WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.100 Hello everyone, my name is Lawrence Gowan of 00:00:02.100 --> 00:00:05.000 the rock band Styx and you are listening to my 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.720 weekly mixtape with Brian Colburn. I'm just I'm 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.500 listening to my weekly mixtape in my head constantly. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:25.920 I'll bet you are too. Welcome to my weekly mixtape, 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.620 a podcast that takes the classic mixtape approach 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:31.500 to building a modern playlist. I'm your host, 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:33.740 Brian Colbert. One of the things I'm excited 00:00:33.740 --> 00:00:36.020 to do on the show is speak with some of the incredible 00:00:36.020 --> 00:00:39.659 artists whose songs have graced my mixtapes and 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:42.619 playlists throughout my life. And tonight's guest 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:44.880 happens to be one of those artists. From his 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.899 incredible solo work through his current decades 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:51.359 -long run as singer and keyboard player for Styx, 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.820 I am honored to welcome to the show the one and 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.320 only Lawrence Gowan. Lawrence, thank you so much 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:59.240 for joining me on my weekly mixtape. Absolutely 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.479 my pleasure, Brian. Great to be on your mixtape. 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:04.840 Well, the first question I would like to start 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:07.140 by asking you is the same question I ask all 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:10.200 of my guests. The word mixtape, does that have 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:14.939 any meaning to you in your career and why? Well, 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:16.780 you know, it's funny because when I saw that 00:01:16.780 --> 00:01:19.040 on the description that we're going to chat, 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:21.640 I always think of a mixtape as something that's 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.079 on a cassette. On a cassette, basically just 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:27.879 a... a collection of your favorite songs it's 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:29.700 not necessarily an album but a collection of 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.379 your favorite songs and it usually would be something 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:36.819 in a car anyway you'd squeeze in between listening 00:01:36.819 --> 00:01:39.760 to one of you know you're listening to an album 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.019 whatever album it happens to be and then you 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:43.859 happen to put on your mixtape just so you can 00:01:43.859 --> 00:01:46.159 kind of shake up the vibe a little bit and that's 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.180 what it means to me does it mean something completely 00:01:48.180 --> 00:01:51.099 different now that i'm unaware of No, to me, 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.140 the word mixtape always came with a connotation 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:57.159 of when I grew up making mixtapes. That's what 00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:59.519 this show is a love letter to. I would spend 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.459 hours taking all of my favorite songs and turning 00:02:03.459 --> 00:02:07.239 them into my story based on how I put them into. 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:09.800 a sequence that I would want to listen to with 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:13.240 my friends. Yes. With modern playlists, you kind 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.599 of just drag and drop a bunch of songs onto your 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.919 Spotify playlist and hit shuffle. And I'm trying 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.000 to bring back that thought process on why songs 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.219 work so well back to back. I see. Yes, it's more 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:28.759 of the soundtrack of your life and kind of a 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:30.879 bit of a narrative, a background narrative to 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.280 your thought process and to your little adventures 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.180 along the way and things that are meaningful. 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:37.620 I think that's a great, yeah, that's more or 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:41.120 less how I first came upon them was, yeah, people 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.919 were trying to kind of, I suppose, define their 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:46.419 personality in some way by the songs that they 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:49.020 listened to. And after all, we all do that anyway, 00:02:49.139 --> 00:02:52.039 I think. A hundred percent. And one of the bands 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.199 that growing up, my parents and I truly bonded 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.319 over was your music and the music of sticks. 00:02:59.069 --> 00:03:03.050 With a discography of over 50 years, going back 00:03:03.050 --> 00:03:07.050 to Styx's self -titled 1972 album, the band has 00:03:07.050 --> 00:03:09.870 never slowed down, including the most recent 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:13.189 effort, 2021's Crash of the Crown, shows that 00:03:13.189 --> 00:03:16.330 you guys have a lot more to say on a musical 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:19.689 level still. How would you describe the band's 00:03:19.689 --> 00:03:25.189 musical evolution across five decades? Boy, that's 00:03:25.189 --> 00:03:28.520 a tough one. I would say that if... First of 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.379 all, I'll try to pick what I think are the central 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:35.900 strengths that have allowed the band to traverse 00:03:35.900 --> 00:03:38.759 over five decades. I'd say, first of all, there's 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:42.020 a dedicated devotion to melody. That's number 00:03:42.020 --> 00:03:44.699 one. Just basically trying to come up with melodies 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:46.879 that stick in people's heads. And long before 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:50.539 I joined the band, I'm in my 25th year now, that 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:52.819 was what I noticed about Styx was there are very 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.500 memorable melodies that were just once they were 00:03:55.500 --> 00:03:58.050 in your head. they would take up residence there 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:01.729 permanently. And that's true of all the bands 00:04:01.729 --> 00:04:04.090 that I've loved most. They just have melodic 00:04:04.090 --> 00:04:07.289 content that doesn't seem to wane with time. 00:04:07.650 --> 00:04:10.449 The other thing is a determination for the band 00:04:10.449 --> 00:04:17.050 to go on, to continue despite all the challenges 00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:20.329 that come along the way in the life of any band. 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:23.310 It's very, very difficult to make a band stay 00:04:23.310 --> 00:04:27.149 together for five years, let alone 50. So the 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:30.029 band had to, along the way, they've made tough 00:04:30.029 --> 00:04:33.850 decisions. They've had to be very, very determined 00:04:33.850 --> 00:04:38.769 and self -aware as a band to make it through 00:04:38.769 --> 00:04:41.990 all those periods. And as you mentioned, I think 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:44.529 Crash of the Crown being the album that came 00:04:44.529 --> 00:04:46.889 out in the 50th year of the band's existence, 00:04:47.189 --> 00:04:50.670 for that to get to the number one on the Billboard 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:53.629 rock album chart, because after all, it was conceived 00:04:53.629 --> 00:04:57.110 as an album, a 40 -minute piece. It really is 00:04:57.110 --> 00:04:59.850 remarkable to think that it's a band that seems 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:03.389 to have found the right direction forward in 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:06.850 all eras. Well, at this juncture of the band's 00:05:06.850 --> 00:05:09.589 career, Styx could easily walk out on stage and 00:05:09.589 --> 00:05:12.829 play a two hour set of nothing but hits. Babe, 00:05:12.910 --> 00:05:15.410 Come Sail Away, Renegade, Best of Times Lady. 00:05:15.550 --> 00:05:18.889 But then you have songs like Common Ground from 00:05:18.889 --> 00:05:22.600 Crash of the Crown that to me. fit right in with 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:25.480 all of those songs. How does the band decide 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:29.779 with all of these years of music, how a show 00:05:29.779 --> 00:05:32.800 should flow from decade to decade and song to 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:37.199 song? That's a great question. I think that not 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.740 only is the band involved in what we wind up 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:43.240 playing in a set, but in fact, like our production 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:46.920 crew very often, well, on a daily basis, they 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.620 have Not just so much an opinion, but a very 00:05:49.620 --> 00:05:52.959 informed opinion. Because, for example, our stage 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:55.639 manager, he knows what we've played in various 00:05:55.639 --> 00:05:58.600 regions of the country or even in the world the 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:01.199 last time we were there. And so he'll take that 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:04.399 into consideration when it comes to what we play. 