Adam Goldberg interview: The Goldberg Sisters and why life is not a musical

by Bill Palmer

“I don’t think it can be fully appreciated otherwise,” explains Adam Goldberg as to why his new album comes with a ‘wear headphones’ warning, and it immediately becomes clear that he hopes you’ll take his music as seriously as he does. Nevermind that he’s using a band name like The Goldberg Sisters despite the lack of any sibling involvement. Look past the fact that he’s better known as an actor than as a musician. His new record is a multi-layered sonic experience that’s as psychedelic in tone as it is philosophical in content. And Goldberg, whose beard is growing back after he temporarily parted with it for a recent acting gig, is sitting in a Hollywood coffee shop explaining how this newly released album is his first conscious ‘attempt’ at making a record despite the fact he released an album under the name LANDy two years ago.

“The first record for the most part was a compilation of recordings I had done just because I just recorded music,” he says of the hundreds of bits and pieces of recordings he’d generated over a period of six years. “I just kind of woke up one day and I realized that this was absurd that I had accrued all of this material and I was trying to figure out a way to make it cohere and congeal.” But this new Goldberg Sisters record came together entirely differently. After his producer gave him the ‘I have some time now, I don’t have any time later’ speech, Goldberg decided to throw caution to the wind.

“I wasn’t at all prepared to do that, but I decided to do it,” he says, leading him to gather up “whatever I had demoed in the last year as well as a couple songs that were many years old, and also wrote several new songs in the weeks leading up to getting into the studio. Most of the recording was probably done in like fifteen days and then there was mixing which was the other couple of weeks. So it was just the first time I had attempted to really make a record, I guess you could say.”

So what of those psychedelic influences which are clearly present in songs like Shush? Despite a working relationship with members of The Flaming Lips, Goldberg says his audio leanings go further into his own past. “I was always into sounds. I guess I always liked the production of music long before I knew anything about it or exactly what I was listening to. I always liked how records were mixed and how things were penned and how things were buried in records and stuff like that. When I first got a guitar and an amp, I also got a wah wah pedal and a digital delay pedal and a four track. So the beginning of any kind of songwriting concurred with my interest in the sounds that you can get out of the hiss of an amp with the wah wah pedal plugged into it with nothing else being played.”

Then he reveals something about his music which few artists would dare to admit. When asked whether he’s making music more because he enjoys the process than the end result, he says “I don’t even know if I’m making the record that I would actually listen to. I’m just making the sort of record that I want to be making, that’s viscerally pleasing for me to make and listen to. Though I can’t guarantee that it’s a record I would go out and buy and listen to.”

And that of course needs a deeper explanation: “I think this goes to any creative process, whether it’s making a movie or making a song or whatever. It’s very difficult to know whether or not, at least for me, how much of it is a response to the things that you’ve enjoyed and a response to your own emotional necessity to express something, and then with a third eye on a potential audience. In the past there was no need for that. I didn’t care. There was no potential audience. This time I was a little bit more aware of that, and I found it a bit of a nuisance because I think that sometimes you can veer dangerously close into making something, or you could prevent yourself actually probably from making something greater, because you’re so concerned about what people are gonna think. Yet at the same time, I think it’s important to be editorial and respectful to the people that are gonna watch your movies or listen to your music or read your books or whatever. I love the idea of exploration and hope that the idea that the recording of the exploration is of some interest to somebody else. But I also know that most of these songs are fairly conventional, so I don’t think that there is anything that’s that sort of weird about it.”

The mid tempo song Shush, in fact, is conventional enough that it’s being promoted as as single and currently seeing airplay in Europe. The accompanying video, shot in one continuous take with an iPhone, sees Goldberg driving around town (“It seems like a good driving song,” he says) and near the end finds him getting out of the car and proclaiming that “Life’s a musical.” As it turns out there’s a real life story behind the moment. “I’ve always been frustrated by the fact that life isn’t really a musical, but it occurred to me sometime in the nineties I was at a signal where Parkman and Silverlake Boulevard intersect. My friends and I were in the car and we were listening to something and I thought oh what the hell, I haven’t really tested it out. Maybe if you do start dancing in the street, maybe everybody starts dancing in the street. Until you do it, how will you actually know? How can you disprove the theory that in fact life isn’t a movie? And of course I started to do that and nobody joined in, proving my theory that life unfortunately is not The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, as much as I wish it was.”

By now it’s pretty clear how much thought Adam Goldberg has put into his music, so it’s easy to believe him when he says that his decision not to use his own name on either album he’s made has nothing to do with any notion of distancing himself from his own famous actor persona and instead just sort of happened. In fact, he initially chose the LANDy name in an attempt to avoid confusion with another singer-songwriter named Adam Goldberg out of Chicago, only to find that “LANDy” was also a name which was shared with other artists. But why the ridiculous name The Goldberg Sisters this time around?

“They’re all arbitrary and I think they’re all pretty ridiculous,” he says of band names in general. “I’m way into titles. But what could you possibly name something that is constantly fluid? It makes no sense to me. Which in a way is actually why LANDy is LANDy and Goldberg Sisters is Goldberg Sisters, because they’re post facto.”

Still, he’s aware that the digital era is a tricky one in which to be name-hopping, which is why he’s hedging as to whether his next record might or might not employ yet another artist name. “When I went to buy a Will Oldham record,” he says of the days in which retail stores dominated, “I could go to a section in a record store and you would have Will Oldham, Palace Music, and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy often times in the same file. Obviously on iTunes that’s not the case. Digital radio gets all confusing. I don’t know. If I sold a million records, would I keep the name? Probably. Am I gonna sell a million records? No. So who cares?”

And yet this week sees Adam Goldberg and his imaginary sisters making the effort to head to Europe to do radio promotion for the record despite the fact that “I hate flying and I hate playing live.” So despite a lack of expectations, does he have commercial aspirations for his music? “I would love in a million years for these things to be a source of income,” he says with a laugh. “But I don’t expect that.”

AdamGoldbergDilettante.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Avril Lavigne talks Push, explains sweetly abrasive song to Beatweek

“It’s an emotion of frustration,” Avril Lavigne says of the sentiment behind her new song Push, which may be in line to be the next single off her new album Goodbye Lullaby. “But it’s also positive, like hey, we love each other, let’s not sweat the small stuff.”

The song, which includes abrasive lyrics like Maybe you should just shut up and If you fuck this up then go take a hike is nonetheless a mid tempo acoustic-leaning number. Avril tells Beatweek that musically, a song like Push (which features guest vocals from collaborator Evan Taubenfeld) could have gone either way. “When I write a song I usually just write it on the acoustic guitar. You can take any song in any direction. It could have been an aggressive fast song.”

So is Push the next single? Avril doesn’t appear to be sure yet. Today she asked her fans via Twitter and Facebook whether Push or the more up-tempo song Smile should be the second single. After thousands of replies, she declared “looks like a tie.”

Want to know more? Avril Lavigne is on the cover of the next issue of Beatweek Magazine, and in the interview she discusses Push, lead single What The Hell, the acoustic back half of Goodbye Lullaby, and much more. The full interview with Avril will also be available on Beatweek.com.

James Blunt: the Beatweek interview

by Linda Domingo

He sang one of the most depressing songs the world had ever heard in 2005 with “You’re Beautiful.” Then, he did it again in 2006 when he released “Goodbye My Lover.” Now, James Blunt is back with a new album, “Some Kind of Trouble,” and hopes people won’t use it as another failed relationship soundtrack.

“They were a bit melancholy,” Blunt said of his first two albums, “Back to Bedlam” and “All the Lost Souls.” “This is an upbeat, energetic and optimistic album.”

Blunt is currently on another tour, but performing music isn’t the only way he has seen the world. He served six years in the British Army, from 1996 to 2002, which included an assignment in Kosovo in 1999. These experiences directly influenced two songs from “Back to Bedlam” – “Cry” and “No Bravery,” as well as “Same Mistake” and “I Really Want You” off of “All the Lost Souls.” Blunt continues to feel their impact in not only his music but also his everyday life.

Also resulting from his time in the army is Blunt’s work with Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization that provides aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters, and Help for Heroes, a charity that helps wounded soldiers. “Your past shapes your present. And of course my time in the army, although it’s not the only thing that has shaped me…that was a pretty extreme time,” said Blunt. “It shapes the way I think and see the world.”

The new album, released in January, features more electric guitar and harder hitting drum beats, not to mention more cheerful song lyrics. The first single off of the album, “Stay the Night,” is something you would hear in the background of a summer barbecue with its bouncy, Jason Mraz-esque melody and opening lyrics, “It’s 72 degrees/Zero chance of rain/It’s been a perfect day.” In the music video, rather than diving into a body of freezing cold water shirtless á la “You’re Beautiful,” Blunt is sitting on the beach with his guitar, watching the waves.

Blunt took some time away from the music industry to garner inspiration, and said “just really simple things like hanging out with my friends and living an ordinary life,” helped him write. Not all of his new songs are cheerful tunes, however. There are glimpses of the familiar James Blunt gloom sprinkled throughout “Some Kind of Trouble,” like “So Far Gone,” a song about a relationship that has fallen apart. Blunt sings, “I’ve tried hard to remember/This prison cell used to be a shelter/Now we’re just looking for the best way out.” On “These are the Words,” Blunt’s sorrowful lyrics are offset by an up-tempo acoustic guitar and snare line.

“‘These are the Words,’ is sung with great celebration, even though it’s about being on your own,” said Blunt. “…I think it’s a cool sound. It’s like it’s straight out the Bee Gees’ kind of era.”

The last track on the album, “Turn Me On,” stands out from the rest of the pack as a harder rock anthem to doing the dirty. It’s a departure from Blunt’s usual sensitive and sentimental lyrics and instrumentals. It features raw and improvisational-sounding guitar riffs, and lines like “I’ll send her home unless they’re both in it together/And they’re both on each other/That’s my kind of party.”

“The record label didn’t necessarily want it on the album,” said Blunt. After much discussion, Blunt succeeded in having it tacked onto the end. “That’s the unlucky song, number 13.”

Blunt explained that he wrote the new album “not necessarily alone as the troubadour on the acoustic guitar, but being the front man of a band.” He hopes that his new songs are relatable, and that his fans can tell he’s having fun. As for an explanation as to why so many of his songs have been so dark, Blunt said, “I just think music is a good way of getting out those things that we keep inside us.”

So what’s next for the musician, philanthropist, and former soldier? “I haven’t thought about it,” said Blunt. Whatever he does, he won’t be brooding over life in a dark room, as many of his previous songs may suggest. “I’m having too much fun.”

