Eddie Kowalczyk - Rave Magazine - August 3, 2009
Rave Magazine
Eddie Kowalczyk
Monday, 03 August 2009
As ‘90s alt-rock titans Live enter an indefinite hiatus, vocalist EDDIE KOWALCZYK is picking up an acoustic guitar and booking a plane ticket to Australia. TOM HERSEY caught Eddie acknowledging the legacy of Live’s back catalogue and his plans to go solo, at least for a while.
While it may not be the polished roar of Throwing Copper or Secret Samadhi, Eddie Kowalczyk’s solo project is assured success. If only because it avoids the unholy trifecta of pitfalls associated with the oft-disappointing solo-project-in-the-wake-of-a-band-hiatus rock & roll cliché. Driven by either a refusal to acknowledge previous success, (Tom Morello refusing to talk about Rage Against The Machine in interviews for his solo project The Nightwatchman), a total stylistic deviation from the music the artist was recognised for (post-Black Flag Henry Rollins’ numerous spoken word albums). Or the musician who starts the side project that ends up sounding like a derivative attempt to recapture their previous success (Serj Tankian’s post-System Of A Down solo record).
Rock star ego in check, Eddie’s solo venture is centred around his career in Live. His upcoming run of shows will see the vocalist re-imagine some of Live’s back catalogue, connecting with music on a primal level lost playing in a stadium rock act “Me and an acoustic guitar is pretty much where the music starts for me. So these shows are just a very natural way to showcase some Live songs. I saw it as a chance to integrate with the fans at a new, fresh level, even reconnecting with them in a lot of ways and then reconnecting with the material at that stripped down, acoustic level.”
But try as he might, the disparity between a stadium rock band and a troubadour, lonesome upon a stage, is too great for some classic Live tracks, due in equal part to the songs not working in an acoustic environment and Eddie’s personal reverence towards the songs. “There are songs from the Live back catalogue that I just have no interest in breaking down to this place. Namely song’s like Lakini’s Juice or White, Discussion, songs that will always be identified by anyone who likes them as big, powerful, loud, distortion-riddled rock songs, which was the way they were meant to be. There are a few really heavy songs that I have no interest in meddling with because they’re great as is. But then on the other hand songs like I Alone were produced to have heavy guitars were written by me on an acoustic guitar before being brought to the band.”
But surely there’d still be that one guy, standing four rows back from the barrier, wearing a faded tour shirt from the late ‘90s, filling every moment of silence, yelling ‘Lakini’s Juice’? Apparently not.
“I’ve been pretty clear about the fact that this is an intimate acoustic set and so far no one’s come into the venue expecting anything more than me with a box with strings strapped to it. I think people are being so receptive to this because it’s been such a long time. The band Live has been together and touring and making records for almost 20 years and people are coming out expecting to hear Live songs, but played in a completely different light.”
Though the super fans who, when hearing the news that Eddie was touring, rustled through their wardrobes to find the most obscure item of Live merchandise to wear in tribute to the band, can take comfort in the fact that Eddie K will be sticking to the band’s classics. “I’m only doing one new song in the set. The rest of it is little gems that I’ve repossessed from the way they were produced. Like Face And Ghost from Distance To Here, I’ve kind of taken that song and said ‘ok, I’m going to do it in this acoustic way’ and it’s been a rebirth for a lot of these songs. So I’m taking old songs and making them feel new. Even though it’s mostly old songs, the set feels very fresh. It’s liberating and refreshing to take these songs back to that essential place. Before a song like Lightning Crashes even went to the band in the rehearsal space, it was an acoustic guitar and me sitting in a room. I think people are really surprised by that, having experienced that song in these big, very loud venues, to see them stripped down like that has been a pleasant surprise for most people.”
As we talk about his solo shows, Eddie keeps bringing up his connection with the fans. Which, given Live’s immense popularity in Australia, makes Australia the obvious choice to take his solo act overseas. Live have joined the ranks of stellar acts like ABBA, Pink and The Violent Femmes who have achieved more commercial success in Australia than their home country. So, Eddie, a devout Twitterer, sees the run of shows as a chance to connect with fans. “The shows have allowed me to be able to relate to people so intimately, as opposed to from 50 feet away on top of a stage in a big arena. The layers get removed and then you’re right there with the people, they’re right there on top of you. The shows have helped me reconnect with people and with my song writing process and that’s been very positive.”
With all solo projects, Eddie’s individualist musical venture is marred by inescapable question, does this mean the band’s breaking up? Focussing on the moment, rather than planning ahead, Eddie is having too much fun with his current run of shows to give an answer definitive enough to parlay the anxieties of Live’s devoted Australian fanbase. Instead, Eddie only offers, “I’m not the type of person that projects into the future too much. I’m really living month to month, or day to day with the song writing process. I’m going to record in September and then I’m going to put out the record early next year. Just by the virtue of the fact that I’ll want to do a lot with this solo project, that will take time. I’ll just be going with the flow, I’m not really in a position to predict when we’ll do the next Live record. But the band hasn’t broken up or anything.”
EDDIE KOWALCZYK plays shows at The Tivoli on Sunday Aug 9 and Monday Aug 10. www.eddieklive.com.