WEBVTT - Steve Perry 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:05.960 High Heart Radio Presents Inside the Studio, I'm your host, 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:10.160 Joe Levy. Now this time around, I got to sit 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.560 down with Steve Perry, who is the singer for Journey, 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:18.160 provided the soundtrack to somewhere between seventy and one ten 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.120 million high school proms, as well as several billion Trips 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.600 Down the Highway and the final episode of The Sopranos. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:29.159 We talked about his new album Traces, his return to 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:33.000 music after a two decade absence. We talked about the 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.559 loss of a loved one that motivated that return, and 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.239 we talked about the pressures and pains that led to 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.560 that long absence, a time when he found he couldn't 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:49.640 even listen to music, let alone make it. When Perry 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.760 joined Journey in seven, he was twenty six and he 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:57.240 had already been through several bands but never landed an 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:01.640 album deal. For their part, Ernie had already recorded three 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.920 albums to not much notice. They were technically gifted. Guitarist 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.160 Neil Showan and keyboardist Gregg Rolie had played with Santana, 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.400 and at that point Journey was a slightly proggy band 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.240 that sang about walking across the clouds and then backed 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:24.560 it up with five or six minutes of skyscraping guitar solos, 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.240 so they had chops. What they lacked was a rock 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:37.199 and roll hert. Perry provided just that. Yea, so how 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.039 The first song he ever wrote with Neil Shane, Patiently, 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:47.440 was packed with personal longing, both for loves and success. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:51.880 You listen to the lyrics, it's really a story about 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:55.040 where I'm at at that moment, talking to them, about 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.040 patiently waiting to join that banner, to be under the 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.320 lights that they were under, or your lights inside of me. 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:09.520 This we bring to you. The opening track on the 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:15.160 first album Perry recorded with Journey Infinity was Lights, which 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.480 is familiar to anyone who's seen a San Francisco Giants game, 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.400 and you can hear the classic soul music that Perry 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.840 grew up loving in those opening chords. Once again, this 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.840 song is packed full of longing, except in this case, 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:36.120 it's not about wanting to be under the spotlight. It's 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:40.520 about wanting to return home. In some sense, those two 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:45.480 impulses and the contradiction between them, would define everything Perry 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.360 and Journey did over the next decade. He helped create 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:55.399 a stadium packing monster of rock. Seven consecutive multi platinum albums, 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.680 eighteen top forty singles, from the speeding ticket inducing stomper 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:11.440 me Way You Want It Where to the slow waltzing 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.880 Open Arms, which will be one of the cornerstones of 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.160 the power Ballot Hall of Fame if they ever get 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:34.320 around the building. One should have been done. No Hall 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:41.400 Magic feels. And then there were songs that combined both 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.760 stomping and power balloting, like Don't Stop Believing or Oh 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:52.880 Sherry single from Perry's first solo album, Street Talk. So 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.520 Steve Perry was a guy who could combine prog rock 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:00.080 with soul music, or the classicism of Bruce Springsteen with 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:04.520 new wave synths and drums. He had a voice that 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.360 was operatic Freddie Mercury style. But one reason his music 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.080 became a soundtrack to everyday life is that it actually 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:18.080 felt rooted in it. It really doesn't matter that there 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:22.320 is no such place as South Detroit. What matters is 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:24.960 that there are lonely people who feel the way the 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.360 small town girl and the city boy and Don't Stop 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:32.600 Believing feel, and who want to both experience that feeling 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.840 and get some relief from it. For the four minutes 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:40.680 in nine seconds, that that song lasts. Now, there were 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:43.679 a lot of those kinds of people. Journey's Greatest Hits 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:49.479 has sold better than ten million copies. But in February, 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.279 Steve Perry played the last of seventy four dates on 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.080 Journeys tour for their ninth album, the aptly named Raised 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:01.360 on radio, and he returned home and for a long 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:07.279 while that was it. He was done. Perry was suffering 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.360 from what he describes his PTSD, and he went back 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.000 to the San Joaquin Valley in central California where he 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.760 grew up in order to recover. And PTSD is actually 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.880 something other musicians I've spoken with referred to when they 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.240 talk about how difficult it can be to adjust to 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.560 the real world after life on the road. In Perry's case, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.080 it was something more than that, a burnout so severe 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:33.640 that initially he found himself unable to listen to any 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.960 music other than the soothing sounds of ambient He spent 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:41.960 time writing as Harley, caring for family, and trying to 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.520 reconnect with himself. Though he'd make another solo album in 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.080 four it was a little out of step with things 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.839 at the height of grunge, and though he'd reunite with 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.320 Journey for an album in nine six. He did not 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.560 want to tour for it. He seemed to be done 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:01.960 with the hot light that he had been longing for 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:06.440 back when he wrote patiently in ninety seven. But something 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.960 happened during Perry's time away. The music he made with Journey, 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.160 critically dismissed at the height of its popularity, is corporate 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:19.240 rock began to be more beloved, which is the kind 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.599 of thing that does happen as cultural gatekeepers begin to 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.120 change and the people raised on radio when it was 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:28.160 defined by Journey to begin to make culture of their own. 