JamesBlunt.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Woe Is Me: the Beatweek interview

by Keri Franz

Woe Is Me. Typically, this phrase would imply a state of depression. However, when you’re one of the seven dudes in the band of the same name, you’ve got nothing to frown about. Only recently formed, the hardcore group hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, are composed of Michael Bohn, Tyler Carter, Ben Ferris, Cory Ferris, Kevin Hanson, Jack Langdell, and Austin Thornton. To mark the end of the Motel 6 Tour, their next stop is the infamous Vans Warped Tour. If you go, be sure to check out the jumping, high energy sets that Woe Is Me are already known for putting on. Vocalist Tyler Carter talked briefly about the band and what they’ll be up to for the rest of 2011.

Woe Is Me are currently wrapping up on the Motel 6 Rock Yourself to Sleep Tour. How has the experience been, and how has it compared to other tours you’ve been on?

TC: The tour has been great. We’ve really been “bro-ing down” with a lot of the other bands, and the turnouts have been insane. It’s definitely been much bigger than any other tour we’ve done to date.

Speaking of the Motel 6, do you have any crazy road stories yet?

I think the craziest thing has been the illnesses that we’ve had to deal with on this tour. It’s been pretty wild. Not to mention the inclement weather that’s been going on recently.

The band is comprised of a whopping seven members. How do you think that makes your band different from your typical four or five piece?

We have a lot more people to fit in our tour bus [laughs], but on a serious note. I think we’re a lot more versatile because of it. All of us come from different backgrounds, whether musical, or whatever.

You all came together in 2009 to form the band, but how did you all know each other?

We sure did. We were all in local bands that had played with shows with each other. So, I guess you could say we made our own little Atlanta “dream team.”

Has coming from the Atlanta music scene had any impact on the music you’re currently making?

I think it’s definitely given us a pretty big R&B/pop influence, seeing as how Atlanta is the hip-hop capital of the world.

Did signing to Velocity Records/Rise Records change how you were making music?

Yes actually, it made us step our game up a whole lot!

Your cover of Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” has been getting a lot of attention. What made you pick that song of all songs?

It’s about having a good time with your friends and not caring. And we love that.

In your opinion, what makes your live shows so wild and energetic?

I think part of it is how many members we have. Plus, we really love to get the crowd to interact [with us].

Vans Warped Tour 2011. What an honor—are you ready?

Yeah, you said it. It’s a huge honor. [We're] counting down the days!

I hear that you’re working on an album that should be due out this year. Any validity to that?

We actually are. We don’t have a date in mind yet, but we’ve been playing around with some new tunes on this tour actually.

How do you get anything accomplished when there are at least seven opinions to consider?

Surprisingly, we all generally have the same opinion. So, that makes decisions pretty simple.

What do you have to say for the people out there who haven’t heard your music yet?

Check us out! Don’t be a douche, and buy our album.

Woe Is Me • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Matisyahu tells Beatweek the secrets behind his new album – and his beard

by Linda Domingo

A musical anomaly, Matisyahu broke into the mainstream in 2005, making crowds to jump and sway to reggae sounds, all while wearing a yarmulke. Twisting, bending, and dismantling genres, Matisyahu’s sound is a mix of reggae, hip-hop and rock, which he uses to convey spiritual messages to the masses. His new live album and DVD, “Live at Stubb’s Vol. II,” will be on sale February 1. Currently working on new material for an album with an expected release date later this year, Matisyahu talks to Beatweek about writing, performing, beat boxing, tweeting, and growing a healthy beard.

What’s your writing process like? Do you have to be locked away somewhere?

I would say that to this day when I write lyrics, I write in one of two ways. I either write lyrics just based out of my life experience, or I write them from text, based on where my inspiration is coming from in that moment. Being that Judaism is such a fundamental part of who I am and how I’ve chosen to live my life, and the lens through which I see life, it’s inseparable between Judaism and my lyrics; it’s one thing. Judaism is not just some small religion. Judaism is a universal concept, that’s the basis for Christianity, Islam, you know, so many religions.

I kind of go through different processes. For example, there was one specific idea I was dealing with for my new record, the record that I’m writing now. It’s an idea based in the Torah, called “the Akedah”, which is when Abraham goes to sacrifice his son on the mountain and instead ends up sacrificing the animal. This idea became a central theme. There’s a rabbi that I really wanted to study more called the Baal Shem Tov. So we went to his grave in the Ukraine, me and my co-writer, and we sat and we developed ideas and lyrics in a very isolated, tiny, tiny town in the middle of nowhere. But now as I’m writing the music, I’m working with musicians and producers, and it’s just me with whoever I’m working with at the time.

On your new live record, there’s obviously a lot of energy coming from you, your band, and the audience. Do you prefer being in the studio recording or performing live?

I really enjoy both things. For me though, music started with the live. Me performing in front of people. That’s kind of how I started making music, as a street performer and performing at open mikes and with bands, and stuff like that. So for me it was always kind of about the live performance. It comes relatively natural to me.

Do you have a favorite song to perform?

Not in particular. It really depends on the night and what’s happening with the band, and myself, and the crowd, and all those little pieces that come together and create a certain vibe. When I’m performing, I’m always going after that. I’m trying to find a place where you really just become completely immersed in the music, and completely focused on what’s happening.

How did you come to start making music with your band, Dub Trio?

Well we both lived in Brooklyn and we both were playing similar venues at the time. I knew their music because I had one of their records, and really fell in love with it. I went to see them perform once and just felt like they were such an amazing, unique band and there was no one doing what they can do. They’re very, very unique in terms of the styles that they can play, and their sound. It was very much in line with my sound and the music I wanted to make, so we hooked up and played a show together – sort of just an improv show where we didn’t really play many of my songs, but it went really, really well, and that was the start.

You have a really large reggae and hip-hop following. How were you first introduced to these styles of music?

Well I grew up in a suburb of New York City in the nineties. So, hip-hop music was really starting to break into the mainstream, and was becoming something that we were listening to all the time, whether you liked it or not. The first, I guess, element of hip-hop that I got into was beat boxing, because my friends all freestyled and that was kind of what we did when we hung out. I was always trying to find some way to really express myself. I found that through beat boxing I could really express that sound. That became the first kind of element of hip hop that I got into…Freestyling with my friends and beat boxing. And then I started listening to a lot of the early nineties, conscious hip-hop stuff like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and those bands.

Reggae music was through two ways. I have cousins that grew up in Barbados. They used to come every summer and we would go to camp together, and they would play me all their music from the island. It was a lot of early dancehall music, like Tony Rebel, or Barrington Levy, that kind of stuff. And then I got into Bob Marley, and I was really taken with his music.

Some kids figured out your hotel before your show at Stubb’s from a picture you posted on Twitter. They asked if they could come by and say hello, and you agreed. What is your relationship with social media? How do you feel about that whole movement?

From the picture of the bus. Yeah. I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s a great way to take your own promotion and marketing into your own hands as an artist. The whole industry is becoming more centered around the artist kind of making things happen for themselves rather than depending on a big company to do it. Twitter…I got involved with it early, and I’ve had a lot of great experiences through that. I’ve done things like I’ve been in Colorado, and I ride motorcycles, so I tweeted and asked if anyone had an extra motorcycle. And I had someone show up with a bike and let me take it for a few hours into the mountains. It’s a good way for the artist, for myself, to be able to have experiences with fans that aren’t typical.

When are you expecting to release your new album?

We’re not sure yet. We’re hoping maybe the summer or the fall.

Can you tell me a little bit about what’s on the album?

I’ve been working writing with a lot of different people and the sound is very different. I’m trying to figure out which direction to go in. I’ve been recording with the Dub Trio as a band, so it will be more of a band record, as opposed to my last record, “Light,” which was really a mixture of programmed drums and different musicians playing, but this will have more of an actual, like, live band feel to it. And I’ve been doing work with a producer named Kojak, who is kind of more pop. So, I’m not sure exactly what direction the record’s going to go.

The beard. Do you have any special maintenance? Any special products?

The beard kind of just grows. It goes through different stages of growth. Sometimes…for like, several years it didn’t really grow much, and then it started growing again. Now it’s turning gray. There’s no real special shampoo or whatever. There’s no real tricks. You just wash your beard like you wash your hair.

MatisyahuWorld.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

My Chemical Romance – the Beatweek interview

by Bill Palmer

Before they could get back on top of the world, My Chemical Romance had to disappear for awhile. They’d seemingly toured their lives away on The Black Parade, and even after taking a year off and coming back together they had to make one album and scrap it before finding their new groove on what would become Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. With new songs like Na Na Na and Sing having topped the charts and pushed the band into uncharted territory, MCR is headed back out on the road for a tour they say will be just as comprehensive but smarter this time around. As founding guitarist Ray Toro explains to Beatweek ahead of the U.S. tour, My Chemical Romance is in the best place they’ve been as a band – and they’re thinking sufficiently long term that the theme of Danger Days is actually based around what the band might sound like in a decade.

On your last album you guys were on the road forever and then you disappeared for awhile. When that tour was going on, did you know you were going to have to disappear in between records?

I don’t think so. When we were touring for that record it just felt like it was never ending. Time went by really fast and at the end of it we realized, woah, two and a half years have passed since we put out this record. Then we started thinking about how much time we had had at home within those two and a half years. It was very minimal. It was weird too because after that tour was over, after the last show, we definitely knew that we needed some time off. I don’t know if we knew how much we needed before we were ready to start up again. Everybody expected maybe to take two or three months and it ended up being a lot longer because people just need to physically and mentally recover. It was definitely interesting. It was almost like life back at home, the life of our families and our fiancees at the time and wives, had kind of been going on while we were away on tour and we missed so much.

When you eventually came back together to start working on Danger Days, did things click right away or did you have to shake off the dust and kick the tires first?

I think if anything, songwriting wise I think we had to shake off the dust a little bit because even playing, physically, your fingers don’t move fast enough if you’re playing for an hour, hour and a half, it almost hurts to play guitar sometimes and you’ve got to get callouses back and get your fingers back in shape. I think for us though, it took a little bit to really get to the good songwriting. I think that’s why the writing process was kind of long for this record. We started out in I think February of 2009 and we wrote basically an entire record, and we scrapped it because I think toward the end of that year was when we were really getting our chops back as far as songwriting and creativity.

Of all the songs that ended up making it onto the record, which was the first one that came together for you?

The first one that came together was Na Na Na. That was the song that really changed things for us because the year prior we were writing with a certain mindset in mind. We had put up a lot of rules and walls on ourselves as a band about what we could be in the studio and what we could try. Then when 2010 started we recorded Na Na and that song was just really, really swinging. It said so much about how we felt, and musically it was more along the lines of our past stuff but also had a little bit of a new one as well. That really opened a lot of doors for us. That song was very, very integral for us even to be able to finish the record. If that song hadn’t come about, I don’t think Danger Days would be the way it is now.

