Tony Banks Interview from 'The Way We Walk' DVD

[@dx3200]

Tony is simply, a genius.

[@thefool2007]

Super intelligent and unearthly writer and gifted player. His technique and sounds are absolutely amazing.

[@morbidmanmusic]

his technique is average. It isn't that hard, what he plays.

[@margaret1321]

@@morbidmanmusicSaid the unknown commenter about the world famous keyboardist 😂

[@robertsimpson9403]

If anyone is perfect in music, well here he is: Tony Banks.

[@simonhusseymusic]

Never tire of listening to Tony. Thanks for the inspiration over the years! How many of us took up keyboards because of this pioneer.

[@Phill_Thomas]

''He doesn't call it random guitar, he says it was very fine guitar playing. I say it was random guitar'' - I found this really funny for some reason

[@davebellamy4867]

That's because it is!!

[@AdamDeanMusic]

Tony can be very stiff and rigid, but he also has a great, mischievous sense of humor! This is a good example!

[@RickCT2000]

Tony is the best articulator of Genesis music insights. Tony = intellectual; Mike = intellectual/emotional; Phil = emotional.

[@PreferToBeAnonymous]

Tony is my all-time most respected and favorite keyboardist! I love this interview and absolutely love the way he creates sounds! Taking that sample of Mike’s guitar and turning it down to a lower key to create the elephant sound for no son of mine - genius!

[@Mark-sj3xb]

Some may disagree but I believe Tony’s keyboard work is the centerpiece of most of Genesis’ work

[@suicidality2744]

Agreed. His keyboards really defined Genesis sound.

[@haczabim]

of course

[@budgetkeyboardist]

Definitely.

[@inglepropnoosegarm7801]

He is the only one without whom the band could never have existed.

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

Anyone who has listened to Genesis will surely agree with you.

[@theGreasyDuster]

I love the questions asked in this interview. Very music-focused!

[@Dustydreams930]

Absolutely!

[@edsknife]

Actually makes me wanna buy the DVD

[@CoTeCiOtm]

@@edsknife there are similar interviews to Phil and Mike as well! Pretty interesting stuff!

[@PhilW222]

Tony is so modest for such a huge talent!

[@morbidmanmusic]

modest is not the word most would use...

[@jenniferpratt765]

Your my favorite keyboardist in the whole world

[@projectz975]

imagining a professionally produced DVD segment for a platinum selling band using comic sans for the on screen text

[@jonnykhatru]

The 2000s were a different time 😆

[@felsner1]

Tony IS the (musical) mastermind of Genesis.

[@clannad99germany70]

Indeed, he is actually !

[@clannad99germany70]

Indeed, he is !

[@janvirtanen6199]

The best keyboard player of the 20th century with Richard Wright

[@morbidmanmusic]

don't be foolish

[@joanna62]

Emerson and Wakeman might disagree as much as I love Tony

[@musicalgraffity]

I like this guy!

[@keithroberts4952]

In my opinion, the best prog rock keyboardist!

[@BodaciousWench]

‘Mike had this riff’ seems to have sparked a lot of Tony’s ideas musically.

[@amitraam1270]

maybe that's why he can't stop himself from sending a jab at his band member's guitar playing. Do all great artists have giant egos?

[@mikearchibald744]

@@amitraam1270 Thats not ego, thats that british self deprecating culture. I remember Steve saying "we never really complimented one another" and Peter saying "we always had this passive aggressive tone". Combine that with John Cleese's statement "we're british, sentiment is to be abhorred". Thats why steve later said they were a bunch of brits with sticks up their asses, which is no doubt true, and probably not even taken as an insult (or maybe it was, steve doesn't tend to get 'invitations' to things).

[@amitraam1270]

@Nelson Robert Willis In other words, they're human :) maybe that is why it is better to simply enjoy the music

[@amitraam1270]

@Nelson Robert Willis sure, the stories behind the music are interesting, since they give depth to it.

