Rob Dickinson talks Scott Walker, Steve Perry, BT

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robdickinson-coachella06Former Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson is well-versed in Scott Walker, the ’60s-idol-turned-recluse-turned-avante-garde-musician who is the subject of the documentary movie “Scott Walker: 30 Century Man” and of tonight’s “A Tribute to Scott Walker” at the L.A. club Bordello. But Dickinson – one of the performers at the tribute – is not surprised Walker has flown under the radar of others.

“I know some very aware musicians and very fine people who have never heard of him. He was a pretty well-kept secret,” Dickinson says of the artist who enjoyed most of his stardom in Britain and whose work became increasingly challenging as his career progressed. “‘Scott 3’ and ‘4’ were real works of a deviant musical mind.” Dickinson’s band and Walker shared a record label for a time in the 1990s, Fontana, and he says Catherine Wheel even worked on a cover of “30 Century Man,” one song he will perform tonight. And the other? “I’m sitting here right now learning a very difficult Jacques Brel [whom Walker covered] song,” Dickinson says with a laugh.

As for his own activities, the L.A.-based Dickinson – who re-released his solo album “Fresh Wine for the Horses” last year with a bonus disc of acoustic renditions of Catherine Wheel songs – says he has been collaborating with former Journey singer Steve Perry and electronic artist BT (Brian Transeau).

“Steve is just sticking his toe in the water and has been working with a few people, so we’ve been having a strum basically,” Dickinson says. “I’ve never been very good at collaborating, so it’s been an adventure for me. But it totally blows my mind to sit next to one of the best rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time. His voice has never been better.”

Dickinson will also appear on BT’s forthcoming album and perform with him at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami next month.

And of his own band, idle since the early part of this decade after a productive 1990s? “You never know,” Dickinson says. “It’s a nice thing, all these bands from a certain era getting back together. Maybe people realize they’re getting old, maybe the nasty ‘C’ word comes in to play – career – but I don’t think it’s such a bad thing.”