Live
by Don DiLego

Waiting for Live to take the stage, I'm struck with this one reoccurring thought..."are these soundcheck guys union? I mean, what's the deal?" Alright, I've been to plenty of concerts before, but I'm curious...is there some kind of fraternal-secret-society thing going on and how come I never see a woman soundcheck guy? Oh yeah, and what exactly are they playing on the guitars7 I mean, who are these people? Do they have bands themselves and they get to "try out" new song ideas and riffs in front of thousands of people every night. Are they, perhaps, some anti-government test marketing agents who could just never quite pass E-Major 101? Think about it. You never hear these suppose-zed guitar affcionados and effects wizards just let some wailing solo ring out. Why is this? Are they under contract to play guitar patsies? I suppose it goes something like, "hey Englebert, could you take it down a notch? Eddie wants to look good tonight doing 'Eruption', ok?"

Oh yeah, Live.

"I've checked with my officials and they tell me we may be going over there tonight. I'll check back with you in a few minutes." -Edward Kowalczyk while pointing somewhere between the phase-three blue lighting rig and, umm, heaven.

It's with a bit of unwarranted and media-driven skepticism that I witness the band Live perform most of their new material from the album Secret Samadhi at Great Woods this past evening. It would be easy to dismiss this band as simply more fortunate than their alterna-rock peers to have survived the horrific major-label dispensing of said musical style from their rosters. Live, of course, are no Cardigans. Live, well, they ain't even No Doubt. And last I checked, I'm quite sure Live wasn't no Beck either. In a current music market re-driven (can we all hypnotically say we love the eighties?) by a love affair for the three-minute-production-sawy pop song, Live is about as welcome as a Thompson Twins vs. Al Gore ping pony match. (Wait, that sounds pretty fucking cool!)

So it is to their determined credit, that I can say Live came across as an ironic breath of fresh air. This is a band who are not afraid to wear their proverbial "hearts-on-their-sleeve"....or, more specifically, lead singer Ed Kowalczyk. At times awkward, at times inspired, Kowalczyk held court on stage like an oft-sedated and vintage Peter Gabriel. Well, at least that's better than a wholly sedated Phil Collins. Musically, they are tighter than ever, and as a pleasant change from their last tour, significantly more comfortable on a large stage and in front of a large audience. This, most certainly, did not go unappreciated as the crowd ate up most the entire set, including the songs off their latest.

Ok, so none of the new offerings are quite as ear catching as the likes of "Lightning Crashes" or "I Alone", but that doesn't quite matter. What Secret Samadhi plays as, is a successful growth record for a band determined to survive in a pop-dominated culture, "Samadhi" dares to be dark, bold, contemplative, and spacious. As a whole, this is not an album that will surpass the sales of Throwing Copper, but who cares? It is an album that I believe will age well...and should the band be making records for another decade, this will be looked at as a quiet gem. I'll admit my disappointment at first listen; even second. It does take time, but like a great book7 an investment in patience should most certainly pay off for thc listener. Enough of my cheap words! And, yes, they are cheap ...I spoke with bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and the following are a few select responses.

INSTANT: Did you approach the making of this album with a different mindset than you had during the making of "Throwing Copper?"

PATRICK: Well, we definitely concentrated more on the recording end of things...definitely more on the micing techniques and getting the right sounds to tape. I mean, on Throwing Copper we basically just ran into the studio, threw some mics on the amps and were done in about two weeks. This time, we spent about a week in L.A. just getting drum sounds and it was a major pain in the butt. Also, the whole time I was allergic to this dog that was in there. So, we decided to go home and regroup and get motivated.

INSTANT: How's the tour gone so far and how has it evolved since you started out?

PATRICK: We really only spent a few gigs here when the record first came out in February or March. We'd been in Europe and Australia for a while and the record was so new when we started out, we weren't quite sure what the reaction would be. In Australia, it went amazingly well. I mean, I really had to take a step back and think about the whole thing. But it was great.

INSTANT: Why did you choose the "Hit Factory" to record the record. New York seems an ironic location for the very spiritual direction of the; record.

