Gary James' Interview With John Bonham's Sister
Deborah Bonham



Her first album, "For You And The Moon" made the Top Five in the NME chart and was voted "Record Of The Year" by Musik Mart magazine in Germany. She headlined the Belfast Festival and performed at the Glastonbury Festival and Fairport's Cropredy Convention, not to mention a sell-out show at The Bottom Line in Shepherd's Bush. She appeared on the syndicated radio show Rockline and on the stage of The Whisky A Go Go. She's shared the stage with Van Halen, Humble Pie, Donovan, Paul Rodgers and Foreigner. Her new album, "Bonham-Bullick" has been released on Quarto Valley Records. Touring behind the record, she's already sold out shows in Belgium, Holland and England. And lastly, for those who don't recognize her last name, her brother John Bonham played drums in Led Zeppelin. Deborah Bonham spoke with us about her new CD, her life on and off the road, and her brother John

Q - Deborah, I see you've got a lot of thank-yous to people listed in your booklet inside this CD of yours. It took quite a few people to help you put this CD out, didn't it?

A - Yeah. These are just along the way, you know? The actual recording was pretty straight forward. It's just along the way. Certain people help you at certain times. When we'd come over to America and were doing a show there'd be some guy who helped us get some equipment together and just went that extra mile. So, we tend to recognize everybody that does even the smallest of things that really matter. So yeah, there's always a lot of people behind the scenes doing little things that help you move it along.

Q - You're also the producer of Bonham-Bullick.

A - Yeah.

Q - Does that mean you had the final say on what goes on the CD and how it sounds?

A - Yeah, pretty much. I picked the songs. I sort of put it together and the mixing of it where we took it to be mixed. Making sure the sound was right and the mixes were right. It's just sort of all that stuff. Making sure that the parts work with the band. If something got played and I wasn't quite sure, then I'd sort of change it. The usual role of what a producer sort of does. And it's the first time I've sort of done that. I've co-produced with that last couple of albums, but I just thought this time I may as well have a couple of excellent engineers when we were recording it, Dave Evans and Paul Burton at The Old Chapel Studios down the road from me where we recorded it. They were fantastic and understood the sound I wanted. Then we mixed and mastered it with Tim Oliver at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. I explained it to him I wanted it to breathe and have some separation. I wanted it to sound like '70s vinyl really and he was absolutely spectacular. So yeah, it was good people on the project.

Q - What's nice about the way you sing is, I can understand every word you're singing. I know that sounds old-fashioned to say that, but it's true. Maybe it's the songs you selected.

A - I was very particular Gary about the vocal sounds and I liked the clarity. I don't like it being muddy or blurred. I like the vocal to have a lot of clarity. I like it to breathe. I don't like it over-compressed and all that sort of stuff. There's a very fine line of how you use the compression to get that clarity and still let it breathe so that it's effortless. And it's all about getting it in your headphones as well and the right volumes, but that it doesn't just stand out at the track. It sits within the track, but still has that clarity. But I was very particular about that, I will say that. I love to drive the engineers mad in the studio when we were recording. (laughs) They stood it really well from me. You know, they were great. They kept saying, "No, no, no. It's still not quite right." And once we got it, it was great.

Q - I would guess that since the pandemic hit in these last two years, it gave you the extra time to be very particular.

A - Yeah. Absolutely. To be honest with you, we were recording it before the pandemic started. We started recording it in late 2019. We got it finished and I like to go away with something and look at it and listen to it. There were a few things I wasn't happy with and I wanted to change studios for the mixing and I wanted to add a few different things. Just various little bits that came during the pandemic. So yeah, I guess I had a lot of time then because we had a few shows at the beginning of 2020 and then bang! March, 2020. We were all in lockdown. And so a lot the album I did remotely with Tim Oliver over at Real World or virtually and remotely via laptop and e-mail and i-Tunes, web files and MP3. He would send me the tracks and then I would time code it. It was so laborious. I'd have to time code it and say, "On that particular point can we pull down the hi-hat or lift the hi-hat? Can we just add bits?" (laughs) It was a lot of time. So, you're absolutely right. As we started to open up from lockdown we still had a lot of restrictions, but I was then able to go to Real World and honestly it was great to have a day with Tim Oliver. We got so much done by me just being there. He just put the fader on that one rather than having to time code it and mail in and phone calls.

Q - Well Deborah, I guess if your last name is Bonham it's almost a forgone conclusion that you're going to be involved in music in some way. Was that in fact your idea all along, that you wanted to be a singer?

