extra4e

M.B.: "Yes, very different; they are special people. Our followers are very honest and devoted. they never stop giving us gifts such as flowers, rings and poems. I recently met two of them. They had not been able to attend one of our concerts, the gig being sold out. They remained outside, in the cold, all through our appearance and listened through a window. There are also some very young people among our following, some are children as young as ten years old, far from being teenyboppers. " In return, Marc is also honest towards his public. He makes every effort possible to cut the prices of their discs and peg concert ticket prices to affordable levels. He also gives them value for their money by caring about recordings quality and by adding some extras such as a posters or a fantastic sleeve designs.- B.G.: "do you Intend to continue using electric instruments? "

- M.B.: "Yes, the time of only using acoustic pieces is over from now on. I feel more a guitarist than before and the electrification is for me a new adventure, but we decide the mix between acoustic & electric for ourselves. We form part of the electric age and even as a folk duo if one can define us so, we cannot deny the change. And I love the idea of mastering such a wild energy. For a long time we underwent various pressures on behalf of the artistic agents and the promoters. They did not want that we take such a risk by changing the format. We were an acoustic duo and according to them, that's how we were to stay. In fact, that slowed down our progression and we finally decided not to take account of the opinion of such characters any more. We have our ideas and we do not want to follow others ideas. That does not prevent us, nevertheless, from receiving advice when justified. We're more relaxed now and this enables us to devote ourselves more entirely to our music, now that we do not have to face such problems any longer. Anyway we will keep on using our acoustic instruments when needed." Diamond Meadows" recorded with a string quartet is an example. For me, wood is magic and romantic, it has "centuries of history"

- B.G.: "In connection with duet, do you intend to add a bass player and thus to become a trio? "

- M.B.: "Yes and no. T Rex will remain a duet. We will call upon a bass player for some concerts. Also it will allow Mickey to concentrate fully on playing percussion "

A weird character, almost unreal, straight out of a fairy tale,stopped quite recently in Paris, at the week-end. This guy, who lives in a world filled with legends, myths and superstitions is Marc Bolan, the leader of Tyrannosaurus Rex. The country side, with it's rural and undisturbed nature often led the musicians to be cut off from the dazing world of the cities. Those who were dedicated to remain in the countryside either remained largely unknown or only attracted limited interest from the public.This is not the case anymore; as it is no longer necessary to be established in the capital to get recognition for your talents. T Rex were a concrete example of this. England had just discovered them and finally recognised their due importance. It took five LP releases before the public took an interest in them. Their last single "Ride A White Swan" ( from their LP entitled "T Rex") is extremely well placed in the English charts and television companies are in competition to persuade the group to make appearances on their shows. This fifth LP is in fact a little different from the others, insofar as the group called upon a string quartet and the participation of two of Mothers of Invention (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan). Moreover the instruments are now amplified. But the same magic atmosphere with fantastic arrangements is still there and the words still conceal the same beauty. The riffs are delicate, the lyrics are very descriptive and the melodies very colourful. Often labeled wrongly with the flower power movement, T Rex astonished much the world with the appearance of electric guitars in their last album. - Marc Bolan: "We don't intend to become heavy. We would however like a bass player with us on stage. That will certainly widen our audience and I think that our enthusiastic fans also will follow us, especially as we will persevere in our style and certainly will not change.The electrification only reinforces the rhythmic and melodic qualities of our lyrics.

