Mick Dillingham talks to Curvey about the upcoming Custard Flux album, Phosphorus, in an I Don't Hear A Single Exclusive
The time is finally upon us to immerse ourselves once more in the swirling ocean of musical joy that is the Custard Flux with the brilliant new album Phosphorus. When it comes to the magical out pouring of Greg Curvey I find myself as a reviewer in that familiar and slightly confounding place I’ve been many times before in theses very pages.
To blithely say this is his best yet is a nonsense, because Curvey has always delivered the best, from when The Luck Of Eden Hall reformed in 2006 right through to today and onwards into tomorrow's yet to come. Its all the best and Phosphorus continues that unbroken chain of greatest we have come to expect from this hugely talented man. So what has our friend been up to in these strange times since we last met?
Curvey: "I wanted to be a biker after watching C.C. & Company, a B movie featuring Ann Margret and Joe Namath. It was the early 1970s and I couldn’t get my fill of Cycletoons comix. I idolized Evel Knievel. I drew pictures of motorcycles and monsters all the time.
My Dad had a garage filled with motorcycles, including a Triumph Bonneville, with matching bubble visored helmet and gas tank, a glorious sparkling silver, adorned with orange and yellow flames. Sometimes I’d muster up the courage to cross the forbidden zone and sit on it. I’m pretty sure my Dad knew.
He bought a 50cc Suzuki trail hopper for my step sisters and I to ride and let me take his 175cc Yamaha out a couple of times, which was fantastic, when I got to visit every other weekend. Years later, I had a 1968 Triumph Bonneville for a very brief time, but it was stolen. I was in my late 20s, living in Chicago and it wasn’t the best place to own a motorcycle.
In 2020, after Oxygen was released, I had started working on the basic tracks for Phosphorus, when I saw an absolutely gorgeous 1974 Harley Davidson Sportster for sale. Boom! I decided to sell enough of my childhood collectibles (i.e. cereal premiums, concert tour books and t-shirts, toys, etc.) that were sitting in boxes, and buy the bike.
Being stuck in the house under Covid quarantine was a bit maddening, right? So, I spent the entire summer and fall of 2021 becoming a grease monkey, falling in love with chrome and the smell of burning oil, riding and working on my bike. Then came the Michigan winter. Back to the mixing board and the Phosphorus Album."
Here are Curvey's thoughts on the new songs.
The Pretender
"This song initially started out as a complaint about all of the political lies being casually shoved down our throats, but I decided not to go that route. I really wanted to write some positive, even possibly uplifting, songs. I figured the world didn’t need more negativity after experiencing the pandemic and the Trump fiasco. Goals we set, are goals we get, eh?"
Memory Ends
"In 2021, my brother-in-law, and friend, died unexpectedly. He was a gifted, intelligent being, using his talents to help his family and the folks around him grow and prosper. The world needed him. His passing influenced the lyrics in this song. Inspiration for the music came from chords I started playing while recording the harmonium at the end of the previous song, The Pretender."
Phosphorus
"This is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Red era King Crimson, maybe? It all started with the intro, as it should. Vito Greco and I decided it was the perfect setting for a guitar battle. Why not? I love Tim Prettyman’s double bass part and Mars Williams’ interplanetary saxophone solo rules!"
Station
"I had the music composed and recorded, long before the lyrics settled. In my youth, FM radio was a place to discover new music. Long extended tracks, played back to back, with no commercials. Mahavishnu Orchestra, Genesis, Yes. It didn’t last long, but it was a beautiful thing while it did. The same thing happened with cable TV and the internet. I long for old frequency modulation. FM. Vito’s Portuguese guitar part re-energized my interest in this song, after I’d nearly scrapped it."
The Gardener
"The lyrics are inspired by something one of my High School classmate’s older brother actually pulled off and would have gotten away with, had he not bragged about it to some friends. It was around 1980, before cell phones and cameras were everywhere. Imagine that.
Strawberry Squid
"Practicing scales pays off and inspired this composition. It’s was one of the first tracks written for this project. I wish I was a better drummer. Oh and strawberry squids are real!"
The Man In Blue Wants Out Of His Suit
"Something I posted on a thread once, about some 60s band’s photograph and my friend Steven Curl suggested it would make a good song title. I’m just singing about myself. The good folks at Fruits de Mer Records included this track on their recently released Earworms CD Compilation."
Roses And Wine
"Once again, the music was composed and recorded and in need of a lyric, so I decided to look up the Henry Mancini classic, The Days of Wine and Roses, for some inspiration. I never realized how bad the lyrics to that song were! But, they did inspire me to write something. The music is inspired by a riff I’d recorded on my phone while practicing. I do that quite often."
The Devil May Care
"I really like this mix and Vito’s guitar parts. It’s not really about anything, or anyone, I guess. Stay away from drugs, folks. They will make your life worse."
Sifting The Stars
"This one flowed seamlessly after The Devil May Care and resolved what was a bit of a downer with something uplifting. It’s certainly easy to sing along to and was a good excuse to plug in my Flying V."
Orbital Transport
"Definitely influenced by John Barry’s soundtrack to You Only Live Twice. You may not hear it, but it’s there. Mars on saxophone. When I recorded the triangle during the last part of the song, I set up two mics, positioned facing outward, like the ears on your head and revolved the triangle around the mics in a big circle. There’s some autoharp in there as well."
Staring Straight Into The Sun
"Beware of the charlatans. I’m gobsmacked by how many people swallow the bullshit fed to them by talking heads. That’s what the lyrics are about. The music was written around the riff."
By Order Of The Grand Vizier
"I’d written and recorded the piano and drum parts for this track while I was working on Echo, but it didn’t fit in with the other songs, so I filed it away. When Phosphorus grew beyond the limits of a single LP, I pulled this one out and started working on it again. The ghostly sounds are the combination of an Ebow on my electric guitar and a recorder, the instrument we all had to play in elementary school. I added the motorik bit at the end to extend the composition and Vito absolutely nailed his solo on the Stratocaster. I love this track."
The Face Of Mankind
"It doesn’t happen very often, but most of these lyrics came to me while I was composing the music on guitar. The weight of knowledge can be hard to carry. Isn’t that what the Garden of Eden is all about? Even though it may seem like an easy way out, to be one of the souls who have remained wilfully ignorant, I’m glad to have chosen the path I’m on."
"One of my favourite memories I keep from my years of martial arts training, is from a Kali bow: The hand of friendship is superior to the hand of war. Truth."
Phosphorus will be available to pre-order on the Custard Flux Bandcamp site here from 1 April.
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