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.139 So I'm just thinking of, you know, last night 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:11.240 we played to, I guess, about 17 ,000 people in 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:15.160 Lewiston, New York, a place called Art Park. 00:06:15.740 --> 00:06:18.480 And that was a set that had to be comprised for 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.019 that because since it was just across the border 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:24.560 on the American side of Niagara Falls, to give 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.720 you a regional perspective, we decided to do 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.620 songs like the standard ones that are in every 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.639 Styx show. We're always going to play Renegade 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:35.339 and we're going to do Come Sail Away and Blue 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.240 Collar Man and Grand Illusion. Those are in there. 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:41.139 But for example... Miss America, which hasn't 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:43.920 been in shows for a little while. And suddenly 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:46.920 we're starting to get that back again. That's 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.139 a really important song to play in that region 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:51.819 because Grand Illusion was a huge record. People 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:55.579 know it as an album. And so it's a great number 00:06:55.579 --> 00:06:58.000 to put into that show. We opened with a song 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.740 from Crash to the Crown called To Those, which 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:04.139 is a very brief piece. But it just is the right 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:06.220 kind of energy for the type of audience that 00:07:06.220 --> 00:07:08.399 we were playing to. So that went into the show. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.819 We put a song from my solo career that became 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:14.019 a stick song after I joined called The Criminal 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:16.819 Mind. We put that into the set because radio 00:07:16.819 --> 00:07:19.899 in Buffalo and in that region, it was right across 00:07:19.899 --> 00:07:22.259 the border. They played that song extensively 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:24.839 on the radio and they still hear it. And basically, 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:28.480 if I'm doing interviews like this, regional type 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:30.779 interviews will ask, are you going to play this 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:32.920 song in this concert? And The Criminal Mind came 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:36.379 up often in the little... interviews and chats 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:38.620 that i had with people leading up to that show 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:42.000 so that's kind of the ways that the the sticks 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:45.839 set list which is extremely hard to crack and 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.980 that's how it gets decided it's jy made a comment 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:52.800 many years ago he said you know well we used 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:57.180 to have some pretty um not too intense but somewhat 00:07:57.180 --> 00:08:00.360 uh pointed disagreements as to what to play on 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:02.680 any given night he said well we just seem to 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:04.560 have an embarrassment of riches when it comes 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:07.420 to choices of great songs to play. I love that 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:10.740 expression. So we always seem to concoct just 00:08:10.740 --> 00:08:13.879 the right kind of items on the menu, so to speak, 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.040 that speak to that audience in a particular way. 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:19.279 Well, I want to follow up on where you're going 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.360 with this, because as much as I love the hits 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.180 that you talked about, there's a part of me as 00:08:24.180 --> 00:08:26.620 a Styx fan that does enjoy some of the deeper 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:30.519 cuts. And just off the top of my head. If I go 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.700 back to Kill Roy Was Here, because that was one 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:34.960 of the albums my parents basically introduced 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.720 me to the band with, songs like Double Life and 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.440 Heavy Metal Poisoning haven't been part of the 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.059 set list in a long time. And then if you fast 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:45.899 forward into the 90s, Edge of the Century, Show 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:48.379 Me the Way was something that was played during 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:51.320 a lot of my high school events. Those are just 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:54.200 a couple of examples as a longtime Styx fan, 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:57.289 songs that I'd love to hear at a show. do you 00:08:57.289 --> 00:09:00.669 as a member of the band have any error that maybe 00:09:00.669 --> 00:09:03.549 there are songs that you would like to see dusted 00:09:03.549 --> 00:09:06.549 off for a live run through? Because there's no 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:09.690 shortage of amazing material here. Yeah. Yeah. 00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:12.570 It's funny. We, I know what you're saying because 00:09:12.570 --> 00:09:14.669 especially, you know, and since I can see you 00:09:14.669 --> 00:09:19.769 on this, I can see that you, you know, you're 00:09:19.769 --> 00:09:21.690 one of the younger people that came along to 00:09:21.690 --> 00:09:23.889 sticks probably after these albums had been out 00:09:23.889 --> 00:09:28.159 a while. And I have, It has been noticed that 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:31.899 younger people don't tend to necessarily gravitate 00:09:31.899 --> 00:09:34.720 toward what were the songs that were played endlessly 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:38.159 on the radio. Because you don't have that kind 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:41.860 of shaping your opinion or your viewpoint of 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:45.100 the band in any way. So, for example, take a 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:47.519 song like Man in the Wilderness. That's another 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:50.539 track I got. Pieces of Eight is another track 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:54.549 like that. And I noticed... There are some audience 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:57.549 favorites as well. They really want to hear those 00:09:57.549 --> 00:10:00.190 songs and those ones really speak. That's part 00:10:00.190 --> 00:10:02.389 of their mixtape, so to speak. That's part of 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:05.250 what speaks to their life and that they can relate 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:09.230 so well to. And I happen to really, I love that. 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:12.529 We brought back, for example, Lorelei recently. 