NewBeats

from Bad Lieutenant's MySpace page

An interview with singer/guitarist Jake Evans of Bad Lieutenant

By David Chiu

Upon first listening to British band Bad Lieutenant’s recent album, Never Cry Another Tear, without even knowing its history, one could have sworn this was New Order. After all, the lead vocal is unmistakably familiar because it’s from New Order guitarist Bernard Sumner. While that and the music present recognizable elements for old fans, Bad Lieutenant a group that also has its own identity. That’s because Bad Lieutenant sound is more rooted in organic guitar rock, with a few electronic flourishes, compared to New Order’s ‘80s dance-oriented-music. To put it more diplomatically, it’s the sound of both a familiar group and a new band.

Bad Lieutenant was formed by Sumner, Phil Cunningham (who was also in New Order’s last lineup) and Jake Evans. (New Order drummer Stephen Morris guested on a few tracks). Evans, who is also in the group Rambo and Leroy, was an old friend of Cunningham, and that connection later led him to Sumner and Bad Lieutenant. In November the band released Never Cry Another Tear, an album highlighted by some strong tracks like “Twist of Fate” and “Sink or Swim.” While Sumner may be more recognizable of the core three given his track record, Evans also makes his presence known as a singer on a couple of the tracks, reflecting a certain group democracy.

So far the group has performed live mainly in their native UK, including this past December as the opening act for the Pet Shop Boys. A tour of the U.S. opening for the Pixies was originally scheduled late last year but never materialized because of visa issues.

NewBeats had a chance to speak with Jake Evans to talk about how the group came to be, their music, and working with Sumner and Morris.

1. Bad Lieutenant is still kind of relatively new to us folks here in the States. Can you tell us how you ended up in the group. And did you know Bernard and Stephen previously?
Me and Phil have been friends for a long time. We grew up in the same town of Macclesfield. Being musicians, inevitably you end up working together or just chatting about music at some point, so our friendship kind of grew from there really. Later on I did a stint with him in [the group] Marion when they reformed.

As far as meeting Bernard goes, I was at a mutual friend’s birthday party when we first met. I was convinced into getting up and doing a song. I think that was how Bernard came to bear me in mind when he wanted to form this new group. I also supported New Order with my own band Rambo and Leroy on their final UK show in Wolverhampton. Bernard and Phil came out to watch our set and they were impressed I think.

I got a call on New Years Day I think or the day after from Carl Jackson ( Carl plays drums on some of the tracks on the album )asking if I fancied playing some guitar and singing in this new band Bernard was thinking of doing with himself, Alex [James] from Blur and Phil. We started just getting together and jamming really in the early days, just to see what stuck you know? After that we decided to take it all a bit more seriously and the writing core just naturally started to center around myself, Bernard and Phil. The album head a real collective feel, which added to its distinct sound I think.

I didn’t meet Steve until towards the end of the making of the album, when we asked him to play on a couple of tracks, to which he added his own inimitable style. We finally drafted in Tom on bass guitar towards the end of the album, and after he played on a track or two, we knew he was the right guy for the job.

2. When you’re playing with Bernard (and to some degree with Stephen), did you ever think sometimes “Oh my God, I’m in the same band with someone I grew up listening to and admired” or were you indifferent to that?
It is a real pleasure to work with these guys for sure. It takes a while to get comfortable working with anyone new no matter who they are to be honest, but you’ve got to get past any of that if you want to be a real band. It’s a buzz to say the least to play some of the songs from their back catalogue that inspired and influenced so many. At times it can feel a little surreal but in the best possible way.

The idea to share the vocals was kind of our ethos from the start to tell the truth. It was great to be asked to collaborate with musicians I hold in high regard. When it came to deciding which of us would write/sing the vocals on which tracks, it either felt obvious instinctually, or we would collaborate by bringing different lyrical/melodic ideas to the song and use and develop whichever we felt were the best.

3. The one thing I noticed about this album is how guitar-rock oriented the sound is. And it also sounds very organic, rich and natural–was that something that was conscientious on the part of the band?
Although a lot of the songs are underscored with synths and programming, this is predominantly a very guitary album. The electronic influence is still there though, all be it to a lesser extent than bands previously associated with Bernard and Steve perhaps. It just happened that way very naturally. This is a new band, with a new sound, and a new outlook.

I personally love using electronics in music. The only thing for me is the song rules, end of story. Perhaps our next album will be very synthy, or less so than this one. Who knows. I like being able to do what we want. Which is what we did with this album. And besides, any fan of Bernard’s and Steve’s will know that they like to surprise people. I like the fact that while so many bands at the moment are trying to ape the sound they had 20 years ago, Bernard’s just released his most guitar driven work for years! Ha.

5. There are a lot of really good songs on the album in my opinion like “Twist of Fate” and “Shine Like the Sun.” Is there one track or a few particular ones that stick out for you and why?
Thanks. Yes those are great tunes. I like them all for different reasons to tell you the truth. Which is probably why we had a bit of a stress when it came to the tracklisting!! I would have to say that one of my favourites would have to be “This Is Home.” It embodies what we’re about I think and was one of the songs even from early on that just seemed to work.

6. Having never seen you guys perform live on stage, do you also perform New Order songs as well? And do you think have people now accepted Bad Lieutenant as a band within itself as opposed to being constantly compared to New Order?
We do play some of Bernard and Steve’s back catalogue, which is a pleasure to play for me anyway. The gigs are predominantly our own material but we do throw some of their classics as well. And why not? People want to hear them. Having said that the last thing I would want to come across as is a New Order cover band, so its a delicate balance. I think the message about the new band is still getting out there, particularly in the US.