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:34.479 In Perry's case, Patty Jenkins, whould go on to direct 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:38.880 the blockbuster Wonder World, contacted him about using Don't Stop 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.680 Believing in a scene for her two thousand and three 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.920 independent film Monster, and shortly after she made the request, 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:48.520 Perry turned up on set, asking how he could help 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:52.599 her with her movie. The two became friends. Four years later. 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.560 Don't Stop Believing turned up again in the two thousand 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.960 and seven finale of The Sopranos, after which it shot 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.920 right up the iTunes chart, becoming the number three selling 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:09.200 download twenty four years after its release, and the Journey 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:13.360 revival would only continue from there. It's that that revival 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.440 did nothing to coax Perry back into public life, but 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:21.240 eventually he met a woman who would ultimately do so. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.880 In two thousand and eleven, Patty Jenkins directed an episode 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:29.200 of five, an anthology of TV movies about breast cancer 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:33.360 and its impact on people's lives. Perry was visiting Jenkins 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:35.840 one day when she was editing, and he was struck 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:38.040 by one of the extras in a scene that featured 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:43.160 real cancer patients. It was Kelly Nash, a Los Angeles psychologist. 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:48.120 Perry asked for an email introduction, but Jenkins wanted him 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:52.240 to know Nash's condition before reaching out. She had been 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:56.080 in remission, but her cancer had returned and spread to 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.160 her lungs and bones. At that moment, I had the 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.760 opportunity to send no email, pull back, no harm, no foul, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.200 Perry told Rolling Stone recently. I would just go back 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.280 to my safe life. Instead, I said, send the email, 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.880 and an email turned into a phone call that lasted 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.200 more than five hours, and soon enough the two were 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.760 living together. They had just a year and a half 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:35.119 together before Nash passed away in December. Dot wolf Fly 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:52.840 Golden before her death Nash asked Perry for a promise 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:59.200 that he would not return to isolation. In fact, she 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.920 urged him to return to music. That's part of the 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:09.000 remarkable story behind Traces, and Perry had already been working 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.720 on some music before he began recording Traces To. The 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.480 most heartbreaking songs on the album, Most of All and 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.320 in the Rain, were actually written before he ever met 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.080 Kelly Nash. But one reason the recording of this album 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.280 took five years is that Perry actually built a home 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.760 studio so that he could work his own way, at 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.040 his own pace, and he did that work very much 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:37.920 in private. Those who participated signed nondisclosure agreements. The album 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:41.240 certainly has music of loss and heartbreak, but it also 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.840 has songs that that had that healing vibe of Perry's 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:51.640 return to his hometown, like Nowhere Racing, which involves the 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.319 high school reunion, reconnection and some time in the backseat 0:09:55.360 --> 0:10:06.440 of a car. And then there are songs that involved 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:11.760 both heartbreak and healing, like Perry's remarkable cover of the 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.520 Beatles I Need You. That cover was actually a long 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.360 time coming. Perry had been thinking about what he might 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.000 want to do with that song, written by George Harrison 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.280 since he first heard it on the soundtrack to Help 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:29.800 in nineteen. He told me about playing his version of 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:35.440 it for Harrison's widow, Olivia, and about how music, something 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:40.240 he swore he'd never returned to, became once again the 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:45.360 most powerful focus of his life. Here's what else he 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:57.480 had to say to me. I'm lonely, could be Steve Perry. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:10:59.800 Welcome to inside the studio. Thank you, it's nice to 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.200 be here. Oh, you've got the motorcycle boots and you 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:05.319 actually ride. I do have motorcycle boots, but I sold 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.080 my bike. I had to get rid of it. I 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:08.800 was afraid I was gonna kill myself, but I did 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.400 save my life. When I first left the band, first 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.720 thing I did was go back to my hometown and 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.160 jump on Harley that I bought. I never owned before. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:20.400 I bought a soft tail Custom was a beautiful motorcycle. 