John Waite – An Xperience Interview

John Waite – An Xperience Interview – by Ian Losz.

Prior to his show at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs, I sat down with an old acquaintance from my California days: John Waite, former frontman of The Babys and Bad English, now performing with his new 4-man band.

(As we began, John noticed my eyewear and put on his own similar pair of shades.)

John Waite: Let me join you with the sunglasses.

RRX: (laughing) Ok, John.

A majority of your well-known songs are love or relationship songs. Why is that?

JW: Well, because I was young and everything’s on fire. You’re falling in love and you’re in relationships continually. Life at that age is pretty much an outward journey.

I think as you get older, you collect yourself and it’s less subjective. You start to think about the actual experience and try to find your other half.

RRX: It’s a journey. But yours is a musical journey, sharing it with lots of people.

JW: I always did write story songs. I mean, the B-side of The Babys’ hit “Every Time I Think of You” was “Head First.” It was a song about my best friend, and he was going this way, and I went that way.

I was always driven to write my own lyrical stuff. More recently, we’ve had something like “Bluebird Cafe,” which has a really strong narrative about going to Nashville and trying to succeed.

There’s kind of a downtown which is bleak, like any city. Making that trip to New York City … downtown. (There’s) songs that are much more lyric-driven.

Obviously, the more famous songs (of mine) are more accessible. But I’ve got like eight songs we have to play. I could name them, but they’re all singles. And then the other stuff, I’m completely free to do what I want.

I’m making a new album now. All the songs are lyric-driven and a lot darker. Very few of them are about relationships.

RRX: You’ve lived a good portion of your life in America, and you talk about falling in love with New York City. Tell me about that part of your life.

JW: I was always wired. My engine was always running faster than everybody else’s. So when I finally had time alone in NYC, I realized it’s where I belong. I was on a mission with a sense of purpose. Everybody was there to create. The entire city was an engine, and I was just part of it.

This was just after The Babys broke up. I spent Christmas alone in NYC with a knee injury (from a Cincinnati concert incident), then flew home (to England). I spent three or four months recuperating.

But I came back and lived in a 22nd Street crash pad. I met Ivan Kral, guitarist for Iggy Pop and Patti Smith. He was European and Czech, and we both were on an intellectual path.

So it was a tremendous amount of culture in New York. On the same path, it was a great union, and we wrote an album together. And things exploded. I was able to unpack more and more and belong somewhere.

RRX: It’s hard not to get caught up in the energy of NYC.

JW: I found that no matter what was going on, I was creating. I always felt like a tube of toothpaste – New York was squeezing. I couldn’t stop writing. The new album owes a great deal to that energy. Like I said, I’m more concerned about the actual. It’s like rock-speak, to keep things simple, without sounding pretentious. You’re just going for the jugular. The more I read, the more I live. It’s not poetry or prose. It needs to have those chords.

It’s important, if treated with respect, to push it as far as you can. Then, you get something really wonderful.

RRX: I’m going to switch gears here. Tell me about a singer named Anne Bertucci – one of the Babettes?

JW: Oh, yeah! Annie was like our backup singer for like two years. She’s a great girl. Great talent. Like one of the boys. Took her out on the road, and she was on TV with us, and on the bus. She was great. [*Check out her videos]

RRX: You’ve had an association with Alice Cooper, Journey, and Whitesnake, and you bought Phil Ramone’s house. The Rock tree has many branches.

JW: When I lived on 22nd Street, I hadn’t had much to eat, little money, and was living with Ivan. Opposite the Dakota, where John Lennon was murdered, there was a coffee shop. I went in for an egg and a couple of french fries. This little old lady sat opposite me, and being a nice guy, I thought I’d talk to her and see if she was OK.

We started talking, and she said my son’s got a lovely house in Pound Ridge. I was new to NYC and immediately thought he was in the band, The Ramones. It was Phil Ramone’s mum. But six years later, I buy that house.

All these things, like laser connections, are going through your life. Interconnecting and bringing people.

RRX: Let’s talk about the red jacket. Prevalent in many photos, videos, and on tour. Even on MTV, which just had its final days.

John Waite: It was a suit! No. MTV didn’t exist until I went solo in NYC. And I got to know all the VJs. It was a small kind of town. Me and Nina Blackwood became very close friends. I mean, I knew them all, and we’d hang out and get smashed and go to The Ritz. Keith Richards would get up and play. It was a different city, as there weren’t as many (musical) people there.

