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Ajalon
Interviewed by Gary Hill
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Interview With Ajalon`s Randy George from 1998
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| MSJ: How would you describe the music of Ajalon? |
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| I think the band`s music reflects sort of an innocence in that when we started writing, a lot of this music, we weren`t writing with any specific thing in mind, as regards to what we were gonna do. We just wanted to sort of be self-indulgent and play stuff that we wanted to play. So it was sort of a natural process in the writing. I think that a lot of our natural influences and roots really started showing through in some of the writing. I don`t think we tried to sound like anybody in particular. I think it happened kind of naturally, but we also didn`t try to direct the writing to be anything specific. I wasn`t even doing progressive rock at the time. I grew up doing that kind of music, but I was sort of doing instrumental jazz fusion kind of stuff when we got together. It was kind of a change for me. I was kind of going back to something I had done before. I think in doing that there was a lot of interesting influences that affected the music as well. |
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| MSJ: What would you describe your influences as? |
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| Well, I grew up in the `70`s, so the progressive movement of the `70`s was a lot of my influences. I think my first real big influences were The Beatles and The Moody Blues, then Yes. I got exposed to that at a real young age. Kansas became a real favorite of mine. |
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| MSJ: How did Ajalon come about? |
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| I met Will Henderson in `93. He actually came and joined a band that I had together. He was playing bass for us. I really didn`t utilize his singing or song writing abilities so much as he was just kind of playing bass in what we were doing. That band broke up and I kept on doing my own instrumental stuff. I had him playing bass for me from time to time. I helped him record a couple of his songs. The more of his stuff we recorded, the more I really got a feel for his songwriting abilities. It was real interesting because he`s got some of the similar influences, but he`s a few years younger than me, so I don`t think he was quite in touch with the `70`s stuff. He`s got some different kinds of influences (folk and stuff). |
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| MSJ: What was the last CD you bought? |
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| It just so happens that the last CD I bought was Phil Keagy-Acoustic Sketches. Phil Keagy is an incredible guitar player. He`s one of the few people that are in a class like Steve Morse or Alan Holdsworth. Right now I`m listening to a variety of progressive bands that are out there like Flower Kings and Cairo. |
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| MSJ: What was the last concert you attended? |
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| I would probably have to say the last concert I attended was Wind Machine. Wind Machine is an acoustic band that does instrumental acoustic music and they`re just incredible to see in concert. |
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| MSJ: This interview is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: The Early Years Volume 5 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-The-Early-Years. |
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