Boxset special

To celebrate the release of the "Best Of" boxset, Ticket to Ride is bringing you a few goodies, the most important one being an exclusive interview with the band.

Following, don't forget to have a read at some excerpts from the boxset's booklet written by no-one else than Mr. Steve Queralt and Mr. Dave Newton themselves where they talk about the rare tracks that compile "Firing Blanks".

Another couple of things that we're quite confident you will enjoy are the complete audio recordings of two interviews with Mark and Andy broadcasted the week of the boxset release by British radio stations (the clips are encoded in RealAudio format, so you'll need RealPlayer installed on your system to listen to them).

To make this special feature bigger and better we count on your help, so once the boxset is in the shops, if you feel like sharing with us your comments about it, we'd be happy to receive and publish your review. Just send your contributions to the usual address.

Thanks!

Andy, Steve and Loz were very kind to answer to some questions that the TTR team prepared for them a few weeks before the release of "Ox4_ The Best Of Ride" triple cd set... they talk about the making of the boxset, the past, the present... and the future (?) of Ride. We hope you'll find this reading interesting...

· Who (and when) had first the idea of releasing the boxset?

Loz: Dave about 4 years ago!

Andy: Dave Newton.

Steve: We have always been interested in releasing some sort of outtakes album and since the Reading show seems to be a favourite with the band why not put the whole lot out in one go? Why 6 six years after the split? No idea apart from the fact that it appears that Ride stuff is hard to buy at the moment as obviously Creation will not be pressing any more.

· Having witnessed to the whole process from the outside it looks like it was done with a genuine DIY spirit and a great dedication. Was it a deliberate decision to do everything on your own or was it a necessary thing?

Loz: What has been one of the cool things for me was that it just started happenning like that.
Despite everything that has happenned it was like "I'll do this... ok then I'll do this and so-and-so can try that", etc.
Before we knew it we had our own team and team-spirit again! I think it's because it's important and meant a lot to us and just happenned that way.

Andy: It was a necessary thing! But it's made it cooler.

Steve: I think its important for us to be happy with any project that has Ride name attached to it.
I can't imagine anyone else apart from the band getting it right.

· Do you think it would have been different if you still had Creation backing you? Or was working in complete freedom more enjoyable and satisfactory?

Loz: It definitely would have been different but it was more fun doing it ourselves.

Andy: It was probably more enjoyable than it would have been with Creation's involvement.

Steve: Creation supported us in everything we did so we have always worked in complete freedom. At times their input managed to save us from humiliating ourselves, for instance the original track-listing to GBA springs to mind.
Having said that, Ignition have so far proved to be the perfect replacement. They have worked really hard and been extremely supportive of the way in which we wanted the project to go.

· Was it a though job to "make it happen" or was it fun to work together again under Ride's banner?

Loz: It was great to be working in secret - apart from everyone on the Ticket to Ride mailing list (!) - and also felt like we could contribute more (after the time gap) as indivduals and I suppose, yeah, over it all is this "banner thing" as you say that is the "soul" of the band that's more important and needed to be done some justice!

Andy: It wasn't too bad.

Steve: I think everyone will agree that it was a tough job, largely because of having to work completely independent of each other. It didn't feel like working under the Ride banner until recently when all the sum parts came together.

· And if it was hard, what kind of difficulties did you have to overcome (record label shopping, licensing deals, distribution etc.) ?

Loz: Mainly who's house to have it in and what sort of tea should we drink!?

Steve: In terms of the new label, I think that only Dave can answer that.

· How did you decide what songs to select for the boxset?

Loz: I would set a Sony pet dog loose on the carpet and if it stepped on one of the names then we'd choose it.

Andy: We sat down together at Mark's house and worked out the tracks for the "Best of", that was pretty easy.
Steve put together "Firing Blanks" from a long list of tracks that we worked out the same evening.
The live album follows the Reading set list apart from taking out a couple of tracks that were mutually agreed to be rubbish.

Steve:They pretty much chose themselves.

· Talking specifically about "Firing Blanks", what surprises did you find in the vaults? What kind of feelings did you experience wading through dozen of old tapes to select the tracks to be put on that CD?

Loz: Definitely some surprises there and of course the feelings and sensation of hearing some of them again was (and is) indescribable. I suppose "Toungue Tied", the "Dreams Burn Down" instrumental and hearing the first ever 4-track demo (sans moi) had the biggest effect.
If it wasn't for that bloody Mark Gardener playing me that in his room in Banbury I could have gotten off lightly! I could have been somebody!

