In connection with the release of “Return to Ommadawn”, Mike Oldfield has given a few very interesting interviews.
To Daily Mail Mike says:
“I bought this 1950s house, which has its own beach, in 2009, and this terrace is my favourite composing spot.
I’m single at the moment so it’s just me and my rescue dog Mac here, who goes swimming every morning in the sea at the end of the garden.
Of course everyone knows me for Tubular Bells, the first album released on Richard Branson’s Virgin label in 1973. This tribute cover was given to me when it went seven-times platinum – that’s 2.1 million copies – but it’s gone on to sell 16 million worldwide.”
Read the complete interview here.
TeamRock.com writes:
“Mike Oldfield has quietly created a catalogue so distinctive and discrete that it stands shining, alone, not just within the realms of prog, but in the world of popular music.
His 1973 debut album, Tubular Bells, the first released on Virgin Records, remains one of the most iconic in rock’s canon. Played largely just by himself, it contained two 20-minute-plus pieces of music, and was influenced more by Sibelius and John Cage than Sabbath and John Cale (whose actual tubular bells he had borrowed for the recording). Its melding of folk, classical and rock single-handedly invented several new genres of music. It made Oldfield a reluctant superstar, a role he has now played for over 40 years.”
Read the interview here.
“I was living in England and was really depressed. One whole summer I was only able to sit in the garden for half an hour. So I went first of all to Spain and then to the south of France.”
While there, he got his day skipper boat licence and met an agent who showed him a brochure for the Grand Bahama Yacht Club.
“It was rainy and cold again, so we decided to see what it was like and we landed in Freeport. I saw the Yacht Club and thought, ‘This is it. This is what I have been looking for,’ and I bought a house in Grand Bahama,” he said.
However, as much as he enjoyed life in Grand Bahama, he fell in love with Nassau when he visited on the way back to Freeport after a sailing trip to Fort Lauderdale.
“We saw Nassau and I said, ‘Oh, this is even better.’ I loved Grand Bahama, but Nassau seemed more alive and more populated.”
He said his current home on the Eastern Road just ticked all of his boxes. It allows him space for a recording studio, a dock for his boat, and the perfect environment in which to raise his kids. Being situated on top of a hill also helps his internet connection, he joked.”
Read the complete interview here.