Author: Joe Boone

Space Rituals

Post author By Joe Boone
Post date November 7, 2013

CREDIT: Barry Plummer

Hawkwind is a deep-cuts kind of thing. The band is famous for two things: being home to Lemmy Kilmister before he formed Motörhead and for Stacia, the statuesque nude who stood in a Brazilian-Christ-Redeemer pose onstage at the band’s shows in the 1970s. The band never really broke up but remained in flux through periods of obscurity and rediscovery. Nik Turner’s Hawkwind will play the Hi-Tone on Friday, November 8th. We spoke with Turner by phone.

Nik Turner: I had a late night. It wasn’t Pittsburg, no. It was Cleveland. I think we finished and got out of the venue at 2 o’clock and drove three hours to someone’s house and got to bed at 5.

The Flyer: You’ve been doing that for a long time.

Touring or making people wait on the telephone? I guess it’s what I do. Where are you based?

Memphis.

Old Memphis. I remember playing in Memphis. Oh, no. We’ve never played in Memphis. We played in, oh gosh, what’s that other town?

Nashville?

Yeah, Nashville. We had a tornado when we were there. That’s when I was there with Hawkwind some time ago. And the gigs were being put on by the local porn king, I think. They guy who owned all the local porn cinemas in Nashville. Really nice guy. He had a party at his house, and he invited all the porn stars.

I didn’t know Nashville rolled that way.

I never knew as well. I think he fell in love with Stacia at the time.

Who didn’t?

It was all very romantic. I’ve always wanted to visit Memphis. I always liked the idea of visiting Graceland. I’m reading a book about Elvis by Albert Goldman. It seems to be shooting from the hip, spilling the beans. Not holding Elvis in magical high esteem. He was a great entertainer, but it just shows him up to be a simple country boy who had a nice voice and got exploited by Colonel Tom.

We love him for who he is.

A lot of positive energy came out of it. I look forward to going there.

So is this a Hawkwind show or a Nik Turner show?

I think it might be a Nik Turner’s Hawkwind show. I’m not trying to run away with the name or anything else. Calling myself NTH is sort of a sign for people, letting people know what we’re doing and not anything else really. There’s a lot of hoo-ha going on and a lot of hysteria about. What I don’t like about the whole situation is that it creates a very divisive situation where people are either on my side or Dave Brock’s side. And that’s all bullshit, because it’s not what Hawkwind was all about. Hawkwind was an alternative attitude or culture. Doing things for people that needed help; lame ducks quite often. Being a people’s band. And I still try to be that. I try to be very communicative with the audience and turn every gig into a healing experience. We all need healing, so we have to heal each other. So, I’m spreading good vibrations and peace and love. It all sounds a bit cheesy, but it keeps the world going round. It’s better than war, death, and hate. I’m trying to perpetuate the spirit of what Hawkwind was all about. … Space rock is a slightly different concept that we’re presenting. We’ve got a new album out, and people really like it. But we’re performing some of the original Space Ritual show, which I was involved in coordinating and choreographing together with Barney Bubbles and Robert Calvert. The original Space Ritual show was based on astrology and astronomy. It was trying to lay out the stage in the form of the Pythagorean music of the spheres. Barney took the astrological signs of all the members of the band and their corresponding colors and used those colors in the light show. … [Pythagoras] invented the modern scales with his idea of a chord going through all of the planets and the solar system going from spirit to matter. Spirit at one end, matter at the other end. And all the planets suspended on a string, all vibrating at different frequencies, which represent the notes of the Western scale. … Barney took all that information from Manley P. Hall’s book on magic. [The Secret Teachings of All Ages] It’s a great big tome that has all of this stuff about Solomon and ancient gods and all of that. I find mythology and ancient cultures very fascinating.

Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, with Pallbearer and Hedersleben, plays the Hi-Tone, Friday, November 8th, 9 p.m. Tickets $10.

Tags Hawkwind, Hi Tone, Music

Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Phish and D Wash Sr. on “The Line”

Post author By Joe Boone
Post date November 6, 2013

A follow up to our post on Phish’s song about Darius Washington Jr.

“Darius Washington Jr.’s story was incredibly moving to all of us in Phish,” Trey Anastasio wrote in an email to the Flyer. Anastasio is the lead singer of the jam band Phish, which should in all probability have exactly nothing to do with Tiger hoops. But this is Memphis. Things get weird.

At a Halloween show in Atlantic City, Phish played a song called “The Line.” The song is about Washington’s infamous free throw attempts against Louisville in the 2005 C-USA tournament. The song is also about overcoming adversity. Darius Jr.’s Twitter handle is @Mr_Adversity. Following the emotional loss on national television, Washington’s father, Darius Sr., refused to let his son wallow in self-pity and led him on a walk up and down Beale Street to face the fans and to revel in their support.

We reached Darius Jr. by Twitter. He is playing basketball for Olin Edirne Basket, a Turkish team, and deferred questions to his dad. We spoke to Darius Sr. by phone yesterday.

Explaining Phish to Darius Sr. is not what one expects to do on a music-writing gig. But, again, this is Memphis. Initially confused by the news, the Washingtons have developed a sense of humor and perspective on the song, the event, and what it means to people.

“Is he a famous country singer?” Darius Sr. asked. “I don’t know them.”

Phish is somewhat famous for being a jam band, primarily a touring act that invests less time in the studio and in pursuing radio success than in playing live shows for its dedicated fans. It’s not for everybody.

“If the people that sit there and listen to this — if they don’t follow sports and don’t know that this took place — what are they thinking? What’s going through the fans minds?,” Washington Sr. wondered.

“It really spoke to me on a personal level, because I’ve gone through some difficult moments in public, too,” Anastasio wrote. “I’m sure most people have, in one way or another. Those tough moments can ultimately become gifts though.”

The Washingtons were not immediately sure of the musicians’ motives when they heard about the song on CBS Sports.

“We had to sort through and figure out which rout to take. I’ve got rap artists — people that could have just blasted him out,” Washington Sr. said. “I had a lot of scenarios going through my head about how I would respond if it was something that I felt that he was trying to pour salt on a wound or something like that. Maybe I can get one of my rap guys to rap something about it.”

But the awesome possibility of a musical standoff between Phish and the Washingtons was quashed as Darius’ Sr. again demonstrated the character that led him and his son out onto Beale to face the music.

“They show it on ESPN,” Washington said. “They talk about it on March Madness and at the beginning of the year. It’s been following us forever. But it’s not a bad thing, though. There’s something that people fail to realize. Yeah, that was a history making moment, but we got up off the floor and we’re still doing what we do.”

Anastasio was among those moved by the display of family, character, and civic goodwill that went on display.

“You learn a lot about what’s really important in life when
something like that happens,” Anastasio wrote.

“This is the question I pose to people,” Washington said. “If he would have just walked off the court after missing those free throws and sat on the bench like it was nothing, then people have said, damn that kid didn’t even care. But being that he is so passionate — and he hated to lose — that was the main issue. That wasn’t a national championship game. That was a freaking conference game to get into the big dance. That should show the world the passion he has for winning. The kid was always and still is a winner. He’s not a kid anymore, he’s a man. He did that in rec league. If he missed a shot, it bothered him. To this day, that’s how it stands,” Washington said.

In an even more conciliatory gesture, Washington laid the groundwork for what could become Phish’s masterpiece.

“If he decides to do a video, tell him to call us.”