Exclusive Interview: Toto's Steve Lukather on the Band Taking an Extended Break, a Second Book in the Works & Playing with Ringo Starr

Steve Lukather 

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Steve ("Luke") Lukather may be best known as a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, producer, and founding member of the iconic band Toto, but that's just scratching the surface of what he is actually capable of. He started his career as a session musician and you'll find his work, spanning various genres, on more than 1,500 albums. Lukather has spent decades working alongside so many of the industry's best, but Toto is his main job, and cultivating the musical fruits of the bands' labor has been the centerpiece of his prolific career.

It was recently confirmed that Toto will be taking an indefinite break after their October 20th show at The Met in Philadelphia and I was lucky enough to catch up with Lukather for a chat about the band winding down, and what's next for him. Check it out below!

 Steve ("Luke") Lukather on life on the road:

"We work about five days a week and those days off cost money. Luckily I don't really need more than a day or two off once in a while. I'm out here working, it's not a vacation and I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms. They've turned into a bit of a sanctuary, to be honest with you. Especially since I'm running the business end of things too. I mean, there's a great team but I have to wake up and make all the decisions and take care of all the BS. That means that I've got to be up early and I've got to have some space to do things. I've got my guitar with me so I practice that and take care of the band business. I've got things to do and if not I can always watch films or peruse the internet or something.

I've been around the world so many times that going out to sightsee is almost laughable at this point! I've already done that so many times in the 44 years that I've been doing this, so I just kind of stay to myself. There's nothing normal about my life, but I've normalized it. I used to be a crazy party guy and so the days were spent recovering. Now I get up when I used to go to bed (laughing). I have to be sober, together and functioning to run a business on top of being an older guy on the road. I have to take care of myself now. I had my wild days and it was fun, I guess. They tell me that I had a great time (laughing), so I've got nothing left to prove in that arena. I'm really fine being an older guy out here and you have to learn to like hanging out with yourself, otherwise, you'll go mad (laughing).

It can be terribly depressing at times too. I've got little kids as well as grown kids, then my dog passed away and I was on the road when that happened. There are things that you just can't prepare for, but you've got to deal with them. I chose this job and the great thing is that the good parts are great and the things that suck, well they really suck and that makes it just like anyone else's life. My doctor has known me through every aspect of my career and I told him he should really come along and do everything that I do, eat what I eat, sleep when I sleep. Travel around with me for a month and then tell me your real thoughts on this job because in some ways it's tougher than people think."

Luke on being away from his family:

"It's very hard having little kids and being on the road, but it has always been that way. My father was in the television and movie business, so he would go on the road for six months at a time, long before cell phones, and I didn't love him any less. That gives me a little peace. My kids only know me this way, so if they only know me this way then there is nothing else to compare it to. When I come home I'm a dad and I do all the dad stuff, which I love doing."

Luke on working with his oldest son Trev:

"Ever since he could play guitar at all he has been working on my records with me. He has played songs for my solo record and he has played live with the band. He wrote Halestorm's first hit, so he has got a gold record, and he plays in this band What So Not that headlined Lollapalooza. Then he has his new band ZFG, with Mike Pocaro's kid on bass, There's a bidding war for that band, wait until you hear them! They opened for us all summer in Europe. He's my best friend so we always try and do as much as we can together. Right now it's his turn to be the artist. That's what he is focused on and I'm trying to help him with that."

Luke on Toto's music being categorized as 'yacht rock':

"The term yacht rock is kind of funny. All they did was put a label on a thing that we called, going to do session work, and we did that every day for fifteen years (laughing). They'd put a piece of paper with a bunch of cord symbols in front of us, count off the song, and then you better play something because that's what you got hired to do. All of those records have suddenly become a genre. We didn't write all that music but we did contribute to the arrangement and the performance of it. We gave a lot of ourselves. That was just the era and style of music back then, sure there's some cheesy shit in there but there's also cheesy stuff today.

They always want to put terminology on things. They can't just say, hey this is a cool band, instead it has to be called soft rock. I mean at what point did the music go from soft rock to hard rock, what is the criteria for that shift? Is the guitar louder or does it have a bigger drum sound?  Why do we need terminology? If you don't like something that's cool but in the end, an E-chord is still an E-chord. Everyone likes things in a nice tight little box and there it is, now we know what to call it (laughing). The fact of the matter is that regardless of what anyone calls it, none of us expected any of this music to last almost 45 years like it has."

Toto Official Promo Shot

Luke on Toto becoming an interesting part of pop culture:

"We were Family Guy characters the other night and how cool is that? It was absolutely hysterical, we were howling with laughter. "Africa" kind of went crazy for us these last few years, it has kind of leveled off now which is fine with me, but it was really great for our careers. Everyone always says 'Africa by Toto' which makes us part of the whole schtick and gives us free publicity (laughing). I love all of it and it's an honor for us to be a part of pop culture. You have to be able to laugh at yourself and realize that parodies and things are really an honor."

Luke on working with Ringo Starr's All-Star Band:

"The Beatles spent eight years putting together music that would not only last for 55 years, but it's still going strong! There's never going to be another Beatles and I'm just so grateful that I got a little teeny piece of that experience by getting to work with three out of four of those guys. I've been working with Ringo's band for going on eight years now and I'm very honored to do that. When I first signed up in 2012 I thought I'd be doing one summer and here I am still. We've become really great friends and I just love this guy, regardless of the fact that he's Ringo (Starr). I mean, he is 100 times cooler than you think he is, but to have him as my friend is great. I'd love him even if his name was Joe Smith because he's just the kind of guy that makes you think, 'I want that guy to be my friend' (laughing), and I cherish that. I'd do anything for him and Ringo's band is like my vacation gig (laughing)."

Luke on Toto winding down, at least for the foreseeable future:

"Toto has been my job and I've spent my whole life cultivating this. Toto has had its best year in terms of live performance and live revenue. Musically, including ticket sales and reviews and all of that, things are fantastic. Sadly, some stuff going on behind the scenes has kind of crippled us so we have to step off and see what happens next at the end of this tour. We are at the end of our 40th-year cycle, it's now actually 43 years of togetherness (laughing) and so we do need to go away for a while there's no question about that. For how long is the thing because there is definitely some darkness behind the scenes.

There is litigation from hateful people that want to tear us apart for no particular reason other than finding personal joy in doing so. None of it makes sense to anyone who is actually in the band. It's kind of insidious and messed up but it is how it is. Sometimes you're forced to do things at the time that don't really make sense but then, in the end, they really do work out for the best. It's just time for me to get out there and do some other stuff.  Out of the dust and ethers, something happens. I don't know what that is right now but I do know that change is good. Music is in my DNA and I've spent my whole life making it so I know that I can play whatever I decide that I want to play."

Luke on what's next for him:

"I am doing book number two! The first one was successful, which is surprising to me (laughing), but okay. I can't put my life into just those first 300 pages, I have a billion stories so now I can get more into the session thing and more into the goings-on behind the scenes. It's going to take me a few years to do it, just like the last one did and I've got a documentary in play too. There will never be a Toto story per se because there's a person that'll stop that. Actually, there are a couple of people now that'll stop it from happening.

