The View From Here

Songwriter Stephen Hillier

Date Written February 1996

Place Written Wolverhampton Town Hall

Released When June 1996

Originally Sung By Sarah Blackwood

Features Roland S-760, Roland JD-800

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“…I was lost a long time”

It was during the third Dubstar UK tour, just after Manic came out. Things were truly exciting. I was standing behind my keyboard setup waiting for Paul (Wadsworth, our drummer), Chris and Sarah to show up for the sound check. I played some chords on the JD-800 using a string sound that I’d modelled on the Polymoog Vox Humana that’s all over Gary Numan’s Pleasure Principle album. I was struck by the size of the room we’d sold out, how hundreds had paid money to come and see a band who’d played only a handful of shows. The opening melody just appeared out of nowhere…and it all made sense, look at the view from here, this was not just the next step, it was real. It’s a theme I’ve returned to regularly, the idea of facing the future, like the Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich.

INSIDE OUTLINES, the first collection of solo piano pieces by Stephen Hillier is out now