On this page you will find answers to some of the most regularly asked questions about Ant and his music. Answers to other similar questions can be found in the October 2000 interview on the Interviews page. If you have a question that is not answered here then please contact us and we'll try to answer it for you. We'll add it to this page if we think it's of general interest.
Why & when did Ant leave Genesis ?
This brings a whole new meaning to the expression "frequently asked question" - Ant says that he's been asked this more times in his life than any other question, including "what is your name?"!
Ant says: For me, when the band went on the road things began to go wrong and I think I realised at that point that this just wasn't the life for me. The fact that we all lived together in the same cottage probably didn't help after a while. It was great fun in an idealistic way but actually not terribly sensible for people getting on. I just found that the pressure of the whole thing got to me after a while as we had all these gigs where agents were coming along and I thought "I'm not sure I can deal with this". The group did need a bit of space at the time when I left, somebody needed to go and it was me who went first.
Ant played his last gig with Genesis in Haywards Heath on 18th July 1970 and this can be considered the date that he officially left the group, although he had taken the decision to leave a couple of weeks earlier. Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks have often spoken of this as being the only time that Genesis really came close to splitting up, which goes to show how important Ant was to the group during the time he was with them.
Does Ant have any contact with the other current or former members of Genesis?
Yes - he keeps in touch with Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks and sees them socially from time to time. Ant took part in a special photo session at Heathrow Airport in London to promote the release of the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set in May 1998. He also attended a reunion dinner in London with all the other former Genesis members a few weeks later. More recently Ant has met up with original Genesis drummer Chris Stewart.
Although Ant is in touch with Mike & Tony, we regret that we are unfortunately not in a position to pass on messages or requests to either them or the Genesis management.
What did Ant do between leaving Genesis in 1970 and the release of The Geese & The Ghost in 1977?
After leaving Genesis Ant decided to study music. He studied classical guitar, took piano lessons and also studied harmony and counterpoint at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (not the Royal College of Music as has been suggested!) and he obtained a Teaching Diploma in December 1973. After this he taught music at Reeds School and Peperharrow on a part-time basis up until 1978.
In between all of this he also carried on writing and recording music and a summary of the main projects that Ant was involved in during this time can be found in our Biography section.
Will Ant ever work with Mike Rutherford again?
Ant says: We have collaborated on one or two television things and although I don't know what will happen as Mike's career might move possibly away from mainstream pop it's not impossible that we might do something together. But at the moment I can only really say that there's nothing definite planned. I'd have to go on record and say that this is something that potentially I'd enjoy although I don't know if we've moved apart over the years to make it last on any cohesive basis but I would hope that the old empathy is still there.
Would Ant ever consider a collaboration with Steve Hackett ?
Ant says: I think it's unlikely that we would ever do anything together because we're probably quite similar in some respects. Most of the best musical combinations are between complimentary opposites really. I never got to know Steve very well although I do respect and admire him and I think that there does have to be that element. I also think that there has to be an element of commercial need as well - I don't mean commercial in a bad way but there needs to be something driving you together. I can't see a record company commissioning us to do anything so it would require self motivation and I don't think either of us really know each other well enough for that to happen, so I think it's unlikely.
Why did Phil Collins record a version of Silver Song with Ant and Mike Rutherford in 1973? Will this recording ever be released?
In the summer of 1973 there was a short lull in Genesis activity whilst the band were writing Selling England By The Pound. During this time Phil Collins took the opportunity to take part in some musical projects outside Genesis - these included playing in the band Zox and the Radar Boys. Having already met Ant on several occasions, Phil was invited down to Ant's parents house in Surrey with a number of other friends to take part in the original demo recording of Take This Heart. Following on from this, the idea came up that Ant and Mike might record a couple of songs with Phil drumming and singing as a potential extra project. The three of them recorded a demo version of Silver Song which Charisma Records liked and they gave their approval for the track to be recorded properly.
