All posts tagged: Popdose Interviews

RavenEye

RavenEye, “Breaking Out”: Exclusive Premiere

Published by Matt Wardlaw

If you’ve been looking for some new sounds featuring kick ass heavy fuzzed out guitars, look no further and wrap your ears around the music of RavenEye, a new power trio that is in the midst of starting to turn a lot of heads. They’ve just released their debut EP Breaking Out and Popdose is pleased to have the exclusive premiere for the lyric video of the title track (embedded below). The band is currently touring Europe at the moment and they’re set to support Slash for five dates as part of that touring and they’ve got their eye on conquering the U.S. as well. The project is barely a year old, the brainchild of singer/guitarist Oli Brown who at age 25 already had three successful solo albums to his credit, plus touring with Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy and Johnny Winter, just to name a few. We caught up with Brown via Skype this past week while we were waiting for a plumber to come to the house (it is indeed, the glamorous life) …

Jim Horn

Legendary Session Man Jim Horn On Working With John Denver And Getting Inside The “Genius” Of Brian Wilson

Published by Matt Wardlaw

At 72 years of age, there’s not much that Jim Horn hasn’t done. While his name might not be immediately familiar, you’ve definitely heard a lot of his work over the years. The session vet got his start playing sax and flute as a key member of Duane Eddy’s band in the late ‘50s (in fact, Eddy once turned down an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry, because they didn’t allow saxophones – which they called the “instrument of the devil”). His work with Eddy was merely the starting point of his professional career. From there, he would become one of the most in-demand session players (and a member of the well-known “Wrecking Crew”) during the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.  He got the chance to work with all four Beatles. What else needs to be said? Okay fine, here’s more: You’ll find his work on songs like “Good Vibrations,” “God Only Knows by the Beach Boys, “Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin” by the Righteous Brothers, music for the movie …

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers

The Matt ‘N’ Jeff Radio Hour, Episode 16: Roger Clyne

Published by Jeff Giles and Matt Wardlaw

While we love our share of music that is deep and introspective, sometimes you just want to have some good sarcastic fun. Roger Clyne &  the Peacemakers definitely make music that treads across a wide range of emotions, but at the core of it all, Clyne and his rebellious gang of music-making diablos aren’t taking things too seriously. Clyne’s name might not resonate with you at first mention, but you’ve definitely heard his songs. As the leader of the Refreshments in the ‘90s, he unleashed two albums with the band including the tongue twisting Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy. During the course of our conversation, we found out from Clyne that the album title of Fizzy was a deliberate verbal atom bomb meant to break up the pretentious tone at alternative and rock radio at that time. It worked. If you were working in rock radio at the time that Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy came out, it definitely left an impression with its title alone. Adding to their blitz of activities, the lead single …

Rick Springfield

Chasing Good Songs: Rick Springfield On His New Music & The 30th Anniversary Of “Living In Oz”

Published by Matt Wardlaw

If Armageddon is indeed lurking anywhere around the corner, at least there will be a soundtrack thanks to Rick Springfield’s newest album Songs For The End Of The World. Better still, Songs is a quality listen for your final trip into the great beyond, the latest in a string of solid albums that Springfield has put out in the past decade. At a time when many of Springfield’s peers are slowing down and either putting out no new music or recording sporadically, the Australian-born rocker keeps on charging ahead with seemingly limitless energy for a man who officially is 63 years young. Part of that is because Springfield wants to continue to make sure that people are aware that although he is well known for his successful acting career (and the related ‘80s teenage heartthrob status that came with that) and other side trips, it’s music that is always first and foremost in his heart. He’s still working to define how people view Rick Springfield, the artist. Even after selling more than 25 million albums …

Kevin Eubanks - photo credit: Raj Naik

The Popdose Interview: Kevin Eubanks

Published by Matt Wardlaw

Kevin Eubanks is a guy that you’re probably most familiar with because of his 15 year stint as the bandleader for Jay Leno and the Tonight Show and that’s okay. But there’s so much more to know about Kevin Eubanks as a complete artist. For one, he’s a big fan of Swedish heavy metal. We’ll be honest — we didn’t know that either. It’s just one of many things that came up in conversation as we were discussing The Messenger, which is the latest solo release from Eubanks, available in stores now. The Messenger  finds the guitarist branching out and as he says “I didn’t want to be as concerned with the ‘jazz sound’ as much, I wanted to let out a little bit more of what I’ve been musically exposed to. Joined by members of his quartet, the album also features a guest appearance from Alvin Chea of Take 6, something that was a personal thrill for Eubanks who has been a longtime fan of the group. But The Messenger also has a family …

