WEBVTT - Alan Parsons 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:12.200 Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the Bob left St podcast. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.720 My guest today is the one and only Alan Parsons. Alan, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.920 good to have you on the podcast. Thanks, but it's 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:23.680 great to be you. Thank you. So how's your back? Oh, 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:29.640 you heard? Yeah, I've, I've had I've had some back 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:37.240 problems over the years and my my doctor Orthopedist suggested 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:40.720 that I do this procedure because it's suddenly fed up 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.559 a month ago and sadly I had to cancel an 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:48.960 entire European tour, but I got I got the I 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.520 got the surgery it was. It's now been three weeks 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.520 and I'm slowly getting better, but it's nice of you 0:00:54.560 --> 0:01:01.320 to ask. What was the surgery? It was called decompression 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.280 of L two, l three and l three to l four. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:11.440 If that means anything, which does? Oh, it does. and 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:14.000 Are you in pain now? Are you okay? Little, just 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.839 a little bit? I'm not. I'm not using pain colors 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.920 and I'm I'm fine when I'm like sitting down or 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:25.200 lying down. But yeah, I'm comfortable, perfectly comfortable right now. 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.559 So when might we see you back on the road? 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:33.160 We have we have gigs in November. Uh, I don't 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.480 think we're going to make anything happen before then, just 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:39.280 to be safe. But plenty, plenty of going on in 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:42.320 the in the new year as well. and Are you 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:46.720 working now primarily just to have fun or do you 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:52.440 need the money? Everybody needs the money. That's true. There's 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:58.280 never enough money. Um, I've I've I've been keeping busy 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:03.480 in the studio. Um, I just had delby atmos installed, 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:07.040 installed in my studio, so I've been experimenting with that 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:13.360 and hoping to do some remixing. I'm hoping that the 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:15.600 I robot album we will be the next from the 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:20.480 APP cattler. I'm also working with David Pack from Ambrosia. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:27.079 He wants a Delby atmos mix of his first two albums. 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:33.320 And I've also been working with the drama of Lenny 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:38.720 Kravitz's band. His name is Franklin Vanderbilt and I've done 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:40.800 a whole album with him and we're just we've just 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:44.440 got some touch ups to to do on that and 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:47.440 then it will be finished. Tell me about your take 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.200 on Dolby atmos. It's a little soon for me to 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.440 say because I've literally only had it here a week 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:59.760 now and I was I was pretty happy with with 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.040 five point one and got got very used to it. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.960 I mean, it's just more speakers to think about. That's 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.799 that's really what it's all about. I mean we've got 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.880 to speakers and you've got four speakers in the ceiling 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:17.399 and you know that that makes a difference, and two 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.280 side speakers. I'm pointing right. We don't have a video, 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.800 but you can see. You can see me that nobody 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.880 else can. Yeah, we've got two four speakers and sitting 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.280 on two new speakers at side. So I mean, you know, 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:33.480 it's infinitely variable how you how you play sounds. Um, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.040 I I found that with five point one, you is, 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.800 you quickly ran out of ideas about where to put things. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:41.920 You know, what you put in the back channels and 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:43.600 what you'd keep in the front channels and so on. 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:48.720 But I've I've come to enjoy, you know, multi channel 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:51.920 sound generally. So I'm very hopeful that the atmos will 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.320 work for me. Well. You know, if you listen to Apple, 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.320 which most people are listening to to channel, the remixes 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.640 so far sound in most cases radically different from the originals. 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.760 Now I'm like, unlike with you, doesn't tend to be 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.160 the same mixer that it was originally, but the vocals 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.240 are down in the mix. I mean, we've lived through 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.599 so many iterations of Saman Mono. Dysteria was a big jump, 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.920 but quad and all these other things they never seem 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.520 to ultimately gain holes. Will be interesting to see what 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:30.320 happens with autmost. Yes, Um, I'm I mean it's the Buzzword. 