So I'll write a second book, write a solo record, I'm going back out with Ringo, I've got other tours to do and I want to stay home and just be a dad. I want to watch my little kids grow up a bit, I'm hardly out of work (laughing), I haven't been out of work since I started so I'm very fortunate, but there is a price to it all. So, for now, I'll just get to stay home a little bit more and that will be really, really cool for me. This is a great time to step back because it's the end of a cycle. We never thought we would get to forty years, are you kidding me? We're going out with a bang though! Every night there's nothing but good vibes on stage, the reviews are great, the revenue is good and the audiences are loving it. We have just decided to go out there and kick ass."

Steve Lukather & Joseph Williams

Luke on the future of Toto:

"There have been eight versions of Toto, eight from the beginning lineup right up to today. People come, people go and we reconfigure. I'm the only guy that has been there for every one of them. Will there be a 9.0 version? I don't know, not the way it is now. It breaks my heart and I can't predict the future, but I'll tell you that in Philadelphia, it's the last time that you'll see this incarnation of the band."

(Sidenote- a 9.0 version of Toto does indeed exist and has been successfully touring the world.)

Exclusive Interview: Great White's Michael Lardie on New Music in the Works and the Pure Joy That Still Comes from Playing Live

Great White

Photo: Neil Zlozower

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ICYMI

I think that most people believe that once you "make it" in the music industry you're sort of set for life if you handle your money properly. The actual truth is that the music business is at best, a harsh place to try and exist. You could be at the top of the charts and playing sold-out shows now and in six months you're back to waiting tables or washing dishes. The only solid guarantee is that every star eventually falls from the sky and then it takes talent, timing, and unshakable determination to get back up again. That's why I love to see a time-tested, old school band with a great catalog still selling out shows and Great White was doing exactly that before the world as we know it came to a screeching halt.

The band (Mark Kendall- lead guitar, Michael Lardie- rhythm guitar, multi-instrumentalist, Audie Desbrow- drums, Scott Snyder- bass, and Mitch Malloy- lead vocals) first found itself in heavy rotation on MTV back in the late-80's with songs like "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and they never really looked back. Sure there have been some major bumps in the road. Among other things, people have come and gone (including lead singers), but Great White has not only survived, it also continues to thrive. 

I had an opportunity to catch up with the Michael Lardie, the band's rhythm guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, who was in great spirits in spite of being pulled off the road due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Michael's kindness, intelligence, and positive energy flowed as we bounced through all sorts of topics. Check it out for yourself.

Photo: Ralph Arvesen

Michael Lardie on being under quarantine:

"We're closing in on six weeks inside now in California. When I'm normally at home I'm pretty low-key and usually working in my studio or something. I don't go out too much anyway unless it's to see a movie or grab dinner so it's not a really big change for me. Not having the option to do anything because of lockdown really mentally pushes you against a wall though. Every time I think of an errand to run it's followed by the thought, 'oh you can't do that or at least you shouldn't do that' so that's the primary change for me.

When being in the studio is your joy for the day, I think times like now can make you even more laser-focused. Like on a normal day I might want to work for a couple hours and maybe come up with an idea, now I'm finding myself demoing entire songs (laughing) so in that respect, it's a positive. Also, the guys and I are sending little voice notes of ideas back and forth too, just trying to stay focused on what it is that we do and part of that is writing new material. Right now I'm breathing, I'm healthy, I'm being smart and staying home. I'm finding the joy in being creative and at this point, I'll just go with it (laughing)."

Michael on Great White's plans for new music:

"Well, because of the way that people absorb music now, one of the thoughts that we've had is to put out smaller doses of music more frequently. Maybe putting out two or three songs at a time and then, in the end, we'll compile it all and make it into a product that our diehard fans can pick up. We've been in the model of making full records for our entire career so it's a little strange for us to be thinking outside of the box, but that may be how we need to do it now. One of the things that makes Great White the band that it is, is that we don't record separately and send files to each other. For us to be making music, whether it's a two or three-song EP or whatever, our best experience is always when we're in the same room actually cutting the track with all of us playing. When you're building a house the vibe is different when you're building it together rather than piecemeal and recording is the same for us.

There are five people that make a sound different from everyone else on the planet. Individually we sound a certain way but once we're all together there's this sound that is so familiar and feels so good that it inspires us to keep performing. You want to keep making that sound with that particular group of people. The vibe is always far stronger when we're all in the same room. It's going to be interesting for us to actually do that again when we're able to schedule real-life things. We're looking forward to it because the best things happen for us musically when we're together as a band."

Michael on how the band has remained successful even with three different lead singers:

"When I was first coming up older people would always say to me songs, songs, songs. That is what is most important because a band's catalog will define its longevity. In that respect, I'm very proud of the material that we've come up with over the years and that material has allowed us to continue even with different singers. We've had three very different sounding singers and no matter who you put in there it has worked because of the strength of the material. Mitch (Malloy) has worked out great for us. Sonically he is a little more like Jack (Russell) than Terry Ilous was and I think people are getting it now. Every time you make a change there's an adjustment period but as people have heard Mitch sing the songs and watched his performances I think they've started to really embrace him. We've had really great attendance before everything shut down, I think five out of our last eight shows were sold out and that just makes us really grateful. Again, it's all because of the strength of the music and the catalog of songs that we've created."

Michael on the band's writing process:

"It's interesting because back in the day we would be sitting in a rehearsal room bouncing riffs off of each other and figuring out the arrangement- that's one way that we did it. As time went on and we started to have different rigs at home we've been able to come up with parts of songs and share them, so it's kind of done in the same way from remote now. We rely on each other to remind us of how we sound at our personal best and things often come to us in pieces. "Rock Me" for example, was a guitar riff that Mark had and when we sat down and started to mess around with it before you knew it we had this great song. One of the best things about the band is how we really look forward to each others' input to make that special sound that I was talking about earlier.

So many songs have come at the last minute too, like the day before you go to the studio or the first few days that we're there. "All Over Now" is the last thing that we wrote for Once Bitten and "Mista Bone" was the last thing that we wrote for Twice Shy. There's always inspiration in the end because you're in the vibe of pre-production and running through stuff and you're playing like a band every single day. When you're playing off each other that much just jamming can turn into something so now we try to leave that space open at the very end. Good stuff comes up when you're working together day after day."

Great White

Photo: Neil Zlozower

Michael on what keeps that desire to play live burning:

"The joy of playing music with other people and making our particular sound is one of the bullet point reasons that always comes back to me. Everything for us is fly dates now which can be challenging at times and it makes you a little sleep deficient. But the upside to that is that you may leave on Thursday and then play all weekend, come back on Sunday and it gives you three or four days to have some semblance of a normal life. So I get to do the thing that I still love the most and then enjoy that normalcy.

One of the other things that I think of while playing a song is that this group of people has never been together before. This exact show has never happened even though there are fans that have come and seen us on multiple occasions over the years, at that moment that group of people has never been 100% present together. We're still playing 100% live so no matter how you feel you've got the challenge of making it sound as great as you can every single time you go out. Those things make it fresh for us in the moment.

