Simon RushworthFish plays his farewell UK dates this month, setting the seal on a seminal prog rock career spanning five decades. Rushonrock editor Simon Rushworth checked in with the former Marillion frontman for an exclusive chat as the Road To The Isles tour got underway.
Rushonrock: How important was it to undertake this tour?
Fish: I wanted to mark my retirement in the right way. I wanted to say goodbye properly, rather than sneak out the back door or whatever. It’s like being at the party and leaving before you’re bumping into tables and getting a bit wobbly. I wanted to depart with a level of decorum. To be honest, I made the decision to do this tour as far back as 2015! I reckon it was probably around about then. I’d done the Feast of Consequences album and I knew I had one really, really good album left in me. A real cracker. And that was Weltschmerz (2020). That was always in my head as being my farewell album. And, you know, I had a plan.
Rushonrock: A 10 year plan?
Fish: Well it wasn’t meant to be! First of all, I didn’t want to go on a farewell tour where the expectation was that I’d be playing mostly Marillion material. I really didn’t want big chunks of Marillion material all over the place. So that’s why I went out and we did the Misplaced Childhood tour. That was the farewell to …Childhood. And then we did the Last Straw tour. So I got to play a lot of the Marillion material then. But the plan was always that we’d celebrate the 30th anniversary of Vigil In A Wilderness of Mirrors and Weltschmerz in 2020… then Covid hit. Then Brexit happened. The best laid plans of mice and men! So I took stock, bided my time and realised ‘this is where I’m at’. When everything settled down it was a case of ‘ok, let’s. just do this!’. It’s been brilliant so far. We did 72 shows across Europe and those shows were amazing. I’ve been enjoying singing and performing and there’s been no sadness at all. It’s all felt incredibly positive. I’m in the privileged position where I can retire from the music business on my terms — not because of ill health or anything like that — and that feels great. I’m stepping down not because I have to but because I want to.
Rushonrock: Given the wealth of material at your disposal how have you been able to decide on a final setlist for Road To The Isles?
Fish: It’s taken a long time. I think Fish On Friday [podcast] helped. I was playing quite a lot of obscure tracks and some them would make me sit up and think ‘wow, that’s really cool!’. Telling the stories behind those songs made me reflect more on the back catalogue and it reinforced a lot of the decisions I was coming to around what to include in the farewell tour. If you look at the setlist and the specific song choices there’s a thread but of course there are some songs that are obviously being missed out. I didn’t want to dwell on the Marillion material for a kickoff. Marillion was four albums for me and there’s four times as much solo material to tap into. I love the solo material and it’s more relative. But there have been a couple of times when I’ve suddenly thought ‘oh shit, I should have put that one in’. Then again, the ones we’ve got really work. The setlists work great. And that’s important for both myself and the band — when we go on stage we really enjoy playing those songs together.
Rushonrock: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the music industry during your 45-year career?
Fish: I was talking about this to my neighbour here on the island [in the Outer Hebrides] the other night and he’s a big music fan. Sometimes it throws me. When I think back, when I signed to EMI, the first album that I was involved with was on cassette and vinyl. And then I remember when Misplaced Childhood came out on CD and now, of course, there are downloads and streaming. I’ve seen that transition in technology from way back when to now, where we’re in a position where albums don’t really matter anymore. In 2025 it’s all about tracks. And I don’t think that’s a good thing. I’m an album artist and that’s all part and parcel of why I elected to go now.
Rushonrock: An album artist?
Fish: You know what I mean! I write albums and then I enjoy working on the audio quality. I’ve collaborated with Calum Malcolm, who’s been doing an amazing job with my sonics, for the last 10 years now. We’re sitting there and putting all this care and attention and love into the detail and somebody’s sitting listening to it on an iPhone! You just think ‘what’s the point?’. When I put together an album, even Weltschmerz, it’s a project. That record was dictated to by what was happening in my life at the time. It wasn’t a concept album as such but there was a conceptual basis to the whole thing, which was basically around being very, very disturbed by the world I live in and everything that was around me. It looked at the lack of care and empathy in society and it was something that would always become greater than the sum of its parts. That’s why I write an album. I don’t sit there and think ‘oh, it’s Tuesday, so I’d better write a track because I need to be in the spotlight’. But that’s what some people do now. It’s just not me. I’ve always derived great pleasure from putting albums together and designing the curve of the album from conception to release.
Rushonrock: But you don’t always get it right at the time…
Fish: That would be Internal Exile you’re talking about? That was an album that was always destined to be remixed. I was never completely satisfied with the first version. And that’s in no way to the detriment of Chris Kimsey, who did a brilliant job of recording it. It was more about the time, the situation and the mental place I was in around 1991. You know, I’d switched labels and there was a lot going on. I’d always wanted to remix it and Calum said he’d be interested. He’d already volunteered to remix 13th Star (2007), which he originally produced, and since I didn’t feel as if I got Internal Exile right first time, I wanted to do it again. Just bringing in a fresh pair of ears was a real bonus and what I quickly realised was that the songs were in the wrong order. And that’s what I mean about writing an album, rather than writing tracks. Internal Exile was always meant to be heard differently and after three or four hours playing about with the positions of the tracks I came up with what you hear on the 2024 remix. It’s perfect. It’s a completely different album to the record released in 1991. It’s a fantastic example of how important it is to assess the collection of material within one body of work. You don’t jump straight into Beethoven’s Fifth and go I’ll play two minutes and 30 seconds in the middle. It in no way captures what he was trying to do and it’s the same with an album in my view.