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:32.240 I mean everybody in the industry is talking about it. 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.080 It seems to be the new the new the new 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:41.640 fashion and, interestingly, I I'm curious to know why Americans 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:46.600 call it at most, because you don't use the word atmosphere, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.200 you don't say at most fear. So I'm on. I'm 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.160 on a a kind of a quest to get people 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:59.120 to say atmost, not at most. You can, you can 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.200 be the first, you can me the first, absolutely okay. 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:08.640 So you have album. Repeat after me, atmos almos close. 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:11.720 I'M gonna leave in it that. We'll see what the 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.880 public decides on if they continue to use at wilser 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.840 at Muss as sound irrelevant of the moniker and how 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.040 you pronounce it. So you have a new album from 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:24.920 the new world. It's entitled why Now? Why a new 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:31.320 album now? Well, I was. I think I was reasonably 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.760 overdue for it for another album, that the last album. 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:38.200 The secret came out. I think it wast so three 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:43.960 years Um and you know, frankly, the the the covid 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:48.679 outbreak actually helped because, you know, everybody that I worked 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:52.040 with on the new album was was, you know, fully 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:57.520 vaccinated or had already got over Covid, and so I 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.040 was able to work in person with the and so 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.160 that that worked out, that we worked out really well, whereas, 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:08.000 of course, we could not play live. That was absolutely 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:13.200 to be in the particularly in one just was a 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:18.719 disaster for everybody. It might might as well not have existed. Okay, 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.719 reading the credit to the album. You know, multiple studios 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:25.799 are used us, blackbird in Nashville. So did you actually 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:30.080 go there or were these done remote? We we did 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:35.919 the stuff in Nashville remote. There's this h great program 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:40.720 called source connect, which allows us to interact as if 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.200 they were in the room. All we have to do 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:47.040 is send them the track and they control their own transport. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.560 But it works out really well and you know, we 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.800 can point a camera at them on you know, do 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:56.799 facetime on a phone whatever, but it's Um, it's great 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:01.919 because you save. You Save on Holt Hotel rooms and 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:06.719 and hotels, hotel rooms and their fairs. Sorry, and you 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.920 know that they don't have to travel, so I think 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.160 they're better off for it. But you're traditionally an analog 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.320 guy and that's inherently digital. So how do you feel 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.520 about that? What do you say? I'm a inherently analog guy. 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:25.960 I've been supporting digital ever since ceed first started. Um, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:33.240 I went from you know, mixing in in in digital too, uh, 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:38.680 Sony Twenty four track digital, which became Sony Forty eight 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:43.520 track digital. No, I've I've been recording essentially digitally for 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.920 quite a while now. Um. But, having said that, my 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:52.240 studio now is although of course I use pro tools 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.280 like most people, which is a digital recording format. It's 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.840 very high very high resolution digital format, but I use 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.880 an analog console and that's that's a joy for me 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.880 just to just to do everything like it used to be, 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.640 you know, setting up mikes and having each each mic 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.280 on its own analog channel and then then committing it 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.480 to pro tools. And when did you stop, or did 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:19.440 you ever stop, using tape? Oh, yeah, I think we 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.360 I think a valid path would have been the first 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.160 time there was not a tape machine inside, even a 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:31.800 digital tape machine. But yes, that that was a good 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.240 while ago. That was ninety four. So I haven't seen 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.360 a tape machine basically since ninety four. And what's the 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:41.040 difference between your knee analyze, so I'm told? Sorry, I 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.839 mean two thousand four, not that sounded pretty early very 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:49.400 much right. Was Two four. So it was a practical matter. 