In a 1992 Guitar World feature that celebrated the release of Spinal Tap’s reunion album, Break Like the Wind, it was reported that lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel had been, at some point during the band’s hiatus, “mysteriously conscripted into the Swiss Army.”
It’s a claim that Tufnel, speaking via Zoom from his home in the U.K., now shoots down as totally bogus. “It’s just not true,” he says. “Someone said that, and it’s not a very good joke as well, but that’s a separate matter.”
Tufnel is happy – well, that might be stretching things a bit – to set the record straight regarding other persistent tall tales and canards surrounding him and the pioneering heavy metal band he co-founded in 1966 with singer-guitarist David St. Hubbins and bassist Derek Smalls. There’s the matter of guitar strings; for years it’s been thought that Tufnel started out playing strings made of catgut.
“No,” he says dryly. “I think you've been put off a bit, either by yourself or someone who works for you. You’ve got some wrong information there. Now, catgut was used on early classical instruments, and then they went to nylon strings. I always played steel-string guitars from the very beginning. I played a Sovereign Harmony. Then I got my first Gibson, and then I got Fenders and whatever. The answer to your question would be no.”
What is true is that Tufnel, for the past 15 years, has been living a quiet life in Northern England with his longtime partner, Moira. “We’re just on the border of Scotland,” he says. “I’ve got a cheese shop there, and we work together.” He continues to play music, mostly with locals in a nearby pub, and he does some recording at home. “But it’s not for the public to hear, really,” he says. “Well, it could happen, but as just so happens, it’s not. It’s just for me.”
When asked if the pub sells any of his cheeses, he’s quick to stress that “pubs are not really known for their cheese, now are they? If you know what a pub is, it’s mostly people drinking cider or port or some sort of ale or lager.”
After years of career setbacks, Spinal Tap achieved sudden worldwide fame following the release of Marty DiBergi’s “warts and all” 1984 documentary, This Is Spinal Tap. Yet the film’s success left the band feeling somewhat dismayed. St. Hubbins told Guitar World that the movie portrayed the group as “sort of second-rate, a great big joke,” while Tufnel griped that he felt “betrayed” when he saw the finished doc.
Decades later, those feelings haven’t exactly softened. “I think we were bloody angry because it made us seem as if everything we ever did was rubbish and went wrong in some way,” Tufnel says. “Marty DiBergi, the director, picked these things to show, but there was a lot of stuff he didn’t show, like when we didn’t get lost or when we weren’t having a row. So we were miffed, as you like to say in America.”
Taking into account the band’s misgivings about This Is Spinal Tap, it’s more than a little surprising that they would choose to work with DiBergi again for an all-new film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, in which the group reunites after 15 years for one final show.
According to Tufnel, “We had a long discussion, all of us, and Marty made a case that it made sense for us to do this new thing, which is us coming together again for a reunion. I haven’t seen the lads for 15 years, and besides that, we had a legal obligation to do one more show.”
I don’t want to give it away. You’d like people to go and see it in the cinema. If I tell people what’s in it, then they won’t go because they know everything. You see?
Asked if he felt that the new film might paint a more accurate portrait of the band, Tufnel says, “Well, I can’t say why it will or not. There's some things in it that are upsetting emotionally. You see us getting angry occasionally, but there’s some good things as well. I think it balances itself out, really.
“But I don’t want to give it away. You’d like people to go and see it in the cinema. If I tell people what’s in it, then they won’t go because they know everything. You see?”
What are you hoping audiences come away with after they see the new film?
“Well, it is another view, maybe a more honest view of who we are as older people, yes, but not just the catastrophe. There’s always a balancing thing. Yes, bad things have happened, but they’ve happened to every single band that goes out on a tour. There’s more good stuff [than] upsetting stuff. Where are you talking from, by the way?”
New Jersey.
“Oh my God, sorry. You’ve really put your foot in it. I’ve been to Montclair. A young woman I used to know lived in Montclair.”
The new film is called Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
“Yes, that’s right.”
If the end continues, how is it actually the end?
