TALISMAN - VENUE
Talisman are a band who should need little introduction in Bristol. It's not so many years ago that they played regular gigs locally but, as is the way with all bands, once their status increases they cease to be local.
The last time I saw Talisman in Bristol was in front of a huge audience supporting the Rolling Stones at Ashton Gate. They now play twelve to fifteen nights a month in colleges and clubs the length and breadth of the country. However, they're still very much a Bristol based outfit and since January all their 'un-gigged' energy has been spent in the Right Track studios on Redland Road.
Five months may seem like a long time to spend recording an album bur in reality it's only about forty working days. As ex-horn player and now Talisman manager Brendan Whitmore told me, 'It's essential that we take our time and produce the best album that we can possibly release at this time.'
As of yet it is unknown how the album will be released: 'We are treating all the possible outlets in a very tentative manner,' admits Brendan. The band all feel that creative independence is vital, 'We have no wish to be under the thumb of some executive in a London record company - of course we'd be interested in a recording contract if we found a sympathetic company.'
To this end the £4000 recording costs have been met by the band themselves ('A good investment,' chips in Dennis the bass player). The band have worked out a deal with the studio whereby they are only charges for running costs in return for a percentage of the proceeds when the album is released - there's confidence for you!
But how has a long period in the studio affected the music? Has it made it tighter?
'It was tight already!' retorts Dennis. 'It has given us time to explore our music,' comments Desmond (lead vocalist and guitarist.
But has the sound changed?
Den: 'We've had to change the sound of reggae for white ears.'
Des: 'There's just more melodies, there's more to listen to. but nothing's really changed, if you pare everything away underneath there is basically a dub band.'
Den: 'Yeah, a good one. We've got our own sound. we didn't try for it, it was just there. We've always thought of our music as good semi-shit sort of thing. But we know our strengths and we're going to work on it.'
From what I've heard of the album I can reiterate the bands comments. It does have a sharper sound with a lot more instrumental work, but the playing is as heavily dependent on the beat as it is on the melody. The rhythm is certainly not inhibited by it. I was particularly struck by a song entitled 'Ah What you say' which epitomises the new Talisman. And with fifteen days recording yet to go, it's still lacking lead guitar, harmony vocal lines and brass.
What's it been like working in the Right Track?
Des: 'The coffee's shit! but there's good vibes up here. It's what everybody needs.'
Den: 'They've given us our first break here - the time to work on our music. It's good.'
What kind of response are they expecting when the album is released?
Den: 'Reggae don't get no help from the big boys (record labels) it's got to be all our own work.'
Den: 'There's little airplay. A couple of numbers here and there is no good. Reggae needs a station of its own.
Den: 'There's a lot of stuff on the radio that's just silly rhythms (a reference to popular white reggae bands) - you don't get good rhythms and good songs nowadays. A couple of years ago the Cimarons and Matumbi were the best sounds around, to my ears, they didn't get no help and they haven't done nothing. We've just come at the right time and need the money behind us.'
Why has Talisman traditionally had a largely white following?
Brendan: 'That dates back to when I first played in the band. Most of my contacts in the business were into rock not reggae so Talisman tended to play in rock clubs where there was a white audience already. We have done all the major black clubs around the country, but in Bristol our traditional audience is white.'
Does the band resent it?
Des: 'I don't really mind it. It's rubbish to say that white folk don't understand roots reggae, some of them do. But I think that as we get heard more black folks will see we're a good band and they'll come.'
Den: 'There's a feelin' that if it's English it can't be reggae.'
Brendan: 'When our second single 'Run Come Girl' came out they were playing it continually in a record shop in St Pauls there were people asking where Talisman come from. A lot of local black people aren't in touch with the English reggae scene.'
What do they think of playing to huge white rock audiences like at Ashton Gate and Glastonbury?
Brendan: 'Playing on the same stage as the Rolling Stones was a high point in my career; the stage monitoring was incredible - you could hear everything perfectly.'
Des: 'Ashton Gate was good. We all had a good time.'