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:22.880 I bought it and by Salia, California, and I drove 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.440 it to Hamford, California, put it in a storage unit 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:28.040 which I rented, and it lived there. So every time 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.079 I could have had hometown of mine, I just parked 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:31.680 the car and jump on that bike and I'd ride it. 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.840 Out in the country where the Vince posts and the 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.920 jack Rabbits were of my youth. To be honest with you, man, 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:40.800 I did that a lot back then. There was no 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.360 helmet law. I was just long hair flying behind you. 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:45.360 You know. I kind of helped put my head back 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.679 together again. Did you grow up riding? No, But I 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:50.520 did have a Honda when I was a young kid, 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:52.079 I had a Honda trail bike, so I used to 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.280 drive to school. So I kind of like scooters like that. 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.680 You know. Wait, so this Harley, this is like the 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.080 fulfillment of some sort of it was it was. I 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.240 finally bought a Harley and it was an Evolution engine, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:07.800 beautiful and soft tail custom had a Cabernet color tank 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:11.560 and fenders, just really beautiful. I used to drive out 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.720 in the country and then after it helped put my 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:19.280 brain back together and give me that comfort, I actually 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.680 just gave it to somebody about a year because I 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.000 just didn't think I should be on it more because 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.679 I'm I'm just not that talented writing anymore. Were in 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.480 an accident, well, when I used to drink, I certainly 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.680 would lay it down a couple of times, right because 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.640 the truism is that there are two kinds of motorcycle riders, 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.719 those who have been in an accident and those who 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.360 will be in an accident. That's right, that's right. How 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.120 bad was it when you laid it down? Well, I 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:44.920 was actually just coming out of a bar. I had 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:47.440 had too many drinks, and I just went to write 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.920 it and started and I lost my balance and then 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:53.040 dropped it. With people who don't ride don't realize no 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:55.880 matter of pounds, it's heavy, it's heavy. I had to 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.480 have two buddies help me straighten it up. So that's 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.400 kind of taught me that, remember when I and drink 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.360 and ride. The thing Number two is that to maybe 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:06.559 I'm just not that skilled of a writer. You've said 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.520 that when you left the band thought this Harley had 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.640 helped put your head back together. But you've talked about 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:14.040 that as a period where you had a kind of PTSD. 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.679 I did what form did this PTSD take for you? 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.360 For me, I could not listen to music of any kind, 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:25.280 and I could not sing or write music of any kind. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.360 The only thing I could listen to was stuff that 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.559 was called ambient at that time, which was like liquid mind. 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:36.640 Steve Roach had some music out This was like ambient 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.199 and there was no drums, there's no guitars, there's no voices, 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.480 there was no you know, anything like that. And it 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:47.240 was just something I thought that, especially liquid mine, the 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:52.080 changes of liquid mind, sort of we're emotionally putting me 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:54.080 back together a little bit at a time. But it 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.240 was quite some time before I could listen to the 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.480 music of my youth, which was the R and B 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:01.920 and said Cooks and all that. It took a while 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:03.680 just to get back to that and just to stick 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.640 with that notion of putting your mind back together. That 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.320 PTSD it sounds like also you were self medicating at 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:13.440 that point, self medicating. I was not medicating. There's no 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.559 doubt that before I even left the group, there were 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:21.800 all in some sort of behaviors, okay, And that contributed 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:26.800 to the emptiness. That was a feeling of disconnected with 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.400 the passion for music. It was a pretty scary thing. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.760 So I didn't just go back to my hometown and disappear. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.560 I I reconvened with some feelings and streets and the 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.400 country roads and the old ice cream parlor. Plus I 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.240 had at that time my father's sister was still alive, 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:44.600 and I went and helped take care of her because 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.120 she was in her nineties, and got her situated and 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:51.040 visited her a lot because she was going from from 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:55.240 one home of assisted living to another as her needs 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.760 became more required for assistance. So I was taking care 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:00.800 of her too. I was a thing I was doing 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.600 at the time. You mentioned the music that had first 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.320 met a lot to you, the music that you grew 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.640 up on. Tell me more about that. Who were the 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:12.400 singers that you learned from. Oh, my goodness, the ones 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.840 I learned the most from. We're pocket singers. They had 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:20.760 rhythm in their phrasings. The Sam Cooks, the Jackie Wilson's, 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.800 the Levi Stubbs from the Four Tops. Even Smokey Robinson 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.280 in his own way was very light and lilty, but 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.640 so so full. Marvin Gay of course, then later came 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.880 Glady's Night. Um. I love the Supremes. When I was 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.560 growing up, you know, I was really big Motown fan. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.320 So besides the songwriting and recording of the music I 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.360 grew up with, there was this other factor of what 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.400 were they doing? Meaning, how are they recording it? How 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.000 does it sound that way? And why does it feel 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.520 that way? And how did they get that drum sound, 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.000 and what kind of echoes on the voice of Levi 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:00.000 Stubbs and the song Bernadine or Baby I Need Your 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.480 Loving There or the Marvin Gay Troubled Man. I mean, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:06.680 there was just another focus that started to show up 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.000 in my heart of trying to learn from all that 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.680 at an early age are production engineering. They were, but 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.520 they were invaluable things that I thought I needed to 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.960 pay attention to. And I started really early on listening 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:24.160 to to the whole thing because I realized very early on, 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.520 like about seven eight years old, why does it feel 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.880 in sound that way? It wasn't just a forty five? 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.720 What went into this? Why does it come out like that? 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.160 I wanted to know what's behind it? So I slowly 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.360 started to just go to school, so to speak, with 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:45.360 going into these tracks, listening to the echoes, is it stereo? 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.040 Isn't mono? My goodness's mono? Wow? Okay? And started really 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.320 getting into why it works the way it does, you know, 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.480 And then all of a sudden years later when the 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.560 Beatles showed up, what I found fascinating is if you 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.800 listen to Motown, most of those are done on four track, 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.439 and if you listen to the early Beatles for sale record. 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.720 It's four track because you can hear that they've recorded 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.399 like three tracks and bounced them to the left of 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.240 the band. Then you can hear that they have on 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:18.200 no Reply. For instance, they have Ringo and I think 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.960 George and maybe Paul in the distance on the right 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:26.720 side on one track, accentuating the downbeat of the chorus 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:32.720 no we plan do. Okay, So you got ring on 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.200 the right going and pinching the symbol with a bassed 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.000 on boom. Okay. See you get that in time with 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:42.080 what's already there on the left side when they get 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:46.919 the basic. So they're accentuating with an accent stuff that 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.399 works with the main track in the most cool way. 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.000 And then they have two tracks left of them to 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.000 mess around and do vocals down the middle. Now what's 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.080 really fascinating is if you listen to lead vocal of 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.720 John in the middle, the echoes on the right, it's 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.440 not on the left. So when they're mixing this stuff, 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.080 these are the things. These are the decisions I've decided 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.920 to make to give it spread, to give it this 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:16.679 inclusive feeling. Dude. Four channels, four channels. What that means 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.160 is that they had to really make a commitment. Once 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.679 you commit to these tracks, you can't go back. It 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.560 isn't like today where you got tracks to choose from. 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:28.520 You know, like we're recording right now, you've got multiple 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.439 tracks we can choose from. No, you got four channels. 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.000 Since we're talking about the Beatles, there's a Beatles song 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.480 on Traces on your new album, Yes there is I 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.720 Need You. How did you come to choose that one? 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.520 What drew you to it? When I was really younger? 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.760 I love the help her, but there was one song 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.080 by George Harrison called I Need You that was so 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.840 beautiful and it was a Bossanova field. They were kind 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.399 of into that Bossanova thing at that time. They did 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.280 a lot of tunes like that. Though I liked it, 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.560 I thought it was a bigger song than that. I 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.760 wasn't being there rative. I just thought, my goodness, this 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.040 is such a great song. I think it needs a 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:06.760 different treatment. And I knew that as a kid, so 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.520 that when it came time to do the Traces record, 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.520 So this is when you've been thinking about her feeling 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.639 for a long time, then well that has been in 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:16.760 the back pocket for years since I was a kid. 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.479 So I turned to my co producer, engineer Tom Flowers, 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.399 and said, Tom, you know, I got this idea. I 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:26.640 got the sketch of me just with acoustic voice on 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.600 one of my drives. Can I play for him? It's 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:31.680 a Beatles song called I Need You by George Harrison. 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:34.640 So I played it for him and he loved it. 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:36.879 So the next thing I know, Vinny cal Udo was 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.720 over there recording some drums I think for no more crying. 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.480 I said, Vinnie, I got this other song. Would you 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.679 mind just doing a pass on it? She? Sure, Man, 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.200 what do you got? I played it for him and says, oh, yeah, 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.080 you know, Vinny Caludo has got a feel from heaven. 