INTERVIEW: John Waite

After a false start a couple of years back now John Waite is finally headed down-under for the very first time. He’s one of the artists I’ve always wanted to see but have rarely been in the right continent at the right time.  He’s one of those musicians that so many people have their own memories of  whether it’s fronting ‘The Babys’ in the late seventies, his solo work in the eighties to date, or his time with the super-group ‘Bad English’ in the late eighties. You might even have heard his latest take on his career ‘Wooden Heart Acoustic Anthology Vol. 2’ (which is out now). We caught up to talk about the process of stripping the songs right back to the bone, where it all began and whether there will be a follow up to the wonderful ‘Rough and Tumble’.

Mark: Hi, John, how are you?

John: I’m well thanks.

Mark: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to The Rockpit. The last time we spoke was way back in 2013, the time you almost came to Australia!

John: Yeah, that was a big U-turn that shocked me!

Mark: It’s all really happening now though; you’ve been on TV over here, so it’s definitely going ahead this time!

John: Yeah, we’re leaving on Saturday night, we’re getting there a few days early, we need some time to get over the jet lag before we kick off, and so we’re trying to do it in a civilised way. I can’t quite believe we are leaving, but we are so it’s good news.

Mark: You just have to contend with LAX now then?!!

John: Yes, I’m telling you, it’s the worst airport in the world!! Even the new version of LAX is beyond belief! I didn’t think they could mess that up, but they managed it!!

Mark: When I was there last time, I found it remarkable they’d done all the upgrades and it was still as bad as ever!!

John: The international section is quite good, it’s big, but it’s still, being dropped off and picked up is a nightmare, and I hate going to the airport!

Mark: Ok, now to the important stuff! One of my musical heroes, Steve Marriott, once said a good song is a good song, but if you can strip it all back and touch someone with just vocals and an acoustic guitar, that’s the real test. Do you subscribe to that?

John: Well, my first love musically, was the acoustic guitar, and I was young enough to think that was the end of the world, and then when everybody plugged in, it was fantastic and sexy, but when the eighties came around it was like 2,000 foot pedals came out and drummers had drum kits the size of a Cadillac, and it just became something else. But, I do believe that, I think if a song sounds great unplugged, then you’ve got a winner, and that’s basically where “Wooden Heart” the tour is leading me, we’re kicking off playing full rock, but then we stop and do an acoustic section, and it’s an interesting night. Steve would say things acoustically were like pearls, he knew what he was talking about!

Mark: You’ve put out a couple of wonderful anthologies, the first one was just the EP, and then you expanded that, to the second anthology, volume 2 with twelve tracks on there. How did you go about choosing what to put on there?

John:  Well, it was meant to be a companion to the tour, it was meant to be just a collection of songs you might be interested in seeing us play, and I think they’re songs like Steve Marriott said, songs that just stood up. I couldn’t believe I got to the end of it, I didn’t think it was possible, and I really didn’t think it was possible to do it.  “Missing You” was just beautiful, but I’m used to playing that unplugged, and we did the Donovan cover of “Catch the Wind” which we recorded in Wales so I stuck that one there. But there’s also songs like” Downtown” and “Bluebird Café” and “Masterpiece of Loneliness”, and I didn’t expect to put those songs on, it’s the only record I’ve ever made that’s really shown me when it’s done when I played it. It’s just a very strong record with a lot of character, and it’s like the vision of what I want it to be, nothing ever turns out exactly like you plan it, but it’s pretty close.

Mark: Yeah, it’s a great album. Strangely enough, a couple of weeks ago, before I got the call, obviously,  I knew you were coming over, but I managed to pick up all The Babys  albums on vinyl, and they’re in good nick! I was playing some of those, and listening to songs like “California”, “Head above the Waves”, “Especially You” and I realised that the acoustic side has always been there.

John: Yeah, I mean, I actually played The Babys “Restless Heart”, for one of The Babys albums, and they just laughed at me, they thought it was crap! (laughs). But, everything I wrote, that was any good, came on the acoustic, you very rarely write great songs at full volume, Steve Marriott could probably do it!!  I like country music and I like words, and that’s where it all comes from anyway. I never feel odd about picking up an acoustic guitar, some people think it’s suddenly being exotic, but it’s the other way round for me, plugging in is exotic, and the acoustic guitar is everything.

Mark: So, where did it all come from? I’ve spoken to a lot of old Blues musicians this year, trying to find out where their inspiration came from, and a lot of it came from Gospel songs and things like that. And I asked them if you had to name just one single, one song, that’s part of your past and made you become a musician, what would that song be, what would that song be for you?

