Steve Hackett credits his wife Jo with being his musical sounding board.
The former Genesis man – who released his new album Wolflight last month – says he runs new ideas past Jo, who he married in 2011. The author often helps form the raw ideas into the final product.
Hackett tells Ultimate Classic Rock: “At a very early point of any song idea, I run it by her — even a musical doodle. Like tonight, I said, ‘Oh, I’ve just dreamt up a phrase and I hear it as orchestral,’ and I’ll share it with her.
“She seems to get it straight away, so we bandy about lyrical ideas back and forth. We kick the football back and forth across the pitch, and then it settles as a song starts to form.
“I’m often aware of my own limitations when I’m writing a melody. Like one recently that went unreleased, I said, ‘I’ve got a bluesy melody for the verse here. I suspect you could come up with something better.’ Straight away, she came up with something very melodic, and it’s actually a thrill to see it work.”
He also insists he’s still friends with all the other members of Genesis despite his recent disappointment over the BBC documentary on the group, Together And Apart.
He adds: “Let’s put it this way – I was disappointed with it, and I think that probably says it all. It could have been definitive. But it’s certainly not that, so hey, c’est la vie.
“The main thing is that the Genesis guys are all still pals — that’s the important thing. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression. We’re all pals, and I think we’re all hugely responsible for each others’ performances, in terms of what we did then and now and in the future.”
Hackett has a UK tour lined up for later in the year:
Oct 06: Guildford GLive
Oct 07: London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Oct 09: Northampton Derngate
Oct 10: Cardiff St David’s Hall
Oct 11: Southampton O2 Guildhall
Oct 13: Basingstoke Anvil
Oct 14: York Barbican
Oct 16: Aberdeen Music Hall
Oct 17: Gateshead Sage
Oct 18: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Oct 20: Leeds Town Hall
Oct 21: Llandudno Venue Cymru
Oct 23: Liverpool Philharmonic
Oct 24: Leicester De Montford Hall
Oct 25: Salford Lowry
Oct 27: Ipswich Regent Theatre
Oct 28: Bristol Colston Hall
Oct 30: Birmingham Symphony Hall
Oct 31: Southend Cliffs Pavilion
