Jai Stokes 0:09
Who are we guys? Why Why are we doing this?
Matthew Russell 0:13
That's a good question, Jay.
Jai Stokes 0:15
That is the first time I've done podcast boys.
Ian Faragher 0:18
Yeah, it's coming. It's coming up.
Hello everyone.
Jai Stokes 0:20
Maybe I should just go back to the other one.
Ian Faragher 0:23
Sounded also professional.
Matthew Russell 0:25
Yeah, I was really excited. Jay sounded like we were just about to hear something well,
Jai Stokes 0:33
let's start with with who came up with the idea why why are we doing Queen songs this year? Why are we covering them this year?
Ian Faragher 0:42
Or wasn't it because we started meeting up during lockdown just for kind of virtual online booze up. But inevitably the conversation as it always does just reverted straight back to talking about Queen for hours on end. Matt, you are frustrated the hadn't got an outlet to do music. Oh, yeah. And then I'd been doing the punk covers. So I suggested you do a cover version of just pick a cover version of something.
Jai Stokes 1:10
I don't think we would have ever done this if it hadn't been for lockdown. And that's one of the most fantastic things about lockdown for me this year. When will it is this is the best thing that's happened. Now for me.
Matthew Russell 1:20
I've I've not really played guitar properly. I've not done production properly. I've not been singing I've not been playing anything. And it's meant that I've picked all those things back up, you know, dusted it all off and, and fallen in love with it all again. But the big regret I have is that we didn't do this 20 years ago.
Ian Faragher 1:38
Yeah, yeah, we should have always been doing this
Matthew Russell 1:40
what we shouldn't imagine how much fun this would have been turning up to rehearsals and just going well let's let's play a queen song every couple of weeks learning a new queen song as a band and how great an experience that would have been. But for some reason we never did it now
Ian Faragher 1:56
and so many so many top players say the most important thing to learn is how to play other people's songs which up until this point I've always fought against I thought Nana well I don't want to learn how to play the piano right? record my own stuff. Now is such an amazing learning thing learning how to play other people's stuff.
Jai Stokes 2:16
Do you think then we were just too proud when we were in the band together? When was it 1520 years ago?
Ian Faragher 2:23
Yeah, covers were a kind of a bit of a dirty word or a bit know you're in a covers band almost looked down upon I'm in an original span.
Matthew Russell 2:30
I get this from the students as well where they're thinking that you're a songwriting genius and that somehow you you've got this creative mind that can come up with songs. And the actual reality about songwriting and playing is it's more about absorbing lots and lots of other people's songs and taking them apart and absorbing it and hopefully, that will bubble back through your brain and turn into something new. But you can't skip that stage the laziness of youth trying to skip the stage of learning the repertoire almost like the Beatles have done 2000 shows before they wrote their first album.
Ian Faragher 3:23
So during our initial conversations, and we must have somehow all decided to do a cover each and then we all somehow agreed to start with queens first album, we and we somehow must have thought well if we start with queens first album, we can then work through their whole catalogue we didn't say that at the time that would have been insane I would have never have said no no we haven't we haven't got time to do one track of each of their albums each of us
Matthew Russell 3:56
I've got a feeling that we did say that right at the beginning but right as a sort of semi joke I seem to remember being having a bit of bravado about it right from the get go as a right Yeah, we got let's do the first album do a track of them obviously we'll do the rest
Jai Stokes 4:17
Whose idea was it to do a podcast now that was mats I think because Matt is podcast King. Yeah,
Matthew Russell 4:22
I was because I was thinking we really need the world to hear them. It seems it seems such a pity doesn't it that we were getting they were getting really good. I think actually it was your coolcat that made me think no we read this really needs to get out there because coolcat was such a revelation wasn't it that one when it was like oh wow, this is we can cover a queen song but but not do an authentic cover cover but do an interpretation
Ian Faragher 4:50
that assume that you've never been really that fond of and it turns out
Matthew Russell 4:54
to be a really great song actually led to a better appreciation of the song so I think it was this really does need to be shared almost seems a pity not to. And how else do you do it really?
Jai Stokes 5:06
And also when we were when we were rehearsing? I mean, we used to rehearse down at the the depth I was at Matt. Yep. Yeah. I do remember that we would we would do an hour, have a break. And we will chat about Queen then maybe do another hour. Or maybe even actually halfway through the set. Stop. have a chat about queen. All we've ever done is talk about queen.
Ian Faragher 5:30
We just needed to wait for the internet to be invented. And podcasts to become popular before we
Matthew Russell 5:35
Yeah, it was like we Little did we know that what we were doing was training ourselves up. Getting under the bonnet, where you will you see how it works. It's like it's not incredible, but it's also amazing as well, at the same time. It's really odd. There's a kind of double double edge to it isn't there?
Ian Faragher 5:58
Yeah, just take takes the appreciation to a different place doesn't it? You know, you like the song? Why do you like it, deconstruct it and put it back together again? And it's like all right, yeah, this is really
Jai Stokes 6:10
class stuff that they did. And yeah, this has been an amazing what an amazing thing to kind of hook up back with your old mates and and do what we always used to do and talk about queen. Well, it's certainly been fantastic so far, and it's been such a laugh and it's been really good. reconnecting with you guys and doing all the music and I don't think at any point I haven't thought anything other than I really love this. It's it's really, really having a good time. Yeah, don't stop me now.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
