PipemanRadio Interviews Jeff Kollman About 2023 AD

0:04 Hey, you have unto censure. I'm wow, cra youngro Why become of America. It's time for the Adventures of pipe Man on W four c Y dot com West Pomp Beats, his number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the pipe Man. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio. And I'm very excited about our Mexican because what an amazing musician. And that's not an easy thing to say in these days, because there's great musicians and then there's music. Well, he falls under both. So let's welcome to the show. Jeff Coleman, how are you? Hey, how you doing there? Good to see a D.

1:18 Good to see you. And I'm very excited about your new album that's right behind me there, twenty twenty three a D. And now we're already in twenty twenty four. You know you might have to do a follow up album too. Yeah, right, I'm always a year behind schedule. Right, it's one and the same if you ask me. And so tell us a little bit about how this album came about, and you know a little bit from your point of view, the artist on this album, because you do have a lot of guest players on it, which I think is super cool, especially that they would want to do it with you. That says a lot. Yeah, you know, yeah, so the players I have on there. We had a single we released with Chad Smith and the story behind that song and bringing him in as I have another band called the Bombasting Meat Bats that we kind of formed out of an era when I was producing Glenn Hughes. Chad would come in and Ed Roth keyboard player, and we would jam and wait around for Glen to show up, you know, in the studio, and we found ourselves doing this kind of seventies Jeff back Billy Preston kind of stuff then and so fast forward, we made a couple of records in a live recording and did some random touring in between the Chili Peppers and Chicken Foot and whatnot. And then in the process of making a newer record, I came up with the song songs and thongs, and Chad got busy because for Chante came back in the fold the Peppers just started rolling.

2:53 So as I'm making this new record, I thought, man, I could use that song in the record. It really has the vibe and the sound that I want in the track lineup, and he came over on a Thursday and knocked it out. And he knocked it out in the first take, but I asked him to do a second take and kind of fill all the whole thing. He said, like Ron Jeremy in pace. I'm like, yeah, something like that. So he's on there. The whole thing was recorded last year and the twenty twenty three a d that's the intro pieces a tribute to the great Jeff Beck and he passed away in twenty twenty three, as some of you know, just a legend beyond legend, ye, So yeah, I have Shane Gallis on there and the Wonderful Drummers played with Michael Shankering, bay Elmstein, every guitar player under the planet, Jimmy Johnson from Alain Holsworth's group. So you know, the thing is I recruited different players for different who I thought would be good. Okay, this guy's perfect for this song, that sort of thing, right, And you know, stylistically, the previous album, which was called East of Heaven, that was done during a lockdown, so there was a little bit more writing in your room and sending tracks off and you know, a little disjointed in that way.

4:16 I'm really proud of it the way it worked out. But it's a little more reflective, and you know, this one was a little more in your face. And now we're you know, we're back and nice. Yeah, and do you find too okay? I've been saying if you could take one positive out of the lockdown for is that I don't know. It gave musicians an ability to jump off the hamster wheel and get creative again, you know, which because we were living this fast paced life. You know, dude, this this is this It's like some of the creativity got lost. And I think now it's coming back because artists not only had that time, but realize, hey, I want to go back to this the regular Yeah.

5:00 You know. It's interesting because during the lockdown, I guess you learn a lot about yourself when you spend so much time with yourself. Yeah, you know. And it was a different way of writing, and yeah, you had time to be creative and not just out on the road NonStop. And because some I guess a lot of musicians are so busy doing it they don't really think about, like amster on the hamster wheel. But then on the other hand, the fans got so starved for live music. I think live music is, you know, come back in a big way since the pandemic. People want to get out, they want to spend their money, and they want to have a good time. And I think they don't take it for granted as much because it was difficult for people during the lockdown, Oh no doubt. I think see live music to me is some of the best therapy music in general, but live music in particular, like you just escape from reality and you're with all these people that are your big family at a festival that most of them you don't even know, but they's still your family and you're just all there for the same reason. And I think what was happening leading up to COVID is like you were saying, people were taken for granted. They were complaining all the time, and now there's a right and they're still complaining. I know. I see it all the time, Like I did coverage all these music festivals. I'm like, dude, at least we have live music. Me I was saying during the lockdown, I'm like,