00:10:13.049 --> 00:10:15.250 That's a song that's been off the set list for 00:10:15.250 --> 00:10:17.710 a couple of years. And yet it's the first stick 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:20.610 song I ever took note of on radio in Canada, 00:10:20.690 --> 00:10:25.289 in Toronto, was Lorelei. And so I'm really glad 00:10:25.289 --> 00:10:28.889 that that one was brought back. And there are 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:32.289 several others. And now that we've had both with 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:35.129 The Mission and Crash of the Crown, we get a 00:10:35.129 --> 00:10:37.889 lot of requests for specific songs on those records 00:10:37.889 --> 00:10:40.169 that really connect with people. I know that 00:10:40.169 --> 00:10:44.419 recently we've been playing... Tommy gets to 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:47.519 get his banjo out and we've been doing our wonderful 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.600 lives. And that seems to be a kind of a sentiment 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:54.379 that people are relating to very strongly at 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:56.639 the moment, because having gone through what 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:58.440 we did just a couple of years ago, people are 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:00.879 still kind of resetting and rebalancing from 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.100 the aftermath of that. And our wonderful lives 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:06.399 seems to kind of address that. Well, since we're 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.419 talking about some of the newer songs from Styx, 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:12.830 I want to dive into that because. I'd like to 00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:15.330 light it up and let's get this show on the road 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:17.549 because one of my favorite more recent songs 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:20.789 from the band is Gone, Gone, Gone from your 2017 00:11:20.789 --> 00:11:25.039 concept album, The Mission. In a world of singles 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.720 -driven streaming that we've seen evolve over 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.960 the last two decades, I applauded the fact that 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:35.379 the band took the song's lyrics to heart and 00:11:35.379 --> 00:11:38.679 literally got this show on the road, playing 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:42.220 the mission in its entirety on tour, which goes 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:47.360 against the grain of a singles -only trend. Because 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:49.120 most people would assume if you've been a band 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:50.799 for 50 years, you're going to go out, you're 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.470 going to play the same... 10 hits night after 00:11:53.470 --> 00:11:56.870 night. And here you guys were going completely 00:11:56.870 --> 00:12:00.429 against that. And to me, from an artistic standpoint, 00:12:00.590 --> 00:12:04.190 that just speaks massive volumes. And it also 00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:07.590 speaks to the fact that you and the rest of the 00:12:07.590 --> 00:12:11.429 band truly believed in this music to do that, 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:14.129 which was a risky move and one that I applaud. 00:12:14.269 --> 00:12:16.730 So can I ask what the band's thought process 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:20.090 was behind taking a full brand new album out 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:23.570 on the road like that? Sure. First of all, I'm 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:27.409 sympathetic to bands who basically pare it down 00:12:27.409 --> 00:12:31.350 to the 10 hits or whatever that are going to 00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:33.009 work and are going to satisfy their audience. 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:36.230 I can understand that mindset. The thing about 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:38.669 Styx, because every band is different. It's like 00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:41.870 every family is different. There's a unique blend 00:12:41.870 --> 00:12:45.600 that makes it work. We've always had this within 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:48.240 the band, this enthusiasm to come up with new 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:50.320 ideas. And we always have, even though there 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.000 was a long hiatus between making studio records. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.259 That's a different story. But new ideas are always 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:58.940 bubbling up and they're always embraced with 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:03.240 enthusiasm. And alongside that is the knowledge 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.200 and the acknowledgement, I guess it's the way 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:09.960 of putting it, is that audiences have... really 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.200 specific expectations when they come and see 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:14.460 a classic rock band. They have specific songs 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:17.679 they definitely want to hear. And so in order 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.200 to appease that, they will get that every night 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.179 at a stick show. That's part of what the dynamic 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:27.940 is. But they also have to see that we're throwing 00:13:27.940 --> 00:13:31.659 ourselves wholeheartedly into where the band 00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:34.899 is at this very moment in the arc of its trajectory 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:40.740 of existence. We kind of played a bit of a balancing 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:44.240 act in that we specifically wrote the last two 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:47.139 albums, The Mission and Crash the Crown, as albums, 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.299 first of all, because the streaming thing, there's 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:53.179 a lot to the question you just asked. The whole 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.879 nature of streaming is not all that conducive 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:02.059 to bands of the classic rock era. You know, people 00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:03.919 stream, for example, let's take, for example, 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:06.139 say Led Zeppelin IV, you know, where everyone 00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:09.440 knows Stairway to Heaven. But I know that record 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:12.539 as an entire album. And you have to work your 00:14:12.539 --> 00:14:14.360 way through it to get to Stairway to Heaven. 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:17.080 And there are a lot of steps in between. And 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:19.679 it's all one part of the same book. I'll use 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.679 that as a way of describing it. Where you wouldn't 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.679 just continually read the last chapter. You would 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.139 basically try to drink it in in its entirety 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:31.940 or in a way where it's presented to you. Because 00:14:31.940 --> 00:14:35.639 the album is an art form. It really is. And we've 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:38.580 rediscovered that. And that's part of what the 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:40.480 little light bulb that came on in our heads was, 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:44.200 let's not try to make singles and songs that 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:47.100 connect with where streaming is now. Let's instead 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:50.159 make albums where there's a cohesive statement 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:55.000 that the band is really behind and is definitely 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:58.200 enthusiastic about and in love with. And then 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:00.740 let's feed it to the audience in tiny bites. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.440 Like what we did was we would use little bits 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:06.139 of the new album to segue into classic hits. 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:09.259 For example, I just mentioned To Those. By the 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:13.080 time we finished To Those, it segues directly 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:17.039 into Blue Collar Man. So the two songs have a 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:21.159 symbiotic kind of connection in the show. Another 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.620 great example of that, I'll use this. Tommy Shaw 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:26.679 sings a song called Sound the Alarm. that's a 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:29.720 way straight into crystal ball and what the beauty 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:33.100 of that is that you get perspective sound the 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:35.620 alarm is a man who's you know looking at his 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:38.039 life on the whole and seeing that it's come to 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.440 a point where the things are have not necessarily 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:44.299 panned out you know all perfectly and need to 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.259 be addressed in the immediate sense whereas crystal 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:50.240 ball when he suddenly harkens back to that you 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.399 hear the young man singing about wanting to absorb 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:57.139 and embrace the future so the two songs they 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:00.460 really are bookends you know so we look for opportunities 00:16:00.460 --> 00:16:03.899 like that