New Interview with Ed, May 8, 2008 Options

[SJN1279]

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...RPMAG/805080301

By Michael Sadowski
Sharp Editor
May 08, 2008
It's a nice life to have.

After hitting it just about as big as any mid-size town Pennsylvania band ever has, Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk doesn't need his band to produce another "hit" album after "Throwing Copper" sold 8 million albums in 1994.

"I know it's been difficult for people to market Live as a band, because we change so much from album to album," Kowalczyk, the York native, said. "But it's very gratifying as an artist. It's paid off huge dividends for us, with the fans being loyal and knowing we're going to put the art first."

One of the best selling bands of the 90s, Live will make a Poconos stop on its latest tour this weekend for a show at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe. It will be Live's only Pennsylvania stop until it plays Muskifest in Bethlehem on Aug. 2.

Before the start of the tour, Kowalczyk took time to talk about the quick rise to fame, why there are no "Behind the Music" episodes on the band and Pennsylvania crowds:

Sharp: You guys just released an album "Radiant Sea" on your own label. Any reason you did that?

Ed Kowalczyk: Putting out this album of B-sides was sort of a spur of the moment type thing. Well, they aren't really B-sides, it's more of a compilation of re-worked, old songs that were cutting-room-floor material. But we decided the easiest and most fun way to do it would be to resurrect our imprint label that we used when we were still Public Affection (the band changed its name to Live around 1991). It was a do-it-yourself type of thing. We put it up on our Web site and made it available there.

Sharp: What's your worst "Welcome to Hollywood" story?

EK: The whole year of 1995 was full of things that made us go "Huh?" I remember the quality of the fans at the shows definitely was a little different. One of the things specifically was the people in the front row. We went from people singing every song we played to the people waiting for us to play "Lightning Crashes" (the band's biggest radio hit). They could care less about the rest of the show and the band. But it was fun. Then it was fun to go back to a smaller place like House of Blues and play a show where every single fan was singing along with every word to every song.

Sharp: The first time I heard Chris Daughtry I thought he was trying to sound like you. How mad were you when he basically admitted that was happening?

EK: No, it wasn't like that at all. I went through a very similar thing. When we came on the scene, I remember someone called me "Michael Stipe on steroids" and other places were calling me a mixture between Michael Stipe and Bono. As far as I'm concerned, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When you start out emulating someone, you can't avoid some of that influence. I thought he was a great singer. I saw the similarities, and he admits them. They're there for everyone to see. But I still think he's a great singer. He rises above the fact that he was on the show just singing cover songs.

Sharp: What's it like to catch that lightning in a bottle?EK: It feels how you would imagine it would feel. From my perspective, I wrote the lyrics and the melody to "Lightning Crashes," and it was a very personal and intimate song for me. To have it touch millions of people and to have them share that with me made it an electric kind of song. It made the world a lot bigger and a lot smaller. It's very difficult to describe.

Sharp: Since "Lightning Crashes" is such an intimate song for you, does it bother you that people call it your "sellout" song?

EK: I don't really too much about what other people say.

Sharp: On my way into work today I coincidentally heard "I Alone" and sang all the words. Does it feel weird that your music 15 years later is still that popular?

EK: That's something you always hope for when you are making music. The people I've emulated that have come up with that lyric and it's had an emotional impact on people, and sometimes it's even gotten bigger as time went on. I feel that way about U2. Some of the songs on "The Joshua Tree" album still mean as much to me today as they did 20 years ago.

Sharp: Do you go into the studio now with any kind of feeling like "We have to make this as good as 'Throwing Copper'?"

EK: There may be pressure from without from that, but not from within. I've always felt I've been blessed to be in the studio at all. I'm not going to fool myself that you can capture it more than once. You can't have a part two for a record that was unique like that one. I never bought into the idea that you could do that. We're always trying to start from scratch.

Sharp: How come we never saw a VH1 "Behind the Music" with you guys talking about your drug use, bankruptcy or arrest?

EK: There really isn't much to tell.

Sharp: Was there ever a time when you guys started to get out of hand?

EK: Not really. We're pretty boring in that sense. I don't think we would fit in a "Behind the Music" episode. Yeah, we're pretty boring.

Sharp: Do the crowds in Pennsylvania treat you any differently than crowds outside the state?

EK: It depends. It's hard to generalize. Sometimes I go to Atlanta and it feels like Philly, but there have been times when we have been close to home and it didn't feel as good. It never pays for me to try and generalize how a crowd will react to us because I'm always surprised by it.