7. How disappointed were you that your U.S. tour was canceled because of the visa problems? Are there future plans on coming back once that is corrected?
We were gutted when we had to pull the initial gigs over there. Rest assured we’re working on getting back over for a full-scale tour soon. It always takes time to be accepted as a new band but forming our own identity is something we’re committed to doing.

8. Has there been a personal or professional highlight so far that has happened to this band, whether it is a funny or poignant moment in the studio, during a tour, or a gig? What has been the overall experience in being in Bad Lieutenant?
I think I would have to say that the first sold out night we played in Manchester was pretty special. Everything just came together. We had a blast. The overall feeling of being in this band is great. We work well together. We have a laugh. We make good music. That’s enough for me.

Band press photos from MySpace.

For information on Bad Lieutenant, visit http://badlieutenant.net/

Continuing with NewBeats’ 10th anniversary, here is an interview with former Luna bassist Britta Phillips from 2003.

Loungin’ with Luna’s Britta Phillips
by David Chiu

Pop music has its memorable share of famous male-and-female pairings: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney, Sonny and Cher, and Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (we won’t count Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley). What makes these pairings so memorable is the chemistry between the principals that conveys a sense of true romance or conflict, like actors engaged in a love scene or going through the motions.

Joining that illustrious company are Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham. Alternative music fans will immediately recognize them as one-half of the band Luna. They are readying the June release of their solo record from Jetset called ‘L’Avventura,’ a record that recalls mid ’60s to early ’70s lush and orchestrated pop records (think of French pop star Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin). It could also be considered a Valentine’s of sorts to lovers and the broken-hearted, with a few ingredients of regret, angst, and desire thrown in.

How would one of the principals describe the sound of this record? “Somebody said it was beautiful and sick,” recalled Phillips with a slight laugh. “Sick compared to what? It’s romantic, lush, mellow, pretty, and all that stuff. More intimate than Luna.

On the record, Wareham and Phillips debut a few originals such as the lovely “Night Nurse” (which recalls the aforementioned Sinatra-Hazelwood records) and even a surprising dance-styled track in “Ginger Snaps.” “I love that song,” commented Phillips, “pre-idsco early ’70s sound, and it’s got some ’80s in there too.”

No doubt ‘L’Avventura’’s retro atmospheric and orchestrated sound was due to producer Tony Visconti, who helmed those classic David Bowie and T.Rex albums from the ’70s. “He’s great easy to work with, a fan of the music,” Phillips described about working him. “That’s very confidence building. He did some great string arrangements, played guitar and a little bass, and keyboard. He was very organized; he liked accidents or mistakes the good ones.”

Originally ‘L’Avventura’ was going to be a Dean Wareham solo project of all-cover songs, with Phillips only appearing as a session player. It gradually developed into something more. “He had some new songs,” Phillips remembered, “and I had some songs, and he said, ‘Let’s do it together.’”

Aside from some material penned by Wareham, Phillips also contributed two compositions to ‘L’Avventura’: the dreamy, ethereal “Out Walking” and the jazzy “Your Baby.” Those songs brought Phillips’ sexy voice and romantic yet introspective lyrics to the fore. “I actually started writing ["Out Walking"] about ten years ago and I dragged it out a year ago and revamped it. “Your Baby”: I based it on a Lee Hazelwood chord progression from a song called “Your Sweet Love.”

Phillips relished the opportunity on the record to showcase more of her lead voice as compared to Luna in where she sang backing vocals and maybe the occasional duet. “This is giving a lot more singing opportunities that ‘s for sure,” she acknowledged. ” I love to sing.”

Although he is Luna’s chief songwriter, Wareham has been known to indulge in a cover once in a while-for example, the band tackled a sleepy-version of Guns N’Roses’ “Sweet Child O’Mine”; when he was in Galaxie 500, that band covered works by the Modern Lovers, Yoko Ono, the Velvet Underground, and even the Rutles. On L’Avventura, he and Phillips tackle songs by Native American folksinger Buffy St. Marie (the trippy “Moonshot”) Madonna (the folkish-tinged “I Deserve It”), and the Doors (“Indian Summer”), all of them rendered in a dreamy, atmospheric sort of way comparable to Luna.

Phillips couldn’t offer a concrete reason for Wareham’s fancy for some those covers. “He had chosen ten that he was going to do for that album originally,” she said. ” I don’t know what his criteria really. I guess just songs that he likes [and ] I felt we could bring something to. They just seem to lend themselves.”

Not only is there a sophisticated mod lounge air to the record, but there is also, musically-speaking, genuine heat between Phillips and Wareham in both their duetting and harmonies on some of the album’s tracks, such as on the sly “Night Nurse.” On this record and on the last Luna album ‘Romantica,’ Wareham has found in Phillips someone a musical partner in crime who can accentuate his songs of yearning and somber meditations. “I think it’s just a natural sympatico musically,” she explained about their collaborations. “We both respond to the same kind of things. It’s kind of just really natural and easy. I love his taste in music and we have similar ideas about things.”

Of the two people on ‘L’Avventura,’ Dean Wareham might be the more recognizable name having been a founding member of legendary ’80s indie group Galaxie 500 before starting Luna in 1992. However, one may be surprised that Britta Phillips had been involved with music for nearly fifteen years before joining the band in 2000. How she got to where she is now is a story of interesting career turns and perseverance.

Phillips hails from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the daughter in a musically-inclined family; her father played the piano and trombone and her mom sang. “Elton John was probably my first record,” she remembered about her early musical tastes,” and later Blondie, Television, and Talking Heads. And I lived in England in the early ’90s I got into the shoegazing stuff.”

Early on Phillips wanted to pursue a career in music though professionally she started out acting. One of her first forays in entertainment was being the singing voice of the cartoon character JEM in the mid ’80s. Soon after in 1988, she got the part of Billy Swan, the blonde guitar player in the film ‘Satisfaction.’ At the time, it was Phillips first major acting break. “I had a manager at the time. He told [the agency] that I was a good actress, which was just totally made up. I hadn’t done anything. This was actually my first audition and I got it.”

