Dave Lee and his Garage Band [UK]

DL: I usually recorded with Chris Moyden at his studio, The Gaolhouse. He was a great guy, very talented and a real music enthusiast, who loved to work on new and fun projects. We were all very sad when he passed away a few months ago after a short illness.

I had played Chris the demo for Wizard Man long ago – it really did sound like we were in a garage! – but we never got around to recording it properly. I was thinking of shelving the project, but Roland encouraged me to finish it, and I’m glad I did. (You may not be so glad, but that’s another matter!)

I recorded the bass, drums, vocals and guitar using Cakewalk, but needed a master sorcerer to wave his magic wand and sprinkle on some wizardly enchantment. Who else but Roland himself, the Dumbledore of the school of Cakewalk wizards, to mix and edit it down to a two-minute wonder (and there I was planning it to be a fifteen-minute symphony!). I also twisted his arm to give me a few bashes of Hammond organ (can you spot a bit of I Fought The Law by The Clash?).

So, you may ask, does this version of the song reveal any hidden spiritual meaning, uncovering layers of Brechtian-style strata, unfolding to divulge the very heart of the inner soul, a sanctuary from the storms of the turmoil of man’s desires, and yet a passageway to the holy grail of quintessential enlightenment from the bottomless pit of ultimate darkness?

Er, buggered if I know; but I’m sure it would have made Chris smile.

Roland Clare, organ, tinkering

Tracklisting