Getting people to smile back at you when you're up there doing this thing that you love is always amazing to me. When you get that energy back it's just amazing and when you see little kids out there on their dad's or grand dad's shoulders singing along to "Rock Me" it's really something. The multigenerational thing always gets me because it's incredible to think that our music is what these parents saw fit to pass down to their kids. One of the greatest compliments that we can get as songwriters and performers is to have our music go from generation to generation. When I think back to when we were young we just hoped that what we did would somehow make some small difference that could maybe even live on. Having it be passed on from one generation to the next is the highest compliment we can get.

It still blows my mind when I'll be driving in my car and "House of Broken Love" comes on (laughing). We didn't think all that much when we were creating it but when I hear it I can still put myself in a time capsule and zap myself back to the very moment we were doing it. The very moment that I kept Mark in his seat for ten hours doing all of the soloing on that track and the fact that his fingers were bleeding by the time it was done. I can remember every aspect of that. It's amazing how you can hear a song and all of a sudden you're transported back to the beach in 1989, nothing is a better time machine than music."

Michael on other projects that have kept him busy:

"Last year I mixed a live performance of Sheryl Crow's from the Capitol Theatre in NY that was released in the fall. That kind of project would be perfect for me to have right now (laughing). It was an eight hour a day thing, 22 songs, and I had to mix it in surround so it was just awesome. I'm a fan of hers so it was like a gift, just a complete joy to do. Something like that would be perfect for right now and you never know something could come along.

In the meantime, I've been working on material of my own that someday I'll finish up and put out there. I've never really set a timeline for it I'll just know when it's the right time to share it with the world. It's also good because if I'm stuck on something for Great White I'll flip over to my own thing and find the joy in doing that, which frees my brain. Then when I look at the Great White stuff again I'll find a way around that wall that I felt like I kept hitting."

Mitch Malloy, Mark Kendall & Michael Lardie

Photo: Eric Sherman

Michael on what's next for Great White:

"So far most of May and early June dates are postponed but we're actually really lucky because we've only completely lost one show. It was part of a summer series and they weren't able to push it to another date because the whole season has already been booked but we're lucky because about thirty other shows have been rescheduled for later in the year. We're grateful because so far we're still holding on to shows and not only that but the other day we booked a new one for November. So somewhere out there at least one person is still scheduling new gigs (laughing).

We're hoping to get back out there in the late summer or early fall and be able to finish out our year safely. Having the ability to perform taken away has made me just a little more inspired, so if I was thinking even a tiny bit about maybe wrapping this all up in a few years, this time off has energized me. Now I think I'm just going to keep on doing this music thing until it doesn't make sense anymore. Knowing that we will have the opportunity to do this again after this lockdown ends is really something. When the first level of success happened when we were younger I appreciated it but now I have the intelligence and experience to really appreciate it so much more. Grateful doesn't really even begin to describe how I feel right now."

Check out Great White's Official Site for updated tour dates, news & more!

Exclusive Interview: Kip Winger is Dancing Between Symphonic Work and Musical Theater While Laying the Groundwork for the Next 'Winger' Release

Photo: Kip Winger- Official Facebook

ICYMI

There are so many misconceptions that go hand in hand with being a bonafide rockstar. One of the biggest is the notion that once you "make it"  in the music industry and score a platinum record or some other oddly shaped trophy, you're set for life. You know, money just keeps on flowing while difficult doors are magically opened for decades on end. The real truth is that any end of the music industry is a really harsh place to exist, even on the best of days. You can be on the road playing sold-out gigs now and in six months time, you can be back to waiting tables with zero musical options. It's a scenario that Kip Winger knows well, as he went from riding the late 80's hard rock wave with his own band (Winger), to having his career all but buried by MTV- the same network that had made him a household name. The only solid guarantee in music is that you're going to hit bottom far more often than you strike gold and it takes talent, timing and unshakable determination to pull yourself back up again.

That sitting on the bottom feeling is something that Winger has dealt with on multiple occasions and it's likely a big part of what has helped to transform him into a man that is comfortable in his own skin, flaws and all. He carries with him a depth that only comes from a life that has been fully lived and transparency that is quite beautiful. While the rockstar days aren't totally behind him, composing symphonic music and simply striving to be better, is what captures the majority of Winger's attention these days.

I caught up with Kip Winger recently and quickly realized that he is the kind of man that carries with him a great deal of wisdom, the kind that can rub off if you're ready and willing.

Google the lyrics to any of the songs on some of Winger's solo albums like, "Songs from the Ocean Floor" or "This Conversation Seems Like a Dream" and half a verse into it you'll understand that his writing is deeper than most.

Kip Winger on writing rock, progressive and symphonic music:

“I'm a believer that if you want to be a good writer then you have to sit down and write every day. You can't just expect it to hit you on a sunny (or a cloudy) kind of day. I'm the kind of person that believes that you just sit down and make it happen. One day is good, one day is bad and one day you might get to an idea that you'll work on in a month. Organizational skills are key when it comes to inspiration because the inspiration will hit you and it'll leave you just as fast as it hits you. I have to have a recorder or something with you because the inspiration for music for me usually comes from my subconscious being almost in a state of a trance or I can be doing something like grocery shopping. I sit down and write every day when I'm home. I tour a lot and it's harder to do it when I'm on the road, but I do carry tools to write when I'm on the road.  When I'm home I write every day and I try to keep the projects that I'm working on very organized. Now I have these big projects that take much longer than just sitting down to write an album, but even still an album will take me a year.”

Kip on his own personal writing style:

“I do a lot of stream of consciousness writing as well as pursuing specific ideas. I know what I like so I don't just meander around and hope to get struck by a great idea. I do get struck by great ideas and all of the best ideas are purely by accident. You can't just sit down and write a great idea and I challenge any artist in the world to say that their ideas came because they thought of them. It just doesn't happen like that. Those ideas come because you work, work, work and then the universe will show you something that you weren't seeing and it'll show it very clearly so that you think, 'Oh my god, that's amazing'. You spend a little time getting high on that feeling and then you try to develop it and realize you suck (laughing) because the idea alone was its' greatest fruition.

I don't think I'm different than many other artists and I think that my process is probably pretty similar to most people. I may just be more dedicated to it than most people and I'm probably less dedicated to it than some people. I'd say I'm in the more dedicated category and I know what it means to be an artist. Having that understanding is about all that I can hope for.”

Kip on what influences his solo work:

"Well in my solo stuff when you hear world music it's a direct descendant of Peter Gabriel. I never dug down into authentic world music, it all came from the generation of Peter Gabriel and other English artists that were introducing that stuff into their music. If you listen to a song like "Don't Let Go" off of This Conversation Seems Like a Dream you just have to know that I was heavily influenced by Peter Gabriel. There's no way around it and I'm proud of it because he is a towering genius among us, the guy is incredible.

Photo: Kip Winger & Robby Rothschild by Aline Narducci

Kip on the creation of "Sure Was a Wildflower", one of his favorite songs:

“I wrote that song for a movie. I read the script and I don't remember the name, but the movie came out and they didn't like my song (chuckling). I really like that song. I was working with a very well-known television composer named Dominic Frontiere, who did old school stuff like Outer Limits and The Flying Nun, plus he was a jazz guy. He was working on the film when we both lived in Santa Fe and so he asked me if I was up for writing a song for it. So, I wrote the song for the movie and they didn't like it so I put it on my album instead. The lyrics come right from reading the script and that's one of my favorite songs out of everything I've ever written."