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.280 What's the difference between your analog Nive and a digital board? 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:59.160 It's Um, you know, it's just a little more tactile. 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:06.000 Every every channel has its own controls, its own sands, 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:10.640 its own accues and whereas digital tend to digital consoles 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:12.960 tend to group things together and you have to hit 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.040 a button to to go to a particular channel that 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:20.080 you want to modify, whereas on a on an analog board, 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:24.679 it's not so much a control surface, but it's a 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.440 it's a it's an information giver. It tells you what 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.760 you're doing at a glance, whereas it on a digital 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:35.800 console that's almost impossible to assess. What what every every 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.320 channel is doing at the same time. And what about 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:44.040 the quality of the sound? Well, believe it or not, 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:49.280 digital audio is still in its infancy and it gets 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:55.440 better every day. Analog to digital converters, digital to analog 0:09:55.520 --> 0:10:00.280 converters get better every day. Um. And you know, I think, 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:04.800 I truly believe, one day we will just look back 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:10.120 on analog tape recording as as a piece of history 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:14.680 because we can duplicate it exactly in digital and we'll 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:18.520 say what, what, what was? What was wrong with digital 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.719 in the first place? But it did get better, it 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.520 really did get better. And what's your take on the 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:28.560 vinyl renaissance? It's that's that's really interesting. I mean that 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:36.719 that's clearly a move towards the public favoring uh, a pure, 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:43.400 pure signal path to to to the to their systems. Um. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.760 Vinyl is Um, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's the 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:49.480 thing you hold in your hand and you can read 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:53.160 the cover notes and and but the sound is great, 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.040 especially the the mastering that's been going on at tough 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:02.199 speed to improve the quality. Yet again, I'm all in 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:07.080 favor of it and I I just came recently came back, 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:12.520 before I went into hospital, from Munich in Germany, where 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:17.280 there is clearly a move towards the final the game. 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.480 I mean I was looking at looking at vinyl turntables 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:24.520 costing a hundred and sixty thousand euros. I mean it's 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:29.840 just unbelievable. Let's be very specific. If the path is 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.600 a digital path and you end up with a digital master, 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.720 I'm not talking about old stuff for sixties and seven 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.040 it's not modern stuff. What's the logic in cutting it 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:44.840 in vinyl? That's a very good question. I mean, Um, 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:50.800 I think it's just that people are getting back to 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.360 having a really good stereo system in their homes and, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.120 you know, a good a good turntable is part of that. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.160 Out of that equation, I think. I mean they might, 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.560 they might have a CD player as well, but audiophiles 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:10.120 are definitely sort of moving towards finyl. There's no question. Well, 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:14.040 as an engineer and an expert here, Um, although I 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:18.839 still have all my vinyl, I have multiple turntables, etcetera. It. 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.840 I talked to the professional community and they say inherently 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.360 there's distortion and the record for no other reason, the 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.319 needle moves from the outer groove to the inner groove 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:35.520 and it's more of an affectation than the sound being 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:41.040 better than digital today standards. Your take on that? You 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:45.880 say it's just a fashion thing. Let's go back in 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:50.079 the early days of digital and you heard. I mean. 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:52.840 I use this example. I remember having the original back 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.280 in black, a C D, C C D, and I 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.080 have a lot of power. I never want to hit 0:12:57.120 --> 0:12:59.880 the storeship in my system and I turned it up 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.480 and my ears would bleed. I put on Thet I 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.520 put on the vinyl and you could feel it in 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.880 the house would shake. Okay, people, people might say that 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.920 was distortion, but it was palpable. But now when I 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.160 listen to things, you know resolution certainly of nineties six, 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.440 never mind CD quality. All the experts say that. You 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.760 know that. I talked to said you like the sound 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.120 a vinyl, great, but it's not more accurate and the 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:32.080 digital original is actually better. But I'm asking you that 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:36.160 question for your take. If if the digital original was 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:40.000 done at High Ras, like K or o high or 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.520 even Um, yes, I would argue that that that's the 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:49.360 that's the highest quotity you're gonna get. Uh, but uh, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.760 for you know, for older recordings, I think I think final. 