Na Na Na is the chorus of the song, so it makes perfect sense as the title. But at some point you guys must have said “Hey, let’s put another nine Na Na Na’s in parentheses.” Were you just having fun with it?

The significance I guess, if anything, is it’s actually the correct number of Na’s that are said in the chorus. So we did count it out and put that. But really that was kind of a reflection of taking this phrase Na Na Na and almost making it as dumb as possible. It’s along the lines of the Ramones, where the Ramones have these choruses where it’s just woahs or heys, these really simple phrases. That’s where the idea for Na Na Na came from. I think it was definitely just a joke of ours to put a constant stream of Na’s after in parentheses.

There’s something of a structure to this album, or a theme, even down to the interludes. When you realized you could build that structure, was that something you decided right away you wanted to go with, or did you have to convince yourselves to with it?

That kind of came as we were recording the record. The problem I think we were having in 2009 when we first started getting together, we were ignoring that side of the band. We were ignoring the themes and the thematic side of it. We were just solely writing music, and we didn’t think about the art side of it. We didn’t think about the videos. We didn’t think about what the record layout might be like. Those are a lot of things that we think about while we’re recording, and maybe not a lot of bands do that, but we do. As 2010 progressed and Danger Days started to form, we started talking more about it. You’re right in that the record is definitely more thematic, and basically, the little piece of information that you’re given is that it’s a transmission. You’re listening to a radio DJ transmission from the future. With that little piece of knowledge, that helped us as a band put ourselves into the mindset, okay, well what might the radio be playing in 2019? What might My Chemical Romance sound like in 2019? That helped us find some of the sounds that we were looking for and influenced the song structure and the arrangements. I find we’re a band like that. We do need a little bit of inspiration on that side, and that’s something that we talked about and kind of formed an made bigger as the record went on. The idea for the radio DJ came pretty late, actually, but it was a great way to connect all these different musical styles on the record and connect it for the listener.

Sing became my favorite song on the record as soon as I heard it, so I’m selfishly glad that it’s the new single. It’s got this pensive verse and then this unbridled joyful chorus. Where that song come from?

That song was really interesting. I was the fourth song that we worked on with [Rob] Cavallo when we started recording Danger Days. The song that we had written before that was Planetary, and that was kind of a big departure for us because that song is more centered around a dance electronica beat. That was something that we had always wanted to experiment with in the past, but we had never gone for it all the way. So creatively, we had just been coming off that. We were in a spot where anything was possible.

So then with Sing we approached the songwriting for that song as strictly musicians as opposed to, okay, we’re a band that has done this before, this is our sound. We were in a great mindset to really try something different. That song really centered around that drumbeat that starts the song. It kind of has a swing to it. It’s a little bit hip hop. That’s kind of the beat that the whole song and sound was centered around. We had tracked it late one night. It was just kind of a sketch, and always what happens with the band is the sketches never sound like what the finished product sounds like, but there’s always little links from that. We had this looping drum beat and Gerard had sung some vocals on top of it. Every night we’d end at maybe two, three in the morning. We’d get a CD and listen to it on the way home, and then we’d listen to it on the way back to the studio the next day. Gerard had heard some chorus lyrics and a little bit of a melody, and him and Rob the next day spent like two or three hours just playing the piano over and over again, and Gerard singing that chorus until the right chords were found.

Then the lyrics started coming together. It’s such a great, meaningful lyric, I think. There’s such a world view on that song. The word “sing” you can take it as so many different meanings. To me it means people fulfilling or doing their best, whatever that happens to be. Just put your heart into it. That was a unique perspective, I think, for the band that we’ve never really come from before. It became one of my favorite songs as well because of that.

In the video for Sing it appears your characters are dead by the end. They’re in body bags. So is that the end of that storyline, or is the next video from this album going to see you reincarnated?

We have to figure it out (laughs). With each video we really were making it up as we went along. So the way Na Na ends, where the girl got kidnapped, that we really came up with on the spot. We knew we wanted to connect the Na Na video the next video, and so once that happened we were like oh crap, now we’ve got to figure out where is the girl and how do we get her back, why are we getting her back? So then Sing came about and we thought it would be a really moving scene to have each character kind of sacrifice themselves to save this person. So then we finished that and now, and I think maybe we thought to have a trilogy of videos and I’m not sure exactly if we’re gonna stick to the story on the next one or wait maybe one or two more. At some point we will definitely finish the trilogy. So we’re still planning it, but we’d love to revisit it because it’s such a cool world and cool story, and it seems people are into it as well.

You guys have pretty cleverly played up the whole Twilight thing with the Vampire Money song. But on a scale of one to ten, how hard of a decision was it to turn down the Twilight soundtrack?

For us that’s easy. We’re not fans of the work, and so for us that makes it pretty easy to decide if we want to be part of it or not. I guess some people might look at how it could benefit your career, it could help sell records, you’re doing this big movie. But we’re just not really fans of the movie or the books so that’s why we choose not to connect ourselves with it. The song, I guess it talks about that experience that we had with that, and it also I think is more universal in that Vampire Money could be anything. It’s like blood money, whatever it may be, doing something that you don’t want to do or are forced to do, but you get some kind of gain from it. And that’s what really the song is about. So it’s not just about Twilight and our experience with that, it’s about a whole number of things, I think.

Early this year you’re going on a big tour again. Knowing what you learned from last time where you spent so much time touring that you ended up having to take almost a year off from each other, are you approaching it differently this time so you can not be totally cooked when you get off the road?

Absolutely. It’s very different now. The biggest difference, really, is Gerard and Frank have kids at home. We all think it’s very important for them to get to spend time with their kids. They’re at an age too where it would be difficult to bring them out for extended periods of time on the road, so I think what we’re planning is maybe doing a month or a month and a half, and then maybe being home for a week or a week and a half. So however long you’re out on the road is relative to how much time you get off after that tour. I think the problem that we ran into last time was we literally went from tour to tour to tour, and it was all kind of connected into this really, really long stretch. Nowadays physically we can’t do that, but also mentally too. People need a break and need to recharge the batteries. I think ultimately that’s better for the fans, better for us, better for our families. So we are going to approach touring a little differently, a little smarter. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t play as many shows as we used to or hit as many countries, because we still want to. We just have to do it a little smarter this time.

Just the fact that you guys are even imagining what your band might sound like in 2019, that tells me that you guys intend to try to be around for the long haul if you can. Some bands hit age forty and they say “We’re done.” That’s not you.

Aw man, I didn’t even think about that because yeah in 2019, geez, we’ll be around forty. What’s really great right now is the vibe in the camp, the vibe with the band, the energy that’s around us, it’s so positive that you can’t not see yourself doing this for another ten or twenty years. If things stay the way they are, we will be more than happy, as long as fans are still coming out, to continue doing what we’re doing. We’re just at such a good spot in our lives, and in the band’s life, like I said, we could see ourselves doing this another ten or twenty years. Maybe on crutches, though (laughs). We’ll maybe need to be helped to stand up on stage, but we’ll still be doing it.

MyChemicalRomance.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Kingsfoil interview: indie and loving it

by Keri Franz

I can’t stop talking about these guys. Jordan Davis, Tristan Martin, Joe Cipollini, and Tim Warren are Kingsfoil, the unsigned, central Pennsylvania rock band that are stuck in my CD player. As the band stands with the aforementioned members, they have released their first full-length album, On Our Own Together, earlier this year. They seem to be taking everything super seriously. With the help of a few other local bands, they have managed to completely sell out the infamous World Café Live in Philadelphia both upstairs and downstairs. Not too shabby considering that place is a tough venue to fill. Either way, each new endeavor the Kingsfoil boys take on seems to make them increasingly popular and marketable. I talked to singer Jordan Davis shortly following the release about working with a new producer, what the album title means to him, and why Kingsfoil is greater than Chipotle.

The first full length album for Kingsfoil, as it stands now (with Joe, Jordan, Tristan, and Tim), was released not too long ago. Together, you four guys released the EP, Bear in the Attic, in 2005. What took you so long to release a new CD?

We put out a series of singles, like “Trees” and The Double Single, but we also were unfocused in that we were writing songs without the money to [record them]. At that point, no one was really making a full album. They were just doing EPs and singles. But there was a certain point where we were trying to find an identity with an album and not keep putting out singles. We needed to come up with a new batch of songs that [represented what] we were about musically because we had grown a lot since Bear. It was just something we had to do as a band.

Were the processes of writing and instrumentation done together by the four of you as a band?

Doing the instrumentation was the most cohesive we’ve ever done it. We were more comfortable with each other this time around. Everybody was given ideas of structures. I wrote songs by myself and with Tristan, and we would bring those to everybody. We would all come together and look at it and kind of go this is great and then everyone would go through their own parts, like we usually do.

I think it’s pretty amazing that you can all write your own thing separately and come together and make it work.

And with hopefully a sound that goes together, that isn’t really disjointed. At the same time, we didn’t want it to be an album full of the same type of song. I think we successfully did that.

And there are 14 songs on this one! We’re so spoiled here! Especially with those couple acoustic songs at the end…

I know! “If You Love Something Push It Away” was one of my favorite lyrics I’ve written for a song ever, and it think it still is. We were keeping it in our back pocket, and then it felt like it could go on the record. It ended up fitting with the whole vibe, and I’m really glad it got to be on the record.

The album is promoting a sense of togetherness, I’m assuming. What is the message that you are trying to portray as Kingsfoil?

There are a lot of different things. The idea of it is that we all have different insecurities and we all end up feeling alone in a different way. It doesn’t matter how you feel alone or how you feel different from other people, it’s all the same. As soon as people figure that out, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to fix them or fix their problems, but it’s gonna put them in perspective a little bit. I think that’s important for a lot of people. There are a lot of different levels. We’ve always been really good friends, but we’re also very different. We’re a really different group of people in our own lives. We all have different beliefs about stuff and different things we’re into but, at the same time, we have a really strong connection and friendship beyond the band. The album title has a lot of personal validity to what we are.

You were working with producer, Dustin Burnett, on the record. How did you meet up with him?

Two years ago, we met him at the Dewey Beach Music Conference (which is down in Dewey Beach, DE). We won a contest and did a couple songs with him for free. That’s when we did The Double Single, which consisted of “Love Is a Carnival Goldfish” and “Demons.” We just got along really well, simple as that. He’s on the same page musically as us, and he’s a young guy who’s really driven. That was something we were looking for and not like someone who’s done a lot of records who’s just in it for the money. He’s also super talented and good at what he does. It worked out so well that we wanted to go back and do the record with him.

