ROB O’CONNOR

You’ll know his artwork from acts such as Siouxsie And The Banshees, Blur and Floyd’s The Endless River. Let’s go prog-spotting with Stylorouge’s creative whiz.

“Igrew up listening to mainly black music in a household where my mum and dad liked to sing together. My older sister was a bit of mod, into ska and bluebeat. I lived directly between two record shops, Challenger & Hicks in Dartford and Carousel in Swanley, and it was the biggest thrill of my week to go to either or both of them. I gravitated towards the blues – my first single was by local boys the Rolling Stones – and I used to paint pictures of mainly blues artists on my bedroom wall, while the back of my bedroom door was all about Charlton Athletic FC.

My teens were spent listening to bands such as Pretty Things and The Kinks, and lots of early pirate radio. I couldn’t imagine a band being any better than Cream. I always thought the Disraeli Gears artwork was fantastic, but only later would I realise that cover was revolutionary. Martin Sharp took the countercultural style and printed it in dayglo inks. No one had done that before.

The first band I saw live was Canned Heat supported by The Groundhogs. Groundhogs came from a blues trio base but then moved into their own niche. Thank Christ For The Bomb is a really interesting record. It has the blues and prog, mixed with a story about war and alienation. It was quite intense for a 17-year-old to get into after the Stones, but along with Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow, it was preparing me for sounds to come.

A lot of the things I listened to from my sister’s collection were on Tamla Motown. I was drawn to The Temptations – the arrangements were different and they had a rock sensibility. Their songs became a big political deal, preceding Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. They have a compilation, Psychedelic Soul, that I go back to often as I like the idea of fusing soul with rock, which is where Humble Pie come in. I’d got into Small Faces after the hits and continued listening to what Steve Marriott did after. I pull out Performance: Rockin’ The Fillmore a lot. I love live albums and this does it for me every time.

I got into Family after hearing In My Own Time. In those days, singles had a habit of floating into the Top 40, no matter how odd. I love Roger Chapman’s vocal – at that point I was aspiring to make my voice sound like his. My favourite album is It’s Only A Movie, but I have to acknowledge Bandstand for its superb TV-shaped sleeve.

I used to go to Farningham folk club every Friday night – it’s where I learnt how to drink! – so I heard Fairport Convention there. I loved the first two albums and bought What We Did On Our Holidays. I loved Sandy Denny’s voice and followed her through Fotheringay and her solo career. Sandy is a winner from beginning to end – her songwriting is really good around the period of Sandy, and she died too young.

Coming from Kent, I was keen to find out what was going on with the Canterbury sound. The most challenging end was

Soft Machine, although it did introduce me to Robert Wyatt, who I followed for years, and Kevin Ayers. I found Ayers the most quirky, strange and wonderful creature. What I like about Whatever she brings we sing is the length of the tracks as much as anything – they immerse you. The whole album is great.

It was cheeky, challenging and slightly rebellious in a hippie, non-aggressive kind of way. He’s funny in the same way that

Viv Stanshall is.

I remember him being lauded as part of the Harvest Records group. Then he went to Island, which must have been a bit of a coup as that was the label that nurtured that kind of crazy spirit. He sat right there alongside the mavericks like John Martyn, who I was a fan of from the moment I heard him. This was at university – I’d started in Brighton but in my second year I was in Coventry. Coventry in the 70s was seedy and unpleasant, a 1950/60s town centre that was barren and postmodern. Music was a good escape and I’d see lots of bands. My flatmate got me into Solid Air and that’s what I go back to the most from his catalogue. He turned into a bit of an arse in the end, but he continued to make great, transcendent music and his later electric stuff, the things he did with pedals and sound, was very innovative.

For me, King Crimson can do no better than Red. Fripp’s genius is that he knows his place. He’s the architect and guitarist, and he assembles such great players. When I worked [in the art department] at Polydor, we did the cover for Beat and I met Fripp. We’d done a The League Of Gentleman album and solo album

Let The Power Fall, with artwork by Danielle Dax. I remember thinking what an amazingly generous spirit he is, with a great sense of humour. However pompous people might think they are, there’s a humour in the music that makes them very credible.

I was into guitars and guitarists, and probably through Fripp I heard of John McLaughlin. I bought The Inner Mounting Flame by Mahavishnu Orchestra. It’s not an easy album, but from that I got more into jazz. I love that he’s a proper hippie and a Yorkshireman. He espoused the value of gurus and ended up being one himself. One time I saw him at Crystal Palace on a scorching hot afternoon. I looked up at him on stage and totally got it.

As a latecomer, I’d dismissed Japan. But after Japan I’d heard of David Sylvian and thought, ‘He seems like an interesting character.’ Secrets Of The Beehive caught me. Now I go back to it all the time. It reminds me of a 16th-century house that we’d moved into. It was very dark, gloomy, and you felt like you’d gone back in time. It really suited this album. I bought every Sylvian album ever since and this is in my Top 10. People think he’s a bit up his own arse but he’s got a lot to say, and this has a lovely ambience to it.

I’m always listening to new stuff – or new to me. DJ

David Holmes is like Yello to me: he’s a craftsman of sound. I’ve selected Come Get It I Got It as it’s all sorts of music – soul, rock, electronic – and in a similar, cinematic vein to Barry Adamson. Holmes has made soundtracks for years and even if this music isn’t for a soundtrack, it feels like one.

These days, eMusic online has been where I discover a lot of things – smaller bands, but very interesting stuff. The Decemberists’ The Hazards Of Love and Midlake’s The Courage Of Others are albums that have great atmosphere that take you somewhere, even though these aren’t concept albums. These bands are not afraid to be acoustic one minute then electric the next, always with excellent storytelling. I get this from White Denim as well, one of the most intelligent rock bands of this century.

My latest adventure is promoting shows. It’s that thing about live music – it got me as a teenager, it gets me now. And I want to pass that on.”

“SANDY DENNY IS A WINNER FROM BEGINNING TO END – HER SONGWRITING IS REALLY GOOD AROUND THE PERIOD OF AND SHE DIED TOO YOUNG.”