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Written by Stephanie Lynne Thorburn   
Sunday, 20 April 2008 17:14

Leaf Hound are very much a proletariat band, hailed as deity by the music press and stoner niche market alike.  Their cult album ‘Growers Of Mushroom’ was accomplished in one eleven hour session at Spot Studios Mayfair, featuring tracks penned by vocalist Pete French and cousin Mick Halls. The Growers album was a truly electric record in a musical, lyrical and spiritual sense, resurrected by collectors, enchanted by its legacy as a cult prog rock masterpiece. The Leaf Hound sound is closely related to the musical idioms of Zeppelin, Sabbath and Free, although The Hound have endured remarkably well on the basis of their individuality and enigma as a seminal underground stoner rock outfit. It was a real pleasure to have the opportunity of interviewing Peter French recently for Low Cut on the eve of the release of the band’s much anticipated new album ‘Unleashed’ featuring Peter French on vocals, with newly recruited band members Luke Rayner, lead guitar, Jimmy Rowland on drums and Ed Pearson on bass.

L.C.: Leaf Hound’s new album ‘Unleashed’ on the RARE label will be the band’s first release since Growers in 1971.  At a previous interview you described that the “structure of the new songs and underlying attitude of the band is not dissimilar to the original album, with a fresh modern feel.”  Is ‘Unleashed’ intended as a modern progression from the Growers album?

P.F.: Yes it has to be, because everything else has progressed in terms of sound quality, production, so naturally what I’ve tried to retain is a genre of music which is riff based on a lot of the songs.  A riff-based approach is something I’ve always liked about Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple or indeed any of those heavy bands, whilst they remain tuneful as well.  Nothing ever stays the same, even if we wanted to reproduce the same album it would be impossible- you’re in a studio, nail it down as quick as you can in case you loose it!

L.C.:  Some of the material on the new album reminds me of the obvious parallel between Leaf Hound and Led Zeppelin- you both have a strong narrative in your music, complex lyrics and a varied tempo..

P.F.:  Yes, but I must point out that there is no intention to copy Zeppelin. Everyone gets influences, Zeppelin were influenced by the old blues artists and we are all influenced subconsciously I think; but there was no deliberate attempt to be like anyone which is something I’ve fought hard against.

L.C.:  Yes, I remember you calling it an ‘attachment’ to Zeppelin in that you are both riff based, and share the same idiom.

P.F.:  Yes, we share that idiom of music I would agree with that, but it’s not intentional- that idiom is the way I like it.  It goes back to the roots of the early 70’s because that’s when that music had its prominence.  At the moment it would appear that everybody now wants classic rock music, they actually want some real music again!  I hope they’re right.

L.C.:  Well from the stoner fan’s perspective I think Unleashed will be well worthwhile waiting for and has a ‘classic’ flavour with a broad market and some great radio play numbers too. I did want to ask about your working relationship with Luke Rayner who re-mastered the Growers album in his studio and also co-wrote/ produced the new songs with you.

P.F.:  Luke and I both really do find it quite easy communicating with one another and despite the age gap he respects me for what I’ve done before and I respect him for what he has contributed and put in as well, it’s like a mutual respect in this band.  It’s a lovely album and if I was Luke’s age I would be pleased with it.  Luke has come of age so to speak and was 21 when I first met him- he’s got a superb ability about him, we get on very well and he is a very mature young fellow with a good head on his shoulders.  Respect to Luke, he is an exceptional player and one of my privileges is to have hopefully helped him in some way.  The new album was brought into fruition with the benefit of Luke’s technical knowledge and we both produced it, so he has a major role in the new album no doubt about that!

L.C.:  I think the band also reflects Luke’s influences and indeed a broad range of all your influences.  Traditionally Leaf Hound represented a hybrid of genres from blues-rock, to hard rock and proto metal.

P.F.:  It’s an incredible mix if you think about it because I’ve got experience over the years and Luke who is a different generation has brought a more modern interpretation into it, so it’s quite unique- you’ve got the taste of the 70’s retained, mixed with the new enterprise from Luke’s appreciation of newer acts.  The two styles have come together quite nicely actually.

L.C.:  In terms of highlights from the album, what are your favourite tracks?

P.F.:  I’ve always liked ‘Stop, Look and Listen’ because the music changes and is not straight commercial and has a story.  I’m happy with most tracks actually and also like ‘The Man With The Moon In Him’, with the lyrical content and guitar work.  ‘Nickels and Dimes’ is a Bad Company type song that retains the essence of blues rock music. I’m thrilled to bits with the album to be honest though- it’s been such hard work to get it to this state, we’ve had no help whatsoever in terms of record advances, everything was done ourselves and thank god we’ve got Repertoire to release it! Everyone contributed so much to realise it.

L.C.:  I really liked ‘Breakthrough’ with Luke’s guitar work featured as opposed to keyboards on the original number.

P.F.:  That was a very clever interpretation because that track was always my favourite Atomic Rooster number.  We did an interpretation and went over it with a four- piece rock guitar type attitude and I think we did a splendid job.  So, ‘Breakthrough’ is our great new interpretation of a classic track.  I had a number 12 hit album all those years ago with Atomic Rooster and it was one of the best selling albums Rooster had - I had the privilege of taking them to Canada and America with that album out.  It’s very nice to use it as a complement to Vincent Crane too; it’s a dedication to Vincent and I think we served it well.

L.C.:  Unleashed is certainly a diverse album, which maintains the explosive spontaneity of Growers.

