Dave Formula

Not many people can say they've played keyboard in legendary punk outfit Magazine, beat Pink Floyd in a battle of the bands competition, starred in a film with the Spencer Davis Group and most impressively shared a flat with Martin Hannett, and lived to tell the tale. But then again, not many people are Dave Formula. Soon to be commencing on a 'Magazine' reunion tour and currently working on his debut solo album, 'Satellite Sweetheart' Formula is still playing at the top of his game, and still has time to chat about the things that mean the most to him on this grim Thursday afternoon as I ring him at his studio on the outskirts of Lincolnshire where he is putting the finish touches to his album. After hearing the first few teaser tracks on his My Space page I am eager to see where Dave's eclectic taste in music comes from, something which is so evident in his recent work, with songs concentrating on jazz to dub right through to reggae. "I suppose when you hear the album it becomes clear that it reflects everything I've done over my career and some of the stuff goes quite a way back."

It seems Formula has a lot of career to draw influence from, having formed a part of St Louis Union, a pre mod band in his youth, who were signed to Decca and were the band that beat Pink Floyd in the Melody Maker beat context in the early 60's, a feat which still causes great amusement to Dave, "Its funny looking back now and seeing we beat Pink Floyd, it wasn't even a close call, I think they were 8th or 9th in the rankings!" From Northern Soul to punk with his time in Magazine through to playing with New Romantic band, 'Visage' in the 70's Formula has explored a variety of musical genres and playing styles, and has ensured his talents had a lasting impact on some of the biggest movements in musical history. Formula explains how his early life growing up in Manchester made an impression on his musical taste, "I grew up on the outskirts of Moss Side in Manchester so was always surrounded by a lot of different cultures and I remember there was a music shop that opened which catered exclusively for the black community around the area. It used to blast out Calypso and reggae records from these massive speakers and there'd always be loads of really cool black guys hanging out listening to the music. That made a real impression on me as a young kid growing up in such an eclectic environment."

From the reggae filled streets of Moss Side to his current residency on the leafy outskirts of Lincoln, Formula has been exposed to an envious amount of great music. And you may wonder what kind of mind blowing music could be hiding in the hay bails of the Lincolnshire landscape, well, legendary musician and founder of Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt just so happens to live a few minutes away. Formula and Wyatt immediately struck up a friendship thanks to their love of Jazz, "I go round to Robert's house quite a lot and listen to jazz on an evening", it was during these nights as the summer wind blew over the Lincolnshire fields over the roof of Robert's house as the two of them nestle inside listening to the sounds of jazz, that Formula asked Wyatt to play on his album, "I asked Robert to play on the album and was really pleased when he agreed to do it, we're pretty good friends now because of our shared love for jazz so it was great to have him play on the album as a result of this" Other collaborations include award winning Jazz musician, Dennis Rollins, and Howard Devoto who Formula played with many moons ago as part of 'Magazine'. All the members of Magazine appear on the album, including the late great John Mcgough, Formula explains how this reformation of the band members had some part to do with the reunion of 'Magazine', "The guys from Magazine all came to the studio to put some stuff down on the album separately. This began to encourage a reunion because it got us all talking about working together and opened up the idea of us all playing together again." The Magazine reunion tour is shaping up to be one of the greatest comeback gigs of the year, with an initial four nights divided between London and Manchester which will see the band back together performing their unique punk induced numbers, playing hits such as 'Shot by both sides'.

Many reunion tours have developed into bands reforming and releasing new material, I asked Dave if he saw the same thing happening with Magazine: "I can't really say at this point, I think there's a possibility of the band adding some more dates to the tour if the tickets keep selling the way they are, and who knows what will happen after that but I don't think we'll be heading off on a massive tour all around Europe and the US any time soon." Formula, of course has already accomplished the previous feat during his tender twenties with Magazine on their 6 week tour of America, "That tour was probably my best experience with Magazine, we drove all around the states from Canada to California, all along the East and West coast. And people were still loving the music even if they hadn't heard of us before which was an amazing feeling. I remember it being a real adventure for us."

It's only when you allow yourself to think of the young Magazine patrolling around in their hired car over the landscape of America that you realise the amount of talent that would have been squeezed between those four doors. The members who stick out are ex Buzzcocks lead singer Howard Devoto who, as Formula says' "is such a great talent. He has an ability to write lyrics which are still relevant today" and imagine for a second the late great John Mc Geogh in the back seat, described by Siouxsie Sioux as 'the best guitarist of all time' and Formula refers to him as 'a unique and distinctive musician with a huge amount of talent'. Formula's memories of the band are still far from over as they embark on their reunion tour in February 2009 and it seems that the future is bright in Formula's world. With the release of his new album due in April 2009 supported by a tour Formula is still creating great music and loving every minute, "it's great working on my own stuff, I felt it was something I had to do, to be honest its all really exciting at the moment!"

Interview by Ella Byford

www.myspace.com/daveformula