An EXCLUSIVE Interview with SETH SWIRSKY

THINGS WE SAID TODAY:

An EXCLUSIVE Interviewwith SETH SWIRSKY

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     The Beatleschanged the course of music history. There is no doubt about that.  From their humble beginnings in Liverpool to their massive success between 1963 and 1970, The Beatles became the most influential quartet of musicians in the world.  Though some may disagree, The Beatles have even eclipsed Elvis in terms of popularity over the years.  Elvis may have kick started Rock ‘n’ Roll, but he managed to lose the plot when he churned out loads of b-movies in the ‘60s.  The Beatles never had the opportunity to overstay their welcome.  They came, wrote some of the most amazing tunes ever, changed the world and then broke up. 

     The Beatles’ story is known by anyone with a passing interest in music.  There are hundreds (if not thousands) of books written about the Fab Four.  Their songs are played 24 hours a day somewhere in the world.  Beatles fans have taken it upon themselves to set up websites totally devoted to John, Paul George and Ringo, either together or apart.  It seems, at times, that you can’t escape their influence, whether it’s musically or in pop culture.  The Beatles are everywhere.  But have we really heard all we need to know about The Beatles?  Judging by the new documentary, Beatles Stories, there is plenty more to tell.

     Singer, songwriter and artist Seth Swirsky began piecing Beatles Stories together, almost by accident, in 2004.  Beginning with an emotional off the cuff story by a Liverpudlian tour guide, Swirsky slowly put together this rather compelling and enormously entertaining documentary, which features interviews with fellow musicians and unlikely celebrities who have had encounters with at least one of the four members of The Beatles.  With stories from a wide variety of artists, this is an extremely enjoyable documentary that delivers great story after great story. 

     From producer Jack Douglas’ hilarious tale of recording Double Fantasy with John Lennon to Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler’s encounter with Paul McCartney on the streets of New York, Beatles Stories is a truly unforgettable experience that will leave viewers wanting more (thankfully, there’s extra interviews included in the DVD’s bonus features).  Throw in great stories from Brian Wilson, Sir Ben Kingsley, Art Garfunkel, Susanna Hoffs, Davy Jones, Jackie De Shannon, Bob Eubanks (yes, Bob Eubanks!), Graham Nash, Peter Noone, Justin Hayward, Denny Laine and many others and you’ve got yourself a documentary that shows the human side of The Beatles that tends to be overlooked elsewhere.

     Stephen SPAZ Schnee was able to catch up with Seth Swirsky, who can now add ‘successful film maker’ to his resume, and they chatted about all things Beatles Stories…

SPAZ:  Beatles Stories is just about ready to drop.  How are you feeling about the release and the reaction you’ve received so far?

SETH SWIRSKY:  I am so pleased.  I do projects that really tap into my passion: I give them all I have and I pay for them myself.  I had no profit/loss statement on this if you know what I mean (laughs).  My biggest goal is…. I just love The Beatles so much and I wanted to share these stories. For me, it was, “How do I express that feeling?”  Well, I’m a songwriter and I’ve written many hit songs. I’ve written albums myself. I’ve won many awards… all those different kinds of things. That expresses what I learned about songwriting being a very young child in the ‘60s and the ‘70s.  But that didn’t quite express my love of The Beatles, which is very, very deep. So, I started filming these things and putting it together and it was such a joy to do.  I would show little bits to friends and I thought that I’ve got to put it together in a way where it’s not 4 hours long and you’re not looking at your watch. You’ve got to edit it in a certain way.  It was the editing that really took a lot of the time. You want it to have a certain flow. The whole first half of the movie is The Beatles of the ‘60s. I had to do a slow progression all the way up.  It’s not literally year by year.  It’s era by era.

SPAZ:  Hearing people tell Beatles-related stories throughout the years obviously inspired the film, but can you pinpoint the exact conversation and moment when you decided that this movie had to be made?

