Exclusive Interview: Autograph- Still 'Turning Up' Fans with Old Classics and Brand New Music

In light of the sudden passing of beloved founding Autograph member Randy Rand, DailyBOOM is flashing back to an interview with the whole band back in 2017.

ICYMI:

I recently spent a jam-packed weekend at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, MD. rocking out to a lineup that easily took me back to 1980-something over and over again. It really was heaven for this only occasionally reformed headbanger and if my sixteen-year-old self only had half a clue of where she would eventually find herself many moons later... yeah, not in a million years. Along the way, I had an opportunity to interview Autograph, thirty-some-odd years after winning their first album by being the tenth caller on a radio request line. The lyrics and melodies from  Sign In Please will forever be imprinted in my brain but absolutely nothing prepared me for the four guys that came through the door.

Steve Lynch, Randy Rand, Simon Daniels, and Marc Wieland had left the stage just minutes earlier and within a minute or two of meeting became one of my highlights of this whole festival. They are talented, tight, connected enough to finish each others' sentences and they are really hilarious. Positive energy, gratitude, and a connection to the fans are what keep Autograph playing nearly forty years after first finding (turn up the) radio success. Check out my chat with the band below!

(Photo: Cate Meighan)

Cate Meighan: You guys sounded great out there. How did it feel?

Steve Lynch: It felt fantastic! The energy was good and the crew really had everything together for us. It was nice to be able to flip ourselves around out there and just be able to enjoy it.

Simon Daniels: It's nice in a show when you see the audience's energy grow and they start participating. It's then pretty obvious from our perspective that they're feeling comfortable and that helps to fuel our performance. The way that we look at it is that it's like a big party and we're a big family. I've never understood why people say good luck instead of have a good time.

SL: We should change that (laughing). Let's put out a memo- good time, not good luck. Because honestly, luck has nothing to do with it.

CM: How is performing now different from when you first started out thirty-plus years ago?

SL: We're older (laughing)! I think it's more relaxed now and it is different because our fans are older, but they're bringing their kids along. Seeing their kids getting into the music is a really big bonus. It says a lot when people are still coming out to see you three decades later. We actually wrote a song about it, “You Are Us We Are You”.

It's about the audience being involved and every generation represented because part of every generation loves this type of music. It's happy, up music that you can sing along to. This thing called grunge came along and everyone wanted to do heroin and commit suicide. That wasn't nearly as much fun (laughing). The '80s really were just the best.

SD: It feels awesome because we get to travel and a lot of stuff goes in to when we play- whether it's for fifteen minutes or for fifty minutes. It really does pay off because there is no better feeling than hosting this kind of party.

SL: We play 60-100 dates a year now and it's so much easier than it was years ago. Now we're flying in and we make sure that our backstage riders have the venues supplying the amplifiers. This way we don't need a big crew. It's just the four of us and maybe some guests that we fly with us into the shows. It's much less hassle and it costs a lot less because we don't have to hire a tour bus, pay a driver, then pay for fuel and insurance. It's much easier for us now. There was one year when we toured for eleven months straight. We went from touring with Motley Crue to Heart and then back to Motley Crue again. Plus, we were doing club dates in between the tour. If they had us playing three or four nights on tour then we would play at clubs on our off nights. We would play eleven nights in a row, then take one off. We did that for almost a year and in the end, we were really burnt out, but we were also really tight.

CM: How do you feel that your newer music differs from the classic Autograph tunes that we all know so well?

SD: We're working on bridging the two. We're heavier but it's because we're more organic and the music is raw and polished. The songs are very much the same, uplifting with pretty positive energy. Memorable melodies and harmonies.

SL: We still love choruses that make people sing along. That was a big part of the 80's niche.

SD: The lyrics may sound a little more modern in the way that people talk now but it's still the same theme. Always up, we don't need to the darkness of life. The old stuff the fans know but I'm also surprised by the reaction we're getting with the newer stuff. All the generations that are listening seem to really respond to it. It is very difficult to come and play a new song. We're slowly transitioning while keeping the familiar elements. We've got to be creative. I think that we still have a lot to offer and we're young spirits so we've got to do this, for us.

CM: What is your song-writing process like now?

SD: We table all of our ideas. We know what we sound like and we know how we play. I write a lot of lyrics and ideas.

SL: We then all kind of join in.

SD: Everyone arranges the song and it sort of creates the sound that we have. We all talk often so everyone is really in touch with the ideas. It really is a whole band effort.

CM: What's next for Autograph?

