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The Rabbit's Hat interview with Pierre Antoine Dubourg for the French magazine Tangentes, January 1998

TANGENTES: Why did you call your label "Stone Premonitions"?

T.R.H.: The name refers to standing stones, runes, pyramids etc. We have an interest in all of these things and also in the tarot and I ching. Also Terri B makes painted stone jewellery, amulets and talismans. Lets face it, you need them these days as there are so many "bad vibes" about, especially in this country!

TANGENTES: Why did you choose a stylized eye as your logo? Is it a masonic sign?

T.R.H.: We took the image from a series of paintings by Terri B. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Freemasonary.

TANGENTES: Why did you call your band The Rabbit's Hat?

T.R.H.: Music has many colours and dimensions. Magicians pull rabbits out of hats. We like to think that The Rabbit's Hat contains many magically musical ideas. The Rabbit's Hat is a melting pot for music of many styles. We like to mix them together in our quest for a unique and original sound. It's a kind of alchemy, if you like.

TANGENTES: Some of the members of The Rabbit's Hat were in Neon and Punishment Of Luxury; but what about the rest of the band? How did you all meet?

T.R.H.: Tim Jones and Martin Holder were in Neon together and Tim also sang and played guitar in Punishment Of Luxury. Terri B was singing in a progressive rock band called Vagrant and Steve Ellis was teaching music and playing in bands around the area. We were all friends who were hanging about together, thinking about our next musical direction and we formed the idea of Stone Premonitions. Martin Holder had also been playing in Jah Wobble's band and John Stevens' Away. Rob Kirtley later supplemented the line up on bass.

TANGENTES: Was the music of Neon and Punishment Of Luxury very different from The Rabbit's Hat? What did it sound like?

T.R.H.: Neon has basically re-formed under the name Body Full Of Stars which is another band on Stone Premonitions who have a CD called "Falling Angels" coming out in February. They are a progressive rock band with many influences, such as African rhythms, a bit reminiscent of Osibisa. The best description of Punishment Of Luxury was written in the New Musical Express,"Quasi Theatrical Mutant Heavy Metal". Make of that what you will. The music of these bands is different from The Rabbit's Hat but some of the influences are the same.

TANGENTES: If we compare some of the vocal arrangements for The Rabbit's Hat with Californian ones and especially those of Crosby, Stills and Nash, does it make you feel angry?

T.R.H.: On the contrary, we very much like the vocal arrangements of C.S.& N and we like the music of bands like Jefferson Airplane and other Californian originals. Vocal harmonies are extremely important in the overall sound of The Rabbit's Hat.

TANGENTES: Do you use conceptual themes in your lyrics? Do you like to take your listeners on a musical trip and do you think that commenting on the state of society through music is important nowadays?

T.R.H.: The answer is yes to all of these questions. We think that it has always been an important role for progressive rock music to comment on the state of the world in which it finds itself. We believe in what we are singing about and we like to encompass our thoughts and ideas in a coherent setting. We try to link the music together so that it becomes an interesting soundscape with a message.

TANGENTES: Who is Tony Morland? Does he only write for The Rabbit's Hat?

T.R.H.: Tony Morland is a writer/lyricist from the North East of England who we believe has some very relevant things to say about the modern world in the dying embers of the 20th Century. He has a book of short stories which is to be published soon and he has written various articles for The Journal Of Civil Liberties. Tony writes lyrics exclusively for The Rabbit's Hat.

TANGENTES: The Rabbit's Hat song titles and lyrics often refer to the devil and evil creatures; you even call your e-mail "Demon": are you interested in black magic and sorcery or is it just some kind of a joke?

T.R.H.: Actually Tim Jones is the "black hearted" leader of The Church Of Satan and Terri B is The Princess Of Darkness. Stone Premonitions is really a coven of evil witches who gather round a huge cooking pot containing the foul smelling putrid entrails of small fluffy creatures! BUT SERIOUSLY!!! We have no interest whatsoever in black magic. We are only interested in White Magic and the well being of our beautiful planet which is being destroyed by the true evils in this world ie greed, lust for power and money. "Demon" is actually the service provider we use for the internet.

TANGENTES: Could you tell us more about your theatrical experience in "Shrike Food"?

T.R.H.: By "Shrike Food", we mean the crap that we are all meant to accept from the powers that be. It is a play on cassette which involved some friends of ours who were in the North East, after performing various community theatre productions in Wales and the Scottish Highlands. We all got round a table and came up with the concept of "Shrike Food".

TANGENTES: Have you already played out of England? How do your audiences react?

T.R.H.: Last year we went to Holland and performed our acoustic set live on Mark Deren's show "Mark From Holland" on Radio Heemskerk and Feddo Renier's Psychedelicatessen programme in Den Haag. This proved to be an excellent way of getting our music across to a wider public and we intend to do this a lot more in future. There are so many excellent independant underground radio stations out there these days who offer a real alternative to the mainstream aural pollution. These stations continue to play our music and they are very supportive of the Stone Premonitions project.

TANGENTES: How do you consider the European music scene nowadays? Do you think that there is enough room left for true and inventive musicians?

T.R.H.: We consider that the current underground music scene in Europe at the moment is the most vibrant that it has been in years. There are so many excellent publications (like Tangantes) who are working very hard indeed to promote true independant music. They offer a real alternative for musicians who are in it for the music rather than the money. These people are reliable and very responsive. As regards France, we have heard many superb and inventive bands over the last few years such as Minimum Vital, Eclat and X11 Alfonso. In Berlin, through the Radio Marabu network, there is the work of the musician and broadcaster Lord Litter (Jorg Dittmar) who through his Tapedepartement Radioshow is one of the leading lights in the whole underground music scene.

We would like to thank Tangentes magazine for this interview and invaluable exposure and hope that it won't be too long before we can come and perform in France.