Hi Kurt thanks for joining us here today. Now your latest record "Rock n Roll Club" is a bona fide glam classic but before we get to that let's get into the head of “Kurt Baker”. So, first things first where when and how did music first grab hold of you?
Kurt Baker ; Hi Darren. Music has been with me for a long time... but I’m able to pinpoint the moment in my life when I knew I wanted to be a musician and that was when I first heard the Beatles. I was very young, like five or six years old and my uncle had put on a tape of the Beatles "Rubber Soul". I think the song that I first heard from that album was "The Word". You know how tapes are - you can't pick really what song you hear when you hit play unless you wanna go to all the work of fast forwarding or rewinding - so it just so happens that it was "The Word" that I heard first. I had heard about music before that - but it was the Beatles that the metaphorical light bulb turned on in my brain - "ah ha! - that's rock music - that's what I like". So, I was obsessed with the Beatles from the first time I heard them, and today they are still my favourite band. Watching their old movies like "Hard Day’s Night" and "Help!" on VHS when I was young also got me into the idea of singing and playing guitar/bass on stage.. you know in a live setting. Well, I guess the Beatles also set the blueprint for many sub-genres in popular music, so it was easy for me to get into a lot of groups of the ‘70's because I could hear the Beatles' influence in their music... and you know some not. Still, having a background in classic ‘60's pop that I listened to a lot when I was a kid (which is a rare thing for somebody who was born in the late '80's), it really informed my musical taste and gave me a broad perspective and an open mind to a lot of stuff... Also, Bowie is another one of those artists who really took the genre of rock n roll and mapped out a whole new territory for musicians and bands to take their sounds to different levels. For Glam rock, Bowie's early ‘70's work set the standard for what would come next... and I’m also a big Mott the Hoople fan, so you know, they owe a lot to Bowie for writing "Dudes"....
OK so you knew rock n roll was for you and you set out on your musical odyssey. Take us to your first instrument and what did you first learn to play on the said instrument and where in the world was this? This was early nineties yeah?
K . B ; Late ‘90's really... I was born in ‘87, so I got into the Beatles in the early/mid ‘90's. When you are a kid you are like a sponge, absorbing everything you can take in. So, by the late ‘90's, I started to get into more alternative bands... a lot of punk and ska music, and some of the stuff that was on the radio at the time, which you know, wasn't so bad in hindsight. My first instrument was actually the cello, I don't play it anymore, but in school we could chose to play a string instrument in the school orchestra, or a brass instrument in the school band. Well, I remember how fucking awful the sound of trumpets and flutes sounded by a bunch of kids who had no idea what they were doing, so I opted for the cello. But my first real rock n roll instrument was the bass. My mom's friend had a son who played the bass, and he was a bit older, but I’d spend a lot of time at their house, so there was always a bass sitting around. So, I took it up as it kinda was like the guitar - and in my mind, it had only a couple less strings than the guitar, so it just seemed easier and the natural choice. I took a few lessons on bass, but I didn't learn much from that - how I learned to play was by trying to play along with the CD's and albums that I had.. it really did a wonder for my ear training, and I figured out how to play all the bass lines by just finding what sounded right on the bass while I was listening to the music.. this happened a bit later with the guitar as well, once I started playing that. My hearing is a bit shot now, but I’m glad I learned to play the way I did, along with the albums because now it's a lot easier to figure out tunes... or if a bandmate of mine brings in a song, I can just jump in on it fairly easily. I grew up in Portland, Maine, and back then and even today, for the small city that it is, it has a pretty great music scene. So, once I started playing in bands around 2000, we had some small local teen venues to play, punk basement shows, etc... that was crucial, because even if my first bands were completely shit, least we could make our mistakes on stage or in front of people and learn from it.
So, you’re in bands learning the ropes, kicks n tricks n all that but take us to a point you moved up from the ground to the next level and were you quite aware that you were doing so at the time as you look back on it now?
