HARD ROCK INTERVIEWS 2013 - TYLA J PALLAS

TYLA J PALLAS

checks in to tell us all about his latest release

THE DEVIL'S SUPPER (ELECTRIC SITTING)

check out THE DEVIL'S SUPPER album review here...

buy the album and so much more here...

It's always a pleasure to get to talk to Tyla. But this was the first time we've really spoken about one topic in particular. The first time I heard THE DEVILS SUPPER I was speechless. This could well be the great man's best work to date...

Rockpit. We last caught up just before the recent shows for the original line up of The Dogs D’Amour earlier in the year how did the shows go? Did you manage to raise as much as you’d hoped and how did everyone get along?

T.  To be honest it was all very stressful, but yes we managed to raise a decent amount of funds for Hornby and it was good to be friends again with the band. Im sure that all the shows made a lot of people happy to say the least, We may do it again one day….or night.

Rockpit. What was the highlight of the whole thing for you?

T. It had to be the Borderline shows. Quite emotional really.

Rockpit. The main reason we wanted to catch up was the new album DEVILS SUPPER (Electric Sitting). It’s been with us for a while now and we’ve got the review up there but to be honest I don’t know where to start. We love your music, but this one just feels very special. Are you pleased first of all how the songs that were on the ‘Acoustic Sitting’ have developed?

T. It’s not for me to say, but I’ll say it anyway. I really do think and feel that these are some of the best tunes I’ve ever put on CD and Vinyl

Rockpit. How do you tend to work after you’ve laid down an acoustic demo is it a case of filling it out then experimenting, or do you start to play with sounds earlier in the process of writing?

T. I Had written and recorded  a few of the tunes with drums etc…and then I decided to do acoustic versions of them while I worked on the electric recordings, which in turn helped me fund the making of the album.

Rockpit. Do any of the songs you lay down as demos alter radically as you revisit them?

T. You can see that if you listen to both albums and work it out for yerselves.

Rockpit. We loved the way you used horns and brass on DEVILS SUPPER and we know you’ve used them before but this collection really comes alive with what you’ve done with them. Did it feel different with this album, like you’d really managed to capture something special?

T. When I used horns/ strings before on songs such as ‘Rails’ or ‘Supreme creator’ or on Quinquaginta they were digital…and so artificial samples done on a keyboard…these are the real thing….thats what you can feel and sense.

Rockpit. The single ‘Green Eyed Girl’ has some great trumpet on there, it’s a bit of a left turn, but I’m sure won’t put off anyone. As you get older do you want to experiment more with sounds and textures?

 
T. I don’t think it’s a turn in any direction at all, it not unlike ‘Best Regards’ or ‘Darlings of the night’ I’ve always used textures or like to think I have..i don’t want to make the same album over and over just because it's popular, I’ve never been afraid to experiment.

Rockpit. ‘In Another Life’ is a huge song, it sounds like a song that took a lot of living to write, it’s pure raw, emotion and great rock and roll, where did that idea come from?

T. Its based on murderers who have served their time and now walk amongst us and also about the ones that got away and do likewise…very dark.

Rockpit. One of my favourites on ‘Devil’s Supper’ is ‘Judas Christ’ it’s got the patina of a song years old, welded to that huge riff, a little dark and made for smoky bars. With so much light and shade and so many styles at play on Devil’s Supper you seem to be going through a bit of a golden period where we’re seeing some of your most diverse work. Does it feel like that to you? Have you got to that point in your career where you feel completely free to fly in any direction?

T. Ever since I went totally solo back in 1994 I’ve felt that way. It really is the only way for me to truly express myself

Rockpit. ‘The Meaning of Fortune and Fame’ is one of my personal favourites on the album, it’s quite a laid back affair, but there’s an essence of ‘Sympathy For the Devil’ about it. The way it builds brings the hairs up on the back of your neck, it has that indefinable something. As an artist do you ever get goose-bumps or think ‘Wow, I can’t believe I just did that’? And if so when was the last time?

 
T. Its because one of the acoustic guitars is opened tuned to E so you get that Stones sound. I learnt open tunings back in 1982 but I find it impossible to not sound Stonesy…but on this one it works…and if you listen to this track on headphones even more so. Yes I get the bumps, got it when I wrote How Come it never rains.

Rockpit. Some of our favourite songs over the years have been those you’ve written specifically about real people – on THE DEVILS SUPPER it’s ‘Ode to Jackie Leven’, but there have been many others from Johnny Thunders to Cary Grant. Lyrically which of those compositions have you been happiest with?

T. Defiantly thr Jackie Leven songs which took me over a year to write, and was originally in Jackies tuning but I had to re record it in D to get the pipes on it, as they only work in F or D.

Rockpit. Do you have lots of ‘drawer junk’ as a mate of mine once described it – jottings and lyrics, recorded ideas and parts of songs that you revisit from time to time? If so is there anything in there that you just keep coming back to? 

T. Just from this Album ive already got about 5 songs that are only waiting some good lyrics, I did think about putting them on but held back for once, and I think for the better, you’ll see when the rear their heads..one is called ‘ The Dinosaur‘.

Rockpit. How do you create, being someone who is very prolific, does the mood have to take you or can you just sit down an start to write?

T. They usually come very quick and at weird times, im going to write some more stories soon about the recording process I use these days which is defiantly not the norm. There is absolutely nothing sterile about the way I work these days.

Rockpit. I forget who it was said they could only write (music) when they were happy and words when they were sad. Do you feel your emotions and moods effect how the music to a song comes out or can the lyrics lighten or darken the mood or any piece of music?

T. I have most defiantly adapted the way I write around the way my life is there days for instance devils Supper acoustic recording were done in one go between 10 am till noon..yet most of the reviews think there I was in the dark of night while I was drinking whiskey smoking cigarettes. I had a mug of tea ha ha!!

Rockpit. As an artist with such a distinct style, you’ve collaborated with a number of musicians over the years to varying degrees, is there anyone out there you would genuinely love to sit down and write with?

T. I’d have to give that a lot of thought, and well while a few are alive most are dead

Rockpit. It’s your birthday today, happy birthday! How do you celebrate these days?

T. I do a gig with all me mates and we all have a laugh and hope the billy bunters have a good time too! I even recorded it so if you weren’t there you’ll be able to geta copy and be there in spirit…and maybe next time you will be there.

Rockpit. I’ve loved the Audio Books and Books over the years, and you must have flirted with the idea of an autobiography. Is it more of a case of the dedication required that’s put you off so far, or that you just don’t feel it’s the time, or as I suspect there’s just so much other great stuff to do?

T. Its on me ‘things to do’ list

Rockpit. What’s the rest of 2013 have in store for you?

T. Oh plenty, as you will all see...