Hackett and Holmes Talk 'Five for Silver'

I'm incredibly honoured that prog legends Steve Hackett and Michael Holmes have each taken the time to pass on their thoughts about Five for Silver. Being top blokes and good all round eggs, they've also been kind enough to let me quote some of their comments to a press release, which you can read below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Following its publication in a Kindle edition at the beginning of 2014, independent novelist Justin Peter Beaney is proud to announce that Five for Silver – The Diabolical Pact of Leanne Labbartu is now available in paperback.

So what can readers expect from Five for Silver? “At its root, it’s a story about intolerance and the conflict that can arise when it takes hold.  The characters are all just ordinary people, but they suddenly find themselves thrown together in this confined, almost claustrophobic setting.  There are things going on that they simply don’t understand and they quickly find that they’re all way outside their comfort zones.  The book explores how that not only generates great fear but can also push people’s views into very extreme territory, with potentially dangerous consequences.”

As well as enhancing Justin’s reputation for creating gripping tales with a unique supernatural twist, Five for Silver continues to reflect his love of all kinds of folk tradition – from faerie tales to classical myths, and pagan beliefs to Christian history. “The first goal is always to try and create something new, and produce a story that people won't have read before,” he explains. “But if along the way I can reference something that's already a part of a much older tradition, I personally find that very satisfying.” Justin is adamant that such an approach needn’t constrain his storylines, nor stifle his creativity. “Actually, the opposite is true. What usually happens is that I’ll pick up on an interesting connection or similarity between a few disparate things – it could perhaps start with a line or two from a nursery rhyme and I might match that up with something from, say, Sumerian religion, witchcraft, or Scandinavian folklore.  That can open up all kinds of interesting possibilities, allowing me to mix these strands together and provide a new interpretation of what’s gone before.  After all, most of the folk tales we recognise today are probably corruptions of much earlier sources, so it’s great fun to look at something and think: what if everyone has it wrong?  What if the good guy of legend was really the baddie?  Or what if the fairy tale we happily tell our children was actually based on something very dark and very, very real?”

If Justin’s plots can be seen as a melting pot of different traditions, it’s no surprise that another key source of inspiration comes from his passion for progressive rock, the once-maligned musical genre that has always sought to fuse eclectic styles and different musical cultures. “I love music that fires the imagination,” he explains, “and particularly the kind that takes you on a journey, where you can completely lose yourself in the atmosphere of an album. I grew up listening to Genesis and King Crimson, and when I was a teenager in the mid-80s I had the privilege of going to see groups like IQ and Twelfth Night fly in the face of fashion at places like the Marquee Club in London.  Each of those bands really know how to convey the mood and atmosphere of a story in music.”  So do any of the fantastical concepts behind prog's epic albums make an appearance in his books?  “Perhaps, but not necessarily in an overt way. More often than not, the inspiration comes from odd scraps and bits of detail – a curious lyric or an intriguing song title, or perhaps even a melody that conjures a particular image or feeling.  In many ways, these responses are very personal and I suspect most people wouldn't even recognise a link to a particular song, even if they happened to be very familiar with it. That said, there are other times I like to make it a bit more obvious, like when I'm highlighting a legend or myth.  Either way, you don’t need to know any of the musical references to enjoy the story.”  Indeed, the majority of Justin’s readers will no doubt be oblivious to the musical delights of bands like Opeth or Porcupine Tree – two big influences on Five for Silver – but are more than happy to lap up his stories.  “That said,” he smiles, “those prog fans that have picked up on my books do seem to enjoy spotting the odd musical reference as much as I love slipping them in.  I think it’s a prog thing – we’re all musical trainspotters at heart!”

