(upbeat music) - Welcome everybody to "Who Is Your Band?" I am Jeffrey Paul. I am joined by Sean Morton. How are you Sean? - Yeah, I'd be ducky if I was in my office doing this podcast, but I had to be cheap and cancel my cable. And I went with T-Mobile Home Internet because the tower is 700 yards from my house. But guess what happened? The tower is down right now. So that means I have no internet. For like the last 24 hours. - Why did you cancel your cable? - 'Cause it's expensive. It's $300 a month for cable and internet. - And now I got 160 bucks. - Everybody is doing that. I wanna see if our guest is doing that as well. We're gonna bring him in. He is not only a singer and drummer and guitarist and a producer and the leader of "The Band," "The Grip Weeds." Okay, please also on this show with us. Let's give it up for Kurt Ryall. Kurt, thank you so much for joining us tonight. - Glad to be here virtually glad to be here. - It's good to see you again. Kurt and I met at 101.5 FM. And it just got a little taste, a little taste of his band and his background in music. And I thought he was a real interesting guy. I think he'd be perfect for the show. But a lot going on in the world, a lot going on in the world of music. So two things. Kurt, were you an Iron Maiden fan? - Not so much metal stuff is in my line. - Not so much. But I'm familiar with the name. - Yeah, because the world of music lost Kurt Ryall's name, Lujoo. We lost Paul Dianno, who was the singer on the first two Maiden albums, 66 years old. No cause of death given. But he'd been six for years, confined to a wheelchair, but still getting out there, singing the songs. And probably the singer on a top five Maiden album, I think Killis was a great one. - One of the best. - Yeah, that sound changed a lot after he left the band. They were almost like kind of like a power punk band with Dianno and then they became total a metal band with Dickinson. - Mm-hmm, I agree with that. - Yeah. And then this is something that Schoen kind of stayed in. I want to get Schoen's reaction and Kurt, especially from a musician point of view. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend. And what performances? You watched all five and a half hours of that? - I watched everything, yep. - Mary Jay Blige and her unbelievably big legs. You know, at some point we're a dress. - She can definitely crack a coconut with those thighs. I'll tell you that right. - Listen, and I love Mary Jay Blige. I really do. - Yeah. - Okay, but you know, at some time invest in a mirror. Kurt, did you see any of the performances? - Again, I got to say no. I mean, as you said before, I'm a musician and a studio producer, and I was working it, you know? That's the curse of being a working musician is you don't always get to see the show. You have to miss, you know? - Yeah, I obviously didn't have time to see it. I'm sure I'm gonna get it. - Yeah, you can go online. There's a bunch of stuff there. So I just wanted to get Sean. What do you think of foreigners' induction? And Kurt, you didn't have to see the show. But don't you think that something real said that this is a band that should have been inducted years ago, years ago, okay? They had been put on like a 20-year, almost high eight, you know, like waiting list to get in. And you had no Mick Jones, you had, I mean, Sean, you saw it. I mean, how many songs did Lou Graham actually sing? - He barely sang. I want to know what love is. Kelly Clarkson was doing that with him, I think, right? - No, I think it was Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato. I saw HUD do something. - She did one too. You have a, she, the girl, they did very smart booking when it came to putting some of the new current singers with the people that were getting inducted. - Well, 'cause they're gonna turn this into a TV show. That's why. I mean, I think because like in some ways, like, you know, you got to remember too, sometimes people are in their late 60s, 70s, even close to 80s. They're not singing the way that they normally would. You know, I mean, I think Cher sounded fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I think Cher sounded great. But I think the Duolipa kind of added a little bit to that. - Yeah, you know what? I saw the Cher one. And I got to say this, and Kurt, this is the way I think you got to give an old artist credit. It didn't sound like she was singing with the track. She was definitely singing. - Oh, she was five, yeah, a life. Yeah, 100%. - You know, that's the problem with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is it's so political and it comes down to Jan Wenner a lot of the time, doesn't it? Who gets in and who doesn't? And a lot of deserving bands maybe don't get in, or it takes a long time. And by the time they get there, maybe they're not a complete band anymore. Maybe they've lost the key members. And, you know, that's unfortunate. But people get older and you got to give props to somebody who's up there still doing it. You know, who can still do it. - Exactly, still being able to sing. But it kind of annoys me that you have Farina. And like, if you let them in 10 years earlier. - Right, right. - You have Mick Jones maybe playing, maybe you have a little healthy, a little gram. Also, Frampton got in, which I was happy to say, okay? 'Cause he kind of got like, no, he never was in. And this was the thing about his bullshit. We had talked about this on this show before. Cheryl Crow gets in before Frampton, okay? Last year during her induction speech, who did she say if it wasn't for Peter Frampton, I would have never picked up a guitar, all right? - It happens every year though, you understand? This has happened the year that Nirvana went in too. I was at that rock and roll Hall of Fame induction. And they had old people filling in for Kurt. And the first song was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with Joan Jett. - Joan Jett, yeah. - And then once they did the speech, they were like, how the hell is Joan Jett not in the rock and roll Hall of Fame? The place goes nuts. And then what happens next year? She gets into the Hall of Fame, the very, very next year. But what happens? - Yeah, but how is Joan Jett inducted into the Hall of Fame before Peter Frampton, before Pab Bennett talk? It's like you have to go down, kiss the ring, and then you're gonna go in. Joan Jett shouldn't be in the whole frame over those artists. - Well, Sherry even said, you know, Sherry even said, but do you think about it? She's really been an artist for seven decades. - Who did that? Look how old she were. - Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. - So seven decades she's had hits in, and she goes, and she still had no chance. I forgot who she said it was, but she goes until he wrote a letter. And here, miraculously here now I'm in the rock roll of fame. So it's really a little cultural. - They don't like certain kinds of music. You know, they don't like progressive rock. You know, they're not a big progressive rock. - Very true. - Hall of Fame. So it was really something to get yes in there. It was really something to get the moody blues in there because, you know, there's a bias. - Yeah, knew who's not a knicker. - Oh, great. Try