‘It’s purposely eclectic because that’s who I am.’, says Lane Steinberg about his new record Lane Steinberg & His Magical Pony.
This turned into a 15 song journey, a very exciting one.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
The album is a compilation of sorts, highlighting my collaborations. It’s purposely eclectic because that’s who I am. I wanted to compile an album of new songs that would be a good introduction for anyone curious about my music. When I listened back to the finished album I was satisfied that I’d fulfilled my objective.
The music industry has changed a lot (or so they say). What did it bring you? And what not?
I am not part of the industry or what’s left of it. I’ve always been on the outside looking in. I know people who’ve been signed to major labels and publishing companies who later emerged jaded and damaged. For better or worse, I never had that opportunity. But I’ve mostly had the luxury to create what and when I want to. Certainly, I am able to reach more people now than when I first started out 35 years ago with The Wind.
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
I am realistic on this front. I have lived long enough to see guitar pop turn into a legacy form, like Blues or Jazz. My youth is behind me, but writing, collaborating, and creating music still brings me happiness. That is success.
What would change if Disney would call and tell you they are going to use your song in their next movie?
Not much. I’d pay some bills, maybe open a good bottle of wine to celebrate, but I do that anyway. As I said, my fantasies and expectations have been tempered by the years. I am grateful to be working with people whose talents I admire, artists who challenge and stretch my musical sensibilities. But when Disney calls, I will certainly answer the phone!
What’s up for the rest of the year?
After every album, I say, “Well, maybe that’s it. Perhaps I’m done.” And then a bunch of projects presents themselves and I get inspired. Right now I am finishing my fourth 8X8 album with Alex Khodchenko, which has beautiful stuff on it. I am very proud of all the music we’ve created.
Next, there is an album of very strong songs I’ve written with Dave Foster that is being produced by Mike Fornatale, who’s worked with the Left Banke and Mark Lindsay. We all play together in a musical collective called ‘Murderers’ Row’. Actually, we are performing tomorrow night, doing a night of songs from 1964. We have phenomenal talent in this outfit and we’ll many different singers singing our songs on this album. Very exciting. Last but not least, I am working on an album of original songs with Steve Burdick of The Wind that is sounding tremendous.
Perhaps after these are all done I’ll finally retire, haha.
It’s been just a couple of months since SUPER 8 released T-T-T-Technicolour Melodies! and on June 15th the new album Turn Around Or… will be available.
Paul Ryan is a special talent. His super melodic songs and his arrangements are just different. Fragile & Edgy. And that’s why I want to hear these songs over and over again.
Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened?
Ha! Ha! There were actually three of what I’d refer to as ‘stand out musical magic moments’ for me growing up. One of my earliest memories is a Simon & Garfunkel ‘Greatest Hits’ album (on 8 track cartridge!) that was on constant rotation in my Dad’s Ford Cortina MkI. I guess I was musically brainwashed from an early age! I couldn’t speak that well at the time but, come the age of two, I knew all the melodies … plus the harmonies!
The next ‘magic moment’ was probably seeing Johnny Marr ripping up the stage with his black Rickenbacker on a mid-80s ‘Top Of The Pops’ performance by The Smiths. That had quite a profound effect on me (so much so that, come the following day, I went out and put down a hire purchase payment on a (cheap!) electric guitar. Sadly I couldn’t afford a Rickenbacker … and, again sadly, I STILL can’t to this day! Maybe one day perhaps. Who knows? If this new album goes platinum (LOL!) I might treat myself to one – it’s been a LONG time coming!)
My final ‘magic moment’ where I knew I just had to at least try to make a go of it and do ‘something’ musical with my life was witnessing a small gig to a packed back room of a club (namely: ‘Legends’) in Warrington, North West England where I grew up. The band was a yet-to-break local band called ‘The Stone Roses’ and I knew right away that I was witnessing something rather special! Maybe I’m wearing rose-tinted spectacles here but, of all the gigs I’ve been to (and I’ve been to quite a few down through the years!), this concert is still the favourite in my mind (closely followed by The La’s at the same club!) A belated ‘shout out’ to local promoters Sean Mellor, Kev McCue & DJ Russ Pearson for bringing SO many bands on the cusp of greatness to a small Northern town (and hugely influencing my taste in music in the process!) I’m not a religious man but that first Roses gig was the closest I’ve come to ‘a religious experience’ musically I guess …. or maybe there was just something in the beer that night?! Regardless, the experience gave me the kickstart I needed to start believing in myself & taking my music-making seriously. It also made me realize what a powerful, life-changing force music can be!
At what point, during writing, rehearsing, recording, did you know you were on to something special?
To be honest this new album just snuck up on me! It wasn’t planned. I guess I was riding on a natural high (and still am!) off the back of the kind words, great press & good vibes I got for the last album “T-T-T-Technicolour Melodies!” (that was released on ‘Futureman Records’ at the end of January there).
Anyway, I started thinking about where I was going to go next musically and dug out my ideas notepad and the completely disorganized ‘bin bag of ideas’ that I keep in the corner of my home studio to throw my work-in-progress demos into!
After much sifting & listening, I was surprised to discover that there was actually the makings of another full album lurking in the depths of my bag! I knew it would involve a lot of work to knock everything into shape (I currently do pretty much everything myself on the recording/producing front) plus I knew I’d also be away for the entire month of May.
I started to formulate a hare-brained idea that it might be a cool musical challenge to try and ‘turn around’ (see what I did there?) another album in a very short space of time then, without thinking any further, I set to work.
I think the record company ‘Futureman Records’ (check ‘em out folks – loads of great stuff going down!) were a bit surprised when I presented them with another fully realized album in such a short space of time since the last one …. I know I was Ha! Ha! So yeah, this album’s a bit of ‘a happy accident’ really – I just ‘bashed it out’! That said, I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out. Twelve songs, ALL killers/NO fillers? I’ll let you decide!
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
I was getting toward the end of the album but still needed another song that would segue well & fit the ‘vibe’ of the other tracks. After some head scratching, I came up with the song ‘Your Love Is My Blanket’.
The night before I did the vocal sessions for said song, I’d been watching an interview with Peter Frampton and he was talking about how he discovered the TalkBox and incorporated it into his music. I knew of the device from his hits, not forgetting Stevie Wonder’s great work with one, but I’d somehow put it to the back of my mind. When I heard it again I was reminded of Frampton’s use of it and thought: “WOW! That’s such a cool sound!” I then realized that a TalkBox riff would be a perfect sound for the solo of my new ‘Blanket’ song BUT … I didn’t have one! To cut an already long story short – I attempted to just make one! I cobbled it together using the innards of a small practice amp, an old sink plunger and a long tube (its original purpose was for siphoning petrol) ie: just the basic stuff your average musician/mechanic/plumber has lying around the house! I was cracking myself up trying to operate my home-made TalkBox but, after much trial & error, what you hear on the finished song was actually my first take!
Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?
‘There She Goes’ by The La’s. It’s just an out-and-out CLASSIC POP song – I never tire of hearing it! (In the same vein, I also love ‘Serious Drugs’ by The BMX Bandits which I’ve been fortunate enough to record a version of & include on this new album – I just hope I’ve done it justice!)
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
Exactly the same as the last two albums I’ve just recorded ie: one mic going into an old, somewhat clapped-out Portastudio then polished up (just a tad mind!) using a laptop running some free music software. I don’t actually need much to make my records. Where it currently falls down though is on the promotion front. If a wad of money were to just fall from the sky and it HAD to be spent ‘musically’ then yeah, I guess I’d use it to try and promote these records I make. (Maybe take out an advert on the side of the No. 147 bus? That’s AFTER I’ve bought my Rickenbacker mind!)
AFTERTHOUGHT: Scrub that! I’d use the said wad of cash to fly to LA, bring ‘The Wrecking Crew’ out of retirement and record SUPER 8’s next album ‘Pet Sounds’ stylee! That would be something (it really would be something!)
Hotvox writes: Luv Dot Gov, the brainchild of Matthew Pop (vocals/guitar) and Stevie Seaweeds (drums/vocals), was born on a rooftop in Brooklyn in the summer 2016 as a response to dark, trying times — both personally and politically. The band would quickly become a vehicle for some of the best emotionally honest power pop this side of the 90s.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
Being able to travel to the amazing city of Edinburgh was a pretty special way to make an album. And having real musicians (horns, strings, etc) be able to play was great as well. But the most fun was tracking the vocals. Our producer, Graeme Young, built a portable studio. We packed up his car and we rented a tiny cabin way up in the highlands. Our backdrop was the mountains and beaches. We had cows roaming around our front yard. There was even a cabin park dog, bob, who we’d play fetch with on our breaks. The sun set at 10pm, and there was even still a wee bit of light around midnight.
She tells you she will decide on a 5-song-mixtape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?
I’m not thrilled at the idea of dating a girl who will only let me put 5 songs on a mixtape, but here we go: 🙂
Spoon – Anything You Want
The Muffs – Become Undone
Smoking Popes – Megan
Origami Sun – The Anthropologist
Chris Knox – Not Given Lightly
Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?
That’s gotta be “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys. Because it’s quite possibly the greatest pop composition ever. The chords and melody, and vocal harmonies still blow my mind every time I hear it.
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
I think we would kidnap Graeme and buy a big, old house out in the hills. Maybe the Scottish Highlands. Though, maybe Tuscany, or the south of France. And build a large studio and just take our time making an epic double album.
What’s up for the rest of the year?
We are playing a few more east coast US dates in June. Then will be touring around the UK in August. Would love to get to
work on pre-production for the next record, come autumn.
Smash Palace returns with Right as Rain, a 5 song ep. 5 beautifully crafted songs. Jangle melodies are king here.
Stephen Butler explains how this new music came together. And he explains a whole lot more.
The music industry has changed a lot (or so they say). What did it bring you? And what not?
The music business has changed dramatically over the past 40 years that I’ve been involved with it. I made my first record in 1979. It was a single released on the CBGB label. Hilly Krystal was my manager for a band named Quincy. We then got signed to Columbia Records. Back then, the major labels controlled every aspect of your career. They funded your record, hired a producer and the recording studio, promoted your music etc. You weren’t your own boss .. they were. The label told you how to sound, how to look, where to play etc. Not that that was always a bad thing. But you give up a lot artistically. Some bands have an easier time with it, but my experiences weren’t always that great.
Today, I have my own project studio where I can do whatever I want and for as long as I want. Smash Palace is on Zip Records, which has its headquarters in Amsterdam. The owner of the label, Art Herman, is a great guy. A total music lover who has been releasing our CDs for the past 12 years. He lets the band do its thing, which I greatly appreciate.
The one cool thing about being in a band today is that making an album is so much easier to do. You can get a pro tools set up in your house and make your own recordings without a huge investment of money. Of course, you have to learn how to use the gear and learn how to produce and engineer. Not everyone has the capability to do that.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
The most fun in the making of this new Smash Palace record is the writing of the songs. Coming up with a new tune that you know is good .. at least by my standards. I’ve been writing with my brother Brian since I was 12 years old. We’re so close that we can finish each other’s sentences.
I consider myself to be very lucky to have my brother as my writing and music partner. Then when we’re cutting the tracks in the studio is another great experience.
I have such gifted players … David Uosikkinen on drums, Cliff Hillis on guitar, Wally Smith on keyboards and Fran Smith on bass guitar. They always come up with parts that add much to the song. And they’re my good friends too.
What’s up for the rest of the year?
The rest of the year is very busy. The new Smash Palace CD just came out. Now I’m finishing the new Quincy CD .. the first we’ve recorded since 1982. That’s a very fun time.
We got together a couple months ago to do the basic tracks and we fell right back into our groove. I’m in the mixing stages with that right now. I hope to see a release sometime this year.
Then the other project that should see the light of day this year is a duo CD I’m doing with Edward Rogers, a label mate of mine. We started writing together a couple years ago. Two of the songs made it on to Edwards last CD and we thought, why not do an EP with some of the other tunes.
So off to a studio in Brooklyn last month to record. We both sing lead on various songs and we had the luck to record with Sal Maida on bass ( Roxy Music and Cracker) Dennis Diken on drums ( the Smithereens) and Don Piper on guitar and doing the production work. We’re doing some overdubs right now and I’m very excited about where the music is heading.
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
The meaning of success is somewhat the same as it always was and at the same time, it’s changed. In my early 20’s, I wanted to be a successful rock star, travel the world, play great venues, make records with big deal producers and of course, write great songs. Today, the things that are the same are, writing great songs, playing gigs, etc but I don’t expect to become rich and famous from it.
It’s really about the quality of music and working with people who are great players. I did get to work with William Wittman on the previous Smash Palace CD ” Some Kind Of Magic”. He’s a Grammy winner and an excellent producer. Touring is very limited because everyone is so busy with not only Smash Palace but with their own careers.
I still think the songs I write with my brother Brian are as good or even better than we’ve ever written so I’m not going to stop doing what I do. If I thought I’m going downhill, and I’m not as good as I used to be, I might hang it up. It’s hard to say. I never thought I’d have a music career this many years later. It’s encouraging to see many of my peers or bands that started when I did, still making music. Ringo is going to be 78 and he’s still gigging .. That’s remarkable!
Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened?
I can’t say exactly when I knew music was important to me. My mother was an excellent musician and songwriter. I grew up in a household where music was always being played or listened to. The Beatles changed my life in the sense that I knew that’s what I wanted to do and be like. All of the British Invasion bands had a huge impact on me and my brother. For Christmas, he’s bought me Rubber Soul and I’d get him Over Under Sideways Down by the Yardbirds.
I just thought this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. Why not? I went to music college and studied classical music, I’ve always taught music, now I produce bands, play gigs, write songs etc. It’s like I’m doing the same thing I’ve been doing since I was a kid. I can’t imagine it any other way. I appreciate every day that I’m making music. I feel lucky that way. And most of all, don’t worry about success and what other bands are doing.
Find your own thing, do what makes you happy and keep working. It’s not easy but it can be a lot of fun. It’s really hard work and if you’re doing something you love, it won’t seem like work.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME I USED REAL STRINGS AND CELLOS…WHICH WAS VERY EXCITING AS IT ADDED A NEW DIMENSION TO THE SOUND
At what point, during writing, rehearsing, recording, did you knew you were on to something special?
THE FIRST SONG I WROTE AND RECORDED WAS CALLED APPLESTATION…MY 9-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER HAD A STEP SISTER NAMED ANASTASIA, BUT I WAS CALLING HER “APPLESTATION” AND THE SONG IS ACTUALLY ABOUT THIS 12-YEAR-OLD PRE-TEEN…
THE ENERGY IN THIS TRACK WAS ENOUGH FOR ME TO CONTINUE WRITING SOME 20 ADDITIONAL TRACKS…
I WAS STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING FOR THE NEW RICHIE SAMBORA ALBUM, SO I HAD TO SEPARATE MYSELF FROM THE BON JOVI INFLUENCE AND STAY FOCUSED ON THE POWER POP OF THE TOMS.
The music industry has changed a lot (or so they say). What did it bring you? And what not?
IT BROUGHT ME CLOSER TO MY FANS AND INTRODUCED ME TO MANY MORE BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS OUTLETS TO EXPOSE NEW MATERIAL AND ARTISTS…ALTHOUGH IT STILL TAKES A MARKETING AND PROMOTIONAL MACHINE TO REACH THE MASSES LIKE ONLY A MAJOR LABEL CAN DO BECAUSE OF THEIR PIPELINE AND DEEP POCKETS.
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
I NEVER WENT INTO THIS WITH THAT IDEA OF BECOMING SUCCESSFUL. I AM PASSIONATE AND DEDICATED TO WRITING AND RECORDING FOR AS LONG AS I AM ABLE…
I’VE BEEN GRAMMY NOMINATED, HAD GOLD AND PLATINUM RECORDS AND SONGS IN TV AND FILM BUT MY FAVORITE THING IS TO BE IN THE STUDIO WRITING AND RECORDING NEW SONGS THAT I HOPE TOUCH MY FANS AND NEW LISTENERS IN A POSITIVE WAY…
Do you feel part of a community, the power pop community?
YES, THEY HAVE EMBRACED ME OVER THE YEARS AND I FEEL HONORED AND HUMBLED BY THAT.
Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened?
YOU HEAR THE FIRST BEATLE SONG AND YOU’VE BECOME A DIFFERENT PERSON…
MY 9-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER LOVES THEM MORE THAN WHAT IS ON THE RADIO TODAY….THERE’S A RAW EMOTION, MELODY, UNABASHED YOUTHFULNESS AND HOPE INSIDE THAT KIND OF MUSIC…THAT’S WHAT TOUCHED ME AND BECAME THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE…
Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER…
IT’S SO UNIQUE AND WONDERFUL TO SING AND PLAY. I THINK LENNON HAD THAT MELODY AND DIDN’T REALIZE HOW THE CHORDS WOULD UNITE THE WORDS AND MUSIC…PURE LUCK OR GENIUS…OR WHATEVER DRUGS HE WAS ON AT THE TIME:)))
If you could tour the world with 2 other bands, who would you ask to join?
IMAGINE DRAGONS…I STARTED THE BAND HERE IN VEGAS WRITING AND TEACHING DAN REYNOLDS PRODUCTION AND VOCALS. THE OTHER BAND WOULD BE XTC, BUT WE KNOW ANDY HAS STAGE FRIGHT LIKE I DO AND THAT WON’T HAPPEN…
Magic can happen when you are playing in front of a crowd. Can you recall such a moment?
YES, I OPENED FOR BON JOVI IN FRONT OF 20,000 PEOPLE AND BESIDES BEING SCARED OUT OF MY MIND FOR THE FIRST 2 MINUTES, I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW MY BASS AMP WAS OFF UNTIL SOMEONE IN THE FRONT ROW POINTED IT OUT TO ME…
‘LET’S BE FRIENDS AGAIN’WAS ENERGIZING EVERYONE AND PETER NOONE FROM HERMAN’S HERMITS WAS THERE AND HEARD OUR SONG”THE FLAME” WHICH HE LATER CUT FOR A MOVIE, BUT THEY LIKED MINE BETTER…THE FILM WAS CALLED, “MY AMERICAN BOYFRIEND”…
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
IT IS UNLIMITED SINCE I HAVE ALL THE EQUIPMENT AND TIME TO RECORD IT IN MY HOME WHICH I HAVE STARTED ON A NEW TOMS ALBUM CALLED “D7”
I’M NOT SURE IT FOLLOWS IN THE PURE POWER POP PATH, BUT I AM VISITING GOOSE BUMP CITY ON THIS ONE SO FAR…
Every family birthday, same story. Again, you have to explain what kind of band you are in. What’s the story this time for aunt Jenny and uncle Clive?
I WOULD TELL THEM THAT THEY WON’T BELIEVE IT, BUT EVERYTHING YOU HEAR ON THIS RECORD IS BEING PLAYED SUNG, WRITTEN AND RECORDED BY MYSELF…
THE TOMS, A ONE-MAN BAND… AND YOU COULD SAY IT HAS A BEATLES, TEMPLES, IMAGINE DRAGONS, XTC, MOTOWN, PHIL SPECTOR, BEACH BOYS, TAME IMPALA, INFLUENCE.
What would change if Disney would call and tell you they are going to use your song in their next movie?
NOTHING…I’VE HAD TWO SONGS IN DISNEY MOVIES…BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA IS ONE OF THEM…SONG IS CALLED “BAILA”, FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK PAT!!!
So what about putting your ultimate band together? No restrictions. No limitations. If you want David Bowie on backing vocals and Prince on guitar, go ahead. What would the band look like? And what is the song you will start jamming on? To find out it if this really works?