Den: (of the last Glastonbury Festival) 'You're only there to warm up the crowd. You're treated like shit. We were just chucked on virtually without a sound check If you've got a long van and everything's on castors it's great!'
Brendan: 'If your road manager had an American accent you were OK.'
Den: 'When we arrived there four years ago in a wholefood van they put us on the small stage 'cos we had bags of flour mixed in with the equipment.'
It will still be several months before the album is available in the shops - but well worth the wait.
It is likely that the band will simultaneously release a 12" single of a number entitled 'Lick 'an run' which would probably not be included in the album.
(Neil Harry - Venue)
TALISMAN 2
Lady luck smiled happily on Talisman last year; two excellent singles, 'DoleAge'/'Free Speech' setting the pace and 'Run Come Girl'/'Wicked Dem' stepping up the revs; two Radio one sessions: T.V appearances on Beeb One and Two; and an increasing gig work-load, culminating in a short, snappy and successful week of dates in Holland. But luck has been one of the ingredients in their recipe as they have been aided by the more solid pre-requisites of good material, instrumental competence, hard work and diligent management, the latter now provided by Recreational Records supremo, Chris Parker.
Talisman have moved on to that crucial stage where finally day-jobs have been given up and a professional status attained - the step forwards where there can be no looking back. It's taken them two years to come to this situation and it's not always been a smooth journey. Progress was interrupted by Bill Bartlett's decision to leave the band, and his replacement on keyboards, Chris Potter, is an interesting example of the YOP scheme ultimately finding an unemployed young person a full-time job. Chris was previously involved in the 'Freedom City' production, which was funded by the Manpower Services Commission and has toured all over the country. His recruitment retains the one-third white two-thirds black balance of personnel, a feature which created some eye-brow raising from some quarters in Talisman's earlier days.
Bassist Dennis explained that: 'When the band first started and we had Brendan and Bill, people in St Pauls were saying 'why have you got white guys in the band?' and between us in the band there was a period of non-communication. We would just play without trying to come together, but as we got to know each other the magic worked through.'
Brendan: 'Now the black and white thing doesn't come into it. We just think of each other as being in the situation where we HAVE to work together - as musicians and as people. We have a good time together and it seems to flow quite well.'
Within the potent hubbub of Talisman's music they mix a range of styles. I hear a Carlos Santana feel to Leroy's liquid lead licks, complementing the wailing sound of Brendan's sax and harmonica punctuations, and a fluid jazzy inflection to some of the bass/rhythm unison phrasing. The basis of the music is very firmly in a reggae mould, but with lots of flexibility and space between the instruments. The rhythms are varied, broken down and reassembled, with the drums and guitars weaving in and out of each other, and the keyboards and sax providing the richer tone of colours. This approach is accentuated by the visual aspect of the set; Brendan and Chris flanking the three front men, while Donald stays hidden behind his drums driving the music ever FORWARD. When we were discussing how the groups direction developed there was some disagreement between Desmond and Dennis about this process.
'There was a lot of conflict at first about what we were doing,' said Desmond, 'and whether it was right and I don't know how we overcame that.' But as far as Dennis was concerned 'it just happened that we wanted to play something different. We didn't strive to play JA reggae and I'm glad we didn't because I think now we're in the forefront of what we are doing in England.' In terms of the 'new wave' of Brit-reggae? Dennis again: 'Yes. We didn't know if black people would accept it as it was up-tempo, and then there was also the way we play our music, with the voices jumping in and out and the bass and drums doing the things they do.'
Brendan took up the point: 'We didn't know how well it was going to be received or what was going to happen, but now we find ourselves going off to festivals and gigs and people have heard us on the radio and come and see us. We're now strong enough and mature enough in the band to make an impression the first time we play somewhere. People don't realise of course the background work that's gone into putting us where we are now.'