SL: We take it one step at a time. The next thing is releasing our new album. Then keeping ourselves out there touring and writing more.

SD: We know what we want to do and we have the spirit of a new band. It's a unique situation because there are fans that might have been attached to a different lead singer. There are barriers to break through and in time, we're doing that. At the end of the day, we feel like we're conquering those barriers.

CM: Do the fans play a big part in why you're still taking the stage like the one at the M3 Rockfest?

SL: That's why we came back to play in the first place! We were out of the game for a quarter of a century. I mean we were really (laughing) out of it. It took us maybe four rehearsals to find our comfort zone when we first got back together. It was like riding a bicycle with flat tires at first but by that third rehearsal, there was air in those tires. By playing with so many different people throughout your lifetime, you know what your job is before you even go into rehearsal. You know your part and so by the time we go in we each already know our parts. We know our vocals and our instruments. There are times when the first time that we've played a song as a group is onstage. We each have a recording, we learn our part and experience makes it all work.

SD: Getting the band together was effortless and when things are effortless you know to just go with the flow. There was friendship, mutual respect and a clear vision. I've been in bands before but I've never felt like I've had real friends. We all look out for each other and I've never had that in a band before. A lot of our success now has to do with our state of mind. Because we're older and we realize that what's good for the band is actually now good for each one of us.

SL: We have a good camaraderie. We drove eleven hours yesterday and most of the time we were either laughing or sleeping.

SD: Not one single fistfight (laughing).

CM: So since it's the fans that lit a fire under you to get Autograph back together in the first place, what do you most want them to know?

SD: During the show we feel like we're in a big living room together. People seem to feel more comfortable when they see others feeling comfortable. No darkness, no drama .We want them to have a good time and a good life. They're on this journey with us.

SL: We want the fans to keep coming to see us play. It feels like it's getting better each time we play. We just want them to walk away just knowing that they have shared the show with us. We see them as our friends and they are on stage with us. We are also right beside them in the audience with them. We will always go out and take photos, give autographs and anything like that. We really want them to feel like they are a big part of the whole experience, because for us, they are.

Check out Autograph's official site here

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Exclusive Interview: Steve Lynch on All Things Autograph, a New Creative Beginning with Alena Rae & the Importance of Good Energy

Photo: Sloane Morrison

It's always fun to get to spend a few minutes with Steve Lynch, lead guitarist/vocalist of Autograph. Since it has been a while I thought I'd check in with him ahead of this year's M3 Rockfest (happening May 3-5 in Columbia, MD). This past year has brought the band new music, a spot on Billboard's classic rock chart and of course, an impressive (and ever-growing) list of tour dates. As if all of those things aren't keeping him busy enough, Lynch is also managing some of Autograph's business details and readying a new creative project with his equally new fiance.  Not only did Lynch grant me a few minutes of his time, but it didn't take long for my subject to also become my teacher. I love when that happens, check it out below.  

Photo: Autograph Official Facebook

Cate Meighan: It has been awhile, how's everything going for you and for the band?

Steve Lynch: Everything is going great. We're going back out on tour on May 2nd and we have a lot of dates that aren't listed yet on our website that will be added on.in the coming weeks. We've also got a new single  "Meet Me Halfway" and so things are fantastic. We're taking a more subtle approach with this song and video because we've got something big planned in the coming months. We're going to be releasing a big version of "Turn Up the Radio" with a compilation of live video concert clips and that is really exciting for us. We're saving the big production for that release and sticking with a calmer approach to "Meet Me Halfway". 

We're taking more of a just releasing singles approach for the foreseeable future, rather than full cd's. Right now it's better to work on one song at a time and to focus on just really perfecting and releasing it. I've got one in the works right now called "Big Foot Down" and we'll probably release that within this year of course. We all live in different places and so with that, plus the touring I think one song at a time is certainly the way to go now for us.

CM: I know in the past we have talked quite a bit about how the musical landscape has changed and that means that you guys need to be out there playing live.

Photo: Sloane Morrison

SL: Yes, the reason so many bands are out there on tour now is because that's where the money is at. You don't sell a lot of merchandise online, people want to buy it at a show and they want you to sign it. We always do a meet and greet after the show and sign everything and then have a photo op for everybody. We make it really personal and don't rush people through like some bands do. People that wait in line, so many of them end up framing their signed shirt or cd and hang it on their wall. It becomes a treasured piece to them and that's what we want it to be. We're there to really connect with the fans and make those few minutes special.

CM: There is so much merch out there now, everything from coffee to hoodies to candles. How well does it actually sell?