Photo: Kip Winger- Official Facebook

Creative people generally aren't too quick to admit their fear of failure. Musicians and artists need to make money and admitting that you're insecure can prevent you from landing gigs, but that doesn't mean that the fear doesn't exist. In fact, it usually is just left unspoken, but festering beneath the surface. Making platinum records and earning Grammy nominations apparently won't chase these fears away either.

Kip on admitting his creative fears in spite of finding success:

“I mean it's terrifying, I'm not going to lie. I'm working on symphony number one for Nashville Symphony and I'm scared to death, it is terrifying. I don't think you ever get over that kind of fear. The only people that I know that have gotten over it are people with giant egos and those same people usually aren't the better artists. I don't think you can get over the fear if you know the difference, I mean, how can you? You've always got Beethoven looming over your head. In my case, there are great composers that I'm actually friends with now that crush me. I can call them up and ask what they did in bar nine million of their fifth symphony so I'm in a really strange situation. All you can do is one note after the next, or if you're a writer you put one word after the one before, after the one before that and pretty soon you've got a novel.”

If life is intended to be a journey then it's only fair that we would need some help along the way. Winger learned years ago that he is wise to watch and learn from the steps, and the missteps of others.

Kip on the importance of mentors:

“I actively seek out mentors. I grew up reading this book that my dad gave me, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. In it, he talks about shadowing those who are doing what you want to successfully do, and so finding a mentor has always been a big thing for me. Even at the ripe old age of 57, I still have a couple people that I consider my mentors. I'll call them up and ask for advice on all sorts of things like how to get out of problems, or I'll ask them to look at my music, or I'll ask them why I suck (laughing).

I don't think that need for guidance should ever go away. I think that if you believe your own gospel too much and think that you’re all that, then you become a fraud or a parody of yourself. You have to have the humility to look around you to see and understand that people are as good or better than you. The people that I'm looking at are usually better than me and so I just keep trying. There's nothing else you can do but keep trying to get better. You can't not be you, that's the other part of the equation.”

He has spoken often about taking ballet in his teens and how it was the key to unlocking his love of classical music and yes, Winger does still dance.

Kip on the importance of dance class, even still:

“I like to stay in touch with dance because when I compose music, I consider dance even if it's not something that's going to end up being choreographed. My last ballet class was maybe nine months ago. I recently did a tango class and I'm kind of interested in that. That was just last week actually.”

Photo: Winger Promo Shot

Kip on that new Winger project:

“Reb (Beach) and I are going to start writing and we'll try to knock something out in August. He's out with Whitesnake now and I'm very busy, so we've got some time set aside in August for us to get together and try to do something. I don't know what we're going to do and I don't like to preplan it. I like to sit down with Reb and see what the mood of the day is. It's impossible for Reb and I not to sound like Winger because the combination of us is the sound of the band, no matter what song we do.”

Kip on why he can’t just coast on Winger’s early success:

“I think human beings, in general, tend to be lazy. A lot of people can find success at one thing and be like, okay I did it, I'm done and I can live off of that credential for the rest of my life. I don't even feel successful in many ways, all of that stuff sort of passed by me and it never sunk in. I'm not the kind of artist that can repeat myself and so I don't just sit around and think of the glory days. The glory days for me are still ahead of me, in terms of art. For me, it all comes from a very artistic point of view. I'm not interested in the commercial aspect of it, to my own detriment by the way, because I'm not a rich guy. I don't have tons of money but what I leave behind, that's the most important thing."

As if the rock and symphonic worlds aren't keeping him busy enough, Winger has teamed with Damien Gray to create a piece of musical theater.

Kip on Get Jack, a Musical Thriller:

“The Get Jack concept album is coming out in the next couple months and then we're hoping to do a lab later this year. We've got a great director, Kelly Divine, and we just signed a producer so it's moving along but it's a very heavy lift. Hamilton took ten years before it was up and successful. This has so many moving parts and the scheduling is difficult but it's moving forward and I'm happy with the progress given what we've been able to put together.”

It only makes sense that a man who values mentors to facilitate his future growth would still have a pretty impressive list of things to do.

Kip on what’s next:

“Honestly, more of what I'm doing but I need to try and make it better. I'm done seeking out new genres. I'm not going to do that anymore and I'm actually going to try and reduce all of the different directions. I'd like to reduce everything down into my solo records because that's a place where I can do it all. I know who I am and I know my limitations very well. I don't have any pretenses about who I am.  I keep moving basically, and I adapt and overcome. I've experienced tons of obstacles. My big thing is time and I don't have enough time to do all of the things that I want to be doing. I'm comfortable with who I am but I'm not comfortable with my ability, especially with my orchestral writing, I'm just not good enough yet. I might do another musical and I'd like to write an opera. Yeah, I'd really like to write an opera.”

Photo: Kip Winger official Site

Check out Kip's official site for updates on everything he's doing, plus info on upcoming gigs. Also, keep an eye on Winger's band site for updates on new music & tour dates.

 

Currently Booming: Billy Idol Live at Danceteria in NYC (1982)

Daily Boom Holiday Tunes: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - 'Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo'

Currently Booming: Exclusive Interview: Nu Shooz

(BagTown Cover Art: Malcolm Smith)

ICYMI!!!

Valerie Day and John Smith, the masterminds behind the music of Nu Shooz, are always looking for creative ways to involve their fans in whatever they're doing and that certainly includes an active presence on social media. The band was first formed way back in 1979 and they were playing live gigs for years before that big breakthrough finally came. Back then Nu Shooz found it self working several nights a week onstage as part of Portland's pre-synth raging music scene. While the synth sound eventually was the catalyst that brought the bands' music to the masses (and earned them a Grammy nomination in 1987 for Best New Artist), their love for organic music and using real instruments runs deep. 1986's Poolside may be considered the most successful album for the Shooz, but their journey certainly has encompassed decades.

(Photo: Phil Isley)

While on paper it may seem that Valerie and John dropped off the radar for years, just the opposite is actually true. Valerie has performed with the Oregon Symphony Pops, several celebrated jazz artists and she has co-created a show called Brain Chemistry for Lovers beside Darrell Grant. John has been equally busy and his musical genius has kept him working in the commercial industry for more than twenty years. The 80's are one of the hottest genres out there right now and last Christmas Target decided to use "I Can't Wait" as part of their holiday advertising campaign. Admit it, you were singing along every time the commercial came on, weren't you?

The only thing bigger than the 80's right now are the tours circling the country that feature large roster's of some of the biggest names in old school music and so when the Freestyle Explosion show came knocking, Day and Smith were thrilled to jump on board. "It's amazing how strong the love for music from way back then still is. Social media also helps to keep us connected with our audience on a regular basis. It's neat to see fans from the 80's at our shows and they're now bringing their kids with them. We actually have different generations of fans waiting for autographs at meet and greets- that's a little surreal! We were told about a fun little tour (Freestyle Explosion) that would reunite Nu Shooz with a whole roster of other performers from the 80's and it's something that we've really enjoyed doing." explained Day in a recent interview with The Daily Boom.