Talisman have managed to overcome the perennial problem for Bristol bands: getting some attention from record company and music press personnel, in the right places, especially of course London. Matters have not moved as quickly as perhaps they would have liked but the group are quite happy for the moment with their relation with Recreational. 'It's possible that our first single 'Dole Age' would have sold more if we had been with somebody bigger,' said Brendan, 'as it would have got wider promotion. As it was it sold 5000 copies so we're pleased with that all things considered. But the fact that Chris Parker has been involved with us from the start, and is WITH us, is very important. In spite of the problems we've been getting nation-wide publicity through TV and we've played all round the country supporting some big names.' (It might be added too that another useful aid will be Talisman's appearance on HTV's new 'Jangles' show starting in February, where the band will be performing 'Nitty Gritty')
Interest has certainly been stirring in the A & R departments, but another factor urging caution and patience from the band is the way in which British reggae bands have tended to be treated by record companies. Dennis is quite emphatic about where Talisman stand on this question and what they are looking for.
'They (companies) are waiting to see what kind of deal they can get. For us it can't be something like Steel Pulse or The Regulars got because in the end they got nothing. They were just taken on, signed up and nothing was done for reggae music. We actually want something done for the MUSIC, and we're not just in it for the money. We want reggae pushed out and say: yeah! The black music in this country has got a standing now. None of the guys in the business is willing to stand up and be the first person to put some bread behind that. That's why I think public demand will bring us up as we're the first kind of band who are generating that kind of wider feed-back, considering the music we play, unlike say Steel Pulse, Black Slate or even Aswad.
It's this forthright and determined attitude which spills over into the content of the songs, and has caused some misinterpretations from the likes of the BBC. Brendan explained that they considered 'Wicked Dem' to be unsuitable for radio broadcasting, when they were about to record their session for the Richard Skinner programme. 'They'd checked it out and told us that it was anti-police, which was wrong as it's against authority when exercised arbitrarily for the sake of it.' Perhaps the Beeb were being sensitive in the light of the summer riots but happily the song was recorded for a Peel session. More likely they were put off by the 'live' presentation of the song when the noose that Dennis wears on stage is used to illustrate the injustices which 'Wicked Dem' highlights. But then they might understand better.
Many of Talisman's songs do convey strong feelings, like 'Dole Age' and 'Free Speech', or personal emotions in 'I A'int', and Desmond, as chief lyricist, pointed out in the recent repeat of the BBC West documentary on the band, 'I have a message and the only way I can get it out is to write. Society isn't free and although we're told it is, the reality is different. We're governed by laws telling us what we can and cannot do, can or cannot say and I want real free speech. You have to keep making compromises. You can never go out and say exactly what you feel. That's what 'Free Speech' is all about, without pointing any fingers or calling any names. It's telling people what you feel about what's going on but in a SUBTLE way.'
I quite like too the positive maxims which Dennis mentioned were his by-words. He regards his role as 'trying to communicate, while others try to exterminate', and his message for politicians, and the Home Secretary, in the light of Brixton, Toxteth and Scarman is crystal-clear:
'Hey Mr Whitelaw, tell us your plan,
Do you see a future for the black man?
I see politicians playing a dangerous game
So put your house in order and we'll do the same.'
It's been precisely that kind of 'problem' area, like St Pauls, that Des and Denn have lived in or near. They are well aware of the problems that community face and also the progressively harder struggle for black musicians in particular, to establish, build up and maintain a band: the lack of rehearsal space, and equally important, the lack of a focus of the sort of clubs like Bamboo and Blue Lagoon, closed down in the last few years, used to provide. But in spite of the odds stacked against them, it's encouraging that Talisman (and Black Roots) have been able to become significant forces in the current reggae outfits pushing out.
Of the two it's probably Talisman who have the greater commercial potential; certainly they have an easier field for 'cross-over' both in terms of content and stance. Their audience is as mixed as their line-up and it's a rare occasion that those at their gigs can stay rooted in their chairs. The maxim which Brendan applies invariably comes true: everyone leaves a Talisman gig with a smile on their face. And Denn's experience of reaction is even more graphic. 'One girl came up to me after a gig and said - you know, you make me sweat!'
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