Welcome Davy to Progressive Room. It’s an honor for us, taking an interview from a "Man History”. We suppose it’s the first time giving an interview to a Greek Rock community, so let’s start with a flashback of your career. Who inspired you to learn music?

First, I would like to say hello all my friends in Athens, Naxos, and Greece if you are reading this. The inspiration to learn music began when I started playing my father’s

Martin acoustic guitar at the age of four. I played the Martin guitar to his friends at home on Saturday or Sunday afternoons. I listened to rock, R&B and Blues records, and the radio

stations, especially Radio Luxemburg. Dad was a professional singer, actor, comedian,

and guitarist. Some of his friends were guitarists too and they taught me to play simple

chords E, D and A major before they taught me bar chords. There was also a piano, trumpet,

pipes, and percussion in the house that I played. Music seemed so different from everything else. During spare time, I always played guitar.

Ending up this question, how do you feel being a part of the most creative period of music?

I was blessed to be at the heart of “the music boom”. It was something good just waiting to

happen after two world wars in succession, now most of the counties were growing peacefully together. Love, art, music, and equality were now fashionable. The world needed something new and they got it from the “boom” of rock music. We are in a very creative time now.

You‘ve wrote music for so many songs and albums. Which one is your favorite and why? Is there any strange story that you remember, behind your favorite one?

I like Rondo by The Nice. It was my first instrumental hit. I sometimes play it with my band.

It was too much to see the beginnings of Rondo on my piano and guitar becoming something

so incredible. I produced a solid arrangement at my piano and on guitar, which included

particular classical references, Bach was my inspirer. The concept had instrument textures that I preplaned. I chose the sounds of the instruments so they blended perfectly and arranged the

whole piece to build into multiple climaxes with the guitar and organ increasing the energy time aftertime. I got Keith Emerson round and explained the concept; to make this jazz hit into a

rock hit, keeping some of the jazz, inserting classical links and performing live sound effects on the instruments and rocking it. I was listening to my mum’s jazz records and picked out

Dave Brubeck Blue Rondo A La Turk. I liked its catchy melody and a hook rhythm feel.

I thought it might benefit from a new treatment and it would be good to convert into a rock

song. I changed the time signature to 4/4 so it could have a rock beat base to work in and wrote a bass part that was simple, mainly on two notes, to hold the track together while the guitar and

organ exploded all over the place. The organ and guitar explosion ideas came from watching

action movies and listening to the music and special effects, they produced. I emulated this

action movie music into rock music and with the use of my classical music training;

I orchestrated the band’s parts. ‘Second Thoughts’ is also a favorite, the song developed from the title. I thought up this title specifically so it would be rather like a parody or sequel to

‘The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak’ single, you know, then there is ‘Second Thoughts’ in the

future. I wanted it to sound “today” and futuristic at the same time, so that it would still stand

out well in the future, like ‘Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjak’ does.

I went back to old lyrics I had written and rewrote them in a more modern style. I revisited 80’s

lyrics and lists of poems I had written a long the way, added new melodies to these lyrics so they became new songs, I arranged and composed the keyboard, and guitar solos and structured the

whole thing together with a blend of Sonata classical form, structuring the melodies around the

lyrics. While I studied Sonata form, I decided to make modern changes to it so my form structure on the album was original.

Part of the reason classical music remains so popular today is because of Sonata form.

You have worked and collaborated with huge personas - also musicians-, who do you want to separate from others, feeling too lucky to meet them?

I feel lucky to have met the late Jimi Hendrix, John Cale, Roger Waters, and PP Arnold; they are my main friends in the music business. Jimi was so inspiring. A completely new world opened

up after I was on his UK tour. I met John Cale in New York when he was over in England we

teamed up for a tour of Europe in France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium. I am still in touch

with PP Arnold she is supporting my new thing and thinks it will take off, she was ten years on

the road with Roger Waters, performing The Wall and everything else. I like Roger’s songs very much, his voice melodies inspire me. I feel lucky to have met Andy Tillison, Robbie Knight,

Dan Bowles, Jordan Brown, and Dave Wagstaffe, the group.

Spending your entire career with huge collaborations, making sessions and projects, in which period have you felt more creative? And if you had a chance to spend more time to complete something uncompleted, when would you like to stop the trip of the time machine?

I think I am in my most creative period now. About completions, I had the chance to spend

more time to complete something when I produced this album. I have looked back at some

things I wrote before but did not complete and brought them back to life into the

Second Thoughts album. I am completing the next album. I am doing that now, we begin

mastering three new tracks or more next month. I am working on and completing the film sound tracks for a new action Sc fi TV series too this may take a long time to complete, we are in

completion of the shooting script for episode seven right now, I co-wrote the series with Malcolm Stone. I like changing the tempo of life, going on holiday,

making time stand still, so two days seem like a week. The time machine is always running

but I can put it to one side by writing new stuff in the eternal now. Before I finish a piece I make preparations by recording the main melodies into Logic so we can see what it is going to sound

like before we try to improve and change it. I may change and edit these melodies around until theyfit perfectly into the world of content. Just a thought you should make an album as one

piece.

