We would like to know a little more of your beginnings in music. I've heard that since you were very young you were interested in tape recorders, guitar effects, etc.

GR - i was always interested with tape recorders when i was a kid, and such like, and as soon as as had enough money, i got several cassette recorders and created ways to make primitive overdub recordings and utilize anything that made some interesting sounds. Using radios, tuning guitars to made up tunings, using mics inside acoustic guitars creating feedback. Stuff like that. some of those recordings still exist somewhere i think.

Besides The Modern Art, do you keep recordings of any of the bands you had previously to Sun Dial?

GR - yes i have many recordings of earlier things,

Can The Modern Art be considered your first real band?

GR - it was. but it was a recording only band with no stable line-up.

How did that psychedelic music came out in an era so dominated by punk?

GR - when i first started in the late 80s, in the uk at least, there was hardly anything worth to listen to, everything was clean, overproduced, i wanted something different and exciting to listen to.... some of the 70s uk punk stuff was just too lame apart from the sex pistols, so i delved back further. Listening to early Stooges or "Nuggets" for instance was more of a punk thing than listening to whatever was the current flavour that the music press was trying to force feed people. I just thought, there had to be an alternative to what was there. And i thought "well, i'm gonna make some noise, and i'm gonna stamp on my fuzz box and stick it up to 10 with my wah pedal, and i don't fucking care". And i did. Right there, that was more punk than anything i'd heard.

Sun Dial arrived and had a key role in a moment where psychedelic music was in a strong comeback (Bevis Frond, Loop, Outskirts of Inifinity...).... Were there any attempt of collaboration between the bands that brought back psychedelic music? I mean, was there a feeling of "common scene"?

GR - i never really saw it as a new psychedelic scene as such, i mean the bands you mentioned, are loosely linked perhaps. I'm really wary of "scenes" anyway.

You played a lot of live shows back then, what was the reaction of the audience?

GR - we actually turned down gigs/tours/supports back then, and i always thought we didn't play as many gigs as some people thought. the audience reaction was really good. There was one particular gig in europe and i think the audience was expecting some mellow sound, and sat down for the entire show, and i think we frightened them. I don't think they expected such a guitar onslaught.

'Other Way Out' is considered as one of the best albums in psychedelic music history. From the point of view of today: what do you think about that album?

Gr - it's our first album. i think it's still got good energy and a particular sound, and if people still think its relevant to listen to, then I'm happy.

How much of improvisation and how much of "written down" is in that record?

GR - well surprisingly there was very little of improvised material on that record maybe some of it comes across like that. Most of the songs were recorded as written, and most were planned out, with the exception of several songs that changed in length each time, but in some cases there were several takes of a particular song.

Why wasn't the second album released at its time? its content is awesome!!

GR - we went into the studio to record a follow-up album, and we planned for it, and started the sessions. Weeks turned into months, and with band members leaving, it became fragmented for me anyway, and somehow i didnt think at the time it was working... so we put together the overspill EP from that session. As time went on, I forgot about it, and we went into the studio with a new line-up and "reflecter" was recorded. At the time i couldn't bear to listen to the tapes from that other session. I was too afraid as to how they could sound. 2 years later i listened again, and played it to people, and it got a good response. So with material left over from OWO and
mixed tracks from the unissued second album, i compiled "return journey".
Of course, that isn't the full second album, but it's quite close. Maybe one day, the real intended version could come out.

A few time ago "Other way in" was released, is there yet anything left in that trasure chest you're hiding?

GR - there's some out takes and different versions of things simply because it was the way we recorded. So the answer is yes, but i think "other way in"
pretty much covers the out takes from that period pretty much, i'm not sure what else there could be that would be worthy of releasing from then.

From "Over Spill" to "Libertine" there is a certain "ambiguous" period where electronics became an important part of the music, what do you think about the material recorded at that time?

