30 лет вместе с Полом Маккартни в студии и на сцене - Пол "Викс" Викенс Paul "Wix" Wickens

В этом году исполняется 30 лет сотрудничеству Пола Маккартни и Пола Викенса - Викса - музыкант-мульти-инструменталист, композитор, продюсер. В анналах маккартниевской истории не найдется аналогов более интенсивного (постоянно рядом с Полом) и более длительного сотрудничества.
Что для этого нужно:
1) быть абсолютным профи;
2) хорошо понимать какой звук, какой инструмент, какая партия нужны для следующей песни;
3) быть исключительным (идеальным, абсолютным) живым исполнителем;
4) Ладить с Полом и всем его окружением на протяжении 3 десятков лет!!!!

Можно добавить еще с десяток пунктов, но сам факт постоянной музыкальной поддержки с композитором, привыкшим менять окружение как перчатки, достоин книги Гиннеса.

30 сотрудничества с Полом Маккартни!

Вики:
Солидный послужной список и без Маккартни, огромная дискография:



Career
In the early 1980s Wickens was a member of Woodhead Monroe, a band that issued two singles distributed by Stiff, "Mumbo Jumbo" and "Identify."

Wickens began touring with Paul McCartney in 1989. As of then, he has appeared on many of McCartney's albums and DVDs, and has become the musical director for many of McCartney's tours. He continues to tour with McCartney (as his keyboardist, occasional guitarist and backing vocalist), and of the four musicians in McCartney's touring band, he has worked with McCartney the longest by a considerable margin.


Wickens played on albums by Tommy Shaw of the American rock band Styx, the Damned, Tim Finn, Paul Carrack, Nik Kershaw, Jim Diamond, Boy George, and David Gilmour, and was the co-producer of the first Savage Progress album. He also was the keyboardist and programmer for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars – which was where he first met Chris Whitten. Wickens was also instrumental in making the BANDAGED album the success it was, in aid of BBC Children in Need.

He attended Brentwood School, Essex where he became a friend of fellow student, the writer Douglas Adams, and performed at his memorial service in 2001. Wickens composed the music for the sequel radio productions of Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, originally broadcast in 2003–2004.

Wickens recorded a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and has also been known for The The's minor UK hit "This Is the Day", from their album Soul Mining.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wickens

Paul 'Wix' Wickens is a composer and keyboard player who has worked with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon Jovi and many other renowned artists. Currently he is focused on producing music for film and TV. During Paul McCartney's 2003 World Tour Wix used the B4 Organ live on his PowerBook – including during a spectacular concert on Red Square in Moscow.

Interview by Bela Canhoto

http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=wickens_us

You’ve been in and out of the studio for the past few months. Have these been independent projects or collaborations?
I’m just doing a few sessions really, keyboards for a new girl called Anna Kelley, an Irish girl, with a couple of friends of mine. We’ve been recording some accordion and organic stuff for a new album. I’ve done 4 tracks today and I’ll be back in tomorrow and probably do some more.

At the moment I’m doing 2 things. I’m writing music for motion picture and doing compositions for TV and films. I’ve been trying to move more towards films, which I do in my studio at home. I started out as a songwriter really, so now I’m moving more towards collaborating with people and doing some more composing in my free time. I did a thing called Hamilton Mattress for the BBC, which is the follow up to Wallace and Gromit. The company who did Wallace and Gromit is the same company who did Chicken Run. They’re an English company that moved to America, and the people who stayed here did other shows. It’s a half-hour animation. I did a thing for Nickelodeon called Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big, which was a computer animated cartoon, a short. So no blockbusters yet, but you never know.

Throughout the years you’ve written music for artists of all ages and genres. Looking to the future, are you hoping to spend more time scoring and less time producing other talent?
I did a lot of pop music sessions through the eighties, so I never want to say goodbye to that really, although it’s changed quite a lot with the boy band, girl band kind of thing. It’s very dance-oriented, which isn’t so much my bag. But, there are still bands using real instruments like Travis. People like that who want that kind of skill around in terms of arranging and playing instruments. I like writing songs with people and with a lot of the people I have worked with I was doing the arrangements and keyboard related stuff so
I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing that sort of thing.

You’ve played live with Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and many other great artists. How often do you play live and will you be touring again anytime soon?
I don’t really go on tours much anymore. I began working with Paul in 1989 and I did the 2 world tours and varying albums. Until now he hasn’t done a world tour since he stopped in 1994.

I went out about 3 years ago with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. I played on a record with them and they asked if I’d go out and play and I thought, you know, it’s been six years since I’ve done any touring, so I went out with them for a couple of months and it was lovely. I do get called to do gigs quite often. I play keyboards in the house band for the Queen’s Jubilee gig. And I did a big thing with Bob Dylan Joni Mitchell Bon Jovi and a bunch of people from a Japanese temple outside of Osaka. So I get offered some big events, but I tend not to go out on a lot of the tours.

I heard you were using the B4 on the McCartney tour. How long have you been using the B4 and how did it work for you in a live setting?

I’ve been using the B4 since it came out. I love it. I really think it’s great. Compared to lugging a real Hammond around! Although, luckily I don’t have to do the lugging about these days, but the B4 is very controllable with my little setup. I have a Titanium Powerbook dedicated to it that I use exclusively as a host for B4. I tried to do a lot more with virtual instruments to use live, but I couldn’t find a host that was stable enough, and because I really wanted to use the B4 on tour, I ended up giving it it’s own designated laptop. It comes out a MOTU 828 firewire interface and that’s all that laptop does, it’s just the organ. And to its credit, it never really let me down at all.

Да, Викенс молодец. Но надо сказать , что и вся его нынешняя группа "долгожители" у Маккартни.

Человек-оркестр и его оркестр