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Subject: 02/11/94 - The National Midnight Star #878 *** Special Edition ***
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
The National Midnight Star, Number 878
Friday, 11 February 1994
Today's Topics:
Rockline Interview, 1/24/94
--------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 94 20:58:23 EST
From: analog_kid@tmok.uu.ids.net (Daver)
Subject: Rockline Interview, 1/24/94
----------------------------------------------------
** | Rockline interview taped from 94.1 WHJY on 1/24/94 | **
----------------------------------------------------
-----> [Transcribed by Matt Masi without permission] <-----
(anyone who has a problem with it, please send email to
analog_kid@tmok.uu.ids.net)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Announcer (Steve Downs)]: Tonight, first of all, we are delighted to be
on the tera firma of Austin, TX with a band that has few, if any equals to
match their consistent success. Speaking of course, of Rush. Whatever
musical styles that have come and gone over the last 20 years, Rush has
blazed their own trail; a trail that has garnered them the respect and
admiration of millions of fans worldwide.
Rush's 19th album is _Counterparts_, and it's the musical combination
(if you will) of spontaneity and refinement; perhaps two of the key
elements that account for their success over the past two decades. They
began their tour last Saturday in Pensacola, FL, and we're joining the
band tonight here in Austin (home of Rockline affiliate KLBJ) on the eve
of their concert here at the Frank Erwin Center. I understand there are
still some tickets left for that show tomorrow night for those of you in
the Austin city limits.
We are proud to welcome back to Rockline Geddy Lee. Geddy, it's good to
see you...
[Geddy]: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.
[SD]: And also Alex Lifeson. Alex, it's good to have you here.
[Alex]: Hi.
[SD]: Let me throw out a question here first (Geddy, I'll let you field
this one). The goals (as I understand it) on _Counterparts_ were to be
somewhat of a more organic feel, if you will. Uh...
[Geddy]: Yeah... Organic is kind of a nebulous word, I guess, in terms of
describing music, but I guess what we'd been going through over the last
few years was a period of extreme involvement with high-tech equipment
(writing on computers and so-forth). When Alex and I started writing this
record, we kind of looked at these mountains of synthesizers that were
being brought into the writing room, and we kinda had this reaction; it
was almost like an allergic reaction: 'I think it's time maybe we stepped
back from this stuff.' So, we went back to a more simpler, basic way of
writing, which just... guitar, bass, vocals, and drums. A lot of the
material was written in that way, so in that sense it was kind of a purer
sound.
[SD]: Would you describe the new record as conceptual in nature? The
_Counterparts_ theme isn't just an abstract title; I hear that theme sort
of running through a lot of the songs. Would you call this a concept
album, or...?
[Geddy]: Well, I'd call this one of our looser concept albums, you know?
[laughter]
We have concept albums that kind of hit you right over the head and shout
at you as to what we're trying to say. Some of the other records that we've
done are sort of loosely related to each other. So, I would say that there
are a number of tunes on this record that do kind of get into the concept
of counterparts. Whether they'd be songs that deal with one person to
another person, or songs that deal with one person to a different side of
himself...
[weird recorded noise]
So, you know, that is kind of a loose thread that goes through the record.
[SD]: Right. Let's get to a track here and then we'll be taking some phone
calls from around the country or live from Austin, TX, tonight. From
_Counterparts_, this is "Cold Fire" on Rockline.
["Cold Fire" plays]
Alright, that's Rush from _Counterparts_ on Rockline. We are live
from Austin, TX with our very special evening of music and conversation
tonight with Geddy Lee and Alex from Rush. Rockline is the only radio
program that'll give you the chance to speak with these guys live and
nationwide.
[commercial break]
[SD]: We are back live and nationwide with 90 minutes with Alex Lifeson
and Geddy Lee from Rush.
[station plug]
Let's get to the phones now, and our first call is from Lansing, MI.
John is listening to us on Q106 in Lansing. John, you're on with Geddy
and Alex from Rush.
[static phone noise]
[Geddy]: Hello?
[SD]: John, can you hear us? [pause] Yello? Okay, we've lost John
(we'll try to get him back). Patrick is in PIX106 in Albany, NY.
Patrick, can you hear us? [pause]
[recorded sound - toilet flushing]
Hello Pat? Okay.. we are having some technical difficulties. As I said,
with the earthquake last week, we did get... We got rocked and rolled a
little bit [laughter], and so we still have a few bugs to straighten out,
and perhaps a few things to plug in here, so we'll get back to the phones.
Tell you what, why don't we go to a cut. The song we want to play is from
_Power Windows_. Alex, _PW_ was the first Rush album that was produced by
Peter Collins who also did _Hold Your Fire_, and also _Counterparts_.
What influence do you think he brought to the band that perhaps had been
something new and different from _PW_ and in through the new album?
[Alex]: I think, uh, Peter clued in to something that we wanted to
experiment with and try that was a little bit different, and that was to
put a little more emphasis on keyboards and production, and we did that
with those two records. The interesting thing is that after that long
break between _HYF_ and this current record, um, Peter's had the
opportunity to work with a lot of other artists, and a lot of other bands.
When we wanted to take this more straight ahead approach with
_Counterparts_, he was tuned right in to what we wanted to. Peter's
a fantastic person just to have around. He's a very stable influence in
the control room, and just during the whole project, which allows you to
concentrate more on what you're supposed to be doing.
