A View From The Embankment, A View From The Line - Nick D'Virgilio podcast

“I’ve always been given the freedom by the rest of the band to come up with crazy ideas for the live shows, especially when it comes to using the brass ensemble.”

These are the words of Big Big Train drummer Nick D’Virgilio in conversation with writer Andy Stuart, used to describe some of the wonderful creative moments he’s inspired during the band’s performances on the road. You can listen to this – and much more – in today’s podcast!

In a wide ranging and typically forthright conversation, which contributed to Andy Stuart’s new, 240 page, illustrated tour book, ‘A View From The Embankment, A View From The Line’, NDV discusses his approach to songwriting, what it meant to play classic songs like ‘A Boy In Darkness’ for the first time on stage, and shares insights into the recording of ‘East Coast Racer’ – in particular why he feels his playing on ‘Ingenious Devices’ is even better the original!

The book, which tells the story of the band’s ‘The Journey Continues’ 2023 tour, is available for pre-order now from Burning Shed via:
https://burningshed.com/store/kingmaker
and from The Band Wagon USA via:
https://thebandwagonusa.com/collectio...

NDV comments: “In the case of ‘A Boy In Darkness’ I always wanted to play that tune live and it’s a shame we never got to hear David Longdon perform it. Of course, Alberto [Bravin] delivered an amazing vocal on this tour, but it was always one of the tunes that I wish we could have found a place for in previous set lists. If I remember correctly, David was a bit worried about singing ‘A Boy In Darkness’ because it’s such a huge vocal number and I think he felt it could be hard to sing live night after night. Alberto found it challenging too. Even he said it’s not the easiest tune to deliver consistently. It needs total commitment.

“But all that being said, there’s just so much weight to ‘A Boy In Darkness’, especially when you come right back around to the chorus at the end. It’s one of those great moments for a drummer; honestly, I can’t hit the drums hard enough in that final section! At some of the gigs on this tour we had to play with more restraint because of the volume level in the room. And it was so difficult to do that! During ‘A Boy In Darkness’, there’s so much energy flowing through me, I just want to beat the living crap out of the drums! It’s huge fun to feel all that power.”