[@mikearchibald744]

@Nelson Robert Willis I'd like to see that video, but yeah, THAT is going pretty far so I suspect was an attempt at irony. But somewhere else a guy said that 'musicians are humble' and don't take credit for their stuff, which we funny in talking about Genesis, where Peter opening says "Of course I like my own stuff..", or on Trespass where Tony literally says Dusk and White Mountain are 'b tracks' that don't do much for him, seconds after saying they were both songs that Anthony and Mike had brought in. But bands are like little political science petri dishes, each one is so different, and of course you get the idea that there are much bigger stories that aren't even getting out. Not so much with this band but in the Ramones documentary they talk about a girl Joey was going out with who then married Johnny and the guy said "it wasn't the typical case where the guitarist is envious of the lead singer so he steals his girl". THAT aspect is rarely even brought up in genesis, and maybe had zero to do with any of the drama, but bands certainly make interesting reading their lives are so different from the nine to five life. Captain Beefheart was a certified loon, and the early blues guys lives were like soap operas. But its not often you get the people themselves talking about their history.

[@anotheryoutubeaccount9852]

They always start their shows, with a song from the previous album.

[@mel2401]

I love the more recent Genesis stuff, however I do think once Hackett left they lost their mystique and became a lot more commercial. I firmly believe Hackett was the glue that made early Genesis songs so magical, his influence throughout the songs regardless who wrote them is very apparent.

[@philipbunney9445]

Andrew Melling you sir, are a man of taste

[@mikearchibald744]

I think they were moving that way. Steve was never forceful enough to change the direction of the band. As Tony has said, when Steve left he lost an 'ally' in doing weird long drawn out things. But they still did instrumental things, the real tragedy was timing. Had steve stuck around for a bit longer, that would have made the difference. Even when Peter left it was said to be like 'being in the military' and they were jealous of people doing things independantly, ironically except Phil, who they probabably figured 'well, he's the drummer so who cares". When phil was going to leave thats when they suddenly had no problem with people doing independant things, and even things that were doing better than the band. Steve says they were irked that his first solo album did quite well, probably was better received than Wind and Wuthering. If he had stuck it out a bit longer, but then, its unknown whether they would have accepted him doing 25%, but who knows. Phil said in the interviews that by the time he left in the nineties it wasn't for musical reasons because he 'was getting more of me out than ever'. But then Mike said something a little different so you never really know how much these guys even KNEW one another. British public schools aren't exactly known for churning out mentally healthy people.

[@vgfxworks]

Amazing .. a man of few words, though when he speaks, there are loads on stuff that it becomes difficult to digest what's being said in real time ..such an impressive, fantastic, deep world of moods, sounds, musical ideas and concepts.. I think it just can be found somewhere behind the lines of books, lots of them.

[@davebellamy4867]

Tony is a guy with a huge IQ it's evident. It is difficult to keep up with his ideas.

[@Zerpersande]

This was really cool. I’ve always wondered how this music ‘happens’.

[@mikeshaffer4912]

In the U.S. it was also broadcast on network tv but it's nice to hear the full interview. I wish artists these days were as musically knowledgeable as the members of Genesis are.

[@BanksianCentral]

Never knew it was broadcasted. Cool.

[@mikeshaffer4912]

The program I saw it on had pieces of interviews with Collins, Banks, Rutherford interspersed with footage from, I think, the Earls Court concerts. I taped it on VHS as a kid in high school and I wore the tape out. I'd love to see those again.

[@davebellamy4867]

Land of Confusion was from the previous album before last, which is typical for Genesis., strangely enough. Mama was a great really starting song musically, despite the fact ot was still daylight at the open air gigs.

[@merryman72]

Brilliant, thanks for uploading!

[@waveoflight]

Home by the Sea is what got me loveing Genesis.

