Cloudbusting -- Kate Bush In Her Own Words

Kate'S Band

Are you doing some practice...?

We're working for things, but we're not actually together as a unit. But the last thing about Del and Brian is that we've been together since the rock band that we had in the pubs, which is like, what, five years ago.

I'm sorry, which one is that?

The KT Bush Band, which is when we were going around the pubs.

And you've been with which one of the guys?

With Brian Bath and Del Palmer, they've both been with me ever since. And they've maybe never played on all the albums, but they've been on each album for two or three tracks, and they were on the tour. And it's lovely because I feel that I would still want to use them in the future, which is great because in a way they are my traveling nucleus, just those three. But I would love to have a band, like a secure band, because I think that's a very good feeling. And even though you have a little personality problems at least you're together... and they learn what you want. So eventually it must be so easy to communicate with them.

So del's been with you, what, since post-gilmour, emi contract days or something.

Yes, and so's Brian. Because before I actually started recording the album, the years when EMI was just sorta not doing anything, and I was more or less just doing things so that my time would be full, we got little three piece band together.

During you're sorta when...

Before the album was made. But I'd already been signed.

But...when...since they'd signed it when you were sixteen or something?

Yes, that's right. I was about eighteen. And it was just for the few months before I'd started my first album. And that was when we got this band together. And we formed very strong links between us all. And I think, I would still love to work with them. Cause I think what's nice about them is they're very... I would call them much more emotional player than technical player, not that they're in any way technically bad (1982, Bootleg CD)

Presumably you must command the respect which induces all these fellows to willingly subordinate their own egos...

Well, there are never really any serious problems because the fellows I work with are great, and I think they just find amusing all of the things that I like and ask them to do. And they're fabulous, really. I mean, I've never really been able to communicate properly, like those producers you see sitting there talking about A-flats: ``Now take it from the A-coding,'' and all that. I don't find that comfortable at all because, for a start, there might be one of the band (like me!) who doesn't know what you're saying. So what's the point? Because everyone needs to know. So I talk in really basic language. Obviously I have to identify chords and things like that. But in a way, the most important thing for me, I feel, is if I can convey to them the atmosphere of the song, the sort of feeling which I want them to produce. Then I feel that they will give me what I want. As long as they're in tune with the song on the same level as I am, then I'm gonna get what I want. So, rather than saying to each of them ``You do this,'' or ``You do that,'' I spend an awful lot of time trying to explain the story and that sort of thing. And I think the one that was the most difficult, but the one I was most pleased with was `` Breathing'' - that was an epic. We spent three days trying to get that backing track. And the silly thing was that we had all the riffs and everything by the second day, it was just that no-one could play as if they meant it, because we'd been playing it for so long. (1985, Musician)

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