quick questions in them. Public enemies in there. And I have no, I like these as groups, but not in the rock roll of fame. But knew who's not a knicker? Jethro Tolle. - Yeah, exactly. That's my point. Yep. - Right. - Because why? - Because why? - Because while they're progressive rock. - Well, when you said that, that's exactly the first band that came to mind. And you probably won't see them as like a plumber in there. - They're definitely not going in. They should, oh, if these other bands got in, then they should get in. Also, now the big one, Sean, Aussie, and the performers. - Was it hard? I was heartbroken, literally heartbroken, looking at him because you know that he is dying to be out there singing. And you saw him singing in his throne. And it's just like, they did the cutaway scene where like, you know, they kind of moved the throne. And then, you know, if you wouldn't see it on camera or on television that, you know, Aussie was still in there. So they do it the cutaway shot. It was so fucking horrible to see. But I think the performances themselves are great. I think Maynard jumped off and started, I don't know if you caught this, Jeff, but Maynard actually jumped in a little quick when they were doing crazy training. - Well, I'm sure they didn't have a lot of time to really perform it. I had no problem with Maynard. I mean, I didn't think the musician part had made it. The musician part of me was like, oh, shit, he came in early. But he was, I thought he was okay. But I thought that, listen, I'm a huge fan. I love this guy. I think he's fantastic. - I know you don't. - Well, fucking jelly roll does not have to be on every goddamn show at this point. I understand he's probably the biggest artist on the planet right now, if you really think about it. But for fuck's sake, I'm tired of looking at him now. - Yeah, he struggled. You got to who you're gonna have to watch this. - That's a hard song. - He struggled during the choruses of my mom coming home. - Jeff, I have sang for almost 40 years. I have a hard time singing that song and I know my limits and I'm not on television. Like this guy should not have sang that song. And I called it ahead of time. He was like, I know this guy, when I saw that he was gonna be one of the ones for Aussie, I said, there's no song that he's doing besides my mom coming home. - But you know something and we'll get off this right after this. It was good to see a least real rock 'n' roll being represented this year. I thought, well, way, way over do for Farina, Sprampton and Aussie as a solo artist. So that, in that regard is good. - And Dave Matthews and Dave Matthews. - No, no, no, no, 'cause here's the thing. Like, I think it's a crime that Maden's not in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, okay? They could've waited a year or two for Dave Matthews' band. Now the thing with Deann O'Dine, he'll never get to see, 'cause he would've been in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame with him. Clive Bird died a couple of years ago. He's the original drummer, Nico, the current drummer, had a stroke recently. You know, how many members have to die before the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, you know, lets these legendary bands, that obviously deserve to be in, you know, lets them in. - So what's the criteria? That's the, what's the criteria to get in? - There is no criteria. - It's a board that just goes, oh, I like that. I like that. - Exactly. - Yeah? - I think they'll get in this year, Tom Morello, who's very influential in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, has really been pushing for Maden. And I think they do get in. But, you know, you would love to see Paul Deanno go up there with those guys. Maybe he would've been able to do like a song with them. It's ridiculous. But, speaking of something that's not, look grip weeds. - I mean, yeah. - The grip weeds. - Okay. - No, that's-- - We'll probably never make it into the whole thing. - No, maybe not the rock 'n' roll fame, but maybe the jersey hole of fame somewhere down the line. You know, this is a very-- - Oh, that's a possibility. - Yeah, that's a very, it's a very interesting band. For those of you that are not familiar with the grip, grip weeds, Tom, tell me if we're reading this right. From what I listen to, I think they are, you guys are very, very Beatles and kinks sounding. Would you say that's a good read-up? - Sure. Yeah, absolutely. - Are those your influences? - I think so. - Yeah. - Some of them. - Yeah, I mean, there's, I feel like a song like lies. You know. - Well, that's a cover. - Yeah, that was, that's a great cover. - Yeah. That's originally by a band called the knickerbockers. - Right. - Who were the first he'd band. - Did you ever release that as a single? - We actually, well, no, we didn't. But it was, we recorded it originally as part of a compilation to benefit Hurricane Sandy. That's why we did it. And it was Jersey artists doing, you know, Jersey tributes. And we thought we'll do that one because they were from Knickerbocker Avenue in Dumont, New Jersey, which we, where we grew up. So that's why we did the song. And the knickerbockers who recorded it, they thought it was the Beatles. - That was a great, great cover. I love that. I thought that was really, that really I think showed off the band. - Thank you. - And speaking of the band, what's it like playing in a band with your brother and your wife and actually touring with them? - Well, you know, it's, it's good. It's actually good. It's very stable in a way, especially with my brother because it's even though we've had our disagreements, you know, we can't really leave each other. I mean, we could, but we're not gonna. And there are influences. Our influences go back to our childhood and they're shared. So there's a lot of stuff that we in, you know, innately know about each other that if I write a song, I'll go, yeah, Rick, you know what I'm doing here. It's, it's that thing. And he'll go, yeah, sure. And he'll know exactly. And then Kristen, it's really great to be able to go on tour and then have my wife there. And she was a musician before she was my wife and she, we were in rival bands or, you know, bands that were contemporaries of each other in New York City. And, and so I knew her as a musician first. And then we thought, you know, we had our, the first guitar player was not working out in the group. We'd so we thought, hmm, let's bring her in. And at first I was a little bit like, well, I don't know if we should do that. And because, you know, boyfriend, girlfriend. And, and honestly, the original "Grip Weeds" format was kind of the old rock and roll standard, you know, four guys, four young guys with long hair and guitars. That was kind of it. And the woman bringing the woman in was like, oh, that's going to change the, that's going to change, you know, the mold. And we thought, well, we got to do it because she's so good. And she's actually probably the best musician of all of us to be, truth be told. So it's right, right answer, by the way. Yeah, hopefully she'll be listening to this. Yeah, exactly, good answer. You're smooth. Well, I mean it. It's easy when it's