had. It was the Olympia album, which had very good things on it. And then we were all distracted in different ways.
Personally, I would love to come back on these tracks. I have not listened to them for a long time. I would like to see if it is possible to work on them. But Bryan is very busy. He likes to work. He's doing live work right now. He does a lot, so he does not really think about the studio yet.
Brian Eno was involved in this album, right?
It was. The original five members with Guy Pratt on bbad were training. Chris Thompson was producing. It was a beautiful range. Who knows? Something can come out or not. Who knows? It may not be very good. We will not know until we finish it.
You stopped shooting as Roxy Music in 2011. Why?
Various things. I wanted to stop touring at that time for a variety of personal / family reasons. I did not want to spend more time outdoors. I had a young child growing up and I wanted to spend more time with the family. I also worked on other projects. Bryan really wanted to work on a few recordings, and then he loves the kind of tour he's doing right now, which is very controlled with smaller venues and a very fine band. He receives good reviews and he benefits for the moment. He has booked for much of this year. Good luck to him. And I'm busy with this great electronic orchestral choral project that I just finished at the end of November. I am eager to continue to do so and to withdraw it. It's a complicated piece that includes a 16-piece string section, a 16-piece choir and a percussionist. It's not easy to do, but I find it very satisfying.
Is a future Roxy Music tour possible?
It's a possibility. In fact, we never announced a farewell tour, except in 1975. Even though we always play, it's always a possibility. Who knows? It's been a long time since we've played together. Maybe we would find it a little strange. In addition, we will not need to review the equipment a bit. We can not go on stage playing the arrangements you had in your mid-twenties when you were in the early seventies. It just does not work, but there is still a lot of rock'n'roll in us, so who knows? Maybe the Hall of Fame is what makes us think about it.
What do you think of Bryan Ferry? Avalon tour where he's doing a bunch of songs from the album on tour this year?
I just saw that. It makes sense in America since it was our best-selling album. I can see that there would be an appetite for that, but who knows? It's a very big thing to take.
In most of his solo concerts, he devotes about 75% of his show to songs by Roxy Music.
These are also his songs. I guess that's what he likes to do. I work a lot on Roxy's musical material. The concerts I recently made are called Roxy Symphony, with slightly odd arrangements of Roxy songs. It's a different approach from Roxy. I think we all think these are our songs. I'm sure Bryan thinks these are his songs and we all feel like sharing them. I'm always happy to hear them. And if Bryan wants to take Avalon outside, I can not wait to hear them.
The bands often play three songs in the Hall of Fame. What are the three songs you think you can do to sum up your entire career?
I guess we'll do the songs that people know. "Avalon" is a track that people love. "Love Is the Drug" is one of our defining tracks and I think we'd probably like to do something from our recent era like "Virginia Plain" or "Re-Make / Re-Model". That would be my choice. but we have not really discussed it in detail.
If this performance happens, it could be the last performance of Roxy Music. To leave the Hall of Fame would be good in a certain sense.
It seems to me too dark. I do not like thinking of the "last" because you never know. We would like me to be more optimistic than that, or at least I would like it.
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