Keyboardist Tony Banks says a Genesis reunion will probably never happen

The co-founder and Genesis keyboardist, Tony Banks, talked with Ultimate Classic Rock about a possible reunion of the band.

Read what he said:

“I think it’s unlikely, really. I think if we’re going to do anything, we should do ‘The Silent Sun’ since it’s the 50th anniversary of that song. We don’t really plan too much, and Peter’s a terribly difficult person to tie down.

“I see him every so often, but … [Laughs] he’s so difficult, really – even if he’s enthusiastic about it. He was 20 years ago – or almost that long ago – when we did the last Genesis reunion. About five years before that, there was talk about doing something with Peter, but Peter was… [Laughs] originally into the idea, and then it became difficult.

“Even getting everybody in the same place at the same time is impossible, really. The only chance you’ve ever got is Phil, Mike [Rutherford, bass] and I together, but even that’s a long shot because of Phil not quite being where he was 20 years ago.”

Just record the parts individually and swap them through email. Then get latter-era collaborator Nick Davis to produce it.

“It’s probably better in fantasy than in reality anyhow.”

There’s not much information out there about the sessions for ‘The Carpet Crawlers 1999,’ even though it has such significance in the history of Genesis.

“Peter’s idea was to use [producer] Trevor Horn since he was neutral territory: None of us had ever worked with him. The vocal, the way it switches between Peter’s voice to Phil’s voice, is really strong on that.

“The arrangement I’m not 100% crazy about – the little, skippy drums all the way through it – and the chords are a bit unsubtle, but it wasn’t bad at all. I haven’t even listened to it since he we did it, actually.

“It was nice working with Trevor; I’m an admirer of his. He’s a talented chap, so it was fun to have done that. We had a good time just getting together at Peter’s studio at Real World. Good food. We ate a lot, as I remember – and played a lot of tennis.

“[We did] about an hour in the studio a day, which is the way Pete tends to work usually, which is the trouble. So, we moved into Peter’s place, which was quite interesting. I don’t know, though. It won’t happen again.”