Andy: The amount of material was quite surprising, "Going Blank Again" could have been a double album. There were a lot of tracks created quite carefully that were only there to make us laugh, evidence that we never felt that much pressure in the studio.

Steve: At first we had around 30 to 40 pieces to select from a list that we had all agreed upon.
My job was to put together a collection that stood up as an album in its own right which meant some pieces were not included.
I'm sure many fans would love to hear the full 30 minutes of Sleeper Creeper but not many would play it a second time. I was surprised to find so many finished songs that for some reason or other were dropped.
Some of the studio chat was really funny and instantly transported me back to studio life.
However some of the songs that I remember being really good now sound terrible. Has anyone ever heard "Ocean Smiles"?

· Now that the boxset is finally in the shops, how do you feel about it?

Loz: Pleased and proud (but hold the hubris) also slightly relieved.

Andy: I can't wait to go into a record store and see it sitting there, the little rascal.

Steve: I feel immensely proud to have a new release in the shops especially as James is now old enough to understand what Daddy used to do.
Former releases were always followed by a lot of expectation in terms of success. I'm just excited to have Ride in the racks once again.

· Do you feel the same kind of excitement that accompanied any other Ride release or do you look at it like something different?

Loz: No, this is definitely different because it's nothing "new" and there is no band and therefore no pressure to do anything (or stand and defend it or whatever) it's like "I don't have to go to war!"

· Do you look at this release as Ride's swansong, the last gift that you're donating to your fans or do you feel like it could be a fresh start for a new incarnation of Ride?

Andy: It's a swansong. It's not a gift though, it costs about twenty quid.

Steve: It does feel like a final offering although judging from some of the answers that Andy and Loz have published on the Ride site, who knows?
There is a lot of stuff we could release - more live stuff or really terrible trainspotty stuff but I don't know what it would achieve. There are plenty of bootlegs around that cater for the completist.

· The idea of a rare tracks CD was already talked about before the end of Ride. At the same time, you were considering the release of a video with live footage and special backstage moments. Is that idea completely forgotten? Can we expect a DVD sometimes soon?

Andy: We didn't finish the film. I don't think there's enough interest in the band for a DVD to be worth releasing.

Steve: I can't see it materialising but there is some wonderful footage of "Daytripper" and a Swedish festival from the same era.
I recall having BIG indie hair then so I'm not too keen on too much visual exposure.

· The boxset is only available in the UK. Do you think it'll be available at least in the EU soon? And, if it sales well in the UK, are there any chances of licensing it for worldwide distribution?

Andy: It depends how well it does, I suppose.

· Now that you look back on Ride from a distance: what was your favourite album/song and why?

Loz: Album: "Going Blank Again". The tightest we got as a band with a definitely progressive sound
Song: now that's a hard one as asking a parent what's your favourite child but I have the fondest memories of playing "Nowhere" live and opening up with "Leave Them All Behind" amongst others.

Andy: The best album is "Nowhere" and the best song is "Dreams Burn Down".

Steve: "Going Blank Again" is my favourite because we weren't following any pre conceived plan or plot. The only goal we set ourselves was to sound like we could move on from "Nowhere" which I think we achieved.
I also felt that we were free to explore wider contemporary influences and draw on artists like "Massive Attack" and "The The".

· What was the best gig you ever played - why?

Loz: I think it would be Reading because of supporting Public Enemy (idols for me), playing at that point in the day (sun going down on the horizon), I think the band were really tight musically (having just come back from "the rest of the world", essentially) and also just the buzz of playing to that many people at that point in our career.

Steve: Reading Festival. The sheer occasion. Although it was far from a flawless performance the whole event / atmosphere made it a day I will never forget.

· Your best/worst memories?

Loz: Best: see above.
Worst: any recording is always a 'mare whatever band you're in (unless it's Level 42 and you do it by ISDN) and I can think of many...

Andy: My worst memory is our last show, at Benicassim festival in Spain, in Summer 95. It was awful.

Steve: The best was the Hulsfred festival in Sweden. A whole weekend of adventure, meeting beautiful people in a beautiful environment. Terrible gig though.
The worst was our final meeting when we decided to split. Recording Tarantula was a particularly rough period too.

· What would you do differently if you could do it again? Do you have any regrets?

Loz: NO definitely not.