6:33 I don't care if some kid in fifth grade gets up on stageway recorder. I'm going to that live show because I don't care. I just want live music. Yeah. Yeah, so, and then especially with a musician like yourself, to me, seeing somebody like you play live a post on a studio is a whole different experience. Yeah, it's a whole different thing. You know, you just express different, You're just completely free. And you know that's part of the trick in the studios to not get the red red light syndrome where you're overthinking and you know, really trying to capture what you do live. So it's a different animal completely. Yeah, the way you interact with the fellow players. And yeah, so you know what about sorry say that again, I said, I love them both. I love you know, the studio creativity process and the live You know what I love about the studio that I think an art that we're starting to lose is a whole album, like a movie in an order, like if You've Changed the Wall or Dark Side of the Moon or one of these great albums. The flow of the songs. You know, I start putting together songs and I think about a vision, you're thinking about artwork, you're thinking about the titles, and then I'm thinking about the flow and which songs work, which songs don't, and the order of things. And I'll work on that as much

8:03 as working on any individual tune. And for people just to click listen a few seconds or something going to something else, it's such a right imagine doing that with dark Side of the Moon on shuffle mode and iTunes. You know, it's so funny too that you mentioned dark Side because at the I was at punk Rock Bowling this weekend and that came up in an interview and I was like, yeah, it's just like, dark Side's just one big song. How can you just listen to one of the songs and then it's so weird if you listen to one on the radio, it almost when it ends, it sounds like where's the rest of the song. Yeah. So, and with instrumental music, it's tricky because you have to express in a different way. And I like to think that people don't need lyrics to feel emotion, right, I mean, yeah, come on, there's a whole thing called classical music that went on forever, and but you can fall into a trap of just writing to show off the guitar players for that. You know, I'll play a little head and then I'll just riff a shred over these changes and then okay, here's my country song. Here's this thing to show that I can sound like this, And I think that's it's a little it can get a little silly, you know. So I like a challenge making a cohesive album. And that's what made musicians like Jeff Beck great because it's like they didn't put in this formula. You know, you guys don't put

9:35 in a formula. You don't put in a formula. It's just creative musicianship. Whereas I think the other things you were talking about, that's part of that formula thing, which is a big thing nowadays and music too, because of that click click click trun mentality. It's like musicians are being told to plug in this formula because this is the formula that the algorithm likes. And you know, I think music should go way beyond an algorithm. Yeah, I mean at that point, you're halfway to AI, right exactly, which it's starting to happen now. It's like, I don't know. AI is good for some things, I guess, but to make a whole song at AI, I don't understand what's the purpose. I think what we're losing is experts in any field nowadays. It's like if anybody can do this stuff, then nobody's really an expert, and then it's just all brought a bunch of water down stuff. No matter what industry, you're never going to replace human emotion. No, you know, I'm not worried about any of that.

10:43 Yeah, you know, you have to find inspiration and everything and somehow figure out a way to fuel it into your music and right from an honest perspective, exactly, And I'm sure I don't have much to say from a lyrical standpoint. So I feel really comfortable with instrumental music, and I love collaborating with singers and songwriters and that sort of thing, and delivering a song and supplying the music. And I can write lyrics, you know, as good as some, but not It's not like you know, John Lennon or Garaga Waters. So you know, I'm happy to do instrumental music and I love it and trying to create a mood and the depth of emotion through the sonic experience, you know. Yeah, well, to me, some of the greatest guitarists like yourself, you know, you are expressing lyrics, just not with the words and not with singing, you know, like the music itself that you create on the instrument to me, says a lot without saying the word, right, Well, thank you. Yeah, I'm excited about this record, the sonic quality of it. You know, even though my hearing is getting worse and worse tonight, this is growing. I learned so much more about space and production and what works and you know, guitar tone and

12:16 working with drum tones and just you know, compression and putting the whole thing together and you know, and I work with Alan Parsons, which he's such an inspiration with mixing records and so yeah, it's just it's a it's a joy. Just the mixing process of an album is such a joy to do. See. I love hearing that stuff because I love that you like both sides of it. Because there's so many artists that it's like, well I only want to do this or I only want to do that, and I think to be a true artist, you love the whole process, every bit of it, from start to finish. Yeah. Yeah, there's there's releases I listened to and I go, man, I wish I would mix that. I love it. I love the Steve heslatest record and a lot of times and I listened to it, I was like, it doesn't sound as high fi as he presents himself as a whole, like it's and it's great.