[@mikearchibald744]

Apocalypse in 9/8. But Home is a pretty dam good song that I never really understood. I always thought they ripped off Strawbs "Down by the Sea", which is probably one of my all time favourite songs. But that was the thing about genesis, the first thing that made me notice them was due to irritation. As Tony says of "musical box" it starts off with a strong bit that never comes back. I remember being a kid and being so pissed off that a part that I loved 'never came back'. Some people are sado masichists and go back to music like that, others never listen again because 'it never settles into a groove'. I had forgotten all about that til the interviews when he said that, and then I remember listening to my brothers album and keeping picking up the needle to replay the first part over and over again. Ironically I heard Marillion's 'Grendel', which has a section basically ripped off of Apocalypse and always thought it was great, then heard Genesis and "oh, thats where they got that". Thats what I hate/love about musicians, they can't actually explain where the shit comes from. In the interviews phil said he just came back and Tony hadn't realized he'd written it in 9/8 and to this day "I can't figure out how we did that". A banal example of that was a documentary about Captain Beefheart, who got the drumbeat for 'bat chain puller' from the sound of his broken windshied wipers. Maybe thats how apocalypse got that beat. Sorry to sidetrack your comment, that came out longer than I expected.

[@waveoflight]

@@mikearchibald744 I listened to Strawbs Down by the sea once. Perhaps not enough, I listened to Home by the sea about 100 times. I dont see the connection.

[@mikearchibald744]

@@waveoflight LOL, I said I THOUGHT, I was a little kid. It was the lyrics, not the music. Frankly I like the beat of down by the sea much better (most of it, there are several key changes) , but the lyrics of home by the sea are better (more cohesive at least, but down by the sea has almost a political message in this day of climate change).

[@davebellamy4867]

@@mikearchibald744 I kind of think Apocalypse in 9/8 is so difficult to count in the beats. Sometimes the keys are playing 4/4 and bass or drums still playing 9/8. At least perhaps! I wonder if a lot of the odd rhythms come from Tony's solos and he just plays what notes he likes and the groups of notes give you the off time signatures.

[@mikearchibald744]

@@davebellamy4867 Yeah, I haven't heard a lot of talk about that specifically. But yeah, its the bass thats in 9/8, so that would be Mike Rutherford, who actually came up with a lot of really crazy innovative stuff but really doesn't get discussed very much just because of Steve's guitar, Tony, Phils drumming and Peters songwriting. But bassists often get overshadowed and of course he was sacriligious and started playing guitar parts as well. But it was phil (maybe here) that said that even he doesn't know how they wrote it because Tony and Mike played it in 9/8, maybe he said Tony but I think he said 'they'. Anyway, thats easily my favourite part of Genesis and really like Marillion's Grendel. There's just something both martial and insane about it. And I'm really not sure WHAT time signature the keys are in as its going along with it, keyboards I always have a harder time putting into any kind of order, he'll sometimes hold down keys for odd times maybe for the hell of it. I remember the beginning of "Silver Rainbow" and thinking "what the fuck kind of rhythm" is that and its clearly intentional asyncronous, not Captain Beefheart level of course, but just off kilter enough that you know its intentional.

[@BanksianCentral]

Ha, ha! This was a pretty funny and very informative interview with Tony. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@edsknife]

12:29 "Da-da-da, la-la-la, monkey"

[@duncanspd]

Totally fascinating. Big Fan.

[@t161sprawotsi3]

Hi .. Mr TONY'S how are You to Day FINE .. I ❤️ LIKE Your PLayer Masterpiece Keyboard in The Word HIGH TASTE RHYTHM IMPROVISATION ART ROCK MUSIC .. GOOD JOB GUY'S GOOD LUCKY 💙 GODBLESS YOU .. 🙏🇮🇩 👍

[@TheCorrectAnswer56]

I wish he would do an interview like this but with the older songs.

[@BanksianCentral]

That would be awesome wouldn't it?

[@Drchainsaw77]

+Banksian Central Seriously. I've been interested to hear him talk about the intro to Firth of Fifth -- NOT the flute/guitar solo -- for ages!

