Mike Oldfield Tubular.net
Too many years back, before the World could contemplate space from the Han Solo's spaceship, shed a tender tear for curious ET and support Dr. Spock in his discussions over Captain Kirk, Arthur C. Clarke wrote a story that ignited the space conquest on film, when it was inmortalized by Stanley Kubrick in 1968. "2001, A Space Oddessey" has been a much needed reference since then, and a starting point to understand many other interesting writings from Clarke's creative mind. That is how Mike Oldfield's musical genious found "The Songs Of Distant Earth", and based on it worked on his most recent work which has the same name. As usual on any of the Oldfield albums, there is a lot of talent added to a computer designed complex system that gives life to this brand new project, recorded at Oldfield's own studio in Buckinghamshire, outside London.
Did it help you being successful since your youth?
From an objective point of view, right now at 41, I'd say that, yes, it helped me, because it gave me professional and financial freedom. These days I do what I want, but it didn't help me when I was 20. Back then I found myself really confused; from being nobody I became popular, so I asked myself: What was wrong before? I ran away from everybody, hypocrisy disguised as friendship was something I couldn't stand: I made a lot of money and became a hermit for a while. The best thing of it was, I was growing up and maturing.
Did you reflect those feelings within your music?
Probably. In fact my music has always been mature. When I work on it I don't feel this music as mine; I'm only a puppet or a slave. That music comes out from nowhere. I don't feel like I'm doing it. I'm some kind of medium... Yesterday, when we were listening to the new record with all these people, I just feel like any of you. I've never felt like a musician; it' s something more spiritual: I fall in trance and the sounds come out by themselves.
Tell me about three records you feel the most satisfied with, neither mentioning "Tubular Bells" nor the new one.
"Ommadawn" was a very fullfilling one... "Amarok"... I loved working on that record, it was quite a challenge: I didn't use any computers: all sounds are produced by instruments and that gave a bigger value to me... "Tubular Bells II."