INTERVIEW: MICHAEL DES BARRES – September 2024

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

According to a recent press release: “Los Angeles-based singer/performer/actor/radio show host Michael Des Barres is set to release a new album, It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll, on October 11, 2024, via Rock Ridge Music with distribution through Warner / ADA. A collection of 70’s cover songs, think of It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll as Michael Des Barres’ musical autobiography, the soundtrack of his youth and the songs that shaped him in the spirit of classic cover albums like David Bowie’s Pin Ups or Bryan Ferry’s These Foolish Things. The dozen covers on this album were all originally released between 1971 and 1975 (with the exception of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for My Man,” which was arguably the inspiration for everything that followed on this collection).” I was lucky enough to score some phone time with Michael to discuss new music, old music, and much more…

Todd: Are you still with me, Michael?

Michael: I sure am.

Todd: This technology, it’s amazing, isn’t it?

Michael: I don’t know anything about technology, but I have a terrific wardrobe.

Todd: Well, I believe the second part, and I also don’t believe the first part. We’re both too long in the tooth to know better.

Michael: It’s interesting that you should say so because I just did an interview this morning and it was all about this guy obsessed with technology in terms of music. I said, “This is ludicrous.” This is why I did my album. I did my album guitar, bass, drums, and a fucking singer. That’s it, and we did a couple of takes. I’m so into that vibe about rock and roll, and the complete opposite is where we began our conversation, which was hilarious.

Todd: It is. I’m so glad went into it, because I never know how to approach an artist when I’m speaking to them to say, “What does it feel like recording in a studio where nobody was in the same room?” Maybe not even the same city or the same country. To know that you did it old-school, is just amazing. You can tell in the cohesiveness of the album as well.

Michael: But to me, and this might sound silly, but I like to hear when they drop their beer or the microphone falls. That’s rock and roll to me. All the mistakes become a chorus, in a sense, when you look back and you think, “I just want to know that they were enjoying themselves.” I don’t want to think about them being told what to do by some superstar producer, like Andrew Watt who makes dreadful records, in my humble opinion. Awful, the worst. Worst producer ever. I say that with a smile obviously, but I do find that that’s true. I like the Pearl Jam album, but that’s none of my stuff. My stuff is rock and roll music, which is what I did. Three-minute songs that are terrific, and we’re having some fun, and we do two takes, and we move on.

Todd: Do you think that’s a lost art these days, Michael? The previous world of a three-and-a-half-minute song, two great verses, a great chorus, an amazing hook and bridge, and then shut the fuck up?

Michael: Yes, that is exactly… Well, you heard the record. Did you listen to my record?

Todd: I have listened to it a number of times, and I love it top to bottom. Like I said, it’s so cohesive.

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

Michael: I’m so glad because nobody’s posing. There’s no posturing there at all, and you can hear it. And doing it twenty times is ludicrous. It’s like, as an actor, I learned very early on is I’m only going to do a couple of takes, I would say to the director. I’m not going to do any more than that because anything over that is going to be acted, and I’m not here to act. I’m here to be. That’s what rock and roll is. If they’re enjoying it, you’re going to enjoy it. And that was the problem with doing acting for decades was going on a TV set, literally a set, and it was some class, and you were being taught what to do. These guys that I have on this are the greatest players. Eric Schermerhorn is Iggy’s guy. Forget about it. Iggy is the supreme one in my book. And the rhythm section is just delightful, and worked with Linda Perry, and they gave it a funkier kind of, almost like a Charlie Watts simplicity on that record. And that’s all I wanted. I just wanted, “Okay, boys, play. Enjoy yourself.”

Todd: I agree. Among these songs, there are a couple that stand out to me, because you totally put your stamp on it, whether it was you doing it or the combination of you along with Eric and Paul, whatever you guys did. To me, your version of “Cum On Feel the Noize” brought such a new energy to the song. Not that Quiet Riot didn’t make a huge monster hit out of it, but you put your stamp on it and made this your song.

