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Wywiad z Rusty Andersonem

2004-11-25,  autor: joryk  
[...powrót do newsów]

Bartek Flis rozmawiał z Rusty Andersonem, gitarzystą Paula McCartneya.

Bartlomiej Flis: How did you start your career? Your first band was called Eulogy right?

Rusty Anderson: I flipped on The Beatles when I was 5 and that was my first contact with music, first impression. Then I convinced my parents to buy me first electric guitar when I was 8 and played it non stop everyday and started to convince my friends to be musicians ? ? If you want to be my friend go and grab a guitar?.

BF: Your first band was rejected by record company. How did you cope with that disappointment?

RA: We were teenagers and we thought we going to be huge and as they rejected us we wanted to brake up ? everything was superporalized. Life is doing that to everybody ? being rejected but when you gotten ?YES? it is really amazing. Trick is to find the magic and clear pass in the darkness no matter what you do.

BF: When you got rejected you started to be guitar teacher. How was that?

RA: I did that for 4-5 years and in one point I had 50 students a week. Good thing about teaching is it improved my playing also but I could not do it forever. When I was playing with Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson at Country Music Awards few years back I run into one of my students who is now a signed country singer and the other student of mine is playing second guitar in band Perfect Circle so they are here and there in the business.

BF: David Kahn Paul McCartney?s producer seems to be a guardian angel for you in career? |

RA: In lot of ways he is. I had worked with ton of producers but he really championed me. I never wanted to be a studio musician. Thanks to first work with David in early 80?s on the Bangles record I started to work with different artist and it all took off. He was the one who brought me to work with Paul McCartney on Driving Rain.

BF: Did you regret to turn into studio work rather than being a solo act?

RA: I have been in a lot of bands like Eulogy, Soldier, Animal Logic do I did a lot of things that I could express myself. Thanks to Paul McCartney I started to tour again after a long time. Because I really was into studio work with others. Thanks to it I played Queen Jubilee, Red Square, Concert for NY the biggest gigs. I never regreted my studio work thought because I was happy to be able to work. It never took me off from creating; unless you go on tour then you are gone.

BF: Interesting thing in your career is group Animal Logic. Stuart Copeland on drums from The Police and great Stanley Clarke. How was it to be in a band with them?

RA: The sound checks were the greatest ever. We would jam for hours, and I regret we never recorded it. That was then when band really came along. All differences and tensions would disappear.
BF: ?Undressing Underwater? your first solo record just came out in Europe. Where did the title came up?

RA: I saw it in 60?s boys scouts handbook and thought it was really odd. It was double negative words that stroke me. IT could apply to a lot of things in life. Water signifies dreams, love, sex, relationship. It could be 90,000 metaphors to it. I like to be tickled, not everything has to be said clearly.

BF: Have you ever regreted working in studio for people like Ricky Martin on Living La Vida Loca.

RA: Not at all. I feel fortunate to have people to work with. The solo on the song for Ricky was done in my home. The producer came to my house I did the solo and it ended up on the record as it is, it was a demo when we did it. It is all a learning experience.

BF: What do you think of music business nowadays? Of young bands fighting a for a record deal?

RA: The bottom line is to believe in yourself and take every available opportunity and go after it. The path that I have taken is bizarre so I don?t really want to advice anybody just do what you believe in. Funny thing is that money and music are the same root words from Latin so maybe they are more connected than we think.

BF: Undressing Underwater is your first solo record. Why so late?

RA: I have done steps before. I thought I don?t want to destroy my life with being big solo artist. I like what I have. Finally I came to a point when I said I am going to do it(the record) and see what happens. I am not going to stress on money or anything. I wanted to have fun with it. I di the record because I love music and I have something to say. Kicking record out is tough thought. I was doing the record in breaks between working with Paul.

BF: Did you write the song specially for the LP or used some older ideas?

RA: Electric Trains and Coming Down To Earth were along for a long time. Sentimental Chaos and Coming Back To earth were written quite recently. My friend Pantheon Huxley who co produced the LP helped me to finish songs like Old Sparky.

BF: You do not have a problem on writing very personal stuff like on songs Electric Trains?

RA: The only one that can represent me as I am is myself so I had to do it. Art in general is unpredictable. Some things just come out. That is why Electric Trains is interesting. I wrote the song a long time ago and realized that what I was wrote was about my brother who died 19 when I was 5 years old. It was like a dream and it kicked giving great feeling.
BF: First single from LP was ?Hurt Myself?. You did the song with Paul McCartney. How was it having him on your record?