[SD]: Sounds something like this from the _PW_ CD. This is "Big Money" --
Rush, on Rockline.
["The Big Money" plays]
That's "The Big Money" from Rush. _PW_ is the CD, and we are live on
Rockline with... Let me try to explain the situation here, so the rest of
North America knows what's going on. Geddy and Alex and I are here in
Austin, TX where things are relatively calm. They have a little fog, and
that's about it. I understand back in Los Angeles, why we couldn't bring
those calls up is that they experienced another aftershock there, which
has been going on now for the last week. The aftershocks, I can tell you
from experience, are quite unnerving when they get to be as high as they
have been in the last... I don't know what they just had out there, but
I imagine it was a 4. or something in that area, and it just shakes you
up (not to mention the equipment). Also, I understand that they're having
a lightning storm in southern CA, which is also highly unusual.
Geddy, as you said, the karmic ramifications here are...
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Yes.. they're very dubious.
[SD]: Absolutely incredible. I think we're payed up, though, karmically.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Yeah, it's easy to joke in the comfort of this studio, but..
[SD]: Indeed.
[Geddy]: It's a scary prospect.
[SD]: It really is. So, at any rate, we are persevering and I know that
the folks back in LA are working feverishly to get things right, and we
will, certainly.
We're going to try to take another call now, if we can. John, in Lansing,
can you hear us?
[static phone noise]
[Caller]: I can hear you!
[SD]: Oh, fantastic.
[Geddy]: Alright, John, he's here.
[Alex]: Hey, John!
[Caller]: [laughs] I'm here!
[SD]: John, are you having any earthquakes in Lansing by any chance?
[Caller]: No, it's relatively calm tonight.
[SD]: Very glad to hear that. John is listening to us on Q106 in Lansing.
John, you are on, thank God, with Rush.
[Caller]: Hi, good evening.
[Geddy]: Hi.
[Alex]: Hey, John.
[Caller]: It's a pleasure to be speaking with you.
[Geddy]: Nice to speak with you.
[Caller]: Thank you. I have a question about the sound of _Counterparts_.
It seems to have, as you mentioned earlier, a leaner, more aggressive sound
than the last couple of albums. I wondered to what degree that was
deliberate, and what (if anything) influenced that change?
[Geddy (to Alex)]: Would you like to take that?
[Alex]: Yeah, sure.. We talked a lot about this when we were sitting on
the bus for millions of hours on the last tour driving around most of
North America. We really wanted to take an approach that was stripped
down a little more; that got to the nature of this 3-piece band that
we are. Once we got into the studio and started writing the material,
Geddy and I sort of naturally gravitated to that kind of bass, guitar
approach, and it just really developed from there. Once we got into the
studio to start recording, the engineer that we used.. that was just his
particular style. It was a very basic approach to recording, rather than
hunting around for bass, treble, or any kind of EQ on the console, he
would just move the mic around until it sounded right to him, and it just
catches a more natural sound, both in terms of the guitar as well as the
drums.
[Geddy]: Sure.
[Alex]: Just put that all together, and it was...
[Geddy]: Yeah, and also.. I'm sorry to...
[Alex]: Sure, go ahead. [says something hard to hear to Geddy]
[laughter]
[Geddy]: One thing that kind of started the ball rolling was when we
finished _Roll the Bones_, there were a couple of tracks on that record
that we felt when we recorded it, we thought we had a more aggressive
sound going down to tape. When we got the final mixes, and we were
listening to a couple of the tracks, we felt, 'You know, you know..
we thought we had more here than we really have.' That kinda started
the wheels turning as to, 'Maybe we're going about recording in a way
that needs to change. Maybe there's an aspect of our sound that we're
not capturing the way we used to capture it', so that spurred this search
for the right engineer.
[SD]: John, thanks for the call. We're going to go to the home of
SuperBowl.. what is it, 28? SuperBowl 28 I believe, this coming Sunday.
Mark is listening to us on 96ROCK in Atlanta. Mark, are you there?
[Caller]: Yeah.
[SD]: Mark, what's your question for Rush?
[Caller]: Well, first I wanted to congratulate them on the Pensacola show.
I saw that, and it was great; tons of surprises. And I love the tourbook,
too, so I give my condolences to Jay Allec. [sp?]
[laughter]
[Alex]: Yeah.. [laughs]
[Caller]: And, the first question: I'm probably not going to be able to
go to the Atlanta show, 'cuz that's the way that lady luck dances. I
wanted to know how extensive the tour would be (particularly in the
southeastern U.S.), and second: Seeing as you did two albums without
Peter Collins, but yet returned to him, then listening to _Couterparts_,
I noticed that there's got to be some sort of magic you guys have with
him. I was wondering if you could explain that.
[Geddy]: Well, first question first, I guess.. We will be touring the
United States until May, although not all the dates are set. Hopefully
we'll be able to reach most parts of the country.
The second question, I guess relates more to Peter Collins. Peter was
someone we enjoyed working with when we did _PW_ and _HYF_, and we didn't
stop working with him for any reasons of dissatisfaction. If was just
that after working with the same producer for our first 10 albums or so,
we figured that it's kind of a good theory to just do a couple of records
with a producer, and then change. Just keep increasing our kind of ability
to learn more about making records. When Peter was available (like Alex
said earlier) it was just kind of a treat for us to get back to work with
him. He's a producer that's constantly learning, and works very hard to
stay in touch. It is a very happy marriage, I think; we have a great
respect for him, and I think that goes both ways. I look forward to
working with him again.