Michael: Well, thank you so much. It’s such a terrific piece of music. It’s a brilliant song, brilliantly written. Absolutely. And most importantly, fun. We had a great time doing it. We’re in one room, one little studio. I was talking to Paul Ill yesterday morning. He was going, “Michael, everybody loves this.” And we did it in 12 hours. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. I could give a fuck at this time in my world. I don’t need money. I don’t need any pats on the back or handshakes from a record company president. I’ve got a great bunch of people behind it, and they have fun, period. Like I do on the radio. It’s the same thing I do for Stevie. It’s a beautiful thing to bring rock and roll music. And he feels the same way as I do, Stevie Van Zandt.

Todd: Most of the projects he gets behind, whether it’s in my normal musical vein or not, I wind up liking it. He just has his thumb on a pulse somehow.

Michael: Yeah, he’s an amazing man on all levels. And it’s not just the music; it’s also going to the schools and bringing them teachrock.org, which is a whole thing that we’re involved in, which is bringing music into the classroom where you talk about Aretha to young Black girls and young white boys, and suddenly you’ve got a room full of rhythm. It’s fucking amazing what he does, and that’s why I do my shows. I really concentrate on them and give it the best I’ve got. I think it’s important because we’re getting away from the rhythm of humanity, and it’s turned into a fucking machine.

Todd: That it has. I’d like to touch on that later, but I want to get back to these twelve songs because I’ve seen in different press releases where you’ve referred to these as chapters of your life. Looking back at these chapters of your life, what chapter or what song on this finished project fought you the hardest? Which one just for some reason didn’t feel right or just felt not as right as the other ones while you were doing it, but turned out stellar? Which one of these was the hardest to do?

Michael: Well, Todd, I would negate anything to do with what I didn’t like. I like every note of that album. That’s the best album I’ve ever made of music. No question about it. The one song I think that when I look back at it is “Moonage Daydream” because it is a daydream. It’s not a night dream. This is real. This is right now. That music, what he sang, how he felt, what he wrote is beyond belief. That is Tchaikovsky. David Bowie, I believe, is an angel.

Todd: I’d have to agree. Somehow you took a lot of these songs that everybody’s going to know, especially people from our collective eras. These are just classics. Whether they’re the radio hits or not, they’re classics. How is it you were able to cast aside any worry and say, “I can do this without fallout, without somebody saying, ‘What the hell’s wrong with you? Why would you do that to this song?'” How is it you were able to just put all that aside and just do what you wanted?

Michael: I’m rich. (laughs)

Todd: I’ll give you that, Michael. But you know what I mean? A lot of artists might worry-

Michael: I don’t give a fuck about their worries.

Todd: Well, that’s good. It created what I consider a very genuine album.

Michael: It’s rock and roll. Either you can play it and feel it, or you can’t. I’m not sad about it. I said, “Could I do it again?” It’s fucking amazing. The guitar, bass, drums, how can you go wrong? It’s all of you that have to put things on it, and here comes the violin and, oh my goodness me, there’s baritone sax, it’s crazy, the tambourine, the tappers, and the fucking sitars. Think about Bill Haley, okay? Let’s talk about Gene Vincent. Let’s talk about Elvis. It’s a four-piece rock and roll thing. You got the bass, the drums, and the singer, and the fucking guitar player, and that’s it. And if you enjoy it, they will. Eddie Cochran, to me, was 100% better than Pearl Jam. It’s a different world. I don’t want to know what Eddie Vedder’s politics are. I don’t want to know. I don’t need to know. I watch telly. I don’t need that. The only person I listen to on that level is Dylan because he’s a poet and he’s writing about what’s going on, when he did that, when he was at his peak, at his height, his theological chapter in his life. It was unbelievable. You’re not going to get better than that talking about the world right now, because even talking about the world right now is a mistake because they would go hang themselves. It’s a beautiful thing to get into the groove of a rock and roll song. It really is. It’s like making love with three chords.

Todd: I’ve always said what music can’t cure, there is no cure for.

Michael: Beautiful. Perfect. It’s exactly right.

Todd: Why now, Michael? You’ve done some amazing stuff. I still spin your acoustic Anarchy in the U.K., but why now did you decide to ramp up the three guys in a room with you and cut these twelve tracks?

