The Security Project Come To Park City


by John A. Wilcox



At last! The Security Project are back out on the road! I still hear some of you saying "Who?" so I'll explain. The Security Project are drummer Jerry Marotta; Warr guitarist Trey Gunn; guitarist Michael Cozzi; keyboardist / Eigenharpist David Jameson; vocalist Happy Rhodes. They perform Peter Gabriel music heavily skewed toward his first 4 solo albums with the occasional dip forward as well as the occasional dip back to his Genesis days. I had a lovely chat with Jerry Marotta in advance of the band coming here to Connecticut. Our conversation led to Gabriel's penchant for experimentation. Back then we did a lot of things. Things that didn't have a name. Things that changed, then changed again. To the point that we didn't even know what it was originally. There was a lot of jamming around. That was the beauty of that era. Peter had snippets of ideas. He's always got several things going. We did this very heavy version of Big Time. But nothing like what ended up on So. I had goosebumps for like a day and a half. It was so fucking strong.



I have always been an advocate for Gabriel's often-overlooked 2nd solo album with Robert Fripp in the producer chair. I asked Marotta about his first impressions of Fripp. There was this reputation about Robert. Don't look him in the eye. Don't look up. Don't say anything. Call him Mr. Fripp. There was this aura about him. The first time I met him, we were recording that record in a studio in Holland. A residential studio. We went through the first day. We didn't say a lot. We set up and we played a little bit. At the end of the session Robert came to me and said Jerry, would you please stay after the session. When everybody leaves, I'd like you to stay. I immediately thought I was going to get fired. I thought OK, that's it. I'm outta here. Everybody leaves. He's in the control room. I go in the control room. He says Come in. Sit down. It was very simple. He didn't say much. What he had were the 2 Revox tape machines in the control room. I sat down and for the next 30 minutes I sat there and watched and listened to him do Frippertronics. I didn't know what to make of it, but when I left I thought about it. I thought I didn't get fired. I think that was his way of saying I like you. I found Robert very easy to work with.



Jerry Marotta did many tours with Peter Gabriel and his low-end specialist, Tony Levin. As mentioned at the outset, The Security Project low-frequency man is former King Crimson member Trey Gunn. I asked Marotta if there was a substantial difference in their approaches. Trey plays Warr guitar exclusively. He's doing a lot of atmosphere. A lot of soundscape stuff. They're just different but they're both great! Good answer! Happy Rhodes has a long & storied career of her own as a singer / songwriter. In fact, both Marotta & Gunn have played on releases of hers. How did she come to enter the fold? We were touring with Brian Cummins. I love Brian but we knew it wasn't going to be a long term thing. We were doing a show at the Bearsville Theatre and Happy and her husband Bob came. I thought A female singer would be interesting. Why do we have to get a guy who sounds like Peter Gabriel? After the show we did a meet-and-greet and ended up down in the dressing room - Trey and I. We both looked at each other and said Happy! How about Happy? We didn't know if she would be interested in doing it or not. Trey approached her and she decided that she would do it. She's great! She's got a great voice. She's a great performer.

The shows include Peter Gabriel gems like Slowburn, Here Comes The Flood, Wallflower, San Jacinto and Digging In The Dirt. Get yourself to the Park City Music Hall, have a bite & a beer, and surrender to a night of great music!!



The Security Project
Saturday May 7, 2022 9 PM (doors at 7 PM)
Park City Music Hall
2926 Fairfield Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06605
(203) 335-3655
parkcitymusichall.com/

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