Transcript of an interview I recorded with KIRK WINDSTEIN - 20200228. Full article here. MAL-
On the line talking to Kirk Windstein. Kirk, thanks so much for taking my call today KIRK- Thank you for having me. Appreciate it MAL- It's good to talk to you. Now apart from the the solo album, which we'll get to in just a moment, what other musical projects have you got on the go at the moment? How busy a man are you? KIRK- Oh extremely, extremely busy. I'm actually about five minutes out from the studio and rehearsal, you know, complex where we record the records of everything so we have all the music, all the drums, all guitars, all the bass, and five songs with vocals done for the new CROWBAR record. we're just going to rehearse tonight for an upcoming tour we have with SEPULTURA and SACRED REICH here in North United States and Canada. I'll be back in the studio Monday singing, I've got 5 more to sing and that's a wrap on album 12 for CROWBAR so and then we begin the tour two weeks from today, I believe. So it's nonstop, no complaints, I'd much rather be busy than, you know, look around bored. So it's all all music stuff, and you know, it's all good. MAL- How did you find the time to do this solo album? And where did the inspiration for it come from? KIRK- Well, the time was easy to find only because I've stretched it out over the course of two years, literally from June 2017 till June 2019, it took that long to write and record just because I did one track at a time, and then I'll be okay. I'll do a song and then next week, I'll do one more and then boom, I'm back on tour for five weeks and you know, picking whatever that you know, ended up working out great for me because there was no time limit, there was no deadline or anything. You know, it was just a mellow, relaxing, really fun, and you know, inspiring like musical charity really, I mean inspiration wise, it's just a bit of a mixture of everything that I have a really really you know, wide range of musical tastes. I listen to almost any any genre music as long as it's good songs. So I have a little bit of everything and really the biggest difference you know from from the solo record and CROWBAR's is that so many things on the solo record that I could never do on a CROWBAR record, you know, I mean CROWBAR. I don't believe we're a one trick pony by any means. But there's, we have certain limitations to what we can and can't do to keep it true to the original idea what CROWBAR is, so it's a lot more freedom musically, lyrically on the solo record. MAL- Tell us about the JETHRO TULL cover. Where did that come from? KIRK- Um, I'm just been a TULL fan since I was a youngster and it's a song I've always loved, heard it on the radio as a kid you know turned it up and it was played pretty heavily on FM you know, album oriented rock station I listened to, for the most part as a kid. Just a song I've always loved and I was you know it when I began getting into it learn because I only play by ear. You know, I don't even I can do tablature too, but the best I can do but I prefer to do everything by ear. So I mean, I just picked everything up close as I could to the original and an added a little bit of my flavour in the middle section, you know, tried to nail the guitar solo as close as I could because it's a pretty, it's a very long solo, but it's pretty iconic rock and roll guitar solo. And I was real happy with the tone on that and really how it came out. So it was just a song I thought about doing for many, many years and I told Duayne the engineer/producer, I said, Man, you know, let's give it a shot here. It's if we think we nailed it, it's gone on the record. If we don't feel like we really are going to do the song justice, because it's such a classic song. I said Fuck it. We'll just listen to it for fun and I'll write another song and we'll put another original on the record. But we were totally happy with the final outcome. I think it came out fantastic. MAL- Tell us about, you did pretty much everything, put it this way. Is there anything on this album that you didn't do? KIRK- Drums. And there's a little little bit of keyboard, like accent type stuff here and there a little touch ups, here and there. Duane did all that, he's kind of a, he's not much of a singer. Vocal ideas. Other than that, maybe he'll be the first to tell you that. He goes like he'll go 'what about trying this, fuck man'. He's like, I wish I could sing the idea that I have'. I'm like, 'why don't you play the notes on the guitar you know, if you have a melody', I said, 'this is what I'm feeling'. You know, so we work really good together like that. But outside of vocals, I mean, he's a drummer, a really great guitar player, bass player, you know, piano keyboard player, you name it. And he's an amazing engineer, great producer, you know, so we really gone, it's 10 years now that we've been working together, since the CROWBAR's 'Sever The Wicked Hand' and this upcoming CROWBAR is our fourth, let's see, 5th record together. 