XPress Magazine - Ed or Alive October 2010
XPress Magazine - Perth
Issue 1237 - 28th October 2010
ED KOWALCZYK
Ed Or Alive
After more than two decades and seven albums as the frontman of multi-platinum US rock outfit Live, ‘90s icon Ed Kowalczyk is embarking on a new chapter with the release of his debut solo LP; a formidable record aptly titled Alive. Ahead of his performance at Metro Fremantle on Monday, November 8, JENNIFER PETERSON-WARD discovered how the singer-songwriter conquered his qualms about taking his next musical step alone.
Although Ed Kowalczyk had fans worried he had disappeared from rock’n’roll forever after vanishing from the spotlight following the release of Live’s final album, 2006’s Songs From Black Mountain, the unmistakable bald headed singer is back and ready to rock, albeit without support from his band this time around.
“There’s a kind of literary metaphor I like to use when talking about my career,” the Pennsylvania native divulges. “It’s like: if you wrote down all the moments of my life in music into book form you’d have reached the page where it reads ‘Part II’.
“It’s like, you’re reading and you think you know exactly where the story is going and then all of a sudden there’s this stop and, even though it’s confusing as all hell because you weren’t expecting it, there’s all this anticipation and you know something big is coming – that’s exactly how I feel; like something big is happening and I’m smack-bang in the middle of it.”
As the driving force behind one of the most popular ‘90s American rock groups, Kowalczyk delivered seven studio albums including the hugely successful Throwing Copper and Secret Samadhi. However, following the dissolution of his group in early 2007, Kowalczyk admits it took a few years of uncertainty about his personal and professional future to reaffirm his desire to continue on his journey as a musician.
“I started to feel this kind of malaise, because I had been making music the same way for so long,” Kowalczyk says, admitting that, in hindsight, he couldn’t be happier with the decision to tough it out on his own. “I knew that a change was needed so I could be re-inspired musically and lyrically – to help me get back to being a creative individual again.”
To support the release of his debut solo-album, Alive, Kowalczyk has announced dates for a national tour through November, during which a combination of fresh songs and reinterpretations of fan favourites from the Live back catalogue (including the tunes that made him a household name in Australia – Dolphin’s Cry, Lightening Crashes and I Alone) will be delivered with a brand new backing band formed earlier this year.
“I’ve reached this stage where I’m reinvigorated and raring to perform again,” Kowalczyk says, explaining that his acoustic-steeped solo international tour in 2009 – which included an August show in Perth – whet his appetite for performing in the live setting, and asserting that now, more than ever, he’s itching to get back on the road to share his new tunes with audiences across the globe.
“For more than two years, I’ve been playing alone on stage with nothing but my guitar backing me up, so I’m absolutely feeling ready to come back and rock out,” Kowalczyk says. “In my heart I always knew I would come back to the big, driving full-scale rock sound… That’s the setting in which I learned to perform and, to be completely honest, I just feel more comfortable and confident rocking out.”
Despite the return to his rock roots, Kowalczyk explains that playing his tunes unaccompanied has certainly taken acclimatisation.
“It gets to a point – usually about halfway through the set – when I suddenly realise I’m the whole show and I can’t throw to a big band jam and rely on them to back me up,” he explains. “Knowing that it’s just you and the people, and if it doesn’t sound good there’s no one you can blame but yourself – that’s a very daunting thing for a performer.”
In spite of this low lying anxiety, Kowalczyk admits that he ultimately views his solo performances as an incredible opportunity to connect with his fans in a more intimate way than he had when performing as the frontman of Live.
“I’m there with the people in a different sort of way, and I think they will be pleasantly surprised with the voice and clarity that my new songs have,” Kowalczyk explains. “I’m reconnecting with the fans and they, in turn, are re-inspiring me both as a musician and as a person.”
As for Live fans who are saddened with Kowalczyk’s departure from the much-loved rock band, he hopes most will understand that the change was necessary for this new chapter in his musical career.
“There are always some people who will be upset about it, but for the most part the response to the new music has been pretty positive,” he concludes. “What I’m putting out right now is who I really am and, in the end, I can only hope that the fans are still going to be willing to support me when I get to Part III, IV, V and beyond.”
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