Adrian Belew Interview

Rip It Up, Issue 18, 1 December 1978, Page 10

Adrian Belew Interview

Roy Colbert

Adrian Belew carefully measures out a generous tip for the waitress, and then insists on paying for the breakfast out of his own pocket. Over the past few days, room numbers have been bellowed across bars and dinner tables at Noah's Hotel like it’s a housie marathon. The Bowie guitarist could probably charge this one to about seven different people without raising an eyebrow, but he wants to pay for it himself. That night at QEII Park, Belew will play guitar like a man who not only would have charged his meal, but who would have driven a car through the room at the end for good measure. And then set fire to it.

But for now, it’s breakfast. Eggs over easy, which the kitchen doesn’t begin to understand, wheat toast, coffee, and a little cassette recorder whirring away in the centre of the table. So what was the process whereby Belew moved from Frank Zappa to David Bowie? "Robert Fripp saw me with Frank in London and called David, who was looking for a new guitarist Then Brian Eno saw me in Germany with Frank, and he also called David. Brian was probably more instrumental. So we went out to dinner and that was that. I knew Frank was taking a few months off to put together the movie we made too, but I didn't know it was going to last this long.” Belew has now done a couple of albums with Bowie “and possibly a film". After Japan he’s not sure what Bowie has planned, but Belew does have a solo album coming, which he has already begun. "It’s what I was looking to do before Frank got hold of me: I’ve done about a month’s work on the record so far. It won’t be just guitar music. I like music with a light side to it lyrically, and the intent will be to make you laugh." Is the humour thing a carry-on from working with Zappa? “Yes. some of it is very inspired by Frank, like the idea of taking real serious hard-to-do music and then putting fun into it." How much did Belew know about Bowie before he was asked to join the band?

"In the band I had before Frank Sweetheart, who were real good but who didn't make any records we did "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans" and "Stay". I was pretty familiar with certain periods, although I wasn’t interested in Ziggy. When I started, RCA sent me a bunch of tapes, and I learned them all off before we went into rehearsal for two weeks in Dallas."

What Bowie songs does Belew particularly enjoy playing?

“I’d say my four favourites would be "Heroes”, “Stay”, "Beauty And The Beast", and "Station To Station”. "Stay" and "Station To Station” are guitar-orientated of course, but I enjoyed them as pieces of music the first time I heard them. Heroes is my favourite album. I enjoy the strength of it in the way he sings.” The afternoon before, Bowie had been fairly vague about the forthcoming album. Twenty two tracks had been done, and it should be out around April, he said. Belew is similarily vague, but he does offer some insights. "It’s impossible for me to say what the new material is like. As we left them, they had no lyrics, no singing. Each one was different, but they hadn’t taken on any form. They had me go in and just play. Sometimes I didn’t know the chord sequence, sometimes not even the key. It was a very unique way of recording. I felt it put me at a loss, though maybe it did capture the best I could do.”

Bowie's band (“I think they're absolutely splendid" says Bowie at the press conference) confirm at the concert that they deserve to be one of the very highest-paid units currently working in rock. Belew is clearly more than happy to be a part of it. "I admire them all. It’s a really great band . Entirely positive.” And playing with Carlos Alomar? "We basically let our own styles prevail. He’s very well versed in moving chords around and colouring things different ways. His rhythmguitar work is fantastic."

As to his own style, Belew apologises in advance for a few “very obvious” things he will do at the concert. But in big auditoriums, he says, you’ve got to do things for the guy in the verys back row. He much prefers smaller theatres.

“I want to stretch what I can do as much as possible with what I have. I think I've come pretty close to doing all the things on the records.” And then some.

Belew lives in lllnois, and he’s happy to be away from New York and Los Angeles. He’s not sure how long he will be with Bowie, but he obviously wouldn’t mind being retained even though he orginally only expected to tour Europe and the States. It doesn’t look as though the solo album will relate too strongly to his Bowie role, but anyone who has been picked up by both Bowie and Frank Zappa clearly has to be watched very carefully indeed.