#196 Phil Gould- Drummer for Level 42, The Bongo Saloon and More!
Phil Gould was born in Hong Kong, and studied percussion at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he met keyboardist Mike Lindup. Gould's first foray into the charts came with pop group M, drumming on their single "Pop Muzik", a number one single in the United States, and No. 2 hit in the UK. Gould also appeared on Top of the Pops with Roxy Music for their performance of "More Than This" and also in their promo video for this song.[
Together with Mike Lindup, Mark King and Gould's guitarist brother Boon, he formed Level 42 and had several major hits, writing many of the lyrics and co-writing many songs. Their biggest selling albums were World Machine and Running in the Family. In 1987, the Gould brothers left Level 42, Phil citing nervous exhaustion and being unhappy with their new pop sound. Gould became a respected session musician.
Gould briefly returned as a studio drummer and principal lyricist on 1994's Forever Now album. However, dismayed by the record company's incompetence, he did not go on the road with the band for their Forever Now tour, and was quickly replaced as a live drummer by Gavin Harrison.
In 2007, Gould contributed to the debut album Escapizm by Italian singer Diana Winter, co-writing and producing the tracks "Rain" and "Dream Alone", and playing drums. In 2009, Gould released his first solo album Watertight on the Bongo Saloon label. The album features contributions from Mike Lindup, Wally Badarou and Berenice Scott. In January 2009, Gould finally released the album Terraforming under the group name of Gould, Brown and Black. The album was initially made available via iTunes with a view to a CD release later in the year. In November 2013, Gould was busy with The-Bongo-Saloon project.
Gig Alerts
The SXSW (South by Southwest) festival was previously reported that it would be online and virtual this year. But, SXSW has revealed that it’s “working with the City of Austin” to deliver a physical event in 2021, in addition to planning an online iteration for March of the same year. -Article
Educational Spotlight
PASIC (Percussive Arts Society International Convention) has released their complete schedule for the weekend of Friday November 13th and Saturday November 14th. They also announced an Individuals Competition.
Shout-out to Gabe Globus-Hoenich and his ongoing transcriptions. The newest one is the conga solo from “Camino del Oso”, with Alain Perez Quintet.
Iconic Recording
This week’s iconic recording is “La Isla Bonita” which was recorded by Madonna. It features the great Paulinho Da Costa on percussion who is talked about in the interview with Phil.
Music News
Daniel Ek unveiled the sizable commitment in a recent sitdown hosted by Finnish startup and tech conference Slush. The Spotify cofounder and CEO – whose net worth totals $3.7 billion (€3.18 billion), according to Forbes – also specified that he would focus his investments on emerging companies in the medicine, tech, and energy fields. -Article
Bandcamp started ‘Bandcamp Fridays’ back in March to support artists impacted by the pandemic, and in the past few months the music community has come together in a huge way: in just four days, fans put more than $20 million directly into the pockets of artists and labels. Because the pandemic is far from over, they’ll continue to hold Bandcamp Fridays on the first Friday of every month until the end of the year. -Article
According to a recent survey pertaining to the future of concerts and festivals, a majority of live music execs believe that gigs will return sometime in 2021. However, an impressive 60.5 percent of survey participants are willing to “personally embark on a tour or work a show if it were to occur now.” 17.59 percent said that they’d do so without health precautions in place, and the other 42.91 percent of individuals signaled that they’d do so “only with health guidelines” to protect them and audience members. -Article
StubHub CEO Eric Baker is closing on his third Beverly Hills mansion – this one a $40MM 1.86-acre behemoth. Eric Baker co-founded StubHub in 2000. It’s become the world’s largest ticket marketplace, but Baker was kicked out in 2004. Baker then moved to London, where he founded Viagogo – a controversial ticket exchange in Europe. Last year, Viagogo acquired StubHub from eBay for $4 billion in a deal that Forbes called “the worst deal ever.” -Article
The Nashville music industry recently joined forces with local charities to distribute food boxes to their out-of-work colleagues. Volunteers packed enough food boxes to provide relief to over 1,000 Nashville families employed in the music industry. -Article
The song leading into the interview is called “Colour Of My Pain” from the album ‘Watertight” by Phil.
