Pointer, Mick (Arena) (April 2000)

Entering The Arena With The Immortal Mick Pointer...

AMick Pointer left Marillion many, many moons ago, it certainly didn't look as if he was ever to enter the musical 'arena' ever again. But never say never as some years ago he was introduced to Clive Nolan, not knowing the current prog scene was offering so many interesting new musicians and bands. On the eve of the release of Arena's new studio album Immortal? we talk to Mick, who with Clive Nolan, is the only survivor of the first Arena line-up.

The band was almost called Avalon, but then it became clear there was already a band around with that name, so it was changed to Arena. But to pilot Arena in the year 2000 certainly brought with it a sufficient amount of problems. How difficult was it to once again start all over again? "The main writers remain the same, so in that respect, although we did have many line-up changes, the nucleus of the band remained the same, which is the main aspect. We found most of the other musicians through putting adverts in papers, but they were the first to be replaced. I found that you can only function within the band if you put all of your heart into the band, and I believe we have found the right people now who all live and breathe Arena and would kill for the band. As you know, Clive and I founded Arena so we have been together ever since.

John Mitchell has also been with us for four years now so he knows how the band functions. Newcomer Rob Sowden has now been with the band for a year, having toured with the band in October '99. When John Jowitt left we didn't want to put an advert in the papers anymore. We applied the same technique as we did with Rob, being that we asked someone who knew the band already and who was close to at least one of us. In the case of Rob, he knew John Mitchell for about eight years. As at one point I even lived in the same house with Ian Salmon, so he became our obvious choice when John Jowitt decided to leave. Four years ago, Ian had taken John's place when John couldn't make it for one gig. The fact that Ian is also an impressive talent on acoustic guitar even enables us to sometimes perform outstanding acoustic concerts with three guitars!" Arena unplugged!

With each line-up, the founders of a band tend to say that this new line-up certainly is the very best, that things will now certainly change for the best. "I don't dare to say that anymore because too much has happened over the last couple of years. It's true that each time, when people leave and new people are recruited, it's like you have new blood added and you really think it'll be OK this time around. Unfortunately, as you all know, we sometimes had to sack people. In fact, we decided to sack Paul Wrightson because it was impossible to go on that way. If you're a member of Arena, your focus has to be on Arena ... all the time! When we did the Visitor tour in 1998 it became impossible to work with Paul. Paul thought he was Arena and that without him the band would no longer exist. Wrong! Very wrong! He wanted to be separate from the band and the crew, which is impossible, if you go on tour. Also off stage we need to work together, we need to feel we belong to the big Arena family. Strange thing was, we asked John Jowitt to break the news to Paul, although all of us agreed he had to go. There was a six-month gap between Paul being sacked and John Jowitt leaving. To this very day I still don't know why Jowitt left.OK, he gave us some reasons but that was small talk, because deep down there had to be another reason, a reason which to this day I still don't know! The reason he gave us was that he thought we shouldn't go on tour and should put our teeth into the new album straight away. When John left a lot of other changes happened, such as new distribution, new promotion, etc... Clive, John Mitchell and myself decided we would no longer put adverts in the papers stating we were looking for new members. Instead we looked around us and as Rob had already joined thanks to knowing John Mitchell for years, we decided to ask Ian Salmon, who was so obvious we didn't ask him for years. In fact he should have been with Arena instead of Jowitt in the first place but we simply didn't think at the time."

In the beginning, all of the Arena material was written between Mick Pointer and Clive Nolan. In fact, most, if not all, of the lyrics are penned by Clive. Doesn't the way of writing change now John Mitchell also contributes? "From day one we have always tried to involve everyone in writing songs. I always believe it's better to have five individuals who submit one good song each than only have one guy writing and delivering five poor songs. Where Immortal? is concerned, only the three of us wanted to write. Where lyrics are concerned, I don't have any experience whatsoever. Sometimes I have vague ideas that I hand over to Clive, but mainly writing the lyrics is Clive's work. I did, however, write most of "Sirens" on the Pride album, but again I handed it over to Clive because he studied harmonies and stuff and I didn't. Of course it might even be better if Rob, as a singer and frontman, would deliver some lyrics of his own. But I'm afraid we have already set an Arena format by means of four albums and people expect these kind of lyrics so it would be difficult to change that aspect of the band. Where writing the music is concerned we still haven't changed the concept. What we do is we all get in the same room and start throwing ideas around and from these ideas come whole songs. We always write all of the music first and the lyrics are written afterwards. We feel you should be able to listen to the music without the lyrics first and if you don't get bored then it's OK and time to add lyrics and vocals as well."

