Hear the Echoes Podcast with Colin Edwin & Jon Durant
Porcupine Tree is among the most popular of the recent generation of Progressive Rock groups. They’ve even enjoyed chart success. Colin Edwin is their highly regarded bass player. Jon Durant is much less well known, but he’ been putting out wonderful ambient-laced electric guitar albums for a couple of decades now. The two musicians got together recently to record an album of guitar and bass duets that goes way beyond that description. It’s called Burnt Belief.
Remember that Mayan thing, when the world was supposed to end on January 21 2012, the day the Mayan calendar ran out? Apparently, that didn’t happen, but it did inspire an album by Jon Durant and Colin Edwin. They timed the release of Burnt Belief for December 22,the day after the apocalypse.
“I’ve always been fascinated by what happens when people have a very deep seated belief and that belief is kind of proven wrong,” says bassist Colin Edwin. “And it was so bizarre because of course, when it fails to happen, the interesting thing is these people, they become even more entrenched in their beliefs. You know, they kind of justify the fact that it hasn’t happened by saying that there’s something wrong with them and it will happen at a future date. So I don’t think for a minute that the world is gonna end on Dec. 21, you know, of this year, next week, but for me it’s about kind of provoking the thought, ultimately the thought that I would like people to have about it is you know, what do you believe and why, you know. ”
Obviously the world didn’t end, but some of the music on Burnt Belief might be suitable for a post-apocalyptic time.
The project began in 2010 when guitarist Jon Durant asked Edwin to play on his CD, Dance of the Shadow Planets. The collaboration worked so well they decided to record an entire CD together.
“When we worked together on Shadow Planets and he’s playing live in the room with us, it wasn’t the typical thing for me with all the guitar players I’ve had in the past,” exudes Edwin from his home outside of London. “They just want to solo on everything or play a really loud riff.”
Jon Durant joins in the mutual admiration exchange. “A great bass player isn’t defined by how many notes he can play,” professes Durant from his home outside of Boston. “That’s not the sort of voice that would work in the context of my music. And Colin really, he knows when to say nothing, which is important, when to just hit that one great note that just leaves you breathless, and when to add a melodic phrase and do so with real intention.
You can hear the complete interview with Jon Durant and Colin Edwin, including their talk about Middle Eastern music and Peter Gabriel’s Passion in the Echoes Podcast.
~John Diliberto ((( echoes )))
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