SETH:  That’s a great question.  Usually, what I do with any of my work, it’s like having a big slab of clay that you put down and you know you want your hands on that clay but you don’t know where it’s going.  Then, all of a sudden, it starts appearing. You want to do a clay figure of a woman and you don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like but then it starts to appear…and that’s when you know the moment.  I was asked to play at the Cavern Club in Liverpool for my first solo album.  And I was like, “Oh my God, are you kidding me?  Play the Cavern Club?  The Beatles? Unbelievable!”  I flew over there. I had my guitar and I had a handheld camera. I wasn’t planning on making a movie. I had a break before I went on and I took that Magical Mystery Tour Bus where they show you John Lennon’s house growing up, George Harrison’s house, the Strawberry Fields gate and all that stuff.  The tour guide, Eddie Porter, he showed us the Strawberry Fields gate and I just said, “Hey, Eddie, can I just film you over here. Can you just tell me a side story?” And I’m filming just for myself and he tells that story of Sean and Yoko with the picture and he said, “I almost cried my eyes out,” and I thought that was so poignant.  So, I go back to L.A. and I get online and I somehow stumbled upon May Pang’s website and I wrote her through the contact page.  I didn’t think I’d hear back from her. She writes me back and says that she’ll be in L.A. and I asked if I could bring my video camera.  She says sure and then she shows me around the apartment where she and John lived when they landed in L.A.  So, now, I’m thinking I’ve got two of these things. And then a friend mentioned to me that he knew Peter Noone.  You’re actually inviting people to a party.  You’re not inviting Sir Ben Kingsley and Brian Wilson first because they’ll never come to your party.  Graham Nash is not going to be the first at your party. So, you’re building a mountain.  I had these three people and when I had those three, I asked Denny Laine and he said yes.  And then Justin Hayward said yes. So then it dawned on me: these stories, if I can cut them down to a minute and a half each, telling the stories with the photographs and try to reconstruct the story, then what is it really?  It’s Beatles Stories. And I thought that’s nice and simple and tidy and it tells the story of what I’m doing. Done!

SPAZ:  You’ve got a wide variety of celebrities involved, from actors and comedians to athletes and musicians.  Was it difficult to get them involved with the project?

SETH: My whole philosophy when I’m doing something artistic is: yes.  Just the word ‘yes’.  Why not?  They are people, too? Let’s talk about Art Garfunkel for instance.  I really wanted Art Garfunkel because I had heard about his story, I had read about it.  You don’t hear it very often.  I started thinking, “How am I going to get to Art Garfunkel?”  I already know that to go through his PR people, they’re never going to get it to him because it’s not money-making.  And I’m not saying anything about Art Garfunkel.  I’m just saying that he is presented projects over the years, so many of them.  So, I always try to go a different route and I try to be creative about it.  I’ve produced records, so I went to the back of the album covers that I’ve made and I thought to myself, “These guys are very good musicians.  I wonder if any of them have played with Art?” And wouldn’t you know there was one overlap: a guy who played guitar on records I produced and he had also played with Art.  So, I wrote him a long e-mail: “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a long time. What’s going on?” Then I made sure I described the project.  In three paragraphs, I described the exact project and what I had done before. I made sure that I described the project as if I was speaking to Art.  I said, “If you like this idea and can get it to Art, fantastic.”  He loved it. He e-mailed me back and said, “Yeah, I know Art.  I’ve played on his records. Can I just forward it to him?” I’m telling you, that night, I go to my answering machine.  I clicked it on and he goes, “Hey, Seth. Art Garfunkel here. Yeah, I’m in.  I love the project. That sounds amazing.  Next time you’re in New York, look me up,” and then he gives me his address. Then, I called him immediately, and he says “I read what you wrote and I’m totally in.  Next time you’re in New York….”  And I said, “Hey, I’m going to be in New York tomorrow!” Do you think I was really going to be in New York ‘tomorrow’? No.  But when somebody says ‘yes’ to you, get on a plane!  Find a way because they aren’t going to remember this conversation in 6 months.  You’ve got to lock it down. That’s how they happened.

SPAZ:  How long, from beginning to end, did it take to put the project together?

SETH: It started with Eddie Porter, the Magical Mystery Tour guide.  I filmed him in October, 2004. I didn’t know I had a movie until the next year as I continued with Justin Hayward, May Pang and Denny Laine... I knew I had a movie around the middle of 2005.  I stopped shooting around 2009, 2010.  2010 was really about finishing the editing and then getting it into film festivals. There were a lot of film festivals in 2011: it played in Paris, it played in London…  And it’s coming out now in 2012.  So, it’s been eight years from since I filmed the first person until now. 

