Interview from: http://www.rhythmandnews.com
Calling the Kettle Black
The R&N interview with Brian Setzer
By George A. Fletcher
Rhythm and News Magazine
June, 2001
Brian Setzer has practically done it all in terms of musical accomplishment. For starters, his old band the Stray Cats remain one of rock’s biggest success stories. But not all things are equal nor are they meant to last forever and as Brian says, whenever he gets together with his former bandmates, “something goes wrong.”
So, in order to fill his musical jones, Setzer frequently climbs out on the proverbial limb, testing the limits of not only his own creativity and credibility, but the limits of his fans and of popular music in general.
He spent an early break from the Stray Cats making a surprise (and brave) foray into mainstream rock in the mid-eighties with his “The Knife Feels Like Justice” recording, which yielded the hit title track and better-than-average airplay.
It has been his ongoing experiment in swing, however – the wildly successful Brian Setzer Orchestra – that has brought the accomplished guitarist the greatest recognition, as well as an unexpected return to his roots, um, sort of, with the new trio, ‘68 Comeback Special, consisting of the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s rhythm section (drummer Bernie Dresel and doghouse bass specialist Mark W. Winchester) and their debut CD, “Ignition,” featuring all new “Hot Rod Songs and Make Out Tunes.”
Poised for a three-month world tour set to begin June 12, Setzer took a few moments to speak with Rhythm and News magazine publisher George Fletcher about his career thus far, including his roots, the Stray Cats, the BSO and, now, the ‘68 Comeback Special.
Rhythm and News: ‘68 Comeback Special is a great
band name. Is there some connection to the Elvis Presley 1968 comeback
television special and the name?
Brian Setzer: It’s a tip of the hat to Elvis, of course.
And when I got to thinking about it, it was kind of cool because when
he did his 1968 comeback television special, he was getting back to
his roots and kind of closing a circle. Not comparing my self to Elvis
– ever, but I was thinking, “Well, I am kind of getting back
here to my old thing.” There’s another reason: I grew these
big sideburns, and I was wearing all black leather one night and we
were going out and my wife said to me, “Very ‘68 Comeback
Special” and I just said, “That's it!”
R&N: But the new trio thing was actually part of
the big band shows?
BS: Yeah, we would do a little bit in the middle of the shows
and that’s how I got really tight with Mark and Bernie. It wasn’t
just three guys playing – I was thinking, “Hmm, this has got
some sizzle here.”
R&N: Did people get it when you wanted to put a
guitar front and center to a big band?
BS: Oh, nobody got it. Everyone was telling me that
it wouldn’t work. In fact, a lot of people didn’t even know
what a big band was (five saxes, four trombones, four trumpets and
a rhythm section). People were asking if we had two drummers and
back up singers. That was in 1992. Everybody was telling me I was crazy.
In fact, it never should have worked. I called it the Spruce Goose,
really. There’s no way that thing should have taken off, but when
it did, it was beautiful.
R&N: Can you make any bread with a big band? The
cost of touring with such a large band must be enormous.
BS: It’s kind of its own thing. I can take it to Detroit or
Chicago, but I can’t take it to Peoria. We can only do handfuls
of shows. We do some movie scores, and we’ll be doing Atlantic
City for three nights in July (July 13, 14, 15) but I can’t take
it out for a nationwide tour.
R&N: Where does this new project differ from the
Orchestra and Stray Cats before it?
BS: Well, they’re all just my songs. Everybody likes to think
of music as so barricaded but, as a matter of fact, I have charts for
“Who Would Love This Car But Me” and “Ignition”
and I could have put them on the next BSO album. They’re just songs
that I’ve written. I start out with a guitar riff, then a slap
bass because that’s such an integral part of my sound.
R&N: Is it the percussive aspect of the slap?
BS: Yeah. It just puts out a lot of air. It’s a distinct
warm sound. If that disappears, then I feel like something’s missing
from the records. As for the differences between this and the Stray
Cats, I think that it’s a progression beyond how I thought, and
how I played 20 years ago. Actually 25 years ago, I hate to say ...
(Laughs).
R&N: You’re 42 years old. Are you slowing
down a little?
BS: No. I don’t feel old. I don’t got a beer belly
and I’ve got all my hair. (Laughs).