A - Yeah, pretty much. I grew up in exceptional circumstances. I mean, my mom and dad loved music. They were playing great stuff before me with my two brothers, Michael and John. Michael and John were listening to Benny Goodman with Gene Krupa on drums, which was the inspiration for John. They were listening to a lot of Blues music. My mom and dad used to play Billie Holiday and Mahalia Jackson. I came along and I was listening to all of that and then we progressed. The boys were playing The Beatles and on it went. By the time I was 6, John was in Led Zeppelin. So, I grew up with this amazing amount of music. Very eclectic as well. My brother John loved all music, loved Soul music, Mowtown, James Brown and all of that, as did my brother Michael. Then all the West Coast and Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and you'd have all the fantastic English bands. Also Folk. It was just an amazing amount of music. It was in me before I was born. My mom said when the music used to come on, if she was carrying me, I'd start dancing inside her. (laughs) I think it was always there. My brother was very concerned about how it was going to work for me in the music industry. He saw a very different side of it back then. And it wasn't particularly easy for women at all. I had a long talk with Maggie Bell about that. You have the trailblazers of Elke Brooks and Maggie Bell from the UK, and of course you had Janis and Christine McVie from the UK and then you have Stevie (Nicks) and all those amazing, trailblazing, inspirational female vocalists who absolutely adored Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny. There were so many of them. Aretha Franklin and all the Soul girls. But it was a tough job. You saw the heartache that Billie Holiday went through, Sandy Denny passed away. Janis Joplin. It wasn't an easy thing and he knew that. He was really quite concerned and I'm glad he was, him and my parents just thought that I should stay on at school, which I did. I did languages. I loved French and Spanish and French has been great for me because we tour France a lot and we tour Europe. So, it's worked out great, but at the time I just thought I want to be in a Rock band, you know? (laughs) It was like, "No, no, no. You're going to stay on at school." I think he thought I was going to be a vet 'cause I always loved animals so much. But you can't deny what's in your heart. I was in school when he passed away. I was 18 and it was a couple of very dark years ensued from that. Then the mist lifted a bit. That's when I sort of thought I'd have a go at singing, so that's what I did.

Q - After high school did you go on to any higher education?

A - I did. I went to Bromsgrove College. I went there at 18, but John passed away then. It was just a very dark, dark time. So, things weren't good. It took quite a long time. I didn't see much point in anything I think at that point. So, it took me awhile to come out of that, as much as I could at that point, and to figure out if I really did want to have a go at singing or not. It was in my blood. It was in my soul. So, I just said, "Okay. Yeah. I'm going to give it a go."

Q - When Led Zeppelin was formed, did the group ever practice at your house? Usually a band will practice at the drummer's house.

A - I mean, if you think about it, Jimmy was already a respected session player as was John Paul Jones. Robert and John played at my 6th birthday party when they were in a band before Led Zeppelin, which was literally on the cusp of them joining Led Zeppelin. That was 1968. There would always be bands at the house, all hanging out or playing. But Jimmy was down in London with Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin's manager) and was already a very well respected player. Robert and John traveled there (to London). So, they didn't actually ever rehearse at our house, but John and Robert definitely played at my 6th, and then at my 16th birthday as well. (laughs)

Q - What kind of music were they playing?

A - Oh, just Rock 'n' Roll stuff. At my 16th birthday it was at a local village hall and my friends were all in bands and Robert and John got up and just played some Eddie Cochran or or something like that. (laughs)

Q - Your friends must have gone wild!

A - They were shaking in their boots! The ones that were on the stage. (laughs) Absolutely shaking in their boots. But, my friends enjoyed it, yeah.

Q - What kind of famous people did come around to that house of yours besides Robert Plant?

A - You had all of Black Sabbath from the Midlands. They would always be 'round to the house. Then there was Fairport Convention. Roy Wood would come 'round. I remember Carl Palmer being there a bit as well. Those were in the days when they were all planning on taking over the world and conquering it. And many of them did! It was quite amazing I guess. Cozy Powell. People like that. It was all Midlands bands. Where we lived in the Midlands was really great for great bands. We had lots of incredible bands coming out of there.

Q - You must have seen Led Zeppelin in concert in England or someplace.

A - Yeah. Absolutely. I saw them at Birmingham Odeon. That's in the Midlands of the U.K. That must have been '71. I saw them in '75 at Knebworth.

Q - Did your parents ever come out to see them?

A - Oh gosh, yeah. I went with my parents and my other brother. I remember the Birmingham Odeon One 'cause that's where I forgot that this was my brother on stage. It was just like watching something else. You just go transported into another world. There were like 2,000 people there and they were hanging off the balcony, just freaking out and dancing. It was just incredible. I just remember thinking, "Wow! That's what I want to do." (laughs) And I've spent the rest of my life trying to do that!

Q - A 2,000 seat hall a good place to see and hear a group.