[SD]: Let me pass along... Mark had some questions about some dates. As
I said, tomorrow you'll be playing here in Austin.
[runs down some tour dates (available via ftp or email)]
We'll have some more dates to pass along to you in just a bit when we
return with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee from Rush. They are our guests
for the full 90 minutes here on the Global Satellite Network.
[commercial break]
Welcome back. Tonight we're in Austin, TX with the guys from Rush.
[plug for next show]
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson here with us in Austin TX, and we go to the
phones to Andy who is in Timmons Ontario listening to Q92. Andy, you're
on with Rush.
[Caller]: Alex, Geddy.. how are you guys doing? [pause]
[SD]: Andy?
[Caller]: Hello!
[SD]: Hello!
[Caller]: Hello.. Geddy, Alex?
[Geddy]: Hello.
[Alex]: Hey, Andy, how's it going?
[Caller]: How's it going?
[Geddy]: Not too bad.
[Caller]: Just got a question for you guys about... I know it's your 20th
year; I just wondered if you guys were planning a 20th anniversary tour,
sans I'm wondering what we can expect.
[Alex]: Well, actually, this... it's not our 20th anniversary until this
August, so technically, it doesn't really start until then. As Geddy
mentioned earlier, we're gonna be out until the beginning of May, and then
we're going to take a bit of a break. The plan at this point... the
tentative plan is to go out in January of '95 and do a 20th anniversary
coinciding with the 20th album release.
We've talked about some ideas that we've had. One idea that we had was to
do an evening with... break it up between the two decades of the history
of the band, and have a little bit of a film presentation in between...
during a short intermission, and do a set that's made up of songs from
the first album right through to the last album in chronological order.
Just make it kind of a special presentation.
[SD]: Wow.
[Geddy]: Or not.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Or we might do something else.
[Alex]: Well, this is one thing that we've talked about.
[SD]: That sounds very exciting, and I would love to see that. Andy,
thanks for the call. We're gonna go to Dalls, TX, just up the road a
piece. Congratulations do 'dem Cowboys, winning yesterday. Dan is in
Dallas listening to Q102. You're on with Rush, Dan.
[Caller]: Geddy, Alex.. congratulations on your 20th anniversary again,
and I've been a big fan for 19 of those years.
[Geddy]: Well, thank you very much.
[Caller]: You bet. I've got a couple of questions, real quick. Since you
guys are such accomplished musicians, I was wondering if you have any plans
on doing any sort of instructional video tapes in the future to share your
talent with everybody, and also, will there be a live video or solo albums
in your near future?
[Geddy]: Well, in terms of instructional videos, I'm too busy watching them
to have any time to do one myself.
[laughter]
We have been talking about, sometime in the future, perhaps doing another
live video of some sort. In terms of solo albums, nothing that Alex has
told me about, but it's possible.
[Alex]: Well, it's actually coming out next week, but I didn't mention it.
[laughter]
All the same songs from _Counterparts_ are on it, though. So..
[laughter]
[Geddy]: But your versions.
[Alex]: My versions.
[SD]: The directors cut.
[Alex]: Yeah... it's on accordian, with a little bit of fuzz tone.
[laughter]
[SD]: Oh, great. That'd be interesting. Hey, Dan, thanks for the call.
We're gonna play a track from the new album. This song, I think
lyrically... I know Neil's not with us tonight, but this one certainly...
[Alex]: Oh, we kicked him out!
[SD]: Did you?
[Alex]: Yeah, that's why he's not here.
[Geddy]: We haven't told him yet.
[SD]: [laughs] I see..
[Geddy]: So, if he's listening, then he'll know...
[SD]: Ya, and he'll be doing another solo record, too. [laughter]
Anyway, "Nobody's Hero", I think is a very powerful statement lyrically,
as well as musically, but I think there's some real powerful statements
going on here. This is "Nobody's Hero" on Rockline.
["Nobody's Hero" plays]
That's "Nobody's Hero" from _Counterparts_, the latest effort (the 19th)
from Rush, and Geddy and Alex are with us here in our studios. Actually,
we are coming to you live from the campus of the University of Texas.
We're going to take it now to St. Louis. KSHE is the station, and Ron
is listening to us there. Ron, you're on with Geddy and Alex.
[Caller]: Hey! Uh, I was wondering... I noticed on _Roll the Bones_
you have a song called "Where's My Thing?" were it says the "Gangster
of Boats Trilogy". I was wondering what that was?
[Alex]: Part IV of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy.
[Geddy]: Yes, you have to read carefully, because it's the 4th part of
the trilogy. The 1st part, I don't even think we wrote, so...
[Alex]: We wrote it, but we forgot it before we actually recorded it, and
that was the problem that time.
[Geddy]: Yeah. The problem is that we aren't really sure what it is, and
I think we did know, but we kind of forgot...
[Alex]: We were asked not to talk about it by the actual captain of the
Gangster of Boats.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: The Canadian secret service has asked us not to divulge it because
it's kind of sensitive material.
[Alex]: We'd love to talk about it, but we just can't -- that's the
problem.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Is there anything else we can help you with, though?
[SD]: [laughs] Ron, thank you for that. We're gonna take it to Colombus,
OH. QFM96 is the station Bob is listening to us in Colombus. Bob, you're
on Rockline with Rush.
