THIS
WAY UP
THIS
WAY UP
The brand new album from Badfinger's Joey Molland
Interview conducted May 31, 2001 by Michael A. Cimino
no portion may be used without permission from Cottage Views
Michael
Cimino: I was surprised to see that
you’re new album, This Way Up, is billed as Joe Molland instead of Joey
Molland. What made you choose Joe?
Joey
Molland:
Well, you know, it seems to me that people are calling me Joe now.
So, I’ll be Joe, then (laughs).
Michael:
The artwork is really fun and colorful.
Who designed it?
Joey:
It is fun, isn’t it? A guy
named Bob Milea, the guy who played drums.
He’s a graphic artist. You
know those cartoons you see on the cover of USA Today?
Have you ever noticed them up in the right hand corner?
Like little Northwest Airlines cartoons, and stuff?
Well, Bob does all those. He had some ideas for covers and
he sent them over to me, and told me if I liked them that he’d do it for me if I
wanted. So, I got together with him
and we pulled that one out of a hat.
Michael:
You have mentioned that it has taken the better part of three years to do
this record. Is that true?
Joey:
Yeah. We started it in
’98, just about this same time of year. Maybe
a little earlier, March or April, going into the Echo Boys Studio, and recorded
one song a week for a few months, and I’ve been working on them, on things,
since, doing vocals, working on the sounds.
They were recorded pretty roughly, but it worked out really good.
The album sounds really nice. It
sounds as good as any record I’ve ever made.
That’s for sure.
Michael:
How is it in comparison to your last solo, The Pilgrim?
Joey:
I think it’s a lot clearer in terms of what I’m about, and I think it
sounds a little bit nicer. It’s a little bit simpler – the sound and the production.
It’s the next album along the line, I guess.
Michael:
Did you produce it yourself?
Joey:
Yeah.
Michael:
Did Mark Healey engineer?
Joey:
Mark did a lot of engineering, but eventually Mark stepped out and I did
all the engineering.
Michael:
Was it recorded analog or digital?
Joey:
First of all, the basic tracks were done on a 24 track, 2 inch, analog
machine, and then they were transferred to digital to ADAT, and I did some
overdubs on them, and it was mixed on the ADAT as well, so it’s a combination
of analog and digital.
Michael:
Did you go Direct Input or did you mike things the old fashioned way?
Joey:
We did both. The guitars; I used a Les Paul, or a 330 - a couple of old
guitars that I have - going through a Fender Bandmaster Blackface. Randy
Anderson – he’s got a bunch of guitars – he was using Gretch’s or
Fenders. He’s a Telecaster guy. He’s
got Gibson’s as well. I
think he might have played through a Bandmaster, but I’m not sure. My brother Doug played acoustic guitar on it.
He played a Martin D28, an old 1970’s one.
Joey (III – Joe’s son) has a Les Paul as well.
He played through his Marshall. He
played the solo on the end of “What Else.”
Michael:
That’s great that you’ve got the family on there as well as Randy
from the eighties incarnation of Badfinger.
And then you’ve got the new recruits – the Echo Boys.
Joey:
Yeah. The Echo Boys are
Randy Anderson, Bob Milea, Harry Pulver Jr., and Tom Lecher.
Tom played bass, Harry played keyboards, Bob played drums, and Randy
played the guitar. The Echo Boys is
the name of the studio.
Michael:
How many songs are there going to be on it?
Joey:
Thirteen songs. I think it’s about 55 minutes.
Michael:
How are you going to go about promoting it?
Joey:
We’re going to start with a campaign in Minneapolis, here.
I’m going to talk to some radio people that I know in Chicago, and
I’ve hired a couple of promo guys from Minneapolis – Bill Arnovich and his
brother. They used to do Elton’s promotion, and Bill was actually
involved in the promotion of “Baby Blue” when it first came out.
He’s familiar with the stuff. We’re
going to do a promotional campaign, and we’re going to do TV shows.
I’ve got another pal of mine, Larry Alger, who runs a computer
corporation down in Iowa, and I’ve been talking to Larry about making a
computer animated film on some of the songs.
We’re going to use that and try and get a video put together.
We’re going to do everything we can to promote it like a real record
while also striving to remain independent.
Michael:
Will it strictly be mail order, or will you get it into shops as well?
Joey:
To begin with it will be strictly mail order.
You can buy it with credit cards through the Badfinger website (www.joeymolland.com)
and you can buy it mail order just like you could buy Basil (Joey’s disc of
demos) by sending a check or money order to Independent Artists at the
Minnetonka address.
To order This Way Up by Joe Molland send check or money order for $15.00 plus $2.99 for shipping to
Independent Artists
4737 So. Hwy. 101, suite 255
Minnetonka, MN 55345