He's the 'man in the shadows,' 'the closer,' the guy who sprinkles fairy dust and turns great into f*ing awesome. He is singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Alain Johannes. He's a self-taught musical genius. But don't take his word for it 'cause he won't tell you that. But if you dig hard enough, ask other legendary musicians, and take a good listen, you'll learn for yourself. Alain Johannes was born into a musical family--his parents and uncles were all hugely accomplished singers and musicians in his native Chile. So it was only natural that this singer, songwriter, master multi-instrumentalist, and record producer would follow in their footsteps. He came to America at age 12 without knowing a single word of English. By age 17, he was fluent in the language and fronting a high-school band called Anthym. Their name, later changed to What Is This?, famously appeared on the nationally televised American Bandstand with Dick Clark. The band's core members included Hillel Slovak (guitar), Jack Irons (drums), and Michael Balzary (aka, Flea on bass), the three of whom, would later account for three-fourths of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' original lineup. The real turning point in Johannes's life and career came when he met and married his soulmate of 25 years, Natasha Shneider. The duo would become one of the most powerful and dynamic musical pairings of our time, recording their first album together under the moniker Walk The Moon in 1987. A few years later, their band, Eleven, was born, adding drummer Jack Irons (RHCP, Pearl Jam) back into the fold and, at various times, Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) and Greg Upchurch (3 Doors Down). The group released five records through 2003 ( Awake in a Dream , Eleven , Thunk , Avantgardedog , and Howling Book ) while also touring extensively as an opening act and backing band for esteemed acts such as Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, Candlebox, and Chris Cornell as a solo performer. Their partnership with Cornell would blossom when they went on to play a major role in writing and producing his first solo effort, Euphoria Morning , in 1999. At the same time, their record label asked them to postpone the release of their latest and arguably most important album, Avantgardedog , so that they could back up Cornell on his Euphoria Morning tour. This was one of the first times the group's talent was somewhat overlooked by record company execs. It played a pivotal role in preventing Eleven from truly achieving their richly deserved mainstream breakthrough. 2008 proved to be an unbearable year for Alain, with a string of untimely deaths. First, his beloved Natasha lost her battle with cancer, and shortly after, he lost both of his parents and his uncle Peter. Through so much devastating loss, he's persevered as a solo artist, recording three albums so far-- Spark , a special tribute to Shneider, Fragments and Wholes, Vol. 1 , and Hum. Currently, he is working on Fragments and Wholes Vol. 2 and an album with his Alain Johannes Trio that includes the single "Luna A Sol" with Faith No More's Mike Patton on vocals. Alain remains a sought-after record producer, having recorded for everyone from Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), Josh Homme and Queens of the Stone Age, Adam Lambert, No Doubt, PJ Harvey, and Arctic Monkeys to newer acts such as Lost Satellite, The Devils, Earl of Hell, and many others, imprinting his own unique and undeniable sound and style to every project. In 2019, he created the soundtrack to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon video game. His work can also be heard as a touring member and songwriter on Josh Homme's Desert Sessions and Them Crooked Vultures (Homme, Dave Grohl, and John Paul Jones), as well as a pivotal member of Sound City Players for the Dave Grohl documentary showcasing the history of the famous Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. To this day, Eleven's large following of loyal fans follow Alain all over the globe to hear songs from his impressive catalog. In 2023, he celebrated the 20th anniversary of Eleven's final studio album, Howling Book, with a special collector's edition vinyl reissue.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hey everybody, Alan Yohannes here, and you're watching Life Minute TV.
00:05And on guitar, Mr. Alan Yohannes.
00:08Alright, for this next song, we'd like to bring out our friend, Alan Yohannes, from the great band Crooked Vultures.
00:17Alan Yohannes!
00:19Not only was he in the legendary band Eleven, but he was also in the band Queens of the Stone Age for a little while, in a band called them Crooked Vultures.
00:30And I can honestly say, he was the most talented motherfucker in the whole band. There's no question about that.
00:36I met Alan Yohannes and my life in music really began. He's the most talented guy I've ever known. He's my best friend.
00:43He was the first guy I ever met that was able to make my vision a reality.
00:47I was only able to describe what I wanted my song to sound like, and then within an hour, we would have almost a completed song.
00:54Not only was it what I had asked for, but it also exceeded that by such a huge margin.
01:01I knew that I was going to make records with this guy as long as I possibly could.
01:06His father was a rock star from Chile, and his uncle was basically the Elvis Presley of Chile.
01:12And this is a guy who was born in Chile, but raised in Mexico, and came to the United States at age 13, not knowing how to speak a word of English.
01:20But by age 17, was on American Bandstand, and his backing band was the guys, of course, who ended up being the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
01:30I recently was hanging out with John Paul Jones. What a cool guy he is.
01:34You know, all we talked about was Alan, how much we both loved him, and you know, just what a talent he was.
01:43Alright, woohoo!
01:45Finally, Alan Yohannes in the house!
01:48Thank you, thank you for the invitation.
01:50And actually in person this time, right?
01:52Yes, we've spoken so many times, and we finally got you in person, which is amazing.
01:57I'm in New York City!
01:59Woohoo! On your amazing U.S. world tour.
02:02Yeah, U.S. and world tour.
02:04Last night, I got to catch the show at the Iridium, which was absolutely amazing.
02:10My name's Alan Yohannes.
02:12I'm going to play you a bunch of stuff from the last 30-some years.
02:20It's been going amazingly well, a lot of fun.
