Interview: Ian Dixon

Ian Dixon has contributed trumpet and flugehorn to “No Defense” and “Close Your Eyes” (both off of Returning Jesus). Ian was kind enough to send me his thoughts about working with No-Man on the album as well as his later work with Tim Bowness on 2019’s Flowers at the Scene.

I first met Tim Bowness and Steve Wilson through an invitation to play on some tracks for No-Man’s 2001 album Returning Jesus, my parts recorded at Steve’s studio in his home in Hemel Hempstead from memory. I was living in London at the time and playing with Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin on a few projects including his band Ex-Wise Heads with Geoff Leigh of Henry Cow. I also knew Theo Travis who played on the album through 33 Records. I think Steve and Tim had heard some of the stuff from my band Ute.

The Returning Jesus session was relaxed but very focused. A quick listen to the track, a few words about the mood and the placement/functions of the trumpet in the arrangement and then a take straight through. Then a few more words about the mood and another take, sometimes to get closer to Tim and Steve’s idea and sometimes to give contrasting choices as the tunes were in different states of completeness, some quite finished, some more skeletal. So open v muted, more or less dense, oblique or direct etc then straight on to the next track with the same process. I remember I missed the last train back to London from Hemel and spent a few cold hours watching mail trains race through the station until the first passenger train in the morning.

Years later in 2018 Tim emailed me about playing on Flowers At The Scene. I was living in Australia by then so I recorded my parts in my own studio on beds Tim sent over. The tracks developed quite a bit over time (independently of my input), sometimes quite changing their identity so Tim would send me more developed versions of tracks as they evolved. Some of the tracks only required the melody, but I bunged solos on anyway, doubled things and so on. With me having a longer working process than the one afternoon in the studio of Returning Jesus I had the luxury of spending some time in contemplation before and between takes and to develop ideas at Tim’s suggestion him hearing initial trumpet takes. Funnily while recording my parts for Rainmark the drought broke forcing me to pause until the rain stopped as my studio has a tin roof, Tim jokingly suggested there was an ambient album in that. It’s a nice way to work and it was a pleasure to do so with Tim.