By: Lisa Steinberg
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) I grew up listening to the radio in the 70’s and 80’s. The first stuff I got really into was disco. It felt like freedom to me and I was a dance nut as a kid. My brother got me into The Beatles and Pink Floyd and early synth pop. Then, there was a metal period during junior high. When I met Todd (Toad’s guitarist) he turned me on to The Replacements and Husker Dü and that really turned a corner for me in what I liked to listen to. Now it’s all over the map. I like anything that feels real and innovative. Anything from Mk.gee to Madison Cunningham to Gregory Alan Isakov to King Lizard and The Gizzard Wizard.
Q) The band has released a number of acoustic versions of your hit albums over the years. What inspired this trend?
A) We always played acoustic at record stores, radio stations and meet and greets when we were on tour, so it’s always been in the wheelhouse. It’s great to get it on tape now and then.
Q) RINGS: The Acoustic Sessions came out in January. What are some themes you explore on this album?
A) Rings is a forty year retrospective. It has songs from every album we’ve released and the idea was to thread them all together in a way that made the album a single, current piece instead of a historical document. It’s as much about who we are now as it is who we used to be.
Q) How did the band go about crafting the acoustic versions of the songs? Were there long talks about the arrangements?
A) We had to do a bit of work to find our way. I’d had my mind set on a “live and raw” type of record, but it became apparent that we wanted to make it more of a studio album. We recorded everything in a circle facing each other but then ended up adding on a fair amount of instruments after the fact. There was a lot of discovery along the way and some songs (“Rings” and “Jam” in particular) that ended up taking a really different direction than we’d initially thought we would head. I think we’re all really happy with the final product.
Q) What do you think it is about the songs on this album that fans continue to connect to?
A) We’ve never been a very cool or fashionable band. I think we write with a lot of emotional vulnerability and people can see themselves in the songs. It’s not about aspirational dreams or endless youth. It’s just about trying to make sense of life.
Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) It varies from song to song. Some songs start as pure music from Todd [Nichols] or Dean [Dinning] and I’ll write some lyrics, some songs I write on my own. Some come out of fully formed demos and some are just an acoustic guitar and a melody. There’s no one way.
Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?
A) The last few albums have been very much group projects in terms of production and arrangement. Mikal Blue and Gavin MacKillop are both great engineers/producers and both share an attitude where they ask the important questions but encourage us to find the solutions.
Q) “Good Intentions” is my favorite of the acoustic performances. Is there a particular favorite song though on RINGS: The Acoustic Sessions that holds a special place in your heart?
A) “Good Intentions” was the genesis of the whole album. We were preparing an acoustic mini-set to play live during our concerts and one day started playing “Good Intentions” with more of a bluegrass vibe, just for fun. It just worked so well that we stayed with it and added it to the set. It got us curious about what we could do with our other material in an acoustic setting.
Q) What message or emotion do you hope lingers with audiences that continue to explore Rings – acoustic or original?
A) After we did the acoustic version of “Rings,” which is just vocal and piano, the song finally made sense. We’d played it for thirty plus years as a loud, fast rocker, and when we slowed it down and opened it up it became the song it always wanted to be. There’s a lot of yearning in that one.
Q) You’re back from your four-month Good Intentions tour. Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?
A) Whatever your town is. That’s our favorite. [smiles]
Q) The band is known for their hits “All I Want” and “Walk on the Ocean.” Are these still some of the most cherished songs for fans to hear live?
A) People love hearing those songs and we’re really happy to play them. We’re also happy that our audience leans into the new material. We’re writers, first and foremost, so we try to keep looking ahead but still respect where we came from and that audiences want that warm sweater feeling of hearing a song that they loved back in the day as well.
Q) What artist/musician are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?
A) Mk.gee has been favorite band recently. He’s doing wild things with the guitar and production and using modern technology but also putting a huge emphasis on spontaneity and live performance. We also play a lot of Charley Crockett on the bus.
Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?
A) Thanks for sticking with us! We’ve been through all the ups and downs that forty years will throw at a band, and we’re really blessed to have lasted this long and have an audience that still wants to hear us.
All Questions Answered By Glen Phillips