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Add iLike to your MySpace - The Black Crowes on iLike

Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes assumes "Total Control" over AT&T blue room radio bringing you his insights on life, love, music and their new masterpiece "Warpaint". Log on to attblueroom.com/music, click on the AT&T blue room radio "listen live" button, then choose "BEST OF FEST" or "ROCK" on the navigation bar on Saturday 4/12 as Chris takes you through the entire "Warpaint" album!

http://cbsplayer.streamtheworld.com/index.php?CALLSIGN=ATTF

What were some of the thoughts or intentions you went into this album with?

Paul Stacey: I wanted to make sure it was organic, and that we’d be going with more takes with everyone playing (at once).  I think the Black Crowes have always done that but these days there’s lots of overdubs and fancy plug-ins that let you airbrush mistakes.  We only did nominal fixes, like you used to be able to do on analog tape, on the odd note but only the tiniest amount of editing.

Given the high polish and computerized pitch control of most rock albums these days it’s refreshing to hear a band actually playing on a studio release.

Paul Stacey: What you’re hearing are actual performances from everybody on the day we recorded.  When I listen to records today I don’t really believe them.  It’s like magazines that tell you about celebrities where everything’s airbrushed and made up.  For this kind of rock ’n’ roll, especially with the Black Crowes, what you hear should be what they are. Forget label worries and making singles for radio, I just wanted them to sound like the Black Crowes breathing and having fun and enjoying the way they play.

Did playing live with them help you when it came time to produce them?

We can’t go back and do Southern Harmony but we talked about how that album sounds very natural and how the band sounds like they’re enjoying themselves.  I felt like after everything they’d been through it was important to come back to that feeling.  The main reason I agreed to tour with them was to see how they worked together.  Being on tour you really get to know people and earn their trust.  They understood I wasn’t there to change what they do.  I just wanted to capture them at their best.  They’re all world-class players but to get 15-percent more from everybody takes a certain level of trust.  When we got down to it they all gave that extra bit.

The minute I heard Warpaint I was struck by what a good match Luther and Adam are with this band.

As soon as I heard them all play together, I said, "This fits."  I do get bored with people saying "organic" or "natural" but with the Black Crowes it needs to be.  You don’t need to add any icing to what they are.

There’s an intrinsically primal thing about them that can’t be easy to capture in the studio.

If you apply what is now normal recording techniques, which is basically to smash everything together so it’s very in-your-face, you then have to mix the dynamics in with faders to make it sound like it’s lifting up or exploding.  But with this band you don’t need to do that because they have their own internal dynamic.  You have to keep everything as open as possibly to capture their real dynamics.  That’s what you’re hearing on the record.

We were very lucky to find this room at Allaire Studios.  We used The Neve Room, and it’s not too splattery or echoey.  It’s open but not too reverby so you don’t have to damp things down too much.  It was kind of like everyone playing in a circle together.  That place helped the atmosphere and general vibe of the record.

It’s amazing how the actual physical space a record comes to life in carries over onto the tape.

The room that we recorded in the desk is in the room with the band.  It’s called a Studio With No Walls.  The only way you can find out what you’ve recorded is to listen after you’ve recorded it.  In a funny way, it’s kind of how the band is.  Instead of being overly anal about a guitar or drum sound, we just had to get the mics up, make sure they were at the right level and then press record.  I would wander around the room and make faces at people during a take.  They were playing to me and whoever else was in the room.  I’d be standing up, smiling at them, as if to say, "Come on, let’s have it!"  Everybody could see each other and was communicating.  That’s the spirit that was captured.

These guys are a rare animal in the world of rock ’n’ roll, especially these days.

Yeah, man.  I grew up as a fan and have always loved their music.  In the studio, working on the record, it feels like rock ’n’ roll with the way they work – in one big room, playing together, working the songs up, everybody striving to make something happen.  That’s part of what’s so alluring about it, just good old-fashioned rock.

I think you’re so identified with the blues after the Allstars that this will open up folks to the other facets of your playing.  They’ve always been there but this puts you in a situation that’s a bit to the left of where you’ve been.

(Laughs)  Guitar-wise, Rich and I see eye-to-eye in a lot of ways.  He uses a lot of open tunings, which I grew up using, and we have a lot of the same reference points.  I’ve searched for the right second guitar partner, and I’m really excited about the possibilities of working together.  I’m a really reactionary player.  The way I play is I just listen real intently, and not concentrate on what I’m doing so much as what everybody else is doing.  I’m really excited to play with such a big band with such interesting music.

You’re used to that holy trinity in North Mississippi.  The first time I interviewed Chris a few years back, I commented that the Black Crowes are an awfully big wall of sound to wrestle.

(Laughs)  You know it all comes down to making the singer sound good.  I know in the past with someone like John Hiatt or Mavis Staples (pauses).  Let me put it this way, accompanying a great singer is a joy.  You can jam and play and do your best but unless there’s a really great vocalist involved I think the emotional intensity of a show or a song can only go so far.  And we have a really kick-ass singer that just drives it home!