(Photo: Mike Hipple)

Ironically enough, according to Smith, reconnecting with the diehard 80's fan base is what helped to breathe life into their latest album. "It was doing that tour that actually made us want to consider coming back with another Nu Shooz album. The love for that era of music is pretty amazing and the rush for us is still the same as it was back then. We decided that it was time to take ourselves maybe a little less seriously. We're definitely more confident both as artists and as people. Plus we have a really great band to play with. We have alumni band members now that have played our style for years. The cohesive mix makes for many “Life is good” moments. It was fun to have radio hits but nothing beats playing live."

"After making ourselves miserable musically we decided to make a record aimed at having fun and it has really worked for us. At one point John and I went to dinner with our good friends, Marv and Rindy Ross (of Quarterflash) and we were all feeling similarly about where we were at musically at that point in time. They were coming off the release of a more serious record (as were we) and Marv mentioned wanting to create an album that was just fun to play live. That idea really clicked with us and it felt like exactly what we needed to do as well." explains Day while contemplating why making this record has really worked for them.

(BagTown Cover Art: Malcolm Smith

The key to the magic that has unfolded really seems to be the fact that they have absolutely enjoyed the process.  According to Smith, "BagTown is the funnest (yes, 'funnest' and 'funner' became the descriptive words for BagTown)  album that we have made, maybe ever. With every record, the process of creation is different. Sometimes it's lyrics first, other times the music is written first. We made a city of bag people and started drawing on them and all of a sudden these bags were partying. The songs from BagTown actually came from creating this city and bringing it to life in our minds. Of course music for us is a two-way relationship and so the audience ends up being an equal partner in the whole experience."

Connect with Nu Shooz below so that you're kept up-to-date on everything that they're doing!



Nu Shooz Official Website

Nu Shooz on Facebook

Nu Shooz on Twitter

Nu Shooz on Instagram

Nu Shooz on YouTube

Currently Booming: Jody Watley - 'Christmas Time is Here' (Listen)

Exclusive Interview: Nelson's Matthew Nelson on Elevating People with Music in an Ever-Changing World

ICYMI

Do you remember when Matthew and Gunnar Nelson first hit the ground running with their debut CD, After the Rain? MTV took the title track, as well as, "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" and propelled the brothers to reach the kind of popularity most musicians will only dream of. Sure, they are the third generation of successful performers in the Nelson family (beginning with grandparents Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, then father Ricky Nelson), but it's their own undeniable talent that made them a household name. Thirty years later, the Nelson brothers are still playing to sold-out audiences worldwide.

Imagine not just being on the road, but being in a different country when Covid-19 first inched its' way towards becoming a pandemic. Countries began mandatory lockdown, schools closed and borders were quickly shut in an attempt to keep the invisible virus from spreading. The Nelson brothers ended up playing beat the clock to get back to the states and back to what mattered most, their families before the whole world would quite literally change overnight.

I caught up with Matthew Nelson recently and he told me all about that experience and how the music industry has already changed out of necessity because of the ongoing pandemic. Check it out below.

Matthew Nelson on being on the road when lockdown first started:

"When this outbreak first started to happen Gunnar and I were up in Canada because we had eight sold-out shows that we had been looking forward to all year. I remember getting up there right when the Prime Minister's wife got sick with Covid-19 and just knowing we probably weren't going to be able to play the entire engagement. We knew we needed a plan B to get out just in case they closed the border. We figured out how to get through the border from different ways and sure enough, the border was closed four shows into our engagement. We had our bags packed and ready so they took us across the border into Buffalo, NY, and Gunnar and I rented a car, sanitized it, and then drove home to Nashville. We had to make sure that we got home to our families. That was our biggest fear and we talked about it a lot because no matter what came next we needed to make it home to our families.

The last show that we played was a retrospective for our father's life and music, which meant primarily people over the age of 70 in the audience. We had 4,000 older people in front of us at the first show, then the news stories started coming out and even though the shows were pre-sold out, the balcony was getting emptier.  Then by the last show, there were about 500 people in the audience. That was 500 people that chose to come and relive their youth while knowing that this thing was targeting older people. We were doing a service to them by taking them back to their youth and then we were doing the worst possible thing by collecting them all in one spot next to each other. That was really hard because they were there to see us while this invisible thing could be putting them at risk at the same time. It was really heavy and I'm not going to forget the looks on their faces because these people were so happy to be there, but they also knew it could be the last concert that they ever went to."

Matthew on how Covid-19 will inevitably change things:

"Gunnar and I are using this experience and what we're learning from it to revamp the way that we do things. I think that by the time this is all said and done the concept of streaming virtual concerts by national acts will really have been fleshed out. That's not to say that we don't want to go back out there and do more real live shows, that's not going to be taken away, but we'll have more reach if we utilize the powers that are available to us through things like the internet. For us, there will definitely be a reengineering of how to do things and it will certainly drift away from the old '70s memo on how to be a viable artist.

We normally meet people after our shows for hours.  I'm a handshake or a hug kind of guy and I like to really connect with people, but how it's done is just going to have to, unfortunately, be different for a while. There will be some good stuff that comes out of this but I sure do miss human contact."

Matthew on the good things that have spun out of being lockdown for weeks:

"It's interesting how there is almost a stronger sense of community right now in spite of the restrictions. Everyone checks in with each other more even though you can't give a handshake or a hug. I've seen a lot of really compassionate people step up during all of this.

My brother and I have had such a great run and we've been all over the world. We work so hard that we say it's like being on a treadmill because, with travel and preparation, it's like a three-day time investment for us to do just one show. We do it because to a certain degree we feel like we're ministering through music. We're elevating people for an hour and a half and that's really important, but I think the positive side of what we're all experiencing now this year is that we are able to stay home. My five-year-old asked me if I'm going to be playing shows again soon, because he said that he'll miss me when I'm gone and oh, did that hit me right in the heart. I mean my dad went through it and my grandparents went through it and they figured out how to still keep the family close together. I don't care that much about money and things, I feel far wealthier by getting to be a dad. I value family and a good thing that is coming out of this now, people know what their house looks like. Parents right now have to be schoolteachers and funmeisters, and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Maybe we really needed to be reminded of what really matters most and it was going to take something this drastic to get everyone to all stop at once. We get caught up in thinking we have to have a nicer house or a nicer car and then we've got to pay for all of that stuff. So we all keep going, we stay on that treadmill and you know what, at the end of our lives we're not going to look back thinking, 'man did I have cool stuff'. If you were on your death bed you'd be hoping that your family would be okay, you'd hope that you made a difference and that they'll still love you when you're gone. That's the stuff you're going to think about and not what kind of car is in the garage. None of those things matter now it's all back to the basics of food, shelter, water, and our health.

I think our focusing on family now is a shift that really needed to happen. It has happened in a weird way and we are barraged with all kinds of conflicting information, it's like, 'don't ever leave the house unless you have to leave the house!'. The one thing that I'm not digging is the whole controlling people through fear thing. The opposite of fear is love and at least people at home with their families are connecting with their nexus, the people that are really important. Start right there with the people that you love and then kind of reset everything else. I think we were kind of in a hurry to nowhere with everyone being so divided on politics or on what they feel. A lot of people gain from that and people are easier to control when they're angry with each other. People are realizing that they don't like being told what to think or how to feel and I'm one of those people that believes that people are inherently good. I think we're starting to remember that because we're all together now. Alone together, but we're dealing with the same things and facing a common thread which is fear."