3 CROWBARs one solo and then this is our fifth record working together in the last 10 years. So Duayne and I and really the whole band as well have a great a great like, you know work rapport with a great group really quick and gel and it works. It just it just flows. It's nice when there's no drama. It's nice when everyone gets along and everyone's on the same page. Everyone's open to each other's ideas that makes that makes for great, great music. MAL- Good answer, I'm reminded of an old saying 'As a singer, he makes a good drummer'. KIRK- Exactly. Hit the nail on the head with that. MAL- Now the album's just come out. How's it going so far? KIRK- Fantastic. Really. I mean, it's really the reviews the you know, the way the record's been accepted and you know, even even sales wise and everything else is far surpassed anything I ever dreamt it was something I just really wanted to do, and hope for the best and hope that you know that fans would like it and that pick up some new fans along the way. And it seems like everything's really gone great with it. So you know, I couldn't be any happier, honestly. MAL- Well done. Now you are, you're about my age. How does it sit with you I mean, back when we were kids, we would buy the album, we would have a big LP record in our hand, reading the cover, kids these days, it's all streaming. How does that sit from a musician's point of view? KIRK- I mean, me personally, I don't, I don't have like music on my phone or anything like that. If I listen to music, it's a CD or vinyl or a live band. You know, but I mean, I'm almost 55 you know, so growing up in in the 70s and 80s you know, way before the CD was introduced to me and you, of course, I had vinyl, of course. 8 tracks and regular cassette tapes as well. I mean I get it with the younger crowd you know the younger fans I do get it, the one thing that's really cool is is that it seems like like vinyl is really like people want vinyl. Even my daughter she's almost she'll be 17 in a few weeks and she's all into into vinyl. She's got a turntable and she buys all she likes you know fact the last two records I bought or Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and Michael Jackson 'Off the Wall' she's into all the 80s stuff you know 80s pop and everything but she's all into vinyl had been so are all are really coming back with the younger generation I think maybe they're realising how cool it is that the whole the physical product in your hand and not just have, you know some digital shit on your phone or whatever you know, that's one thing as that's helping out as far as record sales is vinyl , you know, MAL- I've still got my old vinyl I've got, you know, a quite a good collection of my old vinyl, but I got nothing decent to play them on nowadays. KIRK- I think it was about 79 US 80 bucks and something little it's literally like old school like a record player like you can take the 12 inch off on a 45 whatever you can close it and it's got two little latches and you carry like a briefcase, but it's loud enough for us at the house and it sounds good and it's nice. I lost like all of my vinyl in one of one of the many New Orleans floods. I probably had you know a good 500 or so vinyls, I was able to buy back a lot you know over the over the years of some of my favourites you know, especially the KISS stuff and you know, I listen to music in the car more than I do at home. At home I'm busy or if I got the chance, and I'm just sitting around maybe she's cooking or something, there's nothing on TV and I'm like Fuck it, let me put on like an album. You know, it just chill for a bit. MAL- Takes you back doesn't it? Yeah. KIRK- Oh absolutely. As soon as you hear that, that crackle of the vinyl with a needle in that it's like wow, you know and then open it up like a gatefold KISS record or something and reading you know, the lyrics and all those kind of shit, totally takes you back, much simpler, and I think better times. MAL- Now, getting back to your album, is there a way that you, were you planning to play this or is it just a product to put out while you're in between other things, like are you going to take your 'band' on the road? KIRK- Considering the band is me and Duayne You know, no, in all seriousness.. MAL- You didn't see me doing the air quotes when I said 'band'. KIRK- In all seriousness, I mean, I've given some thought because the reception has been so good and people have been asking about it 'man can you do this live?' with, you know, I'll have to put put together a band, and really, you know, really be well rehearsed and have someone who can really sing, you know, and do all harmonies and backups because there's a whole lot of that going on. But it's totally it's possible. I don't see anything outside of the occasional show or the occasional, you know, like very short tour, something that probably wouldn't even make money but just, you know, doing it for the love of doing it, maybe. So I'm not against the idea of doing it, but originally the idea was to never play any of it live. MAL- Yeah, right. But then you've got people like me saying you should be playing it. So KIRK- Yeah, but that's a good thing. You know, if people were like I don't wanna hear that shit live, then I'd be in trouble. So, MAL- So what's happening from here, finishing off the CROWBAR album and then going out on the road with CROWBAR? KIRK- Yeah, we're going out with SEPULTURA and SACRED REICH and there's another band the opening act, it's a four band bill that's going. We're doing some of our own shows because tour begins and ends in California. So we're playing our way out there and playing our way back but we have 36 shows total, two Canadian dates 34 in the US so we're pretty much hitting everything from the west coast all the way up into Canada into you know, Boston, like the total northeast of Louisiana and all the way down like Tampa, Florida you know, right near Miami, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, and then all the way back across the country back to California. So we're hitting pretty much all the markets on this one. MAL- You're gonna be a busy man. KIRK- Always. MAL- Hey Kirk Windstein. Thanks so much for having a chat with me today and best of luck with your solo album. Hope it goes really well for you and great talking to you. KIRK- Great talking to you to appreciate it. Have a great day I'm about to go in the studio, I have a few more interviews and then I'm going to get to rocking. Comments are closed.
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AuthorMetalhead who hates bad parking. |