“Yeah, well, you’ll have to work that out yourself – in New Jersey. I can't give you the answer to that. Some of these things you’re going to have to work out on your own. I know it’s not something you normally do, but you're going to have to do some research. Go to the library in Verona.
“They’ve got a lovely little library there, and there's a woman there who will help you. Or there’s a public library in Rumson that you might want to pop into. Between that and the other one, you’re going to get all the answers to these questions you're asking me, which I don't know.”
In This Is Spinal Tap, there is a scene in which you say that the band’s message is “love your brother,” which you then say you don’t actually mean. Has your message changed over the years?
“Well, look, we’re older people. We’re bloody old is what we are. There’s no getting around that business. We’re old people. So you do learn a few things when you get older. You can’t do backward flips, for instance. That’s just not going to be something you do. After 50, your hearing starts to get worse, I would say. But there's another thing that happens.
“I like being in the quiet because we played loud music for a long time. I like being in the country. I like taking a walk and looking at birds and simple things. When we did the new film, we were thrown into this other world, which was loud again. We were playing loud, but it’s all right. I don't think I could do that as a steady diet anymore.”
You say you look at birds – you mean girls, right?
“No, you see, you are confused again. This is a different thing. In the ’60s, we called women birds, but we don’t call them that now. I mean actual birds – creatures with wings. I like hearing them in the morning. We watch them fly around, Moira and I. We’re not official bird watchers because we don't really know the names of all of them, but we like to look at them as we walk down the lane to the cheese shop. It’s a quiet kind of life.
“By the way, I have guitars at my cheese shop. You can come in and trade guitars for cheese, or vice versa. If you bring in some cheese, I might trade you one of the guitars on the wall.”
Have any notable guitarists come into your shop to trade their guitars for cheese?
“No, but it’s possible. It’s not something I lose sleep over. It’s a barter system; that’s what they used to call it in the old days. Let’s say someone has a piece of cheese, and they think, ‘I don't really like this cheese, so I’m going to bring it in. And oh, look at that! There’s a nice f-hole Gibson…’ They can do a swap or whatever.”
I’d like you to clear up a few more things. In the past, Spinal Tap have turned down some not very sizable sums of money to reform, but a rumor persists that there were also very hefty fees offered for you not to reform.
“No, again, that’s not true. In the old days, we had what you would call a lawsuit against one of our labels. They said at the time – this is 30 years ago – they said, ‘We will pay you not to record.’ But now, you see, we’ve made a new record, and there’s a book and a film coming out. We’re in a different place.”
You’re in the driver’s seat now.
“No, no, I’m not in the driver’s seat, actually. I’m in the backseat. Moira drives me, and she’s a very good driver. She takes me places, but mainly we walk or take our bicycles.”
Do you use a walking stick?
“Now, what would I do with a walking stick?”
Isn’t it customary to use a walking stick when you’re in the English countryside?
“I think this is a New Jersey problem, you see, because you have this weird concept of what it’s like where you’re walking down a lane and you see a thatched roof and a little elf comes out and a guy has a big pipe. I think you’re confusing it, maybe with the Hobbit thing or something. No, I don't have a walking stick. I just use my legs to walk.”
Tell me about when you first met Jimi Hendrix. The story goes that you were at his first London performance at the Scotch of St. James.
“No. You see, again, I think you’ve been thrown off a bit – by yourself, first of all, but by something else. I never got to meet Hendrix. As a young person learning to play, my main influence was Blind Bubba Cheeks. He was a great bluesman from the Delta. His records were quite rare – they were 78s.
“I had two of them, and I never met anyone else who had them. I’d play them for David St. Hubbins. We would sit around and try to learn the licks, and it was amazing. Blind Bubba Cheeks was really the great one of all those people, even more than Robert Johnson or Skip James, I would say.”
Did you ever speed up those 78s to learn the licks?
“I don’t know what to say to that. I don’t know you well enough to say something rude, so let's move on.”
Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani –
“You’re just naming names. You’re reading off a list of names. What’s the point?”
All of those guitarists have said they were somewhat influenced by you, but not by much.
