Proggers of Wales assemble! The man behind that mega-deft guitar sound found on Genesis’ most esteemed 1970s LPs is coming to Swansea and Cardiff to toast the 50th birthday of one of ‘em, Foxtrot. Buzz’s Carl Marsh spoke about it to Steve Hackett.

You tour quite a lot and have done for decades. Has it ever felt somewhat of a burden? Or is it something you always appreciate, because you’re still doing it whilst other performers aren’t, and you’re making new fans of your music in the process?

Steve Hackett: I tell you what – most of the time, I’m thrilled to be doing it because it is a privilege to do it. And it is a privilege to be still doing it. Never mind whether I’m still doing some of those same songs from 50 years ago. But, after a 30-hour flight coming back from the Far East, there will be times when I’ll be going, “Do I really need to do this?” And then another side of me says, “Yes, you really do need to do this because this is what you love doing.”

Of course, you can’t love every moment on the clock because everyone’s human, but I love doing it – once we’ve arrived somewhere, and we’ve got the timezone sorted out. But when we’re back home, my wife and I aren’t sleeping properly… we wake up in the middle of the night having got our head down by 10 pm, thinking an early night should be okay, and wake up at 1 am, wide awake [laughter], and then you got to figure out what you do!

Do you get to relax much in between touring?

Steve Hackett: I don’t have a civilian life. I don’t have breaks between tours. People often say, “oh, you must be having a nice rest now?” No! Because everything else has to be fitted into those times. And this sounds like a complaint. The rest of life has to be fitted in. Yes, visits to the bank, the doctor, the dentist, the maker of suitcases. You know, I’m always flying by the seat of my pants. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I had some years when it wasn’t like that. And it’s great to be fulfilling all those postponed gigs, which is why this is the busiest year ever.

And you’re touring the 50th year celebration of the Genesis album Foxtrot. A year before I was born! You must be still in disbelief that it’s been so long.

Steve Hackett: It’s funny because when I was a kid, I was listening to the 78s my dad and my grandfather listened to. You know, that generation of stuff: you’d pick up something like Glenn Miller, and I’d think this is the music of another generation. But I don’t have that feeling when I think of certain things since the 1960s once music started to grow up and become inclusive. It was in the mid-1960s that it began to truly develop.

The mixture of what we call ‘prog’ was a very big change. So, although Foxtrot was a year before you were born, and I realise that it is typically prog in so many ways, harmonically it’s still sound and composed; all those things. You can tell that there was something serious going on; it wasn’t just a product of its time because it never really belonged to its time anyway. We weren’t fashionable at that time, and I’m still not fashionable now – but, you know, I’m making a noise for a living.

It’s a long haul; you’re in for the marathon. And if people pick up on it, that’s great. I don’t mind if they’re eight or 80, and there are people in the audience who are both!

Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited, Swansea Arena, Fri 9 Sept; St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Sat 10 Sept.

Tickets: £43.80 (Swansea) / £42.50 (Cardiff). Info: Swansea / Cardiff

words CARL MARSH

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