Andy: If we met now and wanted to form a band, it would be a very different band, of course. But I don't have any regrets, even though I have made some bad mistakes, I've learned from them.

Steve: I regret not nicking Mark and Andy's Neil Young and Beach Boys collection. Great songs but I don't think they offered a band from Oxford much. I think we could have done far more interesting stuff had we looked forward instead of back.

· Does Andy wish Ride had had an "Oasis moment" now that he's experienced that level of success firsthand?

Andy: Of course I wish that Ride had been massive, but it wasn't meant to be, and that's OK.

· Seeing how low is the state of music these days, with little room for artists and bands to express their talents, and also seeing right now teenagers seem to be more interested in things like surfing the internet, videogames and similar computer activities rather than, say, playing or listening to music, do you think that if you were 16/18 old kids today, would you start a band as you did or would you channel your "artistic urge" into some other means (acting, painting, writing, photographing, etc.)?

Andy: No, I'd be trying to start a band.

Steve: I would hate to be 16 today. I'm pretty sure I would be chained to a computer churning out weird ambient nonsense.

· Do you think that if the "Ride e.p." was going to be released tomorrow it could start a chain reaction similar to the one you experienced then or maybe too many things have changed?

Loz: It would be totally different and probably we'd have to struggle a lot more and wouldn't get whisked through a warm kitchen in terms of being "ready". I really don't know, though - who am I to say?

Andy: We'd be a different band in the current musical climate, but I get your point.
I imagine our records would have much the same effect.
Four people with great taste in music and record sleeves, who can play well together: I think we'd go far.

Steve: If we had the same reaction to a debut release today I don't think we would last for 5 albums. Too big too quick.

· What do you think about the current state of music and who do you listen to now?

Andy: Things are OK right now. Even though everyone is complaining about the state of affairs, I'm quite excited.
Technology has never been more musician-friendly. You can make great sounding records at home, you can manufacture them cheaply, or put them on the net.
It's all a million miles from when Ride started out, the power is now in the hands of the music makers.

Steve: I'm perfectly happy with the current state of music and will be so long as "Squarepusher" and "Boards of Canada" continue release material.

· How did you feel when Creation closed? Relieved or sorry? Maybe both?

Andy: I was not reliant on Creation by that time, so it wasn't such a huge thing for me. Anyway Creation hasn't really finished, it's just got rid of all the big bands and changed it's name to Poptones.

Steve: About as bothered as Creation were when we split.

· What have you been doing lately (not strictly musically speaking)?

Loz: Mostly I have been "expanding my horizons".

Andy: Oasis takes up 90% of my time. We've just finished the last bits of touring for the last album. Recently we've been to South America, North America, Paris and the Far East. We're now in the studio working on the next album.
In between times I spend as much time as possible at home in Stockholm with Idha and Leia.

· During these few last years, did you keep an eye on each other's career?

Loz: Pah!

Andy: Well, I've got the Animalhouse album, Mark's solo single, and the album Loz played on by the Zimmermen (a Bob Dylan tribute band from Oxford). I don't know what Steve's been doing musically.

Steve: Hmmmmm. Maybe half an eye but no ears.
I felt pretty bitter about the way we split and the fact that I seemed to loose 4 fairly important people who I'd grown up with.

· Did your Ride fame influence your solo activities/projects? Did it open doors, helped you in some way or was it something you wish you could have left behind?

Loz: It giveth and it taketh away... It's up to you as individuals to transcend all that (and the past) and hopefully find your own way into the future.
I'm about to find out if it has (if any) stigma attatched to it?

Andy: After Ride split up, I was re-signed to Creation under the terms of the original Ride contract, so it's always been there as a reminder. When I was doing the initial rounds of press for Hurricane#1, I was asked about Ride all the time.
I also think that having been in Ride opened doors for me with Oasis.

· What happens once the boxset is out? Do you have individual projects or do you have any Ride plan for the short or medium term? A reunion gig? Another album (we say hopefully)?

Loz: I have a new pet project that I'm working on with a friend called "Days of Hip Hop" which will hopefully handle promotions, events, dj-ing and anything and everything I do musically.

Andy: Oasis have the tenth anniversary tour coming up in October. We should have finished our new album by then, which will be out next year.
There is no plan for any more Ride activity in the short or long term, although we have all agreed to keep an open mind to getting together some time in the future.

Steve: Absolutely no plans at the moment. Every one has my number though. I'm easily persuaded.

· If you'll ever reform (even if in a semi-permanent way - keeping in mind your actual commitments), what would you like to achieve?