13:11 It's like, man, I wish I could have it sounds so arrogant, right, I wish I could have mixture record. But you know, and but I'm sure it's the way exactly how he wanted it. But it's an interesting thing, you know. It is true though, because when you you do that, you do hear things that others may not hear. It's no different than you know, when it comes to me and radio, and I'll listen to other people will be like, well I wouldn't really do it that way, or oh wow, that's a cool way to do it. And then I listen to my own and I'm you know, as we all know, we're our own worst credit, and like I'll have somebody say that was a great interview, and then I'll get off and I'll listen I'm like, hope, but man, I sucked these tall driving balls. So how do people connect to you on socials on the web? How they get the new album All that Good? It's out on Deco Records. I have a label, Marmaduke, but we kind of did a thing together and anybody can buy any of my merch at Jeffcoleman dot com or Culmination dot com. And we're doing vinyl and it'll be ready to ship the beginning of July. And this is records forty nine minutes, so it's too long for one album, but then it's too short for two albums if you start righting three or four

14:41 sides. I was like, oh, I have three sides of a double album. So in the eleventh hour writing another couple of things. And the bonus tracks are just for the vinyl, very like for the vinyl is all bonus. I brought in Rick Fair brought to you. Used to play with chick Corea and it's just a wonderful player. And Guy Allison is with the Dewie Brothers twenty years and Guy co wrote a tune called nineteen seventy nine with me and it's pretty pretty darn cool man. So that was fun to get a side for going for the album, and that only ten people to maybe buy the vinyl, if if they're fans and collecting, and they can only get that through the vinyl. It won't be released digitally, and that's the way it should be anyway, because like vinyl is a whole experience. We were talking about that a lot of the interviews. It's making such a big comeback with even young artists that never experienced it. It's like having that tangible product and that you know something you and I know. I remember sitting out on my balcony after I bought an album and listening to the album like fifty times in a row while I'm looking at every little bit of artwork on the cover and reading all the lyrics and yeah, you know, people today, no matter what song comes on the radio, like I know the lyrics and they're like, how do you know the lyrics that because we sat down and listened to it ten million times and memorized the lyrics with the lyrics right in front of us, you know. And yeah, track track track thing.

16:17 You know, how they ever really get to know a song or I think about the parts of songs they miss, Like some of the songs are my favorite songs. If I only listen to first ten seconds, I probably never would have known that was one of my favorite songs. Yeah, you know, the experience of vinyl. Right you're listening from start to finish, putting on als, cooking dinner, whatever, hanging out and just listen. That's why I like to drive if i'm If somebody gives you a new record and I, you know, take a little road trip, it's a great way to listen to well a podcast or listen to an album. And it's iroty. And you know, it's not that expensive to get into vinyl. Really you can. I want to turn table for one hundred fifty bucks and pioneer speakers one hundred dollars clips. You know, So I'm off to the races nice. I mean, obviously you can spend fortunes, you know, just with the the need and all that sort of thing. But you know, people, you know, anybody over thirty five or forty year, I start going to look at it. See it's like, who played on this thing?

17:18 What the hell am I looking at? You know, I've never even thought of that part, but it's so true. I'd probably be pulling out the flashlight on my bone to look at it. The worst thing is people like concerts and they're just sitting there, they're looking at the band on her phone. Oh we could go with the whole rabbit all what that, Because I'm like, man, I understand you want to get some memory, so clip a thirty seconds or whatever. But I sit there and watch people watch the whole concert on their phone, and I'm like, just just go home and watch you too. Yeah, I mean, yeah, we could do a whole podcast about how the phone is the worst invention and yeah, you know, Sebastian bag mentioned it years ago. He's like, man, people fans used to come up and you could have some cool conversations and meet and get to know some of these people. And now it's just they come up and they want to do a selfie with you. They get in your face and then they're right. You know, it's just weird, the whole experiences.

18:18 You know, it can be rude, it could be weird. It's uh, you know, you're not attached, and it's just a strange phenomenon. Well, I say all the time, we have more ways to communicate ever in history, and our communication is the absolute worst. Yeah, And you know what, I don't care that I don't have any selfies from teenage years, because man, I have these memories in my head that are way beyond whatever those selfies could be and the experiences that I had, and like things like hanging out with Lemmy at the Rainbow, you know, and there's not one picture of it, not one, and who gives the crap? You know, I have up here the experience, you know, like you're saying, whereas nowadays it would be just over here and take a picture with me, have a nice day. That's all I care about it, Just yeah, I had a nice chat. Would let me at the Rainbow while he was playing pac Man and you know, we right UFO and then Lizzie and cool things, you know, and yeah, if I had a phone and had that kind of mindset, I would have taken a photo and then run off exactly who cares? Yeah, tell everybody, show everybody, and then at the end of the day, it was just a picture. Yeah, you know, so well. I love it. I love your music, especially this new album. Everybody has to go check it out and get it and get the vinyls so you get the extra beats there, right, And it's just cool anyway. It's cool to have vinyl now, so you

19:49 might as well. And thanks a lot for giving us great musicianship and music, and thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe. Now all right, Thank you so much, Dean, you got it. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Papement on W for CUI Radio.