John: My cousin Michael played me “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry” when I was about six, and I would say that was the first real moment I understood lyricism, and the acoustic made me want a big National guitar, and it’s etched in my memory, I remember hearing it and knowing it was poetry, and knowing it meant more than I could understand at that time in my life. It was like having a carrot dangled in front of your eyes, and you step forward at that point. But, there’s been so many songs, so many songs; I’ve wanted to stop breathing when I’ve heard them! There’s just such genius out there, and there was back then, and I came from a generation that was there on the first rung of the ladder, I was only a little kid, but I think I knew when I heard the stuff as a child how heavy it was, I could feel the heaviness and I was thinking about it before, when I was growing up I used to feel everything really kind of very deeply, and with music I really knew how good it was. That might sound like I’m being self-important, but I think that’s had an impact in my life, I seem to feel things more than the next guy. I think most musicians are trying to write “that” song, so it’s important that whatever it means to anybody, this might be the thing that saves us all, it’s very important.

Mark: I guess the days of thinking that music’s going to change the world, have gone, but I think for individuals it certainly can be a lifesaver.

John: Yeah, “Give Peace a Chance” was written to help stop the Vietnam War, and it gave half of America’s youth a song to sing outside the Whitehouse, and I’m sure that had some impact, everything is so fractured now and I think the internet has made everything so “everything at once”, “everything all the time”, I don’t know what’s going on, I just know I’ve got a guitar, I can sing and I want to play! There’s a beauty in that as well, that may be a bit mystical but it’s still a beautiful thing, and it does seem to bring people together.

Mark: Well, we have you over here in Western Australia on the 3^rd of April, but you kick off in Tweed Heads on the 23^rd March. Are you changing the set list a bit from what you’ve been playing in the U.S?

John: We have like fifteen songs we can draw from, or maybe twenty, believe me there’s more songs than we know what to do with. You do try and do the best set you can, and give people what they came for, but you want to play something that they haven’t expected. We can wheel songs in and out of the set in a heartbeat, some nights we’ll play a set half unplugged, and the next night we’ll play them plugged in! The idea is to be in the moment, and have no plan B, it’s a very real experience being up there with the “Wooden Heart” thing, and I couldn’t be happier!

Mark: It will be great to see you play! I really loved your last studio album “Rough and Tumble”, and there are those persistent rumours of a Blues album with Neal Schon?

John: Me and Neal were talking about it, well, e-mailing each other, and my first concern is keeping my band together and touring, I just can’t go off and do a project, I can’t just go off and do a project that will last for a month, my band has been together for two years and they are my friends, and beyond that I don’t want to go off and do other projects! But, me and Neal were actually talking about it, I wanted to do it in New Orleans, and Neal wanted to do it in San Francisco and we had a big conversation, but he’s just going out on tour with Journey, so that solves that one!! And we are going to Australia, for me this year is going to be one of the busiest years I’ve had in the past five/six years. I’ve started this with the “Wooden Heart” thing, three years ago maybe, and now with the new record it’s got a new kind of impetus, I feel like I’ve just got a full head of steam up and I don’t really want to do anything else! I think for the time being I’m just going to see this through if it kills me!!

Mark: Let’s hope it doesn’t!! We’ve lost too many great artists over the past few years!! One question I didn’t get to ask you last time, which is one we normally ask, is if you could have been a fly on the wall to see the creation of one album, at any time, what would it be?

John: I have been asked that question before, and I said Jimi Hendrix, and then when I thought about it, I thought maybe Bob Dylan doing “Blonde on Blonde”, or maybe Hank Williams recording “Luke the Drifter”, that would have been interesting or being in the audience for Bill Evans “Live at the Village Vanguard”, or Free making “Fire and Water”. There are so many records, I know that you’re a music fan obviously, and you’ll feel the same way I do, but some of these records that you’ve heard in the past have motivated you and inspired you and held your life together, they’re bigger than anything I can really put in to words and describe, and have had such a profound effect on me since I was a kid, I can’t separate it from my own life, it’s just part of who I am now. I’m a huge fan of a lot of different people, and so I can’t honestly answer your question and make it “wow”!

Mark: Well, that’s good because I can’t, that’s why I ask it!!

John: It’s like asking what’s your favourite Beatles song, and people say “well” and the next thing you know you’re having an argument!! Jimi Hendrix once said there are only two types of music, good and bad, and that’s the truth!! I’ll stop and listen to a guy playing in the street, or I’ll go and see an opera, I just really love music.

Mark: That’s fantastic! And finally, what is the meaning of life?

John: My God!! Being a fly on the wall at the last supper!! (Laughs) Touché, my friend!!!! I can’t believe I just said that!!

Mark: I’ve never had that one before!! It’s been an absolute pleasure speaking to you, John,

John: It’s been great; I’ve enjoyed talking to you! And I hope we cross paths soon!

Mark: The Rockpit will hopefully catch you in Perth, take care and have a safe flight, bye.