true. And, you know, and it also gave us a uniqueness, even though nowadays it's not as unique to have females in the band. But what is unique still is that she's a lead guitarist. And every time we go and play a show where the club doesn't know who we are, it always will happen is that we'll show up and the sound got to go, okay, so she's the singer, right? And, you know, no, no, I'm the singer and who's the drummer and I'm the drummer. And she's the lead guitar player. And by that time, their brain is scrambled. - Well, that is unique. - It's stupid in this day and age. But, you know, it is what it is. - You and your brother start the band. - Yeah. - Were you playing in high school? - Yeah, we, my brother got his first drum, seven years, about 10 years old. My parents got him a drum kit for Christmas. And I remember seeing the drum kit and going, I was seven. I'm like, wow, that's really cool. And, you know, looked at it for maybe six months. And then eventually I made my way back there and started playing. And then I started avoiding the neighborhood football games so I could play drums, you know, 'cause it was a whole lot more fun and it wasn't, I wouldn't get hurt. So I played drums instead. And by the time I was 13, I could play, but my brother was a drummer and I was a drummer. - Were you yourself so... - So we never... - Pretty much, yeah. - Wow. So we were never like in the same band for the longest time until we started to realize the crap bands we were in because the guitar players were whatever they were doing wasn't what we wanted to do. And my brother and I also played guitar. So we started to think, well, how can we get more control over this music we wanna make and do what we want? Well, I guess one of us has to switch unless we wanna try to be the almond brothers and we didn't really wanna do that with two drummers, you know. So we decided not to go that route and one of us switched to guitar and it was really like drawing straws. Like it was kind of the short straw has to play drums. So I got the short straw and I'm like, well, I love the drums anyway, you know? And I was not an ego thing at all. I was like, well, I don't mind it. And I thought, well, eventually we'll probably switch it up. I'll come out front, he'll go back and we'll do that. But that never happened. And then three decades go by and I'm writing songs for the band on guitar I'm playing, but I'm still on the back of the band on the drums. I'm like, you know, can I play a song? And it was like that for the longest time. And now I kind of, it's like a bit we do live. I say that basically what I just said. And then I come out and like play a song on guitar. So it's kind of a little fun we have. But, you know, we're both, that's how we had to do it to play together. - But how are you self-taught? And are you self-taught in guitar as well? - I had a few lessons on guitar. But a lot of it honestly is listening and watching. I mean, I think the Beatles would even say, you know, they were self-taught for the most part, except for when they go to a music store and somebody would show them something or they were watching Little Richard, you know, at the Liverpool Empire or wherever he was. And they're like watching his band and going, oh, that's how they play the B7, you know, or that's how we sing in that, you know. And it's a lot of like, we're really paying attention to how it's done. And if you listen, if you have your eyes open, especially me in the studio, because I'm the fifth band member of every band that comes in here. And a number of times it's been people who are, you know, pretty well-known. And so I get to kind of eavesdrop, not even eavesdrop, just be part of the band on how they do what they're doing. And before you know it, you're being schooled on how to really sing, or how Jim Babjack from The Smithereens gets his guitar sound, you know, and how he plays the chord. - Yeah, but Kurt, hold on a second. It's one thing to watch Jim play guitar. - Yeah. - And you're in the studio, okay. And, but then how do you know where to put your fingers? How do you know what, like, like, like, how do you, like, how do you-- - Well, definitely, there's ways. Like, I used to spend all my allowance on Guitar World Magazine, or a tablature book. - There you go. - You know, and they teach you, and it shows you, it breaks you down, you know, what notes you gotta play about chords you gotta play. So once you have the basic idea of where chords are, and then you can put together a couple of songs, I mean, if you know how to play a bar chord, you can play any Ramones or Green Day song that they've been recorded, you know? - Once you get a little bit of knowledge, like, especially, you learn the chord shapes to the root chords. And once you get that, and then somewhere along the way, someone opens up, like, oh, this is a bar chord, and you go, oh, and you play it. - How long does that take? How long does it take? I don't know. - Seven days, Jeff. It's only seven days to learn everything. - If you're, I've told students, like, Kristen, my wife has, too, that, like, they'll be in a hurry, they'll be like, how long is this gonna take me to get good? And I said, well, you know what, it's a life journey. You're starting to play. It's gonna take what it takes, and you just have to put the time in. So it's not like, by the time, you know, six months from now, you're gonna be a virtuoso. Probably not, you know? It's just, it's like, it's just, it's a life journey. And I swear to God, I've been playing drums since I was, well, I've been playing since I was about eight years old, and I'm still learning. Stuff is still coming, you know? - It's just exactly like stand up, too. It's exactly like stand up in a way where you think about it. You can start off, and you're building up your jokes, and you're learning how to do material, and you're learning your timing, and your pacing, and then you're starting to get to a point where, you know, then you can do the host spot, and then you've managed a way to get to a feature spot, and then you go into your headliner, then you're going to doing your own club, then the theater. - So it's kind of like this constant buildup all the time, you know? And he's right, I mean, I'm a different guitar player than I was when I was 12. I'm a different comic than I was 15 years ago. - That's it, you know? And there's a lot of things that, you know, it's like, it's doors are opened, or like, you know, you get these realizations, like, "Oh, that's how I should be doing it." Like, I spent, probably spent a good 20 years singing not the right way, and kind of maybe blowing my voice out sometimes, until I realized, through working with some people, like Mark Lindsey from "Paul of your in the Raiders," like, "Oh, that's how you do it." So you don't want to get into that. You access into the higher register, and it's something you gotta learn, you know? And it doesn't come overnight. It's not like, you know, all of a sudden you get it, but you have to work on it. But it's these little things that open up to you, and if you're smart enough to see them, and incorporate them, then you get to the higher place. And it's like, you know, when you get to a plateau, you're