Tony Visconti on Holy Holy: 'I love playing The Width Of A Circle, it’s a real barn burner'
Holy Holy, the supergroup featuring David Bowie’s long-time producer Tony Visconti and Woody Woodmansey, drummer in the Spiders from Mars, have long declared “we’re not a tribute band; we are the real deal”.
This month they intend to demonstrate it all over again when they head out on a national tour.
Fronted by Glenn Gregory, singer in the Sheffield synth-pop group Heaven 17, their ranks also include lead guitarist James Stevenson and Visconti’s daughter Jessica Lee Morgan on vocals, saxophone and guitar, they visit the O2 Academy Leeds on Friday.
Bass guitarist Visconti, who last month turned 81, tells The Yorkshire Post he is looking forward to it. “I’m always happy to be back in Holy Holy with Woody,” he says. “Glenn Gregory is an amazing front man. My daughter is in the band. What’s there not to like?”
As a rhythm section, he feels that he and Woodmansey have a special understanding “from the very first rehearsal when we started this, maybe seven years ago”, adding: “I walked into a rehearsal, picked up a bass waiting for me and Woody and I locked in immediately, just like we did in the ’70s, only better.”
As for Glenn Gregory’s interpretations of the songs, he says: “The fans in the audience swoon over Glenn’s renditions. He doesn’t try to sing like Bowie, he interprets the song his own way.
“Glenn has a deeper voice than David and we dropped the keys of all the songs two semitones. That almost makes the band sound heavier in those lower keys. No one has ever complained, although some audience members with ‘perfect pitch’ commented favourably after meeting us backstage after the shows.”
The band’s line-up is largely unchanged “except Paul Cuddeford made a prior commitment he couldn’t get out of”, Visconti says. “My daughter Jessica is still in the band playing sax, 12-string guitar and singing back ups and solo on Lady Stardust,” he adds.
Where on previous tours Holy Holy have focused on Bowie’s material from 1969 to 1972, this time the intention is to celebrate a broader selection from his catalogue – some of which, Bowie never had the chance to perform live himself before his death in 2016.
“We are including newer songs, we did Where Are We Now on the last tour,” he says. “The criteria for choosing songs is that Woody and I played on or produced the music. So we can do Ziggy Stardust because Woody was the actual drummer. I’m along for the ride on that song and I love to play it.”
As for which songs in the new set mean the most to him personally, Visconti says: “We are still working on the new set, so I can’t really comment. I love playing The Width Of A Circle. It’s a real ‘barn burner’ and the band needs to play that eight-minute masterpiece because it’s a good work out.”
Holy Holy present A Celebration of David Bowie Live! at O2 Academy Leeds on Friday May 16. http://www.holyholy.co.uk/