Moreover it fits much more in with my way of communicating.
It would have been a shame if they not persevered, as so much this musical style is marvellous. Their music has ability to relieve all the tensions that the daily life creates. It relaxes you and leaves you in a beautifully   relaxed state of mind . Their songs are generally
simple and direct and the lyrics are full of legendary and surrealist characters. Moreover, they have an astonishing simplictic creative capacity. One feels relaxed listening to them; there lays T.Rex's strength .
Their only aim is to create music that grows inside you and creates a deep feeling of happiness which moves you, more by the spirit of their music, than by its technique, although the technique is irreproachable. LP after LP their music becomes more vivid and abstract. It brings to us some fantastic visions, such as a marvellous castle perched at the top of a misty peak, elves dancing in the circle around the enchanter Merlin, old witches surrounding a cauldron, imps dancing on the top of a mushroom. In one word, their world is modelled on that of the children, and they hardly worry   about fashion and current trends .
Speaking with Marc Bolan is very relaxing . One feels literally transported elsewhere as so much his words are mythical . However don't believe that he lives in a perpetual dream; for he is extremely conscious of realities of life and can be anxious and worried just as other people are.
- Marc Bolan: "I was literally   disgusted and frustrated that the public refused to acknowledge us. I was never really bothered about the commercial aspect of our music, but when a single broadcast on Radio One of our last single leads to the sale of 2000 discs in London only, it shows that the music is commercial . In fact, we reached the point that we had to consider two options : either to break into fame and success, or continue as we were and remain largely unknown. Luck was with us. Our album is currently selling like hot cakes and our audience is wider than ever.
- Bernard Guilcher: "What is your audience , is it different from that of the pop music in general?

- B.G.: "Music, you seem very attracted by the lyrics , are you not? "
- M.B.: "Without any doubt. Lyrics are very important to me . In our first
album poetry did not play a great part, unlike as in "Unicorn" for example. At present my lyrics are colourful , a little like "Deborah" at
the start of our career . But I am very interested in the fantastic literature. I also write horror tales of colossal proportions.
Sometimes the music and the literature tend to overlap. When I imagined the character "The Electric Warrior", it resulted in a very beautiful song as well as a book. I also wrote a story, "the Children Of Rarn". The film companies are much interested in it "
- B.G.: "I believe, your intention is to make a double album of it"
- M.B.: "Yes. The Children Of Rarn "is a story which depicts the various
habits and activities of people living on a prehistoric earth named Beltane.
These people, Peacelings, were very civilized and were far ahead of their time. They were more than two meters tall and irradiated a sparkling light. By their sides, lived Dwarns,

who were heartless creatures, of beastial pace, they looked a bit like pigs and spent their time on prehistoric motorbikes which reached speeds of 300 km/h. From there, all kinds of events follow. I leave you the pleasure of discovering what it occurs in Beltane. "
- B.G.: "What are your immediate plans , Marc ? "
- M.B.: "I want us to become huge . I want people to feel the need to see us and I want them to feel everything we feel.,If not, then nothing's left to do for us. I also want us to release records more often, a single a month approximately, so that they reflect exactly how we feel at the moment. We also plan a six weeks tour of the States, sometimes around February. We are very much looking forward to this because we love changing audiences and surrounding. Perhaps we'll tour Australia as well.
-B.G.: "don't you feel attracted by the cinema? "
- M.B.: "I would love to make films and work with Fellini. After seeing his "Satyricon", I thought that if I wrote a three hours long song, it would be something like that . But because it's such a big project , I may have to keep it for later because we first still have reach our peak ! ".

If Marc Bolan remains the leader of T.Rex, his companion Micky Finn has now been, for the last year, anything less than the second half of this duo
Nevertheless, he prefers to stay in the background , as this is more appropriate for his personality . He is happy of what he does and does not feel left out . This does not prevent him from suggesting some ideas to Marc, who is more apt in developing them.. According to him , Micky is considering himself still at a learning stage. In fact he is a little passive and prefers letting Marc make all the decisions . Former pupil of the College of Art of Croydon, having refused commercial exploitation he became a painter and decorator, Micky gradually came into music through friends. He formed part of the group 'Haphash and the Coloured Coat' which disappeared after their first album , poor organisation , he says.
Then he met Marc. Realising that they both felt the same , he became second half of T Rex. 'We all have a need to fantazise at times and the music of T.Rex allows us to forfill this fantasy. I think they have the ability to suceed. T Rex is one of the most representative sounds of today's music . While waiting for others to launch follow their lead, I will never tire of listening to them. I am certain that you will also find their music truly spellbinding.
Bernard Y. GUILCHER