“Yeah, so? Look, if you listen to a guitar player, you take a little bit from him. He takes something from you. It’s called an organic sort of way of learning. This happens with any musician. You don’t even realize it. You listen to a song, you hear something – the tone, a specific effect pedal, whatever is – then you might copy that. They may copy you, whatever. That’s a natural thing that happens.”
In the new film, people like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith and Lars Ulrich appear with you.
“Legends all, yeah.”
Do you think they’re just trying to piggyback on your fame?
“Well, I think, no, because you may have noticed that those are very famous people, and they’ve been famous for a long time. What’s the Latin expression? No, I don’t know… What am I saying that for? I think the answer is no. They have their own thing. It was lovely playing with them. It was really fun for everyone, I think.”
Before Spinal Tap, you, David and Derek were known as the Thamesmen, and you had a hit in the Sixties with Gimme Some Money. Why have you never reformed that band?
“Lots of reasons: One, a dead drummer is a reason, right? You can’t go backwards. That was when we were young people. That was ridiculous. We’re old people now, and you can’t go back. You can’t say to the Beatles, ‘Why don’t you become the Silver Beatles or the Quarrymen?’”
So no Thamesmen reunion. The Yardbirds were featured in Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic film Blow-Up. Do you feel slighted that you weren’t asked to be in it?
“No, no. That was an interesting film at the time. It was in the mid-’60s, I believe, and Jeff Beck was in it. It’s sort of interesting the way they used that. I don’t feel slighted. We were very much under the radar for what we did. Some people knew us, some didn’t.”
Legend also has it that Spinal Tap performed as part of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968, but your performance was cut from the film.
“Again, you say ‘legend,’ meaning it’s not true. No, we were not there, ever. We did some things you probably didn’t ever hear about. We did some concerts in the late ’60s that were not publicized because no one was there to publicize them, which is all right. People were listening to the music. They seemed to enjoy it, but no-one said, ‘Oh, we’re going to write about this.’ No-one heard about it, other than the people who were there – and us, of course.”
What was one of the best shows that was never publicized?
We did this show in a lovely park in Amsterdam. It was quite loud, so it was shut down after about 20 minutes. But the first bit of it was great. The people started throwing wooden shoes
“There was one in Holland. I don’t know if you’ve ever left New Jersey, but Holland is amazing. They’ve got these canals and great food and nice people. We did this show in a lovely park in Amsterdam. It was quite loud, so it was shut down after about 20 minutes. But the first bit of it was great. The people started throwing wooden shoes. I think they liked it, and then they decided it was too loud.”
Did any shoes hit the band?
“No, it was too far away. People later said that’s the highest compliment you can get, when they throw wooden shoes. They say that if people don’t throw shoes, that means they hate you. Anyway, you don’t want to get hit in the face with a wooden shoe.”
How has your guitar playing improved over the years? Or do you feel that once you achieve greatness, you just stay there?
“I think that’s the wrong term – ‘improved’ – because players always play. I still play every day. I play differently than I once played, and I’m learning. I used to play a lot of fast solo things, but now I’m listening in a different way to a spacious way of playing, which is more long notes. There’s different effects, some backwards things going on, and so it’s different. I wouldn’t say I’ve improved. It’s just different.”
Was skiffle still a major influence on your playing?
“It was originally in the ’60s. Everyone was affected in the U.K. by skiffle. Everyone said, ‘I’m doing this,’ and they were in a skiffle band of some sort. Then they moved into a different thing.”
What's going on with your solo project, the long-awaited trilogy Clam Caravan?
“Yeah, well, the first part of it still exists. The second and third part of it is still being thought about.”
It’s taken quite a while, though.
“Things take a while. Sometimes it’s a long time. It’s not just ‘Oh, boom, boom, boom.’ It doesn’t work that way when you’re writing music or painting or anything else. It takes time, and maybe there won’t be a second and third part. I don’t know. But in the back of my mind, I think there probably will be.”
All we know from Clam Caravan is your beloved song Lick My Love Pump.
“Yes, exactly. I’ve played around with that a bit, but it’s not for public consumption.”
In the first film, there was a scene in which you became quite upset over the mediocre deli trays backstage. Have things gotten better in that regard?
