DICK GRISDALE INTERVIEW About His Anglo French Rock Outlet Lazarus Heights

Live Photos and video from Pascal Marchais

Interview With Dick Grisdale Singer- songwriter with LAZARUS HEIGHTS an Anglo French melodic rock band.

Dick Grisdale is the guitarist, front man, singer-songwriter and vocalist of Anglo-French rock band Lazarus Heights.

The band release their first full blown album called ‘Papillon’ on 20^th of September

The new album has already received glowing advance reviews, including GuitarDoor;

“Deep emotion, incredible musical moments, and a must for all lovers of quality rock”
Paris Normandie (Fr)

‘Papillon’ is a deeply wrought album full of Grisdale’s charismatic presence, deep emotion and songcraft. 

He brings his colourful narratives to life with baritone tinged phrasing which evokes icons such as Jim Morrison “of the doors“, Nick Cave and Scott Walker.

Formed in 2005 the have steadily built their profile with gigs in the South West of France.

 In 2020 experienced drummer Jeff Gautier joined and the band immediately went into the studio to record a well received 7 track maxi EP called ‘Strangers.

A Northern French tour followed shortly, and now comes the new ‘Papillon’ album, their best yet.

The full band line-up comprises Dick Grisdale gtr/vox/songs, drummer Jeff Gautier, Paul Mouradian on keyboards and bv’s and bassist Simon Pearson.

Welcome to Guitar Door Dick,

You’ve been based in SW France since 1989 (or so), what were you doing musically back in Brighton before you made the move?

I was just playing in various local bands really, none of which anybody will have ever heard of, in and around Brighton

Did you record anything back in the UK in the 80’s or just demos?

Again just working on demos. There was nothing officially released. We worked in various south coast studios and then we got the first portastudio, the old Teac 144.

Did you bring your original guitars with you, and do you still use the same ones?

I came to Dordogne with three guitars, A early Japanese Squier Strat, a CSL Firebird, and an Ovation Matrix that I bought in Denmark Street in 1979 and the only one I still have, it’s indestructible!!

Given you settled in Dordogne, did it take a long time to hook up with fellow musician who were good enough for what you had in mind? 

Yeah it really did, as in those days the Dordogne was well off the beaten track musically.

Was Lazarus Heights the first band you formed over here, or did you have several different projects? 

No, I didn’t start Lazarus Heights until 2005, but before that there were a lot of cover bands…..

What is the meaning (if any) of Lazarus Heights both the song and band? 

Photo by Pascal Marchais

I generally can’t explain song lyrics. They have a sense for me but unless the meaning is blindingly obvious, I like to let people make up their own minds. It’s intersting as  sometimes they get a very different meanings!! 

The song ‘Lazarus Heights’ just started with me watching Sky news one morning, it was sunny at Lords and raining here etc. After that the song went off in it’s own direction, it was all done very quickly.  

I have often named bands after songs and this time we had four or five possibilities, we were in a bar in Perigueux and just asked everyone there to vote! 

Lazarus won which is strange because few people in France seems to know what it means!

“It’s a sunny day at Lords, we’ve got their rain,

Don’t worry, the tobacco company’s gonna pay

A new man at number ten, so we can all breathe again

For a little while, ’till the bells of London ring.”

When the first line-up of Lazarus Heights gelled, did you already have a gig circuit to fall back on, or is that something you have developed yourself?

The first line up, was very much part of the Someprodukt Association, (a local music association in the Dordogne area) so we were on their circuit and actually recorded something.

Just give us the definite (current) line-up of the band which has just cut the new ‘Papillon’ album, and how did you come together?

Paul Mouradian on keyboards is the veteran of the band, he joined in 2007. Bass player Simon Pearson has been with us since 2016 and Jeff Gautier on drums joined us in 2020. 

Paul, I met through a mutual friend and Simon and Jeff via the Le Bistrot Gourmand venue in Bars. He’s a very experienced powerhouse drummer who has played with people like Calvin Russell, Jean Jacques Goldman and Paul Personne.

Did you all share similar musical influences at the outset?

Yes and no. Our musical influences are varied. For example, the others all like a bit of jazz/fusion/funk which I hate! (lol) But luckily there is a lot of overlap and we find a middle ground. Also I have to mention Paul Kossoff’s, uncomplicated perfection and The Edge for the ambiance and sense of space that he creates.

What’s your favorite guitar and why?

My favorite guitar is my 1997 Fender American Standard Telecaster, simply because it’s the one I’ve had the longest,(26 years} it’s like part of me and it can do everything! 

