Hello there, here comes a technical question and it might sound stupid for someone. Bill was a producer of a 1997 (recorded in 1996) album Yablokitay (Яблокитай) of a Russian band Nautilus Pompilius where he recorded some guitar solos and played some other instruments as well. The abundance of the sounds used in the album amazed me: the sort of "tribal"drum sounds or creppy haunting ambient sounds and "evil" piano sound like in the song "Нежный Вампир (Gentle Vampire)", and of course the cry-like guitar solos in several songs. The Bill's work on this album is unbelievably great, to be honest and it is a pity no one knows about this work of Bill's outside the Russian community.
So there comes that stupid question whether someone knows what guitar and synthesizer he might have been used at that time? :)
Update: here is the link to take a look at the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeWKxY8hO9U
I have this album .... there are some great tracks ... l believe Bill played most of the instruments and produced it. l would imagine the guitar was the Patrick eggle Berlin custom ... no clue as to the keyboards... lm sure Mr Nelson has the story of this unusual collaboration
I have this album .... there are some great tracks ... l believe Bill played most of the instruments
If I remember correctly, Bll had to play most of the instruments because only the vocalist (and maybe one other?) came across to the UK for the recording sessions. Much to Bill's surprise.
I do remember Bill telling us about this a long time ago, but I can't remember anything else, so I'm eager to have my memory refreshed!
Very enjoyable album.
I know exactly which keyboard/synth was used for this project (plus two or three other projects from this era). I know because it was mine! 🤪 I believe Bill’s own keyboard was faulty, so he commandeered mine for some projects like ‘Nautilus Pompilius’, ‘Gilcover & the Monkey’, ‘Channel Light Vessel’ (second album)...plus his own albums - After the Satellite Sings, Weird Critters and Magnificent Dream People. The keyboard is an Ensoniq SQ1 Plus, I’ve had it donkeys years and it’s still going strong... it’s the one I have used on all the live performances with Bill that I’ve had the pleasure of being part of, The Lost Satellites, The Gentlemen Rocketeers. Unfortunately I can’t help you with the information about the guitars! 🤷🏻♂️
How is your Ensoniq holding up after all these years? Recently got the EPS 16+ and it's a great sampler, but I'd think twice about taking it out of the studio.
The Ensoniq has been fantastic... never had an issue, can’t recall when I bought it exactly, but must have been mid 90’s... it’s had a few different homes plus several gigs, sessions, rehearsal rooms and a UK tour under its belt, it certainly doesn’t seem to suffer from travelling. It is obviously very dated now compared to the technology and machines that are currently being produced, but it will be a sad day when I have to replace it!
I have and love all of those albums. I promoted Gillcover & the Monkey to anyone who would listen. The guitar work is fab! I had to buy the Nautilus cd from a mail order place in NYC. CLV is brilliant. A box set would be ideal (!). Especially if some live footage could be included.
Bravo Mr Mayor.
I seem to recall that my Patrick Eggle Berlin guitar, (a custom built one,) was the guitar I used on the Nautilus Pompilious album, plus another one, possibly Slava's Yamaha acoustic. I arranged all the songs on the album, working from Slava's demo tapes, but changing them a lot to bring a more contemporary feel. I played virtually all the instruments on the album and also produced it and directed the promotional video for the song 'Tender Vampire.'
This looks to be the official promo video . . .
I conceived and directed the video. The indoor sequences were filmed near Selby and the outdoor ones near York, (the river Ouse had flooded the fields which made a great background to one sequence.) The two girls in the video were friends of hairdresser Steve Cook who brought them along to play the Vampire's concubines. The occult images were taken from my vast collection of esoteric books. Shooting the video was a great deal of fun and, considering the meagre technical facilities we had at our disposal, turned out to be entertaining and darkly atmospheric.