SPAZ: Was there a lot of research involved with the project?  I don’t think anyone would link Sir Ben Kingsley with the Beatles, but there’s a very logical connection there…

SETH: You know, the word ‘research’ sounds like you’re going to the library and you’re writing a 15 page paper.  Those are days I think most of us want to forget, right? (laughs) But for me, I do like doing research when it’s something that is so totally enjoyable. I go to look up certain Beatles stores to get different ideas.  I think, “I wonder, when The Beatles first came to the United States, if there was a 16 year old girl that screamed her head off and loved The Beatles so much… one that would really stand out.”  That started me thinking about somebody who ended up being Lucy Baines Johnson, the daughter of the President Of The United States! They lived in the White House, she’s 16 years old and The Beatles come over and wouldn’t you know, she tells me this story about wanting to invite The Beatles to the White House!

SPAZ: Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts owns one of George Harrison’s guitars.  Wasn’t this the same one George gave to Badfinger member Pete Ham?

SETH: Yes. It was originally given to Pete Ham.  George was always giving guitars away.  He kept a lot himself, but he was always giving things away to people.

SPAZ: Do you have any personal Beatles stories yourself?

SETH:  I was at my gym in late 2009.  I’m on the treadmill and guess who is right next to me? Paul McCartney!  And Paul gives me a look as if to say, “OK, you’ve got a Beatle haircut.  I can see you’re a Beatle person.  I am going go give you 1/10^thof a second to ask a question. Go ahead, I’m waiting.” So, I turn around and said, “Sir Paul, I’m doing this movie, Beatles Stories, and I interviewed Norman Smith (Beatles engineer up to 1965),” and I hit the jackpot.  He goes, “Norman Smith? You interviewed Norman Smith?” I said, “Yes, I did.” And he said, “Ah, we loved him. When we all were young lads…,” and I’m thinking he keeps saying ‘we’… he’s talking about The Beatles. Paul McCartney is talking about The Beatles to Seth Swirsky! I mean, come on! We’re talking and a crowd is starting to gather around us and he’s telling Beatles stories and talking about Norman.  Then he takes my hand and says, “You gave me a great gift today. By reminding me about Norman, you’ve given me a great gift.” I just got an e-mail from Nancy Shevell (Paul’s wife) telling me that she and Paul watched the film. She said, “My husband and I loved the movie”. The fact that he loved it is amazing to me.

SPAZ: What’s next for Seth Swirsky?

SETH: Well, I’ve been painting a lot.  I’d like to maybe do a show of my paintings.  That’s going to be in the near future.  I’m also getting my masters in clinical psychotherapy. And I’m making a brand new record that’s coming out next year.

SPAZ: What’s currently spinning on your CD, DVD or record players?

SETH: I have a mix of things.  On my current playlist in my car, I’ve got “Pumped Up Kicks” (Foster The People), “You Never Give Me Your Money” (The Beatles), “Black Or White” (Michael Jackson), “Empire State Of Mind” (Alicia Keys), “Sowing The Seeds Of Love” (Tears For Fears), “No One’s Gonna Love You” (Band Of Horses), “The Game Of Love” (Santana with Michelle Branch), “True Faith” (New Order), “Dreams Of Leaving” (The Clientele), “Marlena” by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, “I Saw Her Again” (The Mamas & The Papas) and then a new song that I’m writing for my next record so I can hear it in a mix.

Thanks to Seth Swirsky

Special thanks to Mike Schnee and Rick Reiger

BEATLES STORIES

10.2.12

An EXCLUSIVE interview with NEIL FINN!

Here Comes The Sun:

An EXCLUSIVE interview

with

 NEIL FINN

 

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     In 2001, singer/songwriter Neil Finn (Split Enz/Crowded House) managed a feat that seemed almost unheard of in modern music: he brought together some of the biggest names in music to perform a few concerts in his native New Zealand. Apart from his brother Tim Finn (Split Enz) and his son Liam (and his band Betchadupa), there were also two members of Radiohead (Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway), Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg, solo artist and session musician Lisa Germano and guitar maestro (and former Smiths member) Johnny Marr. The resulting video and live album was entitled 7 Worlds Collide and credited to Neil Finn & Friends.

     Seven years later, Finn upped the ante and not only invited the same folks back over to New Zealand for a few more live shows, he also booked three weeks of studio time with the idea of pooling their talents and recording a studio album for charity (Oxfam). While Vedder was not able to partake in the new venture, Jeff Tweedy and his Wilco mates gladly made the trek along with singer/songwriter KT Tunstall and New Zealand legends Bic Runga and Don McGlashan (The Mutton Birds). Even Neil’s wife Sharon and younger son Elroy proved to be integral pieces of the project.

