Ahead of Think Floyd’s show at the Wyvern on January 17, the Adver chats to the band’s bass player Lewis Hall

When was the band formed?

Think Floyd started out as a covers band in London in the early 1990s. At a regular Saturday night gig in a pub in South East London, someone asked if the band played Comfortably Numb, they didn't, but said they would learn it for the next week. Their performance of Pink Floyd's anthemic track went down a storm and became a regular encore. As time went on, the band got more and more requests for Floyd tracks and, one week, decided to dedicate a whole evening to Pink Floyd's music, and quite jokingly called it Think Floyd. The Think Floyd show became a regular event, attracting hundreds of people to the small venue. In the audience one night was theatre promoter and Floyd fan David Walker, who quickly turned the semi-pro pub band into a fully professional touring production. So in 1994 Think Floyd was born, the band consisted of Tony Red, Peter Mizen, Paul Whisker and Brian Duel.

When did you join?

I joined the band in 2001 after I heard they were looking for a new bass player. They played at my local theatre in Peterborough where I had been working as an usher, backstage and in the box office after leaving college and was looking for music work. So I jumped at the chance of getting an audition and played my first show with the band just after my 21st birthday. The line-up today features me on bass, Richard Morse on guitar, Steven Farmer on drums and Kirk McLeod on keyboards.

Have you always loved music?

Music has always been around me. My dad always sang and played records when I was very young. I have a brother who is seven years older than me and when he went away to university I discovered his record collection which included Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Pink Floyd.

When did you start playing an instrument?

I had a few piano lessons and acoustic guitar lessons as a child, but taught myself the bass as a teenager.

Did you always see yourself doing it professionally?

I wanted to be an actor when I was younger, but soon realised I wasn't very good at it and stuck to playing music and singing instead.

Can you describe the show?

The show this year will feature complete performances of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. I would say these are the band's finest albums and I think they have had a huge influence on so much music that has been made since.

Where have you performed over the years?

Most of our shows are in the UK and in theatres such as the Wyvern. We really enjoy traveling up and down the country (apart from when the weather is bad and there are late night road closures!) But we've also been lucky enough to play some great shows abroad including Holland, Belgium, Rhodes, Malta and the UAE What has been the highlight so far?

Playing to a packed venue in Dubai in spring 2015 to an incredible audience of ex-pats, Russians, Syrians, Indians, people from Iraq and Iran, Belgium and Scotland - a complete mixture of cultures and ages who had all come together because of their love of Pink Floyd. They knew every word and were singing along, it was an amazing experience.

Have you met any members of Pink Floyd?

Unfortunately not, but it has been rumoured over the years that different members have seen our show.

Do you feel pressure to embody the characters, mirror their mannerisms, and match Pink Floyd in way?

Not at all, we're very lucky that Pink Floyd are not really known for their personal image. I always say that if you go to see a Stones tribute band you want to see someone that acts and looks a bit like Mick Jagger, or a Freddy Mercury character with a Queen show, but for Floyd it was all about the music and the light show. So we don't need to wear wigs or flowery shirts, we just try to recreate the music as faithfully as possible and let our light show complement the music.

You were touring when most members of Pink Floyd were still alive. Did you feel pressure to do well because of it?

Think Floyd has always been rather different to the later tours of Pink Floyd - their shows in the 80s and 90s were huge shows with lots of extra musicians on stage. There are some Floyd tribute shows that to me seem more like the 'Pulse' album era of Floyd, with two or three keys players, two or three guitarists, extra vocalists, percussionists etc, but Think Floyd is more like the Pink Floyd of the 1970s. We are a four-piece but we have an excellent female vocalist to sing The Great Gig in the Sky and a great sax player for tracks including Money and Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I've been thrilled with the positive response we've had to our 2015 show so I'm very much looking forward to bringing our new show to Swindon in 2016.

 

Think Floyd will perform at the Wyvern Theatre on January 17. To book go to swindontheatres.co.uk.