Who are your main guitar influences and how did they help shape your music? 

When I started playing guitar I wanted to sound like Mick Ronson or Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music. Then I discovered Jimi Hendrix of course, but if I had to name one guitarist it would be Jimmy Page, which may seem strange as I don’t really sound anything like him! 

But with Page, it’s not just the playing, it’s also the construction of songs, the layering of guitar parts! 

Also I have to mention Paul Kossof, uncomplicated perfection and The Edge for the ambiance and sense of space that he creates.

It’s been said that a great guitar is a great guitar, no matter when it was built.

Jimi Hendrix for example didn’t have a problem using new guitars and he still achieved what he wanted to do. 

So what your take on that?

Well I don’t have the money to buy vintage guitars so that’s not an option, of course I’d love to have ’59 Les Paul,  but yeah new ones can be just as good and sometimes even better. 

Ultimately, it’s a tool, it’s what you make with it that matters.

While playing with Lazarus Heights, you often use a very subtle touch and tone, (sometimes it’s almost Mark Knopfler style) tell us how you achieve that?

Oooh, I don’t really know, I just play! The last few years, I’ve preferred playing with my fingers rather than a pick, as there is more nuance in the sound, particularly in the attack, but with Lazarus I’m singing all the time and there is a lot of chord bashing so the plectrum comes out! 

However for certain solos the pick goes in my mouth!

You also deliver some crunchy melodies and at times the guitar tone comes very close to Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour.

Is that a conscious decision on your part?

In the past I never consciously tried to sound like Gilmour, but since people often make the comparison, I do listen a little more closely to what he does now! 

I think it’s more a case of parallel evolution! I’m never going to be a shredder I always try to be melodic, and if I play fast it’s more for effect than technical prowess.

It was also Dave Gilmour who said his tone came from his fingers, and it’s recognizable. You seem to have the same ability in terms of the relationship between guitar, tone and melody? 

Thank you Pete, that’s very nice of you to say so! Yes of course it comes from the fingers, Jeff Beck always sounds like Jeff Beck no matter what he’s playing! 

I think it’s the ultimate goal as a guitarist to develop a sound that is recognizable as you!

Do you use different guitars on different songs?

In the studio, yes. Live, I probably would if I had a tech that would bring me out a perfectly tuned guitar each song, but in reality I do most gigs with one or two guitars. 

One day it might be a Strat, the next a Les Paul, but as we said, the tone’s in ths fingers!

Give us a break down of your own stage gear? 

The guitars I most commonly use are one or two of the following;  American Std Tele, American Special Tele, Fender Jeff Beck Stratocaster, Gibson SG Special, and occasionally a Gibson R7 Les Paul Goldtop,and a Gibson Firebird V.   

Pedals; Volume, Cry Baby Wah, TU3, TC compressor, Keeley Darkside, Lovepedal Kalamazoo, Exotic SL Drive, Exotic EP Boost,TC Nova Repeater, Strymon Cloudburst, MXR Micro Amp. 

There is a space on the board, sometimes a boss SY1 Synth or PS6 Harmonist or GE7 EQ depending on my whim! 

Amps; Marshall JTM30 or when thats not working, Marshall Origin 20 combo or head into a celestion 2×12 and occasionally a Fender Blue Jr tweed.

Frank Zappa once told Steve Vai: “The sound isn’t in the amps, it’s in your head,” which Vai interpreted to mean: “it’s gonna sound the way you’re expecting it to sound.”

So the question is, do you have a particular sound in mind, or does it change according to what you are playing? 

Yes, I have a sound in my head, whether I get it or not is another matter! And sometimes I’ll just get pleasantly surprised! 

And yeah, you’re not going to want the same sound for every song!

Did you ever buy a particular brand of guitar because it was played by one of your heroes?

Oh yeah! all the time! The reason I first bought a Les Paul was because of Jimmy Page and I’ve always had a thing for Firebirds because of Phil Manzanera! But the Telecaster was me, I found that for myself!!

What do you look for in a guitar that would make you want to buy it?

Nowadays, the way it plays, and the way it feels in my hands. Sounds can be manipulated, but feel can’t.

Back in the late 80’s guitar driven music was seriously out of fashion. Did you stick with your own style of music at the time?

Oh yeah, I’ve never tried to be popular. I do what I do and if other people like it, that’s great, if they don’t “tant pis”! (never mind!).

Having said that, I’ve always dabbled with synthesizers, monophonic analogue ones with lots of knobs and sliders!!

Coming back to Lazarus Heights recording debut with ‘Strangers’. It took a long time before you recorded it, so how did it come together?

