SONG: WHEN YOU'RE ON TOP
Q: On a Sunday afternoon, no less. 107.1 KGSR. Afternoon for us. Could be morning for The Wallflowers. That was When You're on Top, live in the studios. The original version is on the album "Red Letter Days". Wallflowers tonight at La Zona Rosa. Dean Del Ray opens the show at 8:30, Warren Zanes at 9:00 and the Wallflowers about 10:15.
And I see a couple of familiar faces and a couple of guys I don't really know. Jakob Dylan there on vocal and guitar and Rami Jaffe on -- is that a Casio?
RAMI: It's a Casio.
Q: It's a Casio. And Jakob, these other guys who I didn't meet the last time we met, could you introduce us officially? This is Yogi, right?
A: This is Yogi on guitar and singing. And on the other side here is Moe Z M.D., singing and playing some percussion.
Q: And Mario Calire still plays with you guys on stage tonight, right, with the drums?
A: He does, yeah.
Q: I don't know if I said his last name right.
A: Mario Calire.
Q: Calire. And so it's a quintet. When you went in to do "Red Letter Days", Michael Ward had left the band. And on the album itself, there's several people playing some other guitar, right?
A: Yeah. Well, I think we forgot to mention Greg Richling, bass player, too. Just in case he's listening.
Q: Yeah, Greg. Hello, Greg.
A: He might be listening and get upset at me.
Moe Z: Sextet.
A: Yeah, you know, Michael was -- we parted ways right before we started, so the -- you know, I played more than I usually play, but I certainly can't do it all. So... Mike McCready from Pearl Jam was is a friend of ours who was in town, he played. And a local guy, Val McCallum you know. And then that was all just until we could secure Yogi. While he was out there, filling his time playing with decent people, but nonetheless, until his ship came in, we all had to wait.
Q: And you had Rusty Anderson from McCartney's band on a few tracks, I think?
A: Right, right. Actually, Yogi is on the record. He's on what's considered the obligatory hidden track Empire in My Mind.
Q: "Red Letter Days", where does that title come from? Because it's not a song title.
A: Right. I think it was a good summation of all the themes on the record in terms of -- I think that term usually suggests good times, but I kind of read it as just being memorable times. And I certainly remember the good times and I remember the bad times. So --
Q: I think of it as being intense, because I had never heard really the phrase --
A: I'm trying to be. Thanks for noticing.
Q: I'm talking about the songs, which, of course, you write.
A: Yeah.
Q: And the production of the record -- this is a sharp record. It direct, it's sharp. You put it on, it gets you. And the guys who produced it, I was not familiar with. Tell me about them.
A: Yeah, there was two of them, Toby Miller and Bill Appleberry. And Toby Miller was actually one of the guys that started the group with me, you know, like in '88. And he left right around when we started making "Bringing Down the Horse." And he's always been a friend of the group. He just wasn't really playing much guitar anymore. He started getting into producing, which after a few records in a few years, you know, it was acceptable to work together. I mean, he knows what he's doing now. And I think we always kind of planned on doing that, getting back together and working in the right arrangement. And Bill Appleberry is his partner, they both -- they make records together constantly.
Q: Well, it's a great sounding record. And there's songs like the one we just heard and others that have, if you can call it, the classic Wallflowers sound. But then there's a song like Health and Happiness where there's different colors. And you seem to stretch in different directions. Did that just kind of happen naturally?
A: Yeah, we had a lot of time to make this record, because we got in very early. And I think at other times, some of the other records, I think we felt pressure. Not in terms of what was going to be on the records, we just didn't really feel like we had enough time to explore everything. And because this record we started it so early, we were a little less precious on what we were doing. We were able to just, you know, wing it on a lot of things and not worry about whether they sound like the Wallflowers or not. I don't particularly think there is a Wallflowers sound. I think that I'd like to hear everything go on.
Q: Well, there's certainly a lot more going on. The envelope has been stretched. And tonight, as we mentioned, Greg and Mario will be there. But you're doing this stripped-down thing now. Do you ever do acoustic stuff on stage?
A: We have been. This last tour, Rami and I have been doing some songs together, towards the end of the show. And in the middle of the show we've been doing some acoustic stuff, too.
The Wallflowers in the KGSR Studio - February 2, 2003
Q: Wallflowers are playing tonight at La Zona Rosa. 8:30 for Dean Del Ray, Warren Zanes at 9:00 and Wallflowers about 10:15. "Red Letter Days" is their fourth and newest album. And I leave it to you guys where you want to go, what you want to play. It's up to you. 107.1 KGSR, the Wallflowers.
SONG: SLEEPWALKER
Q: That was Sleepwalker. You'll find that on their third album, 2000's "Breach."
And Jakob, you were saying you felt like you had a lot of time to make this latest album "Red Letter Days," but between Breach and "Red Letter Days," it's just a couple of years. A lot of people take a lot longer to make a record. And you write all the songs. To me, it seems like that might have been a little daunting. But were you kind of on a roll?
A: Yeah, we were. I think, for the first time on touring for "Breach," I was writing a lot and we were doing a lot of our own recording. So we were way ahead. Usually, we tour for a long time and we go home. I don't have any songs, so I need to spend six months writing. And then it takes a little while to get the record together and it takes a while to finish a record. I think we were pretty bent on not repeating that this time. We wanted to make sure we got home from touring and we were good to go.
