Mark: so, if you wanted someone to have their first taste of Saturn, what tracks should they look out for, do you think?
Robin: If you want to get the whole spectrum, you should listen to “So, You Have Chosen Death” it’s a very easy to take in track, and then you should listen to “Tower of Terror”, “Over the Influence” and “Last Man in Space”. Those tracks summarise the album quite well.
Mark: It’s a great album, in that you can sit down and listen to it, in one hit, was that a conscious decision was there many tracks that you discarded?
Robin: We had a lot of tracks when we recorded “Ascending”, but we chose these eight tracks quite wisely, I think. We wanted to show that we can do a little bit of everything, I think we have everything from Blues to real Heavy Metal, to Thrash, the whole spectrum.
Mark: Are you the sort of band that reads the reviews? And what sort of feeling are you getting from those so far?
Robin: I visit Google, quite often! It’s all new, so I’m still so excited about everything!! I think we are getting very good reviews from almost everywhere, we get 7-8 out of 10 on every review. I am really glad that people like the music that I’m creating; it’s a bizarre feeling, for the first time in my life!
Mark: It must be great to finally get it out there as well. Were you in a band prior to Saturn?
Robin: Yeah, I was in a band called Kill Your Darlings, but nothing serious, just a high school band. Linkan was in a punk band called The Vultures about 10 years ago or something!
Mark: So, where can we catch you guys live for the rest of the year, are you doing local shows, or taking this out on the road?
Robin: We don’t have anything planned, unfortunately, we only have our release fest, but hopefully with all these interviews we are doing, we’ll get some promotion, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to get out on the road as soon as possible.
Mark: There are a few bands from your label, making it down to Australia over the last few years.
Robin: Yes, the album is just released on CD, so people haven’t been able to listen to it yet.
Mark: Hopefully in the months to come, we can expect something!
Mark: You mentioned Ritchie Blackmore as one of your influences, are you still listening to him, and some of his newer music as well?
Robin: I tend to sit on You Tube and see if he puts out any good solos! That’s about it!
Mark: Like the rest of us, I think!! I think you’ve answered my next question, which was who would you compose with, living or dead, if you had the choice?
Robin: Blackmore, of course! I think that he has done so much with Rainbow and Purple, so I really think he deserves to do what he wants to do.
Mark: That’s right, and he seems very comfortable doing that as well. What’s the plan for Saturn, after the release? Hopefully you’ll get some tour dates, and continue to promote the album for the rest of the year. You’ve also got vinyl coming, which is great for us who still play vinyl!! Do you have a decent collection yourself?
Robin: Yes, I have, most of them I stole from my dad! Rainbow, Purple and Budgie!
Mark: Yeah, Budgie was one of the bands I got a little bit of a taste of in your music, a great band that are still going around today.
Robin: Yes, I heard them first about 5 years ago, and I recognised the name from my father’s vinyl collection! I recognise now, that they were ground breaking back in the day.
Mark: Yeah, a lot of bands cite them as an influence. Taking it back a bit, what was the defining moment for you, what was it that made you want to be in a band?
Robin: I don’t know really, I started to play guitar when I was fifteen years old, it was mostly acoustic guitar, but I think my father led me down the rock and roll track, because all my life he’s been playing these classic bands, so I think it’s because of him.
Mark: There is a resurgence going on, and a lot of young bands I talk to seem to be going back to that classic period of the seventies where rock really had no boundaries. I think, particularly over the past twenty years or so, bands have been trying to fit into a particular genre, and have a particular sound. One of the best things for us, listening to a band like Saturn, is you can certainly tell the music that you love, but it doesn’t sound like you’re trying to copy it. You are creating something new, and interesting and exciting, which is great!
Robin: Thank you very much, I think it’s hard to write new music that doesn’t sound like anything, it’s practically impossible. Of course I love to play the music that I would love to hear, that I like to listen to, and of course I’m influenced by the bands I listen to, no doubt about it! But I’m trying not to steal too many riffs!
Mark: From what you’ve learned so far as a musician, what’s the best bit of advice you’ve been given?
Robin: Hard question! I don’t know, I think, do it because you love it, not to earn money.
Mark: I think that’s particularly important these days.
Robin: So many people are out for the money and so much of this mainstream music is very processed and good for radio, and I’m happy for them, but I want to do music that I love, and if that doesn’t bring in any cash, I don’t care!
Mark: You’ve created something for people, and that’s the main thing. Are there any contemporary bands that you do listen to?
Robin: I love the new bands from Gothenburg that are starting to pop up, like Blues Pils, and The Graveyard.
Mark: We saw Blues Pils down here late last year, and they were amazing, the new album is fantastic!
Robin: They are almost late sixties, more Jefferson Airplane kind of music.
Mark: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the creation of any album, at any point in time, what would it have been for you and why?
Robin: Rainbow “Rising”, I would have loved to see when he recorded the guitars for “Stargazer”!
Mark: That would have been amazing! Our final question, that we ask everyone, what is the meaning of life?
Robin: Ask Monty Python!
Mark: I think we’ll have to. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Robin, congratulations on a great album, and we hope one day to see you here in Australia, you never know! We’ll help spread the word!
Robin: We hope to visit you in Australia as well, we would be honoured to. Thank you, Mark, good talking to you.
Robin spoke to Mark Diggins August 2014 |