Tell us a few things about your performing with Pink Floyd in 1967, why this collaboration did not go further?

The day I stood in for Pink Floyd front man Syd Barret when he vanished in Liverpool. I lead The Pink Floyd’s performance in ‘Interstella Over Drive’ on the Jimi Hendrix tour when I was their guitarist maybe lead singer. They came to see me play after that at the

ICA Exhibition Centre in London where I was performing music for sound sculptures

with The Nice. I knew why they were there, they wanted to see us and they needed a

guitarist as they just ditched Syd. It wouldn’t have been very difficult for me to join

but I had founded The Nice to stick together like The Rolling Stones and my head was

into just that. They could see what was happening, The Nice were incredibly popular.

I wish I had moved over to Pink Floyd. But I think the ‘Second Thoughts’ album sound is a worthy successor. I know how to play and write for Pink Floyd and that is still within my music and it’s a selling point to Second Thoughts advantage.

BIO

At fourteen Davy O’List studied orchestral composition, organ, piano, singing and trumpet at the Royal College of Music London, whilst playing rock-blues lead guitar for a band he called Little Boy Blues. At the time, O’List was formulating his own unique sound, fusing classical, jazz and rock music together. In 1966 under the name David John, O’List started a new band called The Attack, which marked the beginning of his new sound that combined rock, R&B and Soul. Managed by Don Arden, they were part of the 1960s Swinging London scene, and released two notable singles; Try It / We Don’t Know (Decca F 12550), Hi Ho Silver Lining / Anymore Than I Do (Decca F 12578).

Amazingly, Anymore Than I Do, penned by O’List, caught the attention of radio DJ John Peel who choose it as his theme tune for his new radio program Perfumed Garden onRadio Caroline. This station was listened to by most young people including John Mayallwho asked Davy to join his band The Bluesbreakers as a replacement for Peter Green, whilst at the same time P.P. Arnold who had a hit with The First Cut Is The Deepest asked Davy to play guitar and sing backing vocals in her band.

Davy choose to join P.P. Arnold’s band, as he was given his own slot playing his original music, which therefore meant him leaving The Attack in February 1967. By May Davy’s new band The Nice were gigging in their own right and had gained their own billing at the National Jazz and Blues Festival. Taking his innovative style of combining rock, jazz and classics together, Davy approached P.P Arnold’s manager and obtained a record deal for The Nice.The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjak was their 1967 debut album, considered one of the first albums of progressive rock, and is still a best seller today. Their first single also called The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjak, penned by O’List, reached the UK Top 40. Following this the band were asked to support Jimi Hendrix in 1967.

Their next hit single, America 2nd Amendment, a heavily reworked version of Leonard Bernstein’s song from West Side Story, reached number 21 in the UK charts in July of 1968. O’List’s style in The Nice was described by Bruce Eder of Allmusic as “Hendrixish guitar … in sharp relief.” However, with two strong instrumentalists competing, O’List left The Nice in autumn 1968.

While still performing with The Nice, O’List substituted for Syd Barrett in Pink Floydbriefly in 1967, and was then asked to join David Crosby whilst touring with The Nice in the US.

O’List also briefly played in Jethro Tull after the departure of Mick Abrahams in early 1969. O’List provided guitar and bass for The Misunderstood, along with an early lineup of Roxy Music between October 1971 and September 1972. O’List co-wrote, arranged and produced Roxy Music’s first album, along with arrangements and compositions which secured the band a record deal with Island Records in 1972.

After Roxy Music folded in 1973 O’List rejoined Bryan Ferry where he proved he was no one hit wonder, producing Let’s Stick Together, The In-crowd and Chance Meeting and was awarded gold discs. The In-crowd was re-released in 1988, as part of a Roxy Music/Bryan Ferry compilation album, where it reached No 1 in the album chart; this was O’List’s first UK No 1, however Let’s Stick Together had been a No 1 in Europe.

Then in 1975 O’List made an album titled Jet for CBS, which was produced by regularQueen producer Roy Baker. O’List then joined John Cale of the Velvet Underground in 1977 for an extensive European tour (Cale was a fan of The In-Crowd, so asked Davy to join him). During 1980, O’List was a producer for Island Records producing reggae bands and mixed on The Jam tour.

O’List released his first solo album in 1997 entitled Flight of The Eagle while studying Fine Art and Filmmaking where he received a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, a PG in Advanced Filmmaking from St. Martins and the R.C.A. and a PCET from The University of Greenwich for Multimedia teaching and training. O’List’s films were screened atBAFTA, The BBC Short Film Festival and on Super Channel cable TV, as well as other art exhibition shows. O’List went into TV music production with his own studio in 2000 and started touring Europe with his own band.

