THAT'S THE WAY THAT IT WAS (official video)
PIERRE DE REEDER 1.09.09 - by Ron Solomon
PV: Welcome Pierre, thanks so much for becoming a new member of the POPVIEWS family! You're in good company with artists like Ron Sexsmith, Remy Zero, and Jason Schwartzman being members!
PDR: Why thank you. Certainly in good company.
PV: "The Way It Was", Had you always wanted to make a solo record?
PDR: I suppose, sure. I've always been writing and recording songs, well before Rilo Kiley... but outside of a slew of demos of prior bands, I had never put the full effort into making an album. I'm glad it took me a long time to get one together... it allowed me to form something more honest, and let me pool a lot more experience into the songwriting and the recording process.
PV: How do you feel that the solo project has been recieved since it's release?
PDR: I feel pretty good about it. It's so hard to really know. For me, small measures make me happy about it... like the craziness when you've somehow connected with people, and they tell you stories about how it helped them get through a rough time or something. For me, that's incredible. But it's decidedly a tiny release, and I've never expected much return on it... so I'm modestly beyond whatever little expectations I had.
PV: This is more of a statement than question: I think your voice sounds absolutely fucking GREAT on the record, I had no idea there was such a beautiful voice hiding behind the bass at the live Rilo Kiley shows!
PDR: Well, gosh, thanks.
PV: What have your fellow RK band mates had to say about the solo project?
PDR: Everyone's been very supportive and encouraging and complimentary.
PV: Do you tend to write songs more from personal experiences or make them from something fictional?
PDR: Oh it's both, as I'm sure it is for so many songwriters. They always intertwine. A personal experience might lead straight into and ideal, which then becomes fictionalized. It might come straight back to pure fact, or perception of something, or whatever! I don't know. But I would say that in some strange way I tend not to be happy with them unless they're honest to me somehow, even if it's just a story, if that makes any sense.
PV: I know that Blake wrote a song about Elliott Smith on your "More Adventurous" cd, did you get many/any chances to see him play live, being that you were both from the same town?
PDR: I did. As well as getting to play with him a few times. We got to know him in his last couple years. And just as he was starting to get back into playing, he asked us to play some shows with him. And those, most unfortunately, were some of his last.
PV: What bands/cds are frequenting your iPod as of late?
PDR: Of late, the ipod's been on shuffle. But have been listening to a lot more vinyl lately... I've been trying to bolster my collection. And most of that is more classic stuff... from Bowie to Wings to Paul Simon. A lot of cracks and pops.
PV: My friend Caitlin is a huge fan of yours, any message for her?
PDR: Hello Caitlin! Really and truly, thanks for listening!
PV: You have toured with some amazing bands/artists, what are some of your favorite bands that you've toured with?
PDR: All of them!! Ha! Well, that mostly is true. So many bands that we've been on the road with have been so great, and such good people. Some standouts things... like with M. Ward and Nik Freitas where we played double sets each night by opening up in their bands, too. With M... Blake, Jenny, Jason and I were his entire backing band. And similarly, Jason and I made up a threesome (or should I say, power trio!) with Nik. We've had adventures with our Bright Eyes bros, gone waterfall hunting and jumping into and Idaho river with Feist and The Brunettes, witnessed the awesomeness that is Benji Hughes, many times having our bros Runion and Whispertown out there with us, had a magical week with Gillian Welsh and Dave Rawlings, and man... just a lot of good stuff. It comes down to the luck fact that just about everyone we've had the good fortune to cross paths with have been, well, just really cool... and happen to be incredible musicians as well. (I suppose you could arrange that sentence in any order and it would be true).
PV: Who would you like to tour with in the future?
PDR: All these same people again!! And while that's certainly true, there are of course some band that would be a true dream to play with... say like Neil Young or something... but I'll just keep that tucked in the 'that would be rad' section of my brain.
PV: Ever had a Guinness in Ireland? If so, aren't they so much more fresh and delicious than here in the states?
PDR: Well yes, but actually my first Guinness overseas was in the little walled English town of Cheshire when I was visiting relatives, oh, when I was 21 or 22. Even there there was a distinct difference... truly a freshness and smoothness that wasn't in the stateside batches. I think since then the difference has narrowed, as I've had plenty of them over here and in Ireland... and while it's still better over there, they've seemed to have gotten better at getting them over here fresher nowadays.