SL: We sell a lot at the festivals and state fairs, places like that where people actually have come out to see you. At a casino, they're already there gambling any way so they might as well catch a show too (laughing). It's not the same kind of atmosphere. 

CM: Are the festivals still your favorite kinds of shows?

SL: Yeah definitely, well depending on the weather of course (laughing). I enjoy the casinos but the big outdoor festivals are my favorites.

CM: Events like M3 Rockfest really do attract the most diehard fans around. Even when you're out in the crowd on the lawn it feels like an extended family reunion.

SL: It feels extraordinarily good with the fans now. Everyone knows us for "Turn Up the Radio" of course, but when I watch them singing the lyrics to songs that weren't singles I'm blown away. It's cool to see teenagers with them too. I think the 80's stuff was really the last rock that you could just sing along to. The '90s came along and it just wasn't the same. There weren't as many songs that you could turn up in your car and just sing along to. I think teenagers now like our music because who doesn't want to be able to sing along to a great song? 

Photo: Sloane Morrison

CM: I've had people mention the songwriting of the '90s and how while the songs maybe didn't stick as well, the songwriting grew. What are your thoughts on that?

SL: Yes and I do feel like the '90s got much more real. The music addressed things like suicide, depression, drug addiction and so it had a definite purpose. Just like with Beatnicks in the coffeehouses back in the '60s, their lyrics were very deep and often morose. I really do feel that the truth being out there and reaching people that are going through all sorts of heavy emotions, that's important. Having serious lyrics and every song not just being about a fantasyland is important. Rock seems to have stayed in a darker place and some of the heavy metal now is really deep and dark. I understand it, but I also think that the same people that identify with these things also need an escape or something to make them feel happy. 

There's a Japanese scientist and author named Masaru Emoto, that has studied the effect that words and music have on water. In his book The Hidden Messages in Water, he talks about playing classical music near springs, rivers and ponds all over the world. They would play music and speak words near the water and then freeze it and take a microscopic picture of the frozen water. This crystalline formed when kind words were spoken and classical music or ballads were played, and it's absolutely beautiful. When they played heavy music or rap music with heavy undertones when they froze it and looked microscopically the crystalline was all red and black blobs. You can even google it to see the pictures. That means that water is actually intelligent and changes based on its' surroundings.

So, if we're 70% water how do words and music affect us? It really got me to thinking and I feel like, at least for me, it should be more about positivity and sending a good message out there. Knowing how water is influenced I would hate for our music to in any way and on any level add to peoples' depression or negative feelings. Painting a really dark portrait out there and then having people feel the depressing feelings that come with that portrait just isn't something that I want to do.

CM: Wow, I didn't know that. It kind of proves how things really are subliminally affected and internalization is real.

SL: Yes exactly. These things are very, very real. Even when it comes to watching television I try to stick with educational programming. Things affect us, it's scientifically proven. If you're selective with what you watch or who you associate with, you'll notice a difference in yourself. So I'm very selective with my close friends because they have a big influence on my life. I'm an extremely private person because of the energy that's out there. When I post on social media it's always something positive or spiritual, or it's something funny. I want people to know that I'm in that kind of light and I don't want any darkness. When people say negative things I delete it right away. I ignore it and choose not to keep the tennis game of negativity going. It rarely happens though because I don't post things to draw that out of people. If you're in the spotlight then you're in a position to be able to inspire them, so why not do that. 

CM: Speaking of positive things, congratulations on your engagement to Alena Rae.

SL: Thank you, I'm so happy! Alena and I are also working together on a project called 2:22.  We decided to it call it that because the number just so happens to come up all the time with us. So many times we post things at 2:22 or we see the number randomly show up almost every day and so finally we looked it up because it was so prevalent for us. If you look up the numbers 2:22 you'll see that it means a new beginning and that positive things are coming. When we learned the meaning then we decided that it had to be the name of the project. Coincidences aren't merely coincidences, there's a reason for them. Sometimes you just have to wait a little while to figure out the meaning behind them.

Check out Autograph's official site for updates from the band, new merch and of course, TOUR DATES!   You can also catch them at the M3 Rock Festival May 3-5th in Columbia, MD!

Exclusive Interview: Autograph's Steve Lynch on Touring and New Music to Come

ICYMI!