[Caller]: Hey, Geddy and Alex.. you guys are the greatest. We're looking
forward to see you March 23rd in Cleveland. My question is: is it any
harder for you guys to get up and go on tour now with your family situation
back home?
[Geddy]: Well, yeah. In some ways it is really difficult because we've
been touring for quite a few years now, and it's a luxury for us to be
able to spend a block of time at home, and actually assemble some sort
of normal part of the community life (where you actually establish
permanent friendships and social order). Then suddenly it's back to the
studio and back out on the road. So, I do feel some upheavel, and I'd
say that it's probably a little harder to deal with the older you get.
There's definitely its benefits when you come back on the road, though.
It's something that's in your blood, and it's something that's an
important part of you.
[Alex]: It's certainly a unique, unusual, strange kinda lifestyle that
very few people get the chance to experience.
[SD]: I think Neil said, 'The only thing worse than touring is not
touring.'
[laughter]
[SD]: That sort of sums it up.
[Alex]: Well, that's too bad for him, now.
[lot of laughter]
[SD]: That's right.. because he won't be doing any more of that. If that's
the way you feel about it...
[laughter]
We're gonna go to Tallahasse now. Bruce is listening to us on ROC104 in
Tallahasse down in Florida. Bruce, you're on with Rush.
[Caller]: Alright. Geddy and Alex, um.. [low, slow voice]
[Alex]: Hey, Bruce.
[Caller]: A couple of quick questions for ya. First of all, I was
privileged enough to see you in Pensacola and really, thoroughly
enjoyed myself. Just to ask some questions.. On _Exit... Stage Left_,
just before Jacob's Ladder, Geddy makes mention of a T.C. Broonsie.
I was wondering who that was. Also, on your bass stacks behind you
this show, what was the characters on that lunchbox sitting on the
right hand side facing out? I looked with binoculars, and I couldn't
see it, and would like to know.
[Geddy]: Very astute. Very good eyes to pick my little lunchbox out.
[SD]: Really? Now exactly what was in that lunchbox?
[Geddy]: That's my Mystery Science Theatre lunchbox. If you're familiar
with the show Mystery Science Theatre 3000, one of the most excellent
shows ever...
[SD]: Indeed.
[Geddy]: I was fortunate enough to have a very good friend give me that for
my birthday last year, which is a prized possession. I take it with me
everywhere. T.C. Broonsie [uses funny accent]
[laughter]
He is our old producer, Terry Brown, whose nickname was Broon [accent
again], and I can't remember the circumstances that the T.C. Broonsie was
invented under, but I'm sure it was some derogatory comment of some sort.
[laughter]
[Alex]: I think it should be mentioned here too, that one of the high
points of Geddy's career, and Neil's career (before he got kicked out
of the group)..
[laughter]
[Geddy]: [finishing Alex's sentence] Was meeting you.
[laughter]
[Alex]: Well, no.. besides meeting me, was knowing me for as long as you
have after meeting me.
[laughter]
...was the fact that they both have been mentioned on Mystery Science
Theatre.
[Geddy]: That's true.
[Alex]: I haven't, because...
[Geddy]: Because you don't rate.
[Alex]: I'm a bum.
[laughter]
[SD]: Now that's a Canadian science fiction-type...
[Geddy]: No, it's not Canadian..
[Alex]: No, from Minneapolis, I believe.
[Geddy]: It's on Comedy Central, I believe. It's based in..
[SD]: Oh, that's right.. that's right. Yes, indeed.
[Geddy]: It's, you know, with... These guys sit in front of a.. they
watch these..
[SD]: That's right, they comment on the...
[Geddy]: Really bad movies..
[Alex]: That's right.
[Geddy]: Just like we do on the bus when we watch our videos played back.
[laughter]
[SD]: Yeah.. alright, thanks for the call, we're going to go to a cut
now that's to my knowledge the only Rush song that appears actually on
3 different albums. It's ah..
[Alex]: Ooh, how did we do that?
[SD]: It was recorded in studio of course, and then twice on live albums.
We're gonna play it from _Exit... Stage Left_. Rush, on Rockline --
"Closer to the Heart".
["Closer to the Heart" from _ESL_ plays]
[SD]: "Closer to the Heart" from Rush from the _ESL_ CD. While we're on
the subject of live music, let me pass on some more concert dates for Rush.
[runs down more tour dates (available via ftp or email)]
We'll pass along some more dates if we have time a little later on in
the show.
[commercial break]
[SD]: Welcome back, and let me re- [screws up talking, makes funny noise
out of mess up] Let me do that [laughs], and let me also remind everyone
who gets on the air tonight with the members of Rush here will all receive
a copy of the _Counterparts_ CD courtesy of our very good friends at
Atlantic Records.
[Alex]: Oh, cool. We get those?
[Geddy]: Ya, we get them.
[SD]: Well, there will be a small service charge, of course, for you guys.
[laughter]
To cover postage and handling. At any rate.. Also, just... Neil Peart
[pronounces last name wrong] is not with us tonight, and just to make sure
that no one is taking us too seriously, Neil is still very much a part of
the band, and...
[Geddy]: Yeah, I guess so.. for now.
[laughter]
[SD]: I understand, Geddy, that there have been some rather bizzare
rumors concerning Neil, that, uh...