K . B ; Things started moving for me when I started the band The Leftovers. We weren't that great when we started but after a couple of years of playing, we finally got into our groove. We played a lot of shows and toured all over the USA. Eventually, we got asked to tour in Europe and that's when we started to see our fanbase grow. Our last two albums were pretty well received in the pop-punk scene, and for a moment it was almost as if we were going to be able to tour and live off it full time, which was always my dream... but unfortunately things didn't go the way I was hoping, and our drummer left the group, and the other members kinda gave up. It was a bit traumatic for me watching this band that had been together for about eight years, starting from nothing then seeing it build up and up, then finally having the carpet pulled out under your feet just as big things were on the horizon... but that's life. At least I had a lot of experience that made me the musician I am today. So, after that, I just did what was natural for me, keep playing, but I had to start from square one all over again. That was around 2010 when I started releasing records under my name. I think I was definitely aware that the songs I was writing and the albums we were released as the Leftovers had a lot of potential, and when I started to do my "Solo" records, I really tried my best to put out the best songs that I could, and that's still the goal today with every new single and album release.
OK, recording under your own name. Was that just a no brainer for you after being in the band situation and it falling apart? Sink or swim but this time on your own terms. Also did you have a clear view of what you wanted to do right away, or did it take some time to manifest?
K . B ; Well, during the last year of the Leftovers, our label approached me about doing a side project EP, just of classic ‘80's new wave power pop songs - stuff like Elvis Costello, The Knack, Nick Lowe etc... so I was recording that EP of cover songs, which was titled, "Got It Covered", under my own name to differentiate between myself and the band. However, during the time the EP was recorded and released, the Leftovers had self-destructed and so then I had this new released as a solo artist doing cover songs, and no band... The intention was never for the Leftovers to break up, but they did, so I kinda just went from that band to a solo artist with this convenient EP of cover songs... it was right after that, I got asked to tour in Europe with a band from Italy called the Radio Days, and as soon as I got back I realized I had to start writing some new original songs, and that it just made sense to keep going as my name Kurt Baker to not overly confuse people, as the new music I was writing was basically what I would have written for my old band.
Some obvious choices there but “I've Done Everything For You”, the Sammy Hagar track I have always loved. Why that one and please share any of the other choices of tunes and why
K . B ; I got hip to that song "I've Done Everything For You" because it's on a Rick Springfield album, "Working Class Dog". I always loved his cover of the track, and my producer at the time Linus of Hollywood also loved it, so we decided to do a cover of a cover... hahaha. Kay Hanely from Letters to Cleo is singing backups on it. I was always a fan of her band. Other covers were picked because they were kind of well-known new wave/power pop songs from artists that I loved - I think my cover of "Cruel to be Kind" by Nick Lowe is my most watched/listened to video on YouTube. I wonder if he's ever heard it. Maybe the next cover I should do is his song about the Bay City Rollers! Haha, that's a great one too. Well anyway, the idea was for the album to be covered as it would be a fun experience in the studio for me, and perhaps grow my fanbase a bit - from Pop Punk to Power Pop, and I think I succeeded in that... although I find getting cornered into any set genre these days to be quite annoying - maybe that's why my new record is stylistically all over the place!
OK so from then you went on to your next record, “Brand New Beat”. Take us into that record and indeed also a little into your deal with Wicked Cool Records.
K . B ; “Brand New Beat” really was THE record that firmly got me on my way as a solo artist. I had done two EP's for the Oglio label, but during that formative period out of the Leftovers and into the solo thing 2011-2012, I started going down to Nashville to hang out with my best friend Wyatt (Funderburk), to write and record songs. We first started writing together when we did a song for the Leftovers called “Telephone Operator”. We just really hit it off writing together, it's like that with some artists when it comes to collaborations. I guess, I think of Lennon/McCartney, Benny and Bjorn from Abba, Leiber/Stroller, Goffin/King... the list goes on and on.. well whatever magic those cats had; we had it too.. So, we just started writing and demoing so many songs at Wyatt's Nashville studio. We amassed something like twenty songs, and we took the ten songs that fit the best with each other and that became “Brand New Beat”. The rest of those tracks were released on a “B-Sides” record and some international releases. The album seemed to really click with people, and it's still got some of my most well-known songs to date on it, like "Don't Go Falling In Love". Two other tracks, "She Can Do It All" and "Weekend Girls", found their way to Little Steven Van Zandt, who started playing the two songs on his SiriusXM radio show. A couple of years after the release of “Brand New Beat”, Steven started up his label again, Wicked Cool Records - it had been on hiatus for a bit. So, at that time, I had just finished a record called "In Orbit" and it became the first release on Wicked Cool Records 2.0. That was in 2016 - and I've been fortunate enough to release records with them ever since.