Matthew on why he and Gunnar decided to join Cameo:

"Cameo is a site that allows us to connect directly with our fans. People will ask us to send a greeting to this person or to cheer up that person and I always have my guitar with me when I'm doing them. One person mentioned an obscure song that was done years ago and never released so I relearned the song just to be able to surprise them with it. That kind of thing is cool because it feels like a personal meet and greet just for them, but it's forever. I really dig that, being able to make our fans something special and talk to them directly. It's not the same as a meet and greet, it's a little different, but it's something that we can do to stay connected to them for now and that's really important. If you're getting me or Gunnar, or both of us singing you a song personally, that's not so bad (laughing), plus we love doing it.

It is a pay service, everything has a value and that's really how you have to look at it. People aren't spending money on shows right now and it's not like it was when Gunnar and I were just starting out when everyone would line up at the record stores. When we first started we used to give a lot of tickets away and when you actually came to see Nelson on our tour in 1991 the tickets were $18.The philosophy was that we would give away our performances, and trust me we left it all on stage always, but the goal was to sell the CD's. Now kids aren't paying anything for music, they grow up thinking it's free. I'm a songwriter, I write my own stuff and I've found that if there is no value attached to something then people either take it for granted or they think that it's worthless. Entertainment is not worthless and we still have to put food on the table."

Matthew on what the immediate future may hold for music fans:

"We're going to have to figure out how to do concerts again with social distancing and so first we have to figure out how that can even work. Gunnar and I have taken this time to really study up and there are a couple platforms online that people are using to stream shows. At my brother's house, we've built what is basically a live performance venue, a full room with pallet wood and guitars everywhere, lighting, the whole deal. We're looking into purchasing a system so that we can actually broadcast and live stream real shows and maybe have it be interactive so that we can take people's requests. We still would need to figure out the monetization of it because again, things of value must have a value. We'll figure it out, I do believe that and I believe that stuff will get better."

Check out Nelson's official site for music, merch, and rescheduled tour dates.

'When The Bands Stopped Playing: The Covid Aftermath' is Now Available on Amazon Prime (Watch)

 

Musical artists and others in the entertainment industry provide candid in-depth insights into how Covid-19 has affected their lives and careers, and how they are adapting to the new normal.

The official follow up film to the original WHEN THE BANDS STOPPED PLAYING, currently streaming on ten different platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube TV, iTunes and more.

Watch WHEN THE BANDS STOPPED PLAYING: The Covid Aftermath now 

right .HERE

Exclusive Interview: The Doobie Brothers' Patrick Simmons Talks RRHOF, Vegas Residency & New Music in the Works

(Photo: Andrew Macpherson)

We are flashing back to some of the best of the best content here at DailyBOOM.

ICYMI

When I was growing up in the late seventies The Doobie Brothers were truly a staple in my house. My dad was WAY into classic rock and for two hours each night (like it or not), I was given the kind of musical education that will truly last for my entire lifetime. The older I get, the more I realize just how much I love songs like "Long Train Running" or "China Grove" and it's not just because the bands' four Grammy's and 48 million records sold tell me that I should. I genuinely appreciate the intricacies of their work.

Based on their fanbase that numbers in the millions, it's clear that I'm not alone. The band wrapped up a summer tour with Santana only to announce that their first-ever Las Vegas residency will begin in early 2020. As if that isn't exciting enough the true shining moment of 2019 for The Doobie Brothers likely comes in the form of their first-ever nomination into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

I recently caught up with founding member/multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Patrick Simmons, to chat about all the exciting news and some new music to come from The Doobies. Check it out below!

(Photo: Tyler Habrecht)

Patrick Simmons on The Doobie Brothers finally being nominated for The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:  

"It feels great and everyone, including myself, is really pleased about it. You don't really think about it all the time because it's something that's out of your control, but when something like this comes along we really appreciate it. It's just a nomination so it doesn't mean that we're there yet, but at least we're on the path and that's pretty special. It's kind of a big deal (laughing), I think. 

If we were to make it in then the guys who founded the band, and the second configuration of the band that included Michael McDonald, I think all of those guys would be recognized. I would hope that as many of those guys that could, would choose to show up and have a go at playing because it would really be fun for everybody."

Patrick's thoughts on touring now:

"We did the tour with Steely Dan last year and then this summer we toured with Carlos Santana. I love shows where we're the headliner and so on, but I enjoyed the heck out of playing those shows with Carlos this year. We would jam with him almost every night. We would do "She's Not There" or something like that and just had a great time playing with him. 

When when we go off on our own we're just The Doobie Brothers in Concert and then two-thirds of the audience are the hardcore fans that have had the records and know the songs. That's when you can have those light-up moments when you can look out and see the audience with a surprised look on their faces and hear a spattering of applause when they know the songs. Those are such fulfilling moments for me personally

I love the medium-sized halls that have between 3000-5000 seats. Old theaters often sound really good. We recently played the Orpheum Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska and it was just so great. Such a fantastic theater and an incredible audience. I like the towns that don't always have big concerts coming through because it's a little more special when someone like The Doobie Brothers does play there. Those kinds of venues usually sound great and the audiences are enthusiastic and they're coming out just to see you. We have a great house engineer too that makes us sound really good onstage. You can feel the energy and it's as exciting and fun for us as it is for the audience." 

(Photo: Tyler Habrecht)

Patrick on discovering how to make some old songs feel brand new again:

"This year we did this thing at The Beacon Theater where we played "Toulouse Street" and "The Captain and Me" both front to back, all the songs and we ended up having a wonderful time. We had never played some of those songs in a live setting before and we realized how well they really translated. We had never tried them before because, in our own minds, they weren't the right songs to play live for our concerts. So this was something new that we discovered, not only do these songs really work, but they're fun to play too (laughing). 

We did a little tinkering with the arrangements to bring those songs forward a little bit and I think that those additions really brought the songs to another level. That was something that took us all by surprise and it brought us to a point where we had this interesting material that we had never considered using before. That made things more fun for everyone in the band. We've always included songs that were not hits in our setlists, but to be able to find material that we have never performed before ever, and have it work was a lot of fun. We threw these songs into the set and they really worked as far as the audience responding and so it's nice to have some old songs that feel new again.

We've only done a few of these shows so far, one in New York and another in San Francisco,  but they have been such fulfilling moments for myself and the rest of the band too. It's just so fun to challenge ourselves. Normally you start a show at one level and you move in an upward level of momentum until you get to your biggest hits and most popular songs. When you do an album all the way through the energy goes up and down and it's a little bewildering at first (laughing). The first show seemed a little weird but by the next one, we understood that the energy in this kind of setting flows more like if you're at home listening to a record. 

We also really take the time to tell some of the good stories behind these songs to help pull the audience in a little more too."

Patrick on new Doobie Brothers music:

"About six months ago or so, when we were all together, we went into the studio with some new stuff just to get our feet a little wet with some of the ideas that we had. Then we kind of sat on that material for a little while and our next task was to find a producer to work with. We wanted someone that could help us with perspective because it's always good to have that view from somebody outside of the band. We searched around and finally spoke to a guy named John Shanks and he has been working with us on some songs. We actually have some stuff in the can that we've recorded and pretty much finished, so we're talking about putting that out sometime next year. We're still in the early stages of figuring out how we're going to market it and what we're going to do with it. That's where we're at right now. I think we've got good songs and good performances so we just have to figure out where we're going with it. 