There’s a lot of power in him, and I’ve often thought of him as the exclamation point on all the Crowes’ sentences.

That’s nice!  He’s not just a great singer; he’s also a great frontman.  That’s rare.

I’ve wondered if it’s ever distracting to be onstage with someone with that much charisma.

I noticed something cool.  I’ve sat in with them a few times, and I’ve played one whole show with them so far, Telluride Blues & Brews.  It was my first time, no rehearsal.  But, if you watch his dancing he’ll lead you through the arrangement.  And Rich is always listening, and I try to listen, too.  That’s why I’m excited about the more exploratory jams.  I’m just looking forward to the interaction in this band.

They’re always finding new pockets and corridors in these songs.  I’ve watched them soundcheck a few times and it’s wild.  They’ll be playing with a cool instrumental thing and there’s no way to know where they’ll slot it in during the actual show.  Then, later that night during "Soul Singing" it reemerges and you just stare and go, "How the hell did we end up here?"

Yeah!  I love that.  You kind of have to step up to the plate, once in a while, close your eyes and just say something.

What do you think creates your chemistry with Rich beyond the open tunings?

I think it’s just a mindset.  I read this Keith Richards interview a long time ago, where he discussed what he looks for in a second guitar player.  He said any musician has to be sympathetic, and that really struck me.  I’ve kept that idea close.  You have to be sympathetic to the rest of the band.

Listening to Warpaint, I hear a different tone in the interplay.  A lot of times in the past the guitar conversation has been built on friction, the sparring of the two guitar players, but now I sense a greater continuity between the two guitar voices in this band.

Adam, the new keyboard player, is right up the same alley.  We’d be playing in the studio and I’m trying to work off the music, accentuate the riffs, but also stay out of Chris’ way while filling in the holes.  Adam was doing the same thing, and somehow we didn’t end up stepping on each other.  You have this whole conversation going on, and when it clicks and nobody’s talking on top of each other, it’s exciting.

I’m impressed with their ability to get so many voices going at once and not have it be just a muddle.  By the way, I’m really knocked out by Adam’s playing, too.

He’s really creative.  It’s that Nicky Hopkins role.  You gotta have that badass piano in there.  Players like this are rare.

Warpaint is all the strengths and pretty much none of their weaknesses.  It’s a neat thing after waiting seven years for a new album.

With the whole band, everybody is really looking forward to the future and seeing where it’ll take us.  The whole move for me (joining the Crowes) I felt was potentially an important thing for rock ’n’ roll, not just for me or my band or their band.  It feels like we have the potential to do something that rock ’n’ roll needs.  It’s a spirit that you conjure up.

It’s one thing to sit-in or record with these guys but you made the decision to be a full member of this band.  Were at all you nervous about that?

Definitely, and definitely with my family and our family business it was a lot to sort through but it was seductive & appealing to me from the jump. So, I knew I had to make it work.

As a musician, I’d imagine you’re searching for a sympathetic vibration with your mates, and there’s such a good rhythm section in this band to vibe on.

Steve is so fucking cool.  He grew up with the guys, and he seems like the third brother.  He’s as good as they come, and he just plays so hip.  Sven is so musical.  We really hit it off doing those Circle Sound shows.  He cares about it so much, and wants it to be right and beautiful and musical.  I can relate to that.  He’s been a big help to me.

I love watching Sven onstage.  He throws his whole body into it.

He really means it.  They all do.  If the bass player has a good feel it translates to the whole audience.  I think (John) Medeski said this but if the bass doesn’t have that feel the audience knows it.  It affects everybody in the room because the bass is so powerful.

Steve just hits harder than any drummer I know.

(Laughs) He rocks!  Rich told me that he and Steve grew up together and learned to play together.  They have that unspoken, telepathic brother bond.  His riffs aren’t your normal stuff.  I’ve been studying the repertoire and some of his riffs are complicated, but he makes them feel so casual.  In any great band, the drummer’s personality and style is one of the strongest things that draw you in.

They’re such a vocal heavy band.  How are you hoping to integrate into that?

Do you mean as far as me singing?

Yeah.

Well, I’m hoping to do as little of that as possible (laughs).  They haven’t asked me to do anything.  I grew up trying to sing along with the Black Crowes but I could never do it!  Hopefully I’ll just stay on the strings (laughs)!

That’ll keep you busy enough.  Is it at all intimidating to try and learn such a huge catalog?

I’ve seen Jimmy Herring’s (Widespread) Panic book, and that helped me in a way.  With so many songs, I grew up with them and know them by heart.  I have them internalized from growing up loving them.  I think Rich and I have the potential to get into some pretty good action on these guitars.

Warpaint really feels like a band record, where everyone is pitching in at every turn.

I’ve loved all their records but this one does feel like a classic.  It’s a very mature, rootsy kind of statement.  Rich and Chris have such a good writing collaboration going.  I write songs with (the North Mississippi Allstars), so I know how it goes.  Chris and Rich are a classic pair.  Rich writes some badass riffs.

"Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" has such an amazing opening.  I can’t believe you really love rock ’n’ roll if you don’t love that song.

(Laughs) That was the perfect example of hitting the note.  We were working on arrangements, going back-and-forth, and then we took a break.  As we were strapping it back on, Rich gave me some advice about my part that changed the direction.  Then, that take it just clicked – a moment in a room trying to make something happen and it happened.  That’s what it’s all about in the studio.  We were all in the same room.  I had my amp in a fireplace about five feet from the drums (laughs).  I was like, ’Damn man, I can’t mess up.’  But that’s how real classic rock is made.

I was so knocked out by your playing on Warpaint.

This record was amazing to make.  It happened so quickly.  So few bands these days just go in and record music like this.  It was crazy for me because I’d just gotten involved.  I flew out and played with them in Chicago, and they said if you want to be part of this go home for the weekend, come back on Monday and we start the record Tuesday.

That’s not a lot of lag time!

I got up there and hadn’t any of the material and had to figure out all the relationships and dynamics.  I had one great moment with Rich.  He doesn’t jump around like his brother does but if he likes something he’ll give the nod.  So, one night in between songs, he leaned in and said, "Hey man, I’m really glad you’re here," and then walked off.  It’s great to be in this sort of band situation.  We still jam.  A song can go from seven minutes to 20 minutes depending on what happens.

A lot of times when you hear the word "jam" there’s a kind of aimlessness to it, and what the Crowes do with the idea of "jam" still has a lot of muscle and a fair amount of weight.

We’re not a jam band but we do take liberties.  I’ve played with a lot of people who try to make it seem like they’re taking liberties but it’s really the same thing every night.

What’s kept me as a fan of their music through all their changes has been a sense that they’re always actively engaging their catalog.  Sure they’ve played "Hard To Handle" many times before but they’re still present in the song each night.  At least from my place in the audience they seem to throw themselves into it with conviction at all times. Have you felt that?

Totally, and there’s so many songs, and they change their setlist up drastically every night.  For me, in the beginning, it was scary because I’d see a setlist and I wouldn’t know at least five of the songs!  You do your homework, stay in hotel rooms and walk around with my iPod on all day.  I got it, and now it’s great.  Every night is different.

There’s something to the thoughtful juxtaposition of songs, though that has to be daunting for you given the size of the catalog and explosion of cover tunes in recent years.

I didn’t even get a rehearsal.  We did the record and they said, "You have about a week before the tour starts. Here’s the six records of the back catalog and here’s a bunch of cover tunes to learn.  Do what you can.  See you on August 3^rd (laughs)."

I sense the songs on Warpaint are really going to take off when the band takes them into the live setting.

I’m excited to see how it all builds.  We did the record so quickly, and I love it.  I love all the other records but this one really sounds like a band that’s comfortable with what they do.  Rich and Steve have this bond.  In the studio, Rich would play a riff and Steve would come in and it was perfect.  I’ll I had to do was fill around it.  There were no click tracks, no tricks.  It was live and everything moves around and breathes like songs from a band like this are supposed to.

This one really bears up well to scrutiny.  There’s a lot of continuity with the past but it’s brand new songs.

We’ve touched these songs a little bit at soundcheck.  Rich will play a riff, as if to say, "Hey, remember this?"

Tell me a little bit about your background.

My first touring gig as a teen was with Patti Rothberg, and I was a drummer for a long time.  I did the session guy thing for a while between touring gigs.

How did you hook up with the Black Crowes?

There’s this Wednesday night jam session that happens up in Laurel Canyon that Chris’ friend Jonathan Wilson does.  He has this cool little pad with a studio and a B3 (Hammond organ), pianos, guitar amps, a drum kit, great gear set up.  On most Wednesdays, he and Chris and a bunch of musicians would go up and a friend invited me.  I started playing at the jams, and Chris just produced Gary Louris’ (The Jayhawks) solo record.  That was back in April, and he asked me to play some keys on it.  Gary Louris is a great songwriter and it was a joy.  Then, the last day of doing that he said he might call me.  I didn’t think much of it but a few months later they invited me up to Chicago, and that was it.

My sense is they were looking for something new in the keyboard department.

There’s a lot of keys, and as far as I could tell they were looking for someone who could play and bring something to the table aside from just playing the original parts.  I learned everything I had to learn but I also reminded myself that I have a voice to get out there, too.  There’s certain parts you have to play, and that’s totally fine because I love those parts.  But, there’s really a lot of space for me, probably more than any other gig I’ve done.  I’ve been able to experiment and not have someone shoot me a dirty look.

The last thing Paul Stacey said to me when we spoke was he wanted to make a record where he could say to people, "Stick this in your pipe and smoke it!"  There’s no history to these songs so hopefully fans will come in with an open mind.

I think it helped having new blood in the studio.  The room we were in had no control room, so we were all in there.  We had Chris kind of baffled off in the corner but that was it.  The whole band just steps up and delivers.  Until recently, I was just trying to keep up (laughs).  Not to be super positive all the time but how lucky am I to play with these guys?