A band hailing from Surrey/London that harks back to the halcyon days of rock, 1965-1974, formed in 2010 by the guitarist/composer Saiichi Sugiyama, who has a career spanning 25 years as a solo artist in the British blues scene. Saiichi Sugiyama worked with Andy Fraser and McTrax International in various capacities and Andy had supported his music by doing bass on the song “Melting Away” in 2014.
Saiichi Sugiyama Interview
– What’s new in the world of Saiichi Sugiyama Band?
We are currently on our UK tour promoting the Melting Away single, which features Andy Fraser.
– How was it working on the music video “Melting Away”
It was jointly directed by Mune Sugiyama, our drummer, producer and creative director, who also does film making, along with Mark A Waters, who has just completed a documentary film on Pete Brown, the Cream lyricist, featuring the late Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker. We are all really pleased with the way it came out.
– Must have been an honour working with Andy Fraser and McTrax International?
Andy had heard my music through his UK PR person who also represented me at the time. I was told that Andy kindly liked my music and he was happy play the bass on my tracks and produce my music. When I met Andy on his visit to London. He showed me his latest music videos on his iPad. I told him that I had a song that I would like him to play the bass on, but I wasn’t sure if he would like to because it sounded like his old band. I had heard that Andy was trying to keep a distance from the old blues rock of the Free era. I passed to Andy my iPod with the track. He sat there listening the whole the six minutes of the track. It was a long six minutes, I tell you. When he got to the end, he told me “I will, but I will put a new spin on it”. I nonchalantly asked him “I wonder if you noticed there was a section for a bass solo”. He said “Yeah. It will be a challenge.” Great! Andy then asked for the multi track file of the song, went back to California and a couple of weeks later, he sent me the track with his bass part complete with some synth part and his screams. I was so happy when I heard the track. The bass line was unmistakably Andy Fraser. Couldn’t be anyone else’s. There is something about the way he played that was so unique.
– Who are all the musicians that appears on the upcoming album?
It features Mune Sugiyama on the drums, arrangement and production, Ben Reed on the bass and Rietta Austin and Lizzie Hibbert on vocals together with plethora of string players, horn players and ladies from the London Community Gospel Choir. Some of the lyrics are by Pete Brown and some string parts were written by Mr John Shipley, who is the musical director of Jack Ashford’s Motown Funk Brothers.
– What is the strangest inspiration you’ve ever had for a song?
Ha! I am not sure if the track will make it to the album in the end, but there is a song called “Fire Maidens From Outer Space”, the lyrics written by Pete Brown. He told me that is was inspired by a really dreadful 1950s b/w British Sci-Fi, which has the dubious title of the “worst movie ever made”!
– Do you have any upcoming tour dates?
We finish the current UK tour on 3 October. We then have another 15+ date UK tour booked in March/April next year.
– In your career you have played with great musicians. What would be your greatest memories and achievements until now?
It has been quite special to work closely with Pete Brown over the last 12 years, who is one of the most decent human beings you could ever hope to meet besides being a beat poet from the 1960s, the Cream lyricist and a music producer in the genre of blues rock. I learnt so much from Pete about making music, making records and being a music worker, a term that he uses to refer to himself.
– What would be some of your main musical influences today?
My world is still dominated by the music from what I call the halcyon days of rock and soul, that is roughly the decade of 1964 to 1973. Motown, the Beatles, Classic Soul, the three blues kings, British rock, CSNY – wow! What a decade!
– How important are music videos in the industry today? How do they compare to videos from 20 years ago?
I don’t know. I wish if I knew. I just make music and I am not an industry person. I never related to the world of music videos post-MTV when good looks and styles began dominating the public taste. I am from the old era when I went to the cinema and sat there all day trying to catch a glimpse of Stephen Stills’ fingers on his guitar in the Woodstock film, so I could work out what the weird guitar tuning on “Judy Blue Eyes” was.