Talking of your song writing, you and Wyatt wrote together and then you went off and did the “In Orbit” record. “All For You” is a particular favourite and has more than a little ‘70s glam to it, more of which later. Let's get into your song writing, how did the dynamic work with Wyatt and how did that differ from how you write as a solo artist? Take us into that songsmith brain of yours, if you will?
K . B ; I'm glad you dig "All For You", that one was my way of doing a glam rock meets ‘60's bubble-gum track, which I guess a lot of that early ‘70's Junkshop Glam rock from the UK has a lot in common with, song structure-wise. Yeah, so when I moved to Spain late 2013, it made it harder for me to do in-person writing sessions with Wyatt. I am not a huge fan of song writing over email/zoom - you really gotta connect with somebody IN person... I mean, it does sometimes work if you are looking to finish up an arrangement, but starting a song off from scratch, well I find that very hard to do with somebody over the internet. I've done it before, but as I said, it was like "Hey, I got this chorus - can you write a verse?" and eventually that works out into a pretty cool song. I did that with Tommy Dunbar of the Rubinoos on a song called "Can't Have Her Back", and more recently with Kevin Preston from Prima Donna/Green Day, on "Go Getter" off my latest album. But yeah, when I moved to Spain I kinda had to start writing songs on my own again for the records I did with the KB Combo, it was kind of like going back to my early days writing for the Leftovers. Lyrics have never been my strongpoint in song writing, though I've tried to improve over the years - really what is important for me is the melody. I always start a song idea off a melody idea, put the chords under it, and then try and work out the lyrics - sometimes I've got a lyrical idea for a chorus that comes along with a melody line, which always is helpful. I guess the most important thing I've learned over the years - and like anything - song writing is a learning experience - it's that a song always has to be about something. It could be something like the downfall of civilization or something small like liking the colour blue - but as long as a song says something, it has more power behind it. Usually, I'll start writing the song on my acoustic guitar, and it just goes from there.
OK, melody, check! Wasn't it Paul Stanley who said, "if a song doesn't sound great on an acoustic guitar it isn’t a song!!"
K . B ; Well, I'm a huge KISS fan.. I gotta agree with Paul on that. You know, when I do my acoustic shows sometimes I’m surprised at how well the songs sound after I've been so used to performing them with a full band. With this type of music, where it's not experimental and its very focused on the important structure/arrangement/melody... in pure essence a pop or rock n roll song... you sometimes only need to break it down to the core elements of the song and if you can't hear that with the simple lead vocal and an acoustic guitar, it's probably not a good song. Yeah!
You say lyrics aren't your strong point however hearing all your music that's part of what I love about it. Some artists go out of their way to make changes and take turns but you as you state it’s the song that matters nothing else and hey that's why I am here and many others too!
K . B ; Every artist can do their own thing - and it caters to a certain fanbase. People have different ways of interpreting and appreciating music. As my old mentor and friend Kip Brown used to say, "I'm a fan first", and that's how I approach my song writing... so as a fan, I've always gravitated towards music and groups that really put a big emphasis on not so much experimentation or avantgarde, but more just on writing a fucking good song.
Cool so we have some background and a little journey into the head of Kurt Baker now let's get to the record that got me hip to you, “Rock n Roll Club”. I have said it is a modern-day glam pop classic no doubt yeah?