THE SONG WOULD BE “TOO MUCH” FROM THE TOMS -APPLESTATION AND THE PLAYERS AND SINGERS WOULD BE: MCCARTNEY ON VOCALS AND BASS, ROBIN ZANDER (CHEAP TRICK) BACKGROUND VOCALS, ANDY PARTRIDGE, VOCALS AND GUITAR, BILL BUFORD (YES) ON DRUMS, ELTON JOHN ON PIANO, ME ON RHYTHM GUITAR…RONNIE SPECTOR ON FEMALE BACKUPS…STEVE HOWE ON LEAD GUITAR…
What’s up for the rest of the year?
I HAVE 16 NEW TOMS SONGS THAT I’VE BEGUN RECORDING. ONE OF THEM CALLED “WE AIN’T GIVING UP” WRITTEN AND SUNG BY ME AND RICHIE SAMBORA WHO IS A RECURRING MEMBER OF THE TOMS…:)
PLUS I AM WORKING ON A REALITY TV SHOW WITH MY PARTNER RENAE WOLFGANG WHO IS A MOBILE PET GROOMER. WE ARE COMBINING HER TALENTS WITH MY MUSIC CONTACTS TO CREATE AN UNUSUAL LOOK INTO THE WORLD OF PETS AND MUSIC…IT’S CALLED “HAPPY TAILS”, THE TOMS WILL CONTRIBUTE MUSIC TO THIS PROJECT AS WELL..
You have to catch Mike Collins‘ new studio release. The drummer from Portland’s Throwback Suburbia has put together a set of 8 super power pop tunes entitled Rooftop Screamers Vol 1. One listen and you’ll recognize influences such as Tom Petty, BowieandELO. Most importantly, there are pop hooks a-plenty.
Rooftop Screamers was an idea I had after my former band Throwback Suburbia decided to call it a day. I wanted to record some of my songs, but I wasn’t interested in putting together a band as I’m already in a couple bands/projects that keep me busy playing drums. But I needed an outlet to showcase my music. Since I don’t sing, I decided to invite different guest vocalists to sing on my songs. The idea was loosely based on the album Carlos Santana did years ago called Supernatural, where he utilized different guest vocalists on his songs. I also borrowed the idea from my old bandmate Earl Slick (who appears on the track “Your Ghost”). He released an album of songs called Zig Zag that featured different guest vocalists as well.
I felt that by having different singers, the songs would have their own personality as opposed to all the songs sung by the same person.
After I had written a handful of songs, I started to reach out to different producers, singers, and musicians that I’ve worked with in the past as well as people I’ve always wanted to work with. As luck would have it, they all said yes! The first person I worked with was multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer Rob Daiker. I’ve worked with Rob in the past as his drummer and always admired his music and production skills. Rob has worked with people such as Katy Perry, Meredith Brooks, the Dan Reed Network and many more. Except for the drums, Rob played all the instruments and sang the song “Talk About It”.
I also reached out to my producer friend Mark Plati (Bowie, Prince, The Cure) who worked with Throwback Suburbia in the past. It just so happens that Mark also produced the aforementioned album Zig Zag for Earl Slick. Mark produced as well as played bass, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar and keyboards on the track “Your Ghost”. He also referred me to singer Kim Wayman. Kim’s sultry and haunting vocals were perfect for the song! For “Roses Again” (which was actually an early Throwback Suburbia song), I asked Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, R.E.M., Big Star) to play on, sing and produce the track.
I had recently worked with an artist he was producing in Portland named Joanne Hodges and during the session I planted the seed that I would like for him to be part of my Rooftop Screamers project. He said yes and his treatment of the song is amazing and it’s a stand out track on the album for sure. The remaining five songs were co-produced with my longtime friend and collaborator – Kevin Hahn. He and I work very well together and it’s very rare that we’re not on the same page when it comes to our approach to songwriting and production. Kevin did an amazing job producing, engineering and playing some great guitar parts on the songs: “Sign Me Up”, “Have Mercy”, “Get Outta Your Way”, “I Belong” and “Good Intentions”.
For vocals on “Sign Me Up” I reached out to power pop crooner Kyle Vincent. Throwback Suburbia and Kyle have done a show together in Portland years ago and we stayed in touch ever since. I knew his voice would be perfect for the song and luckily I was right!
For “Have Mercy” I wanted more of a gritty/Americana style singer and I didn’t have to look too far to find him. I chose Geoff Metts, the singer in my band Metts, Ryan and Collins. He singing and guitar playing provided the edginess the song needed. Our bassist Dain Ryan laid down the perfect bass line for the song as well.
For the song “I Belong” I reached out to my friend Bob Byers. Bob had a band in Portland a few years ago called Black Mercies. He has more of a goth style voice in the vein of David Bowie, Robert Smith and Matt Bellamy from Muse. The song is definitely the darkest sounding song on the album and Bob knocked it out of the park!
For the song “Get Outta Your Way”, I asked my good friend Andrew Paul Woodworth. Andrew is an amazing singer/songwriter and has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. He has a bit of a Neil Finn sound to his voice on the song which gave it a Crowded House vibe. That was exciting for me as Crowded House house is one of my favorite bands.
And last but not least, for the song “Good Intentions”, I reached out to my old friend Jeff Carrell. Jeff and I were in a band together in the 90s. I’ve been a huge fan of his singing and songwriting for over 20 years. He has an incredibly dynamic voice which is like a cross between Kurt Cobain and David Bowie. He gave the song a beautifully melancholy feel.
I also want to give a shout out to Kelly Lemieux (Buckcherry, Paul Gilbert, Goldfinger) and Don Schwarz (Tales Untold, Eric Matthews) who played some brilliant bass lines on the album as well!
I’ve already begun working on demos for the next Rooftop Screamers album and have some surprise guest vocalists and musicians that I’m super excited about!
Stay tuned…
Do you feel part of a community, the power pop community?
Yes, I do. My former band Throwback Suburbia received a lot of support from some prominent people in the power pop community like Alan Heaton, David Bash, and John Borack. We also got some accolades and respect from some of our favorite artists in the genre like Jason Falkner, Eric Dover and Chris Manning of Jellyfish, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, producer Jack Douglas (Cheap Trick, John Lennon), the band The 88, The guys in Rooney, Kyle Vincent and Rodney Bingemheimer the legendary DJ at KROQ in LA. He played our song ‘Circles’ on his show for 11 weeks I believe.
I have since maintained relationships with a lot of the aforementioned people and they have been very supportive and said nice things about the Rooftop Screamers stuff. I think for the most part people in the power pop community are intelligent people and they appreciate smart pop music. They, like myself, like great melodies, sweet harmonies and that nostalgic throwback (no pun intended) to the late sixties and 70’s.