chuck and ozzo and i do there's a tiny 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:06.120 little piece of music i have on crash the ground 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:10.039 called lost at sea and uh it's only 39 seconds 00:16:10.039 --> 00:16:12.139 long but it's a poignant little piece on the 00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:15.320 record and an important piece but in the live 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:18.419 show that kind of lays the little carpet the 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.340 little welcome carpet before we go in to come 00:16:20.340 --> 00:16:23.019 sail away So it kind of gets people into that 00:16:23.019 --> 00:16:26.860 nautical frame of mind and that's the way we 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:29.220 did it. And now with the mission, we didn't just 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:31.340 immediately go out and play the album in its 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:35.539 entirety. We did what I just was describing for 00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.440 a year. And by the end of that year, we found 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:40.860 there were so many people saying, are you ever 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:42.600 going to play this album in its entirety? Because 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:44.220 I love listening to the whole thing and I want 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:47.139 to hear it. And we had enough of that, those 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.879 requests that... the palms in las vegas said 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:52.120 why don't you come and do a show of that entire 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:54.519 record and then you can play the hits after you 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:56.659 know and that's what we did so we had stakes 00:16:56.659 --> 00:17:00.139 the mission to see how that would work and people 00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:02.399 came out you know the place was sold out for 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:05.819 two nights in a row and um we did notice it was 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:08.640 mostly a younger audience you know all in their 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:11.359 mission t -shirts etc because they've come to 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.640 know the band say in the last 20 years 30 years 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:17.880 and they want They want to embrace the entire 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:21.220 history of the band and something that's concurrent 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:25.559 with their lives. So they tend to want to be 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:29.079 hungrier for the latest statement from the band. 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:32.779 So with all of that said, that's how we have 00:17:32.779 --> 00:17:36.319 been kind of navigating the realities of the 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:39.359 music world today and how Styx fits into it. 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:42.740 That's fantastic. And I want to go back to my 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:46.180 introduction to Styx, which is thanks. In part 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:50.079 or in full to my parents who raised me with fantastic 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:53.799 music. And my father felt that as a young lad 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:56.940 of five, six, seven years old, a song that I 00:17:56.940 --> 00:17:59.799 would resonate with was the opening track on 00:17:59.799 --> 00:18:02.839 Kilroy was here. That being Mr. Roboto. Yeah. 00:18:02.900 --> 00:18:05.920 Because as a child into Star Wars and all that 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.990 stuff, here's this. Yeah, it was a very. cool 00:18:08.990 --> 00:18:11.549 way to introduce a young person to Styx music. 00:18:11.730 --> 00:18:14.990 Yeah. Now, this song wasn't part of the band's 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:17.930 live set for a pretty long time, but has seen 00:18:17.930 --> 00:18:21.410 a huge resurgence as of late. Can you talk about 00:18:21.410 --> 00:18:23.930 the reception when you first reintroduced the 00:18:23.930 --> 00:18:26.509 track and then the feedback you've gotten on 00:18:26.509 --> 00:18:30.990 bringing it back since? It was, you know, it's 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:33.829 an amazing little story with that song because 00:18:33.829 --> 00:18:36.880 I remember hearing it. on the radio the first 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.220 time and noticed that Styx, along with The Queen, 00:18:39.420 --> 00:18:43.180 along with Yes, along with Genesis, all the bands 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:46.900 that had progressive music as part of their vocabulary, 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.960 you know, musical vocabulary, were all attempting 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.819 to transition from the 70s into the 80s and embracing 00:18:54.819 --> 00:18:58.420 the new toys that were available and the new 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.420 ways of expressing themselves. And they were 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:03.759 suddenly, you know, Faced with bands like, you 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.960 know, Talking Heads and Duran Duran and, you 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.859 know, U2 and, you know, all these 80s bands. 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:13.319 And how did these classic rock bands fit into 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.799 this? So it was a bold move, you know, to embrace 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.980 the new technology. But what's great about Mr. 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:24.440 Roboto is, I know at the time, a lot of people 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.440 thought of it, and I'll include myself, you know, 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:29.900 so I'll just say I was one of the people that 00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:32.309 thought of it as... kind of a kitschy song at 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:35.410 the time. It didn't have the same kind of 70s 00:19:35.410 --> 00:19:37.430 bravado, just as I did even with Queen doing 00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:39.910 same body language or something like that. Okay, 00:19:40.049 --> 00:19:43.210 yeah. Or even Genesis, you know, quite honestly 00:19:43.210 --> 00:19:45.750 doing, you know, the transition that they made 00:19:45.750 --> 00:19:48.890 into the 80s, you know, with Phil Collins, et 00:19:48.890 --> 00:19:51.650 cetera. But then as the picture began to kind 00:19:51.650 --> 00:19:55.210 of write itself in my mind, I started to hear 00:19:55.210 --> 00:19:58.809 it as, you know, this is actually a very prescient 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:01.700 song. It's kind of... showing where we're going. 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.819 Now, once a song, Mr. Robano, once it has stood 00:20:05.819 --> 00:20:08.339 the test of time, you have to stop questioning 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.279 its validity. You just have to completely accept 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.940 it as something that really is meaningful. And 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:19.339 I hear it that way. And I'd say as far back as 00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:21.980 about 10 years ago, when I would bring it up, 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:24.019 that maybe we should be playing this song because 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:27.299 it's referred to so often in popular culture, 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.769 et cetera. The only thing holding it back was 00:20:30.769 --> 00:20:33.390 not the song itself, was not even the music of 00:20:33.390 --> 00:20:36.569 ever the music of Kill Rose here. But with J 00:20:36.569 --> 00:20:39.109 .Y., Tommy, and Chuck, who were there when that 00:20:39.109 --> 00:20:43.789 record came out, it was the residual feelings 00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:47.710 that on the tour of that album, that's when the 00:20:47.710 --> 00:20:50.670 band really kind of felt they had met their demise. 00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:55.569 They basically were at odds in quite a way. So 00:20:55.569 --> 00:20:59.029 the memory of that. was kind of glommed on to 00:20:59.029 --> 00:21:03.230 the actual album. But time, you know, as it does 00:21:03.230 --> 00:21:08.829 tend to, you know, recalibrate our vision, our 00:21:08.829 --> 00:21:12.109 version of things, began to kind of soften up. 00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:15.589 And then it was that we were, oh, that's right. 