FOTN fun
Posted: 17 Apr 2014, 04:17
This is taken from an interview I did with Gizz Butt guitarist with English Dogs, Janus Stark, The Prodigy, The More I See, and Steve Ignorant on his last tour. He also played with FOTN and here is his response to my questioning:
I have to ask about your involvement with FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, how the hell did that happen? I would just never picture a guitarist such as your self being in that band.
Gizz: I was contacted by their manager as they wanted to do a comeback gig after 7 years or so. It was very important to them, it was called “The 24th Moment�. I was on one of those “low ebbs� at the time and so I needed a big gig to get my confidence back. There were auditions for the role and Carl liked what I was doing and the sound I made. We must have rehearsed 24 times for that first gig. I lost my job from taking time off for the rehearsals and got paid a total of £250 for everything!
Shortly afterwards Steve Ignorant asked me to join him so FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM became superfluous to me. Carl had these huge festivals appearances booked , 10,000 capacity shows and he had this huge rehearsal regime which would mean I’d be taking hours off from earning any money and also spending on fuel and travel expenses but he only wanted to pay £200 for each show. I respect Carl and he has created an empire that really works. He’s 100% committed but it isn’t my idea of the ideal gig by a long shot, sorry. It’s was one of those underpaid session gigs.
For me, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM typically had a very slow almost labored sound. Did you have much “room� to express yourself?
Gizz: When we played “The 24th Moment� show it felt exciting and fresh. After that gig the second I tried to put a tiny bit of expression as subtle as the smallest touch of a wah wah pedal and Carl would raise the roof. We got into arguments and so went our separate ways. I was never a fan of the band in the first place so I was reluctant to have this unpaid session musician role so I made an attempt to be his right hand man and for a while I was. Then it turned around and I was another faceless musician.
I heard a rumor that the band members used to cover themselves in flour to give them that dusty, straight off the ranch look. True or false?
Gizz: It’s true all right and don’t forget about the hats and the contact lenses. He (Carl McCoy) forced me to wear hair extensions which his daughter Scarlet fitted and he then got me to pay her for it! McCoy arranged a photo shoot with “The band� and I knew nothing of it. He had arranged for a bunch of unknown guys to attend the shoot as “The Nephilim�. I didn’t f**king like that move. The gigs I played were filmed but I was never allowed to even see the footage; I hate to say it but it reminds me of another lead singer I know! Basically it’s his gig and you (I) are nothing more than commodity.
I have to ask about your involvement with FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, how the hell did that happen? I would just never picture a guitarist such as your self being in that band.
Gizz: I was contacted by their manager as they wanted to do a comeback gig after 7 years or so. It was very important to them, it was called “The 24th Moment�. I was on one of those “low ebbs� at the time and so I needed a big gig to get my confidence back. There were auditions for the role and Carl liked what I was doing and the sound I made. We must have rehearsed 24 times for that first gig. I lost my job from taking time off for the rehearsals and got paid a total of £250 for everything!
Shortly afterwards Steve Ignorant asked me to join him so FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM became superfluous to me. Carl had these huge festivals appearances booked , 10,000 capacity shows and he had this huge rehearsal regime which would mean I’d be taking hours off from earning any money and also spending on fuel and travel expenses but he only wanted to pay £200 for each show. I respect Carl and he has created an empire that really works. He’s 100% committed but it isn’t my idea of the ideal gig by a long shot, sorry. It’s was one of those underpaid session gigs.
For me, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM typically had a very slow almost labored sound. Did you have much “room� to express yourself?
Gizz: When we played “The 24th Moment� show it felt exciting and fresh. After that gig the second I tried to put a tiny bit of expression as subtle as the smallest touch of a wah wah pedal and Carl would raise the roof. We got into arguments and so went our separate ways. I was never a fan of the band in the first place so I was reluctant to have this unpaid session musician role so I made an attempt to be his right hand man and for a while I was. Then it turned around and I was another faceless musician.
I heard a rumor that the band members used to cover themselves in flour to give them that dusty, straight off the ranch look. True or false?
Gizz: It’s true all right and don’t forget about the hats and the contact lenses. He (Carl McCoy) forced me to wear hair extensions which his daughter Scarlet fitted and he then got me to pay her for it! McCoy arranged a photo shoot with “The band� and I knew nothing of it. He had arranged for a bunch of unknown guys to attend the shoot as “The Nephilim�. I didn’t f**king like that move. The gigs I played were filmed but I was never allowed to even see the footage; I hate to say it but it reminds me of another lead singer I know! Basically it’s his gig and you (I) are nothing more than commodity.
...
Maybe? 
treated Patricia. Carl learning from the master again !