She tells you she will decide on a 5-song-mixtape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?
Maybe I’m Amazed -Paul McCartney
Moonage Daydream- David Bowie
Four Seasons in one Day – Crowded House
Ten Years Gone- Led Zeppelin
Day after Day – Badfinger
Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?
There’s so many, but if I had to choose one I would say “Life on Mars” by David Bowie. It’s such an epic song. The melodies and the lyrics are transcendent. I remember hearing it as a kid and it just transported me to a very surreal place. The lyrics, his voice, the symphonic nature of the song, the arrangement…it’s just a perfect song.
If you could tour the world with 2 other bands, who would you ask to join?
Hmmmm, probably Jeff Lynne’s ELO and Cheap Trick. If we’re talking about Rooftop Screamers touring, then I would want to get in front of their crowds as I think they would appreciate the music and it would be inspiring to see and get to hang out with those talented icons night after night.
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
I would record it at Abbey Road with Jeff Lynne. To make music in those hallowed halls and have Jeff at the helm would be a dream come true!
At the end of the 70s, you were playing CBGB’swith your band Elliot Schneider and the Pitts. What was it like?
I had just returned to rock and roll in 1978. Around 1969 I fell in love with the British acid folk music of The Incredible String Band and also Pentangle. Suddenly I was writing some very esoteric gentle songs that wandered into the wisp or meandered into the meadows of your pillow.
Then in 1978, I met a Swedish painter and ex-child star who heard me sing with my giant incognito rock and roll voice which I had been hiding from the world for a decade. She fell over.
Meanwhile, a writer in L.A. read a play of mine and asked me to move there and be her co-partner in some teleplays and screenplays. So Tobi, the Swedish painter, and I moved to L.A. But soon, to paraphrase J.D. Salinger, I was nauseated by the kind of prostitution this entailed.
And I began writing what began as almost accusatory rock against L.A. I recorded some very exciting rock and roll in L.A. with my first incarnation of Elliot Schneider and The Pitts.
Then I moved back to New York and formed the second incarnation. My band was just the third band in CBGB’s history to debut on a Saturday night. It was thrilling. CBGB’s was my favorite stage in all of New York City.
What were your musical dreams at that time?
Silly me—I wanted to make music on the level of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Anything less seemed to be settling. Why bother making music if you couldn’t reacquaint people with all their dreams and fears and lost loves? The Beatles were the Apollonian archetype; The Stones were the Dionysian model. I wanted to dabble in both.
You became a teacher. Your old students aren’t surprised when they find out you are recording, are they?
I had a way of blowing up all my potential successes. In 1979 the head of A & R at Capitol Records heard the first three songs I recorded in L.A. and absolutely loved them. He asked me to send him a couple of more songs and if he dug them too I would’ve been signed to the same American label as The Beatles. My dream come true! Well, I had two more studio songs from L.A.
But the lead guitarist—a genius really—did something a little different than we did in rehearsal. So I refused to give the head of Capitol Records the songs. Never compromise, I thought. Smart thinking, Elliot. Oddly enough those two songs were to appear in the Bonus Material on my 2012 album, “If Looks Could Kill, I’d Wear Mirror Sunglasses.” DJs loved them; hell, I love them. If I had given them to Capitol Records in 1979, they would’ve signed me. They wanted to—and I refused. Go figure. But even back in 1969, I was doing the same thing. In the summer of 1969 when men first set foot on the moon, I met Les Paul in Chicago.
I was visiting the daughter of his former drummer Tommy Rinaldo. Mr. Paul was both warm and sardonic. He invited me to travel back to New York with him, “Ten Years After” and Dusty Springfield. Strangely enough, I said, “thanks, but I can’t,” and so he gave me his card and invited me to his home in Mahwah, New Jersey. I played for him at his home in March of 1970 and he wanted to produce my song, “The First Day Of Summer.”
Alas, I took an LSD trip that lasted a month—my last acid trip—and wound up 3,000 miles away in La-La Land. Forty-seven years later I finally recorded that song. And it appears on my new CD, “Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basketcase.” And also in my folk period in 1973, the best A & R man at Elektra-Asylum Records loved my music and asked me to add bass and drums and come back. I said to my bandmates, “Fuck him. He doesn’t get it.”
And I refused to go back. I sure showed him. I did things like that more often than I have fingers and toes to count. So Finally in 1986 when I put out a rock and roll LP called, “Surreal Survivor” and I got very serious interest again, I gave up the holy grail of rock and roll and went to Graduate School in 1987. I studied history in great depth. And I became a History and Philosophy teacher.
From 1987 until I got breast cancer, the only time I performed was with a band of my students at high school rallies. If I hadn’t gotten cancer, none of my CDs would exist today.
What brought you back to making music?
My mother died of breast cancer when I was only two. And suddenly in 2005, I discovered I had the same disease. They removed my left breast—and also the sentinel lymph node to biopsy. Then they discovered the sentinel lymph node was cancerous too. They operated again and took out all the lymph nodes under my left armpit. Thank Zeus the cancer had yet to spread there.
If I discovered my cancer a little later, it would’ve spread through the lymph system of my body and I probably would have died. To be safe they gave me an unusually strong treatment of chemotherapy. And they kept it up for twice as long as they do in Europe.
About six months in I got Chemo-brain. I couldn’t follow two words in a row nevertheless complex thought. So I retired from teaching. But before I retired the mother of one of my students—Carmen Castro—came to my house to get the lesson plans to deliver to the school.
She and I had been close friends for 16 years. I taught all three of her kids and she was close with my kids too. I picked up my guitar and I began writing songs. My synapses snapped back into shape as songs sprang from my soul. And Carmen and I fell magically in love after 16 years of Platonic friendship. We actually fell in love the first time I got off stage in decades and fell into her eyes as I stepped down.
You released 4 albums so far. All received lots of praise. Excited? Surprised maybe?
Before I recorded the new songs, Carmen and I selected songs from my past and we put out an 18-song compilation from the previous millennium. I called it, “Surreal Survivor” although the 1986 LP only had 9 songs.
And one version of the record was left off for a wilder live version from the time. Then I recorded lots of new songs including, “If Looks Could Kill, I’d Wear Mirror Sunglasses” which became the title track.
That led to a tour of the UK where I also performed live on The BBC Radio Merseyside in Liverpool. Sort of like British Invasion in reverse. My third CD was “Better A Fool Than Aloof” which actually hit NUMBER ONE at WLFR 91.7 FM near Atlantic City. My latest album, “Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basketcase” reached NUMBER ONE at WLFR 91.7 FM and also at WMUH 91.7 FM in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And it hit #59 on the National Charts of Muzooka Radio Charts (Unweighted side.)
