Within an eight-year period, the veteran rockers of Soul Asylum have basked in a long-deserving break from life on the road, bid farewell to their drummer, grieved the death of one of its founding members and recorded a new album, appropriately titled “Silver Lining.”
Of Soul Asylum's remaining originators - guitarist Dan Murphy and singer Dave Pirner - the return to the studio - this time in Minneapolis - came with the blessing of bassist Karl Mueller, who died of throat cancer in 2005, but actually played on about half the tracks on “Silver Lining” released on Legacy Records last week.
Michael Bland took over on drums for Sterling Campbell who left the band to play on David Bowie's tour while bassist Tommy Stinson (the only friend of the band that Mueller could endorse for his replacement) rounded out the group for its studio sessions. “Silver Lining” marks Soul Asylum's ninth full-length album.
The Beach Reporter spoke with Murphy about the group's sabbatical, the new work and recording in Minneapolis.
The Beach Reporter: So where have you guys been for the past eight or so years?
Dan Murphy: Well, you know, we kind of got tired of it. Our drummer, Sterling Campbell, left the band; we just kind of wanted to take a break but we didn't know it would turn into eight years. Actually, we started working on this record two years ago, so I guess it was a four- to five-year break before we got serious about recording, which we kind of needed. By the time we finished a record, it had turned into a really, really long break.
So, did you have a lot of new material to work with?
Yeah, we probably demoed 70 to 80 songs, so the 12 on the record we picked over pretty well over other options, and it seems like that was kind of the thing for us - we wanted to make sure that there was really strong material. We didn't want to make a record just to make a record. We wanted it to really be pertinent and it just seemed like it had to be the right kind of record - when the material started to come together, that's when we got excited about recording.
Do you think you'll end up using any of the remaining songs?
I'm sure, there is some stuff we will use, and with My Space and LimeWire (a music-sharing Web site and program, respectively), and all that crap, it'll be out there before we can even say it (laughs), that's just the way the world works now - anything that is left over people find and duplicate. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, most of it will be fans listening to it anyhow.
With Karl's death, did that affect the process at all in a musical sense?
We were going to go in (the studio) right before he got diagnosed, and his cancer went into remission, and that was the organizing factor: Karl was well enough to do it and he wanted to, so it kind of lit the fire under us. Then when he got cancer again - he got another tumor - and passed away, it kind of tested our resolve. When we had the record finished, we went in and recorded a few more songs like we always do because we try to get a representative batch of material, so we went in and cut a couple of things after he passed, but I still think that the whole project had Karl's blessings and it was really important for him to be on it and important for him to make this record, and I am glad we were able to do that.
How did the idea of recording in Minneapolis come about?
We've done the high-budget records in California and New York and none of us live in California or New York, so on this record, Dave and I took out a loan to make it. We didn't have a record label when we started, we just wanted to do it autonomously and not have an A&R guy, per se, or a label that wanted a certain type of record, we just really wanted to take back that independent feeling we had, just do it for ourselves. We are pretty critical of ourselves. We've been doing this for a while and made a lot of records, and we wanted to get away from it all. Minneapolis was a good place to do it because there are no record labels but there are an abundance of studios that are kind of on the cheap.
So do you think the city provided any kind of inspiration during the recording sessions?
I think so; it's a funny thing. Flight Time, which is owned by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the studio was going out of business - it was just a shell of a studio - they had all of their equipment up but there was no receptionist, it was not a functioning studio and the business was even on the market. We kind of snuck in there and did it on the QT when no one was looking and I thought it was a great way to start a record. It felt kind of “commando,” no one knew we were in there, so it was very keeping with doing it our way. It worked out really well, it was a pretty cohesive process, and it was nice doing it in Minneapolis. I think we all have a love/hate thing going on with that city, but I think all of us - Karl, myself, Dave and Michael - are all Minneapolis people so for us, when the band starts out, you want to be successful enough where you can leave town. When you are a younger man it seems kind of foreboding in a way - you just want to get the hell out of there. But then it's nice to come back after spending 15 years on the road. It's a weird town, though. If you're there too much it drives you crazy, but it is nice to come back at some point and feel a part of that city again.
Some have said that the music is a merging of punk and folk; do you see similarities in those two styles?
Absolutely, Woody Guthrie and a political song by The Clash don't seem like they are that different to me. I know Dave as a writer embraces the story-telling thing in our songs, a kind of narrative. You don't always want to do that with an acoustic guitar, so you try to come up with music that is more visceral. I think the band is not really scholars of music, but definitely fans, and I think we've absorbed so many things. Some things you hate, but just hit you over the head so much it just becomes a part of pop culture and you take that in, even. I think that there is a Johnny Cash/Woody Guthrie element to the band and there is also Sex Pistols/The Clash/The Ramones element, too. So, it seems like there is a ton of influences that you try to absorb them all and accommodate them.
No comments:
Post a Comment