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.880 I think the final wins out, despite the pulps and crackles. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.679 You know, we can, we can put up with us. 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:01.680 I agree. If it's if it's kind of analog to 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:05.200 begin with. That's a whole different thing. Yeah, but a 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.080 lot of people buying vinyl today, or younger people, were 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:12.439 just buying something cutting digital that's been, you know, transferred 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.079 to vinyl. I don't get it. Yeah, that that is 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.800 a bit that is a bit weird. But needless to say, 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.040 the landscape is different in the recording industry than it 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:23.640 used to be. I'm talking about the commercial and the 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.800 marketing and we used to have a major label. There're 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:31.720 a limited number of albums out there. You know, a 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.040 lot of older acts it's a disincentive. They don't even 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:38.240 record new music anymore because they're fearful it won't reach 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:43.120 their customers. Is that something that interduce your brain? Very 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.560 much so. But I'm pleased, I'm very pleased that I 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.960 seem to have enough lasting power to to at least 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:54.400 make albums. I don't sell albums anything like how I 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.680 used to. I mean all the Alam Passer's project albums 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.480 went to at least gold, most amount platinum or even 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.760 double platinum. But you know, I'm still here. I'm still 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:11.000 supporting the Alan Parsons Project by playing live, UH and 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.480 enjoying it very much. So, I mean it's it is 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:18.080 a warrior. I mean there's a lot of British bands 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:22.440 in particular who who just are terrified to put out 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:27.560 another album in case it completely stiff h but I've 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:32.720 done okay in that respect and the playing live really 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:36.760 really does help keep the name, the name alive, even 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:38.600 though we don't call it the Alan passons project. We 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:43.160 call it the Alan Parsons Live Project, Um, which is 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.520 kind of a salute to Eric Wilson, who who was 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.680 the other half of the Alan Passon's project. It was 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.880 just just the two of US really. So how do 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.480 you plan to market the records so your people are 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:02.040 aware of it and we'll hear it? I'm much reliant 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.360 on the label, which is frontiers, frontiers records out of 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.440 out of Italy. Um, they have a lot of a 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.359 lot of rock acts on their on their roster. Um. 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:17.440 I'm also very aware of the power of social media 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:22.040 these days. I mean if if if we post on 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.800 on our own facebook site, you know it'll get it 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.760 will get some attention and we can make it reach 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.720 other other websites as well. That that that's great. You 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:36.480 know that that that's the way to promote something these days. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.160 It's it's, it's all. It's all about the Internet. And 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.800 to what degree you personally active? You have other people 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.280 do it for you. I do most of the time. 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.720 I have other people do it, okay, one of one 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:50.440 of whom is my wife, one of whom is my 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:55.720 son in law. So you have this album with the 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.080 Italian company. Did they pay for the record? Did you 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.720 pay for the record? Um, they paid me an advance 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.119 and I paid for it. And at the end of 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:07.440 the day you're going to be in the black or 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.880 the red on the record. That remains to be seen. 