Then on February 16, 2018, I wrote, “I Second That Amendment Blues.”
This satirical yet passionate song sprang out of me two days after the terrifying murders of the children and teachers in Parkland, Florida. We launched it into the turbulent seas of human emotion as a life raft or a call to (loving) arms; this is for the children and their battle for the soul of America. With young people like this, I have hope for our planet. We must never despair, and we must never give up. Let me share the lyrics with you.
I want my own A-Bomb
I’ve got rights like you
I want my own A-Bomb
I want an ICBM too
So you pray but they still shoot
Let me pry away their guns
God helps those who help themselves
Your prayers are falling on dead ears
You say guns don’t kill but
People will
A mad man with a butter knife
Won’t cause that much strife
A submachine gun in his hand
And it is a savage land
I second that amendment blues
I second that amendment blues
How many children will we kill?
The NRA is paying the bill
Swagger, like Ray Davies en Peter Wolf. Does that make sense?
I just can’t quit. I do like what you said about Ray Davies and Peter Wolf.
And swagger… the legendary DJ and author Spencer Leigh (who knew The Beatles and wrote many books about them) said on his BBC Radio Merseyside program after playing me the first time: “Excellent stuff—that guys got swagger.”
Cary Tennis (Salon.com’s renowned columnist for a 14-year span) wrote in SF Weekly: “It’s impossible to classify him, categorize him, deny, defy or crucify him. Everything about him invites skepticism; you know right off he’s either a total flake or a total genius.”
“Bay area rocker Elliot Schneider’s career reads like the lyrics of a rock ‘n’ roll song.” –Randy McMullen, San Jose Mercury News
“I love singing,” says the self-professed former hippie. “It’s like making love to the universe.” –Jim Harrington quoting Elliot Schneider, Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News
What’s left, Elliot? Still ambitious? Still got something to prove? Or is it ‘just’ for the sake of the song? And the need to express yourself?
My mother died of breast cancer when I was two. She was only twenty-seven. She got cancer when I was one. My earliest memories are of life and death. In response, I lived passionately every moment. Instead of waiting until my sixties, I retired in my twenties and thirties when I was young enough to really enjoy it. I had more adventures than could fit in twenty volumes and I lived without fear. I drank with hoboes; I drank with a member of the Kennedy administration whose daughter was the Queen of Jordan. Linda McCartney and I spoke of the death of her mother and my own father. I lived for love and traveled the planet, Peter Pan masquerading as Captain Hook but always being Elliot. I’ve been blessed with love affairs that read like fantasy–I love my life. I’ve played guitar with Les Paul and danced around knives in New York. Surfing on the present moment I’ve known a lot of ecstasy and even heartbreak. Because I’ve always done what I want, I have no regrets. Every day has been magical.
One day I gave up the Holy Grail of Rock ’n’ Roll and went through the Looking Glass. I became a history and philosophy teacher and became the father of two dazzling suns. Who needs reincarnation? We all live many lives in a single lifetime.
Since I always loved women (perhaps searching for the mother I never had), it seems only fitting that I, too, got breast cancer. More than half a century ago, there was little they could do for my mother. We live in a different world now. I beat cancer, and I retired from my retirement from Rock ’n’ Roll. I fell in love with Carmen Castro, the love of my life—and my keyboard player. I met her because I taught all three of her kids. We were friends for sixteen years before I fell into her eyes. And I am still falling.
Every day I try to feel ecstatic. The moment is immortal even if we are not. I can live with the fact that I’m going to die. I’ve never waited for the Afterlife—I live now. I’m still going to die and yet the world is still thrilling me. If we spend our life fearing death, we never live at all. My purpose in life has always been to really live before I die. There are stories I still want to tell. When death finds me, I’ll be kicking, gouging and scratching all the way. If I could live forever, I would. How could you be bored with the universe all around you?
Dave Sheinin has been covering baseball and writing features and enterprise stories for The Washington Post since 1999. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he studied English and music and trained as an opera singer. In 2018, he released his debut record, “First Thing Tomorrow,” a collection of 10 original, pop/rock songs.
Not your average introduction. This is not an average story.
In ‘Talking to Myself’ you sing ‘the sun goes down, we are another day closer to dying’. You told me this song is about you talking yourself through this project. What was this project about, for you? And how important was it to finish?
A 48-year-old sports writer putting out a debut record requires some explanation, I know. But there’s only so much I can explain. On one level, this project was the culmination of a life immersed in music, from the piano lessons as a kid, which I quit after a couple of years like everyone; to my music studies at Vanderbilt, where I trained as an opera singer, but was always more drawn to the theory/composition classes; to my dabbling at guitar and piano as an adult, with an occasional sit-in gig with a friend’s band (my crazy day job precluded anything more serious) and lots of drunken hootenanny jams; and of course, to my years spent as an active, insatiable and analytical listener of music.
But on a deeper level – and this is where “Talking To Myself” comes in – it was about challenging myself to take on something I’ve always dreamed of doing (but maybe doubted that I could do well), and seeing it through. I always figured I would try this at some point, but when you get to a certain age, you wake up and realize “some point” needs to be right freaking now. There wasn’t one big event or epiphany, that got me to that point. It was more like a slow dawning. I certainly wish it had happened earlier in life, but I refuse to grant myself the cop-out of saying I missed my calling. As the lyric goes, “There are no callings in life / There’s only what you have the guts to try.” I didn’t have the guts – or the wherewithal — to try it at 18 or 28 or 38.
In the song, you hear the speaker talking to someone as if encouraging them to “follow through or it dies,” and hopefully it sounds sort of inspirational. But by the bridge (“Mirror mirror on the wall behind the bar / Who’s the loneliest by far”), you realize it’s just some guy talking to himself in a bar. In a way, that’s its own sort of cop-out: he spends two verses going all carpe diem on you, but by the end he’s resigned to saying he’ll get to it “someday.” It just seemed more rock-n-roll to do it that way, instead of the opposite. But I know what it meant to me.
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
Honestly, just making a real, actual piece of art for the first time in my life, then putting the thing out and having some people listen to it and like it is all the success I needed or wanted. I would have loved to have made back my expenses, but it seems as if that ship has sailed, from a standpoint of people paying for music. (It’s been interesting, by the way, to be involved in two industries – newspapers and music – where the economic model has collapsed due largely to the misguided belief from consumers that online content should be free.) I also would love it if someone saw this and thought, “If this over-the-hill chump-ass sports writer can make a record like this, I can pull off my dream project.” But that doesn’t seem to actually happen in real life, so I’m not counting on it.