[Geddy]: Yeah, actually, this is a good opportunity to kind of dispel
those rumors. We get a lot of fans coming up to us concerned about Neil's
health. I guess there are some rumors floating around that he's of ill
health. They're taking the fact that he wears bandanas on stage to keep
the sweat out of his eyes while he's drumming as a sign that he's under
some sort of therapy, which I'd like to say is completely false; he's in
very good health, and hopefully fans can pass the word around that he's
okay, and on with it.
[SD]: Yes. Sort of like the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: That's right.. It's, uh...
[Alex]: I didn't hear about that, Steve.
[SD]: [laughs] Well, it's another story I'll tell you about. We're gonna
go now to Muskigan [sp?], MI. Greg is listening to us on KLQ94.5 on Grand
Rapids. Greg, you're on with Alex and Geddy.
[Caller]: Um, yeah.. I have a question for Geddy.
[Geddy]: That's alright.
[Caller]: I really wanted to know what it was like for him to sing the
national anthem at the All-Star game. I thought that was great; it
sounded really good.
[Geddy]: Well, thank you. It was a tremendous thrill for me. I'd been
asked on a couple of occasions to sing the national anthems, and I was
always holding out to throw out the first pitch. I thought that would
be more fun than actually working.
[SD]: Yeah.
[Geddy]: [laughs] But, when they called me and asked me to do the All-Star
game - especially at Camden Yards - such a beautiful place, such a special
game. I'm a big baseball fan as a lot of people know. It was a great
thrill for me, and it was probably the most nervous I'd ever been..
[SD]: Really?
[Geddy]: ...before doing a concert, and I was appreciative of someone from
one of the networks telling me before I went on that it was going live to
like 80 countries. They told me that just before I...
[SD]: Good.
[Geddy]: ... kind of walked out, which is a nice thing to be reminded of
before go to sing a cappella at a microphone. You know?
[laughter]
[SD]: Yeah.
[Geddy]: But, thank you for asking - I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a
great thrill for me.
[SD]: Well, for a baseball fan, you have to be delighted with the outcome
of the last to years of baseball.
[Geddy]: Oh, yes.. being a Toronto baseball fan, it was a good couple of
years.
[SD]: Indeed. Indeed. From baseball to football, we're gonna go to
Buffalo now. Carl is listening to us on 97ROC. Carl, how 'bout 'dem
Bills up there, huh?
[Caller]: Oh, we love the Bills in Buffalo.
[SD]: There you go.
[Caller]: They're the best.
[SD]: What's your question?
[Caller]: Yeah, I've been a fan of you guys for many, many years, and I
enjoy your music. Also, another thing I enjoy is your liner notes. I
noticed over some previous albums, you mentioned the Omega Concern. I
was just wondering what that is, and how I can find out more about it.
[Alex]: Oh, the Omega Concern is an organization that's semi-top-secret.
[laughter]
[Alex]: Sort of a medium secret.
[SD]: Another top-secret thing?
[Alex]: The Omega Concern's major concern is to develop and manufacture
things that are either totally useless, or have a very specific use. The
designs have to be very interesting (that's pretty broad), and most import-
antly, it has to be made of wood.
[Geddy]: An- Wha- C'mon. You have to fess up here. Alex is the chief
inventor of the Omega Concern.
[Alex]: And the CEO, and, uh...
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Him and Jimmy Johnson, the two..
[Alex]: That's right, J.J.
[Geddy]: ...very important members, and they make stuff. I have a... First
of all, your guitar stand that you use..
[Alex]: Which is an actual, real thing.
[Geddy]: An actual, real product that people can purchase. Alex has
designed an acoustic guitar stand for stage, he's designed a brilliant
light box for me ('cause I'm getting older now, and I can put my lyrics
on there when I'm in the studio, and turn on a light that shines through
the paper). He's also designed a spectacular book holder for Neil in
the morning when he's having his breakfast ('cause he's reading 24 hours
a day). When he's eating, it's hard to hold a book.
[laughter]
[Alex]: And not get food on the pages.
[Geddy]: And not get food on book, so Alex designed a fantastic,
collapsible stand that he can put his book on and he can eat his cereal
in the morning. So, you have to take some credit for being this genius
inventor that you are, Alex.
[Alex]: If you like, after... at the end of the show, I'll give you an
address that you can send a $40 check to..
[laughter]
... in care of me.
[SD]: Of course. Alright, from Buffalo, we go (not coincidentally at
all) to Dallas, TX. Andy is listening to us on Q102. Andy, you're on
with Rush.
[Caller]: Yes, my question is: I wanna know who the dominant composer was
on this album.
[Geddy]: The dom- That sounds kind of...
[SD]: Who had the whips and chains?
[laughter]
[Geddy]: ...strange. The dominant composer...
[Alex]: Well, let me tell you this! [funny accent]
[laughter]
[Geddy]: We are equal composers, Alex and I. Especially while he's sitting
here beside me, I must say that we share all the responsibilities right
down the middle.
[laughter]
[Alex]: It's true.. We both work together on everything. We work equally.
It's just that my ideas are much better than his.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: It's true.. his ideas *are* much better than mine; that's why
we don't use many of them.
[laughter]
[SD]: I see. Makes all the sense in the world to me. It sounds like the
reason why you've been together for 20 years, I guess.
[Alex]: Well, I'd like to mention my solo project, which starts tomorrow.
[laughter]
[Alex]: I think I'm getting kicked out of the group.