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:15.840 I haven't done the accounts yet. I'm I'm hoping it 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:18.760 will be close to break even at least. And what 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:24.600 about your royalty stream? How's that doing? Really good. Um, 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:29.119 you know, the the analysis project catalog, both both for 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.400 sound recording and publishing, is very much alive and doing 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:40.359 well and it's become it's become something I rely upon. Uh, 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.800 it's it's strong, it's great. Do you still own your 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:47.199 own publishing? I never did. I never did. It was 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:54.600 assigned to two publishers and of course I I own 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:59.119 rights to receive royalties on those, on those entities. But 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.080 know that that I don't own any of my copyrights. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.280 So if there's a hundred cents in the dollar, how 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:13.320 much that it goes to you? Mm Hmm U. based 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:17.080 on a record sale? No, no, no, based on based 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.040 on a song. If there's a hundred, uh, freak. You know, 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.879 an artist might own their publishing, paid administrators somewhere between 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:28.040 three and ten percent, the other nineties them. Uh. An 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.159 artist may have a deal with a publisher and the 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:33.680 publisher owns the copyright. They take fifty, the artist who 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.600 wrote a gift fift also, if they co wrote it. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:41.240 They ends up with so in the in this publishing 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.920 and a song, how much do you ultimately get in 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:49.199 the revenue drink? I think we're I'm publishing. Okay, so 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:52.879 that's good. That's a good number. How about the issue 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:57.400 of regaining the Copyright of your Alan Parsons Projects Records? 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:01.840 If you go on that road, we've we've done it. 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:06.080 We've done what what is called termination, which means that 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:13.240 we we we ultimately get get rights to it at 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:20.360 a certain point. But I don't think I'll ever literally 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.439 clawback that all the copyrights. I don't I don't think 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.840 that's going to happen. But I know it's fashionable to 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.639 to sell one's one's rights these days. I mean everybody's 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.359 doing it and I've been thinking about it. But no, no, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.840 no firm decisions yet. What would be your motivation to 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:41.520 do it or not to it? Well, it's that it's 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.080 that big m word again. I mean it's it's money 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:49.720 in your pocket. You know. Um, I'm living very comfortably, 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:55.320 you know, now, with with the current live shows and 0:19:55.359 --> 0:20:00.320 the current record sales. But you know, there's a if 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:07.480 there's a way of uh supplementing that income overnight, that 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.280 would be very nice. I'm not getting any younger either. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:12.960 I mean, you know, I'm seventy three. A Nice little 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.680 a nice little few million dollars, you know, back in 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.600 the bank would would be very nice. I might consider 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.880 buying a second home or something, although, of course, if 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:30.720 you'd sold them uh recently and invested the proceeds, with 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.359 the market crash, you know, that would have worked against you. 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.720 But okay, so let's go back to the beginning. What 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:45.160 were you growing up? Circumstances like? I I was an 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:49.920 only child. Both my parents were musical. My My dad 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:55.080 played piano and flute and my mother played a Celtic 0:20:55.280 --> 0:21:00.359 up and there was always it was always music in 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.360 my household. My Dad was always playing classical music, which 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:06.680 is why my knowledge of classical music is is pretty good. 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:15.080 And you know, I I went to good schools in London, 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:20.800 prep school called the hall and went on to what 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.960 the English would call a public school. Uh, but it's 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:27.960 very it's very much a private school. That was Westminster, 0:21:28.600 --> 0:21:33.480 Westminster School, which was adjacent to Westminster Abbey in London, 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:41.679 so very sort of prestigious location. But I left. I 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:46.280 left at sixteen. I was considered by a vocational guidance 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:49.720 person to be unsuitable to to continue to the age 0:21:49.720 --> 0:21:51.600 of eighteen in order to go to college or anything. 