Non capita tutti i giorni di incontrare personaggi come Phil Palmer, un nome che magari a molti non dice molto ma se poi vi chiediamo : vi ricordate l’assolo di chitarra su “Il nastro rosa” di Lucio Battisti ?
Ebbene a suonarlo era proprio lui, Phil Palmer.
Chiaramente nella sua carriera non ha fatto solo questo ma ha collaborato con artisti del calibro di Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Tina Turner, George Michael, Bryan Adams, Robbie Williams, e, per rimanere in Italia, con, tra tanti altri, Ivano Fossati, Renato Zero, Loredana Berté, Riccardo Cocciante, Francesco De Gregori, Claudio Baglioni, Fabio Concato, Gianni Morandi, Patty Pravo, Anna Oxa, Roberto Vecchioni, Ron, Edoardo Bennato, Eros Ramazzotti. E la lista è lunghissima.
Phil Palmer ha risposto ad alcune nostre domande in occasione della presentazione del concerto che i DSL, Dire Straits, Legacy, la concept band che vede riuniti gli ex componenti dei Dire Straits (Alan Clark, Phil Palmer, Mel Collins, Danny Cummings) insieme a Steve Ferrone e Mickey Feat, terranno alla Stazione Birra il prossimo 3 marzo.
Dire Straits was a trademark of quality and success and your songs are still studied by musicians all over the world. How does it feel to be a part of that legend?
I was honoured to play with such an amazing artist .. Knopfler is a true genius who touches people’s hearts with his wonderful songs and great guitar playing .. my small contribution to the legend , standing behind the man for 2 years was a great education for me
Do you have any special memories and/or anecdotes about your time with Dire Straits?
Many .. I am in the process of writing a book about it … so you’ll have to wait
What made you decide to use it and what’s the meaning of “Legacy”?
Legacy in English is a reference to a memory and spirit of something past .. we respect the name of DS enormously and play all our concerts reflecting the love and spirit of the music
Right now we are seeing lots of critics against new artists accused to be copying the previous generation of musicians and, from the public’s point of view, it seems like there is no more inspiration to create something new and original. What could you say about it? What kind of advice could you give to a new band to find their own style?
It is very difficult to be original in modern music .. so much has been covered .. music however in my opinion is cyclic in that it comes around and is discovered by a new generation
What people should expect from this concert? What songs are in the set-list? And what’s your favorite one to play?
We play all our gigs with the same passion as we did with DS .. the arrangements are as close as possible to the wonderful musical pictures created by the band in 1992 plus some of the older catalogue Sultans of Swing”, “Money for Nothing”, “Tunnel of Love”, “Walk of life” and also songs like “When it comes to You”,“You and Your Friend”, “On Every Street”, from the first record “Wild West End” and many more hits.
What’s the future of DSL? What are you aiming for right now?
We want to bring the spirit of dire straits back to the people who loved it the first time around and to a younger generation who never saw it first hand .. so far we see an amazing cross section of age groups at our gigs … it’s very rewarding and we do it for the love of the music
Le immagini per l’intervista sono fornite dall’Ufficio Stampa dell’artista/manifestazione. Si declina ogni responsabilità riferibile ai crediti e riconoscimento dei relativi diritti.
