| Interviews: | Q&A
- Feb '00 Q&A - June '98 Q&A - Dec '97 |
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| Interviews | ||
Q&A with David Schelzel - December 1997 |
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First on the mind of every fan is the status of the next album. Are the songs written? When will it be recorded and when can we expect it to be released? Will the sound be a continuation of "STOB's" 'guitar sound' or something new? |
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That actually is not far from the first thing on my mind these days too. We are working on the record right now as a group. We actually started this fall, although I have been writing things since we finished SEE THE OCEAN BLUE. We are not in a hurry this time (believe it or not we usually are,) we are taking a leisurely pace. I think we have nothing to lose at this point, so why rush it? We all were a little disappointed with the performance of the last record in the marketplace. It was a record we felt pretty good about, but it really didn't enjoy the success of our previous records. That may sound like a crass commercial thing for a songwriter to say, but a record's success has so much bearing on a group that in the end, it does effect the "art" of things... We do hope to have the record completed and out in 1998, probably the latter half of the year. As to the sound, who knows...the songs are pretty varied right now, perhaps it will be eclectic. I'm still listening to a lot of the things that I was at the time of the last record, but I am also revisiting a lot of records I loved as a teenager. |
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| How many songs do you make when going into the studio? We've heard the "STOB" sessions yielded 50! Do any songs carry over from previous recording sessions? Are there any songs still in the queue from the earliest days of The Ocean Blue's existence ("City Traffic" comes to mind), or have they all been recorded? What about that "Unreleased Tracks" album that has been rumored for months? | ||
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All songs are on the table when we head into the studio. Most are obviously new, but a few are leftover from previous sessions--for example "Blue Skies" aka "Cerulean" was actually considered for the first record, but it somehow didn't fit, "The Relatives" which I think doesn't really fit on the 3rd record, was a song I wrote prior to the first record. We always have more songs than we know what to do with and it is always a debate to decide which ones to put on the record. As to the "Unreleased Tracks Record..." It very nearly happened, but we ran into such legal and logistical roadblocks that it just wasn't worth it in the end. It really makes me mad because all this stuff I think is pretty good is just lying around collecting dust, so to speak. You have not heard the last of the idea. |
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| "See The Ocean Blue" has a bit more of a hard edge to it, both lyrically and musically, than past albums. Some fans speculated that the change in the band's composition--the addition of Oed, the departure of Steve--was the reason for this shift. What inspired this musical change? Was it a deliberate decision? | ||
| I agree that STOB is a different sounding record than previous records. And it is true that the composition of the band had something to do with it. But not really in the way most people would think. I have always wanted to be more guitar oriented as a band, afterall I am a guitar player. But this was made difficult by the fact my pal Steve was a keyboard player. So, the addition of Oed allowed us to be more of a guitar band, this much is true. But it was not Oed who really made us "change" as it was not really Steve who shaped the sounds of previous records. Ironically, Oed's contributions were more in the vein of previous TOB recordings (listen to BEHIND!) and the departure of Steve was really a red herring. Steve hadn't played most of the keyboards on records 2 and 3, that was Rob (it astounds me that some people refuse to believe this, I mean, so what if he didn't!). To be honest I AM THE ONE to blame for whatever is different about this last record. I write the songs! As the writer, singer, and guitar player the character of the record is most shaped by me (and the producer I suppose.) And its not really a conscious thing either. I can not "plan" a song or even the character of a record, it just happens. Whenever we have tried to consciously do something musically, it usually sounds that way, and pretty bad too. | ||
| TOB has recorded their albums in some diverse locales--London and Nassau for instance. What was it like to record so far from home, why was each place chosen, and did the locales add any of their local flavor to the recorded sound? | ||
| The locales of the records have absolutely nothing to do with the sound of the records unless they make us homesick or something, in which case we may have a difficult time recording our tracks. It's just that it's kind of nice to spend a month or two in London or NYC, rather than somewhere else. | ||
| Probably the second biggest question fans have is, "When is TOB coming to Texas? or Atlanta? or (fill in city/state)?" It may be premature to ask before the new album is even out, but do you anticipate a nationwide tour next year? | ||
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I know we spend a great deal of time responding to specific questions about concerts in a particular fan's city. To be honest, we have nothing to do with the booking of dates, only in the respect that we can say "no thank you." Someone has to want to book the band in a club, college or some other venue, and we have to be available. I would like to do some playing this winter to try out some new songs, but I am sure we will not tour America again until the new record is done. And we always let fans on our various mailing lists know when we will be in town. |
