Lost Jockey life was dominated by its pianos, a phalanx of Eavestaff Mini Royals. It was a strange process, taking these little waist-high pianos, with their cheapskate walnut veneer, on tour, as they were clearly intended for domestic use only. And a knackering one, since they were only marginally lighter than normal pianos, and just as awkward. We’d arrive at a touring venue, discover that the hall was on the second floor, no lift (bizarre!), and spend half the day schlepping the damn things up and down the stairs. But we did travel, rather glamorously, with a piano tuner, Eric of B Sharp Pianos (the kind of pun one associates with hairdressers rather than piano tuners).

 

Originally, under the influence of Steve Reich, we were attracted to the clean sound of the pianos, which seemed to suit perfectly the purity and clarity of minimalist music. Composers like Messaien had used the piano as a colourful mini-orchestra, fully exploiting its possible sonorities, but we liked it for its monochrome qualities. (And the fact that’s it’s essentially a tuned percussion instrument.)

 

Then we became increasingly interested in a messier, more heterogeneous, funkier sound, and as other instruments joined the band, the pianos were increasingly replaced by electric pianos, clavinets, synths. Possibly something to do with the hard labour involved, too.

 

The piano was subsequently fetishised, very successfully, by the band Piano Circus. I presume they employed roadies.