I know those of us that are writers are always working on something. Whether or not we'll end up using it for something, in those moments we have no idea, but in the back of our minds, there's always the thought that if The Doobie Brothers do some releases then this might be good for that. If not then they'll be good for something that we're doing individually on our own. Half of it is the fantasy of what might happen with the song (laughing), that's part of what being creative is all about. First, you have to imagine the music and then you have to imagine what you can do with it. I think it really enriches your life to have some creativity going on all the time. Since I discovered that I can write a song, it has been something that I've tried to do every day for all of my life. There's always something going on inside your head and every experience that you have, you reflect on it and figure out how you can use it creatively." 

Patrick on The Doobie Brothers first Las Vegas residency, beginning in 2020: 

"It was an opportunity that just presented itself. Obviously, it's kind of getting to be a 'thing' in Las Vegas. The business folks that run those entertainment centers where people just go to get away and play are always looking for something to get people in. They've been doing residencies with Aerosmith, Santana, Cher, Foreigner... there have just been countless artists doing it. In the past it was Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones, Wayne Newton (laughing) and so it's just a cool thing that we never really thought about doing ourselves. 

When it was offered we realized it's a great gig for an artist because you don't have to play and then travel to the next gig. The crew isn't packing up the gear every night and loading it just to unload it somewhere else the next day. Then there's the lighting and sound, just so many complicated components, so this is a real gift to any artist to be able to come in and play for a couple of weeks. As a touring professional band, it's lucrative and while we don't do it just for the money, we do have to get paid."

Patrick on what he hopes that people walk away with after seeing the band play live:

"I don't know if we are at the top of our game, but I do know that we have a really great band. Everyone is dedicated to doing the very best that we can. We work hard to make those three-part harmonies really tight and that's a huge part of the band. We are hard rocking and can get as heavy metal as anybody (laughing) because we like to play all kinds of music. That may be the oddest thing about the band, the fact that we're all over the map with what we play. There's country, some jazz-tinged stuff, we play super hard, loud stuff, we play straight-ahead blues. There are also ballads and some stuff that we think is really pretty (laughing) and delicate. 

We enjoy the challenge that comes with trying to inject different sounds and styles into our concert every night. We care about different musical forms and that's something that we really want people to understand after listening to the band play live."

(Photo: Kelly A. Swift)

Keep up to date on everything that The Doobie Brothers have going on by bookmarking their official site. Check out their tour dates here and grab some of the bands' merch too!

 

Exclusive Interview: Nick Van Eede of 'Cutting Crew' Embraces the Future While Reimagining His Past on 'Ransomed Healed Restored Forgiven'

ICYMI

I think that one of the coolest things about music is how it affords each and every one of us the ability to travel through time. You know what I mean, that twenty-second song intro that just for a flash of a moment makes you feel like it really is 1987 all over again. Some songs just stay with you, forever imprinted in your mind, following you through life like comfortable old friends, and no amount of passing time changes your love for them. Nick Van Eede, the co-founder, singer and songwriter of Cutting Crew, has created exactly that kind of gift for millions of people worldwide via "(I Just) Died In Your Arms", a song that shot to number one in 1987 and continues to pop up in pop culture to this day.

I think that most people believe that once you "make it" in the music industry you're sort of set for life if you handle your money properly. The actual truth is that the music business is at best, a harsh place to try and exist. You could be at the top of the charts and playing sold-out shows now and in six months you're back to waiting tables or washing dishes. The only solid guarantee is that every star eventually falls from the sky and then it takes talent, timing, and unshakable determination to get back up again. 

In his thirty-five years since starting Cutting Crew, Nick has experienced the highs of sold-out tours, as well as the unimaginable loss of Kevin MacMichael, the secret ingredient (and brilliant guitarist) that helped to balance the band. Despite the losses, a storyteller can never stay quiet for too long and over the last decade or so he has rebuilt the band with a new Cutting Crew co-conspirator, guitarist Gareth Moulton, who has truly honored the past while leaving his own imprint on the music.

The band was steadily gigging until Covid-19 brought the touring industry to a screeching halt, making this the perfect time for that new release that had already been planned. Ransomed Healed Restored Forgiven puts an incredible symphonic twist on a catalog of already beloved songs. It was a risky move but one that Nick completely embraced. We spoke recently about these reimagined classics and Nick was happy to really dig into the details of how this album came to life.

Nick Van Eede on embracing the idea of a symphonic album:

"It was a wonderful thing! Fifty years ago when my granddad would hear me playing guitar in the lounge he would say, 'your songs seem to work well, if only they had an orchestra' and then many years ago when we first got a publishing deal there was always mention of an orchestra. Over the years, I have performed 3 or 4 of the songs maybe 25 times with an orchestra.  Cutting Crew songs aren't better than anyone else's' and they're no worse than anyone elses', but I do kind of write those big melodies, and the layering of our arrangements just begged for it. I've joked about how I've been waiting for the call to do this and then there really was a call out of the blue from a record label to do it (laughing). Then came the million-dollar question of do you do this with songs that are so precious to millions of people and risk making it not as good. I finally decided to jump and so we jumped off the cliff together!!

It was time-consuming and meticulous work. I wish I could sexy it up and tell you that I flew all over the world to make this album but it didn't happen that way (laughing). You know how everyone is doing things now since the world has changed because of this virus?  People are recording remotely or doing concerts from their house, well this was done pre-Covid but really under the same rules because of how scattered we all are. The string arranger was in Manchester, my guitarist is in the middle of England, I'm in the south of England, the orchestra was in Prague, the engineer was in Slovenia and lastly our drummer, he was in Russia. It was quite a task and there were moments in time when we just said, 'f--k it this is just impossible'- like while trying to tell a Russian drummer that the high hat isn't quite right (laughing), those were the tricky bits. The beautiful thing was working with the string arranger, Pete Whitfield, I must say that it was a pleasure and gift for me.

It's not a perfect science because especially the rocking songs like "Any Color", have some great string parts but you can't really layer too much. I grew up playing classical guitar and if you came to my house now I wouldn't be playing rock music, I'd be playing you classical music because I know my composers and I'm pretty deep into them  I love it and sometimes I'm humbled by it you know, I listen to Mahler's "Adagio" and think, well that's it, there's no point in writing another note (laughing). When Pete, our string arranger, would send me huge manuscripts of notes I'd thank him and remind him that I'm not very good at reading music (laughing), then ask him to send the audio along as well. Only then I would get involved, which he liked. He told me so many acts in the past have hired him and they'd get what they get, so he was happy that I wanted to be involved."

Nick on reimagining Cutting Crew songs after the works of specific composers:

"I have recently worked with quite an acclaimed classical composer in this tiny little village in Sussex where I live. His name is Nigel Crouch and he has always loved "I've Been In Love Before". He insisted that the composer that was the best match was Sibelius and told me to listen to the last movement of Symphony #5. I checked it out and pointed Pete to that and so now on that song you can hear some movements a' la Sibelius.

