​Just finished recording an interview with Dean Roland of Collective Soul. He always looks ready to step on stage. I always look ready for emergency medical attention. 

Cris Cohen: What defines this album to me and you guys (in general) are these complementary opposites. You have a lot of intense stuff. But within the same song, you will suddenly pull back. It will be stripped down to just a simple chord, simple vocals. How much of that is planned ahead of time and how much of that is what comes out through your jam sessions? 

Joel Ekelof of Soen: I would say it's planned in a sense that… it goes without saying in the band that you never put yourself as an individual musician above the song. You need to deliver what is necessary. If you have some complicated technical pattern that you want to express, then that's fine. But it has to be for the purpose of the song and the greater good. 

Sometimes when you strip it down to just a chord and vocals, that's very important for the dynamics in the music, to have that tension and release, making the music breathe in in a sense. It's not our idea. It's the oldest idea in music history of course. But I think it's necessary. 

In really mainstream music today, you take sugar and you put sugar on top. And that's not so inspiring. 

You need to have that kind of blend. It's always been like that. And it's funny today that music gets so one-sided, especially mainstream music. I think that will tire people out. Because what you want is the equilibrium, the balance between… 

Cris Cohen: Push and pull. 

Joel Ekelof: Yeah. Exactly. At least for me anyways, it makes it just as fascinating when you listen to the album the second time, the third time. There are parts that maybe you did not notice the first time that stand out more upon re-listening, because there is so much going on.

​I am an awful drummer. You would not be able to tell the difference between me playing the drums and someone who just happened to be seated at a kit the moment he had a seizure.

But I contend that taking lessons and learning the basics made me a better listener… and thus a better interviewer of drummers like Troy Luccketta (pictured)… and thus a better content specialist for drummers like Daniel Glass and bands like Huey Lewis & The News, Cowboy Mouth, etc. 

It helped me develop a better understanding of the effort and skill involved in playing the drums. It taught me that even a basic groove played with great feel is harder to pull off than you think. 

Even a little bit of music education and effort improved my insights, my analysis, my questions, and my content creation.

​Another glamorous action shot. This is what I look like when I am listening to music in preparation for an interview or client meeting. Actually, this is often what I look like when I am listening to music just for fun. I never understood people who put music on as background noise while they work. If music is playing, it tends to be what I focus on. Everything else becomes background noise.

Cris Cohen: You had this great quote where you talked about recording this album. You said, “We were all pushing each other towards this direction of simplicity and anger.” What drove that? What inspired that?
 
Joel Ekelof of SOEN: When we talk about simplicity, it's in the context of being a progressive metal band. You come from progressive metal traditions where what you play is complex and it's technical. But within that framework, we still strive for simplicity or this kind of beauty in the music that you find when you sort of solve the equation… when the song really stands out in its magnificent simplicity. We always put a lot of work into the songwriting and the production, but we wanted to feel (relief). When you listen to it, it's supposed to be sort of a catharsis… something that you feel is just beautiful. It doesn't have to be gymnastics when you listen to it. 

Cris Cohen: Right. It's kind of like with writers when they're writing stories, when they're writing novels. A lot of the great stuff comes in the editing, when they go back through and tighten it up. What can you take away and still leave the power of it all, but go more direct to the reader. 

Joel Ekelof: Exactly. What is not necessary? What is the core here? What do we really want to say? Exactly.

Cris Cohen: I've seen other interviews you’ve done. You come across as very mellow, affable people. And yet, you have songs like the opening track, “Cut the Cord,” which have this raw, edgy feel. And particularly your rhythm guitar has this fabulous, buzzsaw kind of effect. I'm wondering, what aspect of you are you digging into to bring forth that raw, visceral response?

Dean Roland of Collective Soul: You know, that's a great question. I think, as a musician or artist or songwriter, all of those things, it's multifaceted, right? The music that we are inspired by is all over the place too. I could be just as enthralled listening to some classical music or “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” by Elton John. Or I can listen to Metallica or AC/DC, who is a huge influence on us. You just kind of tap into it and see where it goes. 

Cris Cohen: In the days of all this technology, where everyone can just piece things together in their own individual homes and recording studios, what is it about getting together and actually seeing one another as you play that creates a better sound?

