When I was a young kid just getting into Rock music there were a few songs that really made a mark on me. Along with Boston’s ‘More Than a Feeling’, Argent’s ‘Hold Your Head Up’ and Toto’s ‘Hold the Line’ there was ‘Jane by Jefferson Starship. To me those songs were the pinnacle of American Radio Rock in the 70’s. Jefferson Starship of course had once been Jefferson Airplane, a band synonymous with San Francisco at the end of the 60’s when music still felt like it could change the world on a global scale. In 2020 mid-covid Jefferson Starship is back after 12 years without new music with a new EP ‘Mother of the Sun’ and it is very good indeed. We caught up with David Freiberg, the man who played in both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship as well as being an original member of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
David: Hello Mark
Mark: Hi David, how are you?
David: I’m very fine thank you, so far.
Mark: Well thank you for taking the time to talk to us. Before we talk about the new material I just have one quick confession to make as a ten year old kid, ‘Jane’ was one of the very first rock songs I fell in love with.
David: (laughs) Well thank you, a ten year old huh? Well what do you know about that!
Mark: I still think it’s one of the very best 70’s hard rock songs up there with Boston’s ‘More than a Feeling’; Toto’s ‘Hold the Line’ and Argent’s ‘Hold Your Head Up.’ So thank you very much for writing that one for me!
David: You’ll have to thank the rest of the band too, there were a few of us who put that song together.
Mark: I don’t know where to start really I know we only have a short time and we won’t really have a chance to touch on a career like yours. I know you are a multi-instrumentalist and I love all of the bands that you’ve been in and I really discovered your music backwards, I discovered Quicksilver Messenger Service who you co-founded after Jefferson Starship and after Jefferson Airplane. Can you take us back to those days in the beginning just for a second?
David: Back to Quicksilver?
Mark: I’d love to if we can.
David: Well I was a Folk singer when I went into that band and I’d never played in a band before so it was quite strange. But luckily most of the people around San Francisco also came into the scene through Folk music. But Quicksilver when I got into it, the other three guys had always been Rock and Roll musicians, which worked out really well because we seemed to Rock harder than anybody else.
Mark: Over the years I’ve collected a lot of live recordings by Quicksilver from places like the Fillmore and places like that, its wonderful music, great songs.
David: Those are really raw, some of them I can barely listen to! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
David: You’re listening while I’m learning how to play bass! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) I love that! You still did it better than I do now anyway!
David: I’d have to hear you! (laughs)
Mark: The new EP ‘Mother of the Sun’ came out of the blue for me I think it’s been 12 years without any new material from Jefferson Starship, but it’s wonderful and so varied, I’d call it a mini-album with seven tracks too!
David: I’d call it that too! A little more than an EP, not quite an album! It’s just what we had.
Mark: The single ‘What Are We Waiting For’ is asking a pretty good question in these times, why aren’t we doing more about the way we are all headed? Is that the thrust of the message?
David: Well that was one of our questions ‘What are we waiting for?’ it’s the same with the other single ‘It’s About Time’ – they’re both asking the same sort of questions. ‘It’s About Time’ is more about why don’t we let women have more of a say about what’s going on.
Mark: Yeah I loved the line “Old white men have had their turn”
David: (laughs) that’s it! She seems to be doing OK in New Zealand I must say.
Mark: Yeah, she’s doing well, some good things happening over there and good to see the world is noticing.
David: We are.
Mark: The singles are great and pretty catchy Rock songs but the rest of the EP really caught my attention too. I think it’s the next two tracks I like the most at the minute. I love the Bluesier feel of ‘Setting Sun’ and maybe my highlight after a good few listens is ‘Runaway Again.’ What can you tell me about that one, it’s a wonderful song?
David: Well that’s Cathy’s tune. I love that song and that’s one we don’t have a video for but I think we have to. It’s beautiful, you’d have to ask Cathy what the lyrics are about because she wrote it but I love it musically, it’s just gorgeous man. It’s such fun to play.
Mark: I think the best thing about the EP is that there’s absolutely no filler on there, and the extended version of ‘What Are We Waiting For’ just adds so much to the song.
David: I guess you could call that filler! We were very resistant to editing it to become a four minute song, but I can live with that, I like it that way too (laughs).
Mark: And the real wild card is ‘Don’t Be Sad Anymore’ – it’s a lovely song and just a little ‘quirky’ shall we say?
David: Yeah, it is. That was written by Marty Balin along with our keyboard player Chris Smith about fifteen years ago. Chris has been playing for the band (Jefferson Starship) for over 20 years, he joined before I re-joined. Anyway Marty was making a solo album and asked Chris because he’s so good and he wanted him to play on the album, and he heard this song that Chris had written while he (Marty) was in the studio and they were getting sounds. The engineer played this song which was at the time an instrumental, and Marty heard it and immediately grabbed his note pad and started writing. And somehow, I think the album got released, but I’d never seen it. Anyway we heard the song and we thought it would be really nice to record it, it had this kind of jazzy thing to it originally but we heard it more as just a piano and a vocal. Apparently half the people that listen to it break into tears. (laughs)
Mark: It does have that emotion to it. Its simplicity is the key, but for some reason too I always hear ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ too – like a serious version…
David: Monty Python! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
David: As soon as I heard it I thought I could play that, it would be fun! (laughs) It’s always a pleasure to play on anything Marty wrote, I really miss him, I wish he was still here.