kind of like, "Okay, now that you're up here, "you can see what there is to see, "because you're out of level as a musician." You kind of go, "Oh, now I see where I can go from here." So there's another level, another level. So I'm hoping that I just stay on this level of learning all the time, and I'm just doing the best I can. You know, like, I've always thought-- - How much time do you spend practicing? Especially early on? - Not that much, actually. More time, like, if I'm practicing, I'm just listening for sounds, and I'm kind of just playing a beat, or I'm just maybe working out something tempo-wise, and I'm doing small things now, but a lot of it's in the head, too. Or I'll do vocal scales. See, I'm a singer, drummer, guitarist, and I play piano. So I'm doing all these different things, like trying to build up my chops on each thing and stay in the zone on each instrument. And it really is just kind of like stating with it and not letting it sort of get too far out of the picture. You know, like, if you get into something for a while, sometimes you get into, I don't know, you study in something, and then you kind of get cold on it, you go do something else. But I try to keep up on all my disciplines, you know? So it's just that way I stay fresh, I stay flexible. But also I stay in shape, like physically, so that I can play the drums, and I have the air to play the drums, you know? And all those things. So it's like, for me, it's a lifestyle, really. - So being a multi-musician like you are, I mean, how much does that help you as a producer when you're recording other people's records? - A lot, a lot, and sometimes it can be a curse because I'll have the guitar part in my head that they should play. And you have to know when not to suggest it or correct them, you know? 'Cause it's like, you might have the answer, but sometimes they need to work through to find the answer. And sometimes, in their defense, their answer might be better than yours. - That's, you bring up something really good here that I don't want to let go of. And that is, how much of it is your influence or are you just recording them? Or as if I could, I guess the heart of the question is, what does it produce to do? And what makes a good question. - Really good question. Well, if you're talking historically a producer, historically what a producer would do is, he'd be given a budget from the record label, like a George Martin, right? George Martin would be given the budget from the record label. You can't spend excellent, you can always spend X amount of dollars. You gotta get it done in this time. And don't waste a lot of time in this studio. So you're the guy that's setting the pace and you're gonna bring it in on time under budget. - Are you behind the sound board or are you just kind of like, are you just facilitating, like kind of being like head coach? - I'm talking historically and historically in the past. When the music industry was functioning fully, you had an engineer who pushed the buttons and the favors. And then you had a producer standing behind him, kind of overseeing going, "Yeah, that's good." Or, "How about a little more of this?" Or, you know, maybe you need a little more balance. See, you got a guy, excuse me, guy working the dials, producer behind him, band out in the playing performance room, making the music, right? And everybody had their jobs. He had an A&R guy, artist and repertoire. He was feeding songs. He go, "Hey, you guys should play this song. Let me suggest this song for you." So you'd have this guy feeding the songs, producer running the whole show, engineer getting the sounds, band making the music. That's how it used to work. Now, in the group leads, I wear all those hats. I'm in the studio. Well, that's good because you saved yourself some money. You don't have to hire an engineer. You don't have to hire a producer. You are the guy and you're a totally musician and you're the songwriter. Well, exactly. So now it's like all the band is doing everything. The lunatics are running the asylum. But in order to make that happen, we had to spend years and years and years to develop our crafts, like in all ways. We were in studios before. We worked with some producers, not too many. And we eventually had to figure it out. And the way we figured it out was we started with making our own demos. A demo is like your home version of what you're going to record. You write a song, you make a demo. - It's a scaled version. - Yeah, it's like a sketch. And then you take that demo, I would say, to your band or to your producer, whoever. This is what I have in mind. But I want to make a record out of this, right? And so we were making these demos and eventually we decided, well the demos are kind of pretty close to the recording. Why don't we just make them better? And that's when we started getting more equipment. And actually what happened was we actually released, our first release was a four-track demo recordings. And we put it out on an EP, a vinyl, by a little 45. - How many years ago was that? - That was mid 90s. So how many years ago, is that 30 years? - That's over 30 years ago. - Yeah, 30 years. It's going by, time is going by. But anyway, so we put it out and that was our first thing. And the bands that we were playing with. - What do you think you put out a cassette single? - Oh no, no, we had, we had cassettes to it. I think that's true. - The singles look shit because it was so light that they can't get caught up in the machine. - We never thought a cassette was a real release. It wasn't a legit release. We thought, you got to have vinyl at the time. 'Cause I guess there were CDs too. But vinyl was- - In the 90s, absolutely. - There were, yeah. - Yes. - And our first album was a CD as well. So, but when we put out the vinyl, we started getting notice from the other bands that we were playing with. And it was like, oh, can you record us? I'm like, yeah, sure. I think we could. It was, that was when we went the next step to becoming on the other side of the glass as like an actual producer or an engineer and doing it for someone else, which means you're getting paid. And once you cross that step, that, you know, whatever, threshold. Well, then your mindset changes. I remember actually being a little physically ill when I started out for the pressure of having to do this and make sure that you get something that's usable. You're not wasting people's money. You know, and there's a lot of pressure involved. But now it's more, much more comfortable with that role. So I can't remember what your original question was. Well, there was probably a couple of them in there. - There were, but again, every time you say something, you bring up something that's interesting. So, you know, you're a singer and musician drummer. You're, you know, obviously, you know, you've had success with the producing as well. Who would you rather be? Would you rather be Don Henley or Mutt Lang? (laughing) - There are times when I would rather just be Don Henley out in the room playing. But then I, part of the way I write a song and the way we write songs in the group leads is we, I have a recording in mind. So when I'm writing a song, a lot of times if I'm