by TheEqualizer on 07 Jul 2017 03:41
From Belew's Facebook July 6, 2017:
so....GIZMoDRoME
the working name was GIZMO until we found out about the 40 or so possible
copyright infringements.
then we added the DRoME part. I like the name, but no matter, we'll make it what it is anyway.
so who is GIZMoDRoME? it all started with Stewart Copeland and Vittorio Cosma. they had been playing in Italy on and off for 10 years. you probably know who Stewart is (drummer for a little band called the Police), suffice to say in italy Vittorio enjoys the same well-earned position as THE go-to keyboard player. I'll let Stewart tell the next bit:
"one day Mr. Claudio Dentes, the illustrious Italian entrepreneur, producer and bon vivant called with a proposal to make a record. by this time we (Stewart and Vittorio) actually had a bag of songs so heck, why not?
Vittorio said 'let’s call Adrian!'
and I said 'no shit, and let’s call Mark!'
twenty minutes later the four of us were heading for Milan."
Mark was, of course, Mark King, the
british bassist and singer for Level 42 (who had something like 14 hit singles in Europe by the way). he and I immediately bonded.
I think Mark was as surprised as I was on our first day in Milan. we were set up in a large recording room in a famous old italian studio. four musicians playing together in a big room. the sound was perfect. each of us could see each other well and we each had a talkback microphone. we would quickly learn the form of a song and then begin embellishing it.
the first thing I noticed was how comfortably I fit into the music. reminded me of my Talking Heads days: everything I played worked perfectly and was very "belewish".
the second thing I noticed was how comical all of us could be. a veritable marx brothers. the control room was always filled with laughter.
every day at 5:00 we paused for a Stewart tradition: a toast with a shot of tequila and a coca cola chaser. next door there was an italian cafe which kept us happy with drinks and tasty italian dishes they would send over. in short it quickly became the perfect creative setting: warm, fuzzy and fun, but with a palpable edge.
at the end of each long but fruitful day there would inevitably be some amazing italian restaurant where we could celebrate our daily accomplishments in good cheer.
so....in ten days time we became a band and recorded the first GIZMoDRoME record (which comes out in september). next week Stewart and I do a promotional blitz of europe. more on that next time.
There is no bigger gong.