00:21:15.730 --> 00:21:19.009 We were doing a tour with Joan Jett. And we thought 00:21:19.009 --> 00:21:21.130 we need to do something in this show that people 00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:23.630 are not expecting because Joan was a different 00:21:23.630 --> 00:21:26.640 type of act for us to be touring with. It really 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.220 worked. And so suddenly Mr. Roboto was brought 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:33.000 out for discussion. Yeah, we decided let's go 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.359 to Nashville and rehearse it for a couple of 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:38.059 days and see how we feel about it. So that's 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:40.839 what we did. And of course, you know, we leaned 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:43.400 into it a bit heavier, I guess you could use 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:47.119 that expression, than the original. We ramped 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:50.359 up the guitars a little bit. My own approach 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:53.160 to singing it, you know, I had to, I love the 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:56.910 perspective in a song where the singer has a 00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:58.970 secret to reveal. I just love that anyway. And 00:21:58.970 --> 00:22:01.970 that song is built around that. Yes. And so I 00:22:01.970 --> 00:22:04.369 love that as a bit of rock theater, you know, 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:07.490 so I can throw myself into it lyrically. And 00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:11.230 then, you know, my appreciation for what a great 00:22:11.230 --> 00:22:14.990 piece of pop culture it is, what an excellent 00:22:14.990 --> 00:22:17.630 song it is, has just continued to grow as we've 00:22:17.630 --> 00:22:21.990 played it. Now, initially, I will say this. When 00:22:21.990 --> 00:22:24.289 we played it... You could see some people in 00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:26.210 the audience, it was a divisive thing because 00:22:26.210 --> 00:22:29.049 some people, we could see up front, we're not 00:22:29.049 --> 00:22:31.970 all that crazy about us bringing Mr. Roboto back 00:22:31.970 --> 00:22:36.849 into the set. Wow. Yeah, yeah, because they were 00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:39.130 part of the audience that was probably with the 00:22:39.130 --> 00:22:41.750 band from the very beginning and saw that as 00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:44.029 a divisive or whatever they want to, you know, 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:48.549 however they subjectively viewed that song. But 00:22:48.549 --> 00:22:52.180 that dissipated within about two weeks. It just 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:55.420 went away. We don't really know why. Maybe it's 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:58.440 just because of the way we were playing it and 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:01.000 the way we were kind of throwing ourselves into 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:03.920 it and how well it fit, slotted in between. We 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.980 would end the show with Come Sail Away and then 00:23:05.980 --> 00:23:09.119 come back for an encore of Mr. Roboto and Renegade. 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:14.619 And it just seemed to be a great reflection of 00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:17.380 those three big moments in the band's history. 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:21.079 Excellent. Well, as someone who's written and 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:23.779 released a ton of successful solo music outside 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:27.079 of Styx, songs like A Criminal Mind, You're a 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:29.559 Strange Animal, Moonlight Desires, just to name 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.720 a few. Can you talk about the dynamics in writing 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:37.220 music as a solo artist versus writing music in 00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:40.559 a group with Styx, as you did with the last 20 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:43.220 years of albums with the band? I can. I can. 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:45.720 You know, my first three solo albums, you know, 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:47.299 they were all on Columbia Records, but they were 00:23:47.299 --> 00:23:50.029 only released in Canada. I wrote them entirely, 00:23:50.369 --> 00:23:53.549 you know, music and lyrics. And I considered 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:58.630 myself a 100 % solo type writer and artist. Okay. 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:04.450 Fortunately, by 1990, I decided, you know, one 00:24:04.450 --> 00:24:07.609 of the things I might be missing is there's something 00:24:07.609 --> 00:24:11.009 about co -writing suddenly that interests me 00:24:11.009 --> 00:24:15.259 just to see if I can do it. And the first person 00:24:15.259 --> 00:24:17.859 that I worked with very fortuitously was a guy 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:20.299 named Eddie Schwartz, who wrote Hit Me With Your 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:23.599 Best Shot for Pat Benatar. But since writing 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.440 that song, he had become a very, very favored 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:29.519 writing partner for a lot of people. And I thought 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:32.119 Eddie might really kind of be a good way to start. 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:37.779 And he was, because we wrote maybe five songs 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.259 that we just tossed away, but just to kind of 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:44.180 get in the groove of how to do it. And then we 00:24:44.180 --> 00:24:46.519 hit on something really strong that did well 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:51.359 on my fourth album. And I learned through him 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:56.779 how it kind of works, how it is to write with 00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:58.539 another person. And first of all, it doesn't 00:24:58.539 --> 00:25:00.940 work the same way every time, but there are certain 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:03.720 key factors that come along. And one is to really 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:08.579 learn to listen and absorb what the other person 00:25:08.579 --> 00:25:12.069 is putting forward before you can really... add 00:25:12.069 --> 00:25:16.670 or subtract from what the idea is. But eventually, 00:25:16.809 --> 00:25:19.029 from writing with Eddie and then writing with 00:25:19.029 --> 00:25:22.069 Jim Vallance, who co -wrote with all the big 00:25:22.069 --> 00:25:25.390 Brian Adams songs, a lady named Annette Ducharme 00:25:25.390 --> 00:25:27.549 wrote one song with her that made it onto an 00:25:27.549 --> 00:25:30.930 album. I learned just a little bit of what it 00:25:30.930 --> 00:25:33.309 is to kind of co -write with people. So when 00:25:33.309 --> 00:25:37.069 I joined Styx, I had that kind of in my little 00:25:37.069 --> 00:25:39.329 lexicon already as to, okay, this is going to 00:25:39.329 --> 00:25:43.220 be different. But the hurdle there was, it's 00:25:43.220 --> 00:25:45.339 one thing to co -write with people on a one -off 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:47.579 basis, but to be in a band with them where you're 00:25:47.579 --> 00:25:50.900 an actual band, it takes some time to really 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:55.480 let the ideas meld together in a really meaningful 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:58.319 way. You know, you can kind of go on pieces together, 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:03.079 almost like a Lego set, you know what I mean? 00:26:03.140 --> 00:26:06.099 Where it's predictable in the outcome, but really 00:26:06.099 --> 00:26:09.319 what is... amazing is when someone's got one 00:26:09.319 --> 00:26:13.500 idea and an almost opposing idea to it almost 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:15.720 as if it's coming from a completely different 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:18.680 space when those two things clash creative friction 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:22.059 is created and that's where songs like crash 00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:24.380 on the ground can come out you know which one 00:26:24.380 --> 00:26:27.059 would be the title track a song where first of 00:26:27.059 --> 00:26:28.680 all you've got three lead singers on it starts 00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:32.519 out jy and then tommy most of the time and myself 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:35.839 and then it ends with myself and No one in the 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.019 band could have written that song alone. It would 00:26:38.019 --> 00:26:41.059 be impossible. You couldn't do it. You had to 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:46.720 have these disparate ideas, sort of almost obtusely 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:50.420 at first, trying to figure out how they locked 00:26:50.420 --> 00:26:53.819 together. But the moment they did, you couldn't 00:26:53.819 --> 00:26:55.819 pull them apart, no matter how hard you tried. 00:26:56.440 --> 00:27:00.380 And you realize this is what band writing is. 00:27:00.460 --> 00:27:03.099 This is what the magic of it is, that you really 00:27:03.099 --> 00:27:08.349 are this. kind of collective brain that has concocted 00:27:08.349 --> 00:27:12.529 something that has its own spirit that lives 00:27:12.529 --> 00:27:14.950 outside you and yet came from you as a group. 00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:19.009 It's fascinating. Now, with Styx being kind of 00:27:19.009 --> 00:27:21.710 a progressive rock band in the 70s and obviously 00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:23.769 going through different things, you have worked 00:27:23.769 --> 00:27:27.269 with a lot of progressive artists such as Tony 00:27:27.269 --> 00:27:30.470 Levin, Jerry Murata, and David Rhodes from Peter 00:27:30.470 --> 00:27:33.809 Gabriel's band, John Anderson of Yes. Ken Greer 00:27:33.809 --> 00:27:37.150 of Red Ryder, Alex Lyson of Rush. Did working 00:27:37.150 --> 00:27:41.609 with those musicians in your solo career help 00:27:41.609 --> 00:27:44.630 make the transition into becoming a full -time 00:27:44.630 --> 00:27:47.910 member of Styx more seamless for you as an artist? 