thinking it up and before I write it, I'm thinking it. Maybe out of my own job, I'm running. And I'm like, I got a whole visual, I got a whole sonic picture in my head. So I'm hearing the song and then I got translated into reality. And that translation starts with an acoustic guitar. Then you flesh it out with vocal and lyrics. And then you flesh it out with how does the bass go? How does the drums go? How does, what are the lead guitar parts? And that's where the band comes in and fleshes everything out. And then, but the guiding hand is still my original idea of what the song could be and trying to achieve that. So that's how I write the songs, at least the songs that I write. And I do have a production in mind. So someone asked me that very question once of like, how would you feel about having the producer work with you? And I thought, wow, that would be a real luxury. But, you know, it's a real handoff 'cause I really love to birth the track and make it become what it is. - That's gotta be a huge, that's gotta be a huge decision. I knew it by, you know, because it's so personal to you. - And then you understand like everything that he's saying is exactly what we do as well too. We can have, and I'm saying this too from even like a songwriting point of view as well. So you see it on both sides shown. - I see it on both sides. What I'm trying to say is for like this, think of it this way, and you have an idea for his bit. You know exactly in your head how this joke is a million dollar joke, right? It involves a didgeridoo, right? You realize that this joke is a winner, right? - I have a great joke about a didgeridoo. Kerry, you gotta come see me sometimes. - It's like recording a didgeridoo. - Of course you did, isn't it? - You sure didn't know what didgeridoo was until he saw my bit. - So then you have this grandiose idea, but then you have to realize can't just go from A to Z. You gotta fill in all those little gaps with little tags and add-ons and your build-ups and stuff like that. So writing a great joke is exactly the same as writing a song. - Well, there you go. The thing about it is though, is like, you know, if you get too insulated, like if you don't have outside viewpoints, if you don't have any perspective other than your own, that could be very dangerous. And it could also be wasteful because maybe when the song is done, it doesn't measure up and you didn't listen to anybody. So you've got no other viewpoints and that can happen. You can, that is a major problem these days with people working in their bedrooms, like musicians working, you know, in their own little cocoon. They don't have the outside viewpoint. - Yeah, you got the luxury that a lot of these bands don't. You're living with someone in the band. So did your wife cut a little say to you, "Hey, have you ever thought about this?" Or did your brother, who had the connection with you? Do they have that you sense in? - My favorite thing to do actually is, let's say a band is coming in to work. Before we start, I'll go, "Hey, get pull this into this." And maybe it'll be one of our songs 'cause I, what I wanna get, I saw Pat from The Smithereens do this. Pat, before he passed away, Pat Denizio, obviously. If you can get an honest viewpoint from somebody about how your music is hitting, then you've got some valuable information that I need. Like it's okay to, you know, I could say, "Oh, I, you know, I've thought this song up and I know what the vision is." And I have it all figured out. But when you play that song for somebody, does it work? Does it move them? Or do they go, "Oh, eh, I don't know," you know? And that's what I look for. I look for, it's about a minute. It takes one minute. You watch them, they play the song, and you watch for when they check out and when they lose interest. And right there you go, okay, I don't have it. All right, what did I not do? How can I make this stronger? What am I missing, you know? And that's the viewpoint I'm always looking for 'cause I don't have that unless I put the song away for a while and then pick it back up and then maybe I'll get it, you know? But it takes a long time. If you make a record, it takes a while so pull that record out and go, "Oh, I could've done that better. Why didn't I do this? Why didn't I do that?" And it's the viewpoint of the cold listen. It's for you guys to be like, the audience member has no axe to grind. He's out there, does he laugh? Is he moved? Did you hit him? Or if he didn't, go back and do something better, you know? - But you've also, you've also have had the luxury of working with some really monumental guys. - Yes. - Have you ever discussed this with Brian Wilson who I know you work with? And I know you won, I think you toured with Mark Lindsey from Poor Review and the Raiders. I mean, so did they ever give you any type of inside tips, you know, something that you took with you that you're able to apply to your band and the other bands that you produce? - Well, not so much Mark, I'm sorry, Brian personally with Brian, I didn't get to know him personally very well. I spent one day with him and another time, another two times actually after that. - That's still incredible because, I mean, would you say, and join you too, would you say that he's the greatest American songwriter, American songwriter? - He's one of, if not, he's right up there. - He's right up there, right up there. - Dylan Springsteen and Brian Wilson, would you say those are the top three? - Major influence on my work and on my, you know, when I was a kid, I just loved The Beach Boys and, you know, and it's the type of music that you can grow up with and you grow old with because it's- - Totally, totally. - So, you know, while I didn't learn anything directly from him telling me, I learned a whole lot from him just by soaking it in. Mark Lindsey is someone who I worked with very closely, both in the studio and live. So, I learned a whole lot on both sides of that. - How's that come about? 'Cause you're a Jersey guy. How do you hook up with Mark Lindsey? - Well, he came to New York to do, it was called Cave Stomp, which they were putting on in New York City and it was a garage rock festival. And he was- - Did you have a van zen have a hand on this? - Well, he was there and yes, he did, he did. So, it was before the Underground Garage. Not that long ago. - Okay. - Right before. It was specifically, it was right after 9/11. It was the month after. So, what happened was Mark was putting a band together to play New York and he got a guy who I knew and I happened to make a short list of drummers. - Number one drummer was Clemburg from Blondie. - Oh, great. Yeah, I remember Clemburg from years ago, sure. - Yeah, great drummer. I love him. - He used to play in another local band. Oh my God. He had a side project at the Blondie, what was it called? - I don't know, but- - The colors, the colors. - Okay, yeah, he's had a lot of stuff. - Yeah, you used to go see them. - He's done a lot of different things, but Blondie was his main, obviously, claim the fame. But anyway, he was on the West Coast and his wife said you're not flying, it's 9/11. I don't want you up there. You can't go. So, Clemb's off the list. Number two, Dennis