Late 2000 saw the release of both a new studio album from IQ, as well as the first solo effort of IQ's keyboardist, Martin Orford. The following is an interview conducted via E-mail:
 

What is your background in music before IQ? What are some of your influences?

Martin: Although I grew up listening to bands like The Beatles and The Byrds, by the time I went to secondary school, I was totally absorbed in classical music, and I was involved (mainly as a flute player) in the school orchestra and other similar ensembles. I therefore completely missed the whole of the 1970's progressive rock phenomenon, so that didn't influence me at all. The only reason I started buying Genesis and Yes albums in about 1977 was because people kept telling me that the music I was writing was similar to them. So as for influences, it has to be classical mixed with 60's pop music.

 

IQ has been around for over twenty years - How did the band form, and what were your initial goals musically? How did you feel your recorded output has met your expectations?  Where there any bands or artists that particularly inspired you to form IQ?

Martin: IQ was formed when Mike Holmes and I broke up The Lens in 1981. Basically we folded the band because we couldn't work with Brian Marshall, the drummer anymore. The Lens had existed in some form since about 1976, and I joined in 1978. It was mainly instrumental, and you can hear a pretty good representation of what it was like on the recent "A Word In Your Eye" CD. Our initial musical goals in IQ were to create a completely eclectic mix of styles, and some of our early material was closer to Talking Heads or Return to Forever than it was to prog rock. We even released a reggae single, but after a while, the prog stuff seemed to be the most popular so we concentrated on that, even though we still occasionally play some of the more dance-orientated tunes for encores. I think it is a shame in some ways that we did lose some of the band's eccentricity, though it did really confuse our audiences in the early days. I'm generally pleased with most of our recordings though "Seven Stories" really did need the re-recording we did in 1998, and "Tales From The Lush Attic" is a bit raw too as the whole album was done virtually live in 4 days.
 

What is/are your favourite IQ album and songs?

Martin: My favourite album is still Subterranea, but favourite tracks vary from time to time. On the recent tour I really enjoyed "The Magic Roundabout" as we hadn't played it for ages and it sounded great.
 

How does the band go about putting together songs?  Do individual writers bring ideas to the group rehearsal in complete form, or are pieces written as a group?

Martin: There is a lot of fighting involved. IQ is made up of five of the most opinionated people imaginable, and a writing session can be like World War 3, with violent behaviour by no means unknown.  There are no fixed rules for writing IQ tracks; sometimes there are true band pieces that we're all involved in, and sometimes one of us (usually me or Mike) will come up with a more or less finished piece. Usually it's somewhere between those two extremes.

How did you approach writing the pieces for your recent solo album? Some of them you wrote many years ago, but were there any written specifically for the project or any of the players involved?

Martin: Some of the tracks are indeed very old, but most of the "band" pieces are more recent. The writing process could not have been more different to IQ as I wanted complete control of every instrument part on the album. When guest musicians were brought into the studio, they often asked me how much artistic freedom they were allowed on the CD, and they were generally met with the answer "none". Being brought up on a diet of classical music, I think it is entirely reasonable to expect musicians to play the exact notes that the writer of the music wishes to hear! I am not a great fan of improvisation at the best of times, and even now, I still find the concept of writing music with other people rather strange. Despite my dictatorial approach with the solo CD, I was careful to choose parts that I thought various musicians would like to play, and I think they all enjoyed the experience once they had got used to my non-negotiable means of working.

 

IQ is usually classified as a neo-prog band, although you take umbrage with this tag - why? I have always taken this description to describe the second wave of British prog bands that started in the early eighties, such as yourself, Marillion, Pallas, Twelfth Night, etc.