Through the Internet, magazines, and fanzines we had been told that the album would be called Moviedrome, then it changed to Chosen and finally it hit the shops as Immortal? and why the question mark? "We always need a working title because that way we get the necessary adrenaline needed to work on an album. We have a certain goal and we can refer to the then unfinished product by means of a title. About a year ago we wrote "Moviedrome" and we used that one as sort of a coathanger, but then we grew tired of that name and decided to call the album Chosen. However, as the recording evolved, we became aware of many bands who either had the word chosen in their name and/or in their song titles and album titles so once again it didn't feel right. Then one day Clive came to me and said, 'what about Immortal', and I thought, 'what a great idea'. Prior to the design by Hugh Syme, we had this idea that the album would be about DNA. I then suggested we should put a question mark after the word Immortal because I wanted to make clear it's about time we start questioning ourselves and what we are doing. We no longer live because it's all computers deciding what we should do next. Computers are taking over in a big way and we should really take one step back to basics and start living again, start socializing again, start talking to real people again. Are we really immortal? We were once again able to use Hugh Syme for the design and he's a fantastic person to work with. Like you suggest, John, chances are he's doing it for us for a fraction of the 'normal' price because he's really into our music. Hugh has always told us it was a nightmare for him when the music world switched from 12" vinyl to 5" CD. However Hugh has once again excelled himself by putting such an interesting design on such a small piece of paper! It really is a design which will appeal to people who have never heard of Arena but who will be intrigued by the design to find out more.

The design itself is sort of a composition that Hugh works on with a computer. The face of the guy in the seat is in fact the face of a real baby, which has been manipulated on computer, and placed on the body of an adult (someone even suggested it was the current state of Fish!). The foetus in the jar on the left-hand corner is the child of the guy in the seat. Repeating the same design as on the inlay of The Visitor but this time as a painting on the wall is also a great idea of Hugh. He also proposed to us to use a different logo. We already left behind the Arena logo on The Visitor as we thought it was the start of something new. Immortal? is yet another direction, so time for a new logo. I don't know if we'll go in the same direction as IQ, like you suggest. But who knows? What we try to explain with the sleeve is the fact that TV has taken over our lives, that we no longer need to socialize but that all we need to know is ready to be found on TV, by means of the Internet, etc... The guy in the seat is still a baby, yet he is the size of an adult, has 'fabricated' a baby of his own, and manages to 'zap' from one piece of information to the other whilst eating. Time to take one step back and start living again, that's what Arena tries to say."

In what respect would you say Immortal? is different than The Visitor? "The Visitor was recorded over a period of six months. It took us no less than three months to do the vocals alone which is ludicrous. Immortal? was recorded in seven weeks. The atmosphere was very tense but it felt fab, as we all knew we were working on something great. It really felt like one big Arena family, all aiming towards the same thing. Arena is about longevity, working hard year after year to finally reach new things. Our way of working is completely different to the one night stands such as Steps, Britney Spears and other Boyzones. In the time we record just one album, a new act has been launched selling millions of albums worldwide and has already vanished from the earth!

I agree that Immortal? is much stronger from a production point of view. We have indeed learned from our mistakes in the past, and we have deliberately added things that will be unique to the studio album. I mean, there's no point in taking this material on the road to be performed note after note, identically to what can be found on the studio album. A studio album is a studio effort, whilst a live gig is a live situation, a one-off. So in the studio, yes, we do use gimmicks, but all of us have been around long enough to know we don't use these things as toys. Thin Ice studio is ideal for having the right basic equipment. We then rent extra material [equipment] especially where mixing is concerned. We hire the best compressors and best effects money can buy, whilst of course Simon Hanhart brings in his box of tricks and his lifelong expertise. Simon did Script For A Jester's Tear and all of the early Marillion stuff, the debut David Bowie album, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc... As he's too expensive for Arena to have around day in and day out; Simon steps in every three days or so. What he mainly does is put all the right levels up, all the right frequencies, so all of us have the right sound and level before we start recording. His main task however is mixing the album, the mix having been done at Thin Ice itself. We then mastered the album at the famous Abbey Road with Chris Blair. Since [we recorded] The Visitor Chris [has] had the entire studio refitted, so what you get is state of the art technology. Chris is known from having worked on Dark Side Of The Moon, so for us he's the best you can get. Period.

Where the entire Arena output is concerned, I'd say I'm very attached to Songs From The Lion's Cage as it was amazing to produce an album by ourselves after so long. Pride, I always felt the artwork was wrong. Also the many line-up changes didn't help. The Visitor was much better both from a musical side and where artwork is concerned: a great leap forward."