02:33I decided in December after I had a little bit of a health scare to, you know, I've been kind of floating around anyway for the last couple of years, not really just here and there and everywhere.
02:42And I decided, you know, it was time to get out there and tour a lot more.
02:45So I started in March, and there's a really cool band called Earl of Hell, and they booked the tour in the U.K.
02:52So we basically traveled together.
02:54They opened up the show, and then I would play half the set or a little bit less acoustically.
02:59And then they'd join me as my band, you know.
03:01And so that was the theme.
03:03And the same thing happened in Spain with Lost Satellite, you know, the band that I produced.
03:07The band you produce, we should say.
03:09All these bands you produce.
03:10And Earl of Hell, I'm actually working on the new record.
03:12It's going to be amazing.
03:14I'm mixing it and stuff.
03:16And we're going to do some more touring next year together in the U.K. and Ireland this time.
03:19They're from Scotland.
03:21They're a great band.
03:23And then continuing that theme, I continued on with the Devils, this awesome punk band from Italy, Gianni America.
03:27And the same thing.
03:29We, you know, toured in Italy.
03:31They'd open the show.
03:33Then they'd join me for some songs after my acoustic set.
03:35Continuing on with Patron, French band.
03:37Same thing, you know, played shows there.
03:38Keep going.
03:40In between, you know, I stopped the production here, production there with Tara Who, with Sick Joy.
03:44I love working out of the studio called La Casa Murada just south of Barcelona.
03:48And it's one of my favorite studios to work at.
03:50So there's a little break in between tours.
03:52I go there.
03:54Then I joined my dear friend's Masters of Reality with Chris Goss.
03:57And we did a bunch of shows together.
03:59And, you know, then I went to Australia and New Zealand.
04:01I'm getting tired just telling you all this stuff.
04:03Yeah, it was amazing fun.
04:05And then now brings me to the U.S. tour.
04:06I found an amazing agency called North Shore Artists.
04:09And Scott and I have been traveling together.
04:11We're both driving.
04:13He's a tour manager doing the merch.
04:15And he brought us all the way from Nashville all the way to New York, you know.
04:17And that's where we ended up yesterday at the Iridium, which is an amazing show.
04:21It was an amazing show.
04:23And everybody was just buzzing about it.
04:25Standing ovations four times over.
04:27Oh, it was so sweet.
04:29It was just really special and amazing.
04:31Yeah, a great connection.
04:33It's a great feeling because I didn't know whether I could, you know,
04:34even though I've been a part of so much music.
04:37Sometimes, you know, people don't rely on us.
04:39Might not know that I was involved or whatever.
04:41You know, some of the deep fans came out.
04:43And it was a great feeling because I could play songs, you know,
04:46from the last 30 years.
04:48And people that were fans of that, you know, whether it was Eleven,
04:51you know, Dez's session stuff or my solo work.
04:53I love it when there's a connection with the audience and they,
04:56I can open up to them.
04:58It becomes a circle of energy.
05:00And next thing you know, I'm playing and singing better
05:02than I possibly imagined I could, you know.
05:04Which is a great feeling.
05:06And that's what happened yesterday.
05:08It was a, you know, really, really amazing night.
05:10Yeah, people were crying.
05:12Myself included.
05:14You really have had an incredible career.
05:16Songs that you've written that people don't know about.
05:18Yeah, yeah.
05:20Gosh, from the work with Chris Cornell, Euphoria Morning,
05:22that you, you know, wrote and produced.
05:24Queens of the Stone Age, Desert Sessions.
05:26Well, obviously, with Euphoria Morning,
05:28it was an amazing period in our lives, you know, Natasha and I.
05:32We were already fans of Soundgarden.
05:34When we both ended up on tour together,
05:36you know, they were listening to us,
05:38we were listening to them,
05:40and they invited us to open up for them
05:42and began this long friendship, you know.
05:44And we'd open up for them,
05:46and they invited Natasha to guest on the record,
05:48and we just had this beautiful friendship and connection.
05:50So when Chris decided to do his first solo record,
05:52he stayed with us for a while.
05:54We wrote a bunch of songs together,
05:56prepared material.
05:58Meanwhile, we had a studio in the house
06:00because of him,
06:02because when he was staying with us,
06:04he invited Al Capharo, the president of A&M Records,
06:06that was their label,
06:08to come and listen to our stuff.
06:10And he loved it so much he offered us a record deal.
06:12And Natasha and I were ballsy enough
06:14to walk into his office and ask for the budget
06:16as a PO for the music store
06:18so we could use the entire amount
06:20to buy equipment to build a studio in the house,
06:23which we did.
06:25He said yes, which is incredible,
06:27and then we did have a gargoyle like that.
06:29We had a studio at the house already,
06:30and we wrote these songs with Chris
06:32who was going to work with Daniel Renoir.
06:34And Daniel canceled a bunch of his projects,
06:36and so Chris was like,
06:38what are we going to do?
06:40And Natasha was like,
06:42we're going to start recording tomorrow.
06:44No one needs to know, we're right here,
06:46we're going to do it.
06:48And so we did Euphoria Morning at 11AD,
06:50which is the name of the home studio that we had.
06:52And that was just one of the most amazing
06:54creative periods of my life,
06:56seven months making the record,
06:58a year and a half touring it.
07:00And we just had this amazing shorthand.
07:02And it was a lot of fun
07:04because we were completely
07:06outside of any kind of pressure
07:08of needing to show anything to anybody
07:10or expensive studios or any of that stuff.
07:12So it was really great.
