Prog I first thought about it in the 1970s when Caravan were going through a period of change, with people leaving to further their own careers. I had already written all the tracks for the 1973 album and was intending to record it under my own name. However, our management convinced me that if it was released under Caravan’s name it would reach a much wider audience.
Back to the present time, and I had an opportunity to go down this road once more when – Caravan’s longest-surviving member bar myself – accepted an invitation to rejoin Renaud, a French superstar, for a year‐long stadium tour. There were a few Caravan gigs lined up during this period, which I was determined to honour, so I had the chance to work with some different musicians; namely John Etheridge of and Jimmy Hastings, my brother. I was really worried initially, but our agent wisely said, “The fans will come to see the band, not any individuals.
” He was dead right. I’ve never been blessed or cursed by large amounts of self-esteem. I worried whether doing a solo project was the right thing, so I asked friends and family.
They all said, “Everyone else in the band has released a solo album – why not you?” When I moved to Scotland 10 years ago I bought myself an iMac, the Logic recording program and a keyboard, with the intention of doing some home recording. A whole new world was about to open up for me. My son Julian – a recording engineer and producer – got me going initially.
Eventual.