00:27:48.789 --> 00:27:53.210 Undoubtedly. Undoubtedly. Much like co -writing, 00:27:53.390 --> 00:27:55.769 when you get to work with great artists, like 00:27:55.769 --> 00:28:00.109 I've been so lucky to have, yeah, you begin to 00:28:00.109 --> 00:28:03.440 see how they... how they approach the craft of 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:05.880 what they do, you know, and where the artistry 00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:08.660 comes through from that. And you can also really 00:28:08.660 --> 00:28:12.700 observe up close the amount of effort and the 00:28:12.700 --> 00:28:15.779 work they've put into how great they are to be 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:20.640 alongside. It's evident, you know. And yes, it 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:23.460 very much did prepare me for that, you know. 00:28:24.619 --> 00:28:26.339 when you're playing with other players that you 00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:29.380 really admire it's just a fantastic moment it's 00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:31.220 just that's the best way i can describe it it's 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:35.400 like you're you're kind of in in this great mind 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:37.740 this great headspace where you're wearing it's 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:41.400 like wow and we're riding on this this vehicle 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:44.400 together you know and what you're throwing into 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.980 this is really it's really lifting the whole 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:49.640 experience that's basically what happens you 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:53.000 know when i was yeah working Unstrained General 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:56.019 on that album, having Tony Levin and Jerry Murata 00:28:56.019 --> 00:28:58.119 and David Rhodes and another fellow named Chris 00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:00.079 Jarrett who played guitar on that album as well. 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:03.539 And an excellent producer, having that whole 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:06.980 kind of group together and elevating everything 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:09.740 up another notch, another notch, another notch, 00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:13.720 because each player has such unique and useful 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:17.640 ideas that keep kind of tossing the ball back 00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:21.130 and forth. That definitely prepared me for working 00:29:21.130 --> 00:29:24.970 with Styx. And that's probably why that may be 00:29:24.970 --> 00:29:27.210 one of the chief reasons as to why it's worked 00:29:27.210 --> 00:29:31.009 out for so long as it has, is that I had all 00:29:31.009 --> 00:29:33.970 this kind of background experience that I guess 00:29:33.970 --> 00:29:38.029 I brought with me. And little by little, there's 00:29:38.029 --> 00:29:39.890 been moments when that's all been very, very 00:29:39.890 --> 00:29:42.690 useful along the way. Well, one of the songs 00:29:42.690 --> 00:29:46.359 I'd like to touch on is The Grand Illusion. We're 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:50.059 in 1999. You have established yourself as a solo 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:54.940 artist. You are stepping into a band with a storied 00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:57.720 career. You have a storied career. And you're 00:29:57.720 --> 00:29:59.740 stepping in front of the microphone to sing. 00:30:00.269 --> 00:30:03.109 one of the band's most iconic songs for the first 00:30:03.109 --> 00:30:06.509 time. And you don't know how the audience is 00:30:06.509 --> 00:30:09.930 going to react. This is two very talented groups 00:30:09.930 --> 00:30:13.750 coming together, as in you and the band, and 00:30:13.750 --> 00:30:16.650 this is the first time out. Walk me through that 00:30:16.650 --> 00:30:19.569 moment, what that is for you as an artist, singing 00:30:19.569 --> 00:30:23.690 that song for the first time. I think we touched 00:30:23.690 --> 00:30:26.490 on this in the past, Brian. I'm glad you remembered 00:30:26.490 --> 00:30:29.799 it. That's a vivid moment in my mind because 00:30:29.799 --> 00:30:32.299 once we decided we were going to do this and, 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:34.140 you know, I was going to join the band and we 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:37.920 started our rehearsals, it kind of seemed very, 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.420 very easy. You know, it's like we fit together 00:30:40.420 --> 00:30:42.940 really, really well. And, you know, we played 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:45.579 for a few friends before we went out to do the 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:50.089 first show. And that was all easy enough. The 00:30:50.089 --> 00:30:54.329 moment we stepped on stage in front of a live 00:30:54.329 --> 00:30:56.450 audience, it was in Branson, Missouri, which 00:30:56.450 --> 00:30:58.869 I don't think we've ever been back to. Or maybe 00:30:58.869 --> 00:31:01.430 once we have. That's not correct. We did go back 00:31:01.430 --> 00:31:04.910 once. I do remember drawing breath to go into 00:31:04.910 --> 00:31:08.210 Grand Illusion and thinking, oh. Remember, it's 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:11.960 1999. It's a different time. I'm thinking. they're 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:14.099 about to hear someone else sing this song for 00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:17.880 the very first time you know i don't i couldn't 00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.079 think of any covers out there of grand illusion 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:24.299 at that time and i thought um this might be all 00:31:24.299 --> 00:31:27.000 resolved in about four minutes time when we finish 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:28.920 this song as to whether this is going to work 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:31.960 or not and so that did cross my mind back then 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:34.220 but fortunately grand illusion is a song that 00:31:34.220 --> 00:31:37.099 i could very much relate to i i think it's a 00:31:37.099 --> 00:31:40.700 great lyric that touches on the prefabricated 00:31:41.420 --> 00:31:44.099 view of what success is you know and i i like 00:31:44.099 --> 00:31:47.000 that very much as a theme by the time i got to 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:48.559 the end of the song the audience you know it 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:51.480 really they loved it because they're all arms 00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:53.940 up in the air and you know high fives and all 00:31:53.940 --> 00:31:57.460 that and that's because i feel that the spirit 00:31:57.460 --> 00:32:00.500 of the band the strength of that song first of 00:32:00.500 --> 00:32:03.460 all but the spirit of the band was somehow still 00:32:03.460 --> 00:32:07.480 being presented much this I like to think, okay, 00:32:07.579 --> 00:32:09.660 I can't say for sure, but much the same as when 00:32:09.660 --> 00:32:12.140 I went and saw Genesis for the first time. When 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:16.119 the drummer, that's all I knew him as, I heard 00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:18.019 had become the singer of the band. I only knew 00:32:18.019 --> 00:32:20.259 Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks because Tony was 00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:23.680 the keyboard player. I only knew their names. 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:26.279 And when I heard that the drummer was going to 00:32:26.279 --> 00:32:28.039 become the singer, I thought, well, this is definitely 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:30.619 not going to work. And a friend of mine gave 00:32:30.619 --> 00:32:32.500 me a ticket to go see them. And I reluctantly 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:34.720 went along. And then I found out. very quickly 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.880 the drummer's name is phil collins and how the 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:41.380 spirit of genesis did not seem to be detracted 00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:44.460 from it was amazing to me how someone as great 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:47.640 as peter gabriel could be suddenly not in a band 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:49.980 and still have the band the spirit of the band 00:32:49.980 --> 00:32:53.259 remain intact is a remarkable thing but i took 00:32:53.259 --> 00:32:56.740 note of it then and i remember thinking you know 00:32:56.740 --> 00:33:00.569 had that not happened Would we have all those 00:33:00.569 --> 00:33:03.089 amazing Peter Gabriel solo records? Would I be 00:33:03.089 --> 00:33:05.250 buying tickets to see Gabriel when he comes to 00:33:05.250 --> 00:33:10.809 Toronto? Suddenly we had two great bands. And 00:33:10.809 --> 00:33:15.349 so I kind of felt like bands themselves carry 00:33:15.349 --> 00:33:19.410 a spirit that's outside the band. And yet it 00:33:19.410 --> 00:33:21.930 needs to be kind of nurtured and needs to kind 00:33:21.930 --> 00:33:23.890 of survive if the band is going to go through 