Loz: Some shit-hot soul-moving kick-ass dope stuff bro'!

· Do you miss playing live together?

Loz: At the moment I miss playing live full stop!

Steve: There are periods when I really miss playing live. The Bass is not a solo instrument unless you are a Jazzer or plain insane.

· You've created your own web site. What will you make of it? Will it be updated even after the boxset has completed its life-cycle?

Andy: Good question...

· What do you think about the Internet? Could it have changed something for you if it had been a mass phenomenon around the "Going Blank Again" era?

Andy: I don't know what it would have changed for us as a band, but it certainly would have been cool for the fans to have.

Steve: Yes in terms of the mailing list and exposure. I use the internet frequently to download music that I have read about.

· What do you think of Napster and similar applications? Would you put the blame on it for the current records industry state?

Andy: I'm so chilled about the Napster thing. It's like making compilation tapes off the radio or something. Anything that increases the amount people listen to music has to be OK with me.

Steve: Absolutely not.
Just about anything decent that I obtained from Napster I have bought. I still need to own stuff that I like. There is nothing that can beat actually holding a cd or record that you love. I love that feeling of wanting to buy something again because it is so good.

· Do you check out the "electronic" Ticket To Ride every now and then? Is there anything you would like to comment about it?

Andy: I ckecked it out with the new all-black look and it's cool. I have you bookmarked!

Steve: I think the content is fantastic but was a little disappointed with the visuals. However I visited today (19.8.2001) and was really excited by the new "flash" intro and music. I remember looking forward to every issue of Ticket to Ride coming out and am so glad you are still involved.

· Here at Ticket To Ride we're constantly in touch with Ride fans of every age and from every country and we must say that Ride have a wonderful, dedicated fan-base. Would you like to tell something to them?

Loz: Hello. And thank you.

Andy: I hope you like the boxset and all the re-released albums.
This whole set of CDs was made possible by the continued demand for Ride CDs in the shops, so, you know, here's to you.

Steve: Reading through the message board is a great way to pick you up at the end of a tough day.
I am amazed that we touched people so deeply and still do. Unlike the myth of fan letters never reaching the band and just being administered by a secretary, just be aware that I and I'm sure the others read almost all of the messages.

Very special thanks to Andy Bell, Loz Colbert, Steve Queralt and Dave Newton who made this possible.
The Ticket to Ride staff.

"Firing Blanks" track-by-track by Steve & Dave

"Something's Burning" never made it past the demo stage and we can't fathom out why - it seems like it would have made a perfect Carnival Of Light single. There was just too many songs knocking around at that time and maybe it got squeezed out. Thankfully it had been fully demo-ed a couple of times at Courtyard Studios in Oxfordshire prior to the Carnival Of Light sessions and this version here is the second of those demo versions from July '93.

Next up is the earliest recording on this collection. Strictly not a Ride recording as it is a 4-track demo that Steve and Andy put together in Steve's bedroom back in the Summer of '88 just after Mark and Andy had finished their A Levels at Cheney School. Andy and Steve were both in a local reggae band at the time called Big Spiderback (yes, really - although Andy claims that he only joined the band so that he could steal Steve) and they decided to use a drum machine, bass and guitar to record some demos of some songs that Andy had been working on. And so here is the earliest recorded version of "Chelsea Girl". Sounding not unlike Creation signings at the time, Felt, the melody of the final version is nonetheless distinct in this very early take. This was some four months before Andy and Mark went off to Banbury Art College where they met Loz, in whose Mum's garage the first Ride practice took piace in October '88.

Included in this compilation are three tracks recorded for Going Blank Again that were chopped off the final album tracklisting at the last minute under pressure from our American Head Of A&R, Joe McEwan. [...] However included here are those three tracks - "Blue", "Everybody Knows" and "Tongue Tied". You may be wondering whether it's Andy or Mark singing on the first two of these. Well it's neither as they both feature a lead vocal by Loz. The tracks have stood the test of time well and it's frustrating that they both suffered the chop back in '92.

Having played "Dreams Burn Down" for over a year and it becoming a pivotal part of the live set, it just seemed a little too straightforward to go into the studio and lay it down as is. Hence this 8-minute "Dreams Burn Down Dub". This is a more mellow version than its tried-and-trusted counterpart yet it still manages to retain the same intensity. Anyway, during one of their occasional studio visits McGee and Walters (from EMI publishing ed.) were presented with this dub backing track version as the definitive version for inclusion on Nowhere and for the preceding Fall EP release. Somewhat taken aback with this departure from the rest of the recording session they finally persuaded us to record the song straight and hence this version never had a vocal added to it.

