Go back to main Interviews page 2005 - YTSEJAM.COM (an interview by Rita Bayer) - EUROPE YTSEJAM.COM : Dave Kilminster (vocals,guitars) did a tour through America with the Keith Emerson Band in support to the Scorpions from Oct.21st to Dec.5th 2004.I talked to him about this tour,what he did during the last weeks,his projects he¬¥s currently working on and,of course,about Keith Emerson Band¬¥s recording & touring plans’Ķ’Ķ’Ķ. Dave Kilminster - brief history Rita: Hi Dave,........thanks for taking the time, answering my questions. During the last weeks,we heard almost nothing from you,.luckily,you were popping up again with these remarcable,enthusiastic words: "My life has been totally mad these last months". Where have you been & what have you done during the last weeks? Dave:’ÄùWell, when I'm not on tour, I write (transcribe and record) for a guitar magazine called Guitar Techniques, which I've been doing since it started (over ten years ago)... I also teach at a private music college in Guildford (south west of London) called the Academy of Contemporary Music (the ACM)... There's also the occasional gigs... I play in a rock covers band, a jazz/fusion group, and I also do some solo acoustic shows too!!! :0) Then there's things like product demos... I just shot a video demonstrating for the new Vox AC30 Custom Classic amplifier... There's also the instructional videos/DVD's, my teaching spot on M-Channel (Sky Channel 465)... Ummm... Oh, I almost forgot, I'm recording a solo album too!!! ’Äú R:You already did another project with Keith Emerson ( Nice) in the past,so what made the Us-tour (KEB) so special for you? Did these months "change" your life? How far ? Dave: ’ÄùThe Keith Emerson Band was the direction I wanted to go in from the begining really... our first tour with Lee and Brian (from the Nice) was cool, but I wanted to treat the KEB as a new entity, with new material etc... I've toured with a few different artists, and generally the material we end up playing is far older than most of the audience!!! I just wanted to do something new and fresh... ’Äù R: When & where did you meet with Keith Emerson first time? Dave: ’ÄùI was playing with a band called Qango, which featured John Wetton (ex Asia, UK, King Crimson) on bass and vocals, and Carl Palmer (ex ELP) on drums... We were playing a show in London at a venue called the LA2, and basically Keith came down to say hi to his mate Carl.... Keith seemed very impressed with the band though, and even jumped up at the end for a jam!!!!! :0) Two of my uncles, who had introduced me to music of ELP was I was young, were in the audience!!!!! R: Did you click with him immediately? Dave: ’ÄùYes, although it did take me a couple of meetings for me to get used to the fact that I was talking to 'THE' Keith Emerson!!! He was always just completely down to earth though... a really great guy.’Äù R: What did it mean to you, to catch up with this legendary,charismatic musician,who always has been the inspiration for 1ooooooo.. guys to become a keyboardist as well as one of the great grand- fathers of progressive rock music (a man who "wrote" music-history)? Dave: ’ÄùI can't even begin to tell you!!!! I never really wanted to play guitar, I'd always wanted to play the piano... and when I listened to Keith play piano, I couldn't imagine anything better... ’Äù R: This longer tour gave you the chance to become a bit more familiar to Keith Emerson as well as Pete Riley & Phil Williams. Apart from Keith¬¥s competent knowledge,what characteristics of him do you appreciate most? Dave: ’ÄùHe's friendly, warm hearted, funny... and he cares about the music... pasionately. I've toured with many people before (not mentioning any names!), who just treat it like some boring day job... And I look at them and think 'why do you do this? You don't seem to derive any pleasure from it'... R: And what about the other guys? Dave: ’ÄùThe other guys are wonderful... Pete Riley is the best drummer I've ever played with... he's so musical, he really plays the songs!! He can play pretty much any style, has great feel and timing, and is the easiest person in the world to get along with... And Phil Williams is the best bassist I've ever played with... again he's very musical, but with a funk edge that makes everything groove. He's also got a great voice, and I want to use that in future for harmonies and stuff. He's also probably the funiest person I've toured with, which definitely helps on the road.’