It seems somewhat fitting that some of Justin’s early musical heroes are now fans of his writing.  Steve Hackett, the legendary Genesis guitarist, has been a strong advocate ever since Justin’s first novel, Kâsdejâ's Children created a stir amongst Genesis fans.  And he’s similarly impressed with Five for Silver: “The book is a special read,” he says. “I enjoyed it a lot.  It has great pace, a strong sense of mystery with suspense and tremendous atmosphere.  I really like the way it explores the supernatural with a powerful Gothic feel, and there's a lot of depth to the ideas behind it. I can also see how it shares the spirit of the music that has inspired Justin over the years.”  Another legendary prog guitarist, Mike Holmes of IQ, agrees: “I loved it.  Five for Silver is a real page-turner of a book, one that takes a while to get going before you suddenly realise you’ve just read another 50 pages.  For the second time reading one of Justin’s books I’ve let the water go cold in the bath because I couldn’t put it down.  Great storytelling and great imagery, characters so real you have no problem picturing them in your mind – a fantasy told so convincingly that it actually starts to feel plausible.  It’s like a progressive rock double concept album (just let your head provide the music) and like all good stories I didn’t want it to end.”

Five for Silver Now Available in Soft-Back!

Yes, yes, yes, indeedy...

Many people out there have been complaining that Five for Silver was only released as an e-book on Kindle. Well complain no more - a soft-back version in now available on Amazon stores across the world (click here for Amazon in the UK). Hurrah!

I also took the opportunity to re-publish Painted Gold in a new soft-back edition while I was at it (click here for the link to Amazon in the UK). Not only that, but I've updated the cover for both books. What do you think?

I've been very humbled by some of the extremely positive feedback to Five for Silver. Thank you all so very much! If I could make one request - please can you also share your thoughts and feelings with the rest of the world by posting reviews on Amazon (but please ensure you don't give away the plot!!!) and by spreading the word via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and all the other social media malarky that's out there.  Hey - you can always post a comment on this blog too!

Many thanks!

Celebr8.3

Last weekend (30 May - 1 Jun) I had a very enjoyable time at the Celebr8.3 festival in Islington. The festival started with a heady slice of nostalgia with a rare performance from Twelfth Night, featuring the same line-up that played their final “last ever” (!) show in Dec 2012. As with that show, their performance concentrated on Fact and Fiction and Live and Let Live – two very important albums from my youth. It was great to see Andy, Brian and Clive on stage together once again, and Mark Spencer did another fantastic job handling the vocals. Aside from having a great voice and stage presence in his own right, Mark perfectly captures the atmosphere of the band from that era whilst simultaneously bringing a different twist to these classic songs. It was a bit weird seeing the band playing at 2 o’clock in the afternoon (it’s just wrong!!) and, unfortunately, (as with all of Twelfth Night’s performances since they started playing live again) there were more than a few cock-ups. When the band got things right, however, it was a joy to behold. No one else makes music the way TN does and when the set finished I was left with a host of mixed emotions – gratitude that we’d had one final and unexpected chance to witness this particular line-up play this wonderful music, sadness that it was all apparently over (again!) and a big dose of frustration over what might’ve and could’ve been: the idea of a confident, well-rehearsed and finely-honed performance by this band on a hot, sweaty summer evening is a truly mouth-watering prospect. Alas, it looks like one that will never come to pass.

Twelfth Night were followed by the superbly-named Thumpermonkey. I’d not heard anything by them before, and I have to say there was nothing in the band’s short set that really caught by imagination. That said, they had a pretty dreadful sound so it could be that their music has hidden depths that weren’t necessarily revealed on the day. After Thumpermonkey, came Karamkanic from Sweden. Now, I’d not heard this band before either, but I must say I really enjoyed their set – very classy musicians, with keyboard player Lalle Larson, drummer Morgan Agren and young-gun English guitarist Luke Machin particularly standing out. I’m not sure I’d say that they were particularly original, but when music is played by such a quality band, that doesn’t really matter. For me, the only downside to their sound was the singer – there’s no question he has a good voice, but his delivery (quite a lot of crooner-style vibrato) and the lyrics made it seem an odd fit with the music. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he should have been singing in a 80s American AOR band!

It was a surprising twist to learn that the six musicians performing as Karmakanic were the very same musicians who would later perform as Saturday-night headliners The Tangent. I’d heard quite a bit of The Tangent before and come to the conclusion that they weren’t really my cup of tea, so my travel plans were made on the assumption that I would skip their set. This turned out to be a shame, as I’m sure the second performance of the day from these fine musicians would’ve been well worth seeing.