In March 2015 O’List released his second solo album Second Thoughts. The album sees Davy return to his distinctive prog rock sound which gained him so much attention in the early part of his career, whilst also incorporating elements of proto-prog, funk and jazz. With a new band assembled, Davy will be touring this new record across the UK and Europe at the end of 2015/early 2016. The record has received great acclaim by both fans and critics alike. Classic Rock magazine said ‘Key to its appeal is O’List’s guitar tone, surely the best in Western civilisation’, you can’t argue with that

As we heard the new album ‘’Second Thoughts’’ is full of echo sound of 60’s music, putting in a blender early psychedelic rock and more crossover prog style. And as the main question flows, which bands influenced you to write the songs? And what you had in mind when you wrote the songs about this album?

I did not have any band influences apart from Pink Floyd who I played with.

I am influenced by Classic Music, which inspires me. I used previous success formulas and sounds, melodies I had invented before. I used my personal history of music to

create atmosphere, showing the progression I had made in the music from my other

bands. It is a work of art.

Some musical ideas seems like you kept them in the closet foryears, and then the time comes to open up, refresh and rearrange them, is that true?
Yes, refreshing older things and ideas can be good. History is a good thing to rely on. I never completed some of the pieces I had written by playing them with a live band so I got the stored music out, refreshed it, choose sections that fitted the various songs on the album then combined it with the new music I had just written and then I got the
boys to play it. I am now focused on very new stuff for the next album.
We are doing two in the live set. I might take a visit in the time machine again.

A Pleasant surprise of Second Thoughts was the reissue of a song from The Nice Band “Bonnie K”. Does this song means something to you?

Yes, great memories of The Nice. I remember doing it in front of Jimi Hendrix

at The Marquee Club in London that means a lot to me.

He actually liked it and he told me. I had a girlfriend called Bonnie in the states too

so the name Bonnie is memorable. I remember playing Bonnie K in San Fran Francisco to Bonnie at the Fillmore West.

Why did you choose it for your new album?

I liked the rock feel. I wanted to have a rock section on the album and Bonnie K fitted

perfectly with Touch Wood. Bonnie K has history too. The Nice fans would be interested

to hear it so I included it.

In the new live version, we use a rock-soul backing towards the end

with Robbie Knight playing soul organ.

Closing this subject, we‘d like to ask you, if you had the choice for a seventh song, which one of your old songs would be?

Maybe a new version of Touch Wood, like the one we do live now or perhaps Anymore

Than I Do, which might end up on the next album. It has really come along as a

showstopper and the song has gone up a level. Still thinking on that.

We see that you decided to use a heavier guitar riffs and also heavier sound of them, are there any new productions or bands that inspire you to the final assault of the album?

I like some Death Metal, Lemmy, and MotorHead. These sounds have so such male power

and shear force it blows you over and they are trying to break new ground. I knew Lemmy

very well. We lived next door in London. Lemmy took me out one day to meet his artist

friend working on some new artwork. We walked up a hill to a big house. Lemmy asked me to wait outside while he went inside get the artwork. In a few minutes he was back outside

carrying a medium large board of artwork under his arm and showed me the artwork.

It was his new logo, still used by MotorHead today. MotorHead was yet to gig. I asked him if this was for his new band, he said, yeah, and this is my first proper job,

he looked in control. About my new heavy guitar sounds, I am really going back to the

heavy sounds I used to make in the 70’s and modernizing.

I was developing heavy guitar stuff round the same time MotorHead began. One of the

peaks in my development was my number one guitar solo on The In Crowd in 1974 and that went to number one again in 1988. Yes, I have developed my concept for The Nice to new heights with “Second Thoughts.” I didn’t want to put a label on it because I wanted my

music to cross over to other audiences, metal, pop, funk-soul-jazz.

I’m now using another guitarist so better.

As this interview come to an end, and we feel so thankful for sharing with us your stories and plans, please tell us, which countries you have already managed to visit for the upcoming tour, and which countries would you like to play also live?
We have been touring the UK. We are playing twice at The Borderline in London,
including 26 February with Eric Bell (Thin Lizzy). I am looking to play again in
Belgium, Italy, Germany, Holland, Rumania, and playing in new countries like Greece
and over to the USA. We are discussing playing THE SPIRIT Of 66 in VER IERS, which is the East of Belgium and close to Germany and not too far from Holland. I am open to offers from Greece if you know somebody who could promote a concert with me and a
big ticket selling Greek band please contact us at the site, huh. Made In Soho Records.

The Progressive Room

Find Us

Davy O'List

The Nice

Part 1 - Flashback

Part 2 - Second Thoughts Album

BIO