RA: It was really surreal. It was just too much in once. HE did a great job. He sung backing vocals on the chorus. It went really quickly. I never really thought that it would happen. I am grateful to Paul. He is a friend.

BF: Stuart Copeland is also on the record right?

RA: Yes after Animal Logic broke up Stuart and I were doing soundtrack work from time to time together so we were in touch. I ranged him up and he did his work great.

BF: Do you have any recipe for writing a song?

RA: I have millions of cassettes in my house with bits of music that gathered through the years. Sometimes a melody on piano or guitar. Sometimes I write a vocal thing or there is a lyric and just glue it all together. A little ditty can turn into really nice song.

BF: For the past three nights you have been playing in London. The gigs had very acoustic approach. How they ended up on album?

RA: Concept was to come to London and do some acoustic shows and then my friend Laura (cello player) came and Henrik on bass, Daniel on percussion in the last minute and the sort thing sort of evolved. Record was original concept. Whatever people create either it is classical music or rock they always have other thoughts afterwards that thatey should have done things different ways so it was nice experience.

BF: On ?Devil Spaceship? Laura played beautiful cello solo with heavy klezmer music approach.

RA: Yes there are different versions of music. Maybe in some time I will record acoustic sets with those guys. I really feel like doing that.

BF: In 5-10 years time how do you see yourself ? Rusty Anderson a studio musician or a solo act?

RA: I even wouldn?t venture to guess. Definitely it is important for me to make music and I have the constant need to get out those music ideas from my head and I think I will always be doing that and always be playing with different musicians and different capacities. That is why it is so interesting working with Paul McCartney because he is the most famous musician in the world ? singer, songwriter, personality ? that?s a lot. Aside from doing record he is doing choir pieces, cartoon films, he had been working on vegy food with Linda basically he likes the idea of creating.

BF: So as for yourself you do not want to stick to one thing?

RA: I just like to keep my options open and do things that are exciting to me. Music will always be involved in one form or another. It is interesting phenomena because music as recording medium is only been around since 20?s and like technology it has evolved so quickly and so many things has been exploited. I in general like combining new concepts that haven?t been combined already.

BF: How was it working with Paul McCartney for past 3-4 years for you?

RA: Life changing in a lot ways. I have done so much recording with other artists, songwriting and recording with my bands, so it was so exciting to get along with Paul. We did the concert for NY just after 9/11 with Abe we were headlining the concert with David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, The Who it was just insane!!!;-) I met Bill Clinton backstage it was crazy!!! I was just one of those things that took off and became huge. So I thought that if I could do that I could do anything. The whole concert was filmed and then shown across the world. So to show the Policemen and Firefighters in the audience the whole house lights were on. We had special TV lights that were really wibe killers. The whole mood that is on typical concert was killed by those lights. Sp going out on stage was really hard so after that is easy to do :)

BF: How about Paul McCartney new LP? Is it finished?

RA: We have done a lot of recording, Paul did some work on his own. There are two different producers involved ? David Kahn and Nigel Godrich so the bottom line it is up to Paul that it is done ? I am going to do two album out of it if not done yet.

BF: How many songs had been recorded?

RA: There was one song that even had a couple of versions done so I couldn?t even venture to say. It is enough to do a record and a half (18-20 songs).Paul works impulsively and goes from thing to thing to work on. There was a track on Driving Rain called ?I will always be there? a fantastic song one of my favorites if not my favorite and he decided not to release it. There was also a song ?Washington? that had nice bits in it but ?I will always be there? was for me a classic early 60?s Beatle song.

BF: What are your future plans with Paul? A Tour?

RA: We are doing USA in 2005 march and april and maybe Superbowl again.

BF: You are coming back to Europe?

RA: We did Europe sort of twice doing all the major cities and then the secondary ones but we never did Poland ;-)

BF: Is it just about money that is involved in such event that Paul skips Poland?

RA: There are many things involved. Barry Marshall is a tour director and he sets it all up and Paul then makes the final decision. It all just beyond me.

BF: Thank you for the interview it was a pleasure talking to you

RA: Thanks a lot I enjoyed meeting you and talking thanks a lot.


Rusty Anderson new LP Undressing Underwater is now released in Europe.