     Each of the musicians brought their families on this working vacation, creating a warm environment that inspired them to create some of the best music of their careers. The resulting album, The Sun Came Out, was an album filled with great songs and wonderful performances from all involved. Produced by Jim Scott and Neil, the album was an amazing labor of love. The fact that the album didn’t top the charts all over the world remains a mystery and a travesty.

     But what was it like recording the album with so many great musicians giving their all for a worthy cause? How cool was it to have members of Wilco, Radiohead, The Smiths and Split Enz all pushing each other to create timeless tunes that would reach out and touch so many listeners? Where did Wilco’s Glenn Kotche put his wingnuts? Why on earth did Jeff Tweedy give Johnny Marr an autographed cucumber? Thankfully, all of those questions are answered on The Sun Came Out, a documentary on the making of the album available on DVD courtesy of Cinema Libre Studios. For fans of all the musicians involved, this is a must-have. For anyone interested in the magic of music-making, this documentary is filled with so many great moments, it’d be difficult to list them all here. This is an amazing fly-on-the-wall experience that is not to be missed.

     Stephen SPAZ Schnee was able to catch up with Neil Finn at his Roundhead Studios, where the album was recorded. While an in-depth interview about his entire music career would have taken a few days out of his schedule, Neil was gracious enough to spend time talking about The Sun Came Out project….

SPAZ: The album, The Sun Came Out, was released in 2009. Was the documentary previously available?

NEIL FINN: No, it played at a couple of festivals at the time. It got limited exposure. It was always the intention to get it out in some form for people to take home. It just takes a little while for these things to come together. We had the help of some friends who were basically working for free. It just took a little while to unfold. My friend Mark Simon Brown, who directed The Sun Came Out, has done it all as a labor of love. Once the immediacy of the project had gone, it wasn’t really a case of when is the ideal time. I think the ideal situation is to get it looking as good as possible and to make it a good package.

SPAZ: In this day and age, it seems unlikely that a group of talented, well-known musicians from different parts of the world would form such a strong camaraderie. How did you manage to bring these amazing people together and feel confident that something special was bound to happen? Instinct or wonderful accident?

NEIL: We had done one earlier on, which were just concerts, on a whim really. You become friends with people and there’s always a parting comment, “Let’s do something together some day”, and it normally never happens. So, we decided we’d try to make something happen in the spirit of adventure and I guess a busman’s holiday for us all. The Sun Came Out was a far more ambitious undertaking in a lot of ways. It was all based on hunches and instincts that people would get on. Having met the Wilco guys at a concert briefly backstage, I got the feeling from them that they were very much on the same wavelength as a lot of the people that had taken part the first time around. We sent an exploratory e-mail invitation and they just jumped at it. A willingness to step outside the norm and to come to an exotic destination seems to do the trick to get people motivated. Once you’re on the ground, you rely on people’s determination to do good work. We’re all just as mad for it, really, as each other. I don’t think anyone’s just going to glide through it. Everyone wants to do good work. I was amazed by all the hours and intensity that we all put in.

SPAZ: Did you work off a bigger list of friends and associates? Were there artists who were eager to get involved with The Sun Came Out but were not able to make it?

NEIL: There’s a certain amount of randomness, chance and design. I asked a few people both times that weren’t able to do it but there was just a really nice collection of people that said yes. At a certain point, you have to kind of NOT cast the net any further because there is a limit on how much you can achieve. I think there was a lot of good luck in terms of the way the whole thing unfolded and the way everybody related to each other, the groups of people that gathered to make specific songs…. It was just an amazing time, it really was.

SPAZ: Normally, writing songs is a very personal experience, yet so many of these folks bonded so well, creatively and their collaborations came out extremely well. Did it seem natural for you to break out of your comfort zone and allow other people’s ideas to dictate the direction of the songs?

NEIL: To some extent, some people more than others, everyone wanted to do their own thing but everybody allowed others to listen at early stages and to have input. I think it’s fascinating to see the way that people make music because you don’t often get a chance to step outside of your own environment. To be able to watch the main body of Wilco putting together songs, and then go on to record some rhythm tracks for the record that followed… it was pretty fascinating to watch a band at close quarters, to watch other songwriters and the way the process is. It’s reassuring in some ways because everyone’s struggling with some of the same basic dilemmas, needing a little a bit of push at times. I think that was the fascination of the whole thing for me: that I got to see the many varying ways that songs can emerge. There are no rules and a lot of it is just endurance and stamina.

SPAZ: You only had three weeks to essentially write and record the album. While you were a bit concerned about it beforehand, how long did it take you to realize that the project was coming together as you had hoped?

