QUOTE:
"Freddie always said he was an equal partner in that band. He hated it when it was referred to as Freddie Mercury and his band Queen."
According to Peter Freestone, Freddie Mercury never worked out a day in his life. The powerful, well-built man we see commanding crowds in the 10s of thousands actually only stood 5'9" and never went to a gym. Freestone says in his book, Mercury once bought two complete home fitness sets and they both went unused.

Freestone reports the front man always wanted to blend in with the crowd, but his charismatic soul and, later in his career, love of flamboyant clothing and costumes, turned heads most everywhere he went. And he never tried on the 'don't you know who I am' routine, preferring to stand in line with everybody else. Freestone himself recalls a few occasions when he noticed Freddie, drawing attention, long before Queen were a household name, and years before he would actually take on his first job with the theatrical band as their wardrobe technician. It was clear to him then that, try as he may, Mercury wasn't someone who would easily slip into the background.

Coming from his job with the London Royal Ballet to touring with Queen, it wasn't long before Freestone became involved in Mercury's life on a day-to-day basis, a position he held right up until his employer's death in 1991. His role as personal assistant saw him experience firsthand the highs and lows of the lead singer's home life, recording with the band and touring. His bio recalls he acted as a bodyguard when needed and towards the end was one of Mercury's nurses. Freestone became a close friend of Mercury and knew his character inside and out.

When Freestone became involved with Queen: It's A Kinda Magic, based on the watertight portrayal of Freddie by Craig Pesco and the performance from the band as a whole, it was the greatest possible endorsement the show could gain. He maintains the tribute is the closest we will get to experiencing Queen live in our time - and he should know.

It's A Kinda Magic plays the Burswood Dome on Wednesday, June 15.

By NATALIE SCHMEISS

Was Freddie someone who was hard to get to know when you first started working with Queen?

Yeah. Freddie actually was a very private person. He didn't make friends easily; he was scared of being taken advantage of. But the thing is he was actually a very good judge of character and it only happened twice in the time that I knew him, because he was just careful when making friends. So, I mean, that's why it really took... it took a while, it took six months before we could really sort of get on, if you know what I mean.

So when you took on the job as his personal assistant, did you draw the line at any particular duties you felt you couldn't undertake?

Not really, no.

I guess there was no real job description that he could've handed you...

(Laughs) No, certainly not. It just wouldn't exist. I mean, things would change from day to do. My job, basically, I suppose was to make his life easy. I was to take care of the mundane while he could think about shopping and music (laughs). So, it was really anything other than the music. My life was just to make his life easy.

Did that include anything that you weren't expecting?

I suppose, to a degree, yes. Including the illegal parts of it. But the thing is, you know, when you're young that doesn't sort of worry you so much. I mean, I wouldn't dream of doing anything like that now. You know, going and getting drugs and things. I mean (laughs) it was funny, in New York we used to - like for a weekend - I would go and basically join a queue, you went into this guy's apartment and he had a sort of table set up, a trestle table, with an expandable file and there were all sorts of drugs in there and you just sort of pick what you wanted and paid for it at the end - like a supermarket (laughs). But the thing is, it was part of life. That was life then. As I say, now I wouldn't dream of doing it. I'd be too scared of the arm on the shoulder, you know, the hand grabbing you. It was a totally different life. It was real life - it was my real life at that time - but it's a different life now. Totally different. But, as I say, it doesn't take away from the fact that what was happening then was a real life.

Do you ever feel like sometimes people get a little too preoccupied with the excess that surrounded the band?

It was part of the whole deal, the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and that was what it was all about. The thing is, what some people might miss, or might miss out on, the whole reason behind Freddie and his music was giving to the public. Giving to everybody of himself. Giving his music and, you know, for the shows themselves he just went over the top because he wanted everybody to see it, everybody to take part in it. And as I say, the whole drugs part of it was... that was part of the scene. And it was sort of, to a greater extent, accepted as part of it.

How important were the drugs and partying in making the shows spectacular?

Believe it or not, not very. Because the drugs never made an appearance before a show. I'd never known Freddie to go on stage having taken drugs. He might've had a drink or two on occasion (laughingly) and there was one memorable night, but I wasn't involved. It happened on the tour I wasn't here for, but I know at one point he went on stage totally out of his brains because he'd been out with Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet. They went out before and Tony Hadley really believed in having a glass of port before a show because he believed it helped his throat. And I think, to a degree, port does. But Freddie took it, instead of a glass of port, had a bottle of port (laughs) and he went on stage totally messed up. But he still gave a wonderful show. As far as shows go for Freddie, and the band as a whole, if the audience gave to them then they gave back twice as much. It was all adrenalin, pure adrenalin on stage.

In interviews Freddie always seems so sure of himself, was he someone that secretly needed approval from others?