PV: It's kind of like having a Long Island Iced Tea in Long Island!
PDR: That might like be having an English Muffin in England, doesn't really exist.
PV: Bob Dylan: Still has it, Lost it, or Never had it?
PDR: Definitely had it... and by all accounts still does. I've never had the chance to see him live, so I have no measure there. But a fan for sure.
PV: What could the modern music listening community do to make the BIGGER/COMMERCIAL scenes be filled with better bands?
PDR: Hopefully that will be the upside to the 'tough times' in the record industry. As the large machine of promoting mediocrity loses it's economic demand, so goes down, to an extent, those machines. It's that massive amount of money that used to be made in cloning flavor of the week bands that made all the big commercial stuff so saturated with them. As there is less of that that money being put into records, and artists being left to their own devices more and more, hopefully we'll see a creative renaissance as a result. There's no good answer for this question, though. But demand is always a good thing to work into the equation... buy your favorite records, support you local radio, do whatever you can to support good music, give the big guys who are losing their shirts in this biz a place to build up from again by putting their money in good music because so they can see it as a way to actually make money again. Give them an INCENTIVE to put bank on good music. Because it is a big business out there when you talk bigger/commercial... and it would be nice to show them that everyone can win by promoting better music.
PV: If you were not married, and you had to make out with Rufus Wainwright or Jenny Lewis, who would you choose and why?
PDR: Dude!! I can't answer that!! But it certainly wouldn't be Rufus.
PV: What does the future look like to you?
PDR: Blue stars and golden waters... er, uh. Who knows. Right now I'm entrenched with my family, which is always the case, but we just had a new baby girl a few months ago. And our older daughter Sophia is in 1st grade! Crazy. But otherwise, just keep keepin on, as they say. More music, more recording, more stuff.
PV: What are some of your favorite British comedies (film or tv)?
PDR: Well the original Office was absolutely, and most uncomfortably, amazing. Little Britain's got some shining moments, as well as The Mighty Boosh.
PV: Who were your main musical influences growing up?
PDR: Well I grew up in a house where there was a lot (a lot!) of Tom Jones going on, and Neil Diamond, a good helping of Sinatra, and the like. So those definitely crept into the old noggin, and can't escape having some influence. When I was still just barely prepubescent and actually starting to form my own things, there was definitely some 80's stuff going on. Cargo, by Men At Work, was the first cassette (!) I ever bought on my own. The Thompson Twins (!!) was another around that time. Was guilty of some break dancing days where things like Newcleus's Jam On Revenge were spinning on my record player. Had a classic rock phase soon after with Zeppelin and CCR and so on... Then Reggae and funk. Yep. Winding into The Cure and The Sisters Of Mercy and The Smiths. Man, so many things over the young years. All the while, a constant was The Beatles. I remember at like 8 or 9 having Abbey Road on 8 track as well as the White Album. And still they are, as well as all their permutations, unavoidably influential. So, there it is.
PV: What is the studio atmosphere like in a PIERRE DE REEDER session?
PDR: Very varied. Many 'sessions' are just me tinkering away in a recording cave. But when it's me with other folks I think it's a pretty relaxed and trusting atmosphere.
PV: Shame on love or shame on women who leave, even when you let them have full control of the cable remote?
PDR: Hmmm... guess I'd have to say shame on love.
PV: If you met Andy Warhol, what would you guys talk about?
PDR: Honestly, he seemed like the kind of guy who could flow an abstract, stream of conscience kind of conversation... so I'd probably set myself up for something like that and just see where the breeze takes us.
PV: I sent an email to your band mates Jenny and Blake, if they come on the website, would you like me to relay a message for you? If so, what?
PDR: Say hi from me.
PV: When Pierre De Reeder is no more, what would you like your legacy to have been?
PDR: That he once was. I don't know! Hopefully, first and foremost and in the long run, that I was a good father to my kids. That's my most important legacy. Artistically I hope that whatever works I've been involved in are looked back on fondly. I would, as cliche as it may sound, hope to have made some difference in some people lives.
PV: Any famous last words?
PDR: Famous.
PV: Thanks so much for hanging with us, Pierre. The solo cd is ace and I look forward to see you live the next time you're in San Francisco!
PDR: Thanks again for having me. I do hope to play up there again somewhere in the near future.
*Stay tuned to myspace.com/pierredereeder for all upcoming news/releases/concerts by Pierre!
No comments:
Post a Comment