R&N: Where does the Brian Setzer sound fit in on
today’s radio. I could hear some of it – like “‘59”
– going over on Alt-Rock radio, but would they ever give you the
time of day?
BS: No, because it’s not about the songs anymore. It’s
about the indie promotions man and what favors he’s doing for the
stations. “‘59” has been added independently on a few
stations, especially in the mid-West, but it’s a terrible, bad
place for a band to be, especially for young bands. I mean, God! Bands
today have a year life span if they’re lucky.
R&N: So what about a well-established guy like
you?
BS: First of all, I’m not going out there trying to
sell a lot of records, I’m really not. To do that, no matter who
you are – Sting or some young kid who’s new on the block –
you gotta get into the machine, you have to hit all the radio stations,
you’ve gotta do all the morning shows where the deejays insult
your haircut and I just don’t want to do it. I am really picking
and choosing the things I do. I’m only doing the top interviews
which I feel are best for me. I’m only doing the TV shows that
are best like Leno and Conan, mainly because I like those guys. I want
to enjoy this time out, and not be coming home from doing some morning
radio show at 6 a.m. cursing under my breath.
R&N: When you and I met the first time at the 1993
NAMM Show, I credited you and the Stray Cats with making me want to
play guitar again back in the early ‘80s. I was kind of languishing
as a player and you really inspired me as a player. You must hear that
a lot, but you seemed like you were flattered. Does that really mean
anything to you to hear that kind of stuff?
BS: Oh, you better believe it because that’s what it’s
all about for me. That I helped someone or someone wanted to play guitar
because of me. That’s a really incredibly feeling.
R&N: So what about you? Is it the same to meet
George Harrison or Carl Perkins as it is for a guy like me to meet you.
What do you say to these guys?
BS: What was really exciting to me was to meet the rockabilly guys.
When I meet the guys that most people worship, like Jeff Beck, it was
great but it was just meeting a really nice guy who plays great guitar.
But what gave me that “chills” feeling was meeting guys like
Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.
R&N: Is Jerry Lee Lewis really “The Killer?”
Is he as scary as people say?
BS: Oh, yeah! He’s spooky. I mean he was very nice to me. You
know what he said to me? He stared at me and said (speaking very
slowly) “You’re a good man. Because the eyes are the gateway
to the soul and I can tell you’re a good man because I’m looking
into your soul.” That’s what he said to me. Woah! The big
surprise for me was that with the rockabilly guys I never encountered
any bitterness. I’m not even talking about Carl Perkins and Jerry
Lee Lewis, but guys like Paul Burleson and the backup players like Be
Bop Harold from The Blue Caps. Though they had hits in the fifties,
a lot of these guys don’t play any more and they’re all perfectly
happy. Tommy “Bubba” Facenda’s a fireman today and he
isn’t the least bit bitter about anything.
R&N: How about the old time swing guys?
BS: Yeah, well, on the other hand, I’ve encountered a lot of
bitterness from the old swing guys. Artie Shaw, the nasty old prick.
Ugh! A lot of the old songwriters, copywriters ... old school people.
A lot of bitterness. Keely Smith (who sang with Louis Prima) wouldn’t
sing on “Dirty Boogie.” She was obnoxious. She said she would
never sing on my records. She wouldn’t consider it. Her
gowns were at the cleaners or something. She was totally obnoxious.
Now, she’s called me three or four times to present awards for
her and sing on her records. On the rockabilly side, everybody was very,
very cool. But on the old swing, old school side – I have to call
the kettle black – there was a lot of bitterness.
R&N: Who moves you as a player, or who moved you
with something beyond beautiful.
BS: It gets down to Cliff Gallup and Eddie Cochren. It probably
started with the Beatles and the Stones and then I learned that a lot
of what they were doing came from rockabilly, then I discovered Cliff
and Eddie.
R&N: Was there “a moment?”
BS: I’ll give you the “moment” that really got me
going. I was 16 or 17 years old. It was the mid-1970s, and I was hanging
out at Max’s Kansas City upstairs and I heard “Be Bop a Lu
La” over the jukebox. It was the punk era, and there was a lot
of really good stuff happening. The Ramones were on the jukebox, Talking
Heads – great stuff. And when the guitar solo came up, I was like,
“What is that?” and somebody told me that it was Gene
Vincent and it was magic. Magic! It was louder and more powerful than
any hard rock guitar solo. It cut right through me.