As it was, however, the day ended for me on a real high – seeing Danny, Vincent and Lee from Anathema perform their very special acoustic show. What can I say – they were superb! After all the millions of notes that had been played during the day, to see the three of them perform such sparse, stripped down songs and deliver a killer set based on faultless vocals and a deep emotional intensity was breathtaking. It was all over far too soon, but it felt right to leave after their performance as there is no way anyone would have been able to top them. I can’t wait for Mister Postie to bring me their new album – for sure, one of the most anticipated releases of the year in the Beaney household.

Day 2 of the festival began with Galahad. I’d never seen the band before and, although they were not really my thing, it’s very hard to say anything negative about them – they were competent, tight and performed with a kind of energy and enthusiasm that has to be commended. They were the only band of the weekend that bothered to dress up for their show, and although their dress sense left a LOT to be desired it all added to the impression that they wanted to put on a real show. As ridiculous as they looked, you could tell that they loved every minute of what they did – I doubt they could’ve been happier if they were on stage at Wembley performing before thousands of adoring fans. When they first started, I thought they might have hit upon quite a unique sound with their use of modern electronica (assuming that’s the right description for it!) but, alas, as time went on I’m afraid their music just fell short for me, settling into a “prog-by-numbers” kind of sound that felt like a pale imitation of countless other bands.

After Galahad it was time for another one of my current faves – Sanguine Hum. I’d fortuitously happened upon this band last year when I caught them at the Peel supporting Moon Safari. I thought they were excellent that night and was quick to invest in their two albums. Filling the same spot on the Sunday bill as Thumpermonkey had the day before, it was a shame they were let down by a similarly dreadful sound. Knowing most of the material really well (they also played a couple of new songs), it was frustrating to hear the subtleties of so much of their music lost in a thick wash of sound. That said, they were still fantastic, providing a welcome blast of quirky individuality to proceedings. Epic number The Weight of the World was sublime and it seemed their set was over all too quickly. Everyone has their own opinion, of course, but for me it was criminal that they’d been given such a lowly spot on the bill – particularly in view of what was to come later that day. Still, it was nice to catch up with some of the band outside the venue afterwards and wish them well on the recording of their new album. I really hope that proves the catalyst to bring them to a much wider audience.

Sanguine Hum were followed by Cosmograf who, I’m afraid, were not my cup of tea at all. To my ears, they were another band of uninspiring prog-by-numbers mediocrity, but this time without any of Galahad’s energy or swagger. The only saving grace in their set was the fact that they were joined by Luke Machin on guitar, putting in an incredible 3^rd show of the weekend. This young man is definitely a star in the making and his solos added a much-needed quality to an otherwise tedious collection of dreary songs. Things did not improve after the break when The Fierce and the Dead took to the stage to perform an uninspiring set of instrumental noise. To give them credit, they at least delivered their wares with an a spot of passion, but whenever something remotely interesting raised its head from the wall of noise they produced it only proved to be ripped off from King Crimson. How this band managed to blag being second on the bill is quite beyond me, but at least it only served to heighten the expectation for the final band of the weekend – the mighty Frost*.

It had been far too long since I’d seen them live (I believe their only gig since I saw them in Dec 2012 was last year’s Celebr8.2 festival, which I missed) and they were just as superb as everyone in the room knew they would be – highly original prog for the 21st century filled with killer melodies and delivered with style, energy and no shortage of humour. Uber-bass player Nathan King has obviously been working on his backing vocals and this added yet more quality to an already superlative palette of sound. As with all great gigs, their set seemed over in a flash, and the only disappointment was that they didn’t perform The Dividing Line.

So there you have it. All in all, a great weekend of music that saw the end of an era with the last ever show by Twelfth Night, the promise of bright, shiny futures for Sanguine Hum and Luke Machin (I must check out his own band, Maschine) and Frost* and Anathema proving that they are absolutely at the top of their game.

P.S. Keep a watch out for some exciting news coming in the next couple of weeks regarding new soft-back editions of Painted Gold and Five for Silver!