K . B ; I appreciate that you've found my music through this record. Honestly, it hasn't been my most successful record at the moment.. it could be timing.. you know there are a lot of variables, but I can't be too bogged down thinking about that - when I set out to make this record, the goal was to make my fans happy with always delivering on the pop hooks and rockin' production, but also, I wanted to expand my audience and have my music be heard by more people. So, if this interview is any indication of that, then I sincerely appreciate it and it means that I've succeeded. So, I'm grateful for you reaching out. Glam rock has always been a big influence on me, and I know a lot of songs on this new album "Rock n Roll Club" have a lot of elements of that sound, and obviously, the artists that played in the genre.
Glam rock is a colour in the rock n roll palette... and with “Rock n Roll Club” I kinda wanted to take a deep dive into all the different shades of rock n roll music - it's not a concept record by any means, but the title and the music is connected in the sense that at a rock n roll club at any given night, you'll hear a big mix of styles within the genre. It's like ok, Thursday night - Punk rock show, so we recorded a punk song "Go Getter" - Friday night - glam rock, so did something like "Hittin Rock Bottom", maybe Saturday it's more a funk rock show - "Love Express", maybe you catch the drift. It's really a celebration of the space, the venue, which gives us musicians a place to practice our craft - rock n roll clubs are our place of worship, and sadly they are starting to die out... so that was my thinking in the album, respect to the rock n roll club.
Cool you got us right into your fandom and artistry right there excellent answers. Are you listening people GET INVOLVED!!! Let's go track by track ok?. You're a Kiss fan yeah, like so, so many of us here are and they are one of the blueprints for us all, talking of which “Hitting Rock Bottom” two words.. Ace Frehley discuss........
K . B ; So this song came about back when I was in Madrid and still playing with a side project called the Gold. We recorded one album that is very much influenced by the Heartbreakers, New York Dolls, Dead Boys.... but the music was evolving when we started to write songs for the second record. I was writing with my friend Mark who played guitar in the band, and Marcos, the singer. We had this song called "TMZ", which was loosely based on this story about Ace Frehley - you see, Marcos used to date one of his (Ace’s) ex's and she would call him all the time... long distance from LA to Spain.. and she would tell him all these crazy things about what it was like living with Ace Frehley. Well, Mark and I are huge Kiss fans, so we were always intrigued by all of these stories - and so we wrote "TMZ", which is fictional but based on some version of reality. So, The Gold breaks up, fast forward a couple of years and "TMZ" became "Hittin' Rock Bottom”. We changed up a bunch of the lyrics but it's still very much a tribute to Ace Frehley and also a song about people trying to become stars with the wrong intentions - i.e. latching on to celebrities and thinking they are important just because they are associated with someone famous but haven't done anything themselves. Little Steven helped with the arrangement a bit, by suggesting that we switch the chords around between the verse and chorus, and now the song really hits big. It's a cool way to start off the album.
"Let a little of the Stardust brush off on to you" yes an age-old tale but it seems even more relevant in these too much info times. Great song and a great way to start the record. Talking of Little Steven, how much does he get involved with his artists, can you tell us a little about how he works with you on this record.
K . B ; Steven always has some say in whatever record is released on Wicked Cool Records. Originally, the idea was for us to work in the studio with him doing all the producing or at least on a few of the tracks. Unfortunately, our schedules didn't line up so "Rock N Roll Club" was co-produced by Wyatt and me. Little Steven did however have a lot to do with the song selection and arrangements on a few songs. I had sent him a huge batch of demos for the record, some of them he said, "Go with this one", "Change that bridge here" and "What the fuck is this song?" hahaha, so basically he narrowed down all those demos to the twelve songs that were selected for the record. He's always open to our feedback, but he's got a great producer's mind, and I mean, look at his resume - usually what he thinks works, so we value his input and creative involvement on the record. He also decided the track sequence on the album, so he was the executive producer on this. One day I'd love to work directly with him in the studio on a track or two.
