Peter Freestone

Peter Freestone in Montreux

Peter Interview June 2007

Peter, when did you first come to Montreux?

I don’t know really. I am an old man now!!! (We both laugh), actually it was in 1980.

What did you come here for?

At that time we only came to Montreux for recording.

So you came with Freddie and Queen?

Yes, for recording sessions at Mountain Studios here in Montreux. It was to be the first time of many. We stayed at the Montreux Palace.

A special event?

A wonderful experience because it was the first time I saw this beautiful town.

Why wonderful?

This special feeling is difficult to put to words. A photograph speaks hundred words. When you see out of the window, the beautiful scenary, the lake, mountain, the aura of peace, this is about the same as a photograph.

Any parties?

In those days there was no place to party in Montreux. Well there were two places actually. But Freddie was bored to see the same faces and people each night he was out of the studio. There are studios all over the world where night life was in reach, but Montreux was the best recording studio. David Richards was already there as the engineer. Montreux was really a place for work. Nothing else.

Any famous people or musicians you met here?

Eugene Chaplin (son of Charlie Chaplin) was David’s assistant in the studio! Most of Freddie’s friends were not musicians. You don’t have to be a musician! When he invited people for parties in London, most of them were from acting (actors). For example Freddie Mercury introduced Anita Dobson (now Brian May’s wife) to Brian at one of his parties. Freddie’s private life was more at the “theatre” than the music business but it did not stop him having good friends within the music business such as Elton John, Cliff Richards, Dave Clark, David Bowie…. to name a few. There were others like Claude Nobs, the creator of the Montreux Jazz Festival amongst others.

What have you been doing over the last few years?

The one event that is always booked in my diary as soon as I get a new one is the Freddie Mercury’s Montreux Memorial Day. I have been involved from the very beginning 5 years ago but sadly I was unable to be present on the first one due to illness. At least I still got the menu sorted out!! I am so very very happy to be involved in this regular event to honor Queen and especially Freddie. Also I have been asked to give advice to a tribute band from Australia who I find to be the best. It’s great for me to be able to give people advice from my experiences.

You mean experiences of concerts?

Yes of the content of the concerts, the costumes, what songs were used and what effect they would have on the public. Someone worked out for me that I have heard “Bohemian Rapsody” live 374 times!! So I suppose you could say I have some experience.

After all those shows are you still a rock fan?

To be a 100% honest I never really was a rock fan! When I started work for Queen I was working at the bastion of classical music, The Royal Opera House in London. During all my time with Queen I was able to retreat into classical music if the rock side got too intense. But I became a huge Queen fan in 1996 when I started work with David Evans on what was to become the book “Freddie Mercury”.

Who is David Evans?

David Evans is a long time friend of Freddie’s. They met in 1975 when David was working for John Reid Enterprises, John Reid was the manager of both Queen and Elton John at that time. David is an established author and so he was the ideal person to be involved when our 3 years of talking became a book.

What do you do now?

Much of the time I am sitting home waiting for the phone to ring asking me to do something or rather, interviews or take part to a documentary or something to do with Freddie. So if ever somebody has got some work for me get in touch with montreuxmusic.com!

This year 2007, I count Montreux as my second home in that I am here generally 2 week-ends

each month. Due to the imminent closure of the Bavaria Brasserie, Rita, Norbert and myself were talking and realized the history relevant to Freddie is rapidly disappearing from Montreux. We came up with the idea of this tour following on from the successful tours of recent years which were able to show the interior of the Mountain Studios which obviously were a highlight. The Studio no longer exists and by this time next year the restaurant probably will not exist anymore. So what we do is everybody gathers at the restaurant at midday at Saturday to eat food that I have prepared following recipes I have used for meals for Freddie. We then have a boat tour to the important sites for example the statue, the Lake House and the apartment. This is followed by a leisurely walk through the town stopping at various places where I can pass comments on the past. We end up at the other side of Montreux at the Montreux Palace Hotel where we have tea and cake, the cake made to the recipe I have given to the Palace of something Freddie occasionaly had at Garden Lodge. To end the tour we then follow Freddie’s footsteps around the lake back to the statue. Occasionaly the suite that Freddie occupied is available and the Palace very graciously allows us to visit it.

Already booked in my diary is a 4 day trip to Iceland in October and in November a friend of mine, Martin Huizinga and I are going to try and beat the 35’000 euros we raised for the Aids charity in Holland in November 2006. Last year 17 catering schools around the country were involved in the “Freddie’s dinner” project. It’s the first time that I have been involved with a whole country in raising Aids Awareness. Of course we cannot forget Freddie Mercury’s Memorial Day which this year caused us a huge headache but I think we have found a satisfactory solution.