NEIL: I think within about three days, we knew that there was good energy in the building and everyone was pretty united in terms of what we could do. Within a week we had some really outstanding music recorded and that, in itself, was really reassuring. We were also really enjoying each other’s company. There was a lot of good humor involved in the whole thing, some of which comes through in the doco really well. By the time we got to the end and did the shows, there was a really big camaraderie and the shows reflected that. I started to think that this had been a pretty special experience. In the aftermath, I had quite a bit of finishing to do. I was left scratching my head at times, “We just had that experience but now I have to finish this!”. But you do. Nothing good without a bit of pain. There’s always a struggle involved.

SPAZ: Was recording with this motley group of musicians a completely different experience than working within the framework of a band like Split Enz or Crowded House?

NEIL: Yeah. With a band, you’re very insular anyway and you’re rehearsing and everyone’s got a long-term involvement with the songs. In a sense, we were all really having to arrive together… Actually, the business of getting things done, performances, being in the room with a bunch of musicians and you’re giving it your all, that’s no different at all.

SPAZ: While many folks are familiar with Radiohead, Wilco and The Smiths, did you realize that a project like this would bring attention to the artists who aren’t as well known, such as Big Runga and Don McGlashan?

NEIL: Well, I wasn’t really thinking in terms of that. I’d worked with Bic and Don before we put this project together and I knew they were both really good songwriters and very capable of holding their heads up in any company. I thought it would be good to have some New Zealand input. If it has drawn some attention, then I think that’s good. It’s probably fair to say that the experience of doing the project was the most intense and wonderful part of it. I think the record deserved more attention than it got.

SPAZ: I think Johnny Marr’s track, “Too Blue”, is one of the greatest Pop songs of the last 10 years.

NEIL: I appreciate your kind words. It didn’t make it on to many playlists, so the jury’s out for the commercial world, but I agree with you.

SPAZ: While you talk about its Spector-esque production in the film, I feel that it’s a perfect cross between something off of the first Crowded House album and The Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”.

NEIL: That’s a nice comparison. Johnny was on a mission with that one and he really pulled it together. It was a very enjoyable song to actually do the rhythm track for with two drummers and a huge band in the room.

SPAZ: As a musician and music fan, do you think that a documentary like this might take away the mystique of the musician and the magic of music making? Or do you prefer to focus on the more human side of being a musician?

NEIL: There’s always a trade off in a way. Some people would choose not to reveal any part of the process and preserve the mystique. That’s when the process is really tedious and uninteresting anyway. The moments of inspiration and exploration come every now and again in the process, but there’s a lot of just sticking at it and not particularly interesting to watch. But I think in this case, there was so much extraordinary activity going on in a short period of time that it was an interesting process and it’s worthy to show people what went down. It’s also good to explain what it is because it’s hard for people to understand, I think.

SPAZ: While you have worked in front of the cameras before throughout your career, was it daunting to have them around during the actual creative process?

NEIL: You get used to it. There’s an art to the cameraman being invisible, virtually. There were moments where people chose not to have cameras going and they got annoyed by them here and there, but very little. Actually, if you are having a difficult moment trying to solve a problem, you don’t necessarily want a camera stuck in your face. There’s an art to it and most of the time they got it right. The cameramen found good angles, stayed out of the way and we got used to them and stopped worrying about it.

SPAZ: The album has a warm and comforting feel to it. Do you think it would have been a completely different album if the musicians didn’t bring their families to live with them during this experience?

NEIL: I don’t really know. It’s unanswerable, isn’t it? I think we would have come up with a great record still, but I don’t know if it would have been the same. It was just a really nice opportunity for people to be able to be really pull themselves into something without feeling like they were conflicted.

SPAZ: When the project came to a close and everyone had gone home, what emotion was more overwhelming: the relief that it had come together so successfully or the sadness that it was over?

NEIL: I’d say it was a bit of both. I think that that period of time was a good and I needed to take a break at that point. It was still summer for me so I was able to go to the beach and debrief. Getting back into finishing the record off and get the loose ends caught up was initially a bit burdensome because it was such an intensely good time with everybody contributing and for it to be left to me… but I totally rolled up my sleeves and got into it after awhile.

SPAZ: Are you planning to do something similar in the future?

NEIL: I think it’s likely that something else will happen but there’s no actual plan for it. It seems these things take time to gestate. With the last one, we had a seven or eight year gap between them. It might be the same… or something might come up. There was a great feeling in everybody for this kind of thing and I think that if the call went out, most people would answer again.