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.560 So he went out there were the past just nailed it. 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.199 So from that point on, that song became what I 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.680 always envisioned it to be, which is the piano and 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:03.439 voice at the beginning, then coming in and growing and 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.040 growing with background vocals. I wrote different background vocals at 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.119 the outro then are on the original and with a 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:15.600 drum break going into them. And it's on my record now. 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.040 I wouldn't have that if it wasn't for Olivia. By 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:21.040 that because I was only going to put it on 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:23.600 my record if I got her. So you played her 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.800 the finished version. So I brought the CD into Olivia 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:29.960 and uh, she turned it on and listened to the 0:20:29.960 --> 0:20:32.040 whole thing top to bohm. And I was very nervous 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:35.520 because this is Olivia Harrison, you know, and I loved 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.080 George so much. She listened to the whole track one 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.800 time and she grabbed the remote and quickly restarted it. 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:44.000 And I went, oh, my goodness, that she hears something 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.280 she wasn't pleased with, I thought, you know, And she 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:48.880 got halfway through the second listen, turned the volume down 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.359 and said, George would have just loved this so much. 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.119 And I'll tell you what, I felt his soul just 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:58.800 give me approval through Olivia, and I needed her blessing. 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:00.880 So that's why it's on the record. You know. It's 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:03.280 also interesting as well that this is a song you've 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.040 been thinking about since you first heard it, that you've 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:09.040 had in your back pocket. As you say, emotionally but 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:17.520 thematically fits a record that often deals with love loss, 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.639 a record that you said would not exist without a heartbreak. 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:25.800 I think that's very true. I've said it before, and 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:27.640 I guess I should say it again. The heart isn't 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:31.359 complete until it's completely broken, and until you lose somebody 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:35.560 that completely breaks your heart, you're just not probably as 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:38.199 seasoned or complete as a human being as you could be. 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.359 And I can only tell you that's been my experience. 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:46.040 It didn't feel great losing Kelly. It was horrible. From 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:49.200 time to time, I still go through the the heartbreak 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:52.040 like it was yesterday. But that's just, I think, an 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:56.239 affirmation of the strength of what we had. It's just 0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:00.919 an affirmation of that. But the record Traces is not 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:05.000 all heartbreak. It's about rocket roll, it's about class reunion moments. 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.119 It's it's about we're still here, it's about you know, 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.720 there's a lot of great music on the record, but 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.040 there are a couple of songs that do deal with 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:18.520 the loss of someone. Well, you just mentioned a reunion moment. 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:20.400 I think you might be referring to the first track 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:34.359 on the record, It's been Coming Sweat Again in the 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:45.080 back seat of You'll call You Still Beck and the 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.359 first words I know it's been a long time coming 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.160 since I've seen your face, which is an interesting way. 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:52.800 It's a reintroduction for you. It's been a minute since 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:57.680 we've heard from you. But that song tell us what 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:01.919 inspired that song in Originally just started as a sketch 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:06.879 with David Spring at my house, and it started to grow. 0:23:07.040 --> 0:23:11.000 And I love the words no eracin. I felt this 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:15.200 way before no eracin no running anymore. That's how it started. 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:18.080 And then it came time to do the verse that 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:20.960 just came out. I know, it's been a long time 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:24.000 coming since I've seen your face. Uh, since I saw 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.720 your face. I you can't remember now. So the song 0:23:27.760 --> 0:23:32.240 itself evolved into a reunion song where these two people 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.240 meet each other at a class reunion and they get together, 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:37.159 go outside and talk a little bit about old times. 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:40.560 And they both have lives in different cities in the world, 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.280 but they're together by themselves, and they get into her 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:45.680 car and they go for a drive. And in my town, 0:23:45.840 --> 0:23:48.199 people would go smoothe at this once particular place. Is 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:50.000 that all they do? They just go for a drive in, 0:23:50.040 --> 0:23:52.919 they jump in the backseat of the car and you know, 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:58.080 I don't know you. Lets you figure that out, Okay, 0:23:58.160 --> 0:24:03.719 I'm gonna tell you what happens, all right, Okay, Um, 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:05.919 you were saying that where you grew up there was 0:24:05.960 --> 0:24:07.760 such a spot, Oh yeah, where I grew up. There 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:10.920 was a place called Pier nine where four or five canals, 0:24:11.040 --> 0:24:14.880 irrigation canals converged, and in that spot there was actually 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.240 a few oil drums out there where people could leave 0:24:17.240 --> 0:24:19.480 their beer cans or whatever. So it was a very 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:22.919 well known spot to park and smooch or whatever. And 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.040 so that's kind of the the vision of what the 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:28.040 spot is that they would go to in the backseat 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:30.359 of her car, you know. I mean, I can't be 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:32.200 the only one to feel this way because I grew 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:36.800