Interview: Checking Jim Weider’s Pulse

SB: Can you take us through the time-line of recording Pulse?

JW: We recorded in this great studio that used to be up here called Allaire. It was on top of this mountain. We had a blizzard at the end of February 2008 just as we went in for three days. The first day was a blizzard and it was like the shining up there. We just setup and put our pedals and amps that we use live down on the floor and did each tune three or four times until we had a take we dug. Then we moved on.

I really wanted to capture our live sound for people to hear on the disc. I was very happy with how it came out.

SB: Gov’t Mule keyboardist Danny Louis is among the guests on Pulse. Please tell us about Danny’s role on the album.

JW: Danny overdubbed a piano on a tune I wrote and dedicated to Richard Bell. He did a beautiful job, absolutely beautiful.

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SB: When you went into the studio did you have an idea of how the album would shape up? For instance, did you think Squirrels in Paris would be the opening tune?

JW: You know what? Well, yeah, I kinda had that feeling. You just torture yourself trying to get the right sequence. Even though everyone puts it on an iPod these days and shuffles the tracks, you still torture yourself. We’ve been opening up our live show with Squirrels in Paris and it just felt right. It’s pared down a little bit as we actually stretch it out a little more in concert but we wanted to keep the album moving along.

Another reason I wanted to open up with that was because it’s got this electronic loop sound in the front and it’s really catch. It’s something my co-producer came up with. That loop sound is what made me write that song, it inspired me to come up with those chords and that melody. That loop sound was so cool sounding, I just immediately started writing around it. That’s one reason I liked starting with it, because it’s right in your face. The drums are mixed really hot and hopefully it grabs the listener.

SB: Same thing at the end of the album with Two Worlds, seemed like a good end point.  It’s the album’s A Day In The Life –  the epic of the album.

JW: I was a little worried that I had too many songs on the record. It’s quite long and I know people are making short records but I felt like these are the songs I wrote at this time in my life. I wanted to put them all out. That one felt like a great ending. That slide playing is done on my telecaster on one take through a Vox.

SB: Mitch Stein’s solo is incredible…

JW: Beautiful solo. That was one that was finished except for the drums and bass. I had done the guitars and we brought that into the studio on the last day and Rodney and Steve overdubbed as did Mitch. Mitch did an acoustic guitar on it and then did a beautiful solo. The sound that we got with these Telefunken mics in this beautiful room was just perfect.

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SB: How big of a role did Rodney, Steve and Mitch play in helping create the album? Did you tell them what parts to play or did they bring any ideas to this process?

JW: Oh yeah, they really did. For instance, the drum part in Squirrels in Paris was all Rodney. I had this loop machine and he came up with this drum part which is really cool. Mitch had great ideas as well. We all co-wrote songs together. Mitch had great ideas in terms of licks and chord variations. He’s really great at that. We worked the tunes out live and everybody really helped put in great parts. They are all phenomenal players.

SB: Do you play any Band songs during Project Percolator shows?

JW: We do The Weight and we kind of reggae it up. It’s up on my MySpace page if you want to check it out. We jam it way out and take it into a whole other area and then reggae back. We also do a tune by Rodney that hasn’t been recorded and we plan on doing some more Band stuff plus some new stuff coming up.

SB: When you play out and people know of your work with Levon and The Band, do you find a lot times people aren’t expecting what they get as far as the groove-based stuff?

JW: Yeah, I think so. It really started with the Percolator album. The older Band fans that came were a bit surprised. We might have lost a few that wanted to hear lyrics, but we gained other ones that really appreciated the songs. They liked the trip as we take people on a journey by improvising and playing songs differently every night.

The Band @ Woodstock ’94

SB: You performed at Woodstock ’94 as a member of The Band. Can you tell us about your experience at that festival?

JW: That was one of the last great festivals, I think. It was really really great. We had the full horn section and we also had a lot of guests like Bruce Hornsby and Roger McGuinn and Bob Weir. We had this whole show we did plus we added these guys as special guests, so it was a blast. I also got to go up and jam with Bob Weir during his set.

SB: I recently downloaded a great The Band show from 1990 at the Lonestar Roadhouse. Has there ever been talk of releasing some shows from that era?

JW: You know, I’ve been talking to Levon about it. I think it’s something that we really should do just like The Dead do it. We have TONS of live shows recorded. I did 15 years with The Band and every show was recorded. We also have tons of video. I think people would really enjoy it.

Thanks to Jim for taking the time to speak with us. Be sure to visit Jim’s website to purchase Pulse and to find out when Project Percolator is coming to your neck of the woods.

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