SPAZ: Even if you didn’t call me, I’d answer and just show up for three weeks and watch.

NEIL: Great. Well, I’ll let you know. (laughs)

SPAZ: How did you get involved with Oxfam?

NEIL: We wanted to find a charity that everybody liked. Wilco had done some work for Oxfam. Ed and Phil, being Oxford boys, are very familiar with the organization and had done stuff for them as well. It seemed to be a generally supported charity, doing good stuff all around the world.

SPAZ: What’s next for Neil Finn?

NEIL: I’m currently trying to write as many great songs as I can so I can make the best record I’ve ever made. Had a ball doing Pajama Club with my wife and we’ll probably do a bit more of that at some point.

SPAZ: What is currently playing on your CD, DVD and record players?

NEIL: The last record that got spun on the record player was one of those Atlantic Records Rhythm & Blues compilations, which has some incredibly good stuff on it. That was on my turntable last night that we were listening to. DVD-wise, we watched a really rubbish film with Ryan Gosling the other night called Drive. (laughs) I’ve never seen somebody who does so little acting get so much credit!

Thanks to Neil Finn

Special thanks to Rick Rieger, Lauren Watt, Kimberly McCoy and Julia Connolly

THE SUN CAME OUT:

THE MAKING OF THE ALBUM

BY

7 WORLDS COLLIDE

4.10.12

An EXCLUSIVE interview with CHRIS ISAAK!

HERE COMES THE SUN:

An EXCLUSIVE Interview with

CHRIS ISAAK

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     Memphis-based DJ and music fan Sam Phillips launched his Sun Records label in 1952, initially focusing on Blues and Rhythm & Blues artists. While the label didn’t score any huge hits for the first few years, their luck changed in 1954 when a young man named Elvis Presley walked through the door. From that moment, Rock ‘n’ Roll music as we know it was born. Add some Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison to the mix and you’ve got the most influential label of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era.

     Some 30 years later, 1985 to be exact, a young man named Chris Isaak released his debut album, Silvertone. While he may have looked, at the time, like the latest entry in a long-line of Rockabilly artists, one listen to the album was proof that this singer, songwriter and guitarist was much more than a Retro-billy throwback: Isaak had depth, charm and a heartbreaking beauty in his voice and songs. More Elvis and Roy than Johnny, Carl and Jerry, Isaak’s music was heavily influenced but not dictated by the sound of Sun Records. His melodies were timeless, the arrangements were simple and the production did not carry the weight of ‘80s studio trickery. Isaak, like those Sun artists that influenced him, was the real deal.

     Since then, Chris Isaak has continued to travel his own path, taking his influences with him but always staying true to his own musical vision, which seemed to incorporate numerous genres. Scoring a huge hit with “Wicked Game” in the early ‘90s, the sudden brush with fame lifted Isaak into the spotlight, a place where he has seldom strayed ever since. From rapturously received tours to critically-adored albums, and even the odd acting gig and TV series in between, Isaak has continued to perfect his unique sound without compromising his integrity or losing his large fanbase. In fact, he is now more popular than ever.

     With a solid catalog of originals behind him, Isaak finally decided to revisit the music that inspired him as a child. Along with his ace backing band, Silvertone, Isaak entered Sun Studios in Memphis to record an album of songs by the artists who created Rock ‘n’ Roll within those very same walls over 50 years before. From hits like “Ring Of Fire” and “Oh, Pretty Woman” to lesser known tracks like “Dixie Fried” and “Miss Pearl”, Isaak and his band had completed nearly 40 tracks before deciding they had enough to work with.

     While it may have been difficult to decide which 14 tracks were going to make it onto his 2011 album, Beyond The Sun, the results are stunning. A few of the tracks may be remarkably close to the originals, yet Isaak and his band add their own personalities into the mix and put the Rock ‘n’ Roll passion right back into the songs. This isn’t just a stop-gap tribute album to tide his fans over: this is an artist revisiting the magic and reigniting the fire that set him in motion so many years ago. The Deluxe Edition of the album is even better since it includes a second CD containing an additional 11 tracks.

     Stephen SPAZ Schnee was able to catch up with Chris Isaak to chat a little about Beyond The Sun, his career and so much more…

SPAZ: Beyond The Sun is just about ready to drop. How are you feeling about this project and everything leading up to it?