07:14And it sounded just beautiful,
07:16nothing like it.
07:18Yeah, and then right after that period,
07:20we ended up on Interscope,
07:22because A&M became Interscope,
07:24because Avant Garde was postponed
07:26to come out after Euphoria Morning,
07:28but sadly it had sold,
07:30so we went to Queens of the Stone Age.
07:32That whole connection started,
07:34the relationship and the friendship.
07:36Josh invited me to record
07:38some B-sides for Rated R
07:40at Sound City Studios.
07:42And from there he told us
07:44about Desert Sessions,
07:46this amazing idea and concept
07:48that you get together with a bunch of people,
07:50some of them you've never met,
07:52and the idea is to make a record
07:54in several days from scratch.
07:56¶¶
08:01¶¶
08:08You know, recorded and composed
08:10in just a short period of time
08:12and making new connections,
08:14new friendships,
08:16and sometimes songwriters
08:18have a longer process for this,
08:20like they develop the songs
08:22and they tweak them,
08:23they do everything,
08:25spontaneity is everything,
08:27not a bunch of takes,
08:29you just get one.
08:31So in that 7 and 8
08:33is when I wrote Hanging Tree
08:35and Making a Cross,
08:37and then Josh asked if they could record that
08:39for Songs for the Deaf,
08:41so I went in,
08:43also part of that record,
08:45I'm like the Mexican DJ,
08:47I'm playing the theremin and flutes
08:49and some guitars and stuff at EBO
08:51on Hanging Tree.
08:53And then the next one, 9 and 10,
08:55is when I met PJ Harvey
08:57through Josh again.
08:59And it's just amazing,
09:01what a beautiful place to meet
09:03and a musical family tree
09:05to expand from.
09:07Josh is very instrumental
09:09and very important
09:11in the way people come together
09:13around the sphere that he creates.
09:15You told a funny story last night
09:17about that,
09:19about how you wrote that song
09:21and they left you hanging.
09:23So I wrote it,
09:25and then Josh goes,
09:27can we use that song for Songs for the Deaf?
09:29I said, of course.
09:31But you know,
09:33Mark and Nick and I are going to tour it,
09:35so you should give us like 10% each.
09:37I said, okay, cool, great.
09:39Absolutely, of course,
09:41I love you guys, of course.
09:43And so the album comes out
09:45and it says,
09:47written by Jami Oliveri Lannigan,
09:49and my name is not even on there.
09:51And I'm telling my friends,
09:53I was one of the writers
09:55in the first hundred,
09:57I think several thousand,
09:59maybe a hundred thousand of the vinyl.
10:01And so I was telling my friends,
10:03oh wait, did you hear this cool song that I wrote?
10:05And they're like, no,
10:07what are you talking about?
10:09Look, I got the credits right here.
10:11I was like, oops.
10:13On Sound City,
10:15I don't think they fixed it.
10:17Your name I noticed wasn't on there.
10:19Oh, the last credits,
10:21yeah, I was told they were there.
10:23Let's play some vinyl songs.
10:25Let's go.
10:27I'm kind of the man in the shadows,
10:29as it were.
10:31Not because I chose to be,
10:33it's just my personality is more team,
10:35you know, go team, no I in team.
10:37Relationship is very important to me,
10:39whether it's connection with just another person
10:41or a group of people.
10:43I think you can achieve amazing things
10:45when you join forces
10:47and you selflessly,
10:49with at least the negative aspect of ego,
10:51leave that to the side
10:53and that's why I always feel so good inside.
10:55At the same time,
10:57it's really strange
10:59because I've made solo records
11:01in which I work exclusively by myself.
11:03But it's strange
11:05because I still feel like Natasha's presence with me.
11:07So in a way it's still collaborating.
11:09She's so deeply inside my psyche,
11:11my mind and my soul
11:13so I can almost access her internally,
11:16like asking advice
11:18or in the form of a spontaneous decision
11:20or just trusting.
11:21That's a big part
11:23of my solo album process
11:25is trusting
11:27and not overthinking it.
11:29It doesn't have to be perfect.
11:31It has to have the energy
11:33of the initial inception
11:35or rather,
11:37I think of it more of a transmission
11:39that I've been preparing all my life to receive
11:41and manifest
11:43in as much of a totality as possible.
11:45That's a beautiful way to look at it.
11:47It's what it feels like to me.
11:49I don't feel like I own any of it
11:51but it's more like
11:53it's just out there.
11:55How does it all happen for you?
11:58How does it come?
12:00Do lyrics come first or music comes first?
12:02Lyrics usually come after
12:04which is funny
12:06but there's already imagery inherent
12:08in the melody and the harmony
12:10and the lyrics and the atmosphere of the song
12:12whether it has longing or melancholy
12:14or anger or whatever.
12:16Sometimes it's like
12:18when I'm first improvising the fragments
12:19which I do on Instagram very often
12:23some kind of vocalese will come
12:25some words, you know.
12:27They're not really words, they're sounds
12:29and sometimes the vocalization sticks
12:31and becomes kind of like the central thing
12:33you know,
12:35you know, whatever.
12:45And then it just kind of flows out.
12:47So I don't think I've actually
12:49recorded a vocal
12:51singing a lyric I've memorized
12:53because I just wrote it.
12:55I'm actually reading it
12:57as I'm singing it
12:59almost like interpreting it in the moment
13:01reacting to it, you know
13:03because it's so fast, it's so quick
13:05and I just kind of convinced myself that
13:07well, first of all, I feel like
13:09there's pressure building up.