P.F.:  Well the other thing is that I had people saying we couldn’t have songs beyond more than two minutes, but we did what we liked and if the music takes you that way, we’ll play it until the clock stops if necessary!  The songs are longer than conventional songs on an album if the songs merit it, so we did it selfishly that way..

L.C.:  In effect you have returned full circle to what you might have hoped for in the industry some thirty years ago. It must be good to realise what you’ve achieved?

P.F.:  Yes, although I haven’t been recording for a while until recently, I have however been writing all the time.  I wrote several songs and compositions in Los Angeles for Carmine Appice’s Rockers album in 1980 or so.  I also wrote for the Beck, Bogert and Appice album, ‘Lady’ and ‘Lose Myself With You’; two tracks on that album went gold.  I’ve written lyrics on the new Cactus album I was asked to join recently, so I’ve never really isolated myself from the music. Ahmet Ertegun picked the Cactus album that I was on, called Ot n’ Sweaty as one of the fifty greatest albums to commemorate 50 years of Atlantic recording and so I still collect my merits although I don’t have money in the bank- they can’t take away your experiences and the knowledge you have gained, although I have had a rough ride in this business.  Hopefully ‘Unleashed’ might culminate in a bit of success for me!

L.C.:  In fact it was an invitation to play with Tim and Carmine of Vanilla Fudge that brought you to the Camden Underworld in 2004, where you met Jimmy Rowland and some fans who were interested in resurrecting Leaf Hound..

P.F.:  Yes, I went down to jam with Vanilla Fudge with other bands like Orange Goblin doing tracks from the Leaf Hound album live as part of their set.  A tremendous complement and it took me ages for it to sink in.  Camden was the first gig the band ever really did and has been special for Leaf Hound, all the shows we have done with Nazareth, Witchcraft, Mountain, there has been a fantastic audience and the venue at The Underworld has a special value for us.  Every gig we’ve done so far in fact we’ve enjoyed ourselves and so have the audience, but it’s just a question of getting ‘seen’ by the right people. 

L.C.:  Is there any possibility of a tour of the States or more dates in the EU?

P.F.:  I’ve had emails and contacts from people but need better offers and incentives.  One of the good things about the internet is that I’ve had people writing from as far as Australia, Brazil, Israel all keen to hear the album and to hear samples and it’s tremendously amazing for me that they even know about it. Basically, the album is excellent, but unfortunately the business side is a minefield and the way it’s going with digital download and so on, you need an agent on top of their game to assist you!

L.C.: On reflection, what have the best gigs been for you the past few years during the time the new band has been evolving?

P.F.:  Well Sweden seems to have taken to the band- we did one at the Kaktus festival and they were really amazed at the fans performance, there were people who had to be held back! Most of the gigs so far have been people asking us to appear which has been delightful. I’m hoping that in 2008 the promoters of Sweden Rock will get in touch with us again, especially after the fantastic reviews we were given from our performance at the 2006 Sweden rock Concert we did in Malmo.  I hope it will encourage them to book us back again soon. We’re grateful for a chance to prove ourselves and have always had a bloody good audience. The benchmark for the new album is the five star reviews the re-release of the Growers album got.  So I’ve had to rigoursly enforce a standard to hope to match.

L.C.:  I think it would be useful to discuss the new album not just musically, but as a package as Repertoire have a forte with quality releases.  You mentioned that there are 12 pages of pictorial material, lyrics and a poem about the origins of the Ray Bradbury story about ‘Leaf Hound’.

P.F.:  I wrote a poem that gives the explanation of the whole idea of ‘Leaf Hound’.  It’s a beautifully designed album.  Hugh Gilmour did a nice design and I’m thrilled to bits, because it’s one of the nicest covers I’ve seen for a long time I think.  His artwork is superb and the whole lay out I had a hand in and I think it looks good and sounds good.  We can’t do any better with what we had, perhaps the next album!  If nothing else I’m thrilled with the album and think the boys did a great job on it. The only thing we didn’t do was to write a single and the album is a literal interpretation on a classic rock type music and not meant to be overtly commercial, but it’s got a style and has an overall concept which makes it original and desirable for people who like heavy rock.

L.C.: So with any luck there will be a further album to look forward to after the release of ‘Unleashed’?

P.F.:  I sincerely hope so.  We’re being filmed and recorded at this next rock event we’re doing.  Whether we will decide to do a live album later I don’t know, but obviously we’re writing new material. I’ve been around for quite a while in the industry and I’m still boxing - as long as you can believe in yourself and what you’ve written and the overall sound, then that gives you the resolve to continue and hopefully others will see it.  We are literally a people’s band and have been put back together with the impetus of people wanting us to do more.  No one else has done what I’ve attempted to do before, to re introduce to the scene after 36-years the classic rock band Leaf Hound. To be able to do this is fantastic and I’m one of the few artists who can say that if I’d bought my own record I would have been rich!  We rely on the press and the people and against all odds hopefully we will continue to germinate positive interest from our fans.


My thanks to Pete French for his time in offering this interview to Low Cut.  Leaf Hound’s new album ‘Unleashed’ certainly provides the listener with a true Pandora’s box of surprises.  For more details of the new material and the band’s live dates, Leaf Hound’s website and my space can be found at: -  www.leafhound.netwww.myspace.com/leafhound

www.rarerepertoire.com
Last Updated on Thursday, 01 May 2008 14:34