[Geddy]: You already mentioned that.
[SD]: We're gonna go to the last album, _Roll the Bones_, and play a track
from that on Rockline. From Rockline... to "Dreamline".
["Dreamline" plays]
[SD]: That's Rush, and "Dreamline" from _RtB_. We have Geddy Lee and
Alex Lifeson with us here in Austin, TX. By the way, we mentioned that
aftershock a little bit ago in LA that caused a little disruption - I
understand that was about a 4.3 - which for those of you who are not
familiar with earthquakes, that's a fairly good little rocker.
[Geddy]: It's plenty.
[SD]: Yeah.. it's plenty.. that'll do. [laughs]
[Geddy]: As they say in technical terms, 'it's plenty'.
[laughter]
[SD]: We're going to head back to the phones. Jeff is listening to us
from right here in the Austin city limits (if you will). Jeff, you're
on with Geddy and Alex.
[Caller]: Hey, real great listening to you guys tonight. Just two quick
questions: 1.) on the new album, just wondering if you used any audio
toys that you consider kind of breakthroughs, and 2.) with the invent of
music videos and CD interactives and all that stuff - do you think that
has changed the face of rock 'n roll?
[Geddy]: Okay.. [to Alex] Do you want to take this.. shall I take it?
[Alex]: I'll take the first one.
[Geddy]: Take it!
[Alex]: Ah, no.
[laughter]
No, we didn't really use anything new. As a matter of fact, we were
pulling in some old gear that we had in storage. Some - I f-f-f-with-
from-from my point of..
[Geddy]: Spit it out! Spit it out.
[Alex]: ...view, I brought in a couple of old effects that hadn't been used
in years sitting in storage, collecting dust. When we got into mixing,
nothing really new, or...
[Geddy]: Really, it was a move in the other direction, if anything.
[Alex]: Yeah.
[Geddy]: Cause, I mean Alex recording his guitars in the studio, in front
of his amps, so that the amps can vibrate the pickups, like the old days -
using the old Les Pauls. I went back to using my Fender bass, and I used
an old Ampeg head - all this old stuff. So, really, it was quite opposite
than previous records. As far as interactive CDs and videos, I think it's
a very important thing. It's still a-ways off, but I know that Peter
Gabriel has an interactive thing available, where you can actually remix
a part of his record.
[SD]: Right.
[Geddy]: If you do it correctly, the producer appears, and says, 'good
job' and stuff like that. I think that's a really intriguing part of the
future of what's gonna happen with music. Hopefully, we'll be able to
get into some of that.
[SD]: Yeah. Todd Rungren had an album like that, where you could literally
make your own songs - it had his versions of it, then you could change it
around, program the CD, and it would make a new song.
[Geddy]: Yeah, that's exciting stuff, I think. It's really a lot of fun.
[SD]: I wondered about the publishing aspects of that, you know?
[laughter]
That could be very interesting. What if Joe here in Austin does a remix,
and it turns out to be a number 1 hit? Who exactly gets the credit on that
one?
[Geddy]: Well, I think Peter Gabriel will still get paid, and that'll
probably keep him happy.
[SD]: That'll do it. We're gonna go to Mynot [sp?] ND. Scott is listening
to KBQQ up in Mynot. Scott, you're on with Rush.
[Caller]: Good evening, gentlemen.
[Alex]: Hi, Scott. Good evening.
[Caller]: First of all, I'd like to thank you for keeping your integrity
from your first album all the way through _Counterparts_, and even though
he's not there, I'd like to thank Neil for writing "The Pass". I think
that is an absolutely fantastic record. I have 2 questions for you:
First of all, after so many albums and tours, how do you decide which
songs to play on the road? Apparently, if you were to tell me the true
meaning behind the Part IV of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy you'd have
to kill me.
[laughter]
I'll just ask you, uh, if "YYZ", "La Villa Strangiato", and "Leave That
Thing Alone" are all part of that.
[Geddy]: Ah, many questions; such little time. No, the Gangster of Boats
thing is just.. it's a joke. We've decided tonight that it's not a very
funny joke because because people keep asking serious questions about it.
[laughter]
We'll try harder next time to get the jokes funnier. Thank you for your
compliments on those many things you talked about. I can't recall what
the first part of your question wa-
[SD]: How do you decide which songs to do on the tour?
[Alex]: Oh, yeah.. that's a tough one.
[Geddy]: Well, we arm wrestle a lot, it's...
[Alex]: Like this time, we learned a whole bunch of songs, played them,
and then decided that we weren't going to do them.
[laughter]
So, we learned a whole bunch of other ones, and played them.
[Geddy]: It's... you just try to whittle it down, and try to keep the
songs that you think are important and exciting to play (the new material)
and then you take into consideration that there's fans coming to you
from various parts of your past, so you try to keep as many people happy
as possible, and still try to do it in under 2 1/2 hours. It's a hard
job to do, and it's sometimes painful because you get a great show and
then you realize that this song's got to go and that song's got to go.
[SD]: Wow. Alright, Scott.. thank you very much for the call. Melanie
is in Cleavland OH listening to WMMS 100.7. Melanie, you're on with
Rush.
[Caller]: Hi, guys! It's great to talk to you.
[Alex]: Hi, Melanie.
[Caller]: I have a question if there's any significance to all the pictures
that are on the back of the CD cover. I've been racking my brain - I think
I've figured some of them out, but I don't know if there's meaning behind
all of them.