“This is a staple of tour nightmares when people have a rider, it’s called. So they say, ‘This is what we want. After the show, we want milk or vodka.’ It’s always messed up. The bigger the band, the more it fucks up, really. This has happened to everyone. It did happen to us, yes, but it was on film, so it’s exaggerated, you see? That was Marty’s choice. We weren’t involved in the editing. We did a show the next night, and everything was perfect.”
Spinal Tap were once cited as being “the world’s loudest band.” Is that still the case?
“I don't walk about with one of those little dB meters, which you can get on your phone now. But yeah, we’re still bloody loud. I can’t say if we’re the loudest because you’d have to have all these groups playing at the same time to try to figure it out.”
As we know, your amps go to 11. Are there any recent guitar or gear developments you’re excited about?
“Yes. For instance, Marshall has made for me an amplifier, the head, and if you look at the dials, it now goes to Infinity. Just think about that for a moment. Think about infinity – oh, my God, that’s literally infinity.
Marshall has made for me an amplifier, the head, and if you look at the dials, it now goes to Infinity. Just think about that for a moment
“There are lots of pedals that people have done in the last years that are quite extraordinary. Companies that make these pedals, which I use, and I do a little work on them. I take them apart, and I do a little fooling around with wires and stuff like that to get the sound I’d like.”
You tinker.
“I tinker, yeah. Lots of times I break them because I don’t really know how to do that work. I haven’t been trained, but it’s interesting to open things up, see all the wires and move them about a bit.”
What do you think about amp modeling?
“No, no. People use it in studios to make records, but I like my amplifiers. Occasionally I've gone direct when I record at home. There’s something about pushing air, as they call it. I’ve got this great Marshall at a home, a Studio Marshall, and it’s hard to beat.”
How much air do you like to push?
“I’ll leave that for you to figure out.”
I’ve got probably 50 to 75 guitars – a lot of them are in storage
In the new film, you’re playing a custom Union Jack Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent guitar. Are you playing that quite a bit these days?
“Yeah, well, it’s one of the guitars I play in the film. I’ve got probably 50 to 75 guitars – a lot of them are in storage. That guitar was custom done for me. It’s a great guitar. They’ve always done custom ones for me, going back 35 years.”
What do you like so much about Ernie Ball Music Man guitars?
“They’re just really well-made. I can say to the people there, ‘I’m thinking of doing this or that,’ and they say, ‘Yeah, let’s go for it.’ I play other things as well. I play a Nacho, and I also play a Novo. They’re both fantastic.”
What other kind of gear are you using?
“It’s just so much to even talk about. Honestly, I can’t even list it all. There are so many. I play Collings acoustic guitars and mandolins. It just goes on and on.”
You said you play every day. How much do you play each day?
“I play two hours a day. Three is too much, isn’t it? I like to take a walk in the morning with Moira. I come back, have a little breakfast, and then I sit down and play. It’s not exactly two hours, but it’s normally two hours. Then I go to the cheese shop.”
Are any of your new songs inspired by Moira?
“I can't share that because it's personal, isn’t it? This is the woman that I love, and I’m not going to say to you, ‘This is what’s going on.’ Because I don’t know you well enough.”
I feel as if we’re getting to know each other…
“No. I think you are wrong.”
Oh, OK. I’m sorry.
“Don’t be sorry. I like the paintings you have – you’ve got a painting in a mirror, and it looks like there’s a fireplace. It looks like some kind of velvet flocking on the wall. Is this a care home that you’re in, or is this your own place?”
I don’t know that many people at the age of 100 are going out and doing gigs
It’s my own place.
“It’s comforting and disturbing at the same time.”
Will you guys reform again in 15 more years?
“Well, as they say in the States, ‘Do the math.’ What we would say is ‘do the maths.’ When you're studying arithmetic in the U.K., they call it ‘maths.’”
But you could play again in 15 years. People are living longer these days.
“Yeah, but I don’t know that many people at the age of 100 are going out and doing gigs. People who are 82 are going out. That’s not a hundred, is it? Look, we’re all old. We’re bloody old. It’s weird, isn’t it?”
- Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is in theaters worldwide from September 12.
- This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.
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