Sharp: You guys are close to the first true, post-grunge rock band. Do you think you started something new coming out of the Grunge Era?

EK: I think what we did bring to that mid-90s was the lyrics not being as angst-ridden as the grunge lyrics of the time. We had a more spiritual aspect to it, being more universally happier than grungy. I've read a lot of articles where bands like 311 or Chris Daughtry realized they really could uplift and inspire people with their music. I think we did influence that a little, bringing the spiritual and inspiring aspects of music back.


IF YOU GO
WHO: Pennsylvania natives live Live


WHAT: The band's only Pennsylvania stop on its abbreviated tour before August


WHERE: Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe


WHEN: 8 p.m. Sunday


TICKETS: On sale now through Ticketmaster; $40 in advance, $45 the day of the show.

[Hoodstock]

EK: I don't really too much about what other people say.

[Wambangalang]

why do these interviewers never ask when can we expect some new stuff?

[SecretInsomnia]

why do these interviewers never ask when can we expect some new stuff?

seems like the interviewers are all told not to ask anything about that, cuz not any asked about it

[SJN1279]

I wrote the author of the article asking him if Ed mentioned anything about new material during the interview. He responded by saying that that he was cut off by band management before he could ask Ed about future projects. He actually felt really bad about it. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Also if anyone wants to write a detailed review of the Penn Peak show for his blog, he'd love to post it.

[SecretInsomnia]

He responded by saying that that he was cut off by band management before he could ask Ed about future projects.

cut off because/when he wanted to ask something about it, or just cut off because time was up or something else?
In the first case, it would be very strange

[SJN1279]

cut off because/when he wanted to ask something about it, or just cut off because time was up or something else?
In the first case, it would be very strange

They ran out of time before he asked the question.

[SecretInsomnia]

They ran out of time before he asked the question.

too bad that in the time he could ask it, other, some questions that were already asked a 10.000 times, were asked.

But the thing Ed mentioned about RS, 'old songs, reworked', sounded new to me. So the songs weren't totally V songs, but changed anno 2007 I guess.

[Merica]

I wrote the author of the article asking him if Ed mentioned anything about new material during the interview. He responded by saying that that he was cut off by band management before he could ask Ed about future projects. He actually felt really bad about it. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Cool, good detective work.

[Wambangalang]

They ran out of time before he asked the question.

ran out of time because they needed to get back to the studio to continue recording, a-huh! all the peices fit

[Merica]

ran out of time because they needed to get back to the studio to continue recording, a-huh! all the peices fit

Heh, let's hope.

This post has been edited by Merica: May 11 2008, 3:20 am

[+Ed+]

I wrote the author of the article asking him if Ed mentioned anything about new material during the interview. He responded by saying that that he was cut off by band management before he could ask Ed about future projects. He actually felt really bad about it. He seemed like a pretty cool guy.

He is a fucking unprofessional if he runs out of time with questions left unasked.

This post has been edited by +Ed+: May 12 2008, 1:03 am

[SJN1279]

He is a fucking unprofessional if he runs out of time with questions left unasked.

The guy does not work for the NY Times, he works for a small Pocono publication and probably barely makes endsmeat. I'd say cut him some slack.

[+Ed+]

The guy does not work for the NY Times, he works for a small Pocono publication and probably barely makes endsmeat. I'd say cut him some slack.

Read my post once again please Nick. If you can not do something - do not do it. I detest unprofessionalism.

[disciple_de_+LIVE+]

I don't think the interview was unprofessional, but definitely seemed inexperienced. The question "Do you go into the studio now with any kind of feeling like "We have to make this as good as 'Throwing Copper'?" was really weak. I hate questions like that in interviews. Questions like that are so open-ended and non-specific that the interviewee really can just say whatever they want. Good interviews guide the interviewee towards a specific response.

The thing that bothers me in this interview is that Ed says that Radiant Sea is a compilation of old material that was reworked.

1.) Most of this "album" is live tracks that any real fan has heard anyway. So its not really a something new and for true fans only. And they weren't reworked, they are actual concert recordings. Maybe they don't know exactly what their fans share and currently have? I sometimes wonder if they know how popular some of their unreleased stuff is. Vine Street, Lift Me Up, and Don't Wait are absolute classics in my opinion.

2.) If he is referring to BI and RS as the reworked material, that hardly constitutes a compilation. Its two freakin songs.