Right on more of a mentor than a producer and that right there money can't buy yeah. OK back to the record title track is up next. This was the first track I heard of yours and I thought "who the fuck is this cat"...and here we are haha. Right so what got me about this were the hooks but, also the way you sang all night long....ie wallll night long and then the power of rock n roll line came up and I started thinking to myself " this cat knows his rock n roll and hey if I am not mistaken a KISS fan also".
K . B ; The title track "Rock N Roll Club" was originally written by a dear friend and mentor named Kip Brown. He passed away a few years ago and so in a sense, this record is in dedication to him. His daughter is one of my best friends, Gina Brown and she has a band called Euphemia who just released a killer new record. For many years, Kip helped me discover so much great music, and he was a terrific songwriter and brilliant performer, a real rock n roll legend in Portland, Maine. He had never recorded the song "Rock N Roll Club", but his original version had a bit of a different arrangement. Steven Van Zandt helped a lot with the pre-production of this song. It's not like Kip's original version 100% but it keeps the vibe close. Kip was a huge glam rock fan, so he loved Kiss, as I do too, along with lots of ‘70's punk rock...
So from what we have heard from you I think “Dressed To Kill” would be you fave Kiss record maybe? Tell us a little about what is your fave Kiss record and why you love them so much and in turn speak about how the song "Rock n Roll Club” came together, maybe while listening to “Alive!” Perhaps?
K . B ; Actually, tough one.. I love “Dressed To Kill”, but my first real love for Kiss came from the “Rock N Roll Over” album. It was the studio record they did in a more "live" setting, and it's just got this great feel to it. I'm a huge fan of “Unmasked” as it's super power pop. But I’d say that "Rock N Roll Club" takes it's production and arrangement influence more from the “Rock N Roll Over” album. I was totally channelling some Paul Stanley when I did the vocals. Gina Brown, Kip's daughter sings back-ups on the track too, which gives it this kinda '70's feel... you know in that "Grooooove" vocal line. And of course, the "(w)All Night Long" bit - it's all Kiss pastiche for sure. You can hear Kip counting off the song before it starts. That actually came from a recording I made of him playing the original version of “Rock N Roll Club” in his rehearsal space.
Cool as, history into now a perfect mix. OK so back to the record, next up is “She Don't Wanna Be Alone”. Talking of power pop here we go, right here. I hear lots of familiar things and influences but hey, you’re the songwriter so take us into this track....
K . B ; This is a track that started out with Wyatt. I was in France when he sent me a little snippet of the verse melody idea. We finished the song up together when we were hanging out in Maine doing a marathon writing session. This one came together very quickly as the "power pop" sound is definitely in our wheelhouse. Wyatt was thinking early Beatles on this track, especially an early John Lennon slower more R&B influenced type of song that you might have heard from him on their ‘64/’65 recording period. I wrote the bridge, which I kinda was drawing on more of a ‘67 styled Beatles track. And the lyrics were really inspired by "She's Leaving Home" which was on “ SGT Peppers”. So yeah, basically a full-on Beatles type of song with this one. We added some production techniques that might resemble something that Jeff Lynne might do, but you know he was really into the Beatles as well, so it all comes together full circle. I wasn't aware how well this song would do, originally it was supposed to be later on in the record, but Steven moved it up in the sequence to start of the record, and it's already become a fan favourite.
Talking of favourites “Anchors Up” is next. Man, this one is my go-to track for you and if (indeed when in fact) I was to recommend you to someone this is the song I would say and hey that is why we are here so let's go into this one a little more. I am not sure if you start out with a narrative for each of your songs but I think if you did, this track does have a set narrative and that narrative would be more than a little autobiographical yeah?
