Soul Asylum recently released their 10th studio album Delayed Reaction, and where one might say it’s a welcome return to form for the band, they’ve never really strayed from their signature sound. The band makes consistently great rock ‘n roll records which are critically acclaimed, but lost in the mainstream to the dismissive, “the band that sings ‘Runaway Train.'” The Replacements are riding a wave of increased popularity and it would be nice to see Soul Asylum fare as well with the same deserved recognition.
I caught up with lead singer Dave Pirner immediately after a jam packed show at San Francisco’s Independent for a talk about the new LP, his lengthy career in the music industry, and of course, vinyl.
Do you have a favorite touring moment past or present?
The first thing that came to my head was putting a pair of jeans on top of the van then driving off and having the jeans fly off. Then about seven minutes later remembering the jeans being up there and making Karl turnaround and going back, and finding my jeans on the side of the road. I don’t know why I thought of that. I guess you lose things along the way and you’re real happy when you can recover something.
Over the years, where is the most unusual place you’ve heard your music?
I have to say it was in Italy and it was a dance remix of “Runaway Train.” That took me by surprise, but you know, I really think there must be a better one. I remember being at Capitol Records back when they wanted to sign us. They were playing our music in the elevator and it seemed like elevator music in the elevator. That was odd…either one of those will do.
Can you give me a quick comparison as to how your life is today compared with earlier on in your career?
The funny part is, I’m sitting here looking at my wet clothes from last night and it just looks exactly like it has for the last 30 years—that hasn’t changed a bit. And the hotel room that I’m in is like some freaking retro hotel from the 80s. So, that makes me feel even weirder about answering that question. But, you know, back in the day we would all find someplace to sleep after the gig. It sometimes involved accompanying a stranger to let us on their floors and couches. That’s probably the biggest difference.
Soul Asylum began in Minneapolis and with the history of your current drummer, have you ever met Prince – and are you a fan of Purple Rain?
When he really exploded in Minneapolis, it was sort of like growing up with the Beatles where I didn’t even have a choice. I had to hear it wherever I went. I didn’t particularly like him because I was felt like I was being forced to be exposed to him. So, it was a little bit like that in Minneapolis, but I think once he sort of got past the Purple Rain period, I really started to appreciate him as somebody that was from my town and somebody that was really giftet and talented.
We’ve got a mutual drummer. Michael Bland played with Prince for years. I’m a fan now and I appreciate his eccentricity in a way that I couldn’t before.
Have your paths ever crossed?
Sure. We used to run into him in the hallways at Paisley Park and then we would see him come walking through the 7th Street Entry to go the First Avenue. We were hanging out in the little punk club and he walked through there with his entourage.
If there were a Soul Asylum tribute record, who would you like to see perform your songs?
Al Green, Fiona Apple, Aaron Neville, Henry Butler, Meat Puppets, Butthole, and Wynton Marsalis
You inducted The Animals into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in ’94. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?
I was surprised that I was getting these calls and I think it was a timing thing. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was being built and I was Columbia’s mascot, younger dude. I really got to do some cool things because of that, and I really embraced it. I wanted to do it right.
I remember Elton John was backstage and I went, “Hey, you have a song called Runaway Train.” And he went, “Oh, yeah, but yours is better.” There was lots of rubbing elbows with the stars that go along with these things. But there were only a couple of guys there from The Animals and after I did their induction they were really pleased with what I said about them. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to say and how they touched me when I was growing up and how they affected the music that I play.
So the new record was pressed on vinyl and I heard you are a big fan of vinyl, is that correct?
Oh, yeah. I record all the time, so I’m always trying to keep track of my recordings and I’m always trying to keep track of how different formats sound. At some point you just accept that you can’t fight the convenience of kids wanting to download onto their iPods and whatever they fucking do, it’s not a battle worth trying to win. But if you just give into it completely and think an MP3 sounds fine, I think that’s a little bit too much tolerance.
It’s important to always uphold a bit of a standard where you can’t just let it get more and more degraded. Then the music starts to sound really cheap, and starts to sound really flat, and not exciting, and not engaging, and that’s a shame. Especially when you think of it like this. Oh, here’s music by a dead guy, or here is music from a fucking genius that recorded some weird thing that worked out just the way it did because the microphone hit the tape, and the tape hit this, and because that all happened it came out sounding a way that is totally unique. If you just flat line it as an MP3, it’s like a plastic flower or something.
