Kip Winger is a supremely talented musician, and if you are familiar with the music he created with Reb Beech and co. back in the day you will know that Winger weren’t your typical late 80’s Rock band. And whilst there’s a new Winger album on the way (read on to find out more) Kip has been busy composing for orchestra and musicals. Australian fans will be happy to see that he’s also heading back our way in March for some solo dates including his performance at the Melodic Rock Fest in Melbourne. And yes Perth fans he’s also headed to the West Coast along with Terry Ilous’ XYZ and local favourites Ragdoll.
Mark: Hey Kip it’s Mark from The Rockpit how are you?
Kip: I’m good thanks, just working away here, what’s happening?
Mark: There’s so much going on in the lead up to the Melodic Rock Fest, and I’m lucky enough to be able to catch up with guys like you in the lead up. What are you working on?
Kip: Oh right now, I got a commission from Nashville symphony to write a Symphony Number I and a Violin Concerto because we’re gonna make an album.
Mark: I think that’s the first time anyone has told me anything remotely like that in an interview!
Kip: (laughs)
Mark: It must be wonderful to have that freedom these days to be able to switch between Rock music and writing a piece for orchestra? Or a ballet?
Kip: It’s certainly interesting and a bit of a mixed bag. You now it’s hard to talk about it sometimes because I don’t exactly know how to talk about it. The reason I write classical music is because I can’t not do it, you know, it’s one of those things. One thing people always say is “so you were classically trained and you grew up a classical musician” but it’s not actually true. I grew up in a band with my two brothers playing Grand Funk and Led Zeppelin! I did study ballet at 16, 17 and I got an ear for classical music through that and I studied classical guitar some, but I didn’t actually focus on orchestral writing until I was like 35. But it’s really just because when I hear music that was what I was hearing and I felt frustrated that I wasn’t able to realise it, so I went back to school and learnt how to do it. But when you say it must be nice to have that freedom, to be honest with you writing orchestral music… classical composition is like torture!
Mark: (laughs)
Kip: It’s really grueling and it doesn’t come easy you know, anyone given a piece that I’ve written has taken over a year to write. So it’s a shitload of work but the payoff is amazing when you get to hear an orchestra play your shit it’s amazing!
Mark: I imagine it’s a bit like the difference between being a journalist and a novelist, there’s some great journalism and some great three minute songs but a novel or a symphony are something else entirely.
Kip: Yeah exactly. You totally get it.
Mark: I guess the reason people feel a little uncomfortable addressing it as well, and say things like “trained as a classical musician” is that they want to get it out of the way! The worlds of Hard Rock and Classical Music are so different and not too many feel comfortable or maybe knowledgeable enough talking about both. There aren’t too many musicians either, comfortable in both worlds.
Kip: It’s weird there are a few guys that do it like Steve Vai, he does some orchestral writing. My relationship with Steve is that we send each other scores and stuff, then there’s Stuart Copeland from The Police and a few other guys. I’m just one of the other guys that does it, I was just really lucky to be nominated for a Grammy for one of my Classical compositions.
Mark: I saw that was for your solo record ‘Conversations with Nijinsky’ that must feel validating that you are being taken seriously in both of those worlds?
Kip: Yeah that really helped because a lot of people try to do it…It’s a bit like (Kip feigns a rather good Nigel Tufnell of Spinal Tap voice) “It’s a bit like Mozart and Bach really, sort of a Mach if you know what I mean” sorry I didn’t mean to go all Spinal Tap on you! (laughs).
Mark: (laughs) it’s funny that you bring up Spinal Tap who of course did that ‘Saucy Jack’ riff on ‘Jack the Ripper’, I was looking at the other project you’re involved in – ‘Get Jack’ a musical thriller about that same Jack.
Kip: Yes I did that musical with my friend Damien Gray, and that took me three and a half years to write that shit! Over that time I didn’t do anything but write that music, it was a fucking huge project, it broke my soul really. I mean I’m happy with it, there was just so much work. And by the way we still haven’t gotten it up and running yet and it’s still ”By the way can you just rewrite this and can you write this other song!” I did put out the album as ‘The Director’s Cut’ but they still keep asking me to write new shit, it’s like the project that will never end (laughs).
Mark: (laughs) getting back to, I guess, the purpose of our call, you’re over in Australia again for Melodic Rock Fest in March, the first time you’ve been to see us I think since I saw you with Winger playing with Ratt in Sydney back in 2007?
Kip: Yes
Mark: But this time it’s a little different, you’re playing acoustically?
Kip: I’m kinda one of those guys that was the originator of the acoustic thing, I’ve been doing it since 1996 basically because when the Grunge thing hit and the 80’s bands were gone there was no other way to make a living. So I’ve kinda been developing it over a long time and you know I plug my guitar in dude, it’s really an electric show, it’s a misnomer to call it acoustic, so I play an acoustic but it’s plugged in and I got a percussionist. I mean at one point I opened for Whitesnake doing my ‘acoustic’ thing so it’s pretty rocking. I do all the Winger stuff and a bunch of my solo stuff.