13:11It's not a bad pressure
13:13it's just that kind of feeling like
13:15something's ready to pop, you know
13:17and then I just wait for that moment
13:19and then I kind of set up
13:21the environment so that I can pull it off
13:23like, okay, nothing to do for a week
13:25or, you know, get the instruments ready
13:27put some mics up, you know
13:29and then just like listen for it
13:31and then just start, you know
13:33and once I start
13:35then it just starts to move.
13:37It's almost like a demo
13:39you just open the thing up
13:41and it starts to flow, you know
13:43and that's what happened with Hum
13:45like 12 days later I had a whole record
13:47and I imagined the entire album
13:49in sequence and I kept listening
13:51for the next song
13:53and each day I would
13:55basically compose, record, mix
13:57and put that song to bed by the evening
13:59and the next morning
14:01listen to those first two songs
14:03and then what's the third song
14:05then what's the fourth song, you know
14:07that was the process for Hum
14:09you know, that was quite intense
14:11and on that one I had
14:13Mark Lannigan was home
14:15and he was on the other line
14:17and he was amazing
14:19and just giving me input
14:21like yeah, let's go, this is good
14:23it needs a little, you know, like that
14:25it was like having a producer or something
14:27that was a really amazing feeling
14:29because it was usually the other way around
14:31because I've been producing his records
14:33he had my back
14:35we had this really great natural way of
14:37like it was understood
14:39like he could actually approach it
14:41as if everything that he heard in his mind
14:43I would, you know, try to manifest
14:45for him, you know
14:47and he didn't necessarily have to be
14:49super clear about what he heard
14:51I just had a feeling
14:53the way he was expressing it
14:55and like as I was searching
14:57of how he was reacting to what I was doing
14:59it's not like, he knew when it was right
15:01you know, so I just had to make him
15:03feel good about it
15:05so that he would want to sing it
15:07and then we would add a few touches at the end
15:09and that was the process
15:11usually only about four or five hours per song
15:13and then of course the guests
15:15you know, they would add their stuff
15:17and that was the other part of the song
15:19that was usually the process, you know
15:21You're so eclectic
15:23and you've done it
15:25you've had so many bands, you know
15:27but you can always hear that it's you
15:29that you've touched something
15:31whether, you know
15:33and even things you produce
15:35how is it different for you
15:37producing or doing your own solo stuff?
15:39I mean, I look at it as part of the same process
15:41I'm really good at sensing what is needed
15:43and I don't want to
15:45derail someone else's process
15:47and so some bands
15:49want you, you know
15:51it feels like they want help
15:53in songwriting or whatever
15:55some are just happy to be in an environment
15:57that is caring and loving
15:59and supportive, you know
16:01and fun
16:03and sometimes, this is what I do
16:05I'm very vocal and honest about what I hear
16:07like, this could be better if it had this
16:09and I don't say it needs something
16:11I just have possibilities
16:13to play you
16:15of what it could be
16:17and when I'm in that process
16:19it becomes this, like
16:21everyone in the room knows
16:23when it's right, you know
16:25so it's not even like
16:27the suggestions I come up with
16:29are already within the realm
16:31of what feels right for it, you know
16:33I'm really good at kind of
16:35absorbing a paradigm or a world view
16:37of a particular artist
16:39and then figuring out
16:41what is assistive in that situation
16:43there's a sound, maybe
16:45but there's definitely
16:47been a situation
16:49maybe even two
16:51in 20 some years
16:53where it didn't work
16:55where I was incapable
16:57of stopping a self-sabotage
16:59there was no way
17:01that anything was going to work
17:03they made sure of that
17:05but it's really interesting
17:07it's the same process as for myself
17:09it's a slightly more forward
17:11or supportive role
17:13either it's a lead role
17:15or a supportive role
17:17based on communication
17:19communicating human experiences
17:21communicating the possibilities
17:23the beauty of life
17:25because music has that power
17:27to help us
17:29and be there for us
17:31whenever there's tremendous suffering
17:33or tremendous happiness
17:35or all of the entire pendulum
17:37from one side to the other
17:39music can be there
17:41and that's what I love
17:43I'd love to play something from Spark
17:45as you know, this album
17:47a lot of music comes from him
17:50a lot of the albums I've been a part of
17:52people come up to me after the shows
17:54and they thank me for
17:56being a part of something
17:58that helped them through
18:00their hard years
18:02or defined a period in their lives
18:04or is still helping them now
18:06with my album for Natasha
18:08which was based on
18:10dealing with the grief
18:12and the pain and the suffering
18:14at the same time
18:15and the love that there was
18:17a lot of people that have experienced grief
18:19are moved by that album
18:21and they come up and they tell me
18:23and it feels really amazing
18:28being entertained is a beautiful thing too
18:30but it's really amazing
18:32when it has a deeper meaning for people
18:34because it does for me
18:36music is the happiest that I am
18:38whenever I'm in a creative environment
18:40it doesn't always have to be music
18:42as long as the creative environment
18:43when I'm around my painter friends
18:45or poet friends
18:47it's a particular antidote
18:49to all the negative aspects
18:51of existence
19:00How did you know
19:02you wanted to be a musician?