K . B ; “Anchors Up” is one of my favourite songs I've ever written. The music and the idea came about while I was living in Madrid. The music aspect of the song was great, but my original lyrics were quite awful, placeholders. So, when I was back in the USA and finishing up the record this was one of the songs I wanted to finish up with Geoff Palmer, who is great at lyrics. I went to his house, and we finished the song in his basement studio. Honestly, the music arrangements stayed the same to my original demo, but the lyrics completely changed this song and no doubt for the better. Geoff's lyrical input made the song go from black n white to vivid colour. The song can have a lot of different meanings but, I think it's about navigating the ups and downs in life, looking for meaning to the daily routine, and trying to not let the negative aspects of life pull you under. I know that the opening line came about after Geoff had woken up early to take his girlfriend to the airport.... the sun was coming up and that first line popped into his head. I think we were just joking about "Looking for an answer in the rain", as something like looking for the facts of life when you are taking acid or something like that... well, that wasn't our original idea in that lyrical line, but everything is up for interpretation for the listener, and maybe that listener is a big Grateful Dead fan.. who knows.. hahaha, but yeah, really great song and I’m super proud of it. Wyatt came in with some amazing production ideas. This was the track on the album that when we had finished it, we knew that we had something really special.
Not surprised you are proud of that track as it is an absolute stormer. People, please get onboard! Talking of getting on board next up is “Love Express”. Totally left field for you on this record I think but I love it. I'm thinking Lenny Kravitz crossed with a late-night cartoon...discuss....
K . B ; "Love Express" is a controversial song on the record. Some people love it, other people hate it. I’m just glad people have such strong feelings about it. Well, the original idea was to do a funk type song with influences from Rick James and Ohio Players. I love all the bass and rhythm interplay that goes on in those funk tracks. I wrote this during the pandemic, and my buddy Mark wrote the lyrics, maybe demo versions of this song exist… but the final version we used for the record has more of a polished vibe to it, maybe drawing more from the MADchester scene… kinda adding a little Acid House elements to the basic funk idea. This was my intention, but I mean everybody hears it differently. Little Steven enjoyed the original demo enough that he wanted it on the record, and he put it on side A. In the thematic idea of the record - A Rock N Roll Club, where every night you hear and see a different band, this song totally fits. Some fantastic guitar work by our friend Matt aka Jelly Fox on this one. I always like to try new things, and this is a great example of that, 'cuz it certainly ain’t punk!
Next “Bright Blue Sky” love this one. Very hard rock. Was it written with anyone in particular in mind this one?
K . B ; “Bright Blue Sky” was written in Geoff's basement, I had an idea to write a song that came to me while we all were hanging out, so I went down to his little basement studio and started to strum the guitar a bit. Geoff came down and picked up his guitar and started to play along, and then our friend Zack came down a few minutes later and started writing lyrics. Musically it’s kind of a mix between Tom Petty's song "You Get Me High", and maybe Oasis, but also a bit of AC/DC thrown in there. It's a big rock sound, which was really fun to record and it's a fun one to play live with the full band.
O.K next up is “Missed Connection” again your lyrics and phrasing are top notch and they flow so, so well. This is a power pop gem of the highest order, love it. It reminds me of the Queen track “In Only Seven Days”. Tell us about this one
K . B ; "Missed Connection" is probably the most "Power Pop" track on the album, in that sense it could have been released on my albums like "Brand New Beat' and "Play It Cool" and would have fit perfectly on those albums, whereas on "Rock N Roll Club" it kind of stands alone as the most 'throwback' sounding tune to my original sound and style. The song was written during a snowstorm in Maine, while Wyatt was in town, and we were finishing up songs for the record. We came up with the idea while walking through piles of snow to a local pub. I guess the idea is about not picking up on social cues - and also the hilarity of those old "missed connection" bits that were often posted online or in the newspaper - something like " You were at the grocery store trying to decide which shampoo to buy, I was wearing a flannel shirt and jean shorts - call me". Just kinda ridiculous stuff, but it kind of makes for a fun little pop song. I definitely love me some Queen, but I’ve never really considered them a musical influence. This song actually started out interestingly because I was just playing around with different chord progressions… I remember looking up on YouTube a video about popular “pop” chord progressions, just for amusement… and after watching one of those videos, it actually got me humming a little melody over a simple chorus chord progression… then the verse came pretty easily. The original lyrics were completely changed, with Wyatt writing the ones that ended up on the record. Sonically we were going for a retro pop vibe, very ‘80’s, something maybe more in tune with the Police or something… but also both Wyatt and I are really into some of the newer pop bands of the last few years, like Fur and Boy Pablo… so those groups kinda had an influence on this track for sure.
