In our fourth year of MY ROOTS, the column continues to venture out away from its, well, roots. From a straight-forward examination of a musician’s early days into a much broader look into their lives and music, we have grown into an all-around glimpse into the heart and soul of some of your favorite artists in the musical world. And not just musicians, but others in the business as well who make our musical experience complete. We hope to continue bringing insightful and fun interviews in 2015. But this week, as we leave 2014, we take a moment to look back at some interesting moments from this year.
Steve Stevens on his early days in music – “There were some lean times. The band I was in before Billy Idol, we all lived about sixteen of us in one like unfurnished loft in Manhattan. Didn’t have money, we lived on Spam and chicken pot pies (laughs) and Ramen. The usual struggling musician story but, you know what, I loved it. I absolutely loved every moment of it. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world, being a part of that whole thing.”
Amanda Sudano of Johnnyswim on her earliest attempts at songwriting – “I’ve been writing songs for as long as I could remember and they were pretty horrible (laughs) but it was all about, you know, if I did my homework and what the teacher said at school and if my friend said hi. None of it rhymed at all but my parents [her mother was Donna Summer] gave me some pointers as time went on and I ended up doing alright.”
Joe Perry on Peter Green’s influence – “When he cut loose, he had as much style and as much to say as any of the other so-called guitar heroes from that era, only his was a little more influenced by the blues guys that played. It was just so free and you could tell when he played it came from his soul, it came from his heart and it was very sparse, his playing, but he said so much with very few notes. I learned a lot from him.”
Franky Perez on his songwriting – “A lot of people are really hung up on their image, like what people think of them and this and that, and I realize that in a world where perception is reality, I’m making sure that the stuff I’m putting out is my honesty, is me. I’m not hung up on image. I let my music speak for itself.”
Bernie Worrell on creating music – “I always tell them, “Press record,” cause the first thing off the top of my head, that’s what it will be. I play what is sent to me. I’m a vessel. The gift comes from God and I’m a vessel and the music comes through me.”
Robby Krieger on why The Doors’ music scared the older generation – “The fact that we represented freedom, you know. We talked about that in the songs and I think that the parents, like all parents, they want their kids to be in line and not go crazy or do anything too weird (laughs). And for some reason, I think, people identified The Doors as representing just being able to do whatever you wanted to do.”
Ian Anderson on his fans – “Some of them definitely are a younger age group than they were and of course the older end of the scale, some of our older fans no longer can be trusted out of their house late at night. And many of them don’t like to go too far from the safety of home and the nearest lavatory. We lose some folks at the older end and we gain a few in the younger end.”
Graeme Edge on his plans after the Moody Blues Cruise ended – “I’m going to come over to your place and dance naked in the shower.”
Kelly Hansen on why Foreigner continues to thrive as a band – “The quality of the songs, the fact that the songs have been in the atmosphere and in people’s minds for thirty years. And I think that that’s a big part of it. I think we’ve done a lot of hard work in the last ten years, since 2005 when I joined, really bringing awareness back to the band. The band had suffered a little bit in the nineties. It was a tough go there with the grunge and the problems with Lou’s voice and then leaving again in 2002. But since that time we’ve really tried to show that this band is vibrant and relevant and energetic and we really have an energetic show. We like to play WITH the people not to the people. And I think putting that much effort into it and really pushing hard the last ten years has really helped make a difference along with having a wonderful set of songs to sing.”
Dana Fuchs on her sister’s death – “Before my sister’s suicide, I always thought, is it cowardly for people to take their lives? You know, there was that judgment about suicide and once it was so close to home and knowing my sister the way I knew her, I thought it was quite brave what she did, and tragically so cause I know she saw no way out and I don’t know if she could have bounced back. She was so damaged.”
Carlene Carter on hanging out with the Monkees – “They came to our house after John and Mom got married and they were doing the TV show [The Johnny Cash Show] and the Monkees were on it and they came and spent the whole day at our house fishing off the boat dock .”
Bumblefoot on what makes a great concert -“You saw what I was doing last night. I was getting down and letting people play my guitar. That’s how a show should be. I think of everything I wish I could’ve experienced, that sort of interaction and connection. Not just watching a show from a distance but where you can really be a part of it and you get to touch and feel it and shake hands and get handed guitar picks and all that stuff. That’s the good part of it all. That to me is what really makes a show a memorable experience and special for someone.”
Andy Fraser on recording Free’s “The Stealer” – “That was a magical night. Now, believe it or not, Paul Kossoff was one of the greatest blues solo players you could imagine. It was all feel. He cried every note and when he played a solo, he was free, he would just go off. But when it came to playing chords, he actually had a problem. But when we arrived at the studio and he played that guitar riff, everyone looked at each other and went, whoa. I stuck a bass riff to it, we started off a groove, Paul threw down some lyrics. That very same evening we recorded it, mixed it and finished it in one single session.”
Joe Elliott on producing – “You just got to get the music to balance. You’ve got to have your drums in the right place sonically and the bass to sit with it nice, and all your top line stuff, which is your guitar and your piano, just has to pop but not bury the drums and bass, and then the vocals have to sit on top without sounding too separate. This is just stuff you pick up. You can’t be born to know that but you can be born to learn. I always jokingly say, whoever is the best brain surgeon in the world, yes, you have to go to college, you have to go to University, but he was born to be that guy. You can’t just take any random guy and put him through college and he’ll be a brain surgeon. It’s a combination of natural talent and what you pick up and learn.”
Brian Tichy on the most important thing a drummer does for a band – “There really is only one most important thing and it’s keeping good solid time, and solid doesn’t mean you have to hit everything and smash it as hard as you can and all that. It just means no matter what you’re doing up there, whatever it takes to make that band sound right and groove right and drive the band correctly, the way the band should be.”
Lena Zawaideh of the Bad Things on the best thing about being on tour with a bunch of guys – “The memory. You think about being a grandma later and like, yeah, I drove a fifteen passenger van from LA to New York on tour with my band. It doesn’t matter if you’re a girl or a guy. That’s like the coolest memory you can have when you’re older.”
Brad Whitford on squeezing into those tight satin pants back in the seventies – “It’s easy when you’re not making much money and barely enough to eat and all that sort of thing but we did it.”
Zack Whitford, Aerosmith tour photographer & son of Brad, on what makes a photo iconic – “At the end of the day, it’s about intimacy and usually it’s the briefest of moments.”
Kim Wilson on blues music – “It’s something you don’t get good at till you get older. I wasn’t that good when I was a kid. Even on the old Thunderbirds records, I wasn’t that good. I would say I was probably the weak link in that whole thing but I did all the singing, I did all the songwriting and it was a work-in-progress. Of course, I was kind of self-medicated back then so luckily I had a harmonica in my face every night.”
Grace McKagan of the Pink Slips on their song “Googlie Eyes” – ““Googlie Eyes” is kind of a metaphorical song. It’s not about anyone I know really, it’s just an idea I had in my head of a girl who fell in love but got her heart broken so she felt like she died inside. So everyone sees her as a kind of ghost and that a part of her is broken.”
Toby Lightman on which song was the most emotional for her to write – “Everyday” I would say is my hardest song that I ever wrote because it is the first song that I wrote that I truly felt the words. I remember playing it for my family and they looked at me like, “Do you really feel this way?”
Neal Casal on the hardest part about performing solo with just his guitar – “The hardest part about it is just getting on the stage. It’s the moment before the show. The hardest thing is the half hour before getting up there because you realize, “Oh my God, I actually agreed to do this. What am I doing?” (laughs). It can be a terrifying thing to do to go up there with just a guitar and sing your stupid songs (laughs). But once I’m up there, I‘m fine. But the hardest part is right before the show when the realization of actually having to do that.”
Randy Bachman on the first real rock star he ever met – “I met him before he was a rock star and that was Neil Young (laughs). I met him as a kid who came to my concert in Winnipeg. And I might be the biggest rock star he met who wasn’t a rock star yet (laughs). I was sixteen and he was fourteen back in Winnipeg and we both had the same dream.”
Mud Morganfield on being raised by his mother – “My mom will be 82 in a few more days and I’d say I’ve learned more lessons from that little lady than I could ever imagine. Because Muddy [Waters, his father] was never at home, Muddy wasn’t there. Muddy was on the road doing Muddy. It was my mom and she passed out the punishment, whatever. It was always Mom cause Pop came home, he was tired. He had been on the road for two months and he would sleep two or three days. But that’s how it goes.”
Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his first big splurge “I love cars as much as I love guitars. I was too young, like sixteen years old, so it wasn’t like I could go buy a sports car. My parents could still tell me what I could and couldn’t do so I ended up getting an SUV.”
Jon Stevens on why the Dead Daisies are a success on & off stage – “We know our way around a studio, we know our way around a stage, we know our way around our instruments and we know how to work in a band because we all come from bands. We’re not new to it so we understand the intricacies of allowing people to be who they want to be and add what they want to add.”
Clem Burke of Blondie on playing CBGB in the band’s very early days – “CBGB in particular was a place where we were able to make our mistakes in public. Nowadays a lot of people, particularly comedians, they kind of lament the fact that they can’t really go and workshop the material because it’s instantly on the internet. Back in the day you could do something in relative seclusion in front of a handful of people and get some kind of feedback and kind of be able to realign where you were going from there with it.”
James Michael on writing songs with Nikki Sixx and Dj Ashba – “The friendship plays a huge part in that and it’s because we trust each other and we make each other feel safe. So there is no judgment, there’s nothing that any of us can say that would be stupid or that would be held against the other person. So we dare to say anything, try anything, and we know we’re not going to be made fun of and I think that sometime in those moments of vulnerability and exposing something about yourself that you just wouldn’t dare to expose to anyone else, I think in those moments are where some of the most magical Sixx:AM things happen.”
Snake Sabo on missing the old days of vinyl – “I feel that people who are coming of age now are missing out on such an amazing experience. I’m sure it’s been replaced by other things and that happens with life but there is a certain smell that goes along with opening up KISS Alive and staring at the middle of the album and listening to those four sides. There is just a certain essence that you can’t capture any other way than to open up the packaging and stare at those letters and the back cover of those kids with the KISS sign. Those are memories that helped shape me and direct me to doing this for a living.”
James Williamson of the Stooges on the most unusual thing he saw Iggy Pop do onstage – “We’re at the Whisky A Go Go in probably 1973 or 1974, I can’t remember, but at the Whisky the second floor is where the dressing room is. From the second floor, there is kind of a ramp that is covered and it goes from the backstage on to the stage. So you kind of enter through that ramp. And here she [Williamson’s future wife] is coming to meet me and I’m in the dressing room with my hair sticking straight up in the air, six different colors and everything, and then it’s time to go on stage and, you know, she’s witnessing all this, and Iggy’s got to go to the bathroom. So we’re walking down the ramp and he just lets it rip all the way down (laughs). And she’s looking at that and I swear to God, she wouldn’t go out with me for another seven years after that.”
Jake E. Lee on what still excites him about playing music – “The same thing that always has and it goes back to me being selfish. I do it for me. Like I said earlier, I don’t particularly like the spotlight, don’t like being the center of attention, but I love when you’re in a band and you’re playing and you can be playing great but then every once in a while there’s just this magic moment where everything comes together and it’s hard to explain, you feel like you’re master of the universe. It’s this elation, this sublime feeling that you get every once in a while when everything is just working right. And that’s the reason I do it. That first time I heard “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. That feeling I got, that’s what makes playing music exciting for me. And it’s nice to have a crowd that appreciates it. That doesn’t suck (laughs). But I do it for me because looking for that feeling is the best feeling in the world.”
2 Responses
This is the second time I’m seeing that reversed shot of Joe Perry. Been a fan of his playing forever and it’s great shot (if obviously cropped).
But Joe’s not a lefty – I’m a lefty and trust me I know the difference.
“other so-called guitar heroes” ? Who is Joe Perry referring to? Hendrix? Clapton? Towhshend? Most people don’t even know who Peter Green is.