Andy Bopp is producing. What’s the story?
I met Andy Bopp through my good friend, the Baltimore-based Americana legend Andrew Grimm, who fronts a band called June Star and is the best songwriter I know. Bopp and Grimm have been playing in each other’s bands for years. Having them both involved was perfect for me, since Bopp’s power pop genius and Grimm’s Americana chops were like the yin and yang of my musical sensibilities. Being in the studio with these two, plus J. Robbins, the legendary D.C. hardcore guitarist/singer/songwriter (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, et al.) who also co-produced and mixed it, was an incredible experience for me.
I never set out to make a power pop record. They were just songs that I thought were pretty good, but I wasn’t hearing a defined, distinctive sound like that. But circumstances led to Bopp becoming the primary producer, and he was like a mad scientist in the studio. We triple-tracked most of the vocals, and Bopp added touches like the “It’s Getting Better,” one-note guitar lick in “City You Left Behind” and some classic-pop percussion. It totally indulged that side of my sensibilities, and I was completely on board. I was thrilled with how it came out. But when we were finished, I was kind of like: Welp, I think we made a power pop record.
You are a writer. Have you always been writing songs?
No, not at all. I went through periods when I dabbled at it, but I never stuck with it. I just resigned myself to the notion I was good at telling other people’s stories in the newspaper but terrible at telling my own in song. Then, maybe four years ago, I built myself a music “lounge” in my basement and started to apply myself to songwriting. I think it’s essential to carve out both the mental and the physical space for yourself to be able to tap into the creative side, and until then I had neither. I still found it incredibly hard to write a good song, but nothing had ever felt more rewarding to me, including writing a book.
Are people, who know you from work, surprised when they hear your music?
Yes and no. I didn’t tell many people about the project – just enough to where there was pressure on me to see it through. But nobody at the newspaper knew until a few days before the record was coming out. My bosses could not have reacted any better. My sports editor was one of the first people to buy it on the day it came out – and then his wife did, too.
At the same time, in my professional circles, my musical ability has always been viewed a cool novelty, and I was well-known, or perhaps infamous, for assaulting hotel-lobby pianos at any major sporting event until security was inevitably called to shut me down. These episodes have led to some epic stories, such as the time Tommy Lasorda sang along with me to Louis Prima songs, and when Dusty Baker tipped me a $50 after Game 6 of the 2002 World Series.
She tells you she will decide on a 5-song-mixtape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?
You’re an evil person, Patrick, for limiting this to five songs. But with that said, and keeping in mind the stated mission of securing a second date, I’ll line it up like this:
Waterloo Sunset, The Kinks
Fruits of My Labor, Lucinda Williams
Things, Paul Westerberg
Take It With Me, Tom Waits
My One and Only Love, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
How will you promote First Thing Tomorrow?
I’ve always been terrible at self-promotion, and that’s doubly so when it comes to my music. So basically, there will be zero promotion. I don’t have the time or even the desire to play out. We talked about doing one record release show, but two months later we still haven’t gotten that off the ground. I’ve sent the record around to some radio stations, blogs, and what-have-you, and WTMD in Baltimore (my favorite station) played “Talking To Myself” for about a month, which was just about the coolest thing ever for me.
But I already have a possible second record maybe 60-70 percent written, and my only goal here is to convince myself — through positive feedback, encouragement of friends and maybe a few more download sales – to do it again. Otherwise, you’ll see me back at that bar, talking to myself.
Lindsay Murray’s indie-pop solo project Gretchen’s Wheel returns with her fourth full-length release, Black Box Theory. The album builds upon the strengths of 2017’s Sad Scientist and will be released on the Futureman Records label on June 15, 2018 (June 1 on Bandcamp only).
Murray’s songwriting draws upon classic pop and rock sounds without ever becoming an exercise in retro.
That’s all true. Very true. But it’s Lindsay’s voice that sets her music apart. Find out yourself. Listen:
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
I have several answers to this question! 🙂 This was the first time I played bass on my own record, and I enjoyed that quite a lot.
Also, as much fun as it is to build a production track by track and hear it take shape, it’s such an amazing experience to get to hear the song once drums have been added and again once the mix is done (thanks to Nick Bertling, who did both of those things on this album!).
More answers: this is the first album I’m properly releasing on vinyl which is very exciting, and my first “real” music video is currently in the works, too.
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
Even when I was making my first record and was fairly naive about the way things work (just four years ago!), I never expected music to be a day job replacement. But even so, I seriously underestimated the challenges in finding and growing an audience. So ever since then, it’s been this weird juggle of trying to raise the bar musically with every release while simultaneously scaling back my expectations of how it will actually perform in the real world.
I’m hesitant to state any kind of “personal success metric” because by saying it I’m afraid I’m ensuring that it will never happen (welcome to my psychology!). Though I will say this because it makes practical sense: if I were to sell enough copies of the LP to cover the costs of making them, that would be fantastic.
Okay, an official Spotify playlist placement would feel really validating, too!
Do you feel part of a community, the power pop community?
Kinda! I made the mistake of thinking that because all my favorite bands and artists over the years have been labeled “power pop” by somebody at some point, any music that comes out of me would automatically fit in that box. I found out pretty quickly after releasing my first record that was not the case! (Or maybe that was just me finding out that the definition of power pop is hotly debated.) But lots of folks kindly accepted me in spite of that, and they’ve stuck with me as I’ve continued to stumble in the general direction of where I want to be as a songwriter, musician, and producer.
Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened?
Music was always a huge part of my life from as early as I can remember, but hearing Matthew Sweet’s 100% Fun for the first time was my personal “eureka” moment. I was 14 and instantly just wanted to do whatever it was he was doing. I had a similar experience about 20 years later when I heard Nada Surf and The Posies for the first time. They woke me up from a very long musical slumber, and I started recording my first album a few months later.
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
At this point, it’s hard to imagine doing anything other than my usual (recording in my home studio), because I feel so much more comfortable having nobody else around to hear me butcher the lead guitar solo 15 times in a row. But it would be really nice to find out how much of a difference a studio and pro engineer could make. I’d also probably go completely overboard flying all my favorite people there to play/sing/produce/hang out.
Alternatively, I’d just make a record the way I always do and instead use the unlimited budget for promotional help!
What’s up for the rest of the year?
I don’t really have firm plans for anything after Black Box Theory. If I do any more writing and recording this year, it will probably be for the “awry” project that I started last year.
I released five mostly acoustic songs as a free digital EP and am considering adding another batch of songs in the same vein and releasing all of them together as a full-length album, but not soon.
