Nigel Hopkins Talks ‘The Journey’ Album, Music Gear and More

Your new album ‘The Journey’ will be officially released this year. What was the thought process behind the album?

I decided to make my first album an album of Chris de Burgh songs as I’d been working with Chris for 16 years and wanted to honour his music. A few friends had suggested doing this album as I had done some alternative arrangements of Chris’s songs for the “Home” album that never got to see the light of day.

Given Chris De Burgh’s vast discography, was it a difficult process selecting which songs would feature on the album or did you have a specific way of choosing?

I found that some of the songs were obvious choices, like “Don’t Pay The Ferryman”, “The Lady in Red” and “A Spaceman Came Travelling”. The process in choosing the songs were an amalgamation of one of my good friends and my partner’s suggestions along with songs what I’d loved of Chris’s.

Where did you record the album and who was involved in the production side of things?

It was recorded here at home. I have a small studio set up with some really fantastic equipment that is the same as we have used in studios like British Grove and Real World studios. Top quality equipment costs a lot these days and due to Brexit…is becoming more expensive by the day. I produced the album myself and chose a couple of people to get involved. Jonathan Mainwaring on Trumpet, who’ve I’ve known for years and Steve Balsamo who’ve I’ve also known for years sang on a track called “Spirit”. I’ve worked with them both quite extensively.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments/effects?

My favourite instruments are many. I have a collection of Moog and ARP Synthesisers, I have different Pianos like the Fender Rhodes suitcase Piano and Wurlitzer Electric Piano, along with other instruments like the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, An ASM Hydrasynth, Various Roland synthesisers and Keyboards, Korg and Yamaha. I also use a Roli Seaboard Studio edition which is a very unusual instrument. With regards to effects for live….most are built into the keyboards.

Where is your hometown and can you please describe it in five words?

Hometown for me will always be wherever my heart lies. I was born in Swansea, brought up there, moved to Manchester at one point, back to Swansea. I know reside in a small village outside Carmarthen. Describing it in 5 words….mmmm

Rural, Sleepy, Inspiring, Simple and Accesible.

Singer-songwriter Steve Balsamo provides lead vocal on ‘Spirit’ and also is one of the performers in the official music video. How did the pair of you meet and what was it about that particular track that made you want to have such a powerful voice on it as opposed to one of the other cuts?

Steve and I go back a long way. I first heard of Steve at a friend’s studio. I heard a cassette recording of a song called “Failed Your Love” and Steve had recorded it at Neath College with his tutors. What is crazy is, the fact that John Giles my songwriting partner and myself wrote that song a couple of years earlier, but Steve didn’t know us then. It was his tutor that suggested it to him, because he had a cassette recording of our demo. So that was my first introduction to Steve.

A few years later he started working with one of my colleagues and I played some keyboards on their tracks. Fast Forward then to 2001, I MD’d Steve’s record company band and we toured his album “All I Am” in 2002. I have always been around Steve since 95, 96 I guess and in 2009 Steve who was working with Jon Lord from Deep Purple, was asked by Jon for a second keyboards player for his shows. Steve suggested myself, so I got to work with Jon for a bit A hero back in the day. A lovely man and incredible soul. When Jon passed away Steve and I played our arrangement of “Soldier of Fortune” at Jon’s funeral upon the request of Vicky Jon’s widow. This lead me onto working with Steve again on the “Jon Lord Celebration” concert and DVD which took place at the Royal Albert Hall. I was given the task of playing Piano for nearly all Jon’s classical compositions on the concert and being part of the house band for the rock set.

Could you tell me about the track ‘Last Night’ and who played on it with you?

It is just myself, along with Jonathan on Trumpet. I programmed the drums up. The funny thing is Jonathan and I have worked together for a number of years and it was only during lockdown that we got chatting and found out as Jonathan and his brothers were researching the Mainwaring family tree, that we are related. My grandmother was a Mainwaring from Fforestfach/Ravenhill and it transpires that Jonathan and I are something like 3rd/4th/5th cousins. A bit of a turn out for the books. It’s great when things happen like that in life. We’d play quite a few TV shows together and didn’t know anything about it.

What are your memories of hearing the song ‘Don’t Pay The Ferryman’ for the first time?

Back in the day, I was introduced to Chris’s music through my uncle. He had “Spanish Train and Other Stories” on vinyl. I remember hearing “Ferryman” on the radio and loved the vibe of it. I loved the sequencer parts. To play it live is such great fun. A High Energy track that gets the crowd going.

You are currently on the road touring with Chris De Burgh but do you have any plans to do any live shows yourself to support the album release?

I performed my first solo concert in November 2022 in Nuremberg. Quite scary as I was used to having a bunch of people to share the stage with. I then decided to plan another show for 2023, but a couple of weeks ago I played a set at the Mike Oldfield’s 50th Anniversary of Tubular Bells weekend. I was part of Robert Reed’s sanctuary band. I’ve been working with Rob (who is a multi instrumentalist) for best part of 25 years. We are both Keyboards players, Programmers, Writers, arrangers…and I do some of the orchestral arrangements for Rob and Steve Balsamo’s CHIMPAN A project. Great project.

What kind of music do you like listening to?

I listen to anything and everything. I love classical music, I love Progressive Rock, jazz, fusion and enjoy the likes of James Taylor, Bjork, The Beatles…pretty much whatever takes my fancy. I am partial to great song writing and there are amazing artists out there who would never have got to see the light of day without the internet, but along with that comes the heartache because pirating and sharing music has destroyed sales. Copying CD’s was rife in the 90’s. Now it is sharing via USB sticks and hard drives, Over Emails and storage platforms on Computers.

What makes Nigel Hopkins happy and what makes you unhappy?

That’s a difficult question because it’s a loaded question in my mind. What makes me happy is seeing people happy, hearing people are enjoying their family and lives. It used to be Golf….but that is something I’ve not really bothered much with in 12 years. I also think spending time with nice people, touring, playing music certainly and travelling. I do get a buzz though from writing music and creating songs, orchestrating them and pushing myself to the limit to create something that I’m proud of.

What makes me unhappy is seeing incredible talent go to waste, seeing how the world has change since 2020 and how greed is so abundant within society. It’s all about “me, Me, ME” whereas it should be about helping everyone.

Photo Credit: Dan Schneider Photography

Nigel Hopkins latest album ‘The Journey is out now.

Purchase the album here: https://nigelhopkins.bandcamp.com/album/the-journey 

Official Website here: https://www.nigelhopkinsmusic.com/