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Blog interview: Mike Lindup

Mike Lindup

Hello Mike how are you?

Very well, thank you. Busy!!

Congratulations on the release of “Perplexity” how does it feel?

It feels amazing! This tune is so authentically up my street, inspired by a combination of a Belize roots rhythm, the melodicism of my Keyboard heroes, Chick Corea and George Duke, and the music of Brazil and Latin America.

What’s the story behind it?

The original inspiration was purely musical. I was noodling at the piano and my fingers came up with a major to minor fifths pattern, and I instinctively started playing a Salsa bass in the left hand, then I added a drum rhythm based on old School Belize Brukdown – with the bass drum pushes, and then started composing the top line melody, originally just instrumental, but I felt it was made to sing along to.

You’re known as a keyboard player and pianist but you’re actually playing drums on this as well – what prompted this?

I had studied classical percussion as well as piano (at Chethams School of Music and at the Guildhall school of Music and Drama) and I was playing drums as well, and when in 1978 I first met Phil Gould and Mark King we were all drummers – but when we finally started jamming in late ’79 by then Mark had picked up the bass and I was on piano. In some of the early Level 42 shows we’d all break out on the drums and percussion, and however rusty I got in recent years, the basics are still there, so as the son of a Belizean (Nadia Cattouse) I was always going to play the drums on this, plus with the advent of modern recording software, it’s possible to improve on my good playing intentions, as it were!

You worked with Toni Economides and Mike Patto on this as well as bringing in some fab musicians, what is your favourite memory of the sessions?

I was always going to be doubling the melody, but Mike and Toni suggested bringing in a female vocalist to contrast with me and to sing harmonies, and it was our mutual friend Chris Franck from Da Lata, who is on guitar, he suggested Brazilian vocalist Carolina Lelis, and working with her in the studio was a delight. I have had a connection to Brazilian music since I was a kid growing up with Bossa Nova and Samba, and Carolina “got” the vibe straight away. Also shout out to Satin Singh on percussion for his colours and grooves – plus his laughter right at the end.

You have a gig lined up at the Union Chapel on 21st December, how are preparations going for this?

Going very well – it’s a triple whammy to organise, with the show coinciding with the release of Perplexity, which I’m looking forward to playing live, and also the Vinyl release of the Changes 2 album. I’m putting a setlist together as we speak, organising the band and crew, and communicating with the guest artists on the album who are performing, including Omar and Join Culshaw, as well as Carolina Lelis and Chris Franck, plus promoting the show in the press, radio and online as there are still tickets available. I’ve never been or played at Union Chapel but I have seen clips of other artists playing there and it is a beautiful space, I’m designing a show which visits all of my back catalogue with scope for some extended versions of some of the songs..

Being a keyboard player what’s in your live set up?

For this show: Rhodes Mk8 Electric piano, Prophet 5 and MiniMoog (they both have retired to the studio, so they only appear onstage on special occasions), Roland RD2000 especially for Grand piano duties, Sequential Rev 2.

What’s your favourite keyboard of all time?

I’d have to say Prophet 5. No keyboard can do everything, but this comes close. It has such an organic presence, the filters are great, the frequencies are full, and you can play and create sounds and effects on the fly without having to dive into menus. It’s my Desert Island keyboard.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I love to listen to a mix of favourites and the unusual, so currently whoever is on Radio 3, especially Night Tracks”, Brian Eno, Milton Nascimento, Miles, Herbie, Stevie, Steely Dan and most recently revisiting my mother Nadia Cattouse’s songs as she passed away recently.

What are you looking forward to doing next?

A lot to look forward to in 2025. I want to take a stripped-down version of the Union Chapel band, which includes Yolanda Charles on bass, drummer John Sam and guitarist extraordinaire Alex Hutchings and play all over the country and in Europe next year, I’d love to play some festivals.

I’ll also be straight back into the studio with producers Mike and Toni to start recording the next single, as I intend to release a new song or track every few months, plus record a new solo Piano album, (as a follow-up to Conversations With Silence), while also following up offers of co-writes and giving one -to-one sessions and Masterclasses online and in person. It’s also going to be a full festival summer with Level 42 followed by a World Machine 40th Anniversary Tour in the autumn in UK and Europe, plus some live dates with my great friend Dominic Miller in Europe in April.

As if all that wasn’t enough, I’ll also be doing further development on a Song Cycle musical “Soho Songs” with my collaborators Barb Jungr and Benji Sperring, looking to schedule more live performances with a cast of singer/actors building on the shows we have done over the last two years.

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