19:04I was four
19:06but I remember
19:08it's pretty young
19:10but I was very fortunate
19:11that my uncles and my mom
19:13they were all in music
19:15they were all
19:17more in the performer
19:19entertainer world
19:21but my uncle Peter
19:23was a multi-instrumentalist
19:25and a huge personality
19:27and so there was always music in the house
19:29and he would show up
19:31and he would be playing trumpet
19:33or flute or drums
19:35and my mom was singing
19:37music was a big part of everything
19:39and I don't know
19:41how I felt when I listened
19:43and then also
19:45I looked at him
19:47and the fascination with the instruments
19:49and the sounds they would make
19:51and I felt a resonance with it
19:53and almost like a certainty
19:55that was for me
19:57that I could be good at it
19:59so he showed me a few chords on the guitar
20:01and I went in
20:03and I got more serious
20:05as time went on
20:07I was enjoying music
20:09I would listen to a lot of Beatles
20:11I didn't listen to soldiers
20:13or cars or guns or whatever
20:15it was more about the music
20:17and then just the more I played
20:19the more I played
20:21and then some key events
20:23like having really cool neighbors
20:25that would gift me like a Paco de Lucia record
20:27so I heard flamenco guitar for the first time
20:29then Zeppelin and Hendrix appeared
20:31and because I was living in so many different places
20:33my family was always traveling
20:35I started to be exposed
20:37to different kinds of music
20:39and different cultures
20:41the common thread
20:43so I became so fascinated with instruments
20:45that's why I have 300 of them in storage
20:48not just guitars
20:50300?
20:52that was more actually
20:54it's probably more
20:56I never counted to be honest
20:58but I have so many things
21:00somebody said once
21:02I want to steal it
21:04I don't remember who it was
21:06but the guy has over 400 instruments
21:08and what's most astounding
21:09you have all different instruments
21:11I'm not a virtuoso on any of them
21:13but I can use them in a musical context
21:16to communicate something important
21:18with the sound that instrument makes
21:20that's what fascinated me about it
21:22plus I love how they look
21:24Indian classical instruments
21:26Arabic instruments
21:28African instruments
21:30Slavic instruments
21:32Celtic instruments
21:34South American instruments
21:36there's a common thing to them
21:38they are the personality
21:40and the face of a culture
21:42but yet they also can reach across
21:44there's people that listen to music
21:46from other countries
21:48that didn't grow up in that culture
21:50and yet it moves them
21:52even when you don't understand the lyric
21:54you get moved in a universal way
21:56it's a little frustrating sometimes
21:58what is the lyric here?
22:00but beyond that
22:02something is being transmitted
22:04and received
22:05and I've just been fascinated with that
22:07that's why I collect
22:09I pick up a new instrument every year or two
22:11I just wish I had enough time
22:13to get good at it
22:15and I keep picking quite difficult ones
22:17to get good at
22:19because a lot of the discipline it takes
22:21you have to be a kid
22:23and start to be a virtuoso
22:25you have to be playing it
22:2710 hours a day
22:29I think you're okay
22:31like I said
22:33the goal is not to be a virtuoso
22:35the goal is to play music
22:37from where it comes from
22:39I'm not going to play raga on a sitar
22:41or a sarod
22:43I listen to them all the time
22:45but I'm going to use it
22:47in the song I hear
22:49that sound
22:51it's that texture that I want
22:53that kind of phrasing
22:55then I have that instrument
22:57I practice the part for
22:59whatever, an hour before
23:01and I record it
23:03what do you mean by texture?
23:05orchestration
23:07like you have one line
23:09that can have
23:11say an alto flute with a sarod
23:13with a harmonium
23:15that's one sound together
23:17playing a line
23:19what if it was a marxophone
23:21it's so beautiful
23:23because these are tonal colors
23:25that convey something
23:27or can underscore something
23:29in what you're conveying
23:31either lyrically
23:33or in the atmosphere of the song
23:35it's beautiful
23:37but for the new bands
23:39that you produce now
23:41do you ever just
23:43pick up an instrument
23:45and play for them
23:47I've been playing a lot of guest guitar
23:49Lost Satellite, Patron
23:51I play bass sometimes
23:53and sometimes I add
23:55some other colors too
23:57which is really nice
23:59because I get to guest on something
24:01it's a little more than producing
24:03producer extraordinaire
24:05I'm down
24:07and usually I wait till they ask me
24:09I play hard I get for a second
24:14self-taught
24:16yes
24:18incredible, you can't read music
24:20I cannot, no
24:22I could have
24:24but I had a really unpleasant teacher
24:26the first one I had for a few months
24:28he was kind of a sadist
24:30so I equated physical pain
24:32with learning to read
24:33that's completely incorrect
24:35I was just unlucky
24:37I just didn't understand
24:39but then I just went on this journey
24:41also this part of me
24:43that loves the feeling of
24:45the innocence of
24:47picking something up for the first time
24:49and the excitement
24:51when it's a mystery still
24:53so I've managed for
24:5558 years now
24:57to keep it mysterious
24:59because I play instruments
25:01and then I can figure things out
25:03whether it's a chart
25:05or sheet music
25:07I know what that note is
25:09I know what this rhythm is
25:11it takes me a second
25:13and I figure what the notes in this chord are
25:15and how it works in the harmony
25:17I've been around it long enough for that
25:19but it's not what happens first
25:21what happens first is I hear it in my mind
25:23and then I try to
25:25make the time between hearing it
25:27and playing it to be as short as possible
25:29it's very instinctive
25:31and when I grab an instrument
25:33it's kind of like
25:35how do I get the sound
25:37to be better, bigger
25:39and listen to amazing virtuosos
25:41on the instrument
25:43and then I try to see some footage
25:45and I figure things out
25:47I start off sounding awful
25:49and then within a day
25:51I'm sounding okay
25:53and then maybe two days
25:55I'm sounding better than that
25:57and then at some point
25:59I get enough confidence
26:01that I can actually use it
26:03it's like drunken sailors
26:05playing stuff
26:07so it's got a vibe
26:09that's why your intonation
26:11doesn't have to be perfect
26:13to create the circus
26:15or macabre
26:17that kind of vibe
26:19in some of this stuff
26:21and where did that come from?