[Geddy]: Well, uh.. [laughs] the album's called _Counterparts_, and all
those pictures are counterparts of a different kind. So, they all have
various meanings.. their only real connection is the fact that they're
all counterparts.
[SD]: From the CD _Counterparts_, this is "Stick it Out".
["SiO" plays]
[SD]: That's from _Counterparts_ - "Stick it Out" from Rush who are with
us tonight. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson with us for the full 90 minutes
here on Rockline. Let me pass on a few more concert dates for Rush...
[runs down more tour dates (available via ftp or email)]
We'll be back with more of your calls, and more from Rush on the Global
Satellite Network.
[commercial break]
[SD]: Steve Downs here.. back with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush.
We are all live from Austin, TX tonight. We were just talking about -
during the break - what a fine town Austin is musically. There's so
much happening here.
[Alex]: Yeah, a lot of history here.
[Geddy]: Absolutely.
[Alex]: Great town.
[SD]: Yeah, and just some great music going on. We're gonna go to
Indianapolis now. Jim is listening to Q95 in Indianapolis. Jim, you're
on with Rush.
[Caller]: How ya doing Alex? Hi Geddy.
[Alex]: Hi, Jim.
[Geddy]: Hi.
[Caller]: I've got a question - first of all I want to tell you that I'm
a fire fighter here back in Indy, and we're always jamming to you in the
fire house and having a good time watching your videos. My question is
about one of your videos - "A Show of Hands" - towards the end there,
before "La Villa Strangiato", as you're playing, Alex, you step up to the
mic and say few things, and on the video it's, uh, some sort of censorship
there. I was always - since it's been out - been wondering what the heck
you were saying, and if you can indulge that...
[Alex]: I've often wondered the same thing. You know, it was just a joke,
really - actually, this was Ged's big idea. [laughter] When we came to
that point in the show, I quite often just stepped up to the mic and made
a complete idiot of myself. [laughter] And, ah...
[Geddy]: And on that particular night, it didn't get recorded.
[Alex]: Yeah.
[Geddy]: Which was the whole reason we put this joke in there. We didn't
have anything on tape, and we just thought it was such a great shot -
seeing you come up to the mic and babbling away. So, we thought, 'Well,
what can we do?' Somebody suggested putting a radioactive...
[Alex]: Warning, ah...
[Geddy]: Danger - warning, radioactive...
[Alex]: I guess it's...
[Geddy]: We thought it would be kind of obvious, but I guess it's not so
funny, now.
[Alex]: One of those funny things like Gangster of Boats.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: It's like Gangster of Boats trilogy. Wha- you know, so...
[SD]: Alright, Jim.. thanks for the call. Cindy [sp?] is in Louisberg,
[sp?], WV listening to ROC105 in Charleston, WV. Cindy, you're on with
Alex and Geddy.
[Caller]: Uh, hi.. [petite voice] I was wondering how much more music that
you felt that you were going to be able to come out with.
[SD]: How much more music?
[Caller]: Mmm-hmm.
[Geddy]: You mean ever? I don't know... I hope some more.
[Alex]: I hope a lot more.
[Geddy]: I hope a lot more.. Um...
[Alex]: It's... you know, you kind of do what you do, and when it's time,
you do it. [pause] Whatever he said.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: What does that mean?
[SD]: Hello!
[laughter]
[Geddy]: I guess if you're question really is relating to how long can we
keep going, then that's something that we don't really know, and we try
to take every record just kind of one at a time, and see. As long as
we're enjoying what we're doing and as long as we're able to make some
music that people think is valid in some way or another, then I guess we'll
keep carrying on.
[SD]: And the fact that all three of you have been able to satisfy your
creative desires within the structure of the band, and not really felt the
need to go outside of it. Obviously in _Counterparts_, that well of
creativity - the bottom has not been reached. I mean, there seems to
be a lot more...
[Geddy]: Yeah, I guess it kind of serves us well that we don't do a lot of
other projects, because when we do get together to write, we are just
like...
[Alex]: Charged.
[Geddy]: ... ready to go and charged.
[SD]: Right. Now, going back to the 1982 release, _Signals_ on Rockline -
Here is an ode to that little slice of Americana - "Subdivisions".
["Subdivisions" plays]
[SD]: That's Rush on Rockline.. From Subdivisions, and... Or, no - that
was "Subdivisions" from _Signals_, okay? I had...
[Alex]: From a subdivision.
[SD]: [laughs] That's right, I had all the right words - they were just in
the wrong places.
[makes mention of technical difficulties, show will be running 10min late]
Stick around. We've got a lot more coming from Rush on the Global
Satellite Network.
[commercial break]
[SD]: We are back on Rockline with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson from Rush.
As I said, we're running just a little bit long tonight because we had so
many calls, and wanted to see if we could take care of as many people as
possible.
Let me give you some more tour dates for Rush.
[finishes tour dates list (available via ftp or email)]
Those are the dates as we know them. We are up to date on..
[Geddy]: Up to date.
[SD]: ...on the Rush shows coming to your area, hopefully. Let's go right
now to Willows, CA. Donna is listening to us in the Sacramento area to
99.9 KRFD. Donna, you're on with Rush.
[Caller]: Hi! It's a thrill to be speaking to such geniusness as Rush!
[Alex]: Thank you, Donna.
