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The First International MelloFest 2008
INTERVIEW No. 1

DAVID CROSS
(King Crimson, David Cross Band)

Nick Awde: David Cross is a violin player who also once played the Mellotron. He was in a version of King Crimson which, for many, was the classic line-up, and which also rather handily used more than one Mellotron onstage ... well, we'll let David speak about that in a moment. David's interview in the "Mellotron" volume is not just about rock 'n' roll but is also revealing about the different regional backgrounds that created progressive rock bands, especially those who used Mellotrons. Although areas like Lancashire gave us some top musicians and bands, the majority of Mellotron bands came from the Midlands and the South-East, including London and the Home Counties.

David Cross: And then there were the West Country boys weren't there? [Laughs]

NA: Exactly. And there was only one from Plymouth: David Cross. There's a map in back of the book showing the motorways that were in existence in the 60s and early 70s in the UK. There weren't that many but there is one that goes from Plymouth straight to London. So that's how you, a Plymouth boy, ended up in a band formed in London just round the corner from here [Kentish Town, North London].

DC: True. In fact I've lived and worked all my adult life round the corner from here. I used to teach music at Haverstock School, which is just across the way from here. I worked at the university in Holloway Road round the corner, plus I used to live for a while, when I was in King Crimson, in Chalk Farm literally round the corner, so I'm very much part of this area of North London.

NA: And famously the first time that Robert Fripp started on the Cross-Bill Bruford-John Wetton-Jamie Muir line-up of King Crimson was when you got together in Holloway.

DC: Of course - that was [avant-garde percussionist] Jamie Muir's house.

NA: You've said that you weren't a Mellotron player when you started with Crimson. So when did the first idea for that happen? Did Fripp sidle up to you and say: "Would you like to come up and see my Mellotron?"

DC: Yeah, kind of! The first I'd ever heard of the Mellotron was after it was decided to form the band. Robert didn't have one at the jam we did in Covent Garden where the whole of the band came together, in 1972. I don't recall seeing any Mellotrons around then at all. After we'd done the jam Robert said: "Yes, the band is going to be King Crimson!" We suddenly found ourselves in front of a van for a photo shoot and they plastered our pictures all over Melody Maker the next day. I thought I had better find out what the band had been doing so I went to see a friend of mine who knew King Crimson. He put on the album "In the Court of the Crimson King". I had always hated film music up to that point, and as I listened I found myself thinking: "God, this sounds like bad film music... The string players aren't very good!" That was my initial reaction and when, much to my shock, I realised I was going to have to play "one of these Mellotron things" I got quite worried. But they were paying me a retainer to be in the band and so I didn't have to get a day job but just turn up to rehearsals. That was quite a relief so I thought I'd better get on with it - including the Mellotron. And that was the beginning of a love/hate relationship that evolved over time. When we played live I would be on one side of the stage with a white Mellotron and Robert was on the other side of the stage with his. Now, tuning a violin is humiliating enough in front of a big crowd, but trying to tune a Mellotron onstage is just THE most humiliating thing you can go through. I remember us playing at the Uni at Exeter, which is where I'd gone to college, and I remember Robert standing over there playing an "A" and me standing over here playing an "A" and as I turned mine up I swear he was turning his up. Anyway we were there for about five minutes, [makes a tuning noise] you know...!

NA: And you got a standing ovation?

DC: No, actually! But I think that's what got us off into some of the more bizarre areas of our music, because the fact that we got away with two Mellotrons onstage meant you could do anything.

NA: But King Crimson was a group that could do anything whatever the case?

DC: Well so could anybody else, couldn't they? There were no rules at that time.

NA: True, but it's clear that lot of other musicians weren't aware of that then. Crimson's particular gift was managing to keep within parameters while pushing out the creative boat every night.

DC: I guess so, but I'm not sure that people weren't aware of the fact there were no rules. You certainly didn't have university courses in how to play rock music. You couldn't study it at A-level or anything like that. I think we were all just making it up as we went along. It was also a question of roots: most musicians then tended to work with other musicians who had similar roots. It just happened with King Crimson we all had completely different roots, but since we were all getting paid that retainer we were happy to go along with it!

NA: Crimson was an impressive band on the grounds that improvisation was a key part of what you did. It isn't a very rock thing, is it? And not just the guitar player but everyone in the band improvising. You also managed to improvise with two Mellotrons, not only a unique act but a potentially foolhardy one.

DC: Yeah, very bizarre.

NA: But it worked on most nights?

DC: Yes it did. But you have to remember that it was a love/hate thing. Sometimes I really detested the Mellotron. I remember being very uncomfortable with some of the things I was doing on it. And I used to get so bored with playing certain parts over and over again. One night my two fingers were staying on the stage, but my legs were taking me off it! All I was thinking was: "Can I keep doing this much longer, moving these six notes up and down the keyboard?" And then you start thinking to the machine: "I'm going to get you back for that!" So you hold down two notes and start fiddling about with the tapes or varying the voltage, anything you can do to try and make it sound like something else! I think I got my revenge on the instrument.

NA: That must create a lot of energy.

DC: Fear in my case, just fear!

NA: You said that you couldn't do a degree in popular music in those days and that now you can. Today we have even more available thanks to games like "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" which let you not only study how to become a rock musician and a rock star but also let you do it in the comfort of your own front room. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for individuality within music at the moment?

DC: I don't know, but what I do know is that those games are difficult. So I'm not so sure the old codgers are going to be able to keep up with them.

NA: We might even see a whole new generation of rock musicians who've learned their chops in the virtual world.

DC: Absolutely. But I think they're going to be highly skilled, playing perfectly in time and absolutely on top of it all.

NA: Thank you very much, David Cross.

DC: Have a good evening everyone. Thanks!

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Mellotron progressive rock prog rock British invasion Tony Banks (Genesis), Mike Pinder (Moody Blues), Ian McDonald (King Crimson, Foreigner), Woolly Wolstenholme (Barclay James Harvest), Greg Lake (King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer), John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia), Nick Magnus (Autumn, Steve Hackett Band), Martin Orford (IQ, Jadis), Roine Stolt (Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Tangent), Jakko Jakszyk (Level 42, 21st Century Schizoid Band, Tangent), John Hawken (Renaissance, Strawbs), Doug Rayburn (Pavlov's Dog), Tony Clarke (Moody Blues), David Cross (King Crimson), Dave Cousins (Strawbs), Blue Weaver (Strawbs, Bee Gees), Robert Kirby (Strawbs), Robert Webb (England), Dave Gregory (XTC), Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark). Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson) provides a drummer's view of working with four classic Mellotron bands, and there are perspectives from Geoff Unwin, the first Mellotronics demonstrator, John Bradley & Martin Smith of Streetly Electronics, the original makers of the Mellotron, and Planet Mellotron's Andy Thompson Nick Awde