Rushonrock: So do you write your songs in the order you imagine they’re going to appear on the finished album?
Fish: For me it’s exactly the opposite. I’m always writing out of order. I write individual songs but there comes a point where you design an album to ensure it’s the best possible listening experience. You’re designing rollercoasters — and it’s the same with setlists. You take people on a journey with an album. You give them highs and lows and you’ll ride them along in a rollercoaster. To start with you’re looking at the view and then suddenly it’s ‘oh, we’re up to the climb — here we go, here we go. Bam!’. And if you want to look at it in simplistic terms take Dark Side Of The Moon. It starts off with the heartbeat that brings the album to life. There’s a big crescendo at the end of side one and back in the old days you had to haul yourself off your beanbag, turn the album over and start side two. And the whole time that big finish to side one was in your head and you’re thinking ‘what an amazing vocal’. Then you put the needle down again and you’re straight into Money. That’s no accident. Suddenly you’re back on the rollercoaster again. That’s how to design an album. You don’t get that experience on Spotify.
Rushonrock: Do you feel fortunate that the early decades of your career allowed you to be the so-called album artist you describe?
Fish: You know, when I started in 1980 and when I joined Marillion in 1981, we had opportunities. We had options. We had routes to follow. You could sell vinyl to people because people couldn’t record on vinyl. So they had to buy vinyl or cassettes to listen to the music. People came along to see gigs and there was Sounds and Melody Maker that were out on a weekly basis, advertising the gigs. You were always in a bubbling mass of entertainment and opportunity. And there were loads of record companies — the little indies and the big majors. There was everything. It was a whole world of opportunity. That opportunity’s been shot right down. I mean, yes, you can record music a lot easier, but how do you sell it now? You can play live but that’s not a lot of fun to organise in 2025. There are Brexit restrictions and then the venues take 50 per cent of your merchandise sales. Plus VAT!
Rushonrock: Do you sympathise with musicians only just starting out?
Fish: Of course. It’s so difficult. I feel for young musicians because this whole idea of being the working class troubadour and going out and being seen and championed by the media doesn’t exist anymore. A lot of the musicians now — unless they’ve got money behind them through family then it’s so tough. It’s like going back to what it was like in the 17th century. That’s where the word ‘royalties’ came from. You made music for your local baron or your local prince or whatever. And they paid you the money to make the music that they wanted to hear. That’s what it’s come down to nowadays. It’s certainly not easy and I’m fine with the fact that I’ll be out of it very soon.
Rushonrock: Is there a plus side?
Fish: That’s a good question. I suppose people are reappraising their relationship with music. And there are a lot of the small venues, especially on the folk scenes nowadays, that have been revitalised. There’s a lot of music going on, here on the island. But it’s small scale. Not everybody can have an empire but they still have to make a living. At the other end of the scale, it’s just awful. I hate going to see those big arena shows anyway but the whole Oasis thing last year? I thought that was abhorrent. I just went ‘God almighty, is this what it’s come down to?’. It’s beyond the music. It’s just become a huge corporate business that’s wrapped up in this kind of ‘kid on, jovial, us and the masses man’ bollocks. It’s not that — it’s just a huge money making exercise. I’m not stupid. I’m not naïve. And I’ll readily admit that the farewell tour is a chance for me to make some money before I retire. I’m not going to lie about that. This business has been really good to me. But at the same time I don’t belong to the industry any more. It’s ruled by tech.
Rushonrock: Can tech be a good thing?
Fish: In a way. I would have died as an artist years ago if it wasn’t for my website. But there’s a double edge to the internet. You can use it to promote your work but at the same time, it leaves you wide open to attack from all of these keyboard warriors and horrible little trolls who feel that they have to say that what an arsehole you are from the safety of their own homes.
Rushonrock: So is tech having a detrimental effect on society as a whole?
Fish: Perhaps. People don’t care about other people’s feelings anymore. There are a lot of sneaky, nasty people out there, you know? There are a lot of great people too. I was watching something on TV the other day where two people were having a conversation and they agreed that something like five per cent of the people in the world are just totally evil. They’re so evil, you can’t even comprehend why they do things. And there are five per cent of the people who are very caring and are literally angels who will do anything to help other people. And the other 90 per cent just don’t care. They just follow. That resonated with me. On the island I feel like I’m part of a community where people help each other and where someone like me can still make a difference. In the music business or in modern society I don’t feel that. It’s all superfluous shit. But at 66 I’ve found something meaningful that I can still be part of. It’s not music but I don’t mind that.
Rushonrock: Music is still a huge part of your life for the next few weeks — will you relish that time on stage?
Fish: The live shows and the tours and performing in front of people who appreciate the music I’ve made — that’s the side of the music business I still relate to. I’m well up for finishing things off and there will be some emotional nights to look forward to. I’m not sad. I feel lucky.
The Road To The Isles tour continues in Wolverhampton tonight and wraps up with two sold-out shows in Glasgow from March 9-10. For details on ticket availability for remaining shows visit fishmusic.scot
Main image courtesy of fishmusic.scot