What was it like working with him?

We did pre-production all last summer. He flew in from Nashville, and we worked on songs and structures. That helped a lot because, when we got in the studio, we weren’t wasting a lot of time. We all went into it knowing we had to have an open mind. We had to listen to him, as well as trust him and each other’s opinions. The biggest disagreements we had were that he wanted me to change something and I went with it and changed some stuff and some stuff I held on to. At a certain point, you just know that that person really likes sometime and it’s important enough for you to let go and to let them have it. And it goes both ways. A lot of bands don’t think they need a producer and some don’t. But, if you can put your ego aside (and that’s the biggest problem with a lot of bands) and you can trust somebody, you’re ultimately going to have a record that sounds better and sounds more mature and cohesive.

Was there any difference between this time you recorded and back in the day when you recorded Bear In The Attic?

We did some of the tracking at Dustin’s house, and we got to mess around a little more than we did on Bear. We got to be spontaneous and sometimes that gets lost when you’re a younger band that doesn’t have a lot of money. It’s nice to be able to do a little bit of that. It was something different that we did on this album that we hadn’t done before.

Do you have any plans to do anything nationally?

We really don’t have any bounds at this point. We’re taking the record and seeing what kind of bites we can get with it. Whether it be building our team like a larger management company or a label or a booking company, really we’re just doing what we can with the album. It’s hasn’t been out long, and it’s already going really well. I know I see a lot of good stuff going down. We’re just not sure yet.

For people who don’t know who Kingsfoil is, why should they give your music a listen?

I’ll take myself out of this, but I think a lot of people forget there are so many bands that are put together and they’re just working on one good single. What they sometimes forget about is the rudimentary playing. I’ve been thinking a lot about Tim, Joe, and Tristan and how they are really legitimately good players [laughs]. So, I think that’s something that a lot of people take for granted and a lot of people don’t have. It’s not cocky; it’s just something that should be appreciated. On top of that, the songs that we have are not fake. There’s nothing fake or manufactured about any of the parts, any of the lyrics, or any of it. It’s all from our heart and because we want to do it, and we like to do it, and we have to do it. That’s why it’s worth listening to, because anything like that is gonna be worth listening to…unless you think we really suck or something.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Instead of going out to eat one night in the next couple months, just buy our album because I promise it will be so worth it. It’s ten dollars which is as much as it costs to buy a burrito at Chipotle. It lasts longer than a meal. Go hungry for a night for Kingsfoil!

Kingsfoil.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Crystal Bowersox interview: from Idol to Farmer’s Daughter to marriage and beyond

interview by Bill Palmer

As 2010 draws to a close, Crystal Bowersox has exactly what she wants. She’s parlayed her American Idol success into a debut album Farmer’s Daughter which she wrote mostly by herself. She convinced her label to let her pick the lead single. And as we chatted about all of it, she and her son were taking a break from moving into their new Chicago home with her new husband – with whom she has a duet on her album. With Farmer’s Daughter due out later this month, Crystal reflects on everything that’s gotten her to this point.

This is a crazy time of year, even if you didn’t have an album coming out. Did you at least get a little time off over Thanksgiving for your private life?

We took a couple days and we went to Florida to see the mother in law and spend some time with grandma. Now it’s back to work. We’ve got a couple days here to move our stuff and then it’s off to LA for awhile. It’ll be fun. I’m excited. I like the blitz time.

Were you working on this record while you were still out on the road touring?

Some of them are pre-Idol songs that I had written years before. And then one I wrote in San Francisco after I did a gig with Michael Franti called Power To The Peaceful. And then there’s a couple co-writes on there, one with my husband Brian Walker. David Ryan Harris, who’s good friends with John Mayer, he’s an amazing songwriter as well. And then a cover of Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth.

It’s not uncommon for an artist to sign with a label and say okay, I’ve got some material that I already wrote, I want to use this on my major label debut. But it is unconventional for someone from Idol circles.

Typically, Idol contestants come off the show and they don’t have any of their own songs. They’re great talents, but they don’t have songs and they’re not writers. On the other hand, I’ve been performing gigs and writing songs since I was ten years old. Idol was a means to an end for me. It was a way to get in and get the connections and to get the name out there that I always thought that I was destined for. And it’s done exactly that.

I’ve heard different things, but nothing official as far as what the lead single is. I hear Farmer’s Daughter, I hear Hold On. Has that been decided yet?

Yeah, the label was really pushing for Hold On and it’s a good song, nothing against that song. I mean it’s on the album, I sang it. I’m definitely proud of it. But as far as the first single goes, I was really looking for something that kind of puts me out there as “Hello, here I am, this is my story and this is my song.” And Farmer’s Daughter is an extremely graphic autobiographical song of dealing with child abuse and my mother’s alcoholism and it was just a song about “I’m not gonna take it anymore. I’m no farmer’s daughter anymore.” And I feel like that song was the best one to put out first, to really represent who I am as a songwriter, artist, and a human being.

So is it officially the single?

Yes. Farmer’s Daughter is the single. I think that they’re gonna try to work both at the same time, so we’ll see what happens with that.

Your friend Michael Franti did that. They couldn’t decide, they put out two singles to different radio markets, one of them took off and one of them didn’t. But that seemed to work out well.

That’s how you do it. You take two great songs, one of them hopefully is bound to take off. People will connect to one of them more than the other. Franti, he’s a very smart businessman and an incredible artist. His songwriting is great and he’s just a great human being. He’s been a huge influence too. I’ve had some good talks with him, and he kind of took me under his wing in September and let me play a show. My first show off of American Idol, anything, was eighty thousand people at a peace rally. That’s the kind of career I want, you know? So that’s what I’m going for. I don’t want to be marketed as the next Idol. I want to be marketed as a new artist, singer-songwriter Crystal Bowersox.

Speaking of Farmer’s Daughter. When you’re writing this song, or when you’re deciding to put it on your album, in your mind are you thinking “I want to do this to put a spotlight on child abuse” or was your mindset more like “This just happens to be my story, I’m just telling it, I’m getting it out of me”?

A little bit of both. I mean I had just done the special with Anderson Cooper on childhood bullying in schools, and had written an essay for CNN.com about how I dealt with it in the home and at school. Farmer’s Daughter is a song that brings it out into the open. It’s kind of a little bit of airing of dirty laundry, but it’s the stuff that people deal with but don’t have the courage to talk about. Once it’s out of you, once you talk about it, it’s not in your being anymore. You get it out, you can start to heal. And I think it’s a subject that needs to be talked about. It’s my personal story but it’s also something that other people have experienced.

For What It’s Worth, what’s fascinating to me is not just that you covered it, you put it right there in the two-spot on the album. A lot of times, covers are the eighth or ninth song. Was that your doing?

Yeah, the album track listing is my doing. The first song, Riding With The Radio, I love the guitar lick coming into it. And then my friend Ryan Suzuka, who’s been a great friend for years, he played harmonica, and so it goes from guitar to wailing solo, and then the song is about just sing whatever you want to sing. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s just about good music and good people. And then right into Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth, that song is just timeless. It’s anti-protest, anti-war. The roots of the song is really a bar fight in LA, but the lyrics are much deeper than that. It can apply to any era in what’s going on in the world.

The funny thing about that is, even before I looked at the tracklisting and realized you had a Stephen Stills-written song on there, when I first saw your album cover, the first thing that came to mind was the old Crosby, Stills & Nash album cover where they’re sitting on the old couch, whereas you’re sitting on an old swing.

It’s funny, that wasn’t the intent when we took the photo. For me, the photo shoot, if you look at any of the other cover art there’s a lot of other really cool pictures in there of the property we did the photo shoot at. The place looked just like my mom’s house growing up. I mean it was falling down. It was a farmhouse in need of repair. That’s where I come from. The little shack on the cover was in the back yard or something. The dog just jumped up there. She was the property owner’s dog, and she was real cool, and that picture just happened and I loved it. I thought the same thing you did. It reminded me of a vintage album. And that’s kind of what I was going for with the sound. The sound is a little updated, but still, you can hear the blues and the classic rock influences in there. Country too, definitely some country.

I’ve got to ask about the dog.

The property owner’s dog was the sweetest little pit bull, and her name is Angel. She just happened to jump up there, and I was chilling and petting her. For me now, I look at the cover and it makes me think of me. I’ve been a pitbull, really, in fighting for what I want. I’ve always been tough in my life. I’ve been through some shit.

I’ve also got to ask about the December release. It’s kind of rare. If a record isn’t done in time for the big fall release season, the label will usually sit on it until springtime. How did you guys end up saying, okay, we’ll put this out on December 14th?

They originally wanted it for November 14th, which gave me just a few weeks to make a full length album. I told them they were nuts and wanted it in the spring, so that was originally that. And then we compromised and said well, we’re far along in the process, we’ve got a good steady rate going here in the recording process, so why don’t we put it out. So December 14th it was. And I know it’s mixed in with Christmas and everything. I’m not too worried about it. I think that come January we’ll start doing some more blitz stuff.

You’ve pushed back with your label as far as what you want the single to be, you’ve pushed back on the release date. Even though all this back and forth with them, is it fair to say you and your label still have a good positive working relationship, even though you don’t agree on everything?

Yeah, of course. I think it’s important in any professional relationship to have a lot of different views and opinions. I mean if one person’s running the show, it’s guaranteed to be right not all of the time. You need a push and shove, and you need challenges and working things out. I think it’s a very healthy professional relationship. Jive has given me every opportunity, everything that I have right now. My son has room to run down the hall. It’s because of Jive. It’s because of American Idol. I don’t take that for granted for a second. But I do have a specific vision for my songs and the kind of artist that I am, and I don’t think that they expected me to be what I am. American Idol is a little bit misleading, and you know, we’re working it out as we go. I’m having a great time, and they’re taking care of me, for sure.

I’ve got to ask you about the story of you and Brian doing Mason on your record.

Mason is a gorgeous love song that he wrote for me back at the end of 2008, 2009. I think he wrote it in 2008, and it was before we had ever toyed with being in a relationship together. We were friends, we were best friends, and I guess he said he’s been waiting patiently for a long time for me to realize things (laughs), and he stuck around. After the show and after the tour and everything, it happened. It was very natural. We’ve been very good friends for six years, and it’s just perfect. Why not? Why not marry your best friend, you know?

The song is exactly how we feel about our relationship. It was actually the vows at our wedding. We sang a song. We didn’t say vows. I wrote a bridge, we recorded it on the album, and I like the way it turned out. It’s gorgeous. Brian did a great job. The band did a great job. It’s really nice to see that song come to life on the album.