00:33:23.890 --> 00:33:28.069 any big changes. And so only time will tell. 00:33:29.049 --> 00:33:30.730 We've been doing this for an awful long time. 00:33:31.190 --> 00:33:34.650 Yeah. Well, one of the things back in 2010 and 00:33:34.650 --> 00:33:38.609 2011, you took the spirit of this version of 00:33:38.609 --> 00:33:42.769 Sticks and put your stamp on classics throughout 00:33:42.769 --> 00:33:45.650 the band's catalog. And that was the Regeneration 00:33:45.650 --> 00:33:48.950 1 and 2 albums. Songs like Too Much Time on My 00:33:48.950 --> 00:33:52.930 Hands. And then, believe it or not, a cover song. 00:33:53.579 --> 00:33:56.900 several cover songs from Tommy Shaw's stint with 00:33:56.900 --> 00:34:01.019 damn Yankees doing high enough, which for me 00:34:01.019 --> 00:34:06.480 as a 45 year old man, high enough hit right at 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:08.619 that time in my life where I was just starting 00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:11.679 to date power ballads were a huge thing. And 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:14.960 I've gone on record on this show in the past 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:17.179 saying that high enough is probably one of my 00:34:17.179 --> 00:34:20.860 favorite songs of all time. The beautiful soaring 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:23.780 harmonies in that vocal performance and what 00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:26.800 Tommy and Jack Blades and Ted Nugent do on the 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:30.420 original is amazing. I love what you guys were 00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:33.559 able to do to bring that into the Styx fold. 00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:37.599 And I'm curious, what was it like taking a song 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:40.960 that was from kind of outside of the Styx realm? 00:34:41.099 --> 00:34:50.619 So this would be high enough. part of Styx moving 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:56.199 forward. You know, that's great. We did High 00:34:56.199 --> 00:35:00.400 Enough for a year after that album. Yeah. And 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.719 again, it's a great song. So, I mean, you know, 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:07.639 and you had the original singer over there with 00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:09.800 Tommy there. So, a lot of the pieces just kind 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:13.619 of fell into place very easily, quite honestly. 00:35:15.369 --> 00:35:17.230 Yeah, I remember recording that and thinking, 00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:19.610 God, this could be a hit all over again because 00:35:19.610 --> 00:35:23.769 it's the song that just works. That's all there 00:35:23.769 --> 00:35:25.210 is to it. It's one of those songs that's just 00:35:25.210 --> 00:35:28.050 perfectly balanced and just works. And we were 00:35:28.050 --> 00:35:30.889 able to hit the notes. That's the hardest part. 00:35:31.110 --> 00:35:34.110 You nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. The perfect 00:35:34.110 --> 00:35:40.730 title for that. Yeah, it's up there in Bee Gees' 00:35:40.750 --> 00:35:44.989 territory. But you guys knocked it out of the 00:35:44.989 --> 00:35:46.849 park. And that's something that I was, I was 00:35:46.849 --> 00:35:50.130 happy to hear that song continue a life because 00:35:50.130 --> 00:35:52.849 for me, the song just resonated with me on a 00:35:52.849 --> 00:35:55.969 personal level and to hear the band continue 00:35:55.969 --> 00:35:58.429 with it, put a big smile on my face. And that's 00:35:58.429 --> 00:36:00.510 great to hear, Brian. I think, I think also, 00:36:00.610 --> 00:36:03.349 you know, one of the realities is, you know, 00:36:03.349 --> 00:36:06.150 I think, I think, you know, Tommy shot definitely, 00:36:06.210 --> 00:36:08.409 you know, he had that successful career with 00:36:08.409 --> 00:36:11.769 damn Yankees, successful second act. Let's call 00:36:11.769 --> 00:36:15.289 it that. And I know early on, he would have liked 00:36:15.289 --> 00:36:17.409 to have gone and done, even toured with them 00:36:17.409 --> 00:36:20.150 again, perhaps. But there just wasn't time. There 00:36:20.150 --> 00:36:22.690 was just suddenly, you know, Styx had taken Fener 00:36:22.690 --> 00:36:25.369 stage again. And, you know, we were playing at 00:36:25.369 --> 00:36:27.969 a pace of, and we still are, about 100 shows 00:36:27.969 --> 00:36:31.309 a year. He would just burn himself out if he's 00:36:31.309 --> 00:36:33.530 trying to do that. So the easiest thing to do 00:36:33.530 --> 00:36:37.579 is just bring the song into the band. Well, it 00:36:37.579 --> 00:36:40.219 worked really well, and I love that rendition. 00:36:40.219 --> 00:36:42.539 So I wanted to touch on that, even though it's 00:36:42.539 --> 00:36:44.780 not originally part of the Styx catalog. Now, 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:48.639 while we're on the topic of cover songs, you 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:52.219 have had your original songs covered. Retrocity 00:36:52.219 --> 00:36:54.960 did an acapella version of You're a Strange Animal. 00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:58.739 Styx has had punk versions of their songs redone, 00:36:58.900 --> 00:37:01.579 note -by -note reimaginings, all the way out 00:37:01.579 --> 00:37:05.619 to... South Park covering Come Sail Away in the 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:08.900 voice of Cartman. Best version ever. Yes. I mean, 00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:13.320 seriously, what is it like for you to hear another 00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:17.780 artist reinterpret your work in a different way, 00:37:17.860 --> 00:37:20.699 whether it be a acapella version, a punk version 00:37:20.699 --> 00:37:24.280 or a comedic version like South Park? Well, as 00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:27.420 a songwriter, it's one of the greatest things, 00:37:27.500 --> 00:37:30.340 right? For any songwriter, it's a great thing. 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:32.010 You know, I mentioned it. Eddie Schwartz with 00:37:32.010 --> 00:37:34.349 Hit Me With Your Best Shot. He had recorded that 00:37:34.349 --> 00:37:37.230 song for his own solo record when someone said, 00:37:37.289 --> 00:37:41.429 oh, we've got this new artist, Pat Benatar, and 00:37:41.429 --> 00:37:44.590 we'd like her to record that song. And he obviously 00:37:44.590 --> 00:37:47.030 loved the version because it certainly worked. 00:37:47.489 --> 00:37:51.929 I've heard really interestingly beautiful flamenco 00:37:51.929 --> 00:37:54.730 guitar versions of A Criminal Mind, for example, 00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:59.280 and I love that. But then again... I even heard 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:01.920 karaoke versions that I've also enjoyed too because 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:06.820 you can see how much people want to throw themselves 00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:10.519 into a song because it's, back to your original 00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:12.619 theme, it's part of the mixtape of their lives. 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:16.079 No, I think it's a wonderful thing. It's also 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:18.539 something that I continue to do because there's 00:38:18.539 --> 00:38:22.480 artists that I really admire so much. And I love 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:24.920 doing covers of other people's songs just to 00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.340 do them. Gordon Lightfoot who left. the planet 00:38:27.340 --> 00:38:34.719 recently so many amazing phenomenal songs that 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:37.579 you know i had to immediately open up his catalog 00:38:37.579 --> 00:38:41.239 and you know try to keep his kind of uh memory 00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:43.820 alive through his songs and discovered you know 00:38:43.820 --> 00:38:46.840 i forgot the song oh beautiful which was one 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:50.099 of his one of his many hits but not one that's 00:38:50.099 --> 00:38:52.780 as immediately known i immediately wanted to 00:38:52.780 --> 00:38:55.199 do a version of it which i did and put out it 00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:58.500 just on Instagram, et cetera. And it's amazing 00:38:58.500 --> 00:39:01.780 how people respond to that. It's good to hear 00:39:01.780 --> 00:39:04.019 other artists do cover songs that have meant 00:39:04.019 --> 00:39:06.599 so much to them. I guess it's our version of 00:39:06.599 --> 00:39:09.300 mixtaping in a weird way, is that we actually 00:39:09.300 --> 00:39:13.440 play the song and kind of put our own inflection 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:16.900 into it. And I have to ask, with the mindset 00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:19.659 of that South Park version, did that introduce 00:39:19.659 --> 00:39:22.280 the band to a whole new audience who was like, 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:24.920 who is this? And all of a sudden you have people 00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:27.400 that you don't recognize in the crowd because 00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:32.239 this song introduced Styx to them? Yeah, I'm 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:34.920 sure that happens. First of all, I joined at 00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:38.039 a very gratuitous time because all these cultural 00:39:38.039 --> 00:39:41.719 references to Styx were just beginning when I 00:39:41.719 --> 00:39:44.800 joined. The initial one, I remember the initial 00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:48.019 phone call