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Darrin: Paul, you just returned recently from a tour with Paul
Stanley. Paul asked the entire Houseband to come out on the road
with him. What was it like to get to play entire sets with the
guys, instead of the 1 ½ minute partial tunes from the show?
Paul: Uh huh. Well, the funny thing is, when we learned
the songs for the show, we rehearsed them as the full length song.
Then we would cut them down to a shorter version, but we had
experience in playing the full length songs. With Paul, I guess it
was about 2 hours of a set, our chops were pretty tight from playing
so much together over the 2 years. After awhile, it actually became
easier, as you were playing the same 20 songs every night, and not
having to learn new songs every week. Physically. for being up
there for 2 hours it was not that tiring, and it was paced really
well. You would probably have to ask Nate, as he was the one that
really worked the hardest. I mean it was loud, and kind of wore your
ears out. It was pretty great though, it is a great band.
Darrin: What was Paul (Stanley) like to work with?
Paul: Paul is totally cool. He is definitely a rock star.
You know, we did a show for 2 years where people wanted to be a
Rockstar, be he definitely is a rock star through and through. On
the other hand, he is a very regular guy. To hang out with him, he
is totally cool. When he gets up on stage, he is Paul Stanley, the
lead singer of KISS. He was great to work with and a very down to
earth guy. He is just as comfortable going to a 5 star restaurant as
grabbing a burger at In and Out. He is totally cool.
Darrin: What were the crowds like at the Stanley shows? What was
the craziest city you guys played at?
Paul: Well, KISS fans are pretty crazy to start with. They
are so supportive and into everything they do. New York was crazy,
because it was a really small venue, but it was packed body on body.
Detroit was pretty crazy too, it was not a huge place, but it also
was packed body to body, with like 1500 to 2000 people. It was hot
and sweaty, they were loud and crazy and just so excited, and the
coolest thing was, even the solo stuff he had not played in 20 years
and a lot of KISS songs that they never played live and they knew
every word of every song.
Darrin: Wow, now that is dedication
Paul: Yeah, totally.
Darrin: Rockstar Supernova. Did you like the show this time
around, or the previous go with INXS? I personally liked the INXS
version the most. It seemed to have more talented singers that
really wanted it, more classic rock during the shows. The second
incarnation seemed to be more, polished, and predictable.
Paul: I preferred the first show myself. To me, the second
seasons show, I did not feel that it was as genuine to be honest
with you. The first season the INXS guys had an advantage, because
you look at those guys and you could tell they cared about each
other, and were really into the project, and wanted to get out there
and play their music again. And the other difference was, the
singers from the first season had no idea what it really was. They
did not necessarily know it was going to be all over TV, so they
were a little more wide eyed when they came in. I think the second
season had some great talent. I just think some of them were a
little more calculated. I think in the second season, people wanted
to win more, and tried to become more of a star on TV.
Darrin: I guess that makes sense. They know the longer they stay
in the competition, the more television exposure they are going to
wind up getting..,
Paul: Right. So in essence, I think they were a bit more
calculated.
Darrin: Maybe I put it wrong. In the first season the
competitors really wanted to be a part of INXS, and the second
season, just wanted to be a star, and front a band on tour, with an
album.
Paul: True, no one knew what Supernova was about, the
genre, and what they would sound like. With INXS, you knew what you
were shooting for. I preferred the material from the first season
also, it was a more rounded mix of stuff. The Supernova guys tended
to want all of the music to lean towards the harder tougher stuff,
which tended to skew what we played.
Darrin: How involved did you get in working with some of the
singers like Jordis and Mig on their demos and solo projects after
the first Rockstar show?
Paul: Jordis, we went in and cut for or 5 things with her
when she was signed to Sony. Trying to find direction for her, she
went in with the house band. Some of it was good, some of it wasn’t
that good, and she was not sure of what she wanted to do. She wanted
to write some more, so that kind of fell apart a bit for her. Now
she is back in LA writing some more. I think she is an incredible
singer, and I hope she gets something out soon. I love her
personally, and I think she is a great singer.
Mig is a very good friend of mine, Mig, I did some demo work with
him to help him prepare the sound for what he is doing now, the
classic rock with orchestra thing. We did couple of things together,
his record company wants him to have very big, high profile
producers working on his album though, good for him, and his album
is supposed to come out I think in March. It’s a cool idea. The
thing we did with Baby I Love Your Way on the show, that kind of
vibe with a bunch of different songs, with the orchestra. The seed
was definitely planted on the show.
Suzy did a record, with Marty Fredrickson here in LA, it is going to
be coming out in Canada very soon, if it is not already out.
 Darrin:
Marty is all signed up of course…
Paul: Yeah, Marty has done very well with the Lovehammers,
they went out and supported INXS, then went out on their own. Marty
is a good friend of mine, and we talk on occasion
JD I still talk to, every now and then, it has been a few months we
got pretty tight on the show. Ty was just at my house a few days ago
working on a song. He is now signed to a manager and law firm in
New York, and he is going to get some songs out. He has had some
songs on that show Dirt, quite a few songs on there. I still talk to
a lot of them, bt we went right from the show, the slightest amount
of time off, then doing other work , and we went right into the
second season of the show. There was not a lot of time to help
develop these guys after we came off the show.
We are going to go in this week, myself, Nate, Sasha and Rafael to
record some stuff with Storm. Right here in town, and we did a show
with Magni in Iceland.
Darrin: That sold out like 6,000 seats right?