Fans of those goofy ’80s comedies might remember ‘Satisfaction’ about a young mostly girl band who lands a summer gig, and the film boasted an impressive cast in Justine Bateman, Trini Alvarado, Blondie singer Deborah Harry, and soon-to-be Hollywood heavyweights Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson. Phillips looked back at that experience somewhat fondly. “It was a blast–really fun. We knew the movie was going to be really silly once we started doing it, so we didn’t worry about it too much.” Other acting gigs for her included appearances in the short-lived ’80s TV dramas ‘Crime Story’ and ‘Nightingales.’

In an ironic way, life imitated art because shortly after her brief acting career, Phillips did end up joining a real-life band called Belltower where she moved to London at the height of the shoegazing sound pioneered by My Bloody Valentine and Lush. “Music was something I wanted to do before [acting] but I hadn’t actually played with a band. It was mainly jingles and home recordings.” Belltower won critical kudos in the British music press (“…a sound that inspires the mind and pleases the body,” raved Melody Maker) and recorded an album Popdropper before they broke up in 1996. Shortly afterwards she joined another group called Ultrababyfat, which released Silver Tones Smile in 1998.

Then Luna’s longtime bassist Justin Harwood announced his departure from the band, during the release of their record ‘The Days of Our Nights’ in 1999. “I had done a tour with Ben Lee,” Phillips said, “and Ben’s guitar tech also techs for Luna. And he knew that they were looking for someone to replace Justin on the tour and recommended me. I got a call and auditioned for a couple of times. They had me for the tour, and after the tour was over, they asked me to stay on.”

Phillips officially made her recording debut with the band on the Luna Live disc from 2001, but it was on the all-original ‘Romantica’ where she was credited as a full member. Although considered the new guy (or gal) of the group, Phillips made her presence known, adding honeyed vocal harmonies on the record, bringing a pop element to the band and a contrast to Wareham’s melancholy.

Admittedly, Philips had heard of Luna though admittedly she wasn’t entirely acquainted with their catalog. “I heard a couple of songs but I wasn’t really familiar, much to my chagrin,” she said. “Sometimes when you are busy doing your own thing, you just don’t take the time to really listen to something. So I really wasn’t familiar, which is kind of good in a way. It made me a little less nervous. I’m a big fan now, and of Galaxie 500 too.”

Though music is now her full-time profession, Phillips still has the acting bug and has involved herself again in some film and television projects. “Having been back in New York for the last three years, I do have an agent who signed Dean and I up, and who has been sending me out on voice-over auditions. I actually did a Nestle’s commercial on camera for just the UK only.” Even Wareham has done some work on the silver screen such as on the upcoming indie film Piggy.

Depending on whether L’Avventura meets any varying degree of success or not, Phillips admitted she would love to do another of this sort with Wareham. Later in the year the two plan to tour behind the record and play in the major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. How are people going to perceive this retro, ultra cool record in this environment of prefabricated, bland corporate pop music? “I want them to fall in love it with it,” the singer/bassist said with a tinge of joking glee. “As long as it is something good no matter what. Hopefully Luna fans will like it as well as people who aren’t familiar with Luna.”

Soft Power Amps It Up for Upcoming Brooklyn Show
By David Chiu

Last month I went to the new Knitting Factory in Brooklyn to see the Raincoats and former Slits member Viv Albertine — two legends of late ‘70s British punk rock music. At the time they were the only two acts I wanted to see. Sandwiched between them was an unknown band (as far I knew) called Soft Power. I had absolutely no idea who this group was prior to their performance when I retreated back to the rear of the venue after Albertine’s set.

However, during Soft Power’s stint, I was really impressed by the music. It was angular-sounding alt-rock music but accessible (in a good way) that it kept my interest throughout their set. When I got home afterwards, I wanted to know more about Soft Power so I went on Google and discovered their MySpace site.

One of the members of the group is singer Mary Timony, whom I first heard of through her 2002 solo album The Golden Dove on Matador Records. As most alt-rock fans know, Timony is best known for her time the groups Autoclave and Helium as well as her a solo career with four albums under her name.

The Washington-DC based Soft Power (originally called Pow Wow) are a relatively new group featuring Timony, Jonah Takagi, Winston H. Yu and T. J. Lipple. Currently they are working on their new album. (Two songs “Izabella” and “La La La” can be heard on their MySpace site). Having played already in New York and other cities, the group is coming back to Brooklyn to perform at Southpaw this Saturday night.

To learn more about Soft Power, NewBeats had a chance to talk to Mary Timony and Jonah Takagi to talk about their band, how they got started and their music.

1. The most obvious question is how did the band form or how did the band members know each other? It seems pretty recent.

Mary: We have all been friends for a while here in D.C., and it just seemed natural to start playing music together.

2. Mary, you’ve been in other bands, including Helium, and of course you’ve worked as a solo artist. How would you compare the music of and the working relationship within Soft Power to your previous musical projects? Is it similar and/or different, and if so how?

Mary: From my perspective, I was getting a little bit burnt out on doing solo records, and being the front person, and really felt like being involved in a more collaborative project. Soft Power is really fun because it is very collaborative.

3. You guys were originally called Pow Wow but changed it to Soft Power? How did you arrive at that name?

Mary: Well, we heard there was another band from NYC called Pow Wow, so we decided to change it. Jonah came up with Soft Power.

Jonah: There was also a French a capella group that was named Pow Wow.

4. Jonah, could you tell me a little bit about yourself since this is the first time I’ve heard of you through Soft Power? How did you get involved in music?