PATRICK: Well, we did the first record in Milwaukee of all places...and, ummm, the second record was done in a small town outside of Minneapolis. So for this record, I guess we just wanted some change and some new life and energy. Jay Healy, who did "Samadhi" with us, is the house engineer at The Hit Factory in New York, he just kinda called at some point and said he could get us in there in a week. So, it just happened. At first, we got a bit flustered recording in the main room due mostly to the fact that there was zero vibe. I guess calling it the hit "factory" is appropriate. We were a bit down on ourselves until we all just got it together and decided we needed to move beyond the obvious. Yeah:, you're right about it being ironic...it definitely wasn't our first choice or probably not again.

INSTANT: It's an indelible sign of modern radio programming to jump on the "cool-pop" revival. Yet Live has stayed consistently thought-provoking....as a matter of fact, even darker on Secret Samadhi. Do you guys ever feel any pressure or desire to, let's say, lighten the subject matter up?

PATRICK: I really don't know what it is other than that's just what we are. It's just what we've always been. I'd just say, that nothing we do is ever premeditated.

INSTANT: Some people see Live as reporters of social ills and personal trauma Others see you as delvers of subject matter that can sometimes tend to go over their heads. Is the band all in sync with what's being written about or is it the exorcising of Ed's personal demons?

PATRICK: I'll tell you what. I've never had any problems with any of Ed's lyrics. Really, not once. They're just not always my die hard beliefs or anything. I mean, on a spiritual level, I'm obviously not where he is. I just don't seem to have that all-consuming quest for knowledge. It's not one way or the other for me. I respect the ideas, definitely...for me, I'm more middle-of-the-road. Also, to me, words don't really mean a whole lot. But that's me. I'm fully aware and realize that some people do place a great importance in them and I think about how that's represented with our band.

INSTANT: What was one of your personal favorite moments that occurred during the making of the album and what is your favorite track?

PATRICK: The highlight was that I finished two weeks into it and got to go home. I guess I like "Graze" and "Ghost" a lot. They're both mood explorers and have great use of space. Playing live sometimes' I can be drifting off thinking of other things, but not during "Ghost", not ever during that song. I'm always into that moment.

INSTANT: I noticed a lot more unity between the bass and guitar on this record. By that I mean as opposed to the more melodious counter rhythms present of Throwing Copper, the bass on Secret Samadhi seems to growl at times and add sinister harmony to the guitar parts. Was there a conscious effort to achieve a sound musically, or was it more the result of where your head was at during the creative process?

PATRICK: Yeah, I definitely agree with what you're saying about the bass and guitar. Ummm...after the songs were all written, we were listening to the rough mixes and it just struck me that this was much darker than the last record. I was kinda trying to figure out why. Sort of like...was this a reaction to the success of "Copper", a reaction to radio? Maybe the whole thing just scared us and we wanted to step back. But, it's definitely moodier. It didn't even seem like we had any kind of a record until we started selecting tracks and it came together.

INSTANT: Did you guys experience any writer's block after Throwing Copper. Did you at all get nervous especially with the enormous success of the last record?

PATRICK: It happened between the first and second record, definitely. We were just l8 years old when our first record came out, and it ended up selling a few hundred thousand copies. We were amazed as fucks! Seriously, that was well beyond what we thought it would do. When we went-to do Throwing Copper, we hadn't been writing on the road like we probably should have. So' we were fighting with each other and we just weren't where we should have been mentally. Sure, we did the whole "do we ever want to make another record again? It's been fun, but..." thing. Basically, we were just over-anxious in trying to be productive. It helps that we know each other so well. We do get in fights' but we're grown men. So you just get over it.

INSTANT: One of my favorite of the new songs is "Graze". More specifically is the range that Ed sings the verse in; all the while a sustaining boom beds underneath the track. This seems like wonderful moment where everyone in the band exercised a beautiful use of space and restraint. Do you ever feel trapped by the rock formula of two guitars, drums, and a bass?

PATRICK: People are always saying "less is more", "less is more"...I just didn't want to hear it at all. But you learn as you go along. Space and where you don't play can be more effective than showing off. So on this record, a lot of stuff is more spacious and open. For me, it was like listening to a lot of bad Stones' records.

INSTANT - © 1999