CHRIS ISAAK: You know, I’m really excited and I’m dying for people to hear the record. For a record to be a hit, people have got to hear it, first of all. So far, everybody that’s heard it that I’ve played it for went, “Wow! You should have done this record a long time ago! (laughs) I love this kind of music! What is this?” When I was a kid, I was listening to this music. In the packaging, I put in pictures that I had from when I was about 20 or 21, the first pictures that I took before I had a band or anything else. I worked all summer and I got a Shure microphone and a Silvertone guitar, I borrowed my dad’s jacket, I snuck into the college theater and stood up on the stage and had my picture taken. And I said, “Look! Now, I look just like Elvis and I’m ready to go!” (laughs). And that’s all the music I wanted to play was that Sun Sessions music. I’ve been wanting to make this record a long time.

SPAZ: What inspired you to do this project now as opposed to any other time in your career?

CHRIS: Because when I started off, I thought I looked a little like Elvis when I combed my hair back. When I was boxing, everybody who was on my boxing team, their nickname for me was Elvis. That was before I even sang. When I went to Japan, I cut my hair short and that sort of killed that. But when I was starting off, I didn’t want to fall into a thing where that was what I did, somebody else’s music. I wanted to make sure I could write my own songs and have my own sound. On purpose, I struggled hard to write my own songs and not to do cover songs in the beginning.

SPAZ: I really liked the different approaches to the songs, both in the arrangements and at the mixing stage (with a few tracks being recorded or mixed down to mono). In essence, you’ve re-created these songs as Chris Isaak vehicles. Was it a little daunting to record these tracks, knowing that they are iconic Rock ‘n’ Roll classics?

CHRIS: Thank you. I appreciate what you just said because that’s exactly what I was trying to do. I said, “This is not a throw-away record. We’re not going in and like, hey, let’s have some fun and cut a few oldies and then be done. Let’s really work on this like we do any other album.” We rehearsed more for this album because we were going to cut it all live… and we did. The vocals you hear, those were done with those guys all at one time. If I make a mistake, we do another take.

SPAZ: All these tracks were one take?

CHRIS: Yes. I’d try it in three four takes, but we’d get it in one pass. We wouldn’t fix it. I’m proud of that but hardly anybody goes in without wearing headphones and being separated so that they can, later on, fix the mistakes. But in the old days at Sun, everybody was in the same room, everyone bled into everyone’s microphone. Elvis was standing there singing and you heard him. Jerry Lee Lewis was playing piano heard the piano over in the vocalist’s microphone. You could kinda feel like it was party going on. You could tell where people were standing in the room because you could hear it between two or three microphones. And that’s what we did. When I went in, I told the guys, “Listen, we can’t play forever in there because I’m singing this stuff, so if I’m singing it good, you better hit it because that’s the one we’re gonna use!”… and we went in and everybody played great. I never had so much in the studio. I think part of it was that everybody realized that this isn’t a rehearsal, this isn’t a practice, we’re making a record. Everybody could hear what the other guy was doing. You’re playing together instead of through earphones and hoping that somebody else later makes sense of it.

SPAZ: Your passion for the material is apparent in every track. Did any first takes make the album, or was it a long recording process?

CHRIS: I’m so proud of the band. Talk about passion for this music! If somebody listened to this record and said “Oh, I’ve got a great singer. We should make one of those records. Let’s hire some guys in L.A. and let’s do it,” I don’t think you could. My drummer, Kenny (Dale Johnson), loves this kind of music and he’s a natural fit for it. He plays in shuffle, which a lot of those songs have, or a ‘stripper beat’… they didn’t have very many straight ahead rock beats on those recordings. He plays with a real subtle groove that nobody else has got… and that’s tricky. The bass player (Rowland Salley) comes from background where he played early Country Western and Bluegrass. He played a standup bass and he totally loves this kind of music. My piano player (Scotty Plunkett)… how many guys can cop Jerry Lee Lewis riffs and then throw their own riffs in with it and make it sound like its blended? Scotty is a monster on piano. But for him to be able to capture that style of Jerry Lee and some of those simple Gospel piano riffs… When we started off, we said “Let’s learn all these songs and then when we’ve made the record, let’s not listen to it at all. When we’re done with rehearsing, let’s go into the studio, let’s cut it, let’s have fun and let’s do it our own way.” So, on “Ring Of Fire”, Scotty’s playing a B-3 Organ, which is not on the original. We’d do stuff like have a guitar and piano go back and forth on a solo that isn’t on the original version. I said “We’ll just do whatever feels good to us. We already know the songs.” At the end, the only time I listened to it was at the end when I was done mixing. I thought, OK, now I wanna hear: what did we come up with versus the originals. I still have to laugh because I’ll listen to some things that those guys did and I love those guys so much. When we were recording, we had Roland James, who played guitar on all Jerry Lee Lewis’ stuff… he’s just a great guy and my favorite guitar player. He was in and I remember asking him “Hey, Roland. I’ve got a question. It sounds stupid, but I just don’t know who else to ask but you were there: how loud did you play in the room, because I’m singing, you know?” He said, “Chris, we played as loud as we wanted!” My guitar player (Hershel Yatovitz) was standing there right next to me and just gave me a big grin, like, oh boy, all bets are off. And then I could have kissed Roland because he continued on, “You gotta remember though, Chris. It was 1956 and we didn’t want to play very loud!” (laughs)

