An audience with Mike Oldfield
“Sorry,” says Mike Oldfield, breaking off our conversation. “There’s an extraordinary bird right outside my window. I think we’ve got roadrunners here, like in the cartoon. It’s about 10 feet away, staring right at me.”
“Here” is Nassau, where Oldfield has lived for the past six years. He has, it transpires, nomadic tendencies. “I’ve moved about 20 times. The only things I’ve got left are my Blue Peter badge and an original track sheet from Ommadawn.”
This month, Oldfield makes a Return To Ommadawn – a sequel to his 1975 album. “I thought it would be fun,” he explains. “And it was fun, playing all those sorts of instruments again. There’s not even a click track turned on; a lot of it is playing free.”
Plenty has happened to Oldfield during the intervening 40 years since his first foray to Ommadawn. Not least, his changed geographical circumstances. “These days, I wake up very early,” he says. “I got into the European rhythm when I lived in Ibiza. People get up early, they have lunch and a siesta, then often stay up late. So getting up at 5.30, I can get two days for every one.”
And with that, Oldfield prepares to answer your questions – on hurricanes, the Oympic Games and Kevin Ayers.
Do you still have your Blue Peter badge? John Yule, Aberdeen
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