OK, next up something a little more back in your pop punk arena, “Go Getter”. I love the phrasing in the chorus to drag out the "Go Getter" title bit and I think this adds a lot of texture into the song....this was a co-write so take us into the whole story of the meeting to do the co-write and what ideas were on the table when you set about writing this one
K . B ; Side two for me is just filled with tracks that I love... and this is another one. I wrote this with Kevin Preston from Prima Donna and who also plays guitar with Green Day. We were just hanging out a couple of weeks ago when Green Day was in town, what a great dude he is! He actually sent me a message while I was working on tracks for the new album about collaborating on a song. I'm a huge fan of Cheap Trick, obviously, and one of my favourite songs by them is "Stiff Competition", so I had this chorus laying around that was kinda in that vein, but it needed a verse and a pre-chorus.. so, I sent it over to Kevin and he came back with some awesome parts and lyrics that fit together well.... then I kind of wrote a little breakdown bridge part. The song just moves like a freight train, and I love it's energy. Kris Rodgers and my buddy Pat Heelan take turns singing the harmony parts in the chorus vocals which had a cool texture. The guitar solo part by Geoff jumps out because we go from a minor key to a major key.. all in all, one of my faves on the record and it was a very great experience collaborating with Kevin Preston on this. I hope we can write more songs together in the future.
OK next up is “In Love Alone”, great word play here and very power pop with the pop being very present here. Story behind this one..
K . B ; Another one of my faves from the record. I had been sitting on this chorus idea for a really long time, and then when Wyatt and I got together to write songs for the album, he got a great verse idea. The track was finished with Geoff adding a bridge. This track was equally written by Wyatt, Geoff and me. I had the chorus and those lyrics; Wyatt did the verse and those lyrics and Geoff finally finishing it off with the bridge and lyrics to that. Somehow it works so well together, which is really an amazing thing when you think about it... but that's how you know a collaboration works. We actually had lost a lot of our recording tracks during the session for the album, which put us in a bad spot... all the lead vocals and overdubs just vanished... a musician’s worst nightmare.. However, we reassembled a couple weeks later at Geoff's house in Madison, Wisconsin, where we basically finished the record. We took a bad situation and made the best out of it and really came together and had an even better recording session than previously. A lot of good memories when we recorded this song, and listening to the mixes.. it was beautiful Wisconsin weather, driving around the country roads and listening to this track.. totally fit the vibe. I was influenced by Nick Lowe and the Beatles in the chorus, but the other parts really draw on other influences as well. I know Geoff is a big fan of The Band, and he made a lyrical reference to them in the bridge. Yeah.. love this song, and I really enjoy playing this one at my acoustic shows too.
OK album nearly done so let's get to the penultimate track, “Not Right”. Another fave of mine and as you can tell I come from a more rock background with my tastes, so this just hits the spot. Is this a more personal lyric or was it just a cool narrative you came up with??
K . B ; I think this might have been one of the last songs we wrote for the album. Wyatt and I knew we wanted to have another rocker with sort of a groove to it. Big Cheap Trick influence on this one, along with some bits from the Turtles "You Showed Me", another one of my favourite bands.. from the ‘60's. And lyrically we kinda grabbed some influence from a band Wyatt and I both love - the Beach Boys - specifically the music and life of Brian Wilson... “Stay In Bed” etc….. that was definitely the idea we had from the lyrics, not so much a personal thing, but we all aren't perfect so I think everyone can relate to this song sometimes. I played the little guitar lick that you might call a "solo", when it came time to track it, I was gonna try and do something interesting but instead I kinda froze and just ended up doing the same lick - and it worked !
O.K. last track, the ballad “It Was You”…..
