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Both Sides Live -A first for the Hooters
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Art Direction/Design: Graham Perry/NCS
I’ve seen the Hooters play music for 25 years. If you grew up in Philly during the 80’s, you know who this band is. Heck, you probably saw them at least a dozen times between all the high schools, colleges and clubs they’ve played. What you may not know is that they released a new album of all brand new material, Time Stand Still, in Feb. 2008. And Both Sides Live, a double disc set. just last week; August 4th to be exact.
26 years ago, the Hooters, Rob Hyman, Eric Bazilian, David Uosikkinen, John Lilley and since 1987, Fran Smith Jr., knew how to put on a show that was simply alive, adventurous, and technically flawless. They recorded albums in much the same way. They were precise: what Eric and Rob wanted you to hear, you heard. They were distinctive: the melodica aside, their songs combined a ska/rock/folk sound that was unique and vocals unmistakably Eric and Rob. They were perfect: just like their polished, well-executed image of the mid 80’s. Since Amore, their first release in 1983, nothing has changed except the number of candles on their birthday cakes.
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Photo by Mark Tassoni. The Hooters at The Electric Factory
Both Sides Live is the manifestation of every thing the Hooters were, are and will be—engaging and hard-working performers and accomplished songwriters. Though I am not a fan of live recordings because of the absence of the true power of sight and sound, disc 1, The Electric Factory (EF) is the exciting live show that the Hooters are famous for and disc 2, The Secret Sessions (SS), is both musically imaginative and organic.
“I’m Alive,” EF disc and show opener, sets the stage with the energy the audience can expect throughout the concert. It’s a newer song, and although it is a “typical” Hooters sounding song, it is very much a testimony to where their lives have lead them. A new intro to one of my favorites, “And We Danced,” doesn’t give itself away as one of the songs that made the Hooters well-known. Even when the melodica is added, the audience still isn’t sure what song it is until they hear those instantly recognizable first 5 notes nearly a minute in. And then the fans go nuts, singing along and dancing up a storm (I know this because I was there.) The Electric Factory disc also includes “Time Stand Still;” “South Ferry Road;” “All You Zombies;” “The Boys Of Summer;” “Johnny B;” “Where The Wind May Blow;” “Karla With A K;” “25 Hours A Day;” “Satellite;” “Day By Day” and “Free Again.”
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Photo by Dani Heim. The hooters at Elm Street Studio.
Every folksy note and unique instrument the Hooters have incorporated in to their music lead to The Secret Sessions. The Hooters, never having recorded a live acoustic album, decided to see what they could do with new arrangements of classics as well as their more recent material. Played to a much smaller audience, 30 to 40 people, this disc is an expanded experiment of some acoustic shows they’ve played, and a great way to broaden their fan base.
The SS is much more elemental. It’s easier to hear more components of each song and get a better idea of the emotions of each band member as they played. As an audience member of this intimate event, I felt like we had a larger impact on their performance because we were right in their faces. It wasn’t just a sea of unidentifiable heads, it was friends and family members with readable expressions and well-known expectations.
Because we were required to wear headphones and stay as quiet as possible except at the end of each song, “Morning Buzz” gave those of us who love to sing along a chance to participate during the chorus making it really feel like a Irish pub favorite. “Satellite,” a song from One Way Home, got a great makeover. Bazilian’s banjo, Ann Marie Calhoun’s violin and Lilley’s acoustic guitar give it Dixieland march meets bluegrass vibe. Rounding out The Secrest Sessions disc is “25 Hours A Day;” “All You Zombies;” “Time Stand Still;” “Johnny B;” “The Boys Of Summer;” “Day By Day;” “Ordinary Lives;” “Karla With A K” and “And We Danced.”
Both Sides Live is an album definitely worth a listen. It's a trip down memory lane flooding the senses with images and feelings of a packed, sweaty show at the 23 East Cabaret; a multiple-night sell out at The Tower Theater or of the Philly pride of our boys opening the show at Live Aid. And it’s a glimpse into the future of this rock band as they venture down an exciting new path . Both Sides Live a reminder that the Hooters, a band quickly approaching a 30-year anniversary, has staying power and the chops to back it up.