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

Drchainsaw77 yeah, why he stopped playing it in concerts, because he was capable of playing it but I heard it was because of the piano sounds of the time that he would of needed to use a grand on tour and it wasn't feasible? But I thought that was BS? Great intro to the song FOF though

[@Drchainsaw77]

Marc Worthington I'm not sure why they quit playing the intro. I've heard at least one recording where it was intact, and I don't think it was the sound quality he objected to -- it was the loss of touch sensitivity that he had with a real piano. Either way, I want someone to find out how he came to write it!

[@TheCorrectAnswer56]

I've heard he stopped playing it for a couple reasons. One being that it lost all its power when played on an electric piano. It almost sounds like he was playing a toy piano. I've heard many bootlegs and I think that assessment is true. I also heard a story (not sure if it's true or not) that he screwed up the intro one time, stopped playing, and yelled out "FUCK" and motioned for the band to just jump into the verse. Oddly enough, the Rainbow concert from 1973 the intro is omitted but the Montreal concert from 1974 the intro is there. So maybe he just needed more practice before bringing it to the stage? I don't know. But I would also love to hear him discuss in detail how he wrote it. It's one of the most complex, yet awesome sounding piano pieces I've ever heard. I have learned to play it and it was quite a task. I can't imagine how you go about actually writing something like that. Tony Banks is a musical genius.

[@Xeur1987]

07:40 One of the best keyboard sounds ever. :)

[@life5161]

I'd love to hear that 3 hour Home By The sea Tape!!

[@jonnykhatru]

Mm Tony mentions in another interview wanting to put it on Archive #2 but they couldn't find the tapes at the time. Wonder if they ever found them...

[@Studio-62]

For years I hear Tony talking about how he and Mike and Phil would have long instrumental jams, recording them, and from these jams create the songs which ended up on the albums. Since Genesis is basically finished now, why don’t they release some of those recordings? I’m sure the old fans would hear the same progressive edge from the classic days, which at that time would end up as Firth Of Fifth, and in the 80s as We Can’t Dance. I would love hear some of it, even in edited form.

[@paulbrocklehurst2346]

I think they are very picky about what they release & if they aren't 100% happy with something it's unlikely to ever get released unfortunately.

[@jenniferpratt765]

Genesis would not be the same without you

[@patrickhackett3878]

A true musician, as opposed to an ego with hired guns.

[@jenniferpratt765]

You amaze me

[@iangarner8857]

I agree with him when he says Second Home by the Sea is their best instrumental piece.

[@ksjoyjespeace]

Deceptively simple, but really quite complicated. ..

[@Bronco541]

I like the way he says "Mama"

[@jaggass]

Hold On My Heart sounds like a Phil Collins song because of the TR-808

[@felsner1]

I never thought it sounded like one of Phil's chopstick ballads. I don't really get why people thought so. The drum machine, maybe, but the chords have it away...

[@davebellamy4867]

0:05 Mama was a GREAT opening number in 1987 cuz it starts with the drum machine and builds. It was a better version than in 84 or on the original album in my view.

[@IThinkYouLookLarvely]

Yes, totally agree - I was very young on seeing it broadcast on TV in 1990, and it made me buy pre-IT albums - and that live version of Los Endos led me to buying Trick of the Tail. Amazing advertising from them even if they didn't mean it :D

[@jonathansavickas7348]

Whenever I hear Tony or see him do a keyboard solo, I joke about him having ants in his fingers and he can't stop moving them. Or maybe they got hyper-caffeinated.

[@jenniferpratt765]

Your so fabulous

[@BanksianCentral]

No problem!! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

Silly as it sounds, i always thought the ticking in “No son of mine” was meant to represent the son driving to his fathers house. Thought it was meant to be an indicator.

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

Nelson Robert Willis yes , whatever its meant to be , the introduction really sets the tone well

[@davebellamy4867]

It's great to hear different interpretations like that.

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

@@davebellamy4867 Ye it goes back to the very first time i heard the song. I heard the ticking as the indicator, then the following 'elephant' noise as him turning the corner.