Q: Now, how do you do that? Because you've got to go to radio stations, you've got to do sound check, you've got to travel. How in the world do you write on the road?
A: It's not always easy. We were actually in an opening slot, so we did have more time and it was towards the end of touring on "Breach." So we had more time. We didn't want to waste it. And we brought out some recording equipment and we used -- pretty much used all our time writing and recording.
Q: You write the songs by yourself. And does that mean that writing for you is pretty much always a solitary task?
A: No, I -- you know, it can happen any other way, I think, you know. I think our thing is, whichever song we think is the best song we have we will record. Not everybody really writes words and they tend to kind of wait around for me to finish words a lot. But it's a big effort. Anybody -- we're all available to anybody doing it.
Q: You come from a large family and you have a family of your own. Being away from home, that's got to be tough a lot of the time on the road.
A: It is but I think for all of us. I think we used to disappear for six months without going home. This is the first time with this record we really -- we were pretty confident. We just wanted to keep these runs three and a half weeks and go home and just keep going back out. And in the end, stay out longer, but just not drive it into the ground as much as we used to. Just -- it's not the same when you're 21. It felt a lot different than by the time you hit your late 20s that we're in now.
A: Oh, that was slippery. That was very slippery.
Q: What are we on now, kind of the end of the three-week run?
A: Yeah, we're getting close and then we're going to -- we're going to go home for just a couple of days and then we go to Europe for a few weeks.
Q: What's the Wallflowers' visibility like in Europe? Are you as well-known there as you are in the States?
A: I think we do pretty well, but we just haven't been able to spend as much time there. I mean, it's a lot more work there for bands from here. Everything from the travel to the living quality just kind of works on bands a little different. So we've just never gone there as much as we probably should have in the past. And that's one of the things with this record we wanted to make sure we did was get over there pretty quick and not wait until the end when we were all really tired.
Q: Right. Interesting time to be traveling abroad.
A: Let's not talk about that.
Q: I don't even mean in the sense of danger. I mean, I was overseas in November. And just that you get a different perspective on America than you do living here. And you see how other people see us. And it's an eye-opener.
A: Sure it is, yeah. We've spent a lot of time there doing press and stuff for a week, but, as far as the band going over and actually playing, this will be the first time in -- it's probably been four years.
Q: Now, I was looking at some of the set lists on your website, which is wallflowers.com. And I love this when a band does not just stick to one set every night. You guys are pretty fluid when you get out there. I was reading there was a song you -- that's even unreleased, Hey, Lo, that you played like for the first time in six years. When do you do the set list? Soundcheck? Hotel room?
A: No, we do, you know, half hour before the show. Yeah, we've got a bulk that we kind of stick with, but there's certain points to keep ourselves on our toes and just as -- we're aware that a lot of people do follow us around. And you can't feel that good about just going up there and playing the same thing every night. We've got a lot of records to draw from now, too. It's easy for bands to just drift off and not pay attention that they're not doing things different every night. And you've got to stay on your toes.
Q: And covers, very occasionally, right?
A: We used to do a lot more, I think. With four records now, I think we're a little less willing to kind of have to stuff with other people's songs. But at the right time, sure, there's songs that are important from other people to do as well.
Q: Yeah, I heard you guys once do Peace Love and Understanding. That one was hitting the nail on the head.
A: Yeah, that's a great song, yeah.
Q: You put in a request for that. And I'll have about the same chance as when people call me and ask for a request. Can you play that? Yeah, we'll try and get to that.
A: Well, just know that if we don't play it, it's only because we can't. You can play it. We usually just can't. We have to pretend, you know, we don't have time.
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The Wallflowers in the KGSR Studio - 2/2/03 |
Q: We're talking to the Wallflowers. "Red Letter Days" is their new album. It's their fourth album. They're at La Zona Rosa tonight. And I think we're ready for another song.
SONG: HOW GOOD IT CAN GET
Q: Yeah! Great harmonies, guys. The Wallflowers. 107.1 KGSR. How Good it Can Get is on their new album "Red Letter Days." And, gosh, we're glad to have the Wallflowers, not only here, but at La Zona Rosa tonight. So join KGSR there. Again, the lineup, Dean Del Ray at 8:30, Warren Zanes, who you may know from the Del Fuego's days, at 9:00 and the Wallflowers at about 10:15. That's at La Zona Rosa.
Jacob doing on guitar and vocals. Rami Jaffe on the Casio. And once again, the two guys I just met today, Yogi --
A: Yogi and Moe Z M.D.
Q: Sounding great. The Wallflowers. Good to see you guys. Thank you very much.
A: Thank you so much.
Q: A lot of fun. Oh, one more thing before we go. Jakob, I wanted to play this song we were talking about, Health and Happiness off the CD.
A: Okay.
Q: And I just know -- wasn't there a Hank Williams song The Health and Happiness Show or something? What -- set the song up for me. Help me out. Where were you coming from with it?
A: I don't know. I think -- I don't know where they come from, tell you the truth. You just get a line that sticks in your head and hopefully you can string a song around it. But, you know, they're all honest. They're all -- I don't think any of them are by accident or mistake. But, certainly, it's to wishing somebody you care about well, but not a whole lot more.
Q: Health and Happiness is the Wallflower's from "Red Letter Days."
(End of interview)
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"How Good Can It Get": listen to the performance