Mark: I was looking at a setlist you played recently just to check that one of my favourites ‘Down Incognito’ was on there!
Kip: Oh cool.
Mark: But back in the day it was songs like ‘Can’t Get Enough’ and’17’ that were on all of my mix-tapes, but to me Winger was always a little apart from the rest of the bands of that era, with more progressive leanings, that not only set you apart but I think set you up for some rather unfair treatment by some sections of the press.
Kip: I appreciate that, thank you. Yeah we really got the shit knocked out of us for a while man.
Mark: How hard is that to take? It always seemed to me that it was for no good reason apart from the fact that you were more talented than most?
Kip: I appreciate that too. When we were singled out by Beavis and Butthead and all that kind of stuff there was nothing I could do about it, it was what it was. And you know I had a lot of lean years dude. There were a lot of times when it was very difficult to get a gig, but my philosophy was always, listen I’ve only been doing this for music anyway, so I’m gonna keep writing music and keep staying strong in the music. And that’s kind of when the Classical thing took off and then, you know, I just kept making records and trying to do the best I could. I mean I’m not the biggest artist in the world, far from it, not very big at all actually, but music is what kept me going and what turned it all around.
Mark: I guess it’s easier to look at things from the outside but when I look at your career I see someone who has achieved some incredible stuff, even little moments like playing on the Dylan album, how big of a thing was that?
Kip: Man that was right at the start. I moved to New York when I was 24 and I was friends with Beau (Hill, producer) and he used me on a lot of things that he did and there was this film called ‘Hearts of Fire’ with Fiona Flanagan…
Mark: Who Reb (Beech) was playing with.
Kip: Right. So she did a movie with Bob Dylan and they had a bunch of songs for it. I recorded that song for the movie, but they didn’t use it, but they put it on that Bob Dylan album after that.
Mark: I never put all that together, I knew you got together with Reb at that time but I never put all those pieces in place. And Winger is one of those bands that from the outside, you all seem to have gotten along over the years and the original band is still together. I know the last album was a few years back but what’s the status on new material?
Kip: Oh we’re writing right now, the problem is just that everyone’s so busy we’re just trying to find the time. Reb and I have already got a couple of songs for the new album and he’s coming next week to knock out a few more, but he’s been touring with Whitesnake and it’s been hard for us to get together you know. But we will always make records. The main thing about our band that everyone should know is that we can’t wait to hang out with each other because we dig each other and it’s a fun hang! It’s not like doing it just because we’ve got to get together and make some bread and we hate each other, we totally dig each other, we’re like best friends. So we’ll always do something. So we’re making an album right now, I don’t know how long it’s gonna take but we started already.
Mark: I loved the last album ‘Better Days Coming’ it was a great Winger album and had that great sound. I also loved the songs Reb wrote with Whitesnake this time round, he didn’t really get a chance when Doug was in that band?
Kip: I think Doug kept all that to himself, Coverdale didn’t know that he had a secret weapon in his band till Doug left (laughs)
Mark: We’ve booked a table for you at a restaurant and you can invite four musicians living or dead to spend the evening with –who would you choose?
Kip: Well definitely Ravel my all-time favourite composer and Peter Gabriel…
Mark: Are you a ‘Bolero’ man?
Kip: Oh that’s like his worst piece man! He wrote such good music.
Mark: Exactly, it’s funny you say that, I completely agree, there’s so much great music he made, my favourite maybe ‘Piano Concerto in G’. They say he never wrote anything down until he’d got it fully worked out in his head.
Kip: Oh my God, dude! I went to his house last summer man, and it’s exactly the way it was when he died, they haven’t moved anything, it’s so cool. So I would have Ravel, Peter Gabriel… Wow that’s a really interesting question, I have to think about that! How long do I have?
Mark: As long as you get back to me before you get to Australia we’re good!
Kip: (laughs) You’re OK I’ll think of it right now! I mean I’ve met all my heroes except McCartney so I’d love him to be there and to balance it up maybe Prokofiev, that should make a really interesting conversation!
Mark: If you could have been a fly on the wall for the creation of any classic album from the history of Rock, what would it have been for you? What album would you have loved to have seen being made?
Kip: Oh God, you know ‘Abbey Road’, or and this will throw you through a loop, but I would have liked to have been there watching Michael Oldfield doing ‘Tubular Bells’.
Mark: One of the great albums of the 70’s.
Kip: Side 2 of that record especially. I would love to have witnessed that. Unbelievable.
Mark: The final question is of course the easy one – what is the meaning of life?
Kip: Live in the moment. Live in the now. That is the meaning of life, right now is all we have.
Mark: Great answer. Thank you so much for your time tonight Kip, we’re all looking forward to getting you over again and fans in the West especially as you have that date over here with XYZ.
Kip: Thank you Mark, see you soon.
