by Steve Patrick
– Senior Columnist —
It is hard to fathom that anyone that plays keyboards for Ozzy Osbourne and keys/guitar for Black Sabbath would have any free time for another project, but thankfully that is exactly the case with Adam Wakeman. When he isn’t touring or recording with Ozzy, Sabbath, or his famous father Rick Wakeman (Yes), Adam devotes his time to Headspace, the Progressive Metal band that he co-founded with Threshold vocalist Damian Wilson.
Headspace consists of Wakeman, Wilson, Pete Rinaldi (Hot Leg), Lee Pomeroy (ELO, Steve Hackett), and Adam Falkner (Babyshambles One Eskimo). 2012 saw the band release their debut album I Am Anonymous to critical acclaim. Four years later, the band is about to deliver their highly anticipated sophomore record All That You Fear is Gone on February 26th.
Always the multi-tasker, Wakeman took some time to speak with Hardrock Haven about Headspace’s new album while out on tour with Sabbath. When asked what the band wanted to do differently for the second album, Wakeman replied, “We wanted to kind of continue on this one because this is part of a trilogy. So the first album was based on the individual and sort of passages through this individual’s life. This kind of focus is more on the human need to group and the kind of inability for that grouping to control the individual, whether that group is religious, or big businesses, or pharmaceutical companies…all those kind of groups and governments that try to influence the individual. So that’s kind of the loose theme through this album.”
All That You Fear is Gone has an optimistic conclusion at its core. Wakeman wisely explained, “Ultimately you can’t really change the individual. You’ve got to kind of stick to what you know is true.”
During the chat, Wakeman touched on how he tackles his hectic schedule: “I think that one thing having children taught me is you have to start planning things a long way ahead. So, for example, I knew that this tour was coming up with Sabbath and rehearsals started in December, so I knew at the start of last year that if we were going to get the writing finished we had to really push on and get that done by the summer of last year. So the album was actually finished in July and then we had to just wait for Jens Bogren to become free to mix it, so that took a few months…then the record company needs time before they release it.”
When asked if he’s shared Headspace’s new music with his dad, Wakeman explained that his music stays closely guarded until he’s ready to share it. “Yeah, he heard the first album. He liked the first album. I haven’t played him the second one. I don’t play anything to anybody until it’s finished. I won’t play…even my wife…anything until it’s literally done, mastered, finished. It’s just because people don’t have the same view as you of how it’s going to end up, so I can write a song sitting in my hotel room on a guitar and I can already sort of feel how it’s going to end up when it’s finished and recorded. I can’t expect somebody to hear what I’m playing and know the same thing…how it’s going to end up. So for me I just want to get it as finished and as good as it can possibly be and then I’ll play it to people. When I’m back the CDs will be out so I’ll send my dad one and see if he likes it.”
At the time of the interview, Wakeman was waiting for the Sabbath tour to resume after it unfortunately had to grind to a halt due to Ozzy’s illness. Wakemen was sympathetic of his boss’ condition and said, “If you’re a keyboard player and you’ve got sinusitis, it’s horrible but you can kind of get through a gig. If you’re a singer, you can’t. You’re at the mercy of antibiotics or just getting better. You can’t rush it. It’s so frustrating for him because in 13 years he’s only cancelled 2 shows…that haven’t been, you know, rescheduled. These things don’t happen lightly, but he doesn’t want to do a show where he’s going to be bad. He wants it to give it his all, so he’s just waiting to be back on top form and then we’ll get started again.”
In Black Sabbath, Wakeman not only plays keys but also a healthy amount of rhythm guitar to flesh out Sabbath’s more nuanced classics. Asked if it’s ever intimidating to play guitar parts alongside Tony Iommi, Wakeman explained, “Well, it’s funny. Tony’s so laid back about stuff. Him and Ozzy are very similar in one way. They have a very high standard of stuff. They don’t…they only really sort of tell you if something’s wrong. You know, if something’s not quite right or they want you to play a certain thing.”
Wakeman continued, “My job, really, is very much I try to play the rhythm parts and tie them in as close as I can to Tony, so that when then solos it doesn’t just sort of drop out underneath. That there’s something going on. It’s purely a rhythm guitar part. You know, I learned the parts off the record, but then it’s sort of different when you’re looking across the stage…I’m off to the side of the stage and I’m looking across. You kind of have to pinch yourself sometimes. Going from playing these in the bedroom when I was 15 years old to standing there playing it alongside Tony is pretty special.”
On Osbourne’s 2010 offering Scream, Wakeman co-wrote 5 of the 11 tracks on the album. The question came up as to whether or not he thought there would be another Ozzy solo album following the Sabbath tour. Wakeman sounded optimistic that The Price of Darkness was far from closing up shop: “I mean, I don’t know. From what I gather, Ozzy certainly doesn’t want to just sit by the pool drinking coffee. He likes performing. He likes writing. He likes, you know, doing what he does.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see I think. See how this finishes up. I think all the time he can, he will. I think that’s the same with most musicians. You don’t really retire. You might slow down a bit, but you don’t really retire. It’s like if you’re a painter, you don’t stop painting, sell your brushes and take up golf. I think it’s kind of more in you, isn’t it? If you love it, you keep doing it. There’s no reason to stop it unless you don’t enjoy it.”
During our conversation with Wakeman he discussed getting the Ozzy keyboard gig, forming Headspace, the importance of diversity as a musician, the status of his other band Snakecharmer, and playing his father’s keyboard used on the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath recording sessions. To listen to these topics in the full interview audio, please click below.
Headspace’s new album All That You Fear is Gone is available on February 26th via Inside Out. For more information, please visit www.headspaceonline.com.
