AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES
In 1977, Tubular Bells producer Tom Newman released an album that had Mike Oldfield fans scratching their heads. Faerie Symphony was an experimental dark tale that was buried by the rise of punk. Forty-four years later, he’s back with its sequel: A Faerie Symphony II. Prog catches up with him to chat about his childhood fears, how he learned to speak ‘faerie’ and his dreams of playing the two enchanted albums live.
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Tom Newman blames his mother for the way the original Faerie Symphony turned out.
“My mum was a wonderful Irish lady, but she was also mad,” laughs Newman. “She was a devout Catholic, but also superstitious. She believed in every piece of Irish mythology and folklore that came to her attention; mum was forever crossing herself to ward off the evil spirits that she was convinced were everywhere you looked.
“Because of this, I grew up scared of things like the faerie kingdom. My mother definitely believed they existed, and through her I felt a fear for what they could do should they wish to harm anyone.”
As a result, says Newman, that album – released in 1977 – turned out to be rather sinister in its style.