Jonah: I’ve been playing other people’s music for a while mostly backing up friends. When I met Mary and we started playing together, she encouraged me to start writing. It’s been interesting, I haven’t quite figured out an approach that works consistently. Right now I’m into throwing a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks.

5. This is more of a comment than a question, and perhaps you can elaborate or tell me if I am completely off the mark, but my impression of Soft Power’s music is that it’s angular, guitar-centric, heavy and yet melodic. Is that a fair description?

Mary: I think so, also a lot of the songs we are now recording sound pretty different from each other I think, but that seems like a good description of the songs that are up on MySpace.

Jonah: I agree, sometimes I feel like we are incredibly schizophrenic sounding.

6. I like the two songs I heard on the MySpace site, including “Izabella.” Can you tell me the story behind that tune?

Mary: That song came from a guitar part I had recorded about 10 years ago on a crappy little digital recorder from RadioShack. It ran out of batteries, and I threw the recorder in a drawer, and forgot about it. Then last year I was cleaning out the drawer, and found the tape recorder, and changed the batteries. I heard the guitar part, and decided it would be a good song for Soft Power.

7. Again this is more of a comment but I like the instrumental interplay between you guys. Can you describe the music-making process in the band—who writes the music and the lyrics? Where do you draw your inspiration as far as lyrics go?

Jonah: Usually, Mary or I will demo something at home and then bring it to practice. Things get re-worked, sometimes over-worked and sometimes un-worked until it sounds like music. It’s pretty collaborative with the best songs coming from the clearest vision.

8. If I read correctly, you are working on a new album? If so, how is that progressing and when do you anticipate it being released? And are you signed to a label or do you plan on putting out this record yourselves?

Mary: We are indeed working on a new record. We are just finishing overdubs now, actually. We are not entirely sure what the plan is yet, but we hope to have it out by this spring/summer.

9. You guys have toured recently—what has been the highlight(s) so far—something exciting, fun or weird?

Mary: Jonah has good stories, he can answer this one.

Jonah: We’ve only played a handful of shows and to be honest, there is not much to report. Besides the entertaining banter, two things that come to mind. The power went out at the last show we played and I try to get people to stop at Tony Luke’s in Philly whenever we go to NY, it worked once.

10. Mary this question is particularly for you and I wouldn’t be surprised if you get asked this a lot: I had no idea that you were referenced in the Death Cab for Cutie song “Your Bruise.” Do you know the guys from Death Cab, why did they name you in the song, and what was your initial reaction at the time when you first heard it?

Mary: I don’t think I have ever met the guys from Death Cab, actually, and I don’t know the story behind that reference in the song. I have heard it, because my friend Brendan Canty is working on a movie about Death Cab, and he played the song for me.

11. For you guys, how is it like performing in NYC? Is it a different vibe playing there compared to D.C.?

Jonah: NYC is great. It seems like you can never play enough up there, as long as you submit to it’s mercy. Anything goes, getting lost in Bushwick, getting your car towed, bed bugs, finding a bathroom, weird backlines… D.C. is great, really supportive community, but you have to be careful. D.C. is a small town. No matter how good a show you put on, if you’re playing all the time it will get hard to bring people out.

12. What are your thoughts of the music scene today (I know that’s a very broad general question), especially in alternative rock? Are there any current or new bands that you listen to and like a lot?

Mary: Two bands that I have heard lately that I like a lot are the Icy Demons, and Talk Normal.

Jonah: I danced hard in a cabin in the woods listening to MGMT. I don’t know what they are up to these days, but the Ex Models are pretty awesome.

13. So what’s next for Soft Power after this upcoming show in Brooklyn? More recording and/or touring?

Just going to power through finishing recording, and mixing, and mastering, and get this sucker out!!

Photo: Courtesy of Soft Power’s MySpace page

Soft Power will be playing at Southpaw, 125 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, on Friday Nov. 14. For information: http://www.myspace.com/softpowerband

Brooklyn Pastry Chef Dalia Jurgensen Talks About Kitchen Life in New Book
By David Chiu

Fourteen years ago Dalia Jurgensen was learning the ropes of being a pastry cook. On her first night at Nobu, one of the hottest New York City restaurants, she was experiencing the hectic pace of working inside a kitchen where staff would shout orders and warnings and make fancy dishes that look and taste good. Yet those eye-opening first moments didn’t faze this newbie because she was working in a profession that she always wanted to be a part of.

“When I was in the kitchen I thought it was exciting that first day,” says Jurgeensen, who is now the executive pastry chef at Dressler in Williamsburg. “The whole service aspect was weirdly similar to my experiences in high school and college where I worked in ice cream stores in the boardwalk. I somehow managed to be in this hot, very good restaurant.”

The story of that first night at Nobu and some awkward moments along the way (like the time she overcooked the chocolate genoise, or when she accidentally burned a hole through a pot) are just some of the moments told in her book Spiced. Since then Jurgensen has emerged as top-flight chef and culinary expert through determination and confidence in her abilities. She has worked at subsequent fine New York restaurants such as La Cote Basque, Tonic and Veritas.

Jurgensen says she had always wanted to write: she formerly worked in book publishing before she decided to switch careers. She was taking a writing workshop around the time she became a pastry chef in 1998, and then got in touch with a literary agent. “She suggested if I want to sell a book that I focus on something that has to do with restaurants,” Jurgensen recalls.

Spiced offers a glimpse of what life is like inside a restaurant: the long hours and the demands of fulfilling orders; being a female chef surrounded by sometimes chauvinistic men; the skill and precision involved in preparing intricate desserts and dishes; the relationship between cooks and waiters; and how a new restaurant’s survival depends so much on a great review from The New York Times.

