by D J Collacott
You wouldn't necessarily link standup comedy to a man who has famously played bass for legendary bands and artists ranging from Pink Floyd, Bryan Ferry, The Smiths & David Bowie (to name just a few). Yet fresh from releasing his biography 'My Bass and Other Animals' the legend that is Guy Pratt has brought his vast experience of the music industry to the comedy stage. Wielding his unlimited array of comedy rock n roll anicdotes nearly as effectively as he does his bass guitar! Guy's shows have received rave reviews for there originality and unique insight into the hedonistic world of music, not too mention the incredible journey that brought him there.
Just before embarking on another stint at the Edinburgh Festival, we caught up with the legend himself.
Liberation Frequency: What made you decide to take you experiences of the music industry on tour and make the leap from music to comedy?
Guy Pratt: I had a simple choice. Either be that bloke in the pub forever boring people with his old stories, or try and make something of them.
LF: How easy was it to write the book 'My Bass and Other Animals', were there any stories or facts that people didn't want published?
Guy Pratt: Really difficult, as I'm not a natural writer. I had to run away to France as when I was home there was no website too dull to distract me.
Anyone I care about I showed what I'd written and gave them the option to censor or edit. Only Alex James asked me to take something out. I did and he repaid my kindness by leaving me out of his book.
LF: What is the funniest experience you have ever had in the music business?
Guy Pratt: Unanswerable here, there's just too many competing for the top spot. Why do you think I wrote a book?
LF: Who is the one person you have worked with who is nothing like how they are portrayed in the press and media?
Guy Pratt: Very few people are. Usually they're actually a lot more dull than you think, and have some really boring hobby.
LF: What is the most defining or most memorable moment in your career so far?
Guy Pratt: Being asked to play for Pink Floyd.
LF: Which artist or artists have you enjoyed working most with?
Guy Pratt: David Gilmour, Roxy Music.
LF: Which one band or person did you least enjoy working with?
Guy Pratt: A French singer, forget her name though..
LF: What or who first made you get into music?
Guy Pratt: Pete Townshend. Hearing the sheer intent of The Who.
LF: Having accomplished so much, are there any opportunities you had to turn down or you missed out on that you wish you hadn't?
Guy Pratt: Funny, I see myself as an underacheiver.
I was asked to play on Sean Ryder's solo album and turned it down because I thought it would be fun but not go anywhere, so was gutted when it came out as the mind bogglingly brilliant Black Grape album 'It's great when you're straight..Yeah'
LF: Who is the funniest musician or artist you have worked with?
Guy Pratt: People who aren't funny don't make good musicians in my experience. Mr. Gilmour has quite a wit on him as do Leo Abrahams and Johnny Marr.
LF: How do you feel about todays music industry and charts?
Guy Pratt: Really don't care. It's a knackered art form that seems to be stuck in a Groundhog day circa 1979.
LF: What advice would you give to someone thinking of trying to make it as a band or artist?
Guy Pratt: If I was 18 now the last thing I'd want to do is get into music. I think any genuinely alternative youngster nowadays would be into Classical music, Quantum physics or Poetry, anything but pop music.
LF: Have drugs/alcohol or lack of sleep ever influenced your music makin and those who you have worked with?
Guy Pratt: I'm trying to think of times they haven't....Well, until a few years ago anyway..
LF: What made you get into composing themes and music for TV, and how is this different from other music you have written?
Guy Pratt: I just wanted a job where I could work from home that wasn't subject to the vagaries of fashion.
I love it, because you just have to come up with musical ideas, without any of the tedium or actual hard work of having to finish a song.
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LF: Has the audience at any music gig turned against you and the band you were playing with, what is the most bizarre thing to have gone wrong whilst on tour?
Guy Pratt: Not really. At a gig in Sweden years ago with Sylvain Sylvain someone shouted out during my bass solo "Stop it, you're terrible!"
At a Floyd gig all the power packed up, so Tim Renwick and I went to the front of the stage and tried to get the crowd to sing 'Michael row the boat ashore'
LF: What is your favourite country/city you have visited on tour?
Guy Pratt: Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Prague Tokyo, New York, Paris, Vancouver.
LF: Name one fact about you that no-one else knows?
Guy Pratt: I'm composed entirely of Lichen.
LF: Name one fact you have heard about yourself that isn't true?
Guy Pratt: That I was Robbie Williams co-writer.
LF: If you were forced onto a reality TV show but could choose five other people to go on it with you, who would you choose?
Guy Pratt: Johnny Marr, Phil Manzanera Damien Hirst, Polly Samson, Bill Clinton.
LF: Your father was an actor, have you ever considered going into acting?
Guy Pratt: I'm convinced I made a terrible mistake and should have done just that. If
it wasn't for the fact I've done so well at it I'd be convinced I've been in the wrong job for the last 28 years.
LF: If you did act then what soap opera or TV show would you most like to star in?
Guy Pratt: Any decent sitcom.
LF: Did you rate the remake of Randall & Hopkirk deceased with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer?
Guy Pratt: It was ok. They were very respectful to my family, but Vic & Bob were cast the wrong way round.
LF: What did you win the Grammy for and also what did you received your 2 Ivor Novello Awards nominations for?
Guy Pratt:The Grammy was for 'Marooned' by Pink Floyd. The Ivors were for 'Ain't no doubt' by Jimmy Nail and 'Why won't you shag
me' from the TV series 'The young person's guide to being a rock star.'
LF: What is your one guilty pleasure (music or otherwise)?
Guy Pratt: I take the odd trip to Slovakia, you know, like in the Hostel movies..
LF: What is your most rational pet hate?
Guy Pratt: Rudeness
LF: What is your most irrational pet hate?
Guy Pratt: Where to begin! People saying "PIN number"...The N stands for number for
God's sake!!!
LF: What upcoming band or artist do you tip to be huge?
Guy Pratt: Tom Baxter
LF: What are you doing now?
Guy Pratt: Answering these questions.In a hotel room in San Sebastian, about to do a
gig with Bryan Ferry...
LF: What are your plans for the future?
Guy Pratt: I don't know, are you free friday? Maybe another show, and a comedy Bass
instructional video.
LF: How have the audiences responded to your live stand up shows?
Guy Pratt: Quite staggeringly well. I love each and every person whose been. Except....
LF: What is your funniest response or heckle?
Guy Pratt: I do a thing where I pretend to not know Roger Waters name, and someone once
shouted it out, thinking that despite having been associated with Pink Floyd for 20 years I didn't actually know what the previous bassist and main songwriter was called!
For more info visit Guy Pratt's website
GUY PRATT - 'MY BASS AND OTHER ANIMALS'
Underbelly – White Belly, Entrances on Cowgate and Victoria St
Box Office: 0870 745 3083 www.underbelly.co.uk
Venue press office: 0870 745 3078, press@underbelly.co.uk
Edinburgh Fringe Box Office:
0131 226 0000
Dates: 20th - 25th August at 5.45pm (ends 6.40pm).
Tickets: 20th - £6.00
21st- 23rd - £9.50 (£8.00)
24th- 25th - £10.50 (£9.00)
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