I had a chance to talk via email to Rob and Eric separately about their experience of making this double album. I also wanted to ask some questions that didn’t find themselves among the typical interview questions. Here’s how it went.
RP: When one thinks about the typical 80's band, the Hooters don't fit in. Your sound has always been more musically inventive. Do you think that has affected your success positively or negatively especially in Europe vs the States? Are Europeans more adventurous?
RH: I do think, over the years we've recorded and toured, that our sound has certainly found traction in other markets, esp. Germany and Scandinavia, where we're often thought to be an Irish band. Oddly enough, we've never played Ireland...someday! The combination of hard rock and acoustic sounds has really found a strong and loyal audience overseas, and many years of touring there have been very rewarding. However, we still love to play in the U.S., so come on people!
EB: We've sold millions of records in the US. Those fans are still out there. God bless America.
RP: Was it natural for you to incorporate what are considered atypical instruments for a rock band? And not just as a gimmick?
EB: For us, these instruments have never been “atypical.” The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, they used whatever they could lay their hands on. That’s the tradition we draw from.
RH: We've always been interested in taking the basic rock and roll setup - guitars, keys, bass, drums - and playing with that tried and true formula. It all started somewhat accidentally with a Hohner melodica, which was nick-named the "hooter" and it grew from there.
For me, on the keyboard side, I've been a big fan of Garth Hudson's, from The Band, who seemed to coax the most amazing sounds from his instruments. And I've also favored certain drony, buzzy sounds from synths, which led me to picking up the melodica, accordion, etc. to get the real thing. Eric's a master of many instruments as well, along with John on additional mandolins, guitars and dobro, and it all just continued from there.
RP: Let's talk about the melodica for a second. The history of this instrument seems to be sketchy. Hohner invented it maybe in the 50's or 60's. Or was it Joseph Lederfine or someone in 19th century Italy? Whatever the lineage, Rob, what is you personal history with the melodica? What made you think the it has a place in a rock band?
RH: Besides just finding the "hooter" courtesy of a friend of Eric's, the strongest influence from that little instrument has been Augustus Pablo, a late and very great Jamaican artist and producer. What he did with what many consider a toy has tweaked my ears since he first started, sometime in the 70’s, I suppose. He single-handedly created a sound that many have now imitated but never quite duplicated, a combination of simple instrumental melodies with very experimental dub-style studio effects that created its own sonic world, esp. given the limited technologies of the Jamaican studios and times. Great stuff, and a lot to explore there!
We're obviously more of a rock and roll sound, but the timbre of the melodica fits well with loud guitars and drums, and it's also one of my favorite instruments to play...very expressive, with great dynamics from a spooky whisper to a noisy honk. Nothing like it...
EB: We started using the melodica right when we formed the Hooters. I borrowed it from some friends that I'd been working with. Coincidentally, Rob had just turned me on to Augustus Pablo, a reggae artist who did nothing but play melodica. Bear in mind, we were playing pretty much only ska and reggae flavored music at the time.
RP: One thing that I’ve always felt about you as songwriters, producers and performers is that you are perfectionists. I get the impression that nothing is released or performed until it is perfect. This is why your live shows, I think, sound as good as, if not better than, the record. Since, Both Sides Live is a live record, was it hard for you to move ahead with it knowing mistakes are a risk?
EB: We got lucky, I think, and happened to record a couple of pretty well-played shows. It could have been a lot worse.
RH: Well, that's a deep subject, and everyone in the band may have differing opinions on this. For me, recording, esp. with modern technology, is, by its very nature, a natural place for musicians to seek perfection. Because you can! But for us, I always feel like it's back to basics, 5 guys playing now just as we all did in a garage in our teens - bigger and better production of course, but no frills, basic rock and roll with no off-stage gimmicks or technical tricks. What you see - and hear - is what you get, to the best of our abilities. I'm very proud of that, and I think that's what keeps our fans coming for as long as they have. They know what to expect, and it's our job to deliver each and every night.