No. He needed support from people, he didn't need approval. He always loved having people around him, not necessarily lots of people but so long as he had some friends with him at all times, he was happy. He needed that sort of support. He was very, very sure of himself. He knew exactly what he wanted, he knew his limits, he knew when to stop doing anything, he knew when to call a night a night and finish. He just needed people's support.

Did you have much insight into the relationship the band members had with eachother?

We went to the studio and things - the people around Freddie went - so, I mean, you could see that. But Freddie was... he always, always said he was an equal partner in that band. He hated it when it was referred to as Freddie Mercury and his band Queen, because, as far as he was concerned, they were four equal members. In the actual music making part, it's like any sort of work in the business area, there are conflicts, there are arguments and things. But, it was constructive. It all produced the music, the great music that Queen came up with. On stage, you know, when they were touring, it never happened. It was like a well-oiled machine. There was no conflict, nothing like that ever came up, because they were so concerned about giving the perfect show. But, no, as I say, as regards to the actual creating of the music, there were times when if one band member was already in the studio, if someone else walked in they'd walk out again. It was the wrong day for them to be all mixing together, that sort of thing. But, they were very, very conscientious about creating the music.

Were they close friends outside of the music or did they each have their own scenes?

All of them, bar Freddie, had wives and children. You know, they had their home lives. Freddie also was not one who would go to sort of the A-list celebrity parties. You'd very, very rarely see him at those, and that's purely because he didn't like that whole thing. He had his friends, most of them actually came from a theatre background, and that's where he was happy. He'd be happier throwing his own parties than going to other people's. And he was never one to actually use the press for publicity and things. OK, when there was a tour or an album he would do the required interviews and things, but, there's never any photographs of Freddie at the shops or going out to a club or anything because he didn't want that. The thing that sort of annoyed him, and very much me nowadays, is when you have all these celebrities in the newspapers saying, 'Nobody leaves me alone, I can't even go shopping and people are following me'. But if their press people didn't actually alert the newspapers to say, this is where you're gonna find them, then you wouldn't have photographs taken of them. Freddie managed for 25 years to walk around shopping most days, you know, in Cartier or Lalique or the Auction Rooms and go out just about every night, but there's no photographs of that.

With current Queen projects, John Deacon is the invisible partner. Do you have any insight into why he's disappeared?

I mean, he's involved with Queen as a company. Personally, and it can only be personally, I think he was... at the very beginning, Freddie took John under his arm. He sort of protected him and they were huge friends. And I think it really hit John very, very hard when Freddie died. For John the band really was the four of them and when Freddie wasn't around anymore I think part of his heart disappeared from the music making.

What was it about Craig Pesco's interpretation that inspired you to want to endorse It's A Kinda Magic?

For the two and a half hours that he is on stage, he is Freddie. He is such a huge fan of Freddie, he's Freddie down to his fingertips. When I went to the show - I've seen them a few times now - but when I went and saw them it was just this amazing bond between the show and the audience. It really took me back to the first tour I did with Queen, and at that time they'd already done arena shows but they wanted to be part of the audience again, do smaller venues - two thousand, three thousand seaters. And that's just what I felt, it was that same reaction from the crowd as I'd had in the first tour I did with Queen. It's just this amazing... they're on their feet from the third song and they don't sit down. That show is the nearest you will find to the Queen shows with Freddie in them.

You're doing all these interviews where people are asking questions about Freddie and Queen - what has Craig been asking you?

The thing is, as I say, Craig is the biggest, biggest fan of Freddie. He's seen every DVD, he's seen as much footage as he can. But the thing that is so wonderful is he puts everything into his stage performance. When the show's finished and we were walking back to the hotel or whatever, I was talking with Craig, which makes all the difference, he would ask about Freddie's moods, he would ask all the sort of things about Freddie that made Freddie the show man. And I know he is such a huge fan that he would never do anything to hurt Freddie's memory. It's amazing.

Have you found that you've been called upon to offer the band as a whole, many pointers?

Yeah, during the first couple of shows that I went to see. Obviously they asked what more could they do, that sort of thing. But it really was just a case of fine tuning, there were no really big holes, no big gaps.

Do you think it's important that Queen are repackaged in this way?

Brian May and Roger Taylor are out on tour in Europe at the moment with Paul Rodgers singing. Both Paul and Brian constantly say that while Queen are touring again, it is never, ever going to be what people remember from the '70s May and Roger Taylor are out on tour in Europe at the moment with Paul Rodgers singing. Both Paul and Brian constantly say that while Queen are touring again, it is never, ever going to be what people remember from the '70s and '80s. Because Freddie was a one-off, there is absolutely no way Freddie could be replaced. So, a whole new generation of people are getting to see a new Queen, a new version of Queen. To me, I mean, yes, if you want the real Freddie you buy a CD or you buy DVDs, but you cannot beat the atmosphere of a live performance and with It's A Kinda Magic you get the atmosphere, which you will never get again from Queen.