It's always fun to get to spend a few minutes with Steve Lynch, lead guitarist, and vocalist for Autograph and since it has been awhile, I thought I would check in with him. This past year has brought the band a new album, a spot on Billboard's classic rock chart, a few new videos and of course, an impressive (and ever-growing) list of tour dates. As if all of those things aren't keeping him busy enough, Lynch is also managing some of Autograph's business details. Still, he took a few minutes to connect with me and Autograph fans will be thrilled to learn that there are plenty of great things in the works!

Cate Meighan: Autograph has been really busy so far this year! How's the tour going? 

Steve Lynch: It's going great, we're still adding a lot more dates too. Our booking agent, Big Time Entertainment, is always updating stuff and as of this week, we have five more dates confirmed which is just great. We're really excited to still be out there and it's nice because we travel with just the four of us. I'm also doing the tour managing and business managing so it's so much easier when it's only the band together on the road. It would be a lot of extra money to bring people along and we're basically like weekend warriors anyway. We fly out, play and then usually return home again pretty quickly. 

CM: How much do you love playing the rock festivals now? 

SL: Oh, I just love playing the festivals because the whole energy of them is just fun. Just looking around gives me that feeling of what it was like back in the 80's and it's such a great vibe when you walk out onstage to play one of them. We're also seeing a few different generations of fans in the audience, which is cool. Some kids grew up listening to us because their parents did, and the grandkids are now getting into the music as well. The 80's were like the last generation of songs that people could really sing along with. The 90's just weren't like that. There are very few grunge songs to sing along with because they're not happy. Kids still love to be able to sing along and the 80's music is just perfect for that. I think that's one of the big reasons why the 80's, in general, have taken on a new life.  

Also, when we get to see other band members from back in the 80's out there at the festivals it's like a family reunion. It's always cool to see them still loving to play and enjoying the fans as much as we do. It feels really good.  

CM: Your new video, "Every Generation" seems to have generated some really good buzz. What kind of feedback have you received from the fans? 

SL: Well, we're excited about it and people seem to really like this video a lot. Paul Gervasi, the director, did a really great job on it. It wasn't really filmed in Juarez Mexico though because that would be a little dangerous (laughing). It was actually shot in the Superstition Mountains, a really beautiful area outside of Phoenix, Arizona.  

CM: I love the fact that your new album, Get Off Your Ass has made its' way onto Billboard's classic rock chart. What was your reaction when you first got the news? 

SL: It's surprising! My first thought was, did that really just happen (laughing)? When the 80's ended abruptly, I did some stuff that was a little more out there because I thought that was the direction that music was going to go in. The record companies just weren't listening to anything that we tried to do. If you were in an 80's band, forget it they didn't want to hear anything that you had to offer, because they had moved on to a whole new kind of style and sound.  

It was really disappointing and I eventually did release that album on my own anyway, but to come back now is amazing. I really just thought it was over, so to put out this album and to realize that there's still life in this genre of music is a very cool thing. I think I'm more appreciative now than I was back then. I mean I was always really excited about it, but it was like a whirlwind. We would be on tour sometimes for 11 months straight and writing stuff for movies or television while we were on the road. We would come into town to film something like American Bandstand or Solid Gold and then go right back out and do more shows. We were really happy that so many good things happened for us but we never really had time to sit back and enjoy it.  

Now, we're more mature and we have a different insight into it. Here I am at this age and this is all happening again and it feels incredible. We're blessed to be out there still playing live and to have people enjoy it just as they did way back then. It's just a blessing to be able to play live and to do these festivals, and also to still be able to record. I never saw myself doing it again, so to be reliving this part of my life is really gratifying.  

CM: There are so many cool things happening for Autograph right now, so what comes next? 

SL: We have something out called Get Off Your Ass Coffee, which is an Italian roast and it's really good. We're planning some more new things for our band merchandise so keep checking our official site for updates.   

Most importantly, we're are going to release another single or two off of the album because there's some really powerful stuff on there that we just can't let go to waste. So, we'll do another video or two and let people enjoy it. We are also already writing material for the next album. We're probably going to release it one single at a time until they form a compilation. A lot of newer artists are doing it one single at a time as well.  

We want to keep pushing ahead but we also want to make sure that people have time to digest the music as it comes out. Plus, if we're concentrating on just one single at a time then we can put a lot more energy and innovation into that one song and then give it a really great video too. I think at this point that's a really smart way for us to do it and as we perfect one single then the fans will really be looking forward to the next one. I want our fans to know that we're working on new stuff and new videos are also on the way from us!  I also want to thank them for the decades of support because none of this could happen for any of us without them!

Check out Autograph's official site for updates from the band, new merch and of course, TOUR DATES!