“I’ve got a week off and I count the days,”
laughs John Waite. “We
live for it.”
originally published by Cottage Views in October 2005
“I’ve got a week off and I count the days,”
laughs John Waite. “We
live for it.”
The former lead singer of the Babys, and Bad
English, is talking long distance with restaurant manager Miachael A. Cimino
about his anticipation of the upcoming unplugged performance at Vertigo, the new
art-deco bar – restaurant – café in Nyack, NY. (www.vertigonyack.com)
The two men immediately found that they had a few things in common
– especially a love for music and wine!
“My girlfriend came over last night. We had a bottle of wine, went out and got a steak, come home,
crashed out, woke up, she’s gone to work, and I’m like looking at the wall
going, ‘like, what now?’ I’m
glad you called (laughs).”
M. C.:
I understand that the new album has a little something for every John
Waite fan. Did you approach this
record differently from the ones you’ve done in the past?
J. W.:
Not really. I thought of it
as an obvious step, really. It’s
the same thing I’ve been doing for the past 12 years.
I did try to integrate some acoustic music into it because I’ve fallen
in love again with the acoustic guitar and that kind of music, but it’s still
the storytelling that I’ve hoped to be aligned with by this point in my life.
A lot of the album is about New York City.
Some of it is pretty intense. I
think “Masterpiece of Loneliness” is in the top five things I’ve written.
M. C.:
How did the acoustic format come about?
J. W.:
We started off last year doing these bookstore gigs. We’d just drive around in a station wagon and get out and
play, and then go and get a martini (laughs).
You get to a point where it’s hotel, airport, hotel, airport…
and I wanted to get back and feel the pavement.
We really had a great time with that.
It brought me back to really loving the
performance end of things, because I’ve always had a certain amount of stage
fright. And when you climb up there
in broad daylight, in a bookshop, there is no where to look, and I think I’m a
better performer now because of that. I’ve
become really relaxed. Whether it
is an electric show or an unplugged show I’m getting a lot out of it.
M. C.:
There is an unplugged version of “Missing You” on the record…
J. W.: Yeah. We went into the studio to cut the Bob Dylan song
(“Girl from the North Country”) and I booked 4 hours.
We got the Bob Dylan song in about a half hour and we had 3 hours left
and we were like ‘what do we do now?’ and the guitar player said, ‘let’s
do “Missing You.” And I thought
we could us it as a bonus track for Europe.
I didn’t have any plans of resting on my past success, but when it came
time to sequence the record we only had eight songs and the only one that
sonically fit the record was “Missing You.”
I love the fact that we finish with a couple of acoustic songs.
There is a real poignancy to it.
M. C.:
It is a great song with great lyrics.
What song would you say you are most proud of?
J. W.:
Well, I’d have to say “Missing You” because it touched so many
people. And I never get bored
singing it. There is something very
inspiring about the song.
M. C.:
Did the inspiration come from real life experience?
J. W.: Oh, yeah.
I had finished the record that it was on and I was tinkling around trying
to come up with something else. I
always try and top whatever I’ve done in the last week and that popped out.
I was trying to get back to England to see my
ex-wife and I was really coming apart. I
couldn’t seem to finish the record and I was in denial.
I was trying to pretend everything was okay because I was in such a lot
of pain.
M. C.:
Do you ever think, ‘Wow, I wish I’d written that!’ when you hear a
great song?
J. W.:
Oh, yeah. Just about
everything that Dylan has written (laughs).
M. C.:
Is there anyone out there today that you really like?
J. W.: I just got the Arcade Fire and I’m impressed with that.
John Waite’s latest disc is The Hard Way (No Brakes Records).
Above left (left to right) Cottage Views' Michael A. Cimino with sound engineer Brad Berlin, John Waite
Above right (left to right) Paul VanAlstyne, Beatlemania's Phil LoMedico, John Waite