There’s so many things in your professional and personal life that seem to be going so well for you, considering all the shit you’ve gone through even recently, even a year, year and a half ago where things were still very much on the edge. Has it sunk in for you yet that everything’s going so well?

Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. It’s more like every day, before I put my two feet on the ground, I say thank you. Every day. To the universe. To whatever. This is something that I’ve seen happening in my mind since I started playing music. When I was ten I had this goal and I knew that I would make it one way or another. No matter the path, I would come to this place. I’ve made it here. It was through American Idol. It could have been any other path. I would have fought for it and I would have got it. It’s definitely sunk in. I’ve got a home right now, and I’ve got a husband, and my son is gorgeous and amazing. Life is really good for me right now. But I never for a second forget where I come from, and know that there are people out there dealing with it too. The same things that I’ve been through, and even worse.

CrystalBowersox.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Beatweek Magazine issue #91: Crystal Bowersox interview and more

Beatweek Magazine’s 91st Issue highlights:

• Crystal Bowersox cover story interview: from American Idol to Farmer’s Daughter to marriage to moving day and beyond

• Hands on with hot new app Astronut

• Interviews with The Maine and The Ready Set

• Reviews of iPhone 4 holiday cases

• much more!

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Beatweek Magazine issue #90: Lee DeWyze interview, top iPad and iPhone apps, and more

Beatweek Magazine’s 90th Issue highlights:

• Lee DeWyze cover story interview: reigning American Idol champion discusses his new album Live It Up and more

• Top apps for iPad and iPhone

• Interviews with Saving Abel, Shelby Lynne, and Kate Nash

• hands on with We Doodle

• much more!

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Beatweek Magazine issue #89: Nelly Furtado, Cut The Rope, iPhone 4 battery cases and much more

Beatweek Magazine’s 89th Issue highlights:

• Nelly Furtado cover story interview

• New iPhone 4 battery cases

• Interviews with Alkaline Trio and The Office’s Creed Bratton

• hands on with Cut The Rope app

• Tim & Eric Awesome Tour, Great Job!

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Styx interview: Tommy Shaw talks Pieces of Eight – Grand Illusion tour

Styx is Beatweek’s Artist of the Month for 2010

After connecting with live audiences for four decades, music legends Styx are taking a new approach with their latest tour which sees them going authentic old school: their setlist consists simply of their two most popular albums, The Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight, played back to back in their entirety. Styx guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shaw talks with Beatweek about where the idea came from, where Styx is as a band in 2010, new Styx studio songs, and a few other projects up his sleeve.

I love this idea of touring and performing the two albums in their entirety. Where did the idea come from?

Our drummer Todd Sucherman had brought this up a couple years ago, and we were were like eh, I don’t know. He wanted to do the Grand Illusion album, which was a great idea but album are short and we were thinking so we’ve got to do that and then we go play another set after that, and it just didn’t seem right. But our manager came up with the idea of why don’t you do two albums, and suddenly it seemed like this whole evening. It seemed to take shape a lot better in our minds.

So it was a great idea to begin with, and then it suddenly became an idea we wanted to actually pull off, because you’re gonna see all of the history of the band in its early years, at least early years for me being in the band, and you get to see what an album is like. For those of us who were there for the whole ride, from making albums and eight tracks and cassettes and all that whole business down to the MP3, you’re gonna be reminded of the artistry of making an album and the arc from the beginning of side one, the middle and the end of side one, there’s an arc. And so it’s gonna be like a four act play, in a way, or like a movie with four big scenes.

Some of these songs have never been performed live. Thirty-something years these albums have been out, and some of the songs have never been performed once?

The one we actually dreaded the most, because we could never pull it off live, is a song called Superstars. It’s a kind of simple little song, but it was hard to pull off because of all the vocals, and we never had enough guys singing that could pull it off, and we now. That particular one, even though we dreaded it, it wound up not being that difficult to do, and it’s actually one of the more powerful songs and one of the best sounding of those new songs.

We added a guitar solo that’s right for the era at the end of it to kind of deal with the fade, and that one’s turned out great. Actually we’re enjoying all of them. Castle Walls we only played a couple of times when it first came out. It doesn’t really lend itself for all concert situations, cause it’s so slow and kind of dark, but in this setting it’s gonna be incredible.

Dealing with fade ins and fade outs, just that alone makes songs a little bit different live, but beyond that, is there a thought that you want to keep these really faithful to the originals, on the account of the way you’re presenting it?

Yeah, we are being as faithful as we can to the originals, except for in cases where we think a little modification is gonna help the presentation of it. So we just take it on a song by song basis. I’m with you. I really want it where let’s don’t talk in between, let’s go song by song, but we’re gonna see how that works because there’s opportunities to do a little bit of storytelling and add some context to the whole thing.

If this ends up being something where it all sells out and everyone loves it, are you open to the idea of continuing to do this on a longer stretch?

If it’s successful and there’s demand for it, then we certainly have to look at that, but right now we’re not putting any more shows on sale until after the first of the year and then we’ll make that decision. But our tour calendar is starting to fill up already. One thing about the way the band is now, we’ve all decided that we just want to keep playing. There’s so many places to play in America, the way we do it, we can go out and play a hundred and ten shows every year and not really burn ourselves out in any of those places, because you don’t play the same places every year. Some places we’ll go back to almost every year like Detroit and Chicago and certain places like that. But there’s other places that we’ll only get to once every two, three, four, five years. And we love to play, so the way the industry has worked out, it’s worked out in a way that we couldn’t be happier with.

I take it you guys must be getting along with each other pretty well if you’re this eager to go out and play all these shows every year. Styx is a harmonious band at this point, right?

Yeah, it has been since 1999. You know, we’re all older, and you get a little different perspective as you get older. When you go through some things in your life that really are serious, then a lot of times arguments and things on the road, we don’t even really get into arguments anymore. People are tired sometimes and will get grumpy, but we love and respect each other and we’re all kind of out here for the same purpose and that’s to make the best possible performance performance every night as we can.

We’re constantly working on details, and it never gets perfect. We keep chipping away at it, and every once in awhile, like Suite Madame Blue, we’re so close to playing that perfect, but there’s no such thing as a perfect performance. There’s humans doing it every night, so it ebbs and flows. But we just keep trying to make it as good as we can, so we’re all a band who has a united purpose. So a lot of the things that divided us in the past really don’t come into play anymore.

I’ve heard that Chuck Panozzo might make some appearances on this tour.

Well, it depends on how good the hotels are (laughs). I’m kidding. Chuck, he’s gonna come out as much as he feels comfortable with, and the door’s always open for that. We love Chuck, and one of my favorite parts of the night is introducing Chuck. There have been a couple of times when I started introducing him and I’m realizing, aw shit, he’s not here. And so there’ll be a little tap on the shoulder, J.Y. going “Chuck’s not here.”

You’ve re-recorded some of your greatest hits, and you’re selling it as an EP called Regeneration at your shows. But there’s a new song on there called Difference In The World. Did you intend to make a new song when you started making the EP?

We’re always writing and creating stuff, there’s just not this big appetite or demand for seventy minutes of new Styx music out there. Honestly, seventy minutes of anybody’s music anymore is kind of too much for me. That’s a lot of demand on songs to have seventeen or twenty killer songs back to back. I don’t know if our fans want that kind of commitment to have to sit down and listen to that sort of thing.

I know for us, we just haven’t had the desire to go sit down and do that so far. This was something that was fun and easy to do. So the idea is, with each Regeneration volume, with volume two, there’s some new song that we’re working on to have an extra song on that one. So once they’re all done, there’ll be a collection of new songs that go with the old stuff.

What else is going on in the world of Tommy Shaw? I take it Shaw-Blades is still with us?

Well we’ve got an album started, and some great songs like California by Led Zeppelin, we’ve got an awesome version of that done. Tiny Dancer is just heartbreaking with steel guitar on it. So we got started on it, it’s just we all got a little sidetracked. Jack was producing an album for Vince Neil, and I’ve been working on this bluegrass project, a song here and a song there, for a couple years with a friend of mine named Brad Davis. So when Shaw-Blades got put on hold, I said well here’s the opportunity to do that. So that’s what I’ve been doing on the side.

interview by Bill Palmer

StyxWorld.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Daniel Lanois interview: Neil Young’s Le Noise and Black Dub

Daniel Lanois, having produced too many industry-changing records to count, from U2’s The Joshua Tree to Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind, has tackled two new challenges in 2010. One was to sonically create a virtual band around Neil Young in the studio for a just-released record called Le Noise, and the other was to put together a real-life band of his own called Black Dub whose debut album is out today. With Daniel so busy juggling projects that the interview took place on a weekend, he shared the genesis of both albums in a two-prong interview which turned out to be one for the ages.

For you to be willing to do an interview for a record you produced, I take it Le Noise must mean quite a bit to you.

It means a lot to me, this record. I feel that we’ve done two great things here. We’ve got a lean and mean record fro Neil, great songwriting, and then it turns out it was an arena for my sonics. I think this is probably the record that displays my current sonic interest in the best way. Even though the first impression is just a guitar record, on closer inspection, a lot of hard work’s gone into the sonics. I’m very proud of it that way.

You’ve done a lot of high profile collaborations over the years. In this case, whose idea was it for you an Neil to pair up?

Elliot Roberts, Neil’s manager, I mean I’ve known Neil for years, since the eighties and we’ve done a little bit of work together but he always had a great team of people around him, so he didn’t need me to make a Neil Young record or a Crazy Horse record. He was already making great records. But I said to Elliot at one point, Neil does need not need me, but if Neil is interested in making a record that he doesn’t know about, if he’s interested in the unknown, then we could work together.

And I think that’s what happened. He lost a couple of his buddies there that passed away, and he found himself without a friend in the studio and decided maybe I’ll call up Lanois there, he’s Canadian (laughs).

I like that it wasn’t just let’s pair up a famous musician with a famous producer. It was the right fit, right place, right time.

I think so, yeah. And we had such a good time, I’ve got to say. He was really encouraging. Anything that I did sonically he got so excited about, and I just kept going. The record took its own shape and direction at a certain point as we started recording more electric songs, and somewhat in jest I said well, why don’t you go off and write us another electric song with lots of good riffs in the bottom, to give him a little bit of homework to do. And he was such a sport. He’d call me up and say “I think I’ve got one, I’ve got two.”

The sessions were short. We recorded under the full moon, three days at a time. So after the moon, he’d go home and I’d see him on the next full moon.

I’ve heard you talk track by track about the album, and it occurred to me that not all producers would have that kind of insightful knowledge of where the lyrics are coming from on each song. I take if you guys must have had a lot of conversations about that.

