KURDT VANDERHOOF
The great and good of progressive music give us a glimpse into their prog worlds. As told to Grant Moon
Where’s home?
Aberdeen, Washington. I’m the other Kur(d)t from Aberdeen!
Your first prog memory?
Listening to Sgt. Pepper and all that late 60s stuff as a young kid, and getting ELP’s Tarkus for my tenth birthday.
The first prog record you bought?
Yes’ Close To The Edge from a record store in Aberdeen called Bilbo Baggins Music Street!
First prog gig?
Queen at the Paramount Theater Seattle on the Sheer Heart Attack tour [1975]. Kansas opened up for them, and they cooked all our minds.
Favourite piece of technology?
iPods are great for when you’re working out, and I have a computer because you have to. But I’ve shut off the Wi-Fi in my house and I’ve disconnected my iPhone, and I record to tape whenever I can.
Any guilty pleasures in your music collection?
Plenty – ABBA, Sex Pistols, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell. I like a lot of different stuff.
What would be your Mastermind specialist subject?
The history of Kansas or Rush. I’m a total music nerd.
Your favourite venue?
The Paramount Theater in Seattle. That Queen and Kansas show, seeing Rush open for Kiss – I was pretty much there every weekend for a time. And playing the Whisky [a Go Go] in Los
Angeles is always fun, because of the history.
Outside of prog, what else are you into?
Camping. I just bought a 1967 Streamline chrome camp trailer that I’m refurbishing for the spring. So in between tours I can go out and be a hippie in the woods, with no hair!
Who is your prog hero?
Keith Emerson. That guy was incredibly good and cool as fuck.
What do you collect?
Vintage analogue synthesisers, vintage guitars, old audio equipment like tube compressors and pre-amps, and I’ve started rebuilding my vinyl collection recently too.
The last album you bought?
The 2112 vinyl boxset reissue, with the red star hologram thing on it, which was really cool.
What was the last gig you went to?
Cruise To The Edge [in 2014]. Presto Ballet played, and it was
great to see UK, Renaissance, who I really love, and Steve Hackett was just amazing.
Ever had a prog date?
No. It’s not really date rock, is it!? I did go on a date to a Neil Diamond concert once, and while I have nothing but respect for him as a songwriter, the whole night felt like a Saturday
Night Live skit!
Who do you call in the prog community for a good night out?
I don’t go out! I have no life! When I’m home I’m home and listening to records, and there’s nowhere to go here anyway.
What’s the most important prog song for you?
Close To The Edge. That mellow breakdown in the middle where they start spacing out, to me that’s the high point of prog rock right there.
Which prog muso would you most like to work with?
I’d love to work with Kerry Livgren. To this day his writing blows my mind.
Which prog record always gets you in a good mood?
On The Threshold Of A Dream by The Moody Blues. A Sunday morning, coffee, The Moody Blues, and I’m ‘gently swaying through the fairy-land of love…’
Who’s the best prog artist you’ve ever seen?
Rush opening for Kiss that time [in ’75]. I was 14 years old, they opened up with Finding My Way and by the time they finished their set I knew what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
Recommend us a good proggy read.
I’ve just finished The Killing Of Uncle Sam [by Rodney HowardBrowne], which explains what’s going on politically and socially now, and how we got here. It’s crazy out there, man.
What’s your favourite album cover?
I always liked Starcastle’s first album cover [Starcastle]. It sums up the whole prog rock mentality to me. I can see it airbrushed on the side of a van in the 70s.
What are you up to at the moment?
Metal Church’s album Damned If You Do is out now and we’re touring that in the US in the spring, with festivals including Bloodstock to come in summer. Presto Ballet’s new album The Days Between is out too, and we’re hoping to play some shows in Europe later in 2019.
Starcastle’s first album cover sums up the whole prog mentality
to me.