SPAZ: Being a fan and artist from the days of the record LP, when putting the tracklist together, do you still think of things in ‘vinyl’ terms with the songs making up a Side One and a Side Two?

CHRIS: We’re actually putting this out on vinyl, so we actually have a real Side A and Side B. This is a perfect record for that. What was fun for me is that you usually make a record and you have 16 songs you record and then you cut it down and put out 13. On this record, we had so much fun recording it…my manager asked “How many songs did you guys cut?” I said “We’re up to 38 songs and we’re still going.” And she’s like “Stop! Please! You have enough for three albums!” And I s aid “Let’s put out a double,”… and we did! (The Deluxe Edition of Beyond The Sun has 11 additional tracks.) It was fun because we knew these songs and we practiced a bunch. When we’d go into cut ‘em, it wasn’t like, “Oh, we have to go in and overdub and we’ll fix that…” No, some of the songs we cut, I bet we cut ‘em in three takes. We’d rehearse it plenty and then we just went in and played.

SPAZ: It’s been over a quarter century since your debut album, Silvertone, was released. Did you think that you’d still be at it in 2011?

CHRIS: You know, when I started off, you never dream where life’s going to take you. It could take you bad places or it could take you good places. You just hope it’s going to be something nice and I’ve just been really really lucky. I hooked up with Kenny and Roly, Hershel and Scotty, my crew… people I’ve worked with I’ve been with forever. Some people don’t understand that if you are a musician, the road can be your life and if you don’t have friends out there on the road with you, it can be a really lonely ride. I guess that’s why people end up getting in trouble. But they’re my friends. Here I am, years later with those same guys… and it’s a ball.

SPAZ: You’ve cultivated your own unique sound over the years, which is as timeless now as it was then. Have you ever been tempted… or even encouraged by the powers that be, to alter your sound and try to fit into whatever cookie-cutter sound is popular at the time?

CHRIS: I’ve been lucky. I have good producers. I always kinda knew what I wanted to sound like. I’ve always been drawn to a pretty vocal and song that’s got some kind of truth to it. So, I always thought that if you had a song that has a ring a truth and you’re singing well, it’s going to be fun, good music. The trend just kind of went around us. I do remember at one point, a person at the record company said “Chris, you’re a surfer and you’re in good shape: you should take your shirt off when you’re up on stage!” And I said, “Why would I do that?” And they said, “For the girls.” I said, “I’m a singer, not a stripper!” (laughs). And I was thinking ahead and I said, “You know, if I start taking my shirt off now, my career’s going to be over in about three years! I don’t want to do that!”

SPAZ: What’s next for Chris Isaak?

CHRIS: I’m going to go out on tour all over the U.S. We’re going to tour Australia. The record’s coming out and I think that there’s a lot of interest in it. So, we’re so excited to actually play it live. It’s so much fun to play this music live. The look on people’s faces when you kick into “Ring Of Fire” or something… it’s just a ball

SPAZ: What do you currently have spinning on your record, CD and DVD players?

CHRIS: I just introduced a bunch of films for that Turner Classic Movies channel… I watch old movies all the time. They called me and asked me to come down to the studio for a bit… I watched Rebel Without A Cause a couple of times in a row so I could talk about it. What a fun, strange film. I always find something new in it. (Audio-wise), when I travel, usually in my car, I’ve got Jerry Lee Lewis going on.

Thanks to Chris Isaak

Special thanks to Jacki Feldstein and Kimberly McCoy

 

CHRIS ISAAK

 

BEYOND THE SUN

 

BEYOND THE SUN (DELUXE EDITION)

 

10.18.11