PETER GABRIEL : EXPANDING THE RANGE OF ROCK

NEW YORK —  “It was the most exciting show I ever saw. It was in this small, underground club in London and . . . the whole place was lit up. I was going to this conservative school and this was a totally alien and extremely exciting world. . . . This big man on the stage with this enormous soul. I was thinking this must be as exciting as it gets.”

Peter Gabriel was sitting backstage at Madison Square Garden, half an hour after his own concert on a tour that arguably was the most acclaimed of the year in rock. He was reminiscing about the night he saw Otis Redding, the gritty, impassioned American soul singer who was just 26 when killed in a 1967 plane crash.

It was interesting hearing Gabriel--an artist with such a sophisticated musical stance--speaking about being inspired to be a musician by seeing Redding, whose impact was almost purely visceral; someone, in a more innocent age of rock, who simply came on stage each night and sang his heart out.

Despite his love for Redding’s abiding passion, Gabriel operates on an arty, even cerebral level that involves traces of politics and social observation in his themes, and in highly stylized (rather than simply instinctive) movements associated with performance art. In the process, Gabriel has helped expand rock’s musical character and thematic range.

The English singer-songwriter has helped educate his audience and inspire fellow musicians by exploring African and South American rhythms. He was involved in the formation of the World of Music Arts and Dance Festival, an annual event that focuses attention on international musical strains.

About his own, multilayered approach, Gabriel said: “I think you need to be honest with yourself and if the things that excite you are partly physical, partly cerebral and fundamentally emotional, then you’ve got to include them all. Your music should be a reflection of yourself.”

To keep his music fresh, Gabriel is constantly searching for new sources of information or inspiration. His eagerness to modify and adjust runs against the record industry tendency to simply recycle what has already worked.

“The two things that strike me as important in renewing yourself are sabbaticals and learning to live with the idea of failure,” said Gabriel. “If you don’t take time off to get out of the (rock) machine . . . and explore the things that excite you and interest you, then you don’t regenerate your batteries. I’ve seen so many rock ‘n’ roll zombies who move in ever-decreasing circles . . . tour/album, tour/album . . . and they end up eating their own tail. You’ve sometimes got to kill what (already) exists to get the space for a new life.”

Gabriel’s sabbaticals are informal. “The process is pretty relaxed,” he said. “I don’t really say, ‘I’m going to take 12 months off and work on being stimulated.’ I just try to take a break and let my interests lead me on to the next thing.

“One of the most valuable things for me is learning about other cultures. I used to be an armchair traveler, which meant I would just get out some records and explore the world through records. But the WOMAD festival introduced me to a lot of things, and I made it a point to actually travel to places like South America and Africa. I didn’t spend months there, but it was enough time for me to get a sense of different ways of doing things.”

Gabriel says he looks at films and listens to music more for style than content. “I am interested in the process . . . the way things are sequenced . . . the structure . . . of the film or the music. You often absorb things indirectly, but I can trace some things I’ve written to specific works.”

He traces “Mercy Street” (a song from his latest album, “So”) to the title of an Anne Sexton play that he came across in a New York bookstore. “Don’t Give Up” (a song about the loss of self-esteem) was inspired both by a TV show on the effect of unemployment on marriages and by a photograph by Dorothea Lange showing the Dust Bowl era.

The song “Biko” grew out of newspaper accounts of the case of Steve Biko, the black South African activist who died in prison in 1977. The stark, powerful song inspired Steve Van Zandt to learn more about the South African political situation, a study that led Van Zandt to organize last year’s “Sun City” recording project.

Gabriel doesn’t watch much TV. “I mainly use it as a drug . . . to put me to sleep,” he said.

About the performance art aspect of his work, he explains: “I’m not Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson, but I still want to express myself physically. It’s just part of the communication process. A lot of what I do on stage is improvised, but I’ve tried to get together with a choreographer for the last two tours--at least for two or three days. It helps me focus on what I am doing on stage and how to exaggerate it or make it more effective.”

Gabriel, an outspoken opponent of the death penalty during press conferences held in conjunction with last summer’s Amnesty International tour, is becoming increasingly interested in politics and social conditions.

“In your teens and early 20s, you are more interested in finding your own place or marking your own mark,” he said. “But I’m 36 now and I’ve begun to get a different viewpoint on the world. Perhaps it starts when you have kids. . . . You become a bit more reflective and want to learn more about world is about. I really enjoy watching political programs. I enjoy that ‘Crossfire’ show on CNN. I’m fascinated with this whole ‘Contra-gate’ business.”

For someone who often writes about the pressures of an increasingly impersonal, technological society, Gabriel is intrigued by scientific research. “(England’s) New Scientist is one of my favorite magazines,” he said. “I am very excited by the possibilities of new technology. In January, I am going to visit some research centers, including one where they are working on new technology with music and using video in fascinating new ways.

“My father was an electronics engineer, and while I didn’t inherit his skill, I find that whole area terribly exciting. The important thing about new developments (in science or technology) is to try to understand them, not to be afraid of them and feel helpless.”