Aquí os dejo la entrevista que realicé al actual guitarrista de FM Jim Kirkpatrick al poco de incorporarse a la banba allá por 2008 / 2009 cuando estaban en proceso de grabación del disco Metrópolis y al poco de haber debutado con FM en el Firefest VI
First of all, thank you very much for your kindness and attention.
Congratulations for the great concert you did at Firefest 6. It was amazing.
If you
agree, firstly we can talk about your professionaltrajectory and we will end
the interview talking about you joining one of thehard rock/aor cult bands.
Antonio
Lázaro: Can you tell us briefly your guitarrist trajectory? In which bands have
you been before joining FM?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: For yearsI've had my own band which plays blues rock (Gary Moore,
Stevie Ray Vaughan). Over the years we've done the club/pub/festival circuit.
It's pretty good fun. The drummer worked with the Climax Blues Band for a long
time while the other players in the band sort of come and go. All name players
though. I played for 4 years with singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore. A bit of a
departure style wise for me but a good experience. We had a few minor hit's and
toured a lot in America. I've worked with Bernie Marsden from Whitesnake a lot
over the last 4 years and of course with Steve O. I've recently done a bit of
work with Chris Ousey from Virginia Wolf/Heartland. There's a more detailed
list on my Myspace page.
Antonio
Lázaro: In your web page http://www.myspace.com/overlandkirkpatrick we can
listen to and enjoy songs recorded with Steve Overland like: If I were you (a
very melodic song), No such thing as a sure thing (a more blues and rock song
similar ZZ Top), Better late than never (another super melodic song), Eternally
(beautiful ballad similar to the country/pop), Start it up (a rock and blues
song) and Lost Highway (a great country song). The songs are very fresh and
melodic, some of them very close to the Overland/Jupp SO project and others
very close to the country… Let’s talk about these songs. When were they
recorded?
Jum
Kirkpatrick: Those songs were recorded over the last 4 years at my home studio.
'Sure Thing' was written for a project that Merv was working on but never got
used. All the others were written for another project that unfortunately got
shelved. They may get used in the future but probably not by FM.
Antonio
Lázaro: How did youmeet Steve Overland and how did it come the idea of working
together? What pop/rock bands have you worked for composing songs?
Jum
Kirkpatrick: Believe it or not but I met Steve in the pub. It turned out that
we'd been close neighbours for a long time but never realised. We were
introduced to each other by the landlord and I thought 'there can't be too many
Steve Overlands in the world'. As it turned out, there isn't and this was THE
Steve Overland from FM who I was well aware of. I've worked with the above
bands as well as my own stuff and some commercial music.
Antonio
Lázaro: Will youofficially release these songs in the future?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: I hope so but I'm not sure under which particular banner.
Antonio
Lázaro: What music do you enjoy? What are your musical influences?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: I have a really broad taste in music. My first heroes were Queen,
Jimi Hendrix and Rory Gallagher but I like anything from Metallica to Little
Feat to Django Rheinhardt to the Beach Boys.
Antonio
Lázaro: Regarding your age, I suppose you grew up at the same time as the two
big FM records were released “Indiscreet” and “Tough it out”. What are your
memories of these two records and what do you feel being able to play songs of
these two big masterpieces live?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: It's great to be playing them. I have a friend who introduced me
to FM when I was still at school (that sounds weird) and I bought Indiscreet on
vinyl. It was only after meeting Steve that bought the rest of the albums but I
remembered a few of the songs from hearing them over the years.
Antonio
Lázaro: Did you ever think about playing in a band so respected and known as
FM?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: I certainly never expected to end up playing in FM.
Antonio
Lázaro: How do you get along with all the members of the band? Are they as kind
as they seem or do they have their obsessions?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Believe it or not but we all get on very well. Give it another
year though Wink
Antonio
Lázaro: Can you tell us the reason why Andy Barnnet left the band?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: As far as I know, I don't think Andy was able to give enough
commitment to the band. I think he had another project going and was planning
to move abroad. Playing with FM I think is probably very different now to what
it was 15/20 years ago. Unfortunately we don't have lots of staff or large
budgets to work with. Every member of the band takes on a lot of responsibility
individually and has to do a lot more than just play music. It's very time
consuming and I'm not sure that Andy was able to do that.