“When I worked in an office, it was much more homogeneous,” she says. “There was a lot of politeness. But in a kitchen it was sort of a free-for-all. It felt much more real. Even if someone was horrible and you hated him or her, at least they were real and you could be yourself as long as you did your job.”

Originally from New Jersey, Jurgensen was interested in cooking since the age of five when she helped her mother out in their kitchen; she also saw cooking shows on PBS hosted by Julia Child and Martin Yan. When she got bored with her book publishing job she decided to enroll in a culinary school based on a TV ad she saw. Around that same time a friend of hers told her that Nobu was looking for someone to fill in as a pastry cook. Jurgensen interviewed for the job and got on board.

“I didn’t realize that I could just get a job at a restaurant,” she says, “so that going to a culinary school was a necessary step I thought I had to take to get into a restaurant. I think it was a good first step for me because it put me in that direction. It forced me to take my decision seriously.”

The author describes in her book some of the elegant desserts she prepared in the places she worked at, such as a “pomegranate bombe” and a “chocolate espresso custard tart served with a “Cremisicle” sherbet.” Her favorite dessert to make is ice cream. “I like playing with flavors,” she explains. “I’m not a huge dessert eater, but I do like ice cream. Ice cream is a good base to play around with other textures and flavors. It’s very simple but it could be very satisfying,

Jurgensen’s new book arrives at a time of cooking’s popularity with the mainstream, especially reality kitchen shows featuring chefs like Gordon Ramsay of FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen. She prefers watching Bravo’s Top Chef . “What I like about Top Chef is that a lot of people are good cooks,” she says. “Being a good chef is about more than making good food. It’s about being organized; being able to do it every day; and being able to do it on different days with different ingredients.”

After working in several restaurants in Manhattan throughout her culinary career, Jurgensen currently works at Dressler, located in Williamsburg where she has also been a resident for 14 years.

We’re sort of the nicest restaurant in this part of town, so that’s an advantage for us,” she says. “You have an enormous amount of quality, and yet you have this relaxed, vaguely hipster thing…where you can get food and not have to have tablecloths and sit up straight. I’m much more interested in good food and have a good time [type of dining].”

Jurgensen says she plans to continue writing on subjects such as food and travel. As for how her past experiences in the kitchen has shaped her own life, she replies: “No matter what it is that you do, if you start out not being so good at it, if you keep giving it, you’ll get better at it. The biggest thing is not be discouraged and to have faith that you will improve.”

Dalia Jurgensen’s book Spiced is now available in bookstores. For more information on Jurgensen visit her Web site www.myspicedlife.com
Photo by Sarah Shatz.

SoCal Pop: An interview with Michael Carey Schneider of the group Sneaker
By David Chiu

From the mid-Seventies to the early Eighties, the sounds of Southern California pop music was distinguishable by these characteristics: superb (perhaps “slick” to some critics) musicianship; catchy melodies and hooks; lush arrangements and airy melodies; romantic lyrics; and an overall soft-rock vibe. It was background music for those in their cars cruising down the highway somewhere in Los Angeles as the sun sets.

The artists that best represent that sound are plenty but here are a few of the popular ones: the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Pablo Cruise, Toto, Player, Chicago and Christopher Cross. It was a genre of music that was lovingly spoofed on the recent hit Web series Yacht Rock, which parodies some of those aforementioned pop groups.

Another act from that era was a six-man Los Angeles-based group called Sneaker. The group was formed by singer/keyboardist Michael Carey Schneider, singer/guitarist Mitch Crane and bassist Michael Cottage sometime in the Seventies. With the addition of drummer Mike Hughes, guitarist Tim Torrance and keyboardist Jim King, Sneaker (whose named was inspired the Steely Dan song “Bad Sneakers”), got a deal with Handshake Records.

Their self-titled debut album came out in 1981, produced by Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff Skunk Baxter, contained their rendition of Steely Dan’s “Don’t Let Me In” and “More Than Just The Two of Us.” The latter song, a lovely ballad sung by Schneider, became a Top 40 hit.

Sneaker also made the rounds on the TV shows such as American Bandstand, The Merv Griffin Shiw and Solid Gold. The group later recorded their sophomore record, Loose in the World (1982), but then broke up shortly afterward. Although the group never had the long and popular career of its more famous contemporaries of the Southern California pop era, the music lives on thanks to the Internet such as MySpace, where there are pages devoted to a Sneaker fan site and another that plays tracks from the two Sneaker albums. Old performance clips of the band performing on American Bandstand and Merv Griffin can be found on YouTube.

Today Michael Carey Schneider keeps the memory of the band alive, especially through the band’s Web presence. He recently spoke with NewBeats to enthusiastically talk about Sneaker’s underrated life and career.

Where are you from and how did you get involved in music?
I started writing songs when I was about 14. Mitch Crane—who moved a few years prior to that, he moved out from the Midwest to the same street we lived on. We were childhood friends. He had no idea of how to write a song. He was really great with taking a Sony 2-track machine way back in the ‘60s and learning how to go sound on sound, as we called it back then. We didn’t how to do this and Mitch was such a brain at that age. He would record me singing and playing and then we go do another track and he’d play bass and guitar. We started out as children doing these songs that we had no idea we were going to take seriously.

How did Sneaker come about?
Mitch Crane and I became ‘Schneider and Crane’ in the early ‘70s. Mitch was always shy, he didn’t like to sing. He’s 6 foot 2, very shy. I’m five foot two and very outgoing. We met up with Michael Cottage, who started a group with Mitch. Between myself, Mitch Crane and Michael Cottage, we started the group Sneaker.

Before we started playing originals in that nightclub, we played the Eagles, Steely Dan, Christopher Cross—all the stuff 30 years later that ended up being that West Coast sound. We had no idea we would be part of that West Coast sound. Of course we would be playing Beatles. Anything vocally that was it, because Cottage, Crane and myself loved three-part harmony. Believe it or not, I was inspired by Barry Manilow. [He] was the key to “More Than Just The Two of Us.”

