Matt answers my question in this interview...
Matt Sorum talks songwriting, new album, Ringo Starr and giving backJoe Bosso 1 hour ago
"I want to give people another side to Matt Sorum. I'm not just this rock drummer guy."Matt Sorum is aware that he's mainly known to the public as the hard-hitting, inventive drummer for Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver and The Cult, but he's hoping that his next endeavor, a new solo album that he recently began recording in his well-appointed home studio, will change all of that.
"I want to give people another side to Matt Sorum," he says. "I'm not just this rock drummer guy. I've done a lot of other things, like producing Poe and Tori Amos and others. There's a lot of styles that I work in, and so it's time to bring that out."
The upcoming album isn't Sorum's first time to the rodeo: in 2004, he released Hollywood Zen, an impressive debut that displayed the drummer's sharp singing and writing skills, and featured guest appearances by his GN'R/Velvet Revolver mates Slash and Duff McKagan. On the new set, Sorum is keen on emphasizing shifting aesthetic changes and his emotional responses to world events.
MusicRadar sat down with Sorum recently to talk about how the album is starting to shape up, why he's not playing drums on his own songs, what it was like to sing with Ringo Starr and how he's using music to give back to others.
How did the new songs and the idea for a record come about?"I started writing it within the last couple of years. I went out to the desert because of Gram Parsons and all those guys ? you know, the Joshua Tree, Palm Springs area ? and I had an amazing time working there. I went to a trippy old hotel and wrote eight songs in five days. A lot of people don't know me as a songwriter, but I've always been a guitar player. I like to dabble with the acoustic. The stuff that I've written for Velvet Revolver ? like Set Me Free, and Spectacle and a few on the first record ? those were done on an acoustic.
"I made a record with another guy called Hollywood Zen, and that was my first attempt to do my own thing. I was a bit nervous, though, so I can't really say that it was my record ? it's a collaboration. My main goal on this record is to write everything myself.
"What's been happening with me is, I'm getting older, and I'm a different guy? I'm not on drugs and alcohol anymore. [Laughs] I'm more spiritual. I'm thinking about the planet and caring about other people more, and I've got a charity? And that sparked a lot of lyrics. I have a song called Lady Of The Stone, which is about Mother Nature's perspective on what's happening to the planet. What would she say if she was watching?
"I wrote another song called Land Of The Pure. I was very struck by what happened with the girl Malala [Yousafza] from Pakistan. I wrote it about the girls in Pakistan ? young girls all over the world ? who are not being allowed to be educated. I'm going to have a singer named Atif Aslam, who's from Pakistan, sing on it. That's very eclectic. There's going to be a lot of percussion and orchestration. People are going to trip to it."
I understand that you're not going to play drums on the album. Why is that?"I feel like it's not right for this record. I want to have a producer's perspective, so I don't want to sit there and analyze my drumming. I've been rehearsing the band, I put a great band together. I've got a drummer named Brian MacLeod, who's played with everyone from Sheryl Crow to Linda Perry ? he's been on tons of records. He's got more of that gift. I'm a rock drummer, but I can play other styles. He can play more organic, singer-songwriter stuff. As light as I play, I have a sound that might be more rock."
As a producer, do you tend to be hard on drummers ? because you're a drummer?"Because I pick such great players, I hear their perspectives. I think the art of producing is about picking the right guys. It's like making a movie ? who is the right group of actors to use? There's going to be a lot of layered percussion on the album.
"I've got Brian, and then I hired a percussionist named Scott Breadman ? he's played with Jose Feliciano and Lindsey Buckingham. He's fantastic. And I also hired an incredible bass player, Paul Ill. He's played with Linda Perry, Christina Aguilera ? he's one of the most underrated guys out there. The guitar player is a guy named Randy Mitchell, who's also worked with Linda Perry a lot. He's one of those guys who, if you go, 'Can you make it more Neil Young,' he'll go, 'OK, cool.'"
You've also said that you're not really making a rock record. Is this representative of what you listen to in your personal life?"I don't listen to a lot of rock 'n' roll, but when I do, it's always the greats. My favorite station to listen to is Alt Nation on Sirius. I love rock 'n' roll, and I love playing it ? there's a certain energy from being on stage that's incredible. There's a song on my album called Ode To Nick Drake, and that's kind of more what the record is going to be like. It's stripped-down, orchestrated, with a horn section and percussion.
"The way I sing? I can't say I'm the kind of guy who's going to go out there and belt out a rock song. I have to write the kinds of songs that are right for my voice, which is low and? it's not like Leonard Cohen, but I do sing down in that range."
Are you a confident vocalist? A lot of times, when musicians who aren't known for singing can be a little tentative when they step up to the mic."Well, I've always sung. As long as I can remember, I've always been on stage singing. My mother was a vocal teacher and a classical pianist. My grandfather was a Professor of Music at Long Beach State University. So I grew up in a classical background, took vocal lessons and was in the choir. When I got in bands, I ended up singing harmonies. If you listen to the Guns N' Roses records that I'm on, I did most of the harmonies. And Velvet Revolver ? I always sang on stage with them.
Continue here:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/matt-sorum-talks-songwriting-new-album-ringo-starr-and-giving-back-569688
Author