A - Yeah. They'd gotten a bit bigger then. I'd seem them at the Town Hall as well, which is less. The Town Hall was about a thousand or so. They were starting to get bigger. They'd just done "Zeppelin Two". It was great.

Q - You've shared the stage or been on the same bill with people like Foreigner, Humble Pie, Paul Rodgers, Van Halen. How did those people treat you? I'm guessing when they saw that last name, Bonham, they were a little more respectful, weren't they?

A - Well yeah. But you know, everyone I've ever worked with has been really wonderful. I think it's a little bit... yeah, of course, I'm sure maybe the last name meant something. Quite a bit of these shows I certainly got on my own merit or the band's own merit. There were no favors being done at all. I'm of the opinion that you treat people with respect and people treat you back with respect. If you do your best and you get up and bring your talent to life on the stage, then people recognize it. People have been nothing but wonderful. Once somebody sees you, you get a phone call. "Would you like to sing with Foreigner?" That was great, getting up and singing "I Want To Know What Love Is" with 'em. We opened up for them and they said, "C'mon Deb, we want you to sing this." It was great.

Q - Parade magazine ran an article in their October 7th, 2018 issue titled Haunted Hollywood. They wrote the ghost of John Bonham haunts the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Did you see that article?

A - No, I didn't.

Q - Have you ever talked to anyone who's seen your brother's ghost at the Chateau Marmont?

A - No. (laughs) I think he's got better things to do. I'm not sure about that. C'mon. C'mon.

Q - Do you know if Led Zeppelin ever stayed at the Chateau Marmont for a Los Angeles gig?

A - They might well have, but John stayed at a lot of places. I think if he was ever to come back as a ghost it wouldn't be there. I'm sure he'd come back and see his family. (laughs) You know what? It's the whole mysteriousness that surrounds Led Zeppelin, the insatiable appetite that people have for Led Zeppelin. It's crazy, you know? People say things like that? Really? People say, "Your brother's spirit is with me. He made me pick up the drum sticks." Maybe he did. Who knows? I don't know. I just sort of take it with a grain of salt. I had somebody ring up and say he was living next door to them. (laughs) They found me through one of the charities I'm a patron for. One of the trustees for the charity phoned me up and said, "I've got somebody on the phone for you that says your brother is living next door to them. You might want to speak to your brother." Of course I hadn't told them. They weren't Rock 'n' Roll people. They didn't really know Led Zeppelin. They didn't know John Bohnam had passed away. I said, "It would be a bit difficult 'cause he's not alive." (laughs) But this person was absolutely positive that he was next door. Whatever. I don't dispute anything. I don't criticize anybody if that's what they want to believe or feel they've seen something. Who knows? I don't get involved in it too much.

Q - Do you play drums at all?

A - I do a tiny bit. I love it, but no, drums were never a place I was going to go to. Never. It's singing I love doing, and songwriting. But I love rhythm. It enables me to talk to my drummer and just say, "Let's get that back beat going," or I can tell him the type of fill that I want him to do. So yeah, it helps. I've grown up with John, so that's where I measure things.

Q - It says a lot about Led Zeppelin that they decided not to carry on after your brother's passing. His playing made a huge impact on the sound of Led Zeppelin.

A - Without a doubt. It's the whole thing together and I'm not sure it would've worked. They only time it did work was at the 02 with Jason (Bonham. John Bonham's son) who did a phenomenal job. I just don't think they could've brought anybody else in. The rhythm section to Led Zeppelin as much as Robert and Jimmy was the four of them, the four players who made the sound of Led Zeppelin. I think you couldn't replace any of them.

Q - Have you ever performed with Jason?

A - Yeah, absolutely. In America I toured with him. It was fantastic. Then we'd do a couple of songs together. I did a duet with him on his album. I think it's called "When You See The Sun". He's a great singer too. We did a song called "Holding Back Time". It was great. We also did a version of "The Battle Of Evermore" on a live radio station, which was pretty cool, with no rehearsal! I didn't even know he could sing at that point. We've done a few things together. He's played on one of my albums, "The Old Hyde", on all the tracks except for one, which then had Mick Fleetwood on, which was fantastic. Jason also appeared on my "Duchess" album. Paul Rodgers came on the album and did a duet with me and Jason played drums. He's always touring and I'm here (England). We have to make time to catch up and it becomes difficult, but we do. We keep in touch. We speak. We talk on the phone.

Q - And now you're hitting the road really hard, aren't you?

A - Yeah. We're very much right in the midst now of talking about a U.S. tour. So, we've got an agent who's working on it for us now. He's a fantastic agent actually. So, I'm hoping that will come together towards the end of the year. (2022)

Official Website: www.DeborahBohnam.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.



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