Prog Adventures 2014

I thought it was about time that I reported back on some of the live shows I’ve had the pleasure to experience this year.  First up was The Crimson ProjecKt at Shepherd’s Bush Empire (March 12^th) – and it was a doozy! Essentially, the band is two separate groups stuck together – Stick Men (King Crimson’s Tony Levin and Pat Mastelloto with Markus Reuter on stick) and the Adrian Belew Power Trio (Crimson’s Belew, with Julie Slick on bass and Tobias Ralph on drums). For any given song (not that ‘song’ is always the right way to describe what these folk do), the line-up on stage changes as required, either playing as their parent trios or coming together in various combinations to perform a kind of uber-tribute to the mighty Crim. I’d seen the Double Trio version of Crimson performing at the same venue many years ago and I always rate that as one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. I’d been worried it all might somehow come across as Crimson-lite, but the whole band were great and the sound was crystal clear (although Julie Slick often seemed completely lost in the mix) which made the interplay between drummers Pat Mastelloto and Tobias Ralph a particular treat. It was actually my second time seeing Stick Men, as Mrs B and I had seen them supporting Porcupine Tree in Madrid a few years back.

On to April, and Goldfrapp at the Hexagon in Reading. I’ve been a big fan of Goldfrapp since their groundbreaking debut, and caught Alison and the band promoting their latest album (Tales of Us) at Hammersmith in November last year. A few months on and they were back in the provinces, albeit without the string section that had provided such a lush backdrop to their dreamy sound back then. Not that it mattered as the fragile songs from Tales of Us remained just as haunting and beautiful. The second half of the gig showcased more of their older material, the grooves underpinning songs from Black Cherry and Supernature taking no prisoners and demanding that we all take to our feet and shake some wobbly bits.

Two days later, and I was in London to see ace Polish proggers Riverside. It was a bit of a nightmare drive (2 hours of hell) and I only got to the venue a few minutes before the band hit the stage. They were great, but it was one of those nights when things conspire to undermine your enjoyment. Being late, I couldn’t get as close to the action as I would’ve liked, and I also found myself on the side of the venue next to the bar – never good, as (a) the bar flies are generally less interested in the music and more interested in conversation, and (b) people are constantly pushing past you in their quest for alcohol, often precariously balancing 3 or 4 plastic pint glasses in their hands. Just before the band did hit the stage, a whole family (mum and dad and two teenage kids) pushed past and promptly set themselves up a couple of rows in front of me. They then proceeded to talk through the whole gig (admittedly I couldn’t hear them but it’s just very distracting) while mum constantly raised her mobile high up above her head – right in my line of vision, of course – so she could video parts of the songs. To top it all, the family then had a session of taking selfies in various combinations with the band playing in the background. Tossers! If that wasn’t bad enough, I was also standing next to a guy who wanted to be an opera singer – he had an amazingly powerful voice, but hearing him bellowing out his own accompaniment (not just singing along, but creating whole new melodies) was a tad annoying to say the least.

Thankfully, I had a second chance at enjoying Riverside as Mrs B and I saw them a few days later down in Bristol. The whole thing was much more civilised – nice meal beforehand on the river and then getting right to the front, meaning (a) you could see everything, (b) no one could push past you and (c) there were no idiots in front of you taking pictures on their bloody mobile phones. Excellent! And the gig really was – I enjoyed it soooo much more than the London show. As a bonus, we were there early enough to catch the support band, Votum, and they were highly entertaining too. In fact, I bought their latest album after the show and I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop in the next year or so.

The following week I was in Leamington Spa to catch Gazpacho, from Norway. The Assembly is a lovely, spacious venue and I got right to the front again – not difficult as there were only a handful of people there, which was a real shame. Having endured the terrible support band, Se Delan, I was intrigued to see what Gazpacho would be like. They were promoting their new album Demon – I’d heard it streaming on the internet just a few weeks before and had immediately been hooked. It is a truly stunning piece of work. I had no expectations of what the band would be like live, but they didn’t disappoint. In fact, it really was one of the best live concerts I’ve ever seen, which is even more impressive when you consider I didn’t know the majority of the songs they played. The three tracks they did play from Demon were breathtakingly good and I only hope they play some more gigs soon, as I can’t wait to experience them live again – particularly now that I'm more familiar with their excellent back catalogue and albums like March of Ghosts, Tick Tock and Night.