with G .Y. was that Adam Sandler was 00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:52.719 referencing sticks several times in a movie called 00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:56.679 Big Daddy. That was the beginning of it. But 00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:59.820 then suddenly you saw TV commercials and South 00:39:59.820 --> 00:40:03.880 Park and Scrubs and Sex and the City and all 00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:08.199 these various cultural references to sticks that 00:40:08.199 --> 00:40:13.239 kept popping up. That, I'm sure, is part of how 00:40:13.239 --> 00:40:15.900 the net got thrown wider and the audience became 00:40:15.900 --> 00:40:19.159 broader because of that. Well, I've talked about 00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:21.539 a lot of my favorite songs from you and the band 00:40:21.539 --> 00:40:24.760 tonight, but I would love for you to put your 00:40:24.760 --> 00:40:28.119 stamp on this mixtape that we've discussed throughout 00:40:28.119 --> 00:40:32.179 this episode. If you had to choose three songs 00:40:32.179 --> 00:40:35.820 that would best define your legacy as a musical 00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:38.059 artist, it could be from any juncture of your 00:40:38.059 --> 00:40:41.639 career, solo or stuff with sticks. What three 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:45.820 songs would you pick and why? Okay, so I have 00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:50.800 to, boy, this is one hell of a question. So let 00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:54.980 me pick three songs that are not of myself or 00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:58.579 sticks, just so I can kind of go with that. I 00:40:58.579 --> 00:41:01.599 would say, And this is really off the top of 00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:04.340 my head. It's like crazy. I would say probably, 00:41:04.699 --> 00:41:08.619 oh, gosh, this is really tough. I saved the best 00:41:08.619 --> 00:41:11.719 for last. Yeah, you did. You're stumping me. 00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:15.860 I'm just going to go quickly here. I know I'm 00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:17.900 going to get this wrong, but I guess there's 00:41:17.900 --> 00:41:20.519 no wrong. There's no wrong answers. First of 00:41:20.519 --> 00:41:23.000 all, I'd go with A Day in the Life, okay? Because 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:26.480 the voices of both John and Paul are in that 00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:29.150 song. It's terrible to have to give up George 00:41:29.150 --> 00:41:31.429 and Ringo for this, but you're forcing me down 00:41:31.429 --> 00:41:35.969 this road, Brian. I'd go with A Day in the Life 00:41:35.969 --> 00:41:39.369 because there's something so all -embracing about 00:41:39.369 --> 00:41:43.090 that piece of music that just puts me in awe 00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:46.269 of the universe, I suppose. I'd go with that 00:41:46.269 --> 00:41:49.489 one first. And then probably the second one would 00:41:49.489 --> 00:41:53.710 be, oh boy, this is really tough. It might be 00:41:53.710 --> 00:41:57.159 something as... This has become extremely obvious 00:41:57.159 --> 00:42:01.739 now. But again, it's got such great classical 00:42:01.739 --> 00:42:05.599 overtones in it. And it'd probably be Bohemian 00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:09.019 Rhapsody by Queen. It'd be the second one for 00:42:09.019 --> 00:42:12.760 so many reasons. And I guess if there was a third 00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:17.639 one, it might be Rocket Man by Elton John. There 00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:19.739 you go. I guess it would be those ones. Now I 00:42:19.739 --> 00:42:23.510 can just as quickly jump in and say. I want to 00:42:23.510 --> 00:42:25.409 have Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones, 00:42:25.650 --> 00:42:29.769 Space Oddity by David Bowie, and let's see now, 00:42:29.929 --> 00:42:32.210 what would be number three on that list? The 00:42:32.210 --> 00:42:34.590 Landmines down in Broadway by Janice. Oh, man, 00:42:34.690 --> 00:42:37.289 this is becoming a hell of a mixtape here. I'm 00:42:37.289 --> 00:42:39.829 liking where you're going. It's too tough. It's 00:42:39.829 --> 00:42:43.210 far too tough. I've stuck to those two eras, 00:42:43.230 --> 00:42:46.469 but I have lots. I could easily do a mixtape, 00:42:46.469 --> 00:42:50.750 though, of just the new millennium. That would 00:42:50.750 --> 00:42:55.449 embrace a song like Somewhere Only We Know by 00:42:55.449 --> 00:43:00.250 Keane. That's one of my faves. I would say a 00:43:00.250 --> 00:43:02.929 second one to that would be, oh, there was one 00:43:02.929 --> 00:43:07.030 on the, it was a Eurovision song by a guy named 00:43:07.030 --> 00:43:13.050 Sam Ryder called If I Were an Astronaut. Oh, 00:43:13.050 --> 00:43:18.309 shoot, what's the title of the song? I listen 00:43:18.309 --> 00:43:22.480 to it all the time. I'm up in space, man. I think 00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:23.920 it's just called, maybe it's called Space Man. 00:43:25.860 --> 00:43:28.059 I'm spacing on the title and I listen to it a 00:43:28.059 --> 00:43:33.539 lot. So there's two and then possibly something 00:43:33.539 --> 00:43:37.880 by a song called Elephant by Tame Impala. Oh, 00:43:37.900 --> 00:43:40.239 yeah. I'm jumping all over the place here. I'm 00:43:40.239 --> 00:43:42.190 not giving you a very good answer. Are you kidding 00:43:42.190 --> 00:43:44.309 me? This is great. We'll go back to the very 00:43:44.309 --> 00:43:47.030 beginning and say, yeah, I got to pick three 00:43:47.030 --> 00:43:48.789 songs. It's going to be a day in the life, Bohemian 00:43:48.789 --> 00:43:52.130 Rhapsody, Rocketman. They all have special meaning 00:43:52.130 --> 00:43:56.730 to me in so many ways. All right. And then the 00:43:56.730 --> 00:43:59.449 final stamp, the three songs from your career, 00:43:59.570 --> 00:44:02.389 whether it be Lawrence Gowan or Styx, what three 00:44:02.389 --> 00:44:05.690 songs would you choose and why? Okay. So those 00:44:05.690 --> 00:44:09.070 three songs would be probably Moonlight Desires. 00:44:09.530 --> 00:44:11.530 Because I get to hear John Anderson's part in 00:44:11.530 --> 00:44:13.590 that song, too. He does solo in that song. Yes. 00:44:14.190 --> 00:44:16.429 I'd probably go with saying Moonlight Desires, 00:44:16.690 --> 00:44:22.389 Renegade would be in there for sure. And probably 00:44:22.389 --> 00:44:25.570 Come Sail Away. Yeah. I guess it would be those 00:44:25.570 --> 00:44:28.210 three. Three fantastic tracks. Now, we've talked 00:44:28.210 --> 00:44:31.710 tonight about five decades of Styx classics, 00:44:31.769 --> 00:44:35.190 as well as your original classics. Certainly, 00:44:35.250 --> 00:44:38.960 the band shows no signs of slowing down. Is there 00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:41.820 any new music that's currently in the works that 00:44:41.820 --> 00:44:44.619 you might be privy to talk about right now? We're 00:44:44.619 --> 00:44:48.219 working on new things right now. I mean, you 00:44:48.219 --> 00:44:51.199 know, there was an idea to do new songs we've 00:44:51.199 --> 00:44:53.940 been working on for just in the last 10 days 00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:56.659 or so. Nothing I can tell you yet because everything 00:44:56.659 --> 00:44:59.000 about them could change entirely in the next 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:02.800 few months, you know, lyrics and melodic content, 00:45:02.960 --> 00:45:05.949 et cetera. But no, the new ideas are. constantly 00:45:05.949 --> 00:45:07.889 coming out. The only thing that really is going 00:45:07.889 --> 00:45:11.070 to stop that is life itself. It's going to eventually 00:45:11.070 --> 00:45:15.050 pull the plug on that. But until it does, we 00:45:15.050 --> 00:45:17.469 love what we do. I think that's part of what 00:45:17.469 --> 00:45:20.050 translates so well to the audience. They can 00:45:20.050 --> 00:45:23.750 see that we really enjoy every aspect of doing 00:45:23.750 --> 00:45:26.730 this. It's hard sometimes. Like anything else, 00:45:26.750 --> 00:45:29.269 it's worthwhile. It's not always easy. There 00:45:29.269 --> 00:45:33.650 are travel things that become very, very invasive. 00:45:34.719 --> 00:45:38.059 But overall, the moment of celebrating music 00:45:38.059 --> 00:45:40.559 together with a few thousand people on their 00:45:40.559 --> 00:45:42.079 feet, with their arms in the air and big smiles 00:45:42.079 --> 00:45:44.820 on their faces, that just makes everything worthwhile 00:45:44.820 --> 00:45:48.539 for us. Well, as one of those fans, this has 00:45:48.539 --> 00:45:50.920 truly been an honor for me. Lawrence Gowan, thank 00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:53.300 you so much for joining me on My Weekly Mixtape. 00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:55.360 My pleasure, Brian. Great to talk to you again. 00:45:55.780 --> 00:45:58.519 Remember, Mixtapers, you can find My Weekly Mixtape 00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:01.639 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and 00:46:01.639 --> 00:46:04.750 Spoutable at... My Weekly Mixtape. You can also 00:46:04.750 --> 00:46:07.829 head to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all the 00:46:07.829 --> 00:46:10.789 music we've discussed in tonight's episode via 00:46:10.789 --> 00:46:14.010 the playlist embedded on the episode page, as 00:46:14.010 --> 00:46:17.429 well as to check out the full catalog of My Weekly 00:46:17.429 --> 00:46:19.969 Mixtape episodes. If you want to support the 00:46:19.969 --> 00:46:22.809 show, please consider becoming a Patreon mixtaper 00:46:22.809 --> 00:46:26.449 at patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. 00:46:26.590 --> 00:46:28.869 That's all for this week. Thanks again for listening. 00:46:28.949 --> 00:46:30.989 Until next time, enjoy the tunes.