Another song that might have an air of familiarity about it is the next track, "She's So Fine". This is the first demo of the song that was finally released as 'Sunshine / Nowhere To Run' some three years later on Tarantula. Here it's a light summery pop thing that wouldn't have been out of piace on the first Stone Roses album. Played live a number of times during the summer of '93, this version was recorded as part of the same Carnival Of Light demo sessions that produced "Something's Burning". Following this demo, the song was to undergo a complete lyrical overhaul and a musical re-working before being recorded as "Sunshine Looped" with John Leckie. The track was recorded, sampled, looped and stitched back together but was dropped from the sessions before the vocals were added.

There have been quite a few songs that Ride have covered over the years. [...] Plenty to choose from but all have been available in some shape or form at some point in the past. And so the one cover that makes it onto Firing Blanks is a Velvet Underground song that was recorded in '94 at Abbey Road during the mixing of Carnival Of Light. Originally intended as a B-side to 'How Does It Feel To Feel?', "New Age" was ditched in favour of an aboriginal dub track that Steve and Loz put together ('Walkabout'). But thankfully we've had the chance to revisit the vault and this is one of the gems that we've managed to save.

Jumping back in time once more, "I'm Fine Thanks" was one of the band's earliest songs and featured on some of the earliest 4-track demos, but under its originai title of 'Why?. This version was recorded during the first-ever proper studio session in April '89 at Union Studios in Oxford. This is the session that produced the version of 'Drive Blind' that was eventually released as part of the Ride EP in January '90. A staple of the band's live set in the first year, the song just didn't have the staying power as it was overtaken by songs such as 'Close My Eyes' and 'Alli Can See'. If the Ride EP was John, Paul, George and Ringo then 'I'm Fine Thanks' was definitely the Pete Best.

Moving into messing-around territory now, the Butthole Surfers inspired "Xmas Song" obviously has no relevance to the festive period. Put together during the early Going Blank Again sessions at Black Barn Studios in '91, 'Xmas Song' was influenced heavily by the fact that the band were recording next to a farm for the first time.

During the same sessions, Steve and Loz were messing around with a dub track that they had put together. Under the working title of "King Bullshit", the original plan was to include all 8 minutes of it on Going Blank Again. But after a brief moment of clarity we decided to just use a section of it as part of the intro to the closing track, "OX4" - and thereafter the edit was known as "Prince Bullshit". [..] Here another part of the full version is included - the funky bit this time.

A similar fate to that which "I'm fine, thanks" suffered befell "Smile". Recorded on 4-track as part of a demo session for a new batch of songs in early '89, "Smile" was a song that had to be demo-ed another two times before it was finally dropped. A regular part of the live set in '89, the version here is reminiscent of Psychocandy-era Jesus And Mary Chain and has the distinction of featuring the sound of the guitar amp blowing up at the end of the track (the first of many).

Leaping ahead some 6 years we get to one of the off-cuts from "Tarantula". "Welcome To Paradise" was recorded and mixed for the album but not used in the final tracklisting. At the time there were quite a few tracks written and recorded for the album sessions that never made it for the final choice and this is the best of the bunch. Featuring a particularly ROCK vocal and melody borrowed from the "White Horse's" '70 TV show, the song didn't seem to fit into the rest of the album's material. Hence it's exclusion.

Nearing the end of this little Ride pot-pourri is another already-familiar song. This version of "In A Different Place (Differently)" was recorded when the song was still in its infancy. One of the earliest songs demo-ed for Nowhere, this version has a fragile beauty that didn't quite make it onto the Nowhere recording. Recorded somewhere in London at the end of '89 it features some suitably over-the-top guitaring and an achingly delicate vocal.

And to play you out a track that until now had never got beyond its working title of "New Order". Not tricky to see where the name came from, as the track was homage to the Mancunians' Technique album. Re-titled here as "BarneyS" just to make it a little less obvious, this track was recorded at Black Barn during the Going Blank Again sessions. AlI parts were sampled and re-programmed and the track was complete apart from lyrics and vocals - would it be too cruel to suggest that we were humouring Steve on this one?

Steve Queralt and Dave Newton

Thanks to Dave Newton who allowed us to use these snippets of text taken from the boxset's booklet.