I have the only copy of our last record on vinyl. It was that arrangement, but they forgot to press it. This time around it was a little bit easier.
As far as I can tell people have started to embrace vinyl again and I never stopped listening to it. I also really like the 180 gram situation where I was finding these records turned into two records and sounding extra good. I never really missed the beat as far as what the format is all about. I do still buy CDs and I still buy vinyl. I am revisiting the digital format as much as I can to a certain degree, it’s not a hate thing, it’s just what I like.
Any prized pieces of vinyl in your collection?
I was just talking to my little brother and I told him to take my copy of Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced and Miles Davis Kind of Blue because if something ever happens to me I want him to have these. The Jimi Hendrix record was given to me by a kid that played trumpet next to me in grade school band. That changed my mind about wanting to be a trumpet player. The Kind of Blue record was a gift from Karl Mueller’s (Soul Asylums late bass player) mother. Those were basically the two that I pulled out and get really emotional about. Karl’s mother also gave me Karl’s father’s jazz collection, which is really special for me.
I’m just that kind of guy that can’t really throw out all these rock albums that mean something to me. So, you can imagine I have vinyl collection full of, “Oh, there is that band that we played a gig with in 1987. I can’t get rid of this even though I won’t listen to it. I remember when the dude gave it to me and where I was and how cool I thought it was.”
From the new album, a song like “Gravity” has pretty undeniably Soul Asylum’s signature sound. How does the writing process differ between albums?
The thing about “Gravity” is that’s what people say about it—and that’s what the band said about it. I just bring songs to the band and they fix them up or reject them and that’s pretty much how it works. So, by bringing “Gravity” they were like, “Yep, that will work.” Okay, great, I got another one on the record. Then I bring five more songs and they go no, no, no, no, no.
It’s a very broad record and there were some arguments along the way. It’s a process for me to interpret it until it was acceptable for the band. I have to have the right vocal, and then Michael has to have the right drumbeat, and then that sort of brought Dan in to say, “Okay, now I want to play in this.” He was sort of going back and forth, as in why should he spend so much time playing something that he doesn’t think belongs on a Soul Asylum record—because it does sound like Soul Asylum?
And actually, I got the vocal good enough, and Michael got the drumbeat good enough, and it fit into the rest of the material in a way that I liked. I think the breadth is really wide of what we’re capable of doing—the dramatically different kinds of things within the context of a four piece rock band. So in fact, I need a certain amount of thing like “Gravity” just so the band feels like we can go out and play sets…have it all sort of sound like it all fits together somehow.
You spent a lot of time on Sony and Columbia Records. Do you still keep in touch with anyone over there?
Oddly enough, I just ran into the guy who signed us to Columbia Records in LA night before last. I have always kept in touch with him. He’s not in the business anymore, but Benjie Gordon is a friend of mine and he came to Columbia when he was really young.
My final question and it’s just kind of a personal thing. “99%” is one of my favorite Soul Asylum songs. Is there a story behind that, and do you ever put it in the set anymore?
We haven’t put it in the set in ages. A couple of people have been asking me about this one and “April Fools” as well. Those would both be fun songs to play live again, but Michael Bland has not played them yet. Every time we add something from the back catalog, it has a dramatic rebirth for me. He has an interpretive power that is incredibly appropriate and simple.
“99%” was one of those things that was written during a very difficult period in my life. I went to my four track recorder, and I don’t know, probably fell off some sort of wagon. There was a weird night and I woke up with it. When we recorded it, I was trying to figure how to get the vocal to sound the way it did. I was signing in the headphone which, oddly enough, I’m going to say I saw Chris Cornell doing about 1981. You can sing into a pair of headphones and walk around the speaker, and that’s what the effect is on the vocal – and yeah, it was just one of those things that’s came out disturbingly right.
Soul Aslyum’s new record Delayed Reaction is available now. It’s a solid rock ‘n roll record that should easily satisfy fans of the band’s classic sound, and it’s one of my top picks for “comeback” album of the year. Nice work gentleman.
Browse hi-res photos from the bands jam packed show at San Francisco’s Independent here.