The beginning of May saw me in Islington to catch IQ at the launch show for their new album, The Road of Bones. I first saw IQ at their debut headline at the Marquee club in Sept 83, and I’ve been to well over 100 shows since then, including shows in Germany, Holland and Belgium. Over the years I’ve been to some absolutely brilliant gigs, which actually makes it quite hard for the band - through no fault of anything that they do (or don’t do) - to live up to my personal expectations. I must admit, I prefer their earlier material but it was still nice to see them performing some new songs with such enthusiasm. You never get a bad IQ gig and this was an enjoyable evening (at least once Matt Stevens had finished executing his crimes against guitar playing during his warm up slot) even if it didn’t reach the heady peaks of some of the shows of my youth.

Two days after IQ and Mrs B and I headed to Heathrow to fly out to Prague for a few days. We had a wonderful time in the city and caught the ever-magnificent Steve Hackett and band performing their Genesis Revisited set. The gig was (of course) great and it was lovely to see some tracks in the set that hadn’t been played on the previous legs of the tour – Lilywhite Lilith has always been a particular favourite (a small but perfectly formed slice of prog) although I was disappointed it didn’t segue into some sort of Waiting Room-esque jam. The venue had great character even if the crowd appeared eerily unmoved throughout the music (some might say A Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging??), only to spring to life with enthusiastic applause between songs. Who knows what they thought of the crazy English couple air-drumming in unison in Row 4?? Steve had invited us backstage afterwards but as always we were too shy to go and say hello. As it happened, we were sharing the same hotel as the band and bumped into the legendary Nick Beggs at breakfast!

We were back from Prague on the Thursday and, that night, I was due to go and see Yes at the Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, by the time we got back home I felt terrible and never made it to the show. I’m gutted about that, particularly as I was seriously tempted to see them in Oxford earlier in the tour but decided against it. They were playing all of The Yes Album, Going for the One and Close to the Edge, so some seriously good music would’ve been guaranteed. I was really excited to see how Geoff Downes (one of my boyhood musical heroes, having seen him with the original Asia at Wembley back in 1982 for my second ever gig) handled some of Rick Wakeman’s parts. I’ve not seen the band since they split with Jon Anderson so it would’ve also been interesting to see new singer Jon Davison. Hopefully they’ll come back soon and play some gigs in support of their new album, Heaven and Earth. Here’s hoping it’s better than the last one!

That leave the most recent gig this year, when I headed back to Islington for Katatonia at the Union Chapel. I’ve not seen the band live before and this was a special acoustic show following their acoustic reinterpretation of the Dead End Kings album (Dethroned and Uncrowned). I enjoyed the gig a lot, even though I didn’t know quite a few of the older songs, and the setting was very atmospheric. I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that they used so many backing tracks - is it just me, or does that not seem completely against the whole point of the acoustic theme of the night? Okay, so having a string quartet on stage might have been prohibitively expensive, but why not just get a proper keyboard player in? Why not get the guy on percussion to play some rhythms rather than have him sat shaking a shaker while a drum machine plays in the background? I suppose in some ways I felt a bit cheated. That said, I bet the DVD of the show will look and sound great when it comes out.

So, that’s it for the year so far. Next up – the Celebr8.3 festival in (obviously) Islington.

Prog on!

Five for Silver

Happy New Year!

I'm very pleased to announce that my latest novel Five for Silver - The Diabolical Pact of Leanne Labbartu is now available for download in the Amazon Kindle Store for the princely sum of £1.87.

I’m very pleased with it. It’s full of the usual spooky shenanigans that people probably associate with my writing, with plenty of false leads and red herrings thrown in so that you’re never quite sure what is going on!

You can see the ‘back of the book blurb’ below, but if you're tempted you can always go to the Amazon site and read a bit more. The novel is actually a companion work to Painted Gold, but isn’t strictly a sequel. To celebrate the launch of Five for Silver, Painted Gold will, however, also be available to download for free for 5 days from Monday 6 January.

The blurb…

Sometimes, evil begins with an act of apparent kindness.

When St Mark’s Church can’t fill all the places on its annual Confirmation Class weekend, the ever-resourceful Mary Kennaugh asks the Council if they know of any deserving cases to fill the three empty slots.

