LIVE – DOWN TO EARTH

Singer/songwriter Ed Kowalczyk stands again with both feet on the ground; in spite of the album title 'Birds of Pray'. After having bombarded the loyal public with existential questions and vague answers for years, there has now come an end to the endless fanaticism. The recent fatherhood of the frontman involved that the singing shaman wasn't entangled any longer in the web of his own philosophical reflections.

According to the bassist Patrick Dahlheimer, Live hasn't only recovered textual, but the band has also returned to its rock roots on the new album.

How's Life?

PD: In the first place sleepy due to the jetlag. It's eleven in the morning but it feels like it's seven in the evening. Besides I'm suffering from other problems of adaptation. I live with my wife, 3 kids and 3 dogs in Miami. a very domestic life actually. Now I'm in Europe to perform and to do interviews. A real conversion I'd say. It always costs me a lot of time to adapt myself. Normally it takes a couple of months before I can switch the button. Only then I realise why I chose to be in a band. Life at home is reality for me. Everybody in the band is getting on a bit. However as friends and bandmembers you cherish the time you spend with each other. Even more because you start spending a lot of time with your family. Also that time becomes more and more valuable. That's why it's sometimes difficult to step from the one world into the other.

That's something you can clearly hear on the new album.

PD: Ed's recently become a father of his first child. This album reflects a new period in his life. For a long time we've been searching for answers on vital questions. It was a spiritual search. Guitarist Chad Taylor and I have already found the answer to a large extent. We have found peace with the families we've founded. Now Ed's got a child, his life's drastically changed. That makes it even more difficult to leave your safe home. It hurts, but the fact is that we play in a band, with a lot of fun though. It has had an enormous effect on the lyrics.

How, do you think, is it for a child to have a father in a rockband?

PD: I never knew for sure. When I became a father for the first time, I had some serious doubts. I thought it would be impossible for a child to grow up in a situation like this. Yet I had chosen to work in the music industry. I knew that Live was my call. I didn't know for sure whether it would be good for the children that their father would be away from home so often and so far. Once we had to do a photo-report somewhere in America for an English magazine. The photographer was a very cool lady. After we did the session, she drove along with us on the tourbus to our next gig. On the bus we had a DVD on with a children's film. The music that was in it was Zeppelin's 'The song remains the same. We were having a good chin-wag when suddenly she said that this situation reminded her so much of her youth. She told us that her father was playing in that band. She appeared to be the daughter of Jimmy Page. This healthy, lively and nice woman made her way very well. I was like: If Jimmy can do this, I can do that as well. I'm a pretty serious guy who doesn't get mixed up with the seamy side of the rock n' roll existence. This moment was very important and enlightening for me. I've learned very much that day.

You just told us that singer and songwriter Ed has passed through a big change in his life. To what extent can you hear this in your lyrics according to you?

PD: Ed's gone back to the roots on this album. Also in musical respect. He's calmed down as a human being. He doesn't ask that much questions any more. I think that he's finally found what he has been looking for during all these years. A lot's got to do with the fact that he's got a baby now. Having a baby makes you see a piece of heaven. In some way Ed's seen the light, although it might sound a bit too loaded. To a lesser degree I've gone through this as well. A child changes a lot in your life. I don't want to say that a child is the reason of your existence, but it makes your realize that life is valuable, and that you have to take responsibility as a father to familiarize your child in this world. The contrived searching of Ed is now part of the past. The other members of the band are very happy with that. There's now more peace and composure in the band. And all this has translated itself in a fiery album. One with a lot of energy. It's nice again to play in Live. The last 2 albums were fantastic to make them. It was also great to play the tracks live. But we kinda forgot how it was to play in an elementary rockband: bass, guitar, vocals and drums. We wanted to make rocksongs again, with the four of us. Producer Jim Wirt has made an important contribution to that. He aimed for a solid rock album. I'm very satisfied with the album and the band. It may be weird to say that I feel very at ease, even comfortable. We're still friends. Beside it, we haven't made such a good album in a long time.

At a certain moment I thought of Ed as a tiring guy who always wanted to play the do-gooder and shaman. He was the man of the big gesture who wanted to push his quasi-philosophical opinion to the public.

PD: Sometimes I found him vague as well. And exhausting. Always dealing with those heavy subjects. Why am I here? Who am I? And where am I? Maybe it had got to do with a mid-life crisis. But now he finally found inner peace.

On the other side, Ed's lyrics had more depth than the standard sex, drugs and rock-'n-roll lyrics.

PD: We love sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. Although it's a matter of finding the right balance between those three. VH1 is a well-known music station in America who shoots a band behind the scene every month. Most of the time it's about young, non-experienced musicians who tend to grow into rich rockstars. The fame and money always have a drawback. Musicians go down on excessive drug use and lose a member on dope. We remained the same sober persons as we were before. We're already playing together for 18 years, everybody's still alive and none of us has known some serious drug problems. Actually we're a very boring band. We rather leave the rough rock 'n roll to others. I prefer to read those stories about others in the magazines.

Isn't it sometimes boring and don't you ever feel like having a bit of adventure and craziness. It looks namely romantic to live on the borderline.

PD: I'd like to continue as a musician. I have a great job, although I may hate it. Making music is yet the most beautiful thing there is. And we even got success as well. It may be defiant and interesting to live on the borderline. But I don't feel like it. There's no place for that. Maybe I'm old and boring, but I'm perfectly happy. I myself have lost friends in the music industry who have been ruined by it. Shanon from Blind Melon was a good friend of mine. We used to tour a lot together. Two weeks before his death we were still partying together. When I heard he had died; It scared me enormously. He was somebody who lived on the borderline. From a distance he seemed to live a romantic and adventurous life. But inside there was a lot of pain. He was tormented. A lot of musicians with inner problems flee into alcohol and drugs. The only thing I struggle with is getting up in the early morning. Boring, but not life-threatening.

The new album has turned out to be a pleasant rock album with any risks, with a lot of melody and influences from classic rock. Also good produced, but certainly not overproduced.

PD: We've finally made a record that represents Live the way the band is. Strong rock- and popsongs that are short and succinct. Every track contains an element that makes it stuck to you pretty fast. It's also a very competently produced album. Jim has put a lot of time in it. There has been attention paid on every detail. In the past we tried to fix the moment. Now we had to tune our instruments continually. With Jim it was more a matter of designing. Uncountable takes and putting on several layers. Jim was the booster of the process. Once we started the taping, we were like a machine that couldn't been stopped. We just needed a kick in the ass. We had to work hard of ourselves. It was both physically and mentally a big challenge. We've really toiled in the studio. Because we live spread over America, we always come together in a certain city to work on our songs. For this record we went a week to Los Angeles and three weeks to Nashville. Also this time I was astonished by the result. It was incredible how fast we managed to turn Ed's ideas in well finished songs. I feel that we've made the best possible album.

(Gerd Jan Vleugels)