GR - we were on a bigger label and had different line-up, and so we experimented abit with sounds. Some ideas and ways of progress changed for awhile but essentially not much, we were still a heavy guitar band. There were a few remixes of some of our songs too, but again, sun dial as a band, had no input in those at all.

After the creation of Acme Records "Return Journey" is released with material that sound much more stronger and "acid", does that pushes you to re-release in 1995 such powerful albums as "Acid Yantra" or "Live Drug"?

GR - we was moving towards a heavier sound anyway with libertine, and i think acid yantra and live drug was a natural progression to that.

Sun Dial goes into stand-by there and until 2002, what happened?

GR - we got dropped by our record label, had bad management, band members leaving, it was a difficult time in many ways. I think people thought sun dial had split up, but i got involved more in the label and our studio in London we had. I wanted to record bands. But then after doing that, i thought, well, this is no substitute for being in one. I started working on songs for a new album as early as 1997. "Ghost Machine" was one such track. It came out as a single, and then time rolled on. I re-listened to the songs and decided they weren't good enough to finish or release, so that's why there's that gap.

What can you tell us about the collaborations besides Sun Dial (Current 93, Coil...) and projects like Quad?

GR - With all this studio time, we just invited people we knew to come to the studio, and some resulted in projects that were released, like Coil's "Astral Disaster" and Quad. Quad was just an idea i'd had for many years. I thought, well if i'm not doing sun dial records, i've got to do something. I just looked at things i'd recorded since 1992-93 onwards, and pieced together the Quad album. with Coil, i just said, turn up without your samples, and start from scratch. I think at first they were horrified at the idea, but in the end, they got into it.

Do you share the same interest as David Tibet of Current 93 for religions and occultism?

GR - its possible, but i couldn't really comment either way.

In 2002 Zen for sale is released, a record that brings back the psychedelic feeling of the first Sun Dial, what can you tell us about that record?

GR - there was a lot of renewed interest in everything sun dial, and zen for sale was hastily assembled around a big show in london, but was really the album that should have come out in 1997/98. It was meant to be the follow-up to acid yantra. Most of the songs were written from that period in time, some were re-recorded, some were dated from then. it was an album in a similar way to return journey. didnt quite fit into the sequence of things and more of a scrapbook than a statement.

After that there is a new "silence" and then Shards of god in 2007...

GR - we did a tour and some one-off gigs to support the album, but then i wanted to concentrate on forming a permanent line-up of the band. Shards came about because fans kept saying," i can't buy this track" or "why not make a best of" album? russell barrett (bassist in sun dial) and myself compiled an album which wasn't a best of, but we put together a collection of what we considered to be good sun dial tracks but included some unissued tracks too and rare versions. for me this was more important than zen for sale. I think it works on many levels and wraps up everything till now. to accompany it, we also reissued acid yantra and libertine.

I think that your appearance at the Roadburn Festival has been something important for a lot of people who didn't know the band and also a re-encounter with the old fans, how did you lived that?

GR - that gig was something special on many levels and we're still getting many emails about it now nearly a year later. i think for some people it was their first opportunity to see the band first hand. Like they heard the songs or knew the name but never seen us live.

Now the band is back again with a lot of strength. Soon you'll release a new album, what can you tell us about that?

GR - we're really excited about the new album. for me, it's like releasing our first album. It has a lot of energy, it is a complete album from start to finish. it's a statement. i think it's going to surprise people. we've already released some songs from these sessions on the "pumpkin head" EPs that are only available by mail order through our my space page, but those tracks aren't going to be on the album.

What do you think of today's underground scene? there are lots of bands that took the "psychedelic way"... to which extent do you think Sun Dial can be held responsible for that?

GR - it's great that there is an underground scene, that's positive. I can hear a lot of sun dial influence in some bands. Its flattering of course when i hear it, and every band has to start somewhere. As to what extent, its difficult for me to comment.

And that's it, just thank you for your attention to our website, we're absolute lovers of your music! is there anything else you wish to add?

GR - thank you for reading.

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