Brian May admits he was “very nervous” when he recorded ‘Star Fleet’
Queen guitarist Brian May has shared that he was “very nervous” going into the 1983 recordings of Star Fleet Project. May has revisited the album as part of the ‘Brian May Gold Series’, with the 40th-anniversary boxset of Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project due out on June 21st.
Speaking at the album’s launch event on July 17th at Abbey Road Studios, May reflected on his trepidation going into the studio with new artists. Recorded at the infamous Record Plant studios while Queen were on hiatus, May was joined by Edward Van Halen on guitar, Alan Gratzer on drums, Phil Chen on bass, and Freddie Mandel on the keyboard.
“I was very nervous in a very nice kind of way,” said May. “There’s a very fine line between nerves and excitement, so I think we were all [feeling] very high rates of natural excitement.”
The guitarist also pointed out that the dynamic was very unfamiliar after spending so long in the studio with Queen, saying things were “completely different” with Roger Taylor, John Deacon, and Freddie Mercury.
“We knew each other inside out, and they knew each other well enough to pick each other to pieces and put it back together again,” he said. “With these guys, it was a completely new canvas to paint on, and just explore the way people played.”
May went on to say that the group were really “locked in” during the final takes, praising former REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer for “just laying it down”.
“We were all locked in you know, that’s not a production thing,” May proudly shared. “We actually played it that way, which makes me very happy. And I think it reassured us all we could do stuff outside the norm.”
During the same event, May also praised Queen vocalist Adam Lambert and called the singer “a gift from God”.
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