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:56.720 So I left at sixteen, went went to well, before 0:21:56.720 --> 0:21:59.160 you go there, what'd your parents say when the guy 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:04.080 we got into said get out of here? I think, 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.040 I think they're supported me on it. When my my 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:10.959 school reports were dreadful. You know, he he has no 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.520 interest in this subject. You know he's he's slacking, he 0:22:14.560 --> 0:22:17.000 will not, will not do his homework and all that 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:21.720 kind of stuff. So yeah, it was. It was. It 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:24.720 surprised me. I thought, Oh my God, Oh my God, 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.159 I'm going to be hating school for at least another 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:32.640 two years. But I really hadn't considered the option of 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:38.400 leaving school. And I mean Americans use the expression high 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.639 school dropout. I suppose. I suppose that's what I was 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:45.360 really but I was a dropout from a public school, 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:51.000 prestigious English Public School, you know, right up there amongst Eaton, Harrow, 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:57.960 St Paul's, or big public schools as we call them. Um. 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:08.520 So I was an unusual was an unusual dropout. What 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:11.880 kind of kid were you growing up? Popular, unpopular, loner, 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:14.800 into your own things. Usually single kids have their own 0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:19.920 unique perspective in life. I had a good childhood. I 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:25.159 wasn't bullied at school, if that's what you mean, but 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:29.359 I I mentioned I was. I wasn't an only child 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:34.919 and I had lots of friends. I did okay. We, 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:41.600 my my parents, lived in in an area of London 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:45.919 which was was fairly upper middle class, actually a very 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.240 Jewish area. I'm not Jewish myself, but we lived in 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:55.400 a substantially Jewish area and I generally had a good childhood. 0:23:55.600 --> 0:24:03.520 I I enjoyed my my my father had a sort 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:08.080 of passion for gadgetry and building things and I think 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:10.240 that's kind of rubbed rubbed off on me as well, 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:13.720 and I I learned. I learned a great deal from him. 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:18.439 Needles to say, music was revolutionized with the Beatles in 0:24:18.440 --> 0:24:22.480 the British invasion. To what degree were you growing up 0:24:22.480 --> 0:24:25.399 paying attention to popular music and what was your experience? 0:24:27.160 --> 0:24:32.879 I was very, very into part music. I started taking 0:24:32.880 --> 0:24:40.280 a really interesting about Ah. Distinctly remember a friend of 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:43.480 Mine Picking Up Oh Carol by Neil Sadaka, whatever year 0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:48.240 that is. I think that's probably around that time. I 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.440 was a huge fan of cliff and the shadows, Richard, 0:24:51.480 --> 0:25:00.040 that is Um and in terms of American music, I 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.000 was listening to Chat Berry, Buddy Holly, of course. So yeah, 0:25:05.040 --> 0:25:06.600 I was there. I was there at the beginning of 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:10.639 at the beginning of Pop and, to what you know, 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:13.520 it was a seismic event when the Beatles came to America. 0:25:13.600 --> 0:25:16.880 What was your experience in the UK? I was still 0:25:16.920 --> 0:25:22.639 at school. Um, I mean I was the biggest beatle 0:25:22.680 --> 0:25:26.120 fan you could you could ever imagine. I really was very, very, 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:30.480 very into their music right right from the beginning, right 0:25:30.520 --> 0:25:33.480 from from me to you and love me do through 0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:38.800 to the through to their ultimate breakup. So did you 0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:45.400 play a musical instrument growing up? Uh, I took piano lessons. 0:25:45.560 --> 0:25:49.600 I didn't particularly enjoy learning, learning piano from a teacher, 0:25:49.640 --> 0:25:52.200 I was I was more interested in playing by here 0:25:53.320 --> 0:25:55.920 and I did the same for the flute. The good 0:25:55.960 --> 0:25:59.720 thing about it is it taught me musical notation which 0:25:59.760 --> 0:26:03.280 I was I might not have been able to to 0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:06.919 use in later life. I mean I use musical musical 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:11.439 notation now to substantial degree, especially for orchestral arrangements and 0:26:11.480 --> 0:26:18.000 so on. But yeah, it was it was a good 0:26:18.040 --> 0:26:22.360 thing that I did. I did have piano and flute lessons. 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:28.080 Played in an orchestra at school as well. Um Plenty of, 0:26:28.200 --> 0:26:33.600 plenty of musical events going on in my chilter. So 0:26:33.680 --> 0:26:35.880 you pushed out of school at Sixteen and one level 0:26:35.960 --> 0:26:38.040 your thrilled you don't have to go two more years. 0:26:38.200 --> 0:26:40.240 What goes from your head then? What you'RE gonna do? 0:26:42.119 --> 0:26:48.840 I somehow knew that I would be in the entertainment 0:26:48.840 --> 0:26:55.480 industry somewhere. I given consideration to sound. You know, I 0:26:55.880 --> 0:26:59.080 didn't really know what what a recording engineer was back then, 0:26:59.359 --> 0:27:02.560 but I said I to work with sound and I 0:27:02.640 --> 0:27:06.879 also considered television. I I actually filled in forms for 0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:10.560 the BBC, you know, to become a TV cameraman, you know, 0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:13.040 to be trained as a TV cameraman. But that that, 0:27:14.840 --> 0:27:19.239 that just went by the wayside and I did a 0:27:19.240 --> 0:27:21.640 similar thing with e m I that I knew em. 0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:24.600 I was a big record company. So my first job 0:27:24.640 --> 0:27:28.080 after leaving school was with the M I was. that 0:27:28.200 --> 0:27:30.919 a hard job to get because from the outside, you know, 0:27:31.000 --> 0:27:35.560 people are salivating for jobs like that. It was actually 0:27:35.640 --> 0:27:41.800 an apprenticeship scheme, it wasn't you know. I started in 0:27:41.880 --> 0:27:45.560