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Robert Pally:
April, 2001: Part I
The
Linus of Hollywood Interview
Let Yourself Be Happy, the second album by Linus of
Hollywood, has everything you loved about his first record
and more. On Fufkin.com, he talks about record covers, Margo
Guryan, songwriting, Ozzy Osborne and "being a girl."
The design of the CD package of Let Yourself Be Happy reminds
me of the ones from the UK label Poptones (Curt Boettcher,
Millennium, Joey Stec) Was that an influence?
Actually, not at all. Margo Guryan's cousin (Peter Shulman)
had done a painting of me last year from a promo picture taken
for my first record. I really loved it and thought it would
make a great cover... I've always liked simple covers, as
I believe it allows the music to do the talking. I have recently
seen the Poptones covers, and I really like them.
You use a lot of piano on your new album. Did you write
the songs on the piano?
Yes!
I've been playing guitar all my life, and lately when I write
on guitar I find myself gravitating towards the same chord
progressions. Since I'm not as knowledgeable of piano, I tend
to discover new chords and progressions -- which allows my
brain to do the writing rather than my fingers.
What surrounding do you need to write your songs?
A quiet room and a 6-pack of Budweiser usually does the trick.
I've written in all kinds of surroundings, but my favorite
is just being alone in a dark room with a nice buzz.
According to your Bio you write songs in different styles.
Isn't that a bit difficult? How do you approach a punk pop
song as opposed to a song like "A Whole New Country"?
It is difficult, which is why it's fun -- I like the challenge.
I listen to all kinds of music, from hip-hop to punk to metal
to pop, so it's fun to dabble in different styles. I approach
every song the same way...how can I make it interesting and
different?
In "To Be a Girl" you sing "To be a girl must be a beautiful
feeling." Do you mean that in the sense you sing it, or differently?
If differently, how?
Good question. I have had a few people who have heard the
song think I'm being funny or sarcastic, but I'm quite serious.
I've always envied the effect a beautiful girl has on a room
-- "to be the center of attention..." It seems like fun. Don't
worry, though...I'm quite happy being a man.
What influenced you on the title track?
I assume by the title track, you mean "Building a Ship" (which
contains the phrase "let yourself finally be happy"). It's
sort of tribute to self-motivation. I know a lot of people
who sit around and do nothing, and then complain when nothing
ever happens for them. They put their fate in other people's
hands instead of being proactive. I advise them "while everyone
waits for their ship to come in...maybe you should start building
your own."
You covered and improved upon the Ozzy Osborne song "Goodbye
to Romance." What do you like about this song?
This
started as a bit of a joke. It's no secret that I am a huge
metalhead. I grew up listening to metal and playing in metal
bands. My friend, Joe Berman, was putting together another
"Metal Rules!" tribute album (Jason Falkner, Nerf Herder,
and a bunch of other good bands played on the first one) and
I was going to do a Judas Priest song. I was telling my friend
that I was doing a song for the comp and he said "which one?
Goodbye to Romance?" We all laughed, but then I stopped to
think about it, and that's really a well-written pop song!
I recorded it just for the hell of it and I really thought
it came out funny, so I put it on the record.
I read that you played and wrote songs on records by Puff
Daddy and the Smashing Pumpkins. Which songs and on which
albums?
I did a bunch of rock remixes for Puff Daddy. Basically it
was rock versions of rap songs that were on his records. I
played on a ton of them, including "It's All About The Benjamin’s
(Rock Remix)" and "PE2000 (Rock Remix)" (which I also appeared
in the video for). While I was working for Puffy, the Smashing
Pumpkins sent him 2 songs from "Ava Adore" to remix: "Adore"
and "Perfect". I did both rock remixes.
I read that you wanted to have another collaboration with
Margo Guryan on your new album. Why didn't it work out?
Actually,
we did have a successful collaboration. I recorded her song
"Goodbye July" which appears as a bonus track on the Japanese
version of Let Yourself Be Happy (on Philter Records).
She played piano on it. I wasn't thrilled with my vocal track
on it, so I left it off of the US release...in hindsight I
regret it because it's such a great song!
In what way did you approach your new album differently
compared to your first one?
Well,
I spent much more time recording it and making sure everything
sounded as good as I could get it (on an 8-track anyway).
When I did my first album, I wasn't expecting anyone to like
it, so I just kind of threw it together for my own amusement.
Also, I've stretched out a bit from the 60's pop blueprint
of my first CD. Now I'm just trying to write the best songs
I can regardless of the style or sound. I also experimented
more with sounds and production techniques this time, which
I will continue to do on subsequent records.
There is a kind of a sadness in your music. Does that reflect
a part of your personality?
I
suppose so. I've always had an underlying sadness...music
is my therapy! (And beer)
Who is Josh Caterer, who wrote "Need you around." BTW:
This song sounds if it was played by one of this Spanish hotel
entertainers.
Haha! Perhaps that will be my fate. Josh Caterer was the singer
and songwriter in a great American punk band called the Smoking
Popes. I always thought it would be fun to do "pop" versions
of their songs since they're so well written, so (again) for
my own amusement I recorded 2 of their songs: "Need You Around"
and "Rubella". I put "Need You Around" on the actual CD and
"Rubella" is a bonus track on the Japanese version.
"Where Are You" reminds me of "Telephone Line" by ELO.
Was that an influence? If not, what were you thinking when
you wrote it?
Well,
I love that ELO song, but I didn't have it in mind for "Where
Are You?" As you know, I run a record label (Franklin Castle)
here in the US and I was sitting in front of my fax machine
doing some sort of fax promotion. I was bored in between calls
so I was strumming the guitar while I was working. I noticed
while the line was ringing that the tone of the ring was a
perfect "A" note. I thought it would be fun to write a song
using that as a drone, so just about every chord in that song
has an "A" in it. The lyrics tied in with the phone concept
nicely.
The intro to "Thank You for Making Me Feel Better" sounds
to me like a modified version of "Money" by Pink Floyd. What
was the inspiration for this?
That song is about my love of beer. It's funny because the
song itself never actually mentions that it's about beer (the
listener might imply that it's a person I'm singing about).
I thought it would be fun to record the entire song using
nothing but beer bottles, so that's what I did! It took me
3 days to do it, and I recorded about 60 tracks of beer bottles
being blown, hit, and smashed. I actually wrote out all the
parts and tracked each note individually. It was hard to play,
because I was really drunk from emptying all the bottles.
Your first album came out on Popsquad, your own label Your
new one was released on Franklin Castle, that is also your
label. Is there a reason for the different musical identities
of the labels?
I
started Pop Squad in 1999 with my friend Bruce (who co-produces
my records). After a while, I wanted to focus a bit more on
one particular style of pop so I left Pop Squad last year
to start my own label -- Franklin Castle. Since then, I've
reissued Margo Guryan's 1968 masterpiece Take a Picture
and signed a Los Angeles soft-pop combo called the Mello Cads,
which has featured members of the Wondermints and Chewy Marble.
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Robert
Pally: The Reto Burrell Interview
Robert
Pally: The Louis Phillippe Interview
Robert
Pally: The Sun Interview
Robert
Pally: The Splitsville Interview
Robert
Pally: The Margo Guryan Interview
E-mail
Robert
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