aaamusic | On 27, Mar 2015

English singer songwriter and painter Annie Haslam is well known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance, whose emphasis was symphonic classical music. With a five octave vocal range, she’s also had a diverse solo singing career and established herself as an artist, creating beautiful paintings on canvases and musical instruments. Interviewer Anthony Weightman chatted to her in Philadelphia ahead of her 2015 European tour.

Anthony Weightman: Annie, I wish you good luck on your forthcoming European tour this year. Would you like to say a few words about this?

Annie Haslam: It’s something we wanted to do for quite a while, since we got the band back together in 2009. It wasn’t easy to find an agent who was interested in taking us on, because we hadn’t tried in England for thirty years, except for one show in 2001 when we were on our way to Japan. The London Astoria, in Shaftesbury Avenue, which has been taken down I believe. It’s exciting. We really didn’t think it was going to happen. When Michael Dunford passed away in 2012 that was a very sad time. I knew that I needed to carry on because we’d just finished the new album that we were just about to release. I couldn’t let it go after all the work that he and I and the band had put into it. So, we decided to carry on. We had a new album to promote. We’d been touring in the U.S.A., mainly on the East Coast because of finance. It’s not cheap putting a band on the road. A lot of bands work at a loss, but they make it up with the merchandise.

Anthony Weightman: You’re familiar with the irony that some very well known figures in the world of music with a rebellious reputation eventually become part of the UK establishment, receiving OBEs and MBEs. When I first became excited about progressive rock in my early years, I think I felt part of some exclusive group that had access to something wonderful that other people didn’t. But, as the years went by, I did feel a bit uneasy, like an establishment figure conforming to a sub culture. Do you think my reaction was fairly typical?

Annie Haslam: I really don’t know. I know people call us a ‘progressive’ band, but we’ve never really felt like we are because we’re more on the classical side, more symphonic than progressive. I suppose you’d call Yes a progressive band, but they’re different from us.  They have their unique sound the way that we do. We kept that until we kind of went astray in the 80s. The songs were OK but they were songs that anyone could sing. We were trying to live with the times which was a huge mistake. We kind of lost our way. If we’d have stayed where we were, we would have gained momentum and we’d have got bigger. But, we just made that huge mistake. Michael and I decided to reunite the band in 2009. I said the only way I’d do it was if John Scher, a very well known promoter over here who owned Capitol Theatre, would manage us again like he did in the 70s. I didn’t think he would be interested, but he was.

Anthony Weightman: A text book explanation of progressive rock goes something like this. From the late 60s and into the 70s progressive rock experimented with rhythm,lyrics, harmony and instrumentation. It tended to drop danceable beats and tried to give the music the same level of musical sophistication as jazz or classical music, aiming for greater credibility and respect. Curiously an artists best known compositions are often their simplest, so do you think audiences necessarily seek ‘sophistication’?

Annie Haslam: Nowadays, for newer audiences, I think people like things that are stronger in melody rather than listening to all kinds of changes. Rhythm changes, tempos and dynamics that they can’t follow. My interpretation of progressive music is that you listen to it and it takes you all over the place. Some of it I don’t like because it’s not melodic enough for me and it’s not sophisticated. I think there are people out there who are discerning, particularly the older progressive people. There are some great new progressive bands out there as well. Magenta, from Wales, for example. They’re fans of Renaissance and on the edge of progressive. I’d like to think that our music was sophisticated. I think I might use that word: “sophisticated symphonic rock.”

Anthony Weightman: With progressive rock, songs were often replaced by musical symphonies that  expanded to 20 or 40 minutes in length and contained lyrics which were surreal, mystical and philosophical. Personally I loved them, but some reviewers thought they was pompous, overblown and pretentious. Do you feel that those sort of criticisms were fair?

Annie Haslam: Well, you know, we were called pompous. The main part of Renaissance lyrics were written by Betty Thatcher. I don’t remember the lyrics ever being criticised. Criticism is possible by the way you are on stage. If you’re on the same vibration and frequency as other people, then I think you get it right. I’ve seen reviews. How can you call Yes pompous? They’re flipping amazing. It’s a silly word. I don’t get it.

Anthony Weightman: That’s the end of my difficult progressive rock questions, you’ll be pleased to know.

Annie Haslam: [laughs]

Anthony Weightman: You’ve said that Italian Leonardo da Vinci is top of your list of painters. He was an extraordinary Renaissance man with a huge list of achievements:  writer, painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, botanist, musician, inventor, mathematician, geologist, anatomist and cartographer. Possibly he was the most diversely talented person who ever lived. To you, is that part of his appeal?

Annie Haslam: Everything. He’s everything to me. Have you seen my paintings?

Anthony Weightman: Yes, I’ve been looking at them.

Annie Haslam: When I started painting, which was completely out of the blue in 2002, a voice in my head said “it’s time to start oil painting now.” It was as clear as day. I went out and bought the stuff and started painting. I’d never done it before, except at art school where I did only one watercolour. I hated it because it was dry before I finished it. Someone wrote to me and told me about synesthesia. People who can smell colour. I can tune into anything and I’ve started painting songs and I can also paint a thought. I paint people’s energy and I tune into pets. When I do a pet portrait I look at the picture. I don’t need to look at it more than once and it comes out like water. It’s like breathing. It’s so easy for me.

