Who was the first musician to give your goose bumps?
Tina Turner. Working with her was amazing. I used to go to see her in the clubs when I was in my late teens, early 20s before she hit the big time. It was incredible to watch her. It was such a privilege to have sung‘ It ' s Only Love’ with her, especially since I was only 24 at the time.
What is the best thing an upcoming musician can do with their life?
Get into music because you love music, not to become famous. If your dream is fame, you have set yourself up to be disappointed.
Is there anything that you do every single day?
A ritual for making or playing music, perhaps? Fruit and veggies, with the occasional cup of tea.
What was your first impression of India?
On my first trip to India, there were no cars to collect us, so Keith my guitarist and I got in a taxi from the airport. The suspension was broken in the car so we leaned over the seat to watch where we were going. Along the way we had to stop because an elephant had gone to sleep in the middle of the road. That story would not happen anywhere else in the world, welcome to India.
Tell us about your India tour. Are you excited and is there anything special for the Indian fans?
We have a great show in store, our best work. We spent months preparing this tour, it’ s a long way from our first tour of India. It’ s a long way from our first tour of India where the light switches were large levers beside the stage. It’ s always an adventure when I’ ve been here. This will be our fifth tour of India, I’ m not sure many artists have done that from the West.
What’ s your perception about India and the music in India?
Well it goes without saying your finest musician is AR Rahman, I ' ve also admired the great Ravi Shankar and his daughter Anoushka, who is also an excellent sitar player.
The gigs are lined up in support of your current 21 track compilation, could you elaborate a little bit on the line up?
It’ s called the Ultimate tour because of the album we released last December called ULTIMATE. It’ s a collection of songs which truly represent the live show, even the arrangements on some of the songs in this collection are slightly different. The tour itself, as I said earlier, took a lot of work to put together, it has literally taken two years. As a songwriter and musician, you are always creating – it’ s what you do. So even though I’ ve released an‘ ultimate’ collection, I’ m always looking ahead. There are two new songs included … both written this year with the message that love still counts, even in uncertain times.
What’ s your take on the current music scene worldwide? How has it changed?
I think all of it is the same really. There are artists that will last for a long time, and there are artists that are shooting stars and burn bright for a moment. That’ s the way it is. I’ m more like one of those space stations that floats along and every now and then an astronaut pops out and says hi. Rock has been dying a slow death on the charts for a long time, yet for the most part, rock acts dominate the live concert scene still
What’ s your message for your fans in India?
I’ m really looking forward to the gigs; we’ ve always loved playing there. We’ ll be playing all the songs you know and love, and have possibly heard. Come and see the show!
The Score Magazine
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Favourite song of all time- Changes – by David Bowie
One song of yours that you can’ t stop listening to till date- 18 Till I Die
If there is one thing you’ d like to change in the world of music, what would it be? Artists shouldn’ t be fooled by the internet— concentrate on the songs more than social media. No matter what, you have to realize your worth. Your music is a valuable thing, and once you give it away, it’ s very hard to get it back
Describe your music in one single word- Rocking
Your idol- My brother.