Hawkwind Musicnauts

Hawkwind Musicnauts

This article is from an unknown publication and dates from 1972 - many thanks to Alfred Koessl for sending it to me

Hawkwind are not, despite popular opinion, a "sci-fi rock" band or a band of roadies gone berserk and neither is their most recent promotion a "Space Opera", but it is a "Space Ritual" based upon the Pythagorean musical scale.

While you are picking the bones out of that little lot which I gleaned in conversation with musicnaut Nik Turner and designer-coordinator Barney Bubbles, who hails from the planet 'Xenon' you might like to consider the introductory words to their performance of their astro-guru-writer Michael Moorcock who I am reliably informed 'looks like Guy Fawkes and rides a bike!':

Space is infinite
It is dark
Space is neutral
It is cold
Space does not threaten
It does not sleep
It does not dream
It does not hope
It does not love
It does not hate
Space cannot be measured
Space is not large and it is not small
It does not love and does not die
It does not offer truth and neither does it lie
Space is remorseless
Space is the absence of time and of matter

Right: Del Dettmar & Simon King

Moorcock is a kind of space age Tolkien and if you have never read the adventures of Dorian Hawkmoon and the Runestaff may I be the first to direct you in search of the nearest paperback stockist of 'Mayflower' books. Together with Bob Calvert, who originally conceived their space trip and appears on the odd gig to read his poetry, they are two of the most important influences outside the group themselves.

"Moorcock has always been an inspiration," Nik told me. "But Bob is more of a direct contributor and the Space Opera, which is really a ritual was his idea. It's almost a religious ceremony - some of our gigs have that kind of atmosphere.

"Most of the material was written by Bob and concerns a fantasy - (Hawkwind are more concerned with space fantasy than fiction) - about seven cosmonauts who are travelling through space in a state of suspended animation. Arthur C. Clarke says that when the body is in a state of suspended animation you don't have dreams but that's bullshit because it's only the body that stops - the mind goes on!

"The 'Space Opera' is an audio visual portrayal of their fantasies and dreams as they travel through space. It's a very flexible situation in which there

is all kinds of scope to bring up subjects which are relative to our society in more realistic terms of ecology.

"The whole trip will be to involve the audience within the journey through space and time through the minds of those astronauts. We're buying a new P.A. and a good mixer - the whole auditorium is the spaceship and we are just the energy unit. If everything comes together as we hope - the lights, the dancers, the music and the words which should be able to create a situation where people can identify with the experience."

Barney Bubbles who despite his somewhat eccentric claim to have originated from the planet Xenon (I seem to remember that Eno of Roxy Music makes the same claim to fame) is a very amiable, long-haired bespectacled young man who drinks draught Guinness. It was he who designed the sleeve of their first (sic) album "In Search Of Space" and is responsible for "Doremi Fasol Latido" - their latest. Barney is a visualiser and paints the scenes!

"I've designed new speakers in chromium boxes which gives us a metallic appearance more in keeping with the group's image," Barney told me, "And we've painted various areas in opposition to the Pythagorean musical scale."

The Pythagorean musical scale for your information is:

DO - MARS - RED
RE - SUN - ORANGE
MI - MERCURY - YELLOW
FA - SATURN - GREEN
SO - JUPITER - BLUE
LA -VENUS - INDIGO
TI - MOON - VIOLET

Right: (L-R) Adrian Shaw,Bob Calvert & Simon King

"All the speakers and boxes in that area will be painted those colours and the musicnauts Del, Dik, Simon, Lemmy and Dave will stand in positions relative to their signs."

Nik explained to me the impressions that he hopes people will take away with them from a typical Hawkwind gig. "In very broad terms we are trying to say things through the terms of science fantasy which people can identify with in their everyday lives," said Nik. "We want to make people aware that there are things within themselves - that everyone is God, everybody is Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and everybody is everything - that there is a oneness about life and the Universe."

Hawkwind have based their reputation and success upon live appearances and it is their performance which you really have to see to believe - if the term "cosmic rockers" were ever to relate to a band, they are it.

"The space thing started with Bob Calvert whom we've known for a long while. Bob was editing a science fiction magazine in the early days and worked in close conjunction with the guy who designed our first album and I was really interested in it as he helped produce the concept for "In Search Of Space". The band actually started off as Hawkwind Zoo but the album was all about our good and bad trips on acid. We've never really advocated acid but it was something we went through.

"In those days the band was always a very loose band - we've always been the kind of people who have advocated freedom of thought and action and as a consequence we occasionally found ourselves without a drummer or a bass player because they didn't feel like turning up. Most of us have been roadies at some point - I had a van which I used to hire out for groups like Clearwater, Skin Alley and High Tide - but basically the reputation came out of the fact that we used to hump our own gear because we couldn't afford anyone to do it for us.

"I don't style myself a musician because when people turn round and criticise I can say it's not bad for a non-musician. I'd rather get that reaction than a put-down. I don't really feel I'm a musician."

The first occasion which brought Hawkwind to the public's attention followed their free concert at the Isle of Wight Festival where they played in a ploughed field a short distance from the superstars for nothing. Freedom is a key word in the group's musical policy and their overall thinking.

"We'll probably never be very rich or successful because we're too easy to rip off." says Nik reflectively. "We lost about Ł8,000 of equipment just a few weeks ago when someone stole our van and we're still paying off debts for the days when we were struggling.

Left: Dave Brock Above: Dik Mik

"I have a lot of faith in the people with the right intentions eventually winning through. I mean there is no apparent reason for our success in terms of hype, promotion or publicity. It simply seems that people have been to see us and liked what they saw and heard."

Amongst the added attractions on any Hawkwind gig are the ample charms of Stacia, their naked lady dancer, but I asked Nik if it worried him that maybe people might come and see the band for ulterior motives.

"I think it's a bit sad if they do. I think Stacia has really nice things going for her and she dances really nicely but I don't give a damn what reason people come to see us as long as they stay and come back."