Dyken from the Smithereens. - Great job. - Yeah, to gig that night. So, yeah, no, can't do it. So, I was number three. So, I'm like, "Mom, Mark, Lindsay in New York City?" Yeah, okay. So, I took the gig and I remember it being very, the city really smelled of the Twin Towers to come down, it was still in the air. Who knows if I got sick from that? You know, you never know. But anyway, I learned Mark and I just sort of hit it off right away at that time. And we did the show, we did another two shows after that. And then I didn't see him for a while. And then I saw him a couple of years later, he hired me again to do something. And then I didn't see him for another few years. And then he came to do, we were making a Christmas record. And it was the group we'd saw under the influence of Christmas that we were doing. And we decided we're gonna let guests in. Groupweeds are very self-contained. We usually don't have anybody else playing anything 'cause we all play. But this time, we thought, "Let's get some guest artists." We've never done that. So, we got the Smithereens. We got a couple of local guys and stuff and some legends. And I called Mark and Mark was like, I said, "I wrote a song for you to sing." And I wrote it and I thought, the only guy to sing this is the guy who sang "Hungry." "Hungry, Father Good, things baby." That's the guy, that's what I want, that attitude, a punk. So, I called him up and he's like, "I'm sure I'll do it." And I thought, "Wow, that's cool." Glad he remembered me at all. So, he comes over, he does this song. And he's like, "I really like the studio." - Did you have to pay him? - No, he didn't want anything. So, I was like, "I really like the studio. I like to work together again. I'm working on some stuff. I'd like to do something." So, he brought me a project of his and we started working on his stuff in the studio. And then we did another one. And then we did another one. And then came time for, he was doing some casino shows and he needed a band. And he thought of the group leads to back him up. And that opened up a whole other like thing. - Oh, you guys did it. You know, okay, you all did it. - Okay. - We'll band back to up and we're gonna back him up again next year. And that was really good for our growth as a live band. Just like to work behind a legendary singer to be tight, know those songs inside now cold and deliver, you know, to a paying audience that you gotta make sure you're measuring up. It's gotta be great. And, but, you know, in the studio is where Mark and I really hit it off as well. Because he had produced those songs. He was the guy, he did like he was there when hungry and he did all those songs. It's like he was a co-producer or a producer of all those songs. And I always say it's like he was walking sunset strip in 1967, rubbing shoulders with all those guys, you know? He tells us one story of always walking out the door of 16 magazine, having just seen glorious stavers for this, that she told him how to dress. She was like this wardrobe person. And he says, he goes, it was a monumental moment. I'm walking out, Jim Morrison's walking in. And I felt like, wow, I just passed the torch to Jim, you know? And I'm done with the teen thing, you know? And so to work with somebody who's got that kind of deep knowledge of the music that I love was just gold. So-- - What is the music that you love? - Well, right there, I love, you know-- - Besides that, besides that, I mean, 'cause the name of our show, and before we run out of time, is called to Japan, okay? So who is Kurt Spent? Who do you love? - Well, it depends on what time period. I mean, I love the doors. I love all the '60s stuff. I love music in the '70s. I love REM, I've loved. I like modern bands. I like, let's see, well, I loved Oasis. All the stuff that they do. - But you don't relate to Oasis. - Yeah. - And then you're brother in a band together. - Well, you know, we always sort of like, you know, joke about that. It's like, yeah, we have fights, but we don't have fights like that, you know? - 'Cause they were-- - We worked it out. - Maybe the King's thing. - We came pretty close. - Yeah. - We came pretty close a few times, but-- - Okay, so if we, if you have-- - Well, the King's was another huge influence on me too. And, you know, but in all of that is like, yeah, those are the inspiration, like the Beach Boys. You know, I like to go back to kind of those, the '60s stuff is very impactful for me. - Is that the best era of music for you? - There's a lot of influences I'll take from the '70s. E.L.O. - Love E.L.O. - '60s? - Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm asking. - Oh, no. - You can mean-- - 'Cause we've debated this on the show as well. The best era of music, the best decade of music is what occurred. - Oh, man, that's such a little question. - You gotta answer, you can't-- - They all have such great things to offer. - Yeah, of course they do. That's what makes it a hard question. - So like me, okay, I'm inspired by '60s '70s, even the '80s, and even the '90s, you know? And Nirvana, I love Nirvana. And even that made its way into what we were doing. 'Cause at the time, you know, when you're an artist, when you're writing a song, you know, you're reflecting on what's around you. So it's not like you're in a box of like, I wanna sound like 1965. Maybe I wanna sound a little bit like 1965, but in 2024, you know? I wanna be current and part of the culture in my own, in our own way, you know? But we have a strong tie to that music. You could probably say, yeah, all right, I'm gonna give it to you, Jeff. The '60s would be my favorite because I think it was less calculated. The music industry wasn't quite as together. They were like, I think we're shocked at what the Beatles did. Like, whoa, where'd that come from? We thought that stuff was crap, you know? And all of a sudden, whoa, there's money to be made. And then after that, it was like, wow, well, we can make more money. We'll put these guys on the road. And then the FM radio, you know, then they all got into it. But I don't think they really understood how the bands were doing what they did so they gave them a long leash, you know? They let the producers do what they did, make the music that was effective, you know? And then it started to get ruined. Like, you ever see an Aerosmith pump? Remember that album from the '80s or was it '90 or something? And there's a video called The Making of Pump. And Aerosmith are trying to record their album and they get these consultants that are wheeled and they that come in, they show these consultants and they're listening to their music. No, you should make that more accessible. That chorus is no good. You know, you gotta hit this market and that market and all of a sudden, lo and behold, you gotta hit. But maybe it's not the pure statement from the band anymore. It's a calculation from the label to make money. You know, not saying that that's not a good record 'cause it is a good record. - No one could see you doing, you and your band. I could see you being like the band. Well, this was the songs in a movie like That Thing You Do. - Ah, yeah, yeah. That would be right, that would be great. - No, because yeah, well