You got signed to Handshake Records?
Handshake Records was started by Ron Alexenburg, who started Epic Records. Our manager at the time, Shelly Weiss, was the one who made everything happen for us. He had all the connections to everybody in the business. We were renting a house out in Granada Hills and when he heard us he quit his job working [as] Herb Alpert’s professional manager. He would bring the biggest people in the business [to our house]: This guy knew everybody. We got signed to Handshake Records on the strength of “More.” They loved that song so much.

What was it like working with Steely Dan/Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter as your producer on your first album?
The things that he did…telling me to sing a certain way, and let’s have this instrument here, let’s do this backwards, let’s have you hit a bass drum here with a big sledgehammer. The songs sounded way better than I already thought they could ever. We owe a lot to Jeffrey for that sound. He played on the album, he produced our second album, he toured with us in Japan. He was always right there whenever we played gigs where we wanted to a little special boost for people: “Jeff Baxter will be with us tonight!” A sweet guy. I can’t say enough.

Your sound is characterized by harmonies, great musicianship, lush arrangements and production.
Even as a child I taught myself how to harmonize. Mitch is such a great guitarist, great writer, great singer. Our harmonies started way back then. We weren’t always on key on time but at least we knew what we were doing.

We actually had two kinds of sounds because Mitch was writing songs with me and Jim King. Jim’s more of a jazz writer…and I’m more of a commercial Top 40 guy. That’s where you see two different sounds. Like “Jaymes”—I wrote “Jaymes” with Mitch. That’s one of my most jazziest chord progressions I’ve ever written. That was inspired by “You Belong to Me” by Michael McDonald. It was written about a real person, Jaymes Foster, [producer] David Foster’s sister.

Mitch has that Michael McDonald voice, that kind of a soulful voice. I was always kind of compared to Air Supply’s Russell Hitchcock, the guy with the high voice. “They sound like Michael McDonald and Russell Hitchcock.” I always laugh when they said “Michael McDonald and Steve Perry.”

How did you co-write “More Than Just The Two of Us”? What was the inspiration behind the song?
Barry Manilow was very big at the time, so I was fiddling around with all these piano passages, and came up with what you hear on the record—the beginning. I don’t know how I came up with that. Mitch started singing a melody and lyric in the key I wrote it. When we went in to do the demo, Mitch started singing, and we have a demo of Mitch Crane singing the demo for More, trying to reach those notes. Luckily, he says “Schneider you sing it.” So I sang it, and all these years I have been so lucky to have been the lead vocalist on the Top 40 hit. Thank God it stayed in that key and Mitch let me sang it.

Mitch’s a great lyricist. He wrote the lyrics to all those songs. Mike Cottage did help on a couple. I didn’t know it at the time but Mitch was being separated from his wife in the late ‘70s And that song was about them getting ready to separate and divorce. I didn’t learn about that until years later. When we got on this label in Japan five years ago, and they wanted to know how those songs came about, I said to Mitch, “How did you come up with that?” And he goes, “That was because of my pending divorce at the time.” A lot of people took it in different ways—you can take it as a spiritual song.”

The band also made the TV rounds.
We were on the three hottest shows at that point in the ‘80s. they really had to like yourself to get you on there. Dick Clark comes up to me and goes “Michael, what do you think of this selling millions of albums?” (laughs). For him to think we should have sold millions was such a great honor. We didn’t quite sell a million but it didn’t matter. We were the Solid Gold Pick hit of the week, which was a very big honor. They put this little chyron thing on the TV in big letters: SOLID GOLD PICK HIT OF THE WEEK. We thought ‘This is it! We’re going to be famous!’ It was wonderful.

So why did you guys break up?
That’s a mystery. After we had our first album and more than stalled at #34. When the released “Don’t Let Me In” as our second single from that album. We just went in and did our second album. We were really big in Japan and we did a tour in the summer of 1982. And when we came home, I don’t know what happened. Things went weird. Out of nowhere. Ron Alexenberg decided to get rid of Handshake Records. I never got to talk to Ron and never got the straight story from anybody. We tried to keep it together for a while and we [then] kind of went our separate ways. Mitch went and quit the group, and I wasn’t feeling well to write with anyone else.

What did you do after Sneaker?
I didn’t do anything for a while. I went into music publishing and became a professional manager for Stephen Stills [from 1985 to 1991], learning more about the publishing end of music. I run the publishing company Sneaker songs that collects all the money when our stuff gets played on radio and TV. I was in another group trying to get another deal in a group called Spaghetti Western. We would play country rock, like the Eagles. When we go to Nashville to play at the clubs, they called us the Beatles of country music because our stuff was really commercial.

Do you still keep in touch with the other guys in Sneaker?
Mitch Crane, myself, Jim King and Mike Torrance still live out here in Southern California Some of us are still involved in music. Once in a while we’ll still be in touch. Mike Cottage went back to New Orleans, where he’s from, and he started a successful sound and lighting company. I just saw him three weeks ago. I talked to Jim King this week. Once in a while I ‘ll hear from Mitch. The only person I haven’t heard from is Mike Hughes. I haven’t heard from him and I’m worried about him. I haven’t heard from him since 1983.

Will music from the two Sneaker albums be reissued?
They were released in Japan in the early ‘80s. We did our Japanese concert in the late ’82. There were two people at the concert and each of them wanted to sign us.. Later on they started a record and they signed us to a Japanese label. I’m with friends in the business there to help me put something where people can download digitally or send them [a physical CD]. That will happen. I just don’t know when.