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| What are your favorite songs to play live? Are there ones you are tired of playing? | ||
| Playing songs live is sorta like listening to records. It is a mood thing. You get a craving for a certain song and conversely, tire of others. | ||
| Before Oed joined the band you handled lead vocals and all guitar playing. Have you ever found it difficult to play AND sing? (Some of us can't do either...) What is the toughest song to play? | ||
| Yes, it is difficult to sing and play at the same time, probably why I am not really any good at either. But you can get away with an awful lot live, especially if you don't care too much and try to enjoy yourself. | ||
| How would you describe your on-stage style? Would you say TOB's live show has changed from the early days? I remember earlier shows that featured dry ice and colored lights galore, while recent shows have been more straightforward with less glitz. Has the audience changed as well? | ||
| Hmm, yeah, the fog stuff always annoyed me, but I do like the lights. I have a difficult time gauging audiences, I tend to notice it mostly city to city on a tour, rather than over time. For example, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Salt Lake City always seem to be the most enthusiastic crowds and New York and Seattle seem the most motionless and unmovable ones. And San Francisco, ah...I don't know, that's off the top of my head... | ||
| Last year on tour you played a different arrangement of "Between Something and Nothing." What is the story behind that? Are there other songs you would like to radically rework somehow? | ||
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I think "Between Something and Nothing" is sorta our big #, the first hit we had, and frankly it seemed silly to us playing it going into the last tour, like opening your Jr High yearbook, so we needed to mess it up for a while. It's back to its former glory now, though. |
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| Now TOB is not as huge as, say, 311 or NIN, but if you were selling as much as they do and playing big arenas would that be your goal, or would you prefer to keep things a little smaller where you're not on the road all the time and spending time with your families? If you had the chance to do a Lollapalooza tour or some other huge tour with many bands would you go for it? | ||
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Sure, we would certainly love to sell more records. It would give us the ability to do more of what we would like to do, in all ways. Although, the music would really be the same. I guess if you are making what is essentially pop music, it's nice to be popular. As for a huge tour, sure if it made sense. But I am hard pressed to think of any bands that would make sense that are really popular. Oasis? Beck? Cardigans? Sure. |
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| How much control do you have in the making of videos, and have they been done to your liking? Were any videos in particular a pain in the neck to make (in the "Sublime" video it looks pretty cold outside!)? Did any video ever get recorded for "Slide?" | ||
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Contrary to the records where we have a great deal of control, the video is pretty much totally in the director's hands. We play music, we don't make music videos, that's the bottom line. I had a blast making Sublime. We got to spend a week in Iceland which was an absolutely breathtaking experience. Rob thought it was too cold, but I loved it. Slide is a sad story all around. We were all set to do a video on two separate occasions with really great directors who had some great ideas (actually Oeddie really had a good idea for one) but for reasons I can't really get into and give me a headache, neither was completed to the point of release. |
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| Speaking of visual stuff, how much influence do you have on the cover and inner sleeve art and design? Does the band make decisions--creative, financial, or otherwise--as a democracy, or do you take more of a leadership role? | ||
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The last album cover was pretty much me. I am really into Ingmar Bergman, and the film he did from which we got the cover (not to mention I am awfully fond of Liv Ullmann.) Cerulean was me too, but the first record was pretty much the idea of someone at Warner Bros. (we are not too crazy about that one) and although Steve Lau had the idea for the third record having a 60's jazz record look to it, both he and we were disappointed with the what the Warner Bros. art dept. did with it. And in general the band is a total democracy, for better or worse. But you could probably think of me as El Presidente. |
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| What was it like being on the Conan O'Brien show? Is it hard to get your foot in the door for those shows? Are there any other TV shows you'd like to play on? (Such as Leno, Letterman, 120min.) | ||
| I never get nervous, honestly. But we all could have lost our supper playing on Conan (by the way Conan is very nice and loved my Gretch.) And sure we'd love to play on the other TV shows, in the sense it would be a great thing for the group, but I don't relish the actual act. | ||
| Is there any chance of a live album coming out? How about a video compilation? | ||
| The compilation thing is up to Sire or Warner Bros. as most of our video and song catalog remains with them. Howie (VP there) talked to us last year about doing something, but I don't know if it will ever happen. | ||
| What artist/painting inspired "Between Something and Nothing?" Who/what inspired "Ballerina Out of Control?" | ||
| Vincent Van Gogh and Sandy Allouete. | ||
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