Absolutely. I’m a musician first and a songwriter myself, so I can get in there. I’ve been paying attention to lyric for a long time, having worked with Dylan and all. I’ve got good engineering skills and all that, but I think in the case of Neil, he really needed someone who was strong in the area of arrangement and maybe editing a song down, might not need this verse, put this over here. Just good horse sense advice he was ready to listen to. I think he was happy to have found a musical friend.

Was there a sense of okay, we’re pushing these boundaries, do we still need to make sure this sounds like a Neil Young record?

It’ll always be Neil Young no matter what. We didn’t stray too far away from the bones of the songs. But I think he really appreciated that he was able to get that full of sound without having a rhythm section in the house, and he liked the fact that he had the freedom to move around a little bit tempo wise, and maybe play the riff twice and start singing, and on another take he might only do it once. There was a nice window of flexibility there in terms of arrangements. He liked the freedom that he had. But he likes surprises. He doesn’t want to do the same thing over and over. I presented him a really nice acoustic guitar sound when he walked in the door and he flipped out. He said woah, what is this? (laughs) So we started out on the right foot.

When you end up producing one of those records like this one where it’s a studio creation, do you end up having conversations with the artist about how it might ultimately be transformed into a live concert setting, or do you leave that up to the artist?

As the sound on the record became clear to us, Neil brought up the point of how to do this live. Mark Howard, who engineered the record, and I paid a visit to the Wiltern here in LA where Neil was rehearsing, and we brought all the necessary boxes and know-how for his crew to learn and therefore apply to that tour that he did. So we were very thoughtful about it. We didn’t want him to be out there not being able to reproduce those sounds, so we put a lot of care into it.

I’ve heard people making assumptions that album name “Le Noise” is a play on your last name. Is that the case?

We were communicating by text regarding mixes and so on, edits, and we had nicknames. He was Pinecone and I was Le Noise. The humor just never stops. It would be an interesting study actually to look at it, with texts it keeps everything you’ve ever said. To look at the chronology of the texts would be very funny. But he’s Pinecone and I’m Le Noise and he just called the record Le Noise. I was so surprised.

As far as your Black Dub bandmates, you’ve worked with these same artists before in other capacities, right?

I was at Berklee College doing a visiting prof in the studio for the students there, and they said who would you like to record as a subject? I said let’s have Trixie Whitley come in, because she lived in New York then. Let’s see if she might be available because she is a force. I was thinking of working with her anyhow. So she came out and we did a nice first take there at Berklee, and we put it on the internet because it was filmed.

It was very, very sweet. I look like Fidel Castro waving his arms, Brian Blade is really laying down this very cool beat on the drums, and Trixie, it’s a live vocal and it’s got a lot of humor in it which really caught something there. So we threw it on the internet and got all this attention, then we recorded one other song in Toronto called I Believe In You. That seemed to go great, and I thought woah, maybe we should start a little band here. This is looking like fun. That’s how it started, then I kept designing the rest of the record with those mates in mind. There’s a beautiful song on there called Surely. Surely you are meant to be mine. And that’s live off the floor. No overdubs, I did a quickie mix, and that’s what’s on the record. I thought boy, any band that can pull that off is ready for the stage.

Being in a band, you write, you record, you tour, you promote, and you do it all over again. Do you have to be careful about getting involved in something like that in terms of the impact on producer opportunities that come along?

It’s always been the case that you just can’t do everything that comes one’s way. The records that I’ve said no to just because of busy schedule, it’s absurd really. But I have to keep sharp and I have to keep excited. I’m a studio rat. I love to studio. But if I’m in it for too long then I start missing the stage, and so it’s a balancing act. I have a lot of interests. I’m a guitar player first. I want to keep playing the guitar. I think my guitar playing and steel playing is better than ever. Steel playing, I’ve found a real pocket with it and found my voice. I like playing on stage, and so part of the year has to be devoted to the stage. I like film. I’d love to do more soundtrack work. I’m a music junkie, man, you know?

I think that sort of diversity suits these times. There was a time when I was a little embarrassed about my lack of commitment, lack of full commitment, to any one area. But I don’t care anymore, I just want to do good work. If I get lucky and make a masterpiece, that’s enough heroin to last me for awhile (laughs).

What influence did dub music have on your writing on this record?

I spoke with Chris Blackwell about the great Jamaican music that we’re all familiar with, and he said the form was born in the studio. It’s not something that was on the street. And I was so touched by that because I spend a lot of time in the studio. I’m a studio rat. And I’ve had a lot of heroes that came out of Jamaica, like Lee Scratch Perry, and so I’ve invented my own system of dub. That’s where “Black Dub” came from, where I do extractions from existing music, work on the sound externally from track, and then put it back in. That’s why some of the sounds are so huge. I actually get in there with micro surgery and add additional harmonics. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It took me damn near twenty years to get to this position (laughs). I’m trying to enter this new space age of a new level of dub. It’s more obvious on the Neil Young record than it is on the Black Dub record, funny enough.

Trixie and I are real excited about getting back in the studio, and we’ve already got a start on a couple of new song that will be hopefully very impressive and challenging, sonically and otherwise. We’re hoping that this Black Dub record is only the tip of the iceberg.

So this is something you’re committed to long term then.

Absolutely. We’re getting a lot of support from Jive, the label that we’re signed to, and they’ve been terrific, these folks. I just want to give them some material to work with. One record’s not enough. We’re gonna do a second one and we’ll just keep on rolling.

What does your live set look like for a Black Dub show?

We’ll play the album. I like playing The Maker. We’ll probably fit that in. I’m gonna do a little steel guitar portion to the set, which everybody always loves, so I’ll include that. Trixie does one of her own songs, the one we recorded in Berklee, I’d Rather Go Blind. And that’s kind of it. We may include a new song or two if they come our way. In the words of Bob Dylan, more than an hour of anything is too much. So we’re gonna do an hour twenty.

interview by Bill Palmer

DanielLanois.com • Le Noise • Black Dub

Lee DeWyze explains the Chicago references on Live It Up album

Lee DeWyze is from Chicago, as anyone who’s watched American Idol (or heard him speak in his native Chicagoan accent) can attest – and multiple references to his hometown appear in the lyrics to various songs on his upcoming major label debut album entitled Live It Up. Lee told Beatweek today that the references, rather than being planted, happened on account of truth-based storytelling: “The Chicago references were not planned necessarily,” DeWyze says. “It was more like I was writing about it and that’s where these things happened. Sometimes it’s easier to get an understanding of a song when put in that setting.”

Lee continues, “All the songs are written from a very honest place. It’s me. Like in Dear Isabel, the Lake Michigan reference, or in Me And My Jealousy, ‘Chicago in the winter.’ If you’ve ever lived in Chicago, anyone who has, they know what a winter in Chicago is like. To be going through a tough time here in the winter would be just be all the more worse.”

Live It Up is set for a November 16th release in the United States, while lead single Sweet Serendipity is at iTunes and radio already. Lee DeWyze is set to appear on the cover of the November 16th issue of Beatweek Magazine in which he discusses the making of his new album, the songwriting process, his impending return to American Idol in 2011 and more.

Greyson Chance interview: Waiting Outside The Lines, debut album

Singer-songwriter Greyson Chance made his national television performance debut on The Ellen Show earlier this year – at the age of twelve. He’s since been working on his forthcoming debut album, and the now-thirteen year old has just released the lead single from it. The song, entitled Waiting Outside The Lines, sees its debut today in iTunes as well as in a live performance on The Ellen Show where it all started for him.

The Oklahoma native took time today out of one of the busiest days of his life to chat with Beatweek about his new single, the ways in which his newfound stardom have (and haven’t) changed his life, why he’s one of the few Twitter stars who actually follows hundreds of thousands of his followers back, what he would do to get on Glee, and the progress he’s making towards his eventual album release which will come a little down the road.

Tell me about Waiting Outside The Lines.

It’s a very important song to me. The meaning of the song is really saying that you can get past something in your life, an emotional breakdown you can get past it. So the main purpose of the song is for my fans, so they can listen to the song when they’re late at night and they’re feeling their lowest low, and when they listen to the song, realize that it’s gonna get better and they can overcome this problem.

You write your own songs, right?

Yes, but actually this one I did not write. You know how it works. You get songs emailed to you and all that stuff. But I heard this song, and I’m really specific about what I don’t write, because I want to make sure that it still stays true to me. When I first heard the song, I was listening to the lyrics and I was just so into the song, and I was like ah, I have to do that. That’s so incredible. This is a song that means so much to me, so I’m just really happy that today is the day.

When you performed the song on Ellen today, about halfway through the song you stepped away from the piano and you came front and center, just singing vocals. Is that something we’ll see more of from you, where you’re not always behind the piano?

Definitely. I think it’s really important to show a different side, and I think because I’m not gonna always be able to be on the piano. I’m really excited.

It’s been about six months since the first time you were on Ellen, and you’re just now bringing out your first commercial single. It seems like you’ve decided not to rush things, you’d rather take your time and get it right.

There were a lot of different versions of the song, actually, and one of them we had an actual version. But everyone was like, you know, this is a thing that you can’t rush. It’s kind of like a table. You can put three legs on it, but it’s not gonna be standing up because it’s only three legs. So we wanted to take our time with this one to make sure it was perfect. It was a pretty long time, but I’m just excited that it’s here.
With this rush of fame and exposure, when you go back home and there’s moments where you go out to dinner with your family or you hang with your friends, are you still able to do that normally or are too many people recognizing you or interrupting?

Oh no, I can definitely do that. It’s really great. The best thing about this whole thing is when I go out and people just kind of want to shake my hand. I just find that so incredible because they just want to say hello, and I find that really, really cool. I still can go out and go with my friends. I don’t have that problem yet (laughs).

You’ve dealt with quite a lot of industry people over the past few months. Are there people who try to treat you like a little kid and treat you different, or are people generally giving you the same kind of respect that they would give to an emerging artist who’s ten years older than you?

Sometimes I get treated like a kid, but I have the best team behind me and I have the best label in the world. Everybody is just so kind and so awesome. I think at first it was kind of like that because nobody really knew me, but now everyone is just so kind, so nice. Everybody respects everybody.

You tweeted about John Lennon on his birthday. Did the Beatles influence come from your parents, or was that something you sought out on your own?

It’s actually come from my own. I think John Lennon is one of the best writers ever to step on the planet. He’s just so passionate about his work, and the poetry that he puts in his songs is just incredible.

You’ve got a lot of big names in your corner. Not just Ellen, but Lady GaGa has shown support for you, Perez Hilton says nice things about you. How important is to to have those kinds of heavyweights in your corner?

It feels really good, and actually Perez has become such an amazing friend, actually. I’ve gotten to meet him a couple of times. He’s really cool, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He’s a really cool guy and I like to stay in touch with him on Twitter.