Do you look back with nostalgia about what you accomplished with Sneaker?
When I go to YouTube I see two groups who played “More Than Just The Two of Us” at a nightclub gig, and here I’m watching a group in the Philippines playing “More” in a nightclub. People [are] taking their time learning how to play it and sending me MySpace and Facebook messages asking me about Sneaker. I always have to remind myself when I get down [to] go ‘Look man, you did something that nobody did or will ever do again.’ I can’t tell you enough how wonderful it is after all these years to still have “More” and people still interested. I think you can hear the joy in my voice in this interview.

For information on Sneaker, visit these Web sites:
http://www.myspace.com/sneakertheband
www.sneakersongs.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Carey-Schneider/1464036158

Dee Dee Ramone’s First Wife Tells Her Story About Their Marriage
By David Chiu

Punk rocker Dee Dee Ramone was probably the most interesting, colorful and wild of the Ramones. Not only a bassist, Dee Dee, who died of a drug overdose in 2002, played an integral part of the band’s musical legacy since he also wrote a lot of the Ramones songs. In 1989 he tried his hand at rap and recorded a solo album under the name Dee Dee King,

Vera Ramone King knows well about the unpredictable nature of Dee Dee Ramone as his first wife for 17 years. In her recent memoir Poisoned Heart: A Punk Love Story, King describes their tumultuous marriage, one that included Dee Dee’s drug use, his erratic behavior, and physical abuse towards her. At one point, according to the book, Dee Dee threatened King by holding a switchblade towards her neck, then forcing her to drive back to New York City so he can get drugs—an episode that ended the marriage right there. Yet King also writes about the tender and loving side of Dee Dee, such as his generosity towards strangers and his attempt to save a man through mouth-to mouth.

Poisoned Heart also documents the world of the Ramones as it offers insight to the personalities of the two other famous band members, Joey and Johnny, the latter depicted as very controlling and domineering in the book.

Today King, who is a brain cancer survivor, has remarried and now resides in Florida. She spoke to NewBeats about writing the book (which also contains a foreword by former Talking Heads’ Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth) and living with the unique personality of a punk legend.

Your book really captures the two sides of Dee Dee: the good and the bad.
That was part of the reason why I wrote the book. I know there is only a certain legacy that has been left behind. I wanted his fans to know that there was a lot more to the man that they know about. I hope that came across but not in a negative way.

I’d rather just say that I wrote the book because I wanted his fans to know that there was a lot more to him than just the legacy that was left behind, kind of like a drug induced legacy that people remind themselves when they hear name. And there quite a few different sides to Dee Dee. He had a lot of loving qualities as well. He was a very talented person and I wanted to bring some of those things to surface and have people know what he was all about.

If I read correctly from the book, you first met Dee Dee at the former New York City venue Max’s Kansas City?
That is correct. That was mainly where I used to go. He wasn’t playing there that night. We just happened to meet at the bar. He came over and stood next to me and we talked about three or four hours. And he asked me for my number—he said he was leaving to go to the United Kingdom—he was going to London to do some shows. And he asked me if you could call me when he got back. I came home from work one day and my mom said to me A Dee Dee called you from England. I was like Oh my God! Oh my God! And he called me back and he said he was coming home and wanted to see me when he got back. From the moment he came back, we were inseparable. It was just one of those things—we just clicked.

It was love at first sight. He said it in many interviews before while he was alive, and for me it was the same thing. I’d love his sense of humor, I thought he was really funny. He had that sexy raspy voice that I adored. He was absolutely adorable and he was a rock star.

Many people probably don’t know that Dee Dee penned a lot of the Ramones songs.
Towards the end he started singing more. And that’s when he wanted to expand his writing capabilities. He wanted to write about different things other than geeks and freaks and warthogs and pinheads. The band sort of stifled him and wanted him to write that same old stuff. And that was when he came up with the Dee Dee King thing because rap was starting to become big. It wasn’t a serious rap album by any means nor was it supposed to be, but it still had that sense of humor of the Ramones and a little bit of rap involved. It was kind of a rap and roll kind of album. It was very cute.

In writing the book, what was the hardest incident or memory that you had to recall?
There were several painful incidents that I thought I had forgotten about and I really didn’t, and I would get very emotional when I would start to remember it. And it was still very much there. Dee Dee will always have a part of my heart, but at some point I had to make that break, break that chain because I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you now if I didn’t. I’d probably be dead right now.

For as long as you stuck by him, did you ever think there was a possibility he might change or you can change him?
When I got married I took my vows very seriously. I think we both did. We married for better or worse, richer or poorer. And things were a lot worse than better. You always have that hope in there in time things are going to get better, he’s gonna change. But I think in the end you can’t change people, they are who they are, and it’s a hard lesson to learn. If they would have told me the same thing now I probably wouldn’t change my mind. I was very strong headed when I was younger. I went with my heart, not my brain. I think I still do (laughs).

Still, there was the very generous side to the man too.
Just in general, he was very, very giving, not just to me when he screwed up. He would go out and buy me the most lavish present or three dozen roses. It was more than that. If somebody admired something he had, he would just give it to them. Here you can have it. I would say to him That was your favorite knife. You loved that knife. [He was a knife collector]. He’d say I know. But I wanted him to have it. It made him happy to see that he made other people happy. That was an admirable quality I thought that he had. And that incident with the coat, I bought this gorgeous black cashmere coat and then two weeks later he came home in the freezing weather without a coat. I said What happened to your coat. And he said he gave it to some homeless man who was living in a cardboard box on the Bowery. And that was typical Dee Dee. He wouldn’t think twice about something like that.

What do you want people to come away from reading the book?
I would just like them to know that the legacy he left behind, that there was a lot more to him than what was written about. I want people to know that he loved his fans more than anything and he enjoyed what he did until the day he died. He was a very special human being. People like him don’t come around that often. His life ended early, just like Joey and Johnny’s. I don’t know if there is such a thing as a curse. it never really occurred to me until many years after all this started to happen. It all happened when they were around the age of 50. It was just a little bit eerie that all of that happened around that time.

