DAVE BROCK

Some of you may be surprised to learn that Dave Brock – captain of the good ship Hawkwind – celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year. But while many octogenarians are busy putting their feet up and enjoying retirement, Dave can’t think of anything worse. “I don’t want to retire,” he states emphatically. “It’s boring.”

Indeed, this year has seen the band put out their 34th studio album, Somnia – the follow-up to last year’s Carnivorous and 50th Anniversary Live albums – while the Dust Of Time: 1969-2021 anthologies were released in December. Amidst it all, Guitarist caught up with the space-rock overlord to traverse time and space (and various other dimensions along the way).

My First Guitar

“I was about 13 or 14 when I got my first guitar, but I had a banjo before that, that my uncle Morris gave me. I didn’t know how to play it, though. My mum and dad bought my first guitar, an acoustic, but I can’t remember what make it was. My first electric guitar was a Harmony Stratotone – a bit like Jimmy Reed’s [Kay K161 Thin Twin]. My art teacher, Mr Dyson, heard I was listening to blues and jazz and was really enthusiastic about telling me about different jazz, which taught me a lot early on.”