interview with Richard Williams, Melody Maker

Outlook cloudy for Quiet Sun

Melody Maker, 28.11.70

THE FIRST THING which attracted me to Quiet Sun was the carefully-typed handout they included with their little tape. The prose mentioned such names as Ornette Coleman, Bartok, Messaien, Randy California, Lou Reed, Jack Casady, Erik Satie, Andrew Cyrille, Marcel Duchamp and Cecil Taylor, and contained some interesting theories on the state of modern music.

The tape, too, was interesting, although initially it sounded derivative and emotionally rather cold. It contained passages in 10/8 and 13/8, and while that's no guarantee of any excellence it is an indication that something may be going on. Well, something is going on, in the heads of David Jarrett (keyboards) Philip Manzanera (guitar), Dave Monaghan (alto, flute, piccolo), Bill MacCormick (bass, vocals), and Charles Hayward (drums, percussion).

Quiet Sun has existed in one form or another since 1966, when Bill, Charles and Philip first got together. In fact the only member of the group who wasn't educated at Dulwich College is Dave Monaghan who spent almost a decade as a musician in the Army, God bless him. The drawback which they'll inevitably suffer in the beginning of their career is an unfavourable comparison with the Soft Machine. The instrumentation is similar the sound bears a passing resemblance and their use of unusual time-signatures and the balance between written and improvised passages are not dissimilar. They are at pains, though, to disclaim true likeness and influence, despite their friendship with Softs drummer Robert Wyatt.

"We want to concentrate on more melodic things, writing tunes which aren't controlled by bass riffs. The trouble with odd metres is that people think you have to define the time by writing riffs, but we're trying to get away from that. It's difficult, because when you do that you stop signalling the beginning and end of each bar." They are, however, fond of the Softs, as they are of a surprisingly catholic collection of " heavies."

From talking to them and from listening to their tape, I'm sure they'll have something to say for the future. If the present looks a little grim, then perhaps that's the price all young musicians of value have to pay.