Billy Sheehan of Talas: It's an intangible. I'm not sure exactly what it is. And I believe you can carry on without that. And I've done a lot of records where I'm in another city. But I've played for a long, long time and played a lot of different styles of music, so I'm listening to the drummer anyway. And if I was recording, I would probably be in the control room listening to the playback monitors and playing along like that. Because it's difficult for me to be out in a room with headphones. I really can't hear what I'm doing. So I've done a lot of records like that. Which are, in effect, us not being in the same room technically, but because we're all there, there's a group dynamic that happens with any bunch of creative people. They work off each other and I do believe that you get a better product. 

Because right up until you record, things are still in flux. They're still malleable. They're still plastic. They can be moved around, and that's a very important factor. Because many times… I remember doing the “Sink Your Teeth Into That” record (Talas). As the vocalist was at the mic, I would have to say, "Hold on a second." And one song was just particularly too wordy. I just crossed out every other line.

Cris Cohen: [Laughter]

Billy Sheehan: And it made for a much better song. The vocals sat in the track better. He wasn't trying to rush and get all these mouthfuls of words out. So, everything changed throughout that.

When you have a whole bunch of people in a room together working on a piece of music, many factors are at play. And the one I believe that is probably the most noticeable is that interaction and creativity in last-minute changes.

Cris Cohen: How would you say you guys are different as songwriters?
 
Pat Simmons of The Doobie Brothers: Good question. I couldn't really tell you, to be honest. I think most songwriters probably do it the same way, just like anybody writing anything. It's trial and error in a certain respect. You get an idea and you just try to float it and see if it'll turn into something. I'm sure you've talked to dozens of writers. Everybody has the same process. Everything you come up with as a writer, it's an idea that embeds itself in your head. Where it comes from? Who knows. 

It's something that you cultivated. I certainly think that people are born with an aptitude for music, but it's something that you cultivate, especially with writing. If you never tried it or determined that it was (not) something that you wanted to do, it wouldn't come to you. But once you've decided that, "I can write a song," that's where it starts. "Maybe I can do something." You write a song and you go, "Hey, that works." And then you try performing it and everybody goes, “Oh, that was good, Pat. You should write some more.” Then you go and try to write more songs. That's I think how it starts. 

From then on, it's just exhilarating. For every song you write, probably there are a hundred different ones that never get there. I have so many demos on my computer. Sometimes it’s a matter of minutes until you have something really great. Other times it's a matter of months to years to have something that’s solid. 

That’s the process for me anyway. (Bob) Dylan writes six songs every day and completes them. (laughs)

Huey Lewis of clients Huey Lewis & The News: Around 1984 our tour was sold out. The agent said, "Who do you want to open?" 

I said, "Stevie Ray Vaughan." 

He said, "Who's that?" 

I said, "Check the record out." I sent him the record. He said, "It's great. Let me check into it." 

Stevie Ray's manager at the time asked for more money than they were worth. My agent said, "This is ridiculous. We can't pay them this kind of money. They're not worth anything. We're just helping them by putting them on the tour. They should be paying us. Blah, blah, blah."

I said, "Forget about it. Just pay him. Trust me. You'll be glad you did." 

The first show was in Oklahoma City. I showed up early and went straight to the wings of the stage. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble with Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton. They were just killing it. Then the song ended and there was a moment of dead silence. Then the audience started chanting, “Huey, Huey, Huey, Huey."

I thought, "Oh my gosh. That's horrible. These people don't get this." I couldn't believe it. 

Double Trouble finished their set. They were put off by the reaction and went into their bus.

I went onto their bus and told them, "Look, fellas, you're tremendous. Here's the thing, the audience is invested in us. They know our music. They play the record on the way to the venue. No matter how good you are, they're bound to think that we're going to be much, much better. There's no way you're going to score here. 

"What's going to happen is, when they go home tonight, they're going to say, 'Hey, you know what? That first band was pretty good.'" 

I said, "Just relax. Have a great time. Believe me, this will be good for you guys." 

They did and we had a wonderful tour. Stevie Ray got on stage and played “Bad Is Bad” with us every single night. We just were inseparable for the whole tour.