26:23just listening to all kinds of music
26:25a lot of Tom Waits records
26:27have these amazing textures
26:29and the way things are played and feel
26:31to me feel is very important
26:33because they're amazing players
26:35and to get them to understand
26:37how it should sit inside the track
26:39is more difficult
26:41than if you already know how
26:43what about your voice?
26:45did you always know you could sing?
26:57I was kind of the default singer
26:59in the beginning
27:01I could sing but
27:03you really do
27:05we always talk about Natasha's voice
27:07but your guitar playing is so insane
27:09Natasha's voice, Mark Lanigan
27:11Chris Cornell
27:13these are singers
27:15like real singers
27:17in the sense that
27:19I want to communicate the song
27:21and I think I've been getting better
27:23I quit smoking a few years ago
27:25right before the pandemic
27:27which probably helped me survive
27:29getting COVID that bad
27:31that early
27:33so I didn't take it too seriously
27:35in terms of the technical aspect of it
27:37but again like everything else
27:39it's very visceral for me
27:41but one of the first bands we had
27:43with Hello Slovak Jack Arons and I
27:45since we were in junior high
27:47I was the default singer
27:49but often I wanted to play guitar
27:51and not have to worry about singing
27:53and do both
27:55but Natasha had an amazing voice
28:04but I'm glad that people enjoy my voice
28:06I'm glad that that's good
28:08that's beautiful
28:10and you can hear every word you say
28:12which I love
28:14tell us about you
28:16you mentioned it a little bit
28:18the Hello, the whole LA scene
28:20Orange County scene
28:22it was an amazing time
28:24pretty much a year after I got to the States
28:26went to Bancroft Junior High
28:28met Jack in a really unusual way
28:30those guys were really into Kiss
28:31and they dressed up as Kiss
28:33with these amazingly elaborate costumes
28:35and we both had homeroom together
28:37and I didn't speak very much English yet
28:39I was just learning it
28:41and he was sat behind me
28:43and he was walking down the aisle
28:45with his Gene Simmons outfit
28:47and I don't know what got into me
28:49but as he's walking by
28:51he's got the codpiece
28:53the metallic looking thing
28:55in his outfit
28:57and I just punched it lightly
28:59thinking that it must be protective
29:01and I said well
29:03this kid
29:05what does he look like
29:07oh that guy's a really good guitar player
29:09we should jam with him
29:11so we started jamming together
29:13and then literally we'd go every day after school
29:15to Jack's house
29:17and had our stuff set up
29:19and we didn't get a bass player until 10th grade
29:21and then Todd, our bass player
29:23then quit
29:25and Flea was our friend
29:27that played trumpet, Michael Balzer
29:29and we asked him to join the band
29:31for the first time
29:33and that's where the origins of Anthem
29:35the first band we had
29:37and those recordings were great too
29:39just recently on Earth
29:41became What Is This
29:43and then Flea left, joined Fear
29:45we got Chris Hutchinson
29:47and The Peppers
29:49and What Is This coexisted for a while
29:51and then we both got a record deal offer
29:53the same week
29:55and Hala and Jack stayed with me
29:57even though they were founding members of The Peppers
29:59they're not on the very first circuit
30:01that produced a long play of What Is This
30:03Natasha joined the band
30:05and then Jack went back to The Peppers
30:07Natasha and I were just a duo for a while
30:09and then after Halel passed away
30:11Jack quit
30:13and then Natasha, Jack and I
30:15formed Eleven in 1990
30:17Halel Slovak
30:19he's like an iconic figure
30:21he was so young when he passed
30:23yeah he was 27
30:25him and I were closest I think
30:27we spent the most time together
30:29he would come stay over
30:31and we had a really great connection
30:33when he passed away
30:35Natasha and I were in England
30:37and Jack called
30:39and it destroyed me
30:41both of us
30:43it was our first huge death
30:45we had been a little bit estranged for a while
30:47he was in The Peppers now
30:49and he started using drugs
30:51and I wasn't that person
30:53our friendship started to strain a little
30:55because he wanted me to join him
30:57in a world of
30:59William Burroughs
31:01it was like the dark side
31:03a little bit of hanging out
31:05it wasn't for me
31:07because I remember when the drug use started to happen
31:09the band started to sound bad
31:11for the first time
31:13it was the next morning
31:15I was very serious about the music sounding good
31:17so anything that got in the way of that
31:19I rejected it
31:21but still
31:23I went into a deep
31:25tailspin depression
31:27anxiety, panic attacks
31:29and the whole thing
31:31and for Jack as well
31:33it's funny when I think about what life could have been like
31:35if it would have been
31:37but he was an incredible force
31:39as a guitar player
31:41as a musician
31:43I had been playing way longer than them
31:45there were adult bands
31:47and people older than me
31:49that wanted me to be part of their band
31:51because I was quite good already
31:53way beyond our teenage years
31:55in terms of whatever that is considered
31:58but good enough to be offered
31:59to be in bands with older people
32:01with adults
32:03but something about Hello and Jack
32:05our connection together
32:07they'd only been playing a couple years
32:09when we first started
32:11but I was there because
32:13almost like I waited for them
32:15a little tiny bit
32:17they were getting better really fast
32:19and Fairfax High was a big meeting place
32:23Slash went there
32:25Rami Jaffe
32:27tons of actors
32:29painters
32:31and just a really amazing
32:33Keith Barry
32:35who ran Flea's Conservatory
32:37he was a jazz man
32:39in the group of friends
32:41yeah it was a beautiful time
32:44You're my diamond
32:46and I hold you
32:48like a mother's newly born
32:53You're my diamond
32:55as I love you
32:56longer
32:58it's the end
33:00I am undone
33:02and the Natasha connection
33:04there's nothing like that
33:06so Aaron Jacobus was our buddy
33:08in school and he was our manager
33:10and then for some reason
33:12he wasn't anymore
33:14and then he kind of used that energy
33:16to I'll show them
33:18and he started working for A&M Records
33:20and he saw Natasha on TV
33:22she had done some movies
33:24but she was talking about music
33:26and he brought her in for an interview
33:28to ask her
33:30what do you want to do?
