Just weeks before The Australian Pink Floyd’s show at The Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, I had a chance to talk to lead singer, Chris Barnes.
The full sit-down interview is available below:
Singer: You’ve been in the Australian Pink Floyd for what is going to be eight years this November. Can you tell us a little bit about how you first came into the band?
Barnes: Yeah, I knew the band basically. The long story is that I ran a children’s music workshop and I got to know the band through the drummer because I taught his daughter at the music workshop.
He and I became friends and got chatting and then the kids from that music workshop actually got on stage with the band and sang, you know the famous “We don’t need no education” all in school uniforms, you know, really look the part. They did that for a couple of years in Manchester in the United Kingdom where I’m from. We did that and then Paul [Bonney] and I were talking and he just said “Look if something ever came up, would you be interested in joining in somewhere?” “Yeah, absolutely.” I got to know the guys in the band and got really on with everybody.
So it was just a case of playing the waiting game really and then I got a phone call from Steve. And he just rang and said “Are you interested in auditioning? “And I was like, “Yeah, yeah, of course I am.” And that was. 2015 So yeah, eight years ago now. So yeah, it was it took a while but yeah, well worth the weight.
Singer: Out of every Pink Floyd album. Your favorite is 1970 one is “Meddle.” Why is that out of all their records? Is that one your favorite?
Barnes: It’s a couple of reasons. I would say the main reason being that I was aware of Pink Floyd but I was aware of early Syd Barrett, there was stuff from “Relics,” and I was off school. And I remember staying up late watching the TV and the Pompeii concert came on and the first track on that was “Echoes.” I was just completely blown away by it and thought it was amazing.
I remember I went shopping in Manchester to a secondhand record shop and was looking through the Pink Floyd sections trying to find this song called “Echoes.”
It was in that period just before Dark Side [of the Moon] when they’re still kind of finding their way and experimenting and trying different things out. I think there’s just something magical about that period. But yeah, echoes for me is this. It’s the greatest thing that Floyd ever did. It’s everything I love about that band in one song.
Singer: You mentioned secondhand record shops, if I read correctly, and correct me if I’m wrong, if you weren’t a musician you would be owning a secondhand record shop?
Barnes: Absolutely.
Singer: Now, you’re talking to one of the biggest vinyl record fans out there. Do you have a favorite record or even a collection that is?
Barnes: I do have a collection., I’ve got probably about 1000 LPs, something like that. Yeah, probably over, maybe getting close to 1500, I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve counted but my favorite album of all time would be Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” definitely.
Singer: So Nirvana and Pink Floyd, very two different sides of the music spectrum. How did you get into Nirvana? While of course still loving Pink Floyd?
Barnes: I do. I’m very eclectic. I mean, I’m wearing a Blur shirt today. But I do have a very eclectic taste. I’m trying to think I heard” Smells Like Teen Spirit” somewhere and was quite taken aback. But it was the song “Lithium” that I heard. I just thought because it’s quite melodic at the start and it’s quiet and it’s not just lots of screaming and loud guitars.
I was kind of taken with the lyrics of Kurt’s [Cobain] voice, the chord sequences, really nice. And yeah, that’s all that was probably, late ‘91, early ‘92, something like that. I’m was such a ridiculous Nirvana nerd. It’s insane.
Singer: So you mentioned Nirvana in the vocals from Kurt Cobain. What is your favorite song in the Pink Floyd catalog, that is to sing?
Barnes: To sing, currently, in our set with us doing the Dark Side 50 Tour because it’s the 50th anniversary Dark Side. It’s the end of the album when you’ve got “Brain Damage,” and “Eclipse.” There’s just something really special about it because by the end of “Eclipse,” there’s myself. Ricky [Howard] on bass and Dave on guitar. We’re all singing in harmony. The background vocal girls are singing as well. It’s almost like a choir sound. And it’s just this euphoric moment.
Singer: Why is it important for you and the rest of the band to celebrate the 50th anniversary? I mean, it’s a really historic landmark in terms of the anniversary of “The Dark Side of the Moon” record.
Barnes: Pink Floyd’s kind of in their own category to me, they’re not I mean, you’ve got all the classic bands like [Led] Zeppelin and the Beatles and The Stones and The Who and you know, Deep Purple or whatever, and all the prog bands. Pink Floyd doesn’t really fit into any of those categories.
Yeah, so it’s the 50th anniversary. I remember seeing the band when they did the 40th-anniversary tour 10 years ago and seeing the response from the audience. So when I knew this tour was coming around, I was very excited because I just thought we were gonna get to do that.
You know, it’s really important, and like I said, you know, we start the show with it, and people come into the theater, and we, venue permitting, we’ve got this giant inflatable moon on the stage and it’s that people know what they’re in for. They’re excited because they know it’s not like when you go to see a band, you don’t know what the setlist is going to be, you know, great They’re doing Dark Side so we know where we’re going now for the next 45 minutes and it’s just a great album.
Singer: Did you ever see yourself becoming a touring musician if you asked yourself as a kid to look into the future would you ever figure that maybe you would be touring with the Australian Pink Floyd or touring at all that is?
Barnes: Yeah, because my dad was a musician. He’s retired now but he was a musician and he played bass in an Elvis Tribute that toured the UK. My summer holidays would be spent in theaters around the UK watching the equipment being loaded in and watching soundcheck. My mom and my brother would be out shopping and doing things with other with the other wives and kids and I would just be in the theater just helping and “Oh can I help you do that?”
I think just watching that was kind of seeping in, you know, and then I’d learned guitar later and drums and things. Then when I got on I’d got into a band with school friends and then I was 14, my dad said he left that [Elvis tribute] band and he started a 60s covers band and he just said “If you want to do this properly, come out and do gigs with us.”
By 14 I was gigging with my dad and that really was your baptism of fire playing Northern clubs in the UK and took for instance, you know that scene in The Blues Brothers when they walk in and the guy goes, “chicken wire?” it wasn’t as bad as that but it wasn’t far.
Singer: If there’s one thing that fans should know before coming to your show, what would that be?
Barnes: That they’re gonna get a night of great things like music from all eras because as well as playing Dark Side we’re doing everything from the Syd Barrett period, the early 70s space rock period, all the big albums in the 70s which you hear, “Animals,” “The Wall,; they all get covered.
Then the latest stuff after Roger left and David Gilmore was running the band, this music from that period as well so you literally get in every box is ticked. Basically, if you’re a Floyd fan, you’re in for a great night.
Singer: If there’s one thing that you hope fans take away from your shows, what would that be?
Barnes: We, as musicians take this music very, very seriously and it’s not about us showing off how great we are as players or singers or whatever. It’s the music that’s important. You know, the show is amazing with lights and lasers and inflatables and the video screen with the films. That’s all amazing.
I think it’s people reliving the flight experience, you know, we’re replicating the album and it’s not kind of, “Hey, let’s do another solo because we’re great.” It’s kind of we’re invisible. Just listen to the music, you know. So it’s the music that is the important thing. Above everything else.
Fans can go to Ticketmaster on their phones or online for tickets to see the Australian Pink Floyd show. Check them out before it’s too late.