Antonio
Lázaro: Who suggested you to join the band? What came to your head in that
moment?
Jim
Kiirkpatrrick: Steve Overland put me forward for the job. I never ever expected
to get it.
Antonio
Lázaro: When you joined the recording of the new cd of the band, I suppose all
the songs were almost written but have you been able to contribute with ideas
to the new songs?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: One of the reasons that the album has taken such a long time is
because when I joined, the boys had a batch of songs already written. As time
went on, we started writing more and better songs came along so we've sort of
started from scratch again. For example, we didn't have 'Wildside' a few months
ago. The download was going to be a different song altogether. So now, I think
the only song on the album which was completely finished before I joined is one
called 'Who'll Stop The Rain' although I still play guitar on it.
Antoinio
Lázaro: What musical style do you feel more comfortable with?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Blues and rock.
Antonio
Lázaro: Do you feel dizzy to be in front of so many people onstage as it
happened at the Firefest?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: I've played in front of much bigger crowds before (10,000 ) but
the Firefest is still a big crowd and I was a little nervous beforehand.
Antonio
Lázaro: We all agree thinking you did a great concert and that everybody liked
your way of performing the songs. Did you feel comfortable on stage?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Yes, as I said before, a little nervous beforehand and I was aware
that a lot of people would be judging me. That's the most difficult part.
Antonio
Lázaro: What can you bring forward about the new FM cd? Will it be similar to
the first single “Wildside” o will we have surprises?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: 'Metropolis' is going to be a very strong album I'd say. It'll fit
nicely between the Chris O and Andy B eras of the band. It'll be more melodic
than 'Wildside'.
Antonio
Lázaro: What are your memories of your appearance in the Winstanley College
last March? How did it come the idea of broadcasting through the internet to
all the fans of the band?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Winstanley College........very nervous and terrible sound. The
broadcast was Ant Critchleys idea, I think.
Antonio Lázaro:
Is there any possibility that you can play in Spain? Did you know that at
Firefest 6 there were more than 100 Spanish?
Jim
Kirlkpatrick: Yes, I was aware at how many Spaniards were there. We're planning
to come to Spain hopefully next year.
Antonio
Lázaro: What are the plans of the band in the near future?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Get the album finished!!
Antonio
Lázaro: I was very lucky to be able to meet you during this year Meet and
Greet. How did you feel being surrounded by all the fans of the band? Did you
feel strange signing records in which you hadn’t collaborated?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: Yes, it does feel strange but soon they'll be a few more CD's that
I have collaborated on.
Antonio
Lázaro: How many FM records had you listened to before joining the band?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: I knew all of the albums before I joined the band.
Antonio
Lázaro: How will be the launching party of the new FM record? How many people
will be able to attend?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: You'll have to check with Merv but I think around 300-400.
Antonio
Lázaro: There are rumours saying you could do a tour with Danger Danger in UK.
Is it true? Do you know Danger Danger? What are your favourite hard rock
melodic bands?
Jim
Kirkpatrick: There are a lot of ideas kicking around at the minute but I don't
think I've heard that one....but don't rule it out. I'm hoping that we might do
something with Romeos Daughter and maybe Dare next year but nothing has been
approached yet. These are just my ideas.
Fave hard
rock melodic bands:
Styx
Queen
Bon Jovi
Bryan Adams
Virginia
Wolf (enjoying that at the minute)
Jimmy
Barnes
Whitesnake
FM!!!!
Antonio
Lázaro: To finish, we would like to thank you for your attention and to
congratulate you for taking part of one of the best AOR bands of all times. We
hope to see you live very soon and if it is possible in Spain.