because your sound is very catchy, very poppy, you know? And you know who the band that did that was, right? That was Fountains of Wayne, that was-- - Right, I was thinking Adam Schlesinger, as you said, Adam Schlesinger, oh yeah, you know, and he's an influence. You know, more contemporary to us, but definitely an influence. And it goes back to what I was saying before of where you're looking for what's gonna hit people. What's, you don't wanna waste anybody's time. You don't wanna be too self-indulgent. You still wanna be quality and you wanna make sure that you've got your integrity. But you want to connect with the listener in a big way, if you can, somehow. You know, that's what it's all about. And what you're doing is your, it's energy. There's all this stuff is energy. It's like, it's waves of sound, which is energy. And you're just tweaking people. And you're trying to like influence them a little bit. Oh yeah, I love that. Wow, it makes me feel good, you know, or maybe it makes me feel like hitting something. Whatever it is, it causes a reaction. You know, that's, I think that's what we all want. A comedian, you wanna reaction. - Well, we want one reaction. - Hey, reaction. - I have a question. So playing out in the '90s, the New York City scene and the Asbury Park scene, what were the differences between those two scenes knowing that you played both of them? - For me? - Yeah. - Well, I would say a really big difference. It depends, the New York scene that we were in was very much geared towards getting signed to a label in the '90s. It was very much like, who's gonna be seeing you? And you gotta make sure you get the industry people out to check out the band and the radio people. And blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, you've gotta get these people to come see you, you know, and fill the place. And I think there was less of pressure to do that down the shore in Asbury Park. It was a little bit more, let's have a party. Come on, Bruce Springsteen, you know? It was more of that to me having done both and still do both. We're playing in, well, we're just gonna do a show on Friday, but this will air later. So we will have done the show on Friday in New York City, which we're looking forward to. - Yeah, I was gonna say, so tell us about, what's the future plans of the Gripweeds? Where can people follow you? How can they go see a Gripweeds show? Tell us a little bit more, Gripweeds. - Well, I would say the best place to start there is just go on the internet, type in Gripweeds, or we're pretty much the only one. Gripweeds.com is our website. Facebook, the Gripweeds, Twitter, or X, whatever. We're on all the social media accounts, and if you just type in the Gripweeds or Gripweeds, you'll find us, and we like to keep things current as far as letting people know what we're doing. And what we're actually doing right now is making a new album, which has taken up a lot of our time. To get it right, we want it to be good, and all the stuff I was just talking about is pretty much what I do on a daily basis, and it's the thought process of how can we make this music stronger? That's what it is. It's like, we got the song, but how do we make it stronger? - Hold on a second, what I heard on 101.5 FM, that was a new song, right? - Yeah, that's right. - Yeah, that's a good song. - Thank you, yeah. Well, that's an example of what we're doing in the studio now, just drawing. We're drawing on all our life experience to knock this out of the park. That's what we're trying to do, you know? And not screw it up. - What will this record be finished? - Well, we're actually got a lot done on it, so it's gonna come out in March, that's the plan, which means we have to finish it up in December, which we will be able to do. We just have to, a few things we're still working on. And then after the great part about, you know, living and playing in this era that we are now is like, you don't have to wait three years to put out an album. - Yeah, what is that, Sean? - Because people are just cutting songs. Like, you know, they're cutting songs, but sometimes they're not good. Like you take a guy like Tom Schultz of Boston, who was an off-the-chart perfectionist. And Matt Lang, who would also, 47 takes, you know, for handclaps, okay? So is it the industry, Sean? Or is it the producer and the band that, you know, every little minutiae has to be exacting? - I don't know. I think that this, I think it's a good mix of both, because like you'll have these artists who are putting out, you know, I'm noticing too, and I don't know if you've seen this too, that full-length albums are getting a lot longer. They're more than, I would think they're getting less because people don't have the attention span. - No, I mean, the amount of songs that I'm seeing albums that are doing at a minimum, 16, 18, 20 songs on an album. - Well, I don't know, because, you know, what's happened is with the resurgence of vinyl, it's becoming, we're doing it, because when we started making records, we were gearing it towards the CD. Vinyl was dying. So we were gearing it towards the CD, and the CD was 80 minutes of music, right? And we wouldn't be trying to fill the 80 minutes, but sometimes we actually did put out a double album, 83 minutes of music, which wouldn't make a single CD. But what I'm saying is the vinyl resurgence has made us go back to a 40-minute record, which is 20 minutes per side. That's the ideal sweet spot for vinyl. You don't wanna go over 20 minutes, 22 minutes. You don't wanna go too far beyond that, because the sound starts to suffer. But that just happens to be a good length of time. - You're paying to think, it doesn't write songs like that. You're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not going to a 11-minute opus. - But you get a number of songs, but the number of songs that we would put on a record, you know, we'll add up to 45 minutes, or whatever it is, you know? And we don't wanna go too far over that. And it just so happens that they actually got it right with vinyl. Vinyl's a good length of time for a listener not to get-- - 100%, 100% agree with that. - I gotta flip the record over, 20 minutes. If you can hold it for 20 minutes, that's you're doing something. - Yeah, I mentioned, I mentioned Jelly Roll before, like two weeks ago he puts an album out, right? It's 22 songs, hold on, it gets better. The next day, he releases the deluxe version with seven more songs, 29 songs. - Listen, I'm gonna be on. - I'm gonna be on. - I'm a good songs, Sean. - Honest to God, there was about seven of them, that all sounded exactly the same to me. And I like to do it, and out of 29, he had a really solid 13, 14 songs. - Yeah, you don't need that many. Again, like comedy, editing, the economy of words, you know? Make it short. People don't have the attention span anymore. - But you know what's happening with that? - There's Spotify playing a game, they're playing it to Spotify. - Right. - People putting on their album, playing all 22 songs, and catching, catching, catching. Even though you only get a fraction of a sense per play, which is criminal, by the way, at least you're getting, if you can get your fans to play it and play it, and