Phil Gould Interivew
The interview starts with Phil talking about how Level 42 got signed to a 5-album deal in the category of Brit-Funk.
The Beatles started as The Quarrymen and were able to play lots of gigs in different venues to perfect their skills.
Damon brings up NIVA (The National Independent Venue Association). NIVA's mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States. The campaign they are supporting is called #SaveOurStages.
Different countries around the globe are supporting the arts in different ways. Some of the European countries are leading the charge. Some countries also have a Minister of the Arts or Minister of Culture to preserve the arts and culture of a society. One of the places teetering on the edge of closing is the legendary Ronnie Scott’s.
Phil talks about the Beatles honing their skills in Hamburg. The original lineup of the Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their reputation, and led to their first recording, which brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein.
The Beatles' booking agent, Allan Williams, decided to send the group to Hamburg when another group he managed, Derry and the Seniors, proved successful there. Having no permanent drummer at the time, they recruited Best a few days before their departure. After breaking their contract by playing at another club, Harrison was deported for being underaged, and McCartney and Best were arrested and deported for attempted arson.
Phil talks about some of the great musicians to transcend hardship to become great. One of those people is Louis Armstrong.
Damon mentions the Miles Davis autobiography and the white house meeting with Nancy Regan was in Chapter 20.
Phil talks about going to Hamburg Germany to find where the Beatles got their start. Damon talks about trying to find the first incarnation of the hamburger at Krameramtsstuben. Phil talks about the beginning of the sandwich.
Some of the best burger joints in L.A. (as Phil brings up) can be found on THIS LIST. Phil talks about Japan and his love of Sushi. Damon brings up the pufferfish.
Level 42 was a name that was based off of some quotes in the book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Phil talks about riding a hovercraft from the island to the mainland.
Leroy Williams was the percussionist that spent some time performing with Level 42. Paulinho da Costa was also on a couple of albums playing percussion too.
Damon and Phil talk about the contrast of pocket vs. syncopated parts and why syncopations work when someone is playing a steady groove. He names examples like Steve Jordan and Matt Chamberlain.
Three recordings that inspired Phil were “Donny Hathaway: Live” (Freddie White-Drums, Earl DeRouen-Percussion), “Hall and Oates: Abandoned Luncheonette” (Bernard Purdie-Drums, Ralph Macdonald-Percussion), and “George Benson: This Masquerade” (Harvey Mason-Drums, Ralph Macdonald-Percussion).
Phil drops some other names that were inspirations like Keith Carlock, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Steve Gadd and more!
Shout-out to the 606 Club in Chelsea, England and the Baked Potato in Los Angeles.
Phil talks about hearing recordings his Uncle made of instruments in Africa like the Kora as well as a Johnny Mercer recording called “Accentuate the Positive”.
Damon and Phil talk a bit about the history of jazz (specifically in New Orleans) with the mix of African rhythms, and military instruments. Phil also talks about Jimi Hendrix and his relationship to the blues.
Shout-out to Jeremy Stacey and his crave for the history behind the music. Also, shout-out to Paul McCartney and his search for the B7 chord.
Songs like “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Deodato and “Spectrum” by Billy Cobham blew him away when he was a kid.
While cooking, Phil will listen to the YouTube series called “Raised on Radio”.
Damon brings up The Bongo Saloon and Phil talks about some of the members involved.
The program that almost removes latency completely is called JackTrip.
Stamford, CT (where Damon is currently) looks like both of the photos below. Damon’s neighborhood is the photo on the right.
Phil uses Sakae Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks, and Remo Drumheads. Shout-out to Chale Abbey Studios.