Belinda Carlisle

The Popdose Interview: Belinda Carlisle

Published by Matt Wardlaw and Dw. Dunphy

For the whole of the 1980s, singer Belinda Carlisle was the symbol of success, first as the lead singer for the groundbreaking band The Go-Go’s, then as a hitmaking solo artist. Lately we hadn’t heard as much from Belinda as we used to. This has recently changed for a couple reasons. Universal Music is releasing a Belinda Carlisle solo retrospective as part of their Icon series, and Carlisle put out an unflinching memoir titled Lips Unsealed in 2010. The latter openly chronicled all areas of her life, including harrowing details of her difficult childhood, her rise from Dottie Danger and role as one-time drummer for the punk band Germs, her eventual ascension to pop’s heights and concurrent depths behind the scenes. Popdose had the opportunity to catch up with Carlisle to talk about the Icon disc, her solo years, and to speculate on what life would be like for the Go-Go’s had they started in the Aughts instead of the Eighties. She responded with grace and was humble about her influence which, in the power-pop genre, is …

Camper Van Beethoven - Jason Thrasher

The Popdose Interview: David Lowery

Published by Matt Wardlaw

Hearing the stories behind how the new Camper Van Beethoven album came together, we’re not surprised to find out that God is a CVB fan. And as you listen to La Costa Perdita, the new Camper album which landed in stores on January 22nd via the fine folks at 429 Records, it’s a safe bet that He has a permanent spot on the guest list whenever the band comes to town. David Lowery and the members of Camper Van Beethoven were set to play a show at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur in June of 2011 when rain — an unusual visitor for that particular time of the season — forced the band to postpone. With the unexpected opening on their schedule, the band decided to seize the opportunity to launch into the writing process for what would become their first album of new Camper material since New Roman Times in 2004. The moments of collaboration were fruitful, birthing enough material for an album and then some. There’s a distinctive Northern California tint …

John Denver

Tour Preview: A Look Inside “John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Concert”

Published by Matt Wardlaw

It’s been more than 15 years now since singer/songwriter John Denver passed away tragically while flying his personal plane. Every year since Denver’s death, former members of his band have gathered in Aspen, Colorado to pay tribute to the music and memory of their beloved friend. This year, that legacy is being celebrated nationwide with a unique touring experience called John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Concert which will feature for the first time, video footage of Denver performing his greatest hits and also some album track favorites as well, backed live by members of his original touring band, including legendary saxophonist/woodwinds player Jim Horn, keyboardist Chris Nole and bassist Alan Deremo. Rounding out the group of performers will be musical director Jim Salestrom (handling a variety of instruments) and drummer/percussionist Nate Barnes. The tour, which is being produced by Denver’s estate, began last week and will run throughout the month of February (including a stop in the Cleveland area at the Stocker Arts Center in Elyria, OH on February 14) with additional tour dates …

Lisa Loeb

The Popdose Interview: Lisa Loeb

Published by Matt Wardlaw

With the renewed popularity of female-fronted alternative rock, New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert saw a window of opportunity to bring ‘90s alt-rocker Lisa Loeb, a noted influence for many of those same artists, back around to file a new chapter in her own discography of work. Gilbert, a longtime fan of Loeb’s music, knew exactly the kind of album that fellow fans would want to hear from Lisa and he also knew that fans had been waiting for quite a while. Loeb had been wrapped up in a variety of projects which had carried her away from making the “adult” music that brought her name recognition, starting in 1994 with “Stay,” the  #1 Grammy-nominated hit which served as her musical moment of introduction to the outside world. Having developed a healthy career of his own outside of New Found Glory as a producer, Gilbert had the right resume and experience to tackle the job and he was bold in his approach. He emailed Loeb to say “I know you do these kids books, but …

Debbie Gibson

The Popdose Interview: Debbie Gibson

Published by Matt Wardlaw

If you want to feel inspired, spend a few minutes talking with Debbie Gibson. Certainly, you’re probably aware of the chart success that Gibson enjoyed in the ‘80s, beginning with her first single “Only in My Dreams” in 1987, the first of five Top 40 singles that she would notch from her debut album Out Of The Blue. The first three singles from Out Of The Blue charted Top 5 and with her fourth single “Foolish Beat,” Gibson would become the youngest artist (at age 17) to ever write, produce and perform a Billboard #1 single, an accomplishment that remains unbeaten more than two decades later. Gibson faced challenges while working for the chance to record and release that first album and single, but she fought hard and the story of how Gibson stuck with the songs that she believed in — those very same songs that would be massive chart hits only a few years later, is a good one.

The Popdose Interview: Tom Johnston of The Doobie Brothers

Published by Matt Wardlaw

New albums from a classic band or artist can sometimes be a dodgy proposition. But when I saw the news last year that The Doobie Brothers had a new album on tap, their first release of new material in 10 years, I was intrigued. The Doobies had an ace up their sleeve – they had coaxed (and as you can see from the conversation below, one could argue that it was the songs) legendary producer and longtime Doobie associate/friend Ted Templeman (Van Halen, Aerosmith, Little Feat) out of his semi-retired state to produce what would become World Gone Crazy. Since the album’s release in late 2010, the Doobies have been turning heads, notching a top 40 debut on the Billboard Top 200 charts and even generating radio airplay which came initially via the first single “Nobody,” a song that was rescued and re-recorded at the suggestion of Templeman from their original self-titled 1971 debut release (and it holds special significance as being the first song and also the first album they ever recorded with Templeman). …