“I moved to an old Victorian pile where the previous owners had put a swimming pool in. I said, ‘Let’s fill it in.’ Then I said, ‘You know what we need? A Viking mead hall!’” Clive Nolan built a home venue so he doesn’t have to tour

Clive Nolan is best known for his work with Pendragon and Arena. The classically-trained musician was bitten by the prog bug when he discovered Genesis as a teen, and went on to join numerous progressive bands. He’s also turned his attention to musicals; and his current album, The Mortal Light, is the third instalment in his epic Alchemy series.

Where did your love of musicals come from?

Growing up, I listened to whatever my parents had on the radiogram, which was classical music and a lot of musicals. My vision at the age of 10, probably, was to be a conductor or a classical composer – although even then I thought I’d like to do film music.

The beauty of film music is that one time you could be Viking, another time you could be modern pop music – you’re a chameleon in terms of the writing and you’re suiting the mood of the film. I like the variation and the challenges of that.

Although I’ve never managed to actively get into film music, I think that sort of attitude has stayed with me and I’ve utilised that in the musicals and other projects.

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Tell us more about your trilogy of original musicals.

Every single story that I liked already existed as a musical so I thought, “I’ll have to write my own.” I started mucking around with ideas – what would I like to see on stage? What set pieces would I like?

This sort of universe started to emerge in my head and I liked the idea that it had this steampunk element; this slightly Victorian view of what might be futuristic.

I’ve always enjoyed character-driven stories like Indiana Jones and that kind of curious explorers who don’t necessarily walk a completely clean line. The character Professor King came out of that; and then, of course, you’ve got to have a baddie. That was Alchemy. But when I finished it I thought, ‘There are more stories we can tell.

So I did King’s Ransom, and at the end of that I thought, “There’s still more.” So The Mortal Light has now appeared. I’m really pleased with it.

Your musicals have been performed by your own theatre company.

It sounds far grander than it is! Basically, I wanted to put on the musicals in a theatre in Cheltenham and I needed performers. There’s a regular floating group of people that I work with. We put it together under this kind of umbrella name of the Caamora Theatre Company.

There’s a Caamora in Norway now who perform stuff I’ve written. In many ways, they’re probably more organised and more active than Caamora over here! But I now have the Viking mead hall that we built.

A Viking mead hall? Tell us more!

I moved about four years ago to a house in a village just outside of Hereford, about 20 minutes from the Welsh border. It’s an old Victorian pile and it has a classic walled garden, which the previous owners had put a swimming pool in. It was an absolute disaster because they dug it too deep.

I said, “Let’s fill it in,” and 60 tons of mud was delivered in 13 great trucks. I was standing where the pool had been with a few friends and I said, “You know what we need? A Viking mead hall!”

I had the idea that it could be a venue to use, because as the years go by I like touring less and less. My initial vision was nothing much more than a glorified garden shed – but of course, the idea grows. It turned out that some of my key singers in the Caamora group were builders, carpenters and all the rest.

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One family – Natalie, Ryan and Morgan – are trained carpenters. They built the whole thing. Inside there’s a little stage. You can get about 70 or 80 people in chairs there. It’s an absolutely amazing thing.

What sort of shows have you performed there?

I’ve started doing weekend musical events. We’ve done three so far. We’ve got another one coming up in May. We always give the weekend a theme – we’ve had zombies, Vikings and Victorians. The next one is alien invasion and we’re going to build a flying saucer. Now I only have to walk about 30 yards to get to work!

When you’re working on a new musical, how much do you get involved in the in the visual aspect of it?

I’ve never been the director of any shows. I want the musicals to exist on their own without me. That’s very hard – generally speaking, I have to be a part of the performance and everything. Back in October we put on She, the first musical I wrote, but I wasn’t in it.

I got to sit in the audience and didn’t go to rehearsals. They wouldn’t tell me anything about it! I have to say it was fantastic.

The Mortal Light is out now via Crime Records. See Nolan’s website for more details of the mead hall.