"The Broadcast" was a risky one to makeover. When the song was first imagined I had this transistor radio and I would never listen to the pop stations. Instead, I'd go right up to the end of the dial on short wave and you'd just get these strange sounds. It would be like propaganda from North Korea or Arabic music and that was my little world at the time. I really wanted to get the feeling of when I was a teen in rural Sussex and so Pete and I both agreed that the style of music was like that of a British composer named Ralph Vaughan Williams. I was at first worried that the song might feel a bit too Broadway but hey, we're reimagining these songs and they're supposed to sound different, right?.

"(I Just) Died In Your Arms", the Reprise, has to be one of the most emotional recordings that I've ever had to do, just me and the orchestra. I think it was done in two takes, just did it and cut the takes together. Those words now as a 62-year-old man mean something completely different to me then when I originally wrote them as a 26-year-old guy. I've lost my father, I've lost my brother, I've lost Kevin my original guitarist and best pal, I have a daughter too- so many things have changed. I've always been good at writing fairly oblique lyrics and something that you can read whatever you want to in it but doing that one as an older guy meant a lot of tears. There were a lot of tissues on the floor (laughing). That song was in the style of Edward Elgar who is probably my favorite British composer. We got his trademark cellos to move around and sound very foreboding yet beautiful at the same time. That will go down as one of the most memorable moments in my entire career.

"Berlin In Winter" is now one of our biggest songs to play live and it stems from a story that you just can't make up. In 1989 when the wall fell, Cutting Crew was on tour and I remember watching the television with Kevin and seeing these amazing images and beautiful human moments. Three days later we were actually playing in Berlin. We had a hit record on their charts and a sold-out tour but only about twenty-five people came to the gig (laughing), quite rightly too. I think we did about six songs and had people onstage with us and then we went down to the wall together and had an incredible time. That has always been one of the abiding memories in my life and this song is an imaginary song about a guy who was sequestered by the Communists to build the wall, lived through all of the atrocities of it and then was there as an old man to see it fall. It's hard to write a story because you have to have a beginning, a middle, and an ending in only three verses, so I'm very proud of that one.

I knew it had to be Russian sounding for this recording,  Pete said  'that's Shostakovitch and I was thinking more Tchaikovsky, something with a haunting, descending cello line and again a quite cold and daunting sound, but definitely a Russian influence.

That time in Berlin, it was a blur and pure joy but no anger. There could have been people coming through from the east, pointing at the policemen or saying 'f--k you' or whatever, but instead it was a beautiful embracing evening. I have a memory of being with a big roadie friend of mine who had a hammer and dinged off a piece of the wall for me and I've still got that here somewhere. It has really stuck with me and I've played in Berlin 20 times at least since then. It's one of my favorite cities in the world. It shows those scars but it has done it very well. It's a special place and they've kept the wall intact in some places so that you can see it. It's just a little wall, not this gigantic thing, but of course, if they tried to cross it back then they would have been shot.

So if I make another million pounds I'd love to buy an apartment there. I'd love to live there as an older guy. Let it be said too that new Germany is a wonderful place. They've never ever tried to sweep it under the carpet, everywhere you go there are memorials to the history of the country. I think I work more there than anywhere else and I love it."



Nick on the legacy of "(I Just) Died In Your Arms":

"I knew it was special because that was reinforced by anyone that heard the really scratchy first demo. I was 25 then and had been writing quite well for about 7 years, so I had other things to compare it with. The longevity of it absolutely staggers me. Ten years after I thought well that was a good run (laughing), twenty years after it was an even better run. It may be 20 million people's worst song in the world but that doesn't take away from the other 200 million people that really like it. I've always just really embraced the song and it's a number one record that has really outlasted a lot of other number one records. I always refer to the song as 'she' and I say that she's my passport, she's like a lover, she's an accidental dinner conversation, she's my bank manager (laughing), so I'm quite happy to have her in my life.

When it came time to do this album I wanted to do this song near the end because I needed to know how we were going to make this album work first. I felt that touching this song was really risky and somehow it just came together. I don't really smoke but I had about ten cigarettes that day and a lot of Johnnie Walker as well to get the vocal right."

Nick on his writing process:

"Well, this is important, I never, ever sit down and tell myself I'm going to write a song about something in particular, like my daughter's blue hair (laughing). It just doesn't work that way. I do have the ability to write very obliquely though and that leaves my lyrics open to interpretation in a myriad of ways.

It has to hit a very high bar that I set for myself. I won't put anything out there in writing that I view as just a filler song. I'm always proud of my albums and while you don't have to like every song, they've hit my bar and that is always in the back of my mind. At the same time, when you give birth to something you must never share it too soon. Just let it roll and if it starts sounding a little like "Hey Jude", as an example, don't worry, it might not end up sounding anything like "Hey Jude". Don't get scared, it's just not there yet, and don't kill it too soon.

I really have to sit there and find that muse though. I usually write on the keyboards because I love them becauseI don't play them very well, so I have all sorts of happy accidents because I don't know what the f--k I'm doing (laughing). It's also all very phonetic and I've been brave enough to at times just make sounds that kind of hit with the music. Once you're really off and running then the actual lyrics just seem to pour out and you can be done with it even in an hour because you found what has rooted you to the song.

Also, I'll warn you, if during the course of this conversation you say something to me that I absolutely love it'll be written down and transferred to my ten-meter long piece of wallpaper that I sometimes stick up in my studio.  It has my little catchphrases, titles and sayings that I really like and so while creating something I can look up and see all of these possibilities. It's my responsibility as a songwriter to keep track of possibilities."



Nick on striking gold twice with guitarists' Kevin MacMichael and Gareth Moulton:

"When I found Kevin all those years ago it was like a good marriage because everything was easy, no egos when wrote together. He was my editor and very good at taking my straightforward jolly lyrics and making them darker. He would put some negativity in there (laughing) and it's what was needed. When I spoke at his funeral I think I judged the mood right and told that story, adding that if Kevin had his way that song would have been called "(I Just) Lived In Your Arms".  So to find Gareth Moulton after having already found a Kevin was just astonishing. He has to tip his hat to what Kevin did while at the same time being himself and he has done that masterfully. Gareth does all of the sensational guitar playing on the album. He's my best friend and to find somebody like that is so special."

Nick on embracing whatever comes next:

"We have had 22 gigs canceled so far this year, including one in Trinidad, plus Switzerland, Japan, and everything else. There is still a show scheduled for Budapest and one in Tel Aviv but there are no flights. Also, if I go then when I come home I'll have to quarantine for fourteen days, so playing requires real thought. That said, we're very clever humans and so I imagine we'll figure it all out in the end. Things are going to be different and I'm ready to embrace it. I love doing the unplugged things and so maybe Gareth and I will just be dueting for a while and telling the stories behind the songs. When we do the rock shows he always tells me to stop talking (laughing), but I enjoy telling the stories too.

In spite of all of the awful things, there are so many beautiful young people coming through in this world and I'm totally encouraged by them. They'll lead the way towards whatever is next for us all in this crazy world."

Get your own copy of Ransomed Healed Restored Forgiven at Cutting Crew's official site.  Check out their Facebook & Twitter for gig updates and behind-the-scenes fun.