Before we did that recording , I recorded a lot at home, doing everything myself, so at least my songs were down on tape! 

When Jeff joined we had a much more powerful unit which deserved to be properly recorded! 

We did it during COVID, so we went to the studio with documents that said that what we were doing was essential to the war effort, or something like that! (lol).

Did you have a lot of the material already written or did some of it come about by jamming with the current line-up?

All the songs were already there, we don’t get the chance to jam very much!

The first album was titled ‘Strangers’, was that one of your older songs?

I could actually play you an old tape from about 1983, which has all the chord progressions of ‘Strangers’. 

It evolved over the years until it was right. It was mainly just a question of the lyrics, as I’m a bit picky about them!

‘Strangers’ comprised 7 tracks, it was bigger than an EP, but probably just under an album length. Why was that? 

I really don’t know, It was just the way it was!

You also did a cover of Richard Ashcroft’s first solo single ‘A Song For The Lovers’ which fitted your set list perfectly, both in terms of the strong melody and the way it was apparently inspired by the same sort of narrative as ‘Strangers’.

When did you first come across the song, and what made you feel it fitted your own style?

I just liked the song. I think somebody gave me the Ashcroft CD for my birthday, there was a lot of good stuff on that album. 

When we do a cover, I just take the words and the chords and perhaps other things that are essential to the structure and go from there, I don’t try to do a copy. 

Our version is very similar to the original, we didn’t change it much, It suited our style as it was.

Do you see a guitar solo as being a “song within a song”, or do you approach it sometimes as totally improvised, or a bit of both? 

I think the solo should enhance the song. They pretty much all start out as improvisations, but I try to find lines that maybe echo the vocal melody or just sound good and bit by bit it becomes more structured.

Live it’s sometimes a little more improvised but that is often because I  forget what I should be playing and get carried away or I just f*#k up!!

Do you believe guitarists can get their tone from their fingers?  Or is the combination of guitar, amp, and pedals more important to you?  

I think it’s a combination of all of that, but once again the fingers are the most important because even with a less than perfect sound  you can make good with the right touch.

You have finally recorded your ‘Lazarus Heights’ anthem on the new ‘Papillon’ album. This song has been a set highlight for a number of years, why has it taken so long to record?

With the current line up, it’s only in the last year or so that we’ve played it. So when we recorded ‘Strangers’ it wasn’t in the set yet.

You also have included a track called ‘Waterfall’ which has changed significantly from how it was several years ago. 

Do you spend a lot of times on tracks before you finally put them out in the public domain?

It’s changed because each member of the group adds his own touch to it.

Personaly I don’t take much time before putting out a track, that’s more down to Jean-Paul Trombere, the producer/engineer. 

He spends a  long time twiddling the details, making sure everything is correct!  

I think it’s a shame these days, because we spend a lot of time trying to get a good sound, but a lot of people are going to listen on telephones and computers with shit speakers that don’t do it justice and it all gets compressed to f*#k! 

I remember back in the day we all had big sound systems………Sorry I’m starting to rant!!! Next question!

You’ve got 2 covers on the new album, including a reworking of Alex Harvey version of Jacque Brel’s ‘Next’. What drew you to that?

I’ve always loved Alex Harveys’ version, it’s so theatrical and menacing, I just hope I do it justice, we really didn’t change much!

What else can we look forward to on the new ‘Papillon’ album?

You can expect a couple of nice ballads, an almost bossa nova track, and another chance to hear me singing in French! 

There’s a song called ‘Dry Martini’ which is a sort of abstract collage of Soho when I was younger, and another called ‘The Pleasure’ that was inspired watching Peaky Blinders, although the music bears no resemblance! 

As I’ve said before, I think it’s varied yet coherent!

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
LAZARUS HEIGHTS – #papillon 5/5*https://t.co/4PEw3pxcjT
"A poised, well crafted album with successful ambitions of grandeur." @GetReadyto_ROCK @PBear70 @WRINKLYCLUB @guitardoor @ClassicRockMag @arrowrockradio1 #lazarusheights #hittrackstop100 #feenstrablues pic.twitter.com/odFnE9s9Ls

— Pete Feenstra (@feenstrablues) September 11, 2024

Where was it recorded and when will it be available?

It was recorded by Jean-Paul Trombere at Pro Systèm Château-l’Évêque.

It’s available as a CD now from LE BISTROT GOURMAND 

20, Place de La BARADE

24210 BARS  

lebistrotgourmand24@gmail.com                                                    

0553353152                

Thanks for your time Dick.

Cheers Pete