R&N: Were you a major wood shedder? How did you
come to develop the Brian Setzer sound?
BS: It was a mixture of everything. I learned how to read
and write music. I took guitar lessons from 8 years old. I studied with
an old Italian gentleman who didn’t even play guitar, and he taught
me to read and write. It was the best thing that my parents could have
done without realizing it. They weren’t musicians. As for style,
I didn’t steal a style from anyone. I just started to play. I listened
to the radio. I later studied all the jazz and be bop stuff.
R&N: Is that what sets you apart from other rockabilly
players, having the jazz background?
BS: Man, knowing how to read and write is a big plus. A lot of people
dismiss it but probably because they don’t read and write music.
It really helped my playing. It’s comparable to knowing how to
speak English but not write it. It really connects the dots and I know
this because I sit down with a lot of guys. They say, “You know,
I’m stuck,” and I’ll say, “Well, have you thought
of trying this or this?” and they’ll go, “Wow! I never
thought of that!” And I’ll say, well, it’s only a passing
chord that helps you move between the B-flat and the C. They would say,
“How come I never knew that?” It’s just theory.
R&N: How is your ear? There are players out there
who are so dependent on the written music that they can’t play
by ear.
BS: My problem is that I’m sometimes too jazzy and I don’t
want to be too jazzy. I try to balance things. It’s gotta rock,
first and foremost. Sometimes I get a little too clever, a little too
be bop. That goes out the window when I’m playing live – I
try to rock it a little more, but that happens when I sit down.
R&N: You play instruments other than guitar in
your live shows. Is this a new challenge for you?
BS: I play a little banjo and steel. You know, I keep them in the
closet. It’s funny, when sometimes I’ll be sitting around
playing banjo for some 14 year olds who listen to hard core and they’ll
flip! (Laughs).
R&N: Would you ever do a Stray Cats show? Is there
any contact between you and your old band mates?
BS: Well, usually when they want something. It’s not great.
Whenever I try to get together with those guys something goes wrong.
I’m not knocking them, because maybe it’s me too, but it’s
like an old girlfriend. You feel like, “Hey, man remember the great
times we had?” But then you start to remember the reasons that
you broke up. I suppose that it is something personal. I mean, if there
was some great musical thing left unfinished I would have to go and
put it behind me. It was really good for the times. We had a great time,
made some great music and were all piss and vinegar, but it’s over.
R&N: What’s with the yodeling on the tune
“8-Track?”
BS: I don’t know! It’s just something that I can
do. I’m like a shower banjo playing yodeler. (Laughs). And everyone
is saying you’ve got to do it. It’s so cool. It’s funny,
the kid who engineered the album was maybe 24 years old. And his jaw
just dropped, saying, “Dude, That is so cool!” So I
decided to do it because everyone just loves it. It just comes out.
R&N: Where do you see you fitting into the big
picture?
BS: I just see that what I’m doing out there is kind of unique,
I feel, and there’s a need for it. There’s not a lot of guys
out there like me. There’s a million rap artists, a million alternative
artists. But there aren’t a lot of rockabilly cats out there so
I feel pretty individual.
R&N: What’s next for you?
BS: I’m working on music for a Broadway show with, believe
it or not, Leiber and Stoller. It’s kind of kooky. It’s a
whole different world and I’ve never been there. We’re using
some old songs of mine and some old Leiber and Stoller, and we’re
writing some new songs. I guess I’ll see where that takes me. What’s
intriguing is that it’s going to be a rockabilly show. It’s
called Jailhouse Rock and it took years to get the rights to the title
from the Elvis Presley estate.
R&N: What will your sessions together be like –
a Tin Pan Alley sort of approach?
BS: I don’t know, but it will be bitchin’! It’s
a different kind of writing because you have to write the characters
into the songs. So, you take a character from the candy store into the
alley, and leave him there. It’s a big challenge.
R&N: And for now, working this record with a tour?
BS: The big challenge now is just getting out there and sweating.
I will miss having the power of the horns behind me but there’s
just something about the trio thing that is very personal to me.