THE PROG INTERVIEW DAVID SURKAMP

Every month we get inside the mind of one of the biggest names in music. This issue it’s David Surkamp. The US vocalist formed Pavlov’s Dog in the early 70s and went on to form Hi-Fi with Fairport Convention’s Iain Matthews in the 80s. Surkamp is now the only original member in the current Pavlov’s line-up and perhaps proof you can teach an old dog new tricks. He recalls the band’s glory years, being ditched by Todd Rundgren, those Geddy Lee comparisons, and the upcoming album, Wonderlust.

James McNair

David Surkamp’s emotive, stratospherically high voice and aching, melancholic songs distinguished 1975’s Pampered Menial and 1976’s At The Sound Of The Bell, the two revered classics for which his band, Pavlov’s Dog, remain best known. The group formed in St Louis, Missouri in 1972, and their baroque strings, foggy Mellotron and children’s choirs proved the perfect backdrop for Surkamp’s tales of Arthurian legend, lovers distanced by the Colorado gold rush, and the seemingly unattainable Julia, subject of the truly special piano ballad of the same name. “We’re still doing all those songs in the same keys, you know!” Surkamp tells Prog proudly, prior to heading to Greece, Germany and Belgium for gigs with Pavlov’s Dog’s current line-up. At 72, his voice remains a marvel, but his band have never really…

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Prog Italia (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 156

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