play it, and play it, and play it, 22 songs times a million plays, while you've just made a good chunk of money. So that's probably why they're loading it up. More than we're gonna lose them, you know? - I hate the way, you know, we didn't talk about this, but right out of college, that was my first job. I worked A&R for CBS Records, okay? - Right, yeah, you're telling me. - Yeah, and I hate what the record company, the record business has become. It's completely reversed the way it used to be. - Yeah, it's totally reversed, but it's, you know, where the keys of the kingdom, they used to hold them, and hold them over your head. - Oh, absolutely. But also what they did, they provided a service, because now you don't have to go on the internet and listen to, you know, thousands of shit, and they kind of, you know, edited out and gave you what they thought was gonna be like, and sometimes they got it wrong, 'cause a lot of times they got it wrong, but then there was also a lot of times they got it right, and saved people a lot of the time. - And it's like, oh, they dropped the band. (laughing) - Well, have you ever heard of a band called New Man? - No. - And New Man was a band that, you know, 'cause actually I get one of the graduating in the late '80s, so they were kind of like an admittedly '80s band. They wound up getting signed, they won best band out of Boston, they put out their first record, they barely sold 10,000 copies, and you've never heard of New Man again, exactly. - Yeah, that's what would happen. If, and they were lucky that they actually got the record released, 'cause I can tell you other horror stories of bands getting the budgets, and like going to make their first album, and then the label saying, "No, we're not gonna put it out, we're dropping you." And you can't take your album and go home, you lose. - That's right, that's right, that's right. - That's fine. (laughing) - They did it. - This is actually, in that sense, this is better because, you know, we're at least we're capitals of our own ship. It might not be the Titanic, well, no, not the Titanic, the Queen Mary. - Yeah, you don't wanna be the Titanic. - The Queen Mary, but it's a good ship. You know, and we own it. (laughing) - Okay, so we're gonna end, 'cause we got two minutes, we're gonna end on this question. Sean, ask a final question that we always ask. - Okay, and especially Kurt is the perfect guy to answer this question. - I have to, I have to. - And no bailing out, you can't take a, you can't do the week, Kurt. - Yeah, don't be a bitch, answer this the right way. - I'll do my best. - You don't have to say to your wife, you don't have to say your brother. You get to pick and be in your all-time favorite band. You get to pick the drummer, the guitar player, the bass player, the singer, the keyboard, whatever. What is the band, and what do you play in it? - Oh, so you're looking for me to put together a band? - Your supergroup, your supergroup. - My supergroup. Well, okay, I gotta have Paul McCartney on base. - Okay. - Got it. - All right, all right, this is a good band. - Yeah, I'm gonna put on drums, well, that would be me. If I'm in the band? - Your band, yeah. - All right, so I'm gonna play drums, guitar player, well, I, it's a tough one here. But I'm gonna go with my good body, Jim Badjack on guitar because he's so good. And then second guitar will be Pete Townsend. - Oh, wow, okay, yeah. - I don't think we've ever gotten that answer before, Sean. - Paul McCartney, Pete Townsend, Jim Badjack, myself on drums, I'm in ridiculously stupid company here, but let's see, so keyboard, so I pick the keyboard player. Well, I'll pick, oh boy. Maybe I'll pick, well, you guys probably don't even know who this is, Rod Argent from the zombies. - Yeah, we know who Rod Argent is, he was in the zombies. - I'll pick Rod Argent for the keyboard. - This guy, this guy. - And then vocals, oh man, vocals. Well, the best singer of all time, John Lennon. He's living or dead, right? - Oh, come on, you can't, he's gonna go on two Beatles. - Do I can't, I can't do it, all right. - You could, you could, but I mean, come on. And all right, this is insanely great band. - The great band, like again, as everybody else in the world is like fuck Ringo, and Harrison, and then George Harris. - But he's going to go both of those guys. But he's the drummer, so Ringo can't be in the band. - That's right. Or I could come out front, I'll sing Ringo plays drums. - Oh, and now John gets shifted over guitar and poor Jim Batnack, and then they'll really lose his-- - They'll really hit that jack. - I loved it, Jim was on this show too. You know, he was great, he's such a good dude. - Oh, he did, he was on it. - Seth, I'll tell you though, there was a time when we were recording, I'll make this quick, we were recording Mark Lindsey, and he just did a vocal. And we're sitting there, and I had this realization. Now Mark has had, he had a number, he had, I think it was number one, Indian Reservation. - Oh yeah, Cherokee people. - Cherokee people, great song. I used to love that song when I was a kid. - Has a great bass and drum that boom. - No, that is a boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. - The whole thing is amazing. So here's Mark Lindsey in the studio, and he puts down this vocal, and we're looking at each other in the control room going, holy shit, you know? And now I get it, this guy, you know, we're just a bunch of like, kind of average mules in a bar, and the stallion just walked in, and he's showing what he really can do. Pitch perfect, the guy's amazing, his voice is, and he was 70, you know. - And why'd you make him use Senga? - Well, maybe I will. Okay, Mark Lindsey. - I love it, now that's a super band. - That's a super group. - Kurt, thank you so much for coming on the show. - Well, thank you for having me, and you too. - I appreciate it, a lot of fun. - We really appreciate it, you know, real great insight to stuff. Guys, please, please, please check out the grip weeds. I'm coming out, and my art should be done in December. Look for their dates, look for tour dates. - We're gonna do stuff around the album, so we'll be playing out. - And if you wanna record your own album, do you ever see the House of Vibe Studios? - Houseofvibes.com. - Yep. - Yeah. - Awesome. - I'll discuss it all with you. But we don't take everybody. We take music that we feel we can, you know, work with. - I love that. - I'm not taking like a rap artist, 'cause it's not really my genre. So I'm looking for, I'm profiling you as much as you're profiling me to see if you wanna work with me. - That'll work. - You know? - But that works. - And then we get on to that's great. You know, if you're all comfortable. It's not a job for me. It's like what I wanna do, you know? - Yep, I hear you. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much again, Kurt. Kurt Ryle, everybody. - Thank you, bro. - Kurt Ryle, the grip weeds, check 'em out. Guys, this is who's your band. Remember, please, again, follow, subscribe, comment, like, all that stuff that helps. More than you think. We'll catch you next time on Who's your Band. Thank you, everybody. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]
