Interview: Think Floyd

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Photo by Ian Bateman

This extraordinary band, regarded as the UK’s number one Pink Floyd tribute, are renowned for their stunning celebration of one of the world’s greatest musical icons.

For over 20 years, the incredibly talented musicians who make up the Think Floyd show have managed to faithfully recreate all the atmosphere, visual magnitude and musical excellence of Pink Floyd live on stage. It’s no wonder they have long been regarded as The UK’s finest tribute to Pink Floyd.

Celebrating 50 years since Pink Floyd’s first release, Think Floyd’s brand new show for 2017 will feature music from all 15 Pink Floyd albums; from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, through The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, to the band’s final release The Endless River.

Complete with am impressive laser light show and a dedicated team of sound and lighting engineers this is a must-see for all Pink Floyd fans!

The guys are set to play Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal among other venues this year and in preparation of this, we managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their proudest moment, 2017 shows and more!

So since you’ve formed as Think Floyd, what has been your most proudest moment to date?

I joined the band in 2001 and since then I’ve had some amazing experiences with the band and been privileged to play some great places.
One moment that stands out is playing in Dubai in 2015: it was only a small venue, but it was packed with people from the UK, USA, Iran, Siria, Russia who all knew every lyric to every song we played. It was rather moving to see all the different nationalities united by their love of Pink Floyd.

You have a fair few shows coming in the coming months, what one are you looking forward to most?
We’ve had a very busy start to 2017 playing 25 shows over a relatively short period of time.
We’re very lucky that we get to see parts of the U.K. that we perhaps wouldn’t get to see otherwise and have found some great places over the years.
It’s impossible to pick a favorite one, but it’s always nice to play new places, or places we’ve not played for a long time.
Are you looking forward to playing Portsmouth’s New Theatre Royal on 21st April?
We’re only ever played Portsmouth once or twice: I’m pretty sure we played the ‘old’ theatre royal in about 2001/2 before it had been transformed into the New Theatre Royal, so we’re particularly looking forward this one.
What is your favourite song from Pink Floyd?
It changes regularly, but at the moment my favourite track to play is Pigs (3 different ones)
What member of Pink Floyd each influenced you the most?
Each member of Pink Floyd is equally important I think.
The band were very lucky to have lots of studio time in the early days and throughout their career to be able to experiment with sounds, synths and relatively new recording techniques. We’re able to recreate the sounds using modern digital technology, but it still amazes me when I listed to something like Dark Side of the Moon just how groundbreaking the sound is.
Have any of the members of the bands noticed you guys before?
Although not officially, it has been reported that several members have been to some of our shows.
We used to play at a festival in Lindos on the Greek Island of Rhodes, the amphitheatre we played was overlooked by Dave Gilmour’s house and some of his family were there filming the show one year, so no doubt he would have seen it.
Do you think Pink Floyd will ever reform again with just three members, almost similar to what Queen done?
I don’t think they would ever do what Queen did because they’ve had very successful solo careers, but I’m sure they will continue to guest at each other’s shows as they have done over the years.
How much does your fans mean to you that go and watch you guys?
It means everything because we are playing the music for the fans.
We try and base our set on suggestions and requests for the fans.
There’s a few Pink Floyd tribute acts, what do you guys do to stand out?
From what I have seen, quite a few other Floyd tributes base their show on the “Pulse” era Floyd from the 90s with lots of extra musicians on stage.
We try to stay true to the original albums when the band were just a 4 piece.
We do of course have a fantastic female vocalist and Sax player and cover all era’s of Floyd, but I think we’re probably a bit more like the Floyd of the 1970s