You’ve been quite adamant about bringing the anti-bullying campaign to the forefront. Why is that an important issue to you?

It’s an epidemic that we really need to get rid of. We’re losing teenage lives from this. Everybody’s been bullied, and it’s one of the most horrible things that can happen. I feel for the kids that have been bullied, and I actually wrote a song just recently called Purple Sky. It really needs to be stopped. I mean we’re losing lives.

You’ve identified yourself as a Glee fan. If you had the chance to be on the show, I take it you would jump on it?

Oh yeah. I would jump off cliffs for that (laughs). It’s an amazing show, and I love how they’re taking pop music but making it theatrical and they’re doing these classic Broadway numbers that are just so classical but they’re making them fun and they’re making them really cool. I think they’re doing a very good thing in music right now.

You have about 250,000 followers on Twitter, and you follow 150,000 of them back. I think you may be following the most people of anyone on all of Twitter. Why do you do it that way?

I think the most important thing is because I know what it feels like to be followed by somebody. You get that happy feeling. If people are going to be willing to follow me, I should follow them back. I follow 150,000 but I need to follow 100,000 more because it’s not everybody. I feel for the people that want to be followed back, so it’s the least I can do.

That allows people on Twitter to direct message you. Do you get a lot of fan messages through DM?

Yes, and I like to read those. And I like to reply too. I love talking to my fans. They’re incredible.

How far along are you as far as the album?

I think we have a pretty good amount of stuff almost completed. It’s kind of like a hurry up and wait thing (laughs). We’re getting along.

Is there anything you can say, without getting in trouble, in terms of when the album might possibly come out?

It will be early 2011.

Have you had a favorite studio moment so far?

The last studio I was in, I was at the Record Plant in LA. The studio that we were in had a basketball court. And so after we would get done recording takes, we would go and play Horse.

interview by Bill Palmer

Greyson-Official.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Eliza Doolittle interview: Skinny Genes singer plots 2011 U.S. takeover

“It would be a better story,” admits Eliza Doolittle when it comes to her stage name having no real relevance to the My Fair Lady character of the same name, beyond the fact that her drama teacher once tagged her with it as a spin on her birth name Eliza Caird. But despite the “Doolittle” nickname, she’s done quite a lot in her native UK where she’s scored hits with upbeat pop songs like “Pack Up” and “Skinny Genes” from her debut album. Eliza is just now finding her way to the U.S., with her album set for early 2011 release and her singles available in the U.S. iTunes Store in the mean time. Here’s a sneak peek at the UK pop star who’s set to break out in America as well.

Is it important for you to keep your songs sounding happy even when the subject matter isn’t quite as happy?

The sound, I definitely wanted it to be a constant, and summery and uplifting are definitely words that sprang to mind when I was creating it. But the lyrical content is quite different to what the sound may be. Some of it’s happy. Most of it’s quite positive conclusions, but it’s more thoughtful than just happy, happy, happy.

It’s like you’re saying things that you’re not happy about, but then you’re dismissing them and saying well, I’m not going to let that bother me.

Exactly that. It’s my perception on the world, basically, and issues that I have with it, but it’s also a positive outlook on those issues.

Is that a reflection of who you are as a person, or is that more how you wish you could be?

I think there’s a mixture because people, when they first meet me, they think a really perky, positive person. But I’m obviously the same as everyone else, I have good days and bad days. I think the music represents my personality quite well. At the same time as singing these positive things, I’m also trying to tell myself to be positive. In a way the music is quite therapeutic. Every time I write a song it’s usually because I want to solve a problem, whether it’s in my own life or something that I see on the news.

I watched the video for your new single Rollerblades, and the obvious question that came to mind is you’re on a bike, you’re in a shopping cart, everything with wheels except rollerblades. Would it have just been too obvious?

I think so. I think if I’d have put rollerblades in, it would have been a bit cheesy. I thought, well, people are going to ask why is there a bike when it’s called rollerblades, but it’s more like the metaphor of just rolling on, on any wheels. Do you know what I mean? It’s kind of getting away from a certain state of mind. There are actually some rollerblades in there. I thought I should put them in somewhere. I’ve got a little rollerblade on my shorts that’s hanging off, and then I’ve also got rollerblades hanging off the trolley at the end, because I thought I have to reference it a little bit but I didn’t want the video to be like a roller disco.

I’m only about ten years older than you, but when I was a kid, rollerblades didn’t exist. It was all roller skates back then.

I actually prefer roller skates. I think they’re more cool. More retro (laughs). But “rollerblades” sings better than roller skates.

In “Skinny Genes” it sounds like you’re trying to kill off the male skinny jeans craze. Have you had any success in that?

I’m trying. I’m trying to stop boys from wearing them, especially boys with big gruffy physiques, because that just looks silly. I love a good builded man, but I don’t like them in skinny jeans at all.

I wasn’t sure if “Mr. Medicine” is a sarcastic take on the whole medicine thing. What’s the gist of the song?

Everyone thinks it’s about drugs but it’s not. It’s actually the only song that I haven’t told anyone what it’s about yet, because no one seems to have guessed and I just can’t believe it because it’s so obvious. I can give you a clue though. The clue is it rhymes with “Mr. Medicine.”

With you using a stage name like Eliza Doolittle, my first thought was I don’t know how many people these days are familiar with Pygmalion or My Fair Lady. But then I saw that your parents came from a stage background.

I actually got called it because of my drama teacher at school. She used to call me that cause my name is Eliza, and it just stuck.

But I take it you like the movie, you like the play, otherwise you wouldn’t have stuck with it.

Yeah I do like it, but there’s no real relevance to my name. I wish there was because then it would be a better story.

With your parents working in show business, what did they have to say as far as you going into the entertainment industry yourself?

They want me to do what makes me happy, but I think they were wary of me being in the entertainment business because they know how hard it is and how unstable it is. You don’t really have a steady income unless you do really well. So it’s definitely a hard business, and they were worried, I think, especially my mom. I think when I showed the passion for it though, they would never tell me not to do anything that I loved so much. So they were up for letting me give it a go, and thankfully it’s worked out well so far on the UK end.

Your album is coming out over here in a few months. What’s your familiarity with the U.S.? Have you spent a good amount of time here already?I have spent a little bit of time. I’ve done a few writing sessions over there, and the video was done there. So a little bit, but I don’t know much of it, just LA and New York, really. So I need to explore.

interview by Bill Palmer

Upcoming Eliza Doolittle tour dates: Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, October 26th. Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco, October 27th. UK tour dates in October and November.

ElizaDoolittle.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Sara Bareilles gets shrimp marinara named after her

Sara Bareilles was recently presented with the option of ordering a dish which had been named after her, thanks to a restaurant she encountered in her travels during her current tour. The restaurant’s specials board listed the “Sara Bareilles Shrimp Marinara” which had presumably done in honor of her arrival in town, along with various soups. Of the occurrence, Bareilles tweeted “Thank you to the sweet lil spot next to the venue who named dinner after me. Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Sara Bareilles is currently on tour in support of her new album Kaleidoscope Heart, which debuted last month at number one on the Billboard and iTunes charts, and includes the hit single King of Anything. Her past hits include Love Song and live favorite Gravity. Sara recently spoke with Beatweek about her new album and more.

The Band Perry: Kimberly, Neil, and Reid talk debut album and more

“I’ve known these guys their whole lives,” Kimberly Perry says of her bandmates Reid and Neil – and she means it literally, as they happen to also be her kid brothers, which helps explain how the trio came up with the name The Band Perry. They’ve had one of the biggest country hits of the year with If I Die Young, and now their debut album has finally been released today. Then again, their music isn’t strictly country, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First we have to square away the fact that I’ve got all three of them on the phone at once, and after seeing that it takes very little prodding to get them to start impersonating each other, I can tell that this is going to be a light hearted conversation. Which also begs the question of how such an upbeat gang can have a hit song about dying young, and we’ll get to that too. But first, about this sibling thing…

When you guys were little, were you singing together back then around the house, or was it later when you started putting your voices together?

Kimberly: We actually started singing harmony later. I can remember the first time that we did that. I’m the oldest, and I was in the eighth grade which would have meant meant Reid was in first grade, Kindergarten or first grade. I remember we took this family vacation out west, and we got this little camper. I’m not talking Prevost, I’m talking a camper. And all five of us, our parents were driving, were in this camper, and to help mom pass the time while she was driving, we would sing all of these songs in three part harmony. We were basically just trying to make the miles more interesting.

Neil: We would sing Amazing Grace in rap style or rock style or different types of three part harmony.

Kimberly: Yeah, except for the rap in three part harmony didn’t work out so well (laughs). But even more so than singing together, all three of us have been performers musically since day one. I can remember Neil once when he was a kid and still in Batman pajamas, couple weeks ago, you know. I remember one night he got up on the kitchen counter after dinner and he struck an Elvis pose. We always called him our little Elvis because he basically came out of the womb with sideburns. And he struck this Elvis pose when he was probably four years old and said “I was born to do this.” And so in various ways we were all three entertaining anyone who was in the room, and we basically started doing that together.

Reid: There were definitely visible signs in our younger years that showed what we would be doing when we got older, I think.

I know you guys grew up listening to country and rock and different genres, and I can definitely hear those elements in there, but if you had to slap one label on your music it would be country. Was that something you always knew was going to be the case or was there any point in the past where any of you had envisioned yourselves being in a rock and roll band?

Kimberly: Yeah, we actually had an independent project, this was pre-record deal, and pre- our management relationship, and just something that we wanted to get out of our system. We ended up laying down like thirteen tracks independently, and it definitely spoke more to our Rolling Stones side than our Loretta Lynn side. And then we had a real honest moment where we looked at each other and said okay, we have this music, what should we do? And I think by nature of the fact that first of all we’re really plugged into the songwriting community in Nashville, and really, that in country music is so unique unto our genre, that songwriting family, if you will. Definitely wanted to be part of that. And also, country for us, because our hearts are rural America, and sort of blue collar working folk. It felt like the stories that we like to tell and the ones that we like to dream up even, fit better in that genre of music, in country, than it did in the rock and roll world. And so we just kind of started actually chasing down both of those rat holes, and it just always led us back to Nashville.

You aren’t just singers, you each play various instruments. Neil, with your list of instruments you play, it looks like you could be a one man band on your own. Are you running from instrument to instrument between songs on stage?

Neil: It feels like I’m running a marathon when I’m on stage, dropping my mandolin and running to grab my accordion and stuff. But it’s a good time. I enjoy all those different instruments.

Kimberly: Neil’s first job in the band was actually as the drummer, and he doesn’t pull that out, although you do whip out tambourine on a couple of songs.