And I've realized over our many years as a touring band, that it's clearly not about perfection but the energy and vibe of the moment. Naturally, it's best when the stage sounds good, everything works, and the set just flows. But what always excites us is the crowd. For me, the fans are the show, and it just goes from there. A circular flow of musical and personal exchange. And fortunately for us, we have some of the best audiences around. Couldn't do this all these years without them...
These live albums each presented a set of challenges certainly, and we did our best in picking performances and getting it to sound right. But in the end, the albums were really just a way of getting the songs out there, hopefully finding an audience, and then the real magic happens onstage. That's been our calling card since the very beginning, as this band truly lives and breathes onstage. And as a fan, I've always felt after seeing a great show, that the records kind of paled by comparison. How could they not? The power and passion of a great live show is simply undeniable, and those were the shows and influences that brought the Hooters together in the first place.
RP: Do “Time Stand Still” and “I'm Alive” carry undertones of where you are in life? Could you have written these songs when you were in your 30's instead of your 50's?
RH: Good question....I guess, after such a long break in recording, we all "grew up" a bit, and definitely this was reflected in the lyrics and themes on "Time Stand Still." We might cringe a bit at the idea of being more "mature" but marriage, kids, and mortality do have a way of affecting your work and outlook of life in general.
Even this band has become kind of a second family to us all, with the ups and downs that everyone experiences, and yes, it was time to try and write about it. For me, TSS feels like the most personal album we've done. We still wanted to keep it rocking, and it was very gratifying when we first started playing the new material, and feeling the fans' acceptance. It's also about that in the end, not just pleasing ourselves. It can be a tricky balance, and the last thing we want to be is self-indulgent. Hopefully we weren't...
EB: Who's in their 50s? Oh, right, us. I'm sure we could have written these songs at any time in our adult lives, they just happened to come now. I think they have as much to do with our feelings about the band as about where we "are in our lives."
RP: What's your all time favorite Hooters’ song?
EB: “All You Zombies.” The first song we wrote for the band. Maybe we should have quit while we were ahead?
RH: Tough question! But after playing some of these over 25 years, and still not being bored (!), I'd have to pick “All You Zombies,” “Satellite” and “Day By Day.” Oops - forgot “And We Danced” and “Karla With A K”...I think we have some good ones that maybe stand the test of time. But then again, there's always a better one to try and write. That's the perpetual dilemma and what keeps any songwriter going. Looking for that perfect tune...
RP: Both the electric show and the acoustic show can stand on their own as a performance vehicle for the Hooters. Do you prefer one over the other? What do you like about the electric show? The acoustic show?
RH: The electric show is simply that - loud, raucous, and hopefully filled with audience participation and energy. Our ears still ring after every show (a liability in a rock and roll band by the way) but it's a good kind of numb.
We've also always done some kind of unplugged acoustic performances, often in radio shows, etc. and that brings its own inspiration and reward, as that's where you really find out what the songs might be about, and how good - or not- they really are. Basic words and melodies, that kind of thing.
In the end, I'm guessing we'd all prefer the big bombastic live stage, but doing The Secret Sessions really was a blast, and actually one of our biggest challenges as a band, with some friends and fans almost sitting on our laps as this album was recorded! For me, it was more nerve-racking than playing a festival for 100,000, which becomes more anonymous by its very nature.
EB: When we did them I was leaning toward the acoustic show as a recording. Having gotten out on to the big stage again, though, I have to say that the Hooters are first and foremost a loud rock and roll band.
RP: Do you see the Hooters making a move to more acoustic shows?
EB: That was actually the intent in making The Secret Sessions record. I would love to do some real acoustic productions, with a grand piano, Hammond organ, at least one violinist, maybe more musicians. But not at the expense of the electric shows.
