Michael McDermott – An Xperience Interview

Michael McDermott – An Xperience Interview – by Liam Sweeny.

Singer/songwriter Michael McDermott spends his nights hypnotizing the crowd like the stripes on the road that got him there. And having horror author Stephen King as a passionate fan doesn’t hurt. McDermott will be at Caffe Lena on November 13.

RRX: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

MM: My first record came out in 1991 on Warner Bros. The first song on the first album did well, and then I put out three major label albums, each one kind of diminishing returns. Until one day, EMI in New York just didn’t answer the phones. That was kind of the end of the music industry. I didn’t know what to do. It was 1997, maybe. That was the beginning of the end for the industry, really. And I kind of made a mess of things in my life personally, and was looking at three to six years in jail. So when you’re talking about messing up …

RRX: Industrial-grade messing up?

MM: Yeah, I was a professional. I was a master, really. I found my calling, and so anyway, I have now been clean and sober for what is it now? It’s gonna be 11 years in January. You just say you don’t believe in second chances? Well, I’ve had more than that. So things have been good. I always liken it to, like I went out, and I was invited into a party, and I went outside to have a smoke, and then they locked the doors when I was in the backyard. So I’ve been waiting a long time to try to get in, and then I found that there’s a bathroom window that was cracked open, and I climbed back in, so I’m not gonna go out and smoke anymore, and I’m gonna stay as long as I can.

RRX: In writing, they talk about incidents that incite action. John Wick was a peaceful pet owner at one point. Were you always into music, or did some magical thing kinda happen to drive you there?

MM: It was kind of a magic thing that happened. Like, I remember the thing that kind of turned it. Sometime, when I was around 12 or 13, I heard the song “The River” by Bruce Springsteen. And I thought, man, that was just unbelievable. It was like a little movie to me. And I thought, damn, that’s amazing. And then when I discovered Bob Dylan, it was just, it was over. That was it. And so ever since then, I’ve been trying to shine his shoes.

I would take pilgrimages out to Greenwich Village in high school to walk down Bleecker Street, and it was like going to the Holy Land. That was kind of it for me. I knew I wanted to do that. Also in 8th grade, I saw the Rolling Stones on the “Tattoo You” tour, and I saw Keith Richards. I thought, my God, that guy is something else, you know? I didn’t ever want to be Mick Jagger, I wanted to be Keith Richards. And then in high school, I had bands, and the singers would never f***ing show up. I was like, “F***ing Tim’s not here again,” so I just stood in. I was singing until the singer got there … and then it just kind of stuck. I just thought, f*** it, I’ll just do it myself.

RRX: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan. We’re not talking about a band name, but a person’s name. People don’t always pay attention to the band when it’s a person’s name. When you’re doing your own solo stuff, how do you find the right band backing you up?

MM: I’ve had a Chicago band. It’s just not financially viable for me to take them on the road. I tour Europe a lot, and I got an Italian band. It’s almost like the Chuck Berry thing, where I just get a band locally if I can. But most times, I just do solo. I’d rather be an outstanding solo artist than an average guy singer in a rock band. So that’s kind of the thing. I’ve had my loyal guys here, but unfortunately, it’s just like – doing Caffe Lena or doing an East Coast run – it’s just me.

I even had Stephen King play on a song. It was a funny story. I was playing basketball at my sister’s house one day, and she yelled out the window. I had a phone call, and I said, “I’m in the middle of a game. I’ll call him back.” And she’s like, “It’s Stephen King.” And I said, “The writer?” And she’s like, “Yeah.” I said, “What the f***?” And as I went in and I got on the phone, I was like, “How did you find me at my sister’s house?” But anyway, he was like, “Hey, Michael, Steve King, big fan. You know, listen, I’m coming to Chicago.” And I was like, “Are you sure you’re not looking for Michael McDonald? Like, I don’t understand. What’s going on?” And he said, “No, I used lyrics of yours in my new book,” and I said, “Are you kidding?” I said, “Nobody told me.” So anyway, we became friends. He came down to Memphis and played on the record. And that was fun. I use guys in Nashville and I use guys in Chicago, and with modern technology, you could do that without having to spend a fortune in the studio, and that’s great.

RRX: That’s cool. He’s a bass player, right? I thought Stephen King was a bass player.

MM: He plays guitar.

RRX: Oh, okay.

I love the idea of a music scene being more than the sum of its parts, that there’s a spirit of a music scene that transcends just the people in the venues and the players. You’ve been everywhere. Is there any place that had a scene that you were just blown away by, more so than anywhere else?

MM: Well, that’s a great question. I was in Seattle in ’92, you know, and that was Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden. They were all happening right then. And that was pretty incredible, to be in the Seattle music scene. It was early 1992. So that was cool. However, I will say Memphis has really got something special besides the cheesy Beale Street bars. They just play music differently down there, and I don’t know if it’s because it’s kind of below sea level, but there is something really deep about it. I haven’t been to Memphis now in a couple of years. But yeah, Seattle ‘91, that’s an easy one. It was a cultural thing, besides being even a musical thing … I felt the power of it, you know? I was doing my folk singer song stuff, but I had Dave Navarro from Jane’s Addiction come in and play. So that would be my answer, I guess – Seattle ‘91, Memphis in the late ‘90s.