Tom Bailey of The Thompson Twins joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early life discovering music and growing up with a musical family, how he got into discovering the keyboards via The Beatles, what the working structure was within The Thompson Twins in terms of creativity, are there any songs hidden in their vault, what it’s been like returning to the stage after 20+ years, was he nervous that the audience would still be there, the journey back to pop music in recent years, inspiration behind his song Come So Far, his first self-title debut solo album Science Fiction, will it be another 20 years before his next album, and much more!
interview
The legendary Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Free, The Firm, The Law, and Queen + Paul Rodgers joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early life discovering music and the soul singers that inspired him to find his voice, his early days of songwriting, the success experienced by Free at an early age, was he ever tempted to wade into the Prog waters of the 70s UK scene, where his thoughts were at the time of leaving Bad Company, connecting with Jimmy Page to form The Firm, are there any Firm songs left in the vault, looking back at his time touring with Queen and some of the challenges in performing their material, his thoughts on their Cosmos Rocks album, his current solo band and their latest live CD and DVD release Free Spirit, thoughts on his upcoming tour with Jeff Beck and Ann Wilson, working with animal rescue, his looking forward to us moving into the Age of Aquarius and much more!
Will Turpin of Collective Soul joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early life discovering music, songwriting, and growing up with the family owned Real to Reel Studios in Atlanta, how he first connected with Ed Roland and how he officially joined Collective Soul, memories of their first recording sessions, traveling the world for Music In High Places, finding his own voice lyrically and musically with his solo debut EP Lighthouse, his latest full length debut album Serengeti Drivers, what’s in store for Collective Soul’s upcoming 25th Anniversary (hint: a double album!), and much more!
Legendary drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police and Gizmodrome joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early drumming influences from a trio perspective, switching from drumming to fronting a band, springboarding on the punk scene and evolving his unique style of playing with The Police, tips on how to get on the cover of Modern Drummer Magazine, the conflicts of songwriting in The Police, the sibling bond he shares with Sting and Andy, memories of the reunion tour, his approaches to composing for TV and film, moving on to writing “fancy schmancy” music for opera, working on Spyro video game music, his current project of orchestrating his greatest hits (including some Police) for stage performance, his intriguing day of recording with Tom Waits, performing with Gizmodrome, the future of Oysterhead with Les Claypool and Trey Anastasio, and much more!
Legendary drummer Steve Smith of Journey and Vital Information joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days discovering the drums, his early teachers and training regimes, connecting with Jean Luc Ponty, working with Allan Holdsworth, going from the jazz kit to the rock kit, working with Ronnie Montrose, joining Journey and becoming a band member, what they saw in him from a drumming perspective, thoughts on each of the classic Journey albums, memories of the classic music videos, getting the call to rejoin Journey, working on Y&T’s Ten album, exploring Indian music, his ongoing jazz group Vital Information, doing instructional books and videos and working with students of all skill levels, and much more!
Dave Bickler Picks The Essential Survivor
Dave Bickler shares his 10 Essential Survivor songs. Spanning all eras of the classic melodic band Survivor, Dave picks his favorites, shares memories of joining the band, the production struggles in making the first album with Ron Nevison, Bruce Fairbairn, and John Kalodner, memories of making the classic videos, recording Caught In The Game, getting fired and his recovery from vocal chord surgery, what he learned through that, what it was like seeing Survivor carry on without him, first meeting Jimi Jamison, their friendship, what it meant to tour and share the stage with Jimi, the struggles within the band, and what we can expect from his upcoming debut solo album, and much more.
Ricky Phillips Picks The Essential Ronnie Montrose
Ricky Phillips of Styx, The Babys, and Bad English shares his 10 Essential Ronnie Montrose songs. From Van Morrison to Edgar Winter to Herbie Hancock to Montrose to Gamma, the work of under appreciated guitar god Ronnie Montrose has influenced countless fans and colleagues for decades – Ricky Phillips of Styx among them. In sharing his 10 essential Montrose songs, Ricky also shares how he first discovered Ronnie’s music, how he connected with Ronnie, what set Ronnie apart as a versatile guitarist and songwriter, the joys of jamming and playing with Ronnie before his passing, what it meant to Ricky to complete and release Ronnie’s final recordings on the 10×10 record, which of Ronnie’s friends did he pull in to help honor him, and much more.
Roger Joseph Manning Jr of Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, and Beck’s band (among many others) joins Eric in conversation to discuss his early days discovering drums and switching to keyboards, what the vision and strengths were of Jellyfish and why he thinks the music has resonated for so many years, what were the plans for the third album that never became a reality, how he shifted from Jellyfish to The Moog Cookbook and Imperial Drag, his collection of vintage instruments, his journey as a freelance musician working with all sorts of artists including David Bowie and Roger Waters, what it was like working with Roger Waters in the studio, the creative process behind his new EP Glamping, connecting with Chris Price, the project he’s currently working on with Eric Dover and Tim Smith, what’s next now that he’s active on PledgeMusic, and much more!
BONUS – This episode also includes an interview from March 1994, about two weeks before Jellyfish officially broke up. Possibly the last interview Roger did as a member of Jellyfish. It features a dopey, young Eric Miller completely devoid of interviewing skills, but it is interesting for historical purposes.
Lisa Coleman of The Revolution Picks The Essential Prince
Lisa Coleman of The Revolution shares her 10 Essential Prince songs. Keyboardist Lisa Coleman also shares memories of the songs chosen, first hearing Prince’s music, her parents reaction to the sexual nature of Prince’s work, connecting with Prince as a fellow pianist, thoughts and memories of the unreleased song Lisa and what was unique about their relationship, Prince’s growth as a poetic lyricist, the power of Prince’s puppy dog eyes, “scoring” Prince onstage, memories of her brother connecting with Prince, stories of Prince, Wendy, and Lisa meeting, hanging out, and jamming with Joni Mitchell, and much more.
BrownMark of The Revolution Picks The Essential Prince
BrownMark of The Revolution shares his 10 Essential Prince songs. Bassist BrownMark also shares memories of the songs chosen, learning Prince’s preferred style of bass playing, memories of the infamous 1981 gig opening for The Rolling Stones – his first gig, first hearing When Doves Cry with its lack of a bassline, his extended bass jams with Prince, Wendy joining The Revolution, Prince as a drill sergeant, the possibility of joining The Time, racial diversity in the band and what it meant to him at the time and now being “the black guy” in the band, what hidden gems are buried in Prince’s legendary vault that he’ll hope to see released, and much more.
THE PODS & SODS NETWORK 