In November 1973 it was arranged for the recording to take place at Island Studios in London on one free day in the busy Genesis touring schedule. Ant, Mike and Phil recorded Silver Song and another track Only Your Love during this session. The plan was that Silver Song would be released as a single with Only Your Love as the b-side. Genesis then carried on with their touring schedule until the summer of 1974 when it was anticipated that the Silver Song single would be released. To tie in with this, Phil gave an interview on BBC Radio One in June 1974 where he talked about the background to the single being recorded and a tape of the completed version of Silver Song was played at the end of the interview. Incidentally, Phil didn't record a session version of the track for Radio One as has been suggested nor did he sing along to a backing track live in the studio for this broadcast.
For reasons that remain unknown to this day the Silver Song single release never appeared. It is reasonable to suggest that Charisma Records may have felt it was too early in their career for Genesis to have breakaway projects but there was no one definite reason that Ant is aware of as to why the single was not released.
A release of both Silver Song and Only Your Love 30 years after they were recorded is not totally impossible although this would require Ant, Mike and Phil to all give their approval to the tracks being released. Although Ant stated in the sleeve notes for the CD re-issue of Private Parts & Pieces that "there is categorically no chance that the Phil Collins version will be released", it should be remembered that this was an accurate summary of the situation in 1990 when the CD re-issue first appeared and does not necessarily represent the situation as it stands today.
Update: Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford have kindly given their permission for the 1973 recording of Silver Song to be released as one of the extra tracks that will appear on the re-issue of The Geese & The Ghost which is due out later this year.
Where does the song title Um & Aargh come from?
This is a play on words based on the name of the A&R (standing for Artists
& Repertoire) people from record companies who are supposed to give guidance
to a recording artist as regards their material. Ant heard some great
stories about A&R men and their "advice" about material when he
was recording Wise After The Event so it seemed only logical to send them up!
The line in the song "this is much too good for the people" is based
on a genuine comment made by an A&R man to bass player John G. Perry.
John was told in all seriousness that his album was "too good to be
released"! Strange but true!
Where does the title The Geese & the Ghost come from?
This originates from two sounds on the ARP Pro-Soloist synthesizer, which Ant
played on the album. There was one sound with repeat echo that reminded
Ant and Mike Rutherford of a flight of geese and another one that had a
"ghostly" quality to it, hence The Geese & The Ghost. These
can be heard during The Geese & The Ghost (part one) at 4:40 (the geese
sound) and 4:55 (the ghost sound) into the track.
Who is Humbert Ruse who appears on Wise After The Event and
Sides?
This is producer Rupert Hine. His performance credits are all real.
On many of Ant's albums there is a person called Ralph Bernascone mentioned in the credits. Is he a real person?
Yes, Ralph IS a real person! Ant freely admits that not all of his credits
have been entirely true, but none the less he is very much alive and well. Incidentally,
readers may like to know that his name is pronounced "Raif Bernasconay".
Was Ant asked to take part in the 1982 Genesis reunion concert that took place in Milton Keynes?
Ant says: I think I was approached by Tony Smith who was managing Genesis as well as myself at the time to see if I would be interested in taking part and I said yes. However, before things went too far it was taken out of my hands and the Genesis management decided that I wouldn’t need to take part. I was in the middle of recording Invisible Men at the time and it was probably felt that I should concentrate on that. If I had been involved and had to chose a track to play I think I would have gone for something like Visions of Angels.
Are there any scores available of Ant's music?
A collection of scores of six of Ant's guitar pieces (called not surprisingly Six Pieces For Guitar) was published by Josef Weinberger back in 1980 and this is still available. Further details on this and where to obtain it can be found in our Buyers Guide.
Please note: These are the only scores of Ant's music that are available to buy. It is unlikely that any more scores of Ant's music (either guitar or piano) will be made available in the foreseeable future.
Will Ant ever give a live performance of his music?
Ant says: I always say the same thing really, which is that it's not impossible. Practically speaking it would take an enormous amount of time to rehearse a whole set and then go out and do it and it's really not a my full-time career. My full-time career is television and library music so it would mean dropping out of that for so long that until in some sort of fanciful way to semi-retire from that to doing exactly what I wanted without any financial risk it's unlikely but not impossible.
Who
is Vic Stench / The Vicar?
Both of them are Ant himself. The Vicar who maintains a diary at Robert Fripp's DGM site is not Ant.
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