33:32I'm interested in your music
33:34you're awesome
33:36well yes thank you
33:38but I'd love to find another
33:40I want to collaborate
33:42and I want to form a duo
33:44and it took him a second
33:46to bring her over to meet me
33:48like a few months
33:50because he kept taking her
33:52to famous people
33:54and she wasn't impressed
33:56and I had a dream
33:58I was going to meet her
34:00which is essentially me
34:02clearing in the forest
34:04and there's a seesaw
34:06and it's too dark
34:08I can't see her
34:10but we're going like this
34:12counterbalancing each other
34:14my name is Natasha
34:16we're going to meet
34:18and the next day Aaron Jacobus
34:20brought her over to the house
34:22to meet me
34:24and I told my mom about the dream
34:26and she was like what?
34:28and literally we met
34:30and at first I thought
34:32we recognized each other
34:34for a second
34:36and then she played me
34:38her stuff that she'd done
34:40I played her What's This
34:42and we started to work
34:44on some music together
34:46and then within two weeks
34:48we moved in together
34:50I was like 22 years old
34:52and that was 25 years later
34:54it was amazing
34:56when our friends started to have kids
34:58that could start to speak
35:00they would call us both
35:02the same name
35:04Alan and Natasha
35:06I like to think of it
35:08like both of us made
35:10one super person
35:20but that voice
35:22and her musicality
35:24just period
35:26and danger
35:28like she was being groomed
35:30to be the next
35:32amazing Russian composer
35:34classical music
35:36when she was just 10
35:38conservatory
35:40she just had those ears
35:42she could listen to a piece of music
35:44and remember everything
35:46that was played
35:48completely the opposite of me
35:50which is why I think
35:52it all worked so well
35:54but she was also
35:56a little bit shy
35:58so that was the one tricky part
36:00when we worked together
36:02because I was trying to find
36:04something on the guitar
36:06she's like shh
36:08or she'd be like
36:10I hear this
36:12you play this
36:14and I'd be like
36:16I'm stretching to get all the notes
36:18that she wants to hear
36:20like this chord
36:22I'm like okay I got the chord
36:24but now what
36:26she's like
36:28I got to get
36:30it
36:33let's talk about your solo work a little
36:35and what's next
36:37how many solo albums do you have?
36:39I have three
36:41I have Spark for Natasha
36:43Fragments and Holes Volume 1
36:45which I did in 2015
36:47and Hum which I did in 20...
36:49yeah
36:51I'm going to go to
36:53Santiago in December
36:54to finish the album with my trio, with Cote Fonseca and Fela Fonseca. We have a few songs
36:58that we started. We have one that everyone's heard that with Mike Patton guested on it
37:03called Luna Sol.
37:04I'm going to do it remotely, but I've also been touring so much. We need to be together
37:18in the same place. So it's going to be a good window of time to finish that. And I need
37:22to do the volume two of Fragments and Holes. I'm producing a couple of things coming up
37:27and then I think I'm going to head to Chile. I need to take care of a couple of things
37:30with my health and that's going to be the plan for the immediate future. There's some
37:33touring already with Masters of Reality next year, with Earl O'Fell. We've got a UK-Ireland-Scotland
37:40tour coming up. But it's definitely time to put out some music now. I feel more of an
37:46urgency to do that more often, instead of waiting five years between 2010, 2015, and
37:522022, 2021.
37:53This is Life Minute. What's your life advice?
37:57I somehow keep pretending that childlike wonder about things. Especially now with so much
38:04adversity and people behaving so awfully to each other and social media and this kind
38:10of tightening and closing. It's like everything is open and yet everything is tighter. Information
38:15is out there, but most of it is lies. All this craziness happening. What keeps me going
38:21through that is I focus on the beautiful things in my life, the deep friendships, the beautiful
38:28things that I love. It's like nature, animals, art, all that stuff. I try to wake up each
38:34day. First of all, wake up extremely thankful that I have another day. I try not to dwell
38:39on the past too much. It's more like honor it and be thankful for the good things that
38:44have happened, not like regret things as much. I try not to be afraid of what's coming.
38:49Nobody knows. Because of so many years of having anxiety disorder and depression and
38:57kind of like nervous things, somehow, luckily, I've managed to figure out a way to quiet
39:05my mind. Because if I let it, it chatters. It won't stop. So I kind of have a couple
39:13of tricks. I have a couple of affirmation mantras that I keep repeating in the background
39:17when they trigger on whenever I'm uncomfortable or something. So I will just say, in my mind,
39:23there's a part that says, I love and approve of myself. I trust the process of life. I
39:27am safe. I love and approve of myself. I trust the process. And it's just sitting there.