Paul: 2 nights of 6,000 seats. It was incredibly
successful, and did really well for him. And he is now out on the
Rockstar tour, playing with Dilana, I wish the best for Dilana, and
Magni is a great singer, Toby is out with his band, so, there is the
scoop on a bunch of the singers from the shows.
Darrin: You are credited with some programming, strings etc on
the INXS Switch album. How did that come about?
Paul: Guy Chambers, the producer had me come in. I went in
to do background vocals on some of the songs, there were some songs
they had done strings on that they did not really like, and wanted
replaced, he came over to my placed, and we did a bunch of strings
stuff, and orchestra stuff, on 3 or 4 songs, spent a couple of days
here, and that was it. I think it is a really good album, I still
listen to it a couple of years after the fact. I hope they do
another one.
Darrin: JD seems to be really fitting in and sounding great with
them. It seems the people have accepted and embraced him.
Paul: He has really grown into that experience. E is very
natural up there, and a strong performer. Much improved from the
show. He has probably done 200 shows with them now.
Darrin: You have played live and in studio with more artists than
we have time to mention. You were the musical director and keyboard
player for Cher. What did that job entail on tour, and how was Cher
to work with?
Paul: Yeah, for like 16 years. The job entails, doing all
the arrangements for the songs, programming all the audio,
assembling the band, telling everyone what to play, helping the
front of house guys design the mix, pretty much every sound that
comes off the stage, you are responsible for
Darrin: No pressure huh?
Paul: Just a bit **laughs** It is pretty much the same
thing for Rockstar. Also, if there are strings, choir or any of
that, I work with them to get that prepared too. I am very hands off
with everything I do. I do not like to farm things out. Cher is
very cool to work with. It seems like I have known her since I was a
child. She is a big star. Can’t really get to be a bigger star than
that. She is a very cool girl and to talk to her, she is nice to
talk to. She does not take herself too serious.
Darrin: You are credited with some work with Whitesnake. What
album(s) did you work on with them?
Paul: Actually, the only album I was on was a Greatest
Hits album, where there was a new song on it, and I was with them
live from like 93-95. We toured Europe, Australia and Japan. It was
a bit after their heyday.
Darrin: You had formal training at the Dick Grove School of
Music. You were taught by the likes of Henry Mancini. Do you think
the education got you as far as you have made it, or was there luck
along the way?
Paul: It was a professional school in LA, run by local
film guys, and people like Henry Mancini and Claire Fisher would
come in and do classes. A very nuts and bolts kind of school that
prepared you for work in the industry. It was a pretty great
experience. I would get a lesson on Thursday to arrange a piece for
a 60 person orchestra, and would have an orchestra there on Monday ,
and hopefully it would go alright.
Darrin: You have some major clients in the advertising
jingle/music composition. Ford, Gatorade and others. Does it amaze
you the countless millions that hear that music, and never realize
it is you? Is it something you love to do?
Paul: It is something to pay the bills definitely, and it
is like another skill I have. Someone calls up and satys can you do
a 30 second commercial in this style, and I say Oh yeah, I can try
to do that. So you just sit down and do it. For every 1 that is out
there, there is 10 that I did not get it. You have to be very
particular. It does not bother me, the anonymity of it, and you get
paid very well for it.
Darrin: You are starting to do some score work also. Are there
any projects currently that you can mention that you are involved
with?
Paul: I have not really had time to do much score work.
The focus on the show, Working with Punk prepping her tour, playing
with Paul Stanley. Nothing in particular score wise. I would love
to do more in the future. It is a hard nut to crack. You have to do
a lot of it to get more of it. You have to shadow write for someone
else for some time. I am so busy, that I have never had the time to
dedicate to that.
Darrin: You have a home studio. What kind of gear are you
running?
Paul: I use Nuendo and Cubase 4, I have about 12 million
keyboards from old analog to new stuff, tons of synth stuff in the
computer, clavinet, an organ a piano, a couple guitars that I do not
play very well at all. It is all in one room, I do not have a
separate live room or anything like that. It is basically a very
comfortable room to work in. It’s my garage that I converted, not a
pro studio with live room and all that.
Darin: Over the years has there been a favorite tour/project that
you have worked on?
Paul: I think Rockstar is my favorite thing I have ever
done. It is the most diverse musically, it is the best band I have
ever played in, the process of putting it together every week in a
mind blowing thing. It is very intense, and that is how I like it.
As for tours, I did a tour with Janet Jackson in 2001, where I
put that together
Darrin: Are there any whispers about a third Rockstar?
Paul: Just whispers. No one has said anything yet. My
hope for the next Rockstar, INXS was a unique situation, tragically,
they had lost their lead singer, and had to find a new singer, and
that is why that worked. If there is a next show, I hope that they
can make it a straight up singing competition, put some guys on the
couch to judge, them, maybe a great manager or something, whoever
wins, gets to go make a record with this person, then get the
opening slot on a tour with like U2 or Aerosmith. Somebody major.
That would be a stronger thing, than trying to create a new band,
may just not work as well. I think people are interested in hearing
great singers song great songs.
Darrin: Thanks for giving me so
much of your time Paul.
Paul, No problem Thanks! |
Paul
received a call from the music producer of Rock Star, Clyde
Lieberman, and was asked to audition for the role of musical
director for the show. He competed against 11 other musical
directors who had also put bands together (a total of 75 - 80
musicians auditioned). Paul got the gig. Two of his band members,
Rafael Moreira (lead guitar) and Sasha Krivtsov (bass), were also
hired. Jim McGorman (rhythm guitar, keyboards) and Nate Morton
(drums, percussion) were hired from the other auditioning bands.