I’ve had a couple of situations with Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci. One day I was about to do my third painting. I was sitting in my studio and in front of me came down this spiders thread with a dark red spider. I blinked and it was gone and then my studio filled up with the very strong odour of pipe smoke. I knew at that moment that Vincent van Gogh was with me. I did a painting and he was in it. He was there and he helped me through this painting. I’ve done a brushstroke and it would look like a piece of silk or velvet and at that moment I would know that Leonardo da Vinci was with me. It sounds weird, but that’s where I am. I’m very open to the universe and pulling things in. ‘Symphony of Light’ ended up being twelve minutes long. I said to Michael I wanted to write a song about Leonardo da Vinci and he said “no, it’s too literal.” I sang “Starry Starry Night”, reminding him that ‘Vincent’ was a song by Don LcLean about Vincent van Gogh. I left a big book of Vincent’s paintings in the studio to emanate everywhere. Birds used to fly into his studio when he was painting. Michael was known as the “Renaissance Man” and I was known as the “Renaissance Woman”, so there were a few likenesses there. Vincent also used to buy caged animals and set them free. He was a very intense, special and gifted man. The King of France looked after him in the last two years of his life, which was quite amazing. He treated him like his own father.

Anthony Weightman: There’s a beautiful picture of you with Tom Paxton at the Martin Guitar Museum. I once chatted to him before a UK tour and I remember him as a very eloquent and humorous man who also had some very serious and strongly held views. What are your personal memories of him?

Annie Haslam: I didn’t get to speak to him there, really. I got to share a dressing room with him for two minutes. Judy Collins was there as well. Yes, eloquent is a good word to describe him. He had a very nice energy. He’s historic isn’t he?

Anthony Weightman: I think there aren’t many Grammy Lifetime  Achievement Award winners around in the world of folk and he’s one of them.

Annie Haslam: It was a very memorable day, actually. I was commissioned by Martin to paint a guitar which is in their museum in Nazareth.

Anthony Weightman: I understand that Lindsey Stirling played a ‘Victory’ violin you painted which was in her ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ video. I chatted with her once in London and she hadn’t lost that ‘kid in a candy shop’ personality, a bit like a young child still feasting on new colours and flavours. You’re a fan, I believe?

Annie Haslam: Oh gosh, I think she’s incredible! I think she’s mastered social media. Her ‘Phantom of the Opera’ has 24 million hits. I was in tears. I was thrilled. That violin! She’s got a great spirit. I contacted Mark Wood who was in Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a brilliant classical violinist. He started his own company building violins. I painted one free as a prototype. Since then I’ve done about twelve for different people.

Anthony Weightman: You’ve been quite outspoken in the past about ticket price problems. Sometimes fans who originally supported an artist can  no longer afford to go and see them. In your experience do musicians and music marketing people have very similar or very different opinions on how to deal with problems like this?

Annie Haslam: I still don’t think it’s right. To pay $150 to $200 is so unfair. It’s ridiculous. It’s greedy, really. It’s out of the pockets of people who put the artists there. What they make on merchandise is phenomenal. It’s very expensive to put a band on the road. For us, particularly. There’s eight with the two crew. This is why we stuck to the East Coast of America until now. When you go out to a concert you maybe pay for two tickets, a hotel, gas, dinner and a babysitter. The cost mounts up. Another $100 maybe. It’s a shame. I’s taking advantage of people. Even if I had the money, I wouldn’t do it.

Anthony Weightman: One of your favourite moments was performing at The Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It’s a very magical and distinctive building and that particular orchestra has had seven decades of success worldwide. But, what made that an important moment for you?

Annie Haslam: Oh my gosh! Well, I joined the band in 1971 and within four years we were playing at Carnegie Hall. It all happened quite quickly. Slogging up and down the motorways and meeting up to eat with Queen or Slade or whoever else had dropped in at the same time for egg and chips, bread and butter and a cup of tea. The Royal Albert Hall was amazing. All our families got a box. It was magical. Harry Rabinowitz was the conductor. He was a really nice man. It was so exciting. It was sold out. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played an orchestral version of ‘Prologue’ that was arranged by Lou Clark. What a thing to do! It’s everybody’s dream. Of course, the venue and orchestra are special.

Anthony Weightman: There’s a wonderful photo of your dog Daisy Haslam enjoying playing in snow. Someone once said that “once you’ve had a wonderful dog, a life without one is a life diminished.” When you return home from a tour, is a wagging tail something you look forward to?

Annie Haslam: On gosh yes! I’ve got one here. She’s Angel Haslam. This little dog was a breeding dog caged up for three years. She was in a mess. Not groomed. Not allowed out. It’s hard to get people to adopt them because they’re very needy. To see this little thing when I come back is precious. I love animals so much. I don’t understand how people can be cruel to them.

Anthony Weightman

Renaissance will be touring the UK next month (April). Click here to see dates and for tickets…