39:30I turn it on like a cassette. If my brain is going to be doing something bad, I'd rather
39:36it just repeat these phrases that make me feel good. You should have, you could have,
39:42and you'll never, and all that. Who knows where that voice comes from? But I think we
39:47all have it, self-doubt. And so why give it any real estate at all in your thought process?
39:53Or at least realize it's there and just treat it as what it is. It's just a little, it's
39:59nothing. Just bye. I think your subconscious doesn't realize a big difference between what
40:05you're living and what you're thinking. So it takes a while to figure this stuff out.
40:12Hopefully, well, there's just some time left to enjoy things. So obviously I don't have
40:16perfect days all the time, but the overall tendency is to be more positive. Really, unreasonably
40:24so considering a lot of things that are happening, but you know, why not, right?
40:28I love it. That's awesome.
40:30Awesome.
40:31Are you going to play for us?
40:32Yes, I'd love to play for you.
40:35I'm going to play for you.
41:05I'm going to play for you.
41:35See the breeze caressing where you're in, only to begin again and then. A deeper sense
41:54of waking when I stop. Trying so hard to fiddle, but it's not.
42:05Oh, the motion of becoming. There's a deadly dance which I miss running.
42:35Oh, the motion of becoming.
42:57Thank you. That was called Eyes to the Sky.
42:59You're going to have to play something from Spark. This is called Return to You.
43:05I give it love when the harness of the world gone astray is kept far away.
43:25I give it love when my seed can find its way to the sun while having fun.
43:35I give it love, oh love, all the emptiness is felt till it busts.
43:42Releasing the guts of that I was, oh yeah.
43:49You took me away, made me forget this was real.
43:55Forget this is real.
43:59You took me away into that place that I've lost.
44:06But I will return, yeah I will return to you.
44:13I give it love, the impossible becomes what you do, becomes what you do.
44:23I give it love, you can find yourself inside someone else and see you.
44:30I give it love, oh love, all the emptiness is felt till it busts.
44:37Releasing the guts of that I was, oh yeah.
44:42I give it love, oh love, all the emptiness is felt till it busts.
44:50Releasing the guts of that I was, oh yeah.
44:57You took me away, made me forget this was real.
45:03Forget this is real.
45:06You took me away into that place that I've lost.
45:13But I will return, yeah I will return to you.
45:20Ba-doom-ba-doom, ba-doom-ba-doom, ba-doom-ba-doom to you.
45:25Ba-doom-ba-doom, ba-doom-ba-doom, ba-doom-ba-doom, ba-doom-ba-doom.
45:30Woo-hoo!
45:34Alright, I'd love to play the Desert Sessions version, the OG version of Hanging Tree.
45:40🎵 Hanging Tree 🎵
45:47🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
45:56🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
45:59🎵 Would you like a way home? 🎵
46:15🎵 Let me be my own 🎵
46:29🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
46:35🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
46:41🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
46:48🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
46:57🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
47:07🎵 Can you see under my thumb? 🎵
47:26🎵 Can you hear my heart? 🎵
47:37🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
47:43🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
47:50🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
47:57🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
48:05🎵 Yeah, yeah 🎵
48:10🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
48:21🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
48:31🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
48:38🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
48:44🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
48:50🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
48:56🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
49:04🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
49:10🎵 Round hanging tree, swaying in the breeze 🎵
49:16🎵 In the summer sun as we do a walk 🎵
49:22🎵 Music 🎵
49:36🎵 Mmm, I speak your name at night 🎵
49:42🎵 Oh, when the world steals away my sight 🎵
49:52🎵 Oh, you're the warmth inside my bones 🎵
50:02🎵 You're the circle in my stones 🎵
50:11🎵 You're my diamond and I hold you like a mother's newly born 🎵
50:21🎵 You're my diamond as I love you, it's the end I'm undone 🎵
50:31🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
50:39🎵 Mmm, oh, oh, oh 🎵
50:49🎵 Where there's much older than the sea 🎵
50:57🎵 Oh, you bring a storm right into me 🎵
51:05🎵 Oh, an empty grave where I should be 🎵
51:13🎵 Oh, an empty noose upon that tree 🎵
51:21🎵 You're my diamond and I hold you like a mother's newly born 🎵
51:31🎵 You're my diamond as I love you, it's the end I'm undone 🎵
51:39🎵 You're my diamond and I keep you so I'll never be alone 🎵
51:50🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
51:56🎵 Mmm, oh, oh, oh 🎵
52:04🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
52:14🎵 Mmm, oh, oh, oh 🎵
52:22🎵 You're my diamond and I hold you like a mother's newly born 🎵
52:30🎵 You're my diamond as I love you, it's the end I'm undone 🎵
52:38🎵 You're my diamond and I hold you like a mother's newly born 🎵
52:46🎵 You're my diamond as I love you, it's the end I'm undone 🎵
52:56🎵 Shine your glow on me 🎵
53:02🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
53:05🎵 Shine your glow on me 🎵
53:14🎵 Shine your glow on me 🎵
53:22🎵 Shine your glow so I'll never be alone 🎵
53:32🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
53:36🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
53:40🎵 Oh, oh, oh, oh 🎵
53:50Thank you very much!
53:52To hear more of this interview, visit our podcast, Life Minute TV, on iTunes and all streaming podcast platforms.