4 Tha Ds!!y Tar Heel Wednesday, September 24, 1975
Keyboard wizard and dream weaver, Gary Wright.
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by George Bacso
Assistant Managing Editor
Gary Wright is the dream weaver a
space-age synthesizer wizard and
songwriting talent. On his new album,
The Dream Weaver, Wright's various
electronic keyboards provide a lush,
fanciful framework over which his
soothing and entrancing voice soars.
Onstage, Wright effectively duplicates
his studio work. Offstage, he speaks in
calm, reassuring tones as he verbalizes
his dreams and musical philosophies.
Despite his spacey pyrotechnics,
Wright is definitely a rock V roller. He
has played with such notables as George
Harrison and Ringo Starr, but is best
known as the keyboard player, vocalist,
songwriter and founder of Spooky
Tooth.
Following the final demise of Spooky
Tooth, after seven albums and almost as
many personnel changes, Wright
released two mediocre solo LP's. Now
he has a popular album that is listed at
the number 53 spot on Billboard
magazine's top 100 chart with a bullet
next to it. The bullet means "going up
fast."
The Dream Weaver (on Warner Bros,
records) is a pleasant mixture of rock,
ballads and funk, with synthesizers
constantly weaving in and out. Wright's
tasteful keyboard work is displayed on
clavinet, Hammond organ and Fender
Rhodes piano. Wright also handles the
bass, brass and string arrangements,
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using a variety of Moog and Arp
synthesizers.
Although talented, Wright is not
flashy or over-indulgent, like several
current members of the rock keyboard.
The title cut is a slow, almost cosmic
piece. There are several medium tempo
rock numbers and one medium tempo
funker, "I Can't Find the Judge." There
are also slower ballads, notably, "Feel
for Me."
But despite his versatility, Wright's
songs begin to sound very similar, the
only fault of the LP. After nine songs a
Moog bass begins to sound very
repetitious. Wright produced the album
himself however, and the resulting
sound testifies to his ability to mix
sound in the studio.
Wright recently visited the
Greensboro Coliseum to open for'Kiss.'
Costumed in a space suit (without the
helmet) and surrounded by a vast array
of synthesizers and electronic devices,
Wright performed a short set consisting
of four songs off his new album and an
update of an older tune.
With two other musicians also
playing keyboards, Wright managed to
effectively translate his work from a disc
to a live concert. Afterward, Wright sat
in his dressing room and discussed his
past, present and future in an exclusive
interview with the DTH.
DTH: What caused you to adopt the
space-motif which you display on the
cover of your album and in your live
performance?
Wright: Well, I just feel that costumes
and theatrics are an important part of
live concerts today and the space idea fit
well with the music.
DTH: Do you think theatrics, as
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"There are so many things coming out now different kinds of synthesizers and
different kinds of things you can do with them. I think they are the future of rock, and
you will soon start to see bands based around keyboard musicians rather than guitar
players."
exemplified by such groups as 'Kiss,' are
excessive?
Wright: Yes, because the music is still
the most important thing, and I'm not
really into their music.
DTH: So the theatrics should just
compliment the music?
Wright: Right. But with such groups as
'Kiss,' I think the theatrics are more
important to the group.
DTH: Are you a science fiction nut?
Wright: Yes, I like science fiction and
science fantasy.
DTH: With the futuristic outlook that
implies, do you think the future of the
synthesizer in rock is as bright as it once
was?
Wright: I think it is now even brighter.
There are so many things coming out
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now different kinds of synthesizers
and different kinds of things you can do
with them. I think they are the future of
rock and you will soon start to see bands
based around keyboard musicians
rather than guitar players.
DTH: Has the guitar gone as far as it can
go, or will guitar synthesizers continue
their importance?
Wright: Guitar synthesizers are just
guitars plugged into a synthesizer. The
action involved in playing is so different:
you simply strum a guitar, but a
keyboard instrument is different you
play it.
DTH: I noticed that Tomita's electronic
adaptation of Debussy was being played
before you came onstage. Was that at
your request, and what do you think of
total electronic or total synthesizer work
like Tomita's?
Wright: Well, that was at my request
because I love Tomita. I would never
personally get that far out, but that's just
because of the nature of my music.
DTH: That's something which makes
your latest work so attractive, the fact
that you keep your electronic excursions
within a basic rock framework and
chord structure, with clearly defined
melodies.
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"I respect people like Emerson and Wakeman, but they're all different. And I think
that in their styles they're all different from me. That's the important thing."
Wright: That's probably because I'm
more of a traditional songwriter.
DTH: Do you envision a day when
music will be created totally by machine,
with computers conducting the whole
process, including the songwriting?
Wright: Oh sure. Just as long as the
rudiments are there, such as good tune,
and everything forms an aesthetic
whole.
DTH: What were your early musical
influences?
Wright: I was influenced by Ray
Charles, Stevie Winwood and Sly,
among others.
DTH: Did you go through the whole
piano-lessons-as-a-kid thing?
Wright: No, I never took piano lessons.
I taught myself.
DTH: Are you influenced at all by
today's current crop of rock keyboard
players?
Wright: Not really. I respect people like
Emerson and Wakeman, but they're all
different. And I think that in their styles
they're all different from me. That's the
important thing.
DTH: Do you ever see your current
work as an extension of what you were
into in the past? TJiere still seem to be
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ghosts of Spooky Tooth and your
previous solo efforts in your new music.
Wright: It's all a relative progression, all
my stuff is. It's just that now I have a
little niche to work in, a situation where
1 can do most of the w ork on keyboards,
in contrast to the basic guitar, bass,
drums format.
DTH: Do you have trouble
coordinating, not only your own work,
but that of two other keyboard players
onstage? The technical problems must
be immense such as tonight, when it
seemed your organ wasn't working
right.
Wright: The problems can be a hassle
and the organ was giving us a lot of
trouble tonight. But the problems come
because we actually have a miniature
recording studio onstage. Our
equipment is twice as complicated as the
average band's. We have eight
keyboards, three eight-channel mixers,
four-channel amplifiers and studio
monitors, all of which run through echo
systems.
DTH: A credit on The Dream Weaver
says the title was inspired by
Paramahansa Yogananda. Who is he?
Wright: He is a master of eastern
thought whose works I've read. George
Harrison gav e me one of his books, and
there's a referencc in it to "the dream
weaver." -., r-
DTH: Your album is very spacey. and
the dream-like quality is certainly
evident, but it is very down to earth in its
subject matter. You write a lot about
love.
Wright: Well, I bel ieve that love is
simply the greatest force in the universe.
And I'm very happy now. Things are
happening in a big way for me now. My
album is moving along the charts, and I
think I have the nucleus and the embryo
of w hat I want to do.
Gary Wright is a man whose head
may be in the clouds mystically, but
personally and philosophically his feet
are firmly planted on the ground.
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