As the weekend progresses and the isolation of their location in the Brecon Beacons begins to register, tensions between the church members and their guests begin to emerge. With suspicions aroused and accusations voiced aloud, a series of strange and unnatural events only serves to crank the tension up even higher. Are these experiences real, or just tricks of the imagination? Are there outside forces at work or is the group being attacked from within?

When the mysterious Mister Pye turns up with answers to many of their questions, the members of the mismatched group find themselves forced to reconsider their beliefs.  But that’s not all; Mister Pye appears to offer a solution for their dilemma, but his methods are highly unconventional. Can he be trusted?

Five for Silver is a psychological and supernatural thriller full of unexpected twists, where nothing is quite what it seems and the each step takes you in an unexpected direction.

No matter how deep it’s buried, the truth always rises to the surface.

Basking in the Afterglow

Thursday night was the last of my 4 first legs Genesis Revisited shows, and another absolute belter. The Symphony Theatre in Birmingham was a wonderful venue with absolutely glorious sound - probably the best of any show I've seen - although it was a bit strange when the lights went down because instead of being plunged into darkness you're sat in a bit of a dim gloom. But, of course, that didn't spoil the show. Steve and the band just keep getting better and better and Nad Syvlan on vocals just keeps getting more and more camp. But when he sings those Gabriel songs he's spot on. I think, as you see more shows on a tour, the high points and weaknesses in a set become more evident, and there are a couple of Collins-era tunes that Nad struggles with (particularly Afterglow and Eleventh Earl of Mar). But all in all its wonderful to see the band enjoying themselves so much.

It was a bit of a strange gig for me as I had an important meeting in London that day so I then had to rush back on the train, jump in the car and drive up to Brum. I thought I was doing well as I got to about 1 mile away from the venue by 19:15 but then that last mile is always the hardest isn't it - solid traffic and car parks that were completely full. I ended up sitting down with literally 5 minutes to go. And totally knackered! Unfortunately, that meant I only got a few minutes to catch up with best pal Alex, whom I haven't seen since the FrostBites gig in December. On the plus side, at least I missed Anne Marie Helder's uninspiring support slot.

Roll on the GR shows in the Autumn!

Genesis Freaks Unite!

This past weekend saw me and Mrs B attending our second and third shows on Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited tour. The first was at Hammersmith Apollo and the second was at St David’s Hall in Cardiff. No doubt some people will think we’re mad wanting to go to so many shows on the same tour (“isn’t it the same every night?”), but each gig always has its own unique atmosphere. And of course, you can never tell when a particularly special moment is going to happen. Likewise, some gigs are really disappointing, quite often through no fault of the band in question but because the seats are poor, the sound in the venue is dreadful or, most usually, because the people around you are annoying or inconsiderate. I had a little experience of the latter at the Hammersmith gig, where a bunch of geezers – plastic glasses of lager in hand – behind us sat and giggled like children throughout most of the show. Annoying as they were, they couldn’t spoil what was a belter of a gig, made all the more special by a succession of special guests. My particular faves were Jakko Jakszyk singing Entangled and the mighty John Wetton, fresh from his latest stint with UK (see previous blog) belting out a fantastic Afterglow. Giggling idiots aside, the audience at Hammersmith were wonderfully enthusiastic and created a very special atmosphere. Cardiff was a great gig too, made all the nicer for the opportunity to catch up with old pal Helena B before the show. St David’s had a very different personality to Hammersmith. On the one hand, the crowd seemed much more restrained than either London or Rome, but at least there were no idiots to put with. There was a chap sitting behind me who insisted on singing absolutely everything (even the instrumental bits) completely out of tune. Bless him, at least he was enjoying himself! On the plus side, St David’s was a wonderful venue with great sound, and we enjoyed our best seats of the tour so far. The band seemed very relaxed, perhaps having got the ‘biggie’ of Hammersmith out of the way (which was also being filmed for future release) and I think, overall, the performance was even better. It was definitely the best Supper’s Ready I’ve heard so far, and I literally had to wipe a tear from my eye at the end.  All in all, a great weekend of stunning music.