Looking at all the various line-ups and changes, has Mick ever wondered why Arena is still together after five years? "I'm very surprised that Arena is still together. So much went wrong. Apart from that getting your CD in a shop is impossible. In fact you have to be crazy to continue doing this, because, believe me, the music business today can no longer be compared to the early Marillion days. Luckily we now have good distribution deals, which hopefully will give us better sales and perspectives. Especially in the States, distribution was lousy. We did license Songs From The Lion's Cage but months later that company went bust. We've had no deals since. However, now we have signed with Inside Out America for the States and we really hope Jim Pitulski will use his know-how to spread the Arena name all over America."

Waking with music, eating, breathing and living music and going to sleep with music. That's about how the life of any Arena member looks like. Is there any chance for fanatic soccer enthusiasm? "Strangely enough, only two of the band are really into soccer. Rob is a true Liverpool supporter, whilst I'm a fanatic Arsenal diehard. I don't like Chelsea or Manchester United. In fact I hope they don't win any championship this year!"

Very few people know that Mick Pointer is now also a keen gardener when he's not behind his drum kit. As the once famous Kim Wilde is now co-presenting a gardening programme on British television, you never know, Mick might suddenly walk all over your screen covered in soil! "When I married two years ago, I moved to another house which has a nice garden. I had never before been keen to wander about in a garden, but here I suddenly got interested in growing bits and pieces. It sort of relaxes me after a hard day's work in the studio. For me Arena is my only fulltime commitment. Clive and John both have their own studios and, as you know, also do plenty of other musical things outside of the band. Ian Salmon is also a very active musician, whilst Rob also sings in the evening although in a completly different style to Arena's."

So Pointer can laze in the sun whilst the others are still in the studio sweating over numerous takes and mixes. Does he listen to other music? "I have to admit that the Arena music takes up a lot of my time, but yes I do listen to a wide variety of music. Some of my favourites include Tool, Tea Party, King's X, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, in other words true ROCK!"

Has a name like Mick Pointer ever been offered endorsement deals and does he follow what's happening on the technical front? "I'm not at all interested in the technical side of things as opposed to Clive. I do read the occasional specialized magazine and check the appropriate website but that's about it. I do have a Roland TD7 practice kit of which I'm very happy. I now have a deal with Sabian, Remo heads, and Gibraltar stands, but it mainly comes down to a certain discount on their product. In my Marillion days, I was endorsed by Paiste cymbals. I think endorsements are not what they used to be, as I don't think they no longer have the same impact like they used to have because simply there are too many bands and way too many talented musicians out there!"

Pointer admits not having heard the latest Marillion album nor the latest output by Fish, as he clearly is no longer interested in their progress. "The only thing I'm interested in is Arena and I would love to see the day where the Arena sales surpass the Marillion sales. Also I'd love to see Arena in Reading in front of many thousands. The strong personalities and the fact that it's a great bunch of guys with superb technical skills and wonderful ear for melody and composition are the most important things of all. That and the strong fan-base who are really amazing. If one thing really is 'immortal' it has to be our fans, who have often been our strength in difficult times. It's thanks to them that Arena still has the adrenaline pumping and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our fans all over the world for their enthusiasm and loyalty. I would also like to tell everyone how much we're looking forward to come over and perform the new material live. Especially our visit to South-America, both in May and September, will be another unforgettable mark in the band's history. Arena will certainly make it a night to remember!"

[Thanks to The Cage, the Arena fan club, for the live shots (as noted) and to Arena. -ed]

Arena l to r: Rob Sowden, Mick Pointer, Ian Salmon, John Mitchell, and Clive Nolan
(courtesy Arena)

Discography:
Songs From The Lion's Cage (1995)
Pride (1996)
The Edits (1996, OOP) Welcome To The Stage (1997)
The Cry (EP, 1997)
The Visitor (1998)
The Visitor - Revisited (1999) (Dutch fan club only release, OOP)
Immortal? (2000)
Unlocking The Cage - 1995-2000 (2001) (Dutch fan club only release, OOP)
Breakfast In Biarritz (2001)
Contagion (2003)
Radiance (2003) (fan club only release)
Pepper's Ghost (2005)
Ten Years On (2006)
The Seventh Degree Of Separation (2011)
Live 2011/12 Tour (2012)
Unquiet Sky (2014)
Contagion Max (incl. Contagious & Contagium EPs) (2014)

Caught In The Act (DVD) (2003)
Smoke And Mirrors (DVD) (2006)
Rapture (DVD) (2013)