RH: That would be great. Basically we'd all sit instead of stand, and certainly some of our fans would appreciate that! We've also done duo and trio shows, for example, that have been interesting as well. You always learn something, esp. from changing things up a bit and breaking the routines. And our ears don't ring as much!
RP: On the Electric Factory disc, 4 of 13 songs are new originals as of Time Stand Still. On The Secret Sessions, 4 of 12 are, but not all the same as the Electric Factory disc. How do you decide what songs go into your show? Old vs. new? Which old? Which new? (BTW, my own personal choice would be way more from Amore!!!)
RH: There are some basic "foundation" songs we've played almost every show- not only to please the fans, but ourselves as well. We've worked hard on these tunes, and we're proud of 'em...but there's a spontaneous element to the shows that is essential to keep us inspired and the fans on their toes.
For Both Sides Live, once we settled on the concept, we just fooled around with the arrangements and tried to pick the best performances. Most of the electric set has been road-tested of course, but the acoustic versions offered the opportunity to rethink some of these tunes, and also offer a bit of musical tweaks with Ann Marie Calhoun adding her violin. Good fun...I'm sure there's more to come.
EB: We really chose the songs on the basis of the performances. Very Darwinian.
RP: Did you choose the 12 songs for the Secret Sessions intentionally because they were most adaptable to the Hooters brand of acoustic and all the "toys" Eric has?
EB: Actually, I didn't use nearly as many of my "toys" as I'd liked. Nowhere was the nyckelharpa, the hurdygurdy, recorder, theremin, lap steel, etc. I chose my instruments according to what made for the most exciting performance. Since I'm also singing lead it needs to be an instrument that I can play without thinking.
RH: We tried a bunch of songs out for size, and each night was a bit different in set list, etc. The best performances won. And the "studio audience" was very patient as each song required different instruments, recording set-ups and other engineering challenges. John Senior and Rick Chertoff greatly helped to keep things flowing and sound as good as possible, in engineering and production roles.
RP: The number of audience members aside, what were some differences between each making the EF disc and the SS disc?
RH: There was far more leeway with the Electric Factory sets, in terms of performance and sound. It is what it is, and loud live recordings are, by their nature, somewhat random and unpredictable. We had a great crew, and remote recording truck (Michael Comstock's Indre Recording), but you can only control so much, and well, shit happens. Things go out of tune, or don't work at all...that's what onstage live is all about. In the studio - well, that's completely different, as we could stop if something was way out of tune or just not right. It didn't happen a lot, but you do have that net if need be.
EB: The EF disc was all adrenaline. Most of the songs, if not all, we had played dozens or hundreds of times in that exact arrangement. The SS disc definitely required our thinking caps.
RP: Is Both Sides Live the epitome of the Hooters? Or is it a new way we should be looking at you going forward?
EB: I don't think there is an epitome of the Hooters. Or if there is, we haven't found it yet. BSL was really just a marker, a document of where the band was at that specific time.
RH: BSL is just one more "document" in our recorded history. It's a little early to know just what kind of chapter this will become, but it was a natural place to go while we continue to write the next one. And of course, if you've seen the band live, then hopefully this is a way to reconnect with that experience, as any live album would be. We did stretch a bit on the acoustic side, but I suppose it's more of a retrospective than anything, and certainly was fun to put together.
RP: Lastly - I know that you have been spending time in Europe this summer, but what does the near future hold for the Hooters and Philly fans? (You know your fans always like to hear of upcoming things. And I would be honored to fill them in!)
RH: Often our fans know about upcoming shows before we do (no lie!) so just check out our website, hootersmusic.com, which has just been redesigned and will have all the latest info. Philly area shows are definitely forthcoming, and we hope to be back in NYC, DC, and other cities soon as well. We miss it...
And thanks as always to the amazing and loyal fans of the Hooters too, not just for supporting us but live music in general for all these years. We touring musicians thank you!
EB: I'll be the last to know, trust me.
For more information or to purchase Both Sides Live, go to HootersMusic.com.
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