Of all the songs he has written, what’s your favorite of his?
It’s a song he wrote on his Dee Dee King album. It’s called “Baby Doll.” That’s the way I signed the end of my book. Baby Doll was a song he wrote for me on his solo album. It’s quite touching: “Until we see each other in the highest trails above, Faithfully yours forever, Baby Doll.” I chose those three to end the book because it was my sign off letter to him. And he knows exactly what that means.

As part of NewBeats’ 10th anniversary, here is an interview with bassist and singer Peter Cetera from 2004.

Peter Cetera’s Holiday Present to You
By David Chiu


Peter Cetera’s distinctive tenor voice is unmistakable and unavoidable. On any pop radio station on any given day, you are most likely to hear either a tune that features his vocals either with his former band Chicago or on his own. For the last 35 years, Cetera has written and recorded hits that have been pop staples including such classics as “If You Leave Me Now,” “Baby What a Big Surprise,” “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” “You’re the Inspiration,” “Glory of Love,” “The Next Time I Fall,” and “Restless Heart.”

Now Cetera is taking on the musical Santa role with his first ever holiday CD called You Just Gotta Love Christmas on the Viastar label. Recorded in Nashville, it features fresh reworkings of familiar holiday songs such as “Deck the Halls,” “The Christmas Song,” “Jingle Bells,”and “Let It Snow.” In keeping up with the holiday spirit, Cetera recently participated in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, and is making several in-store appearances to promote the album.

From his residence in Idaho, Cetera explains that the idea of the holiday album came from a benefit concert he did with former collaborator David Foster in the Windy City. “I sang in front of the eight piece orchestra for the first time in front of the Chicago [, IL] fans,” he remembers. “I got the idea that now was the time [for] three things I wanted to do a Christmas CD, going on the road with symphony, and a studio CD.”

In recording the holiday songs, Cetera did not want to merely rehash what has been already done to death, but rather reinterpret the standards in a contemporary spin. “Some songs you just don’t want to tamper with because they’re just beautiful pieces,” he says, “yet I wanted to do my own spin on things. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

The singer also wrote three wonderful new songs on the record: the lush ballad “Alone for the Holidays,” the feel-good title track, and the uplifting “Something That Santa Claus Left Behind,” a potential Christmas standard in its own right. “We started with little scraps of things and I came up with three things,” explains Cetera. “Whether they are classics or not, they are certainly three wonderful Christmas songs.”Something That Santa Claus Left Behind” is a fun song. I ended up playing bass on that one that I haven’t done on tracks in a while.”

On the album Cetera duets with bluegrass artist Alison Krauss on the folkish “Deck the Halls.” “I kind of wanted to do the Irish version of it,” he says. “Since I’ve been doing every thing in Nashville, I got a hold of Alison. We certainly had a grand time doing it.” You Just Gotta Love Christmas also features a duet with his eldest daughter Claire on “Blue Christmas,” a father and daughter moment captured forever on record (his youngest daughter Senna also contributes to the CD’s artwork. “I’m ecstatic that I could include my just my daughters on something that is going to be around for years to come.”

You Just Gotta Love Christmas is the first new Peter Cetera album in four years since Another Perfect World. His output in the last ten years has been less prolific in contrast to the many recordings he made in the ’70s and ’80s with and without Chicago. But he hadn’t completely dropped off the face of the earth; he was recently on a concert tour playing the hits with an orchestra. Cetera admits he is in no hurry to do the record-and-tour grind. “The rut I was in with the people that I had been previously been with it took the heart right out of me,” he says. “I’m the type of person who needs to write for a purpose. I would love to do another studio album and with the Viastar people we are going to do that. So that is the next phase of my ‘Hello world, I’m back.’”

Since leaving Chicago in 1985 as their bassist and vocalist for 17 years, Cetera continued having hit songs, including two number ones “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall.” Of the six studio albums he recorded as a solo artist, World Falling Down (1992) is probably regarded as his most poignant and personal. “Yeah, without a doubt,” the singer agrees. “To me, I just did love that album. I worked a lot with [producer] Andy Hill in London. I look back with fond memories of that. Part of the bittersweet thing with my solo career that I haven’t been with the right company or people that have helped me to promote this in a way that it should have been.”

As hard as he might try or not, Cetera will be forever linked with Chicago. More than eligible to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1994, Chicago-a group that had many hits and sold millions of records- has yet to even be nominated for that prestigious honor. Cetera’s opinion about that oversight hints at disappointment and indifference.

“I don’t know how I would react. I’ve been now out of Chicago longer than I was in Chicago. If they get inducted, great. But I think it’s ironic that we haven’t been nominated. [Chicago] had so many wonderful songs and has been such a part of people’s lives. When it’s time for me to retire and if they nominate me, I’ll go [to the ceremony]. I’m not ready to retire yet.”

Today Cetera is not looking back but rather ahead with this new holiday album and making more music. “I know there are a lot of people who have been asking, “Are you going to do a reunion [with Chicago]?’ That doesn’t thrill me. When people listen to this Christmas album they’ll understand why I waited and did it the way I did.”

Judging from the very positive reaction of his fans’ postings on his web sites, Peter Cetera’s songs still touch people of all generations, “It’s astounding the number of hits I get from all around the world,” he says. “People are saying ‘Oh I am so happy you are talking to us.’ And I’m excited back. Of course it’s flattering. You realize how important you are to so many people. It’s an eye-opening experience.”

Photo from www.petercetera.com

Read my interview with Nyla Bialek Adams and Laurie Trombley of “Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley,” on Microphone Memory Emotion.