Reid: Back when we were doing our independent project, on If I Die Young, he would actually play drums and mandolin at the same time.

Kimberly: Because we were like a power trio back then. Seriously, I played more electric than acoustic, Reid has always been on the bass, and so Neil would play drums.

Reid: And then drums got too much to take it around. So we told him just to leave the drums behind and he came up front with us, and he’s now the mandolin slash accordion player.

Speaking of bass players, there’s this stereotype about them, and it’s untrue as often as it’s true, but the stereotype is that they’re quiet, stoic, keeping the ship steady. I guess all three of you could comment whether that’s an accurate picture of Reid.

Kimberly: I’ll speak to that (laughs). He is the self titled peacemaker in The Band Perry, meaning nine times out of ten, I’ll hand it to him that he does enforce peace…

Neil: …because Kimberly and I are too much alike.

Kimberly: Yeah, Neil and I both have lead singer syndrome. But Reid, yeah, I think that he definitely is the rock in the band, and he is more quiet, but he also thinks a lot more. He’s silent but deadly.

Neil: Reid’s the thinker of the group, and I think I’m the reactor (laughs).

Reid: I think all musicians have a stereotype, and even us as siblings, we definitely carry our sibling stereotype roles on our sleeves. Again, I’m in the peacekeeping middle child, and Kimberly is the big sister…

Kimberly: …the big sister, a little bit bossy. But I just call myself the “boss” and leave out the “y” and it suits me so much better…

Reid: The boss is Bruce Springsteen.

Kimberly: …of The Band Perry. They let me do that, and it’s my role as big sister. And then the baby over here, he just keeps us all laughing.

If I Die Young is a very peaceful, content song about death. And I don’t know if it’s literally about death, you can tell me, but it’s amazing to me how you guys can take this sad topic and make it sound so enlightened, or almost enticing.

Kimberly: Well you know it’s amazing, death definitely has both sides of that coin. It’s a very mournful time of course of anybody, but it also can be really beautiful, especially with a life well lived. We wrote If I Die Young out of a place of contentment. It was a moment that we were headed into the studio, it was actually the first song that we had penned for the album. And it was a time that we just looked at each other with all the opportunity that we had before us and said, you know, if for whatever reason it all ends at this moment, we’ve even at our young ages lived life so completely. That’s really the place that we wrote it out of, although I’ll be honest with you, it’s amazing, we’re top thirty right now just four weeks in, and we’re getting so much feedback from these listeners and fans of this song. From Facebook to MySpace letters, it’s really giving their grief a voice. We were playing out in Manhattan, Kansas just last week and it was like over a hundred degrees, it was just a brutally hot festival, and we played this song and this lady stood up with these tears in her eyes and had this homemade sign that she made with the name of her daughter and the age that she passed away, and it said “She died young.”

You’re all named Perry, so The Band Perry is an obvious band name choice. When that name was first kicked around, was it something that all of you were on board with right away?

Neil: We spent probably a week going through all these different names, and eventually came to a name where we wanted to have Perry in it.

Kimberly: And so for awhile we just tried simply “Perry” on for size, but it had a very British rock feel for a country band, cause it’s an English last name anyway. So we knew we wanted “The Band” in there somewhere, because it couldn’t say “The Family” or “The Brothers Perry.” We love “The Brothers Grimm” but I’m a sister so we couldn’t just have “The Brothers Perry” which would have been an awesome name. So we wanted “The Band” in there too because we all play instruments, we’re not just a vocal group.

And with the inception of things like MySpace and the fantastic world wide web, there’s like a dozen Perry bands. So we needed something to separate us from the bunch, and ended up just reversing it to The Band Perry. And also, we have a darn good little logo and a nickname, TBP. I always feel like the music defines the name, as opposed to the other way around.

Learn more at TheBandPerry.com • iTunes • Facebook • Twitter

Runner Runner talks debut album, poker, Letterman and more

Collaborating in 2008, the members of Runner Runner left behind (at least temporarily) their old bands. The band, consisting of singer Ryan Ogren, guitarists Peter Munters and Nick Bailey, bassist Jon Berry, and drummer James Ulrich, have been taking the U.S. by storm with their first hit single, “So Obvious,” and they have no plans of slowing down any time soon. I talked with Peter about where Runner Runner came from and where they’re headed soon.

Runner Runner is not only a band, but a poker term. What made you want to use this specific expression as the name of your band?

The term runner runner refers to a perfect underdog victory in a hand of poker.   When the two perfect cards arrive in order to beat an opponent who would otherwise have had the upper hand, the stars align and you go runner runner for the win.   We realize we need a lot of luck and a lot of passion to make it in the music game today, and we hope that fate will deal us a perfect hand as we proceed.  There are so many talented people trying to leave there mark on the music scene today; we realize that every day and are honored to put our dreams on the line and onstage.

Being the coagulation of the elements of three different bands, what made you all want to leave your own bands and start working together?

Runner Runner wasn’t necessarily formed from the desire to leave our several bands.   Essentially we are the super-friends who could not help but go on when other members of our bands chose to move on. In music, you have to either want it or go your own way.   We have the most fun in the world doing what we love, but it’s not difficult to see that after a while, this life is not for everybody. The fire in our hearts kept burning after songs and performance and the mission we feel we follow to find and make amazing music. That is the driving spirit behind Runner Runner.

Do you think that you will ever go back to the bands you were in previously?

A lot of the people we encounter on tour ask for another Over It [one of their bands previous to this one] record, and I think this could happen very easily.  In fact, it has already been written.  For now, however, Runner Runner is certainly a priority.  We want our songs to reach a massive, diverse audience.   If anything, years from now, hopefully the hard work we invest in this band pays off and allows us to do a plethora of other projects in the music world.   One chapter leads to another and we certainly want them all to survive.

Coming from such a diverse punk background, how did you come up with Runner Runner’s sound? How would you classify it?

The sound of Runner Runner is a throwback and tribute to the pop music that first drew us into the world of huge songs and radio when we were kids. Before we were “punk” and romanticized underground music that we still and always will adore, it was the power pop of the 70s, 80s and 90s which totally bewitched us all individually.  

So, we like to always nod at history, paying tribute to icons like Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick and the Cars, while always looking ahead and staying current. We believe that songs are either great or not songs at all, and they may sound a lot of different ways. Hopefully our fans agree that somewhere between Lady Gaga, Green Day, the Knack and Kiss, we can make a place to belong.

As a band, what do your fans mean to you?

As a band, our fans absolutely mean the world to us. What other reason do we have for being out here on the road, living our dreams?   Our priority at shows and on the internet is to involve our fans in this family that is palpably expanding every day.  No one is insignificant, and we want to know everyone on a first name basis. We are in this thing together.  Runner Runner is our band, but we belong to our fans!

Where has been your favorite place to play and why?

Personally, of the places we have visited so far, it is impossible to choose a favorite.  The first show we played, which blew my mind and really felt like some crazy dream, was the Punkspring festival in Tokyo in 2009.  Japan is so beautiful and fascinating. We played for roughly six thousand Japanese people and they made us feel so welcome and inspired.    I have no idea how they know the lyrics to “So Obvious”, but they did and that show certainly changed our lives forever.

How do you feel about being known as the first group signed to David Letterman’s record label, C.E. Music?

We feel uniquely privileged and proud to have the support that we do from Clear Entertainment, Capitol Records and MRV records. We have never before experienced a network of support or resources that is at once so powerful and vital, and so like a family. We are finding out every day that these amazing people are willing to work as hard as we do or harder to launch this band as far as we can possibly go. Our management and label arrangement is a massive blessing. We are also so excited to finally meet Mr. Letterman Monday, September 27th, when we appear on The Late Show.

Your producer, Dave Darling, has worked with a rather diverse range of acts, from the Stray Cats to Brian Setzer.  Did this uniqueness have any impact on your recordings?

I have heard people call Dave “the consummate producer” for our record, and I believe it is true. Not only does Dave have a uniquely gifted and soulful ear for sounds and song, but he was indispensably confident in the studio, always knowing where to turn and how to evoke every moment the most effectively. He also shreds on guitar.  He played on the soundtrack to Top Gun! We could not have made our record without his help and mentorship and he will always be an honorary member of Runner Runner.

What inspires you all to continue writing and playing your music?

Life is our inspiration for every song and every performance. Whether we are in or out of love, lonesome or ecstatic, our music is our salvation. It is a tremendous gift to see the truth of our lives, and jump off from that point in songs, and watch them come to life. Nothing compares to hearing people sing along to these songs at a show, and so the circle continues.

You were on tour with Secondhand Serenade this past summer. How did that go for you guys?

The tour with Secondhand Serenade was fabulous.  We all love John and the guys, and we want to thank them for sharing the road and their charming fans with us. Their love and companionship won’t soon be forgotten.

Is there any act that you’ve toured with that has taught you something valuable about music or life in general?

That is a great question! I feel like we learn something new from every artist and band with whom we share the stage. Once upon a time, Joel Madden from Good Charlotte told us “to always fight the good fight” when it comes to the band.  I think he was saying, stick together in a way. The idea is to know your family so that when things get wild and forces pull the band in a thousand directions, true friends are able to cling to one another and keep everyone afloat together. A great producer and friend of the band also told us to “never be ashamed of something you like,” which, in my estimation is some of the greatest wisdom I know.    

You recorded an EP of cover songs in 2009. What made you want to do this before putting out an original album?

Our cover song recordings began as a supplement to a release we did in Japan and evolved into a massive obsession. We love learning and developing our own recording skills and find it hard to step away from the studio whenever it is near.  Ultimately, I think our covers show that we are unashamed of loving great pop music.  Hopefully we do it the smallest bit of justice with our interpretations of great, timeless songs!

What is the game plan for Runner Runner for the rest of the year?

Runner Runner will be on tour through the end of the year, and with a little bit of luck, forever. Come and meet us and rock out with us at a show. Find us online and let us know how your day is going.  We look forward to hearing from you soon and want you to know that your support is the only reason we get to continue on this fantastic adventure.  Thank you for letting us have the time of our lives. Let’s party!

interview by Keri Franz

RunnerRunnerMusic.com • iTunes • Twitter • Facebook

Beatweek Magazine issue #85: Maroon 5 interview, Serj Tankian, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Esmée Denters, iPhone cases and more

New in the 85th issue of Beatweek Magazine:

• Maroon 5 interview: inside their new #1 album Hands All Over

• Hands on with new iPhone cases, stereos and more

• Serj Tankian interview: beyond System and beyond rock

• Michael Franti and Spearhead interview

• Mounting your iPhone to your guitar for app integration

• interview with Esmée Denters

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