Mark: A huge loss and a great songwriter. We always get a lot of readers writing in when I tell them who I’m talking to and I’d love to ask a few. The first comes with someone who knows that you were there from the beginning and wonders “What was your favourite album of the Jefferson Starship era to play on?”
David: (laughs) Hmm, I guess that depends on which era, there were a couple of different eras?
Mark: I know, let me try and narrow it down, let’s say prior to your departure in ’84?
David: There’s still a lot, but my favourite album, I guess it would probably be ‘Red Octopus.’
Mark: I must admit I like that one, I can never decide between it and one from the later days ‘Freedom at Point Zero.’
David: Well that’s because that had ‘Jane’ on it right? (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) You got me there!
David: But it had some other great stuff too.
Mark: It’s a great album, not a bad track on there I love ‘Girl With the Hungry Eyes’, then there’s ‘Lightning Rose’ and the title track, all Paul’s songs I think. Unfortunately I think outside of the US the rest of us were a little bit starved of Jefferson Starship in their heyday.
David: Yes we played at home a lot. Great songs you’re right.
Mark: We’d love to hear you bring some of those great songs and the new EP down here, what are your plans for touring?
David: Well were trying to plan on coming down there. I mean we’re on Golden Robot Records, that’s an Australian label. We’ve played in New Zealand with Dragon and they’re Aussies. (laughs) We had a great time, we loved playing with them on that tour of New Zealand with Toto and Dragon. We were planning on coming back in January but I don’t know if they’ll let us in? I’m not sure they’ll let any of us go anywhere out of the United States. I just hope something good happens over here, we seem to be the worst.
Mark: And it’s hard to see an end of it a vaccine seems to be a long way away.
David: We’ll have to see.
Mark: Of all of the questions we got sent in I’ve picked out the most unusual for you. When you released the album ‘Earth’ back in 1978 there was a song ‘Light the Sky On Fire’ that appeared on the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special…
David: Yeah.
Mark: Do you remember how you got involved in that?
David: (laughs) Oh I do, a little bit.
Mark: (laughs)
David: we weren’t that involved really. We went down there and we ‘synched’ the song and made the video, those little holographic videos that they used (in the TV special), so we did that. But that was the only connection we had! (laughs)
Mark: I actually have the vinyl and there’s a 7” vinyl of that song n there I’m pretty sure.
David: (laughs) we didn’t get to meet them!
Mark: I always imagined Jefferson Starship playing in the cantina in the next film!
Mark: We’ve been asking people because of lock-down to name a few albums or an artist that you’d recommend people take a chance to listen to whilst they might have some time on their hands. Can you recommend any essential listening for us?
David: Oh, golly. That’s the hardest question I’ve been asked!
Mark: Sorry about that, I’ve got a worse question coming soon!
David: (laughs) Well there was a band that was around when Quicksilver were around who have a new album out, an all-girl band called the Ace of Cups. They actually have two albums out now and I’ve enjoyed them, they’re kind of interesting. Very well produced.
Mark: I never knew there was a second album out, I’ll have to check that out.
David: Yeah, I’m singing on one tune on it, me and Jackson Browne and Bob Weir from The Grateful Dead (laughs)
Mark: Oh Bob’s on there too, fantastic. And just if I can get a quick final fan question in, is there anything that you’d still like to do musically that you’ve never had the opportunity to over the years?
David: I’m pretty good just to be able to keep on doing this until I pass away. This is probably the happiest time I’ve had that I can remember.
Mark: That’s a wonderful answer.
David: I just love the people in our band, they’re great. On the release date there’s going to be something special at www.rockhall.com. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is doing a zoom interview with us if people want to check it out. There should be some shenanigans going on there. (laughs)
Mark: I’ll check that out. And I did warn you that I had a harder question for you. Every time we interview someone for the first time we always close with this question.
David: OK.
Mark: And I’ve been waiting all interview to ask you this one. What is the meaning of life?
David: Ah! That’s a good question. I answered it in a Quicksilver song it was ‘Love.’
Mark: I’m with you David, it is and it can be as simple as that. It’s been a pleasure to speak to you this morning David, thank you so much for your time.
David: You’ve asked some very nice questions, thank you.
Mark: It’s been a pleasure to speak with one of the people who wrote one of my favourite songs of all time.
David: I appreciate the chance to talk.
Mark: Thank you so much David, you have a wonderful day and hopefully we can speak again soon.
David: How about this time next year! Thank you Mark, bye bye.
The EP ‘Mother of the Sun’ is out now on Golden Robot Records.