Michael: Well, I’m in a position, and I don’t mean to brag here, but I can do anything I want at this stage of the game. I’ve always wanted to do an album that was really what I wanted to do, not what the label wanted to do, not even what Stevie wanted me to do, all these things, because he’s a very R&B guy and he loves all of that. I love all of that. I love Wilson Pickett, but I love Steve Marriott more, because I’m English. I didn’t grow up in the Deep South and I didn’t grow up in New Jersey. I grew up in fucking London. London was the crème de la crème of rock and roll. I can’t even describe… I don’t know how old you are. Probably quite young, I would imagine, but-

Todd: I’m in my mid-50’s, so you’re not talking that far.

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

Michael: Well, so you know what I’m talking about. So when you’re in London and every night you’re going to see Georgie Fame, right? Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames. It was this young white kid, played keyboards, B3. Unbelievable. And you had Terry Reid, and you had people that were so in love with rock and roll itself. That was charming and really caught me because I was in these dreadful public schools. You’ve got that public school education. Here I am, son of a marquis, who’s in jail, right? And my mum’s a whore and a coke freak in the loony bin. And where am I? I’m in theatric land. I’m in the clubs of London. I’m playing bad boys on telly, and then I did To Sir, With Love. It’s a hell of a story, but it’s a rock and roll story. The rhythm and the feel of that music, which obviously came from Muddy Waters and so on, has never left, and I wanted to make a record that was filled with simplicity. And that’s it. All I wanted.

Todd: Looking back, can you remember the moment that the light bulb came on and said, “This is it. This is me. This is who I am, this is my DNA, and this is what I need to do for the rest of my life?”

Michael: Yes, I can. It’s two things. First, “Jailhouse Rock.” I got the 78 RPM. I was very, very young. I wasn’t even a teen. I got that and I couldn’t believe it. Elvis remains my key guy in terms of singing, melody, and where he came from, that rockabilly, Country & Western, American, essentially American music. Then, I went to Richmond and saw this band called The Rolling Stones in 1963 or 1964.

Todd: I’ve heard of them.

Michael: I couldn’t believe what he [Jagger] was doing up there. He is the ultimate front man. There wasn’t a front man before. It was just John and Paul. But to have that singular fellow in the middle there with bangs who didn’t give a fuck. I remember that night because somebody called up, “Get your hair cut,” and Jagger goes, “What and look like you?” Can you imagine? Absolutely wonderful. I’m 76 years old. I totally understand that once it’s there in your body, it’s there forever. And I thought, “I want to do this. I want to be that simple and not do what producers are telling me to do or what even Jimmy Page would tell me to do. I don’t want to be told what to do.”

Todd: Well, the thing about you and everything you’ve done, it’s always been less about everything else and more about, as you’ve brought across in this interview, just the attitude. It’s as if the attitude is as much of your personality as anything else that you’ve been taught through the years.

Michael: Yeah. And I’ve learned from the greats, and then the greats became me. I believe in myself. I’m sure you do. You sound very confident. Listen, if you believe in yourself, then that’s all that matters. I’m not saying I’m better or worse than anyone. I’m saying I believe in myself. I believe that what I’m thinking and what I’m doing is something that should be done and felt. I’m not being taught and I’m not teaching. I’m enjoying something and I’ll do it to the best of my ability. What I enjoy is killing people on telly. It’s one of my favorite things.

Todd: Well, acting aside and that stuff, but even just in the music, you can tell that your whole career you have lived your musical career for you, not for anyone else.

Michael: Oh, well, that’s pretty fucking cool. But I’ve had a great time, and I’ve always had a lot of great people around me. Did I sell millions of records? No. Did I enjoy it? Did I write a huge song? Yes. Which that’s enough to keep one living for the rest of my life and certainly anybody that loved me, and that was really good. But the vibe about it is that I’ve lost the idea of being judged and all of that. I don’t care about that. Nobody can judge me.

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

Todd: I think that gives you a freedom to do what you want without regret, or even looking back for a moment, which is nice.

Michael: Yeah. Well, I’m so glad we’re talking about this because a lot of people don’t understand it. They think I’m being an absolute sort of egomaniac. I’m not an egomaniac. Ego is Latin for I, okay? And I studