Prog “I’m choosing Tony as my prog icon, although obviously his work straddles a great deal of genres. He’s as much art-rock as anything; you could say the same of . Tony has played on so many records that I love.
He’s probably been the biggest influence on me as a bass player, more than anyone, yet not in an overt way. What’s so extraordinary about him is that for someone who has such stratospheric technical ability – he’s transcribed Stravinsky’s for the Chapman Stick, for Christ’s sake – he’s so playful and cheeky as a player. Nothing he ever does sounds muso.
I recognise the punk-rock chancer that I am in his playing. He’s one of the few players where I often think: ‘I would have done that!’ I only got the Pink Floyd gig because Tony had to go on tour with Peter Gabriel, so I owe him. On that first tour with Floyd, on there’s a Stick solo in it, which I had to emulate on bass.
I did it by turning up every effect I had and just going nuts. Copying his playing felt really natural – pretty much everything he does feels incredibly natural. I went with Lee Harris [from 's ] to see him at the reunion of L’Image, Tony’s original 70s band with Steve Gadd.
Everyone in this band was so stellar. Lee said that they were so good, it was the only time he’d ever seen a band with Steve Gadd in it and forgotten that Steve Gadd was in it! I’ve always got on fantastically with Tony – he’s the most charming, delightful company. We got on stage together at the NAMM Show in California in 2013.
He’d done a long thing explaining to the audience why he couldn’t play because he didn’t have the right effects. I reminded him that the first rule of showbiz is that you don’t tell people why you can’t do something – you just do it. So we started playing it.
Sign up below to get the latest from Prog, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! ’s is a riff I always play at soundcheck, but my personal favourite – and that’s because there’s a little trick I nicked off it unconsciously, which has been a mainstay of my playing ever since – is from . I wasn’t even sure that was a Stick; I just wondered how on earth you could get a bass to sound like that.” Daryl Easlea has contributed to Prog since its first edition, and has written cover features on Pink Floyd, Genesis, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and Gentle Giant.
After 20 years in music retail, when Daryl worked full-time at Record Collector, his broad tastes and knowledge led to him being deemed a ‘generalist.’ DJ, compere, and consultant to record companies, his books explore prog, populist African-American music and pop eccentrics. Currently writing Whatever Happened To Slade?, Daryl broadcasts Easlea Like A Sunday Morning on , can be seen on Channel 5 talking about pop and hosts the M Means Music podcast.
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