Äù R: When I read your diary,I got the impression that working with Keith must have been extraordinary happenings for you, what sets him apart from other musicians ? Dave: ’ÄùWhen performing, most musicians play within their limitations... they play it 'safe'. But when Keith plays, he's totally fearless... he's ALWAYS trying things that he's never played before, always searching... which is the true meaning of improvising I guess. Sometimes the things he tries don't work, but he'll still go out on a limb every night, looking for that extra bit of magic... so that every concert is totally unique. ’Äù R: During the tour you had your debut as a lead vocalist,as far as I know,unexpected for yourself..How did this happen and what were your thoughts? Dave: ’ÄùAw thank you... :0) No, I'd never done lead vocals before (apart from the one song when we toured with the Nice)... and I've got to say that I'm really enjoying it!! It's almost like discovering a new instrument... and because it's such a new thing, I can hear an improvement every time I do it... which makes it a little embarrasing to hear some of the early bootlegs!!! :0< R: Wasn¬¥t it a bit frustrating to play as support to the Scorpions? I mean,you had only 45 min ’Ķ. Dave: ’ÄùYes, 45 mins... it was tough!!! I mentioned earlier about the improvising... we'll we really had to keep an eye on that during this tour. The stage manager couldn't seem to understand why our set would be a different length from night to night!!! But it's like, if you're making love, you don't lie there with a stopwatch!!!!!! But we did eventually have some digital clocks put at the side of the stage, especially for shows like the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, where, if we went over time by ONE minute we would get fined $50,000.00!!! :0( ’Äú R: How did you like touring through America? You had time for sight-seeing-trips etc? Dave: ’ÄùI totally loved it... I felt very comfortable there. It's just something that I've always wanted to do... travel the world, meet new people, experience different cultures... and I managed to do a fair amount of sightseeing too!! I took over 1000 pictures with my digital camera!!! There's some of them on my website too, if anyone's really bored!!! ’Äú R: Are there any plans for another tour / same line-up? Possibly through Europe? Dave: ’ÄùA tour of Europe is being booked even as I write (type)... We should be out again on tour in July, and yes Germany is on the list!!! :0) I don't have any details at the moment, but as soon as I do I'll let you know... and of course it will be the same line up (unless there's something they haven't told me!!).’Äù R: Are there any plans for recordings? Dave: ’ÄùOh yes, definitely!! I've almost finished my solo album (called Scarlet), and when that's done I'm going to try and get a Keith Emerson Band album out before we're on the road next... It is possible if I stay focused... And I've already written a few things which Keith loves... :0) ’Äú R: You¬¥ve an idea, when we¬¥re going to see the video,which has been taken during the tour?Will it be a comercial thing or a "just for fun-thing",uploaded on anyone¬¥s website? Dave: It was done strictly for the fun of it... and there're some really funny bits!!! We haven't really decided what to do with it yet though... a download on the website seems the most likely option.’Äù R: What kind of project are you talking about in your tour-diary? (you¬¥ve done in NY.) What are your recent projects ? Dave: ’ÄùThat's just writing some music for an advert, which is not something I've ever done before... But my main project at the moment is finishing off 'Scarlet'... The album was pretty much finished a couple of weeks ago, but then I decided to scrap EVERYTHING and start again!!!! It's no fun being a perfectionist sometimes... :0/’Äù R: What are your favorite artists in any genre? Dave: Jeff Buckley was just the best male singer ever... I don't like most guitarists, but people like Jeff Beck I admire, because after all the years he's been playing the guitar, he's STILL improving!!! Umm... I don't like politics in music, but Sting and Coldplay are cool, because they're trying to make a positive difference in the world with their music... You know that's a really difficult question!!! I guess I admire any musician that continues to grow, improve and inspire.... and haven't messed themselves up on drugs, or disappeared inside a bottle!!!!!’Äù R: Anything else,you¬¥d like to add? Dave: ’ÄùYes Rita, I'd like to thank YOU for taking an interest in what I'm doing, and for being so supportive... I think the coming year is going to be GREAT, and I really hope to meet you when we come over in the summer!!! :0)’Äù Dave x Note: I used pictures from Dave¬¥s Homepage
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