BERNIE
MARSDEN
Well, here is a true legend...original
member of Whitesnake (before that he also played on the Paice Ashton Lord
albums), he left Whitesnake to form his own band Alaska in the mid-80's and
now he has Company of Snakes, which features former Whitesnake members Micky
Moody & Neil Murray as well. Over to Bernie...
| 1. What are you currently up
to? |
I am currently
playing blues festivals with a new album called "Big Boy Blue"
Available from the website all
over the world! The BBC have been very kind with airplay, Blues Matters and
Blues in Britain have given great reviews, so I am pleased so far, I have
also been playing in Ringo Starr's live band, with Zak Starkey on
drums. |
| 2. Who were your
influences? |
The Beatles,
then Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, Jeff Beck, not just because
they are guitar players, they in their turn made me look to the real guys,
BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Freddie King, it began with blues and
will always be blues for me I guess. |
| 3. Which band would you like to
see reform? |
Nobody really,
all the bands I would like to see again have lost somebody, Lowell George,
Duane Allman, George Harrison, John Lennon, no need to go on. |
| 4. How well has the Company of
Snakes been received? |
Extremely well,
quite surprised really, the record company could do more, we do very well
on the road, but many people do not know who TCOS are, it needs more commitment
from SPV in Europe to get the name more known. |
| 5. Would the classic Whitesnake
(78-82) line-up ever reform? |
Who knows, ask
David, ask Neil or Micky, i think it would be great to "do it
again".
I really believe that the fans
would love to see it happen. I am constantly asked the question at every
gig, without fail. I think there are a great amount of rock fans that never
had the chance to see the "classic" line up, it's 25 years this year since
we started, who knows, David was asked this question about Deep Purple in
the early days of Whitesnake, he had a good answer, "Never say never" Well
DP reformed so who knows.
Whitesnake was a great band to
be in, no question about that. |
| 6. You recorded MGM with Mel Galley
& Toto's Bobby Kimball in the 80's. Any plans for this ever to be
released? |
MGM was a weird
thing, it was all over so fast, and yet we did quite a lot of work, we played
festivals in Europe, a few gigs in England, and we recorded some sessions,
including four songs with Bobby Kimball from Toto, I have the tapes, watch
out in the new year for news of that period of time. |
| 7. Who would you like to work with?
(Or would have in the case of dead artists). |
In the future,
in this business strange things happen, if i had expected to be playing with
Ringo Starr a year ago i would have said Ringo Starr! I may hook up with
Steve Lukather in 2003, only a possibility at the moment, of the passed on
people, well only one really, John Lennon. |
| 8. Which countries have the most
loyal fans? |
I think that
rock fans ALL over the world are the most loyal fans, they just always give
you a chance, TCOS has confirmed that to me once again. |
| 9. What was the last thing you
read? |
Sandra Tooze's
biography of Muddy Waters, and before that The Coal Miners Daughter by Loretta
Lynn. |
| 10. Message for your
fans... |
Thank you for
the continued support, as long as people want to see and hear me play I will
always try to give a good album and show, enjoy yourselves and keep
safe.
Best Wishes. |
Interview © 2002 Jason Ritchie/
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