At that point, NYC was regarded as second to LA. This wasn’t far from being like (the film) “Midnight Cowboy.” A lot of it was being torn down and in disrepair. The East Village was dangerous. You had to walk close to the wall. But it was a gracious city. It had a smile. If you looked people in the eye, you’re gonna get through the night.

RRX: Yes, it has a reputation. But if you’re a New Yorker, you kind of know.

JW: Nobody f***s with me there anymore. You can survive in New York on the streets, not only living on the street, but interacting with people. Race doesn’t come into it. The social strata doesn’t matter. Whether you’re the guy delivering milk, or somebody that’s just number one, and you’re standing next to them on the street. It’s all one thing, and why it’s a beautiful city.

Egalitarian, I think it’s called.

RRX: You’re in Santa Monica now. What compelled the move to California?

JW: Yeah. I bought the house in Pound Ridge and was there for 12 years, then moved into the city. I lived on Madison Avenue in a little crash pad. It was beautiful.

Then, after making an album called “Temple Bar,” I thought I’d give LA a shot again.

My manager was out there, and I needed a change of scenery. I had been in the same situation for a long time. But then I made quite a bit of money one year, so I bought a condo in Santa Monica. It’s very British. Now, no matter what, it’s an investment. But I could always move back to New York.

RRX: You’re originally from Lancaster, England. How does this compare? You were out living in Cleveland, Ohio, even before The Babys were a band. You’ve seen more of this country than many Americans.

JW: Yeah. I have all the values and character of a British person, but I’m transplanted in America. When you’re a little kid, you run around with a cowboy outfit on. Then you get in a band and you put the cowboy outfit on again.

RRX: You have a new album coming out?

JW: It’s really something. I think people won’t expect it. I mean, it’s really severe. It’s truthful and not meant to be any one thing, other than what I’d like to do when I’m by myself playing the guitar.

I’ve got great musicians around me. Shane Fontayne plays guitar on it. Serious. And if I don’t make another record, it’s a great coda.

RRX: Well, I hope you keep going. We, as musicians, don’t ever really stop; we slow down or transition.

JW: I mentioned being in some country house on a mountain somewhere. Content. Unless I’m much older and don’t want to go outside. A couple of dogs, keep some bees? Maybe live in England? Or live on the Upper East Side in NYC.

There is a time when you don’t want to be on display. You’ve said what you came to say.

But right now, we’re killin’ it everywhere we go. We have Kyle Cook from Matchbox 20 on guitar. Extraordinary musicians. Everybody loves everybody in the band. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had.

This year, the Netflix series “Missing You” came out. Some major tours in the last few years. My currency has suddenly come into play. I just got Hanes for the “Back On My Feet Again” commercial, and I’m the publisher. All this stuff just comes at me. We got a new agent, who put us in these venues for twice the money.

I don’t want to jinx it, but I haven’t asked for any of it.

RRX: There seem to have been places in your life where you could have said, “I’m done.” Or could have self-destructed.

JW: Yeah. I tried that too.

RRX: I’m glad you didn’t. You know the stories of rock n roll tragedies.

JW: Absolutely. I’ve had to recognize that over the past couple of years. Now I’m sober. I look back at some of the stuff; the disappointments were so stupendous.

RRX: You had to remake an entire album.

JW: I had to remake my whole life! You know, the record company went bust. It wasn’t my fault. I was completely in it. I was thinking about being sober recently. And I was like, how the f** did I get through that? But what else ya gonna do?

Like I said, being in the house on the hill, with two dogs and the beehive thing. You might be thinking, I’ve got all the cards where I want them, and now what?

Pete Townshend said he was going to buy a house on the (English) coast. He’d probably spend the evenings looking over the Atlantic, wondering what’s going on in New York.

I’ve done it, you know. I think I’d like to paint. I’d like to write.

RRX: I saw some of your paintings. I think once you’re an artist, you appreciate all the arts. Music, film, painting. It’s your voice as artists, sometimes without the voice, to reach people.

As an artist, people know me, but just the part of me that I want to give them.

Anything to add, John?

JW: I’m a really nice guy.

RRX: I can live with that.

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