Intervista a Mark Fry
Il cantautore inglese Mark Fry esordì nel 1972, a diciannove anni, con un album dal titolo Dreaming with Alice, pubblicato per l’RCA italiana. Oggi, a più di trent’anni di distanza, Mark vanta una solida carriera come pittore, ed è tornato sulla scena discografica pubblicando il bell’album Shooting The Moon (recensione su Il Popolo del Blues, febbraio 2008)
How was the decision of recording a new album born?
About six or seven years ago, my wife put my name into Google, looking to see if any of my painting was mentioned, as I had had a few exhibitions in London. We were both surprised to find lots of references to Dreaming With Alice, which I had recorded in Rome when I was 19. There was a dusty LP in our bookshelf but I thought that was the last one in existence and everyone had forgotten about it! I just hadn’t realized that it had resurfaced, thanks to a couple of bootlegs and a growing internet following for the sounds of the early 1970s. Shortly after that, Richard Morton Jack of Sunbeam Records decided that he too wanted to reissue Dreaming With Alice. He was so enthusiastic about my music that I started to think about recording some of the songs I had been quietly working on in the intervening years.
Is there any artist that inspired you for composing Shooting The Moon?
I can’t say that any one artist inspired me to write this album. At least half of the tracks are songs I originally wrote at least ten years ago, a couple of them over twenty years ago. That might explain why you can hear more influences in them than if I had written them all in one short period of time.
How did you feel coming back to the musical scene after some time?
I feel much more relaxed about it this time round. When I was 19, I had to put myself in the hands of a big record company (RCA) and frankly I hadn’t got a clue what they had in mind for me. Today, digital recording technology means you make the decisions about your sound, and the internet means you can get your music out there. The other important thing is that I’m rediscovering the way in which music brings people together. Painting (for me at least) is a solitary experience. I had a great time collaborating with some amazing musicians, including my cousin William Gibbs on sax, the very talented Mia Soteriou on keyboards, and Steve Bentley-Klein, who is a lovely guy and a world-class fiddle player. And Nick Russell-Pavier, my wonderful co-producer, has become a great friend.
Did you keep writing music along the years?
I always had a guitar close to hand and I always kept writing songs. I traveled in West Africa for several months in 1980 and I took my guitar with me, it went up and down the Niger delta and into the Sahara, and it survived! Sometimes I work on songs over a long time and sometimes they come really quickly. I also play old songs, including traditional songs, and try to listen for new things in them.
Did your way of writing change from Dreaming With Alice to now?
I think I write songs very much in the same way now as I did then. I use very simple structures, and I’ve always liked open tunings on the guitar. I spend much more time on the lyrics now than I did when I was young – they’ve become more important to me.
The songs of Shooting The Mon are really intense and soulful. Do you have a special secret or something that you think is particularly important in a well written song?
I think metaphor is important in a song. My songs aren’t exactly autobiographical but I draw on my own experience. I usually write songs very early in the morning or very late at night. Maybe metaphors are easier to catch when you’re not quite awake.
Going back to Dreaming With Alice, what was the connection with Italy? Why did you record the album there?
When I left school in England in 1971, I enrolled at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in the Piazza San Marco in Florence. My mother was a very fine painter, my father is still painting and having exhibitions at 80. I grew up with painting and painters. When he was a young man, my father won an international painting prize which led him to work in Rome for a while. So it seemed a natural thing for me to study in Italy. I had a wonderful professore at the Accademia, the distinguished painter Primo Conti, and I was extremely fond of him. I stayed with family friends, the Papi, who were closely involved in the arts. Painters, writers, dancers, musicians and international artists performing in Florence would be drawn to their house. Carla Fracci and Dario Fo were frequently around and Montale, who was a great friend of the family, was often staying there. It was very exciting place to be for a 19-year old boy. Art school felt a little bit stuffy and academic by contrast, and I left after less than a year. Laura Papi encouraged me to keep on songwriting, and it was she who introduced me to RCA and set me on the path to recording Dreaming With Alice.
What are your memories of Italy?
Italy means many wonderful things to me and I still try to go there as often as I can. My father had a little house on the Monte Argentario, in the hills behind Porto Ercole, for at least twenty years, and all my childhood summers were spent in Italy. One great experience in 1972 came when after recording Alice, IT Dischi introduced me to Lucio Dalla. He was about to do a tour and they added me to it as a way of promoting the album. I joined Lucio’s band and we toured all around Italy, through Calabria and into Sicily. During the set, Lucio would introduce me as his ‘amico inglese’ and I would play a song from my album. Lucio really helped me gain in confidence as a musician, he was a kind of guru for me and I admired him greatly. I very much hope we meet again one day.
Come è profondo il mare
Do you have any story to be told about Shooting The Moon?
I chose the title, Shooting The Moon, because it has several meanings. I live in the country, and I spend a lot of my time looking at the moon and the stars at night – actually, that’s one of my favourite things. I often see the clouds racing overhead and get ideas for songs. Also, when I was young I was struck by the expression “shooting the moon” which appears in George Orwell’s book “Down and Out in Paris and London”. It means disappearing in the middle of the night, slipping away to avoid the hotel bill, usually by jumping out of the window. And I think it’s a poker move as well. Anyway, it seemed to sum up the whole enterprise of recording a new album from scratch after 35 years.
What about your future projects? Are you going to play Shooting The Moon live?
Currently I’m working on three things – making short films for two songs; writing and recording more songs for another release; and trying to paint. So I think I need to be a recording and painting artist for the time being, because it feels as though I have a lot to do! I’d love to play live again one day though
Giulia Nuti