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

Personally I loved what Tony called the overblown stuff in this interview. When he was talking about the simplicity of I can't dance song he referred to overblowing previous songs in their catalogue. Probably songs like GEOBF and BOEF

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

Yep, that’s them.

[@mikearchibald744]

Yeah, like he says, 'their heart is in the moment' but simplicity is still pretty simple. And its not like poeple go to classical composers for 'simplicity'. If you don't have that complexity, well, you're 'Wham' at the end of the day. To my mind the Battle of Epping Forest is likely the most perfect song I've ever heard, from the crazy lyrics and delivery to the polyrhythmic harmonies. I wouldn't even put their later stuff in the same category. They were coming up with some pretty relevant song lyrics, so the music to me simply was background to the lyrics, whereas the music was at least AS important and the lyrics in the old days, maybe because the lyrics were, uh, well, 'less than commercial' to put it mildly.

[@FossilisedFishooks]

that almost looks like a fashionable haircut

[@johnnyquest6115]

Hawkwind? Interesting, I'm going to check them out.

[@WarrenCromartie2]

Yeah, it's an interesting reference. I love both bands but they really are chalk and cheese.

[@davebellamy4867]

Wow this comment surprises me so I'm gonna listen for the mention of Hawkwing. Would have liked to have heard Tony on keys and Huw Lloyd Langton on guitar. HLL was a big fan of the Ebow like Steve Hackett.

[@paulbrocklehurst2346]

Genesis were influenced by _Hawkwind!_ Who'd a thunk it!

[@drexlspivey5828]

I'm quite a muso when it comes to chord sequences and experimenting with them so this interview is like actual porn

[@julianbelcastro2682]

Does anyone know what is the gadget that Tony was using to switch the sounds of all his keyboards at the same time?

[@yammyhaw]

Not sure anyone knows, but was wondering what midi program changer Tony was using just beneath the JD-800 on right side, to change his patches? Small & compact and looking for something like this.

[@allenbaker_music]

If you watch the music video for "Anything She Does," I think you can see the same program changer sitting on top of the DX7. :) You might be able to see it more clearly. I'm also incredibly curious as to what it is.

[@ubaldoregnani9382]

It's the remote controller of the Miditemp PMM88 MIDI Patchbay

[@kamwrites]

...I can't hear that.... ;)

[@charls.the.composer]

What keyboars use Tony Banks in this tour ?

[@adambanks990]

Uncle Tony

[@Merchantmond]

Mr Banks... an expert at putting the wrong bass notes to a chord and making it work

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

That chord he was talking about is Abmaj7b5/G, simply majestic. I have used that same type of chord multiple times in my own compositions because that is pretty much my favourite chord. No wonder I have only enjoyed the intro of Hold On My Heart but not the rest of the song.

[@morbidmanmusic]

they aren't "wrong" they are substitutions. it is quite common.

[@glenn7350]

#Legend

[@felsner1]

01:00... Hmm? LOL

[@bierologeprof.prosten7792]

:'D Hmm I give a fuck

[@Eleventhearlofmars]

Dodgy sounding Hmm :o

[@felsner1]

@@Eleventhearlofmars His monitor was probably screwing him over... 😄

[@zibbybone]

Anyone know what the little white box just below the JD-800 is? Obviously, it's some kind of MIDI patch changer, just wondering what specifically.

[@alexkron]

It's the remote control of a Miditemp PMM-88.

[@Bronco541]

was this done before or after a live show? cause it looks like he's on a stage; or is that a studio?

[@BanksianCentral]

@@Bronco541 Recorded during The Way We Walk tour.

[@MagnumMuscle1000]

I hate how Genesis "purists" blame Phil for their sound after Gabriel left, when It was Banks who was the driving musical force behind the band. Banks and Rutherford both said they wanted to make hit songs after being a niche prog band for so long. They wanted to prove they could could write hit songs and be popular with a wider audience (women!) .

[@multipipi1234]

Phil was terrific and so was Pete.