[Caller]: [laughs] My question is for Geddy Lee. If you weren't a
musician, would you have considered a career in science & technology, or
perhaps philosophy?
[Geddy]: Well. That's a meaty question. If my mother had her way, I would
have probably been a scientist. She tells me that when I was a child, all
I wanted to be was a scientist.
[SD]: Really?
[Geddy]: Somehow, I can't see myself as a scientist. [laughs]
[Alex]: You're a real Einstein.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: A regular Albert Einstein. That's a cheese to say...
[laughter]
[Geddy]: but, it's really hard to say which way your life would've gone
if you hadn't done this. It's kinda one of those impossible things.
There's so many things you want to accomplish in your life... I didn't
really choose music, I feel like it kinda chose me, in a way. I feel
fortunate in that fact, because I know a lot of friends that were talented
musicians, and grew up not really sure what they wanted to do with their
lives - whether they wanted to be musicians or not - and they spent a
number of years wondering kind of which direction to go. I was kind of
lucky cause I fell into this music thing, and I liked it a lot. It kind
of took care of itself, but, ah... So, who knows where I would've been?
[SD]: The road not taken.
[laughter]
Donna, thanks for the call. Jeff is in Minneapolis listening to 93X up
there. Jeff, I hope you're thawed out a little bit. Ask us a question.
[Caller]: Yeah, how are you guys doing?
[Alex]: Good, Jeff.
[Geddy]: Good, how are you?
[Caller]: Good. I'm doing great. My question is: have any of your recent
songs, according to the public's eye - not necessarily on the newest
album - has it ever been an old frustration to the band that, over the
years, has finally grown into something, and you had finally put it on
an album?
[Geddy]: Actually, not really. All the songs we write for each particular
record are written specifically for that record at that time. We don't
really keep old material around, and we don't really have any old songs
that we're dying to put somewhere. Usually, if it's not good enough to
go on an album, we just kinda trash it.
[SD]: Really?
[Alex]: Yeah.
[SD]: Literally get rid of it, or is it...
[Geddy]: Yeah. We don't - I don't think we have anything recorded that
we didn't end up putting on our records.
[Alex]: No.
[Geddy]: Usually, if we don't think it's good enough to go on an album,
halfway through making it, we'll just lose interest in it, and we'll never
get it done.
[SD]: Wow. That's interesting. Jeff, thanks for that call. We're gonna
go up to London Ontario. Steve is listening to us on FM96. Steve, you're
on with Alex and Geddy.
[Caller]: Hiya doin Alex and Geddy?
[Alex]: Good, Steve. How are you?
[Geddy]: Good.
[Caller]: Fine, thank you. I just had a quick question about your fan
club. I've just recently become a member, and I was wondering: how come
they're based way out in Las Vegas, Nevada and not Toronto?
[Geddy]: Actually, it started being run by a Canadian fella who works
closely with us. He happens to live in Las Vegas part of the time, so...
[Alex]: Yeah, he's originally from the Burlington area, I think...
[Geddy]: Yeah. And, so he just moved there, and that's why it's there.
[SD]: Well, there you go; that answers that. The tour has just started -
you've just done your second date. Here at Austin tomorrow will be your
3rd date. Tell us about the stage show.. Is there - Can you, without
giving away anything for people who are going to be going to the show -
but are we doing anything stagewise, effectswise, is it, ah...
[Geddy]: Well, we're hoping to have a few aftershocks around 4.3, in that
range.
[laughter]
[SD]: That'll go big in Southern California.
[laughter]
[Geddy]: Actually, it's tough to talk about the show without giving the
surprises away. To a large degree, that's what's kind of fun for a lot of
people to not expect. We've played around with various audio/visual things
that we always do - we've expanded on that to a certain degree. We have
our old lighting designer, Howard Underleider, who designed - partially
designed the last show, but was not operating the last tour. He's back
with us this year, and he's doing some exciting things with the lights.
I hope people are pleased with what we'll be bringing along.
[SD]: Yup, we'll look forward to it. It's gonna be great.
[thanks audience]
[plugs upcoming shows]
...and Candlebox, who, by the way are opening up the first part of the
Rush tour.
[Alex]: Yes.
[SD]: For folks who, you know... get there early. Get to see the opening
act; they're quite good.
[Alex]: Yeah, they're a good band.
[SD]: Once again, we appreciate everyone's patience.
[announces toll free disaster relief number]
[thanks people at SRO and Atlantic records, etc.]
...and to our guests tonight, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. It's been a
gas, and I've got to say that as you approach your 20th anniversary, I
think you guys represent some of the highest ideals of advancing the state
of the art. Each album is a new adventure, and it's exciting for us as
listeners and as fans to hear what you're coming up with.
[Alex]: Thank you very much.
[Geddy]: Why, thank you very much. That's kind of you to say that.
[SD]: Great to have you on the show. Again, we'll look forward to doing
it again real soon.
[Geddy]: [says something inaudible]
[Alex]: Okay, go to bed now.
[laughter]
[SD]: My name is Steve Downs, C-ya!
[show ends]
--
,-------------------------------------,*************************************,
| analog_kid@tmok.uu.ids.net | ////// // // ////// // // |
|=====================================| // // // // // // // |
| "Nearer to my deadly goal | // /// // // ////// ////// |
| Until the Black Hole -- | // // // // // // // |
| Gains control...." Neil Peart | // // ////// ////// // // |
'-------------------------------------'*************************************'
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 878
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