So if I release anything in 2019, it will most likely be the full-length version of “awry” and/or some random one-off singles and/or an entirely different project that I haven’t thought of yet. 🙂
‘Lucky Day’ is not only a great record. It’s also an artistic research study. David Myhr travelled the world to work with those who mastered the art of songwriting. In search for the ‘perfect’ tune.
You studied songwriting. What’s the story? And did it change your approach?
Well, to begin with I never actually studied songwriting back in the day. There weren’t any courses like that when I went to music school or music university. I learnt songwriting the hard way through trial and error, together with my band mates in The Merrymakers. And of course, by listening to the great masters. Not until I started to teach songwriting I realised it’s actually something you can learn in some kind of organised form. But the process is still the same. Practice a lot, trial and error, work with others, and again, learn from the great masters. The guide book is out there on Spotify! There’s no teacher, myself included, who can tell you that ”this is how you write a song”. The best I can do is to listen to a finished song and say stuff like ”this sounds a bit complicated” or ”don’t be afraid to repeat that part a few more times”.
What I’ve done during this project is to make the writing of the songs for the Lucky Day album into a artistic research study. Studying the process of songwriting.
My aim is to understand more about how songwriters go about making up melodies. And I’ve made my own process the object of the study, no matter whether I’m writing on my own or together with others. I’ve been recording or filming many many hours in total so that I’ve managed to document in real-time as these melodies were born.
My aim has not been to change my approach. I just want to contribute with some knowledge to the research field (and others who might be curious) about how it is done. More specifically, to try to understand for which reasons some ideas are accepted and other ideas discarded.
Some pretty big co-writers. Can you elaborate a bit on these writing sessions? Share some key insights maybe?
Well for me they’re all ”big” names in the sense that they are great pop writers. And all with some kind of mutual frame of reference I guess.
I haven’t done a lot of co-writing with people outside of The Merrymakers through the years. But back in 2005 when I was in Nashville I realised how simple and joyful it can be when I wrote the melody for ”Looking For A Life” that ended up on my solo debut Soundshine (2012) together with a guy called Ian Eskelin.
We locked ourselves into a little room, exactly the way I imagined Goffin and King, Leiber and Stoller, and those kind of professional writers would have done it back in the day. I didn’t know whether I was expected to come in with a lot of song ideas or come empty-handed. In the end I didn’t have anything.
Being a bit nervous about this, while he was getting coffee, I started to sing a simple repetitive verse melody. And when he came in with the coffee and heard it, he just sat down and ”responded” with a great chorus melody. The melody was literally done in 15 minutes. It was an important moment because I realised that I could work with other people. So it became a goal for me to do it more.
So it was a dream come true when I did my 2015 co-writing trip working with all these great people, Brad Jones, Bleu, Linus of Hollywood, Bill DeMain, Young Hines, Steve Schiltz, and others.
It was lots of fun and went very easy for the most part! In several of the cases, my co-writer had started on a musical idea which certainly makes life easy! I’ll give you a couple of examples. Bill DeMain had started ”Room To Grow” with melody and lyrics for a great A-part, the same way as Young Hines had started ”My Negative Friend”. My task became to come in, get to know the idea, and contribute with a B-part. Kind of ”filling in the blanks” really. I feel truly honoured and grateful for them sharing those great initial ideas and inviting me in on them. One would have thought they could have kept it to themselves. On the other hand, hadn’t I suggested the co-write in the first place, invited myself and scheduling a day for it in the calendar, those ideas might never have come up in the first place. So one thing I’ve learned is that scheduling co-writing session dramatically increases the probability that there will be a finished song at the end of the day. Thinking about it, I should do it more often.
With Brad Jones it was a bit different. We did what he calls ”distance writing” meaning sending ideas beforehand back and forth over the ocean. I sent him a few melodic ideas for which I needed lyrical ideas. And in some cases there was a part missing. Like for instance I sent him a simple melodic idea with the working title ”Shitty Day”. Brad said it had something musically and went around with the melody in his head for days. He contributed with a beautiful B-part and wisely suggested to change the title ”Lucky Day”. It felt like a key track and eventually it gave the album its title as well! On the other song on the album which him and I wrote together I had sent him an up-tempo, stompy, piano-pop idea but with very little lyrics, just singing random phrases to give the melody something to lean on. In the chorus I was singing ”Wait for a moment, wait for a while”. A couple of weeks went by and then it came back in a completely different form. A slow, kind of bossa-nova-ish ballad, with the most beautiful lyric, now with the title” Wait Until The Moment”. He had kept most of the melody, but completely changed the chords on the verse, thrown away a long and complicated pre-chorus, and the result sounded absolutely beautiful to my ears. We talked about this way of working in a filmed interview that I hope to release on my Facebook page during the summer called ”David Myhr in conversation with Brad Jones”. He commented that he kind of prefers ”distance writing” because it allows you go into this ”dream space” when you are on your own. Something that might be hard to do if you’re locked into the same room.
So the other key insight is, there’s no right or wrong way. You can write with others in many different ways.
What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?
It’s kind of hard beating the fact that I was able to bring my good friend, favourite drummer, and co-producer from Soundshine, Andreas Dahlbäck with me to the sessions with Brad in Nasvhille. I was so happy about our collaboration on the first album, not least the way he plays the drums. So I had some kind of ”separation anxiety”. But when he offered to join me it was a no-brainer. To bring two extremely talented producers together seemed like a good idea to me, and it was! We had lots of fun during those days. It was great also to have the brilliant Nashville session guitar player Pat Buchanan with us. It’s such a magical thing to show a few musicians an idea for a song, and then make it come alive. We mostly spent our time in Nashville in the studio. Poor Andreas even slept behind his drum kit. He was like a prisoner. But on the other hand I know him, and he spends most of his days in his own studio here in Stockholm so this wasn’t any different. We did get to see a little bit of Nashville as well which was great! So, apart from being away from my wife, the recording sessions in Nashville was the biggest fun!
If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record?
That’s a great question! The funny thing is I would probably do it more or less the same. But adding a few days here and there, and paying all the talented people around me a little bit better. And most importantly not lose a fortune myself while doing it. I would simply make it into my day job!
The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?
When people talk about it twenty years later. This sometimes happens with Bubblegun, the album we made with The Merrymakers together with Andy Sturmer. Lots of blood, sweat and tears – and time and money – go into the making of each album. So knowing that it brings joy to people over years kind of makes the whole thing worthwhile.
What’s up for the rest of the year?
In the first weekend of June I will go to my second home country Spain (my wife is Spanish) and promote the record there and hopefully make an appearance in Madrid. And in the beginning of August I will make a little tour of California with my great peers Linus of Hollywood and Chris Price under the moniker of Melody & Madness. I’m hoping for lots of both! 🙂
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