K . B ; I think “It Was You” was always going to be the closing track of the album, that's for sure. I've done a few sorts of ballad songs in the past, namely "How Many Times" on "Brand New Beat", but I was really in love with this track from Oasis called "Whatever"... so this track was influenced by that song.. you can hear it; we aren't shying away from it. But what I love about this track is the string arrangement - it adds a texture to the music I haven't had on any other of my albums... Wyatt and I wrote it together and it came to us pretty quickly... but yeah, we knew that this one had to close out the album. I've always liked doing ballads... but usually if I do one, it's only once.. every other album, haha!
OK that’s “Rock n Roll Club” wrapped up and what a great record it is! Moving on, so on your socials you said you were getting back to your punk pop roots, have you recorded anything yet and if so what is the vibe there?
K . B ; Earlier this year I had been talking to Wyatt and Geoff about kinda getting back to our roots - we all loved ‘90's Lookout Records pop punk growing up, and that's really how we all met, through my playing in the Leftovers... so it was kind of fun for us to start writing some songs that had a more simple approach - not think of it as a big production, a little faster with the tempos - and just guitars, bass, drums and vocals. Nothing too crazy. Also, we ended last year playing with our buddy Rich Kelly III on drums, and he's a huge fan of pop punk and power pop music, so he was really into recording with us - he had helped out with engineering on the last two LPs, but never actually tracked anything with us. When we heard some of the new Green Day tracks, especially "Look Ma No Brains" it really influenced us to finish up some ideas we had and get ‘em on tape.
O.k. tell us about your Sirius Xm radio show. You had a show on there and now another opportunity has popped up for you there so, take us into your story there.
K . B ; I had a Saturday morning show that ran from October to June called the Buzz Electric, it was a lot of fun to do and the best part was featuring new artists and songs as my showcase track which I called "the Supersonic Selection", I got to play a ton of great bands and there is still the Spotify playlist out there if people are interested in the groups that I played. Anyway, I had a good short run with that program but now I'm doing more "behind the scenes" work with Little Steven's Underground Garage, producing shows and also working with Little Steven's Record label, Wicked Cool Records... which I happen to be signed to! haha! If you haven't seen Little Steven's new documentary, it's very good and it makes me proud that he's my boss.
OK last question kind of DJ linked. Tell us your top five records of all time and then your top five new go to records at the moment..
K . B ; Well, this is always a tough question for me, as my lists ALWAYS change, but there are a few records that I always go to when I’m asked for favourites of all time... Top five records (in no particular order) The Beatles "Rubber Soul", The Beach Boys "Love You", Cheap Trick "Dream Police", ABBA "Arrival" and Nick Lowe "Jesus of Cool". As for right now, my current faves... Bad Nerves "Still Nervous", Papooz "Resonate", The Lemon Twigs "A Dream Is All We Know", Redd Kross "Redd Kross" and Banda AL9 "Love Is The Law"
Right on. Always a hard question best off’s but a very insightful one. Well Kurt it’s been a blast talking to you and let's hope you get a whole new slew of fans onboard. Do you have any parting words or gems of wisdom you wish to pass on to the people reading?
K . B ; Thank you, Darren! I appreciate the time you took to interview me, and I hope everybody reading this enjoys my music and has a great day! Peace and Love!
COMPETITION TIME !
NOW YOU HAVE READ ALL ABOUT KURT HOW ABOUT WINNING A SIGNED LIMITED ORANGE SWIRL VINYL COPY OF HIS "ROCK N ROLL CLUB" ALBUM? YEAH? JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION BELOW;
WHICH TRACK ON THE "ROCK N ROLL CLUB" RECORD IS ONE OF KURT'S PERSONAL FAVOURITES THAT HE HAS EVER WRITTEN?
EMAIL YOUR ANSWER TO US RIGHT HERE.
GOOD LUCK ALL YOU "GO GETTERS!"
INTERVIEW CONDUCTED VIA EMAIL MID TO LATE 2024
PHOTOGRPAHS COURTESY OF KURT BAKER and the SUITS VAULTS