Martin: I know what the dictionary definition of "neo" is, but it's almost always used in a derogatory sense. Some examples: "Neo-classical" = like classical but not as good, " Neo Nazi" = silly little boys with swastikas and daft hats. I could go on, but you get the idea. In my book, neo = fake, and IQ is no fake band - we're every bit as good as the 70's prog bands and a whole lot better than most of them in my (not very humble) opinion. 20 years worth of consistent record sales does not lie - we are the genuine article. In any case, the correct name of the movement with which IQ was associated (i.e. what it was actually known as at the time) was the "New Wave Of Progressive Rock". The neo-progressive term emerged from the USA about 10 - 12  years later, presumably coined by pseudo-intellectuals that weren't actually there when it was all happening. Thankfully, the term "neo-progressive" is very rarely used in the UK.
 

Where do you see progressive rock heading?  There has been a recent resurgence, but do you think this momentum is sustainable?  Do you think it's a little retrogressive for a lot bands to be re-treading areas that were already explored in the 70's, or is that what "progressive rock" has become today?

Martin: Unfortunately I think that progressive rock is heading right up its own backside. I haven't heard a band since Spock's Beard that is doing anything that really interests me, and there are so many early Marillion clones around, it's really depressing. There are far too many people allegedly playing prog rock that see their music as some kind of great art rather than the boring, humourless crap it actually is. Prog rock is part of the entertainment business, for heaven's sake! If you're in a band, your primary concern should be making sure that the people that go to your gigs have a great night out. My advice to any aspiring prog band would be "write great tunes and put on a great show". If you can't do that, don't bother! I am absolutely certain that unless prog rock produces some more great songwriters that know how to work an audience, it will simply die out.

How often does the band play live? Do you prefer playing live to recording in the studio or vice versa?

Martin: We do a maximum of about 10 gigs a year, but it can be less than that if we are working on an album. All the members of IQ work full-time, mostly in non-musical professions, and we have absolutely no plans to become full-time musicians! Despite this, we are still more prolific than Pink Floyd, and they don't have to get up to go to the office every day! I tend to prefer gigging to recording. When there's an album being recorded, I spend the minimum time I have to doing my parts and leave the studio as quickly as possible. I do like working with vocals though, and I'm generally around for when the vocal tunes and arrangements need to be sorted out.

IQ headlined the inaugural NEARfest in 1999 here in the US, as well as playing ProgFest in 1994. Are there any plans for the band to come back to the US any time soon?

Martin: There are no definite plans at the moment. The US is one of the toughest countries in the world to try to get into if you're a musician. The US Immigration Service is ferocious in their treatment of visiting bands and it's not at all unusual for musicians arriving carrying guitars but no work permits to be sent back on the next plane home. Actually getting work permits is out of the question unless you sell thousands of CD's on a major label, so the only other option is to sneak in as tourists and play for free. Clearly this is only viable for occasional one-off gigs as a tour would clearly not work with no means of bringing in any money to cover the costs. It is of course difficult to convince band members to play for no money, pay their own expenses and to have to endure a frosty reception at a US airport when we could play in Europe instead and make a little bit of money out of it. Sadly unless the US authorities stop regarding musicians like illegal aliens or worse, the situation is unlikely to improve.
 

You started, and now run the Giant Electric Pea record label. What was the impetus behind starting your own label?

Martin: When we were dropped by Polygram we had a simple choice; form our own label or quit music completely. I am certain we would not have been able to get a deal with another major label. Having seen the job Polygram did in promoting IQ we could hardly do a worse job than they did, and indeed we have fared much better since we took control of our own destiny.
 

You're often involved with other projects such as Jadis, or the John Wetton band. Are there any other projects you're working on in the near future besides IQ?

Martin: No, I'm going to take a bit of a break from music for a while. I need to recharge the batteries, write some more music and learn how to get the best out of some of my recent keyboard purchases. There will be a few gigs along the way, but generally I'm having a quiet year.

Finally, what's on the horizon for IQ and yourself? Are there any plans for another solo album?

Martin: I would like there to be another solo album (if anyone will still work with me!) and I'll be working steadily towards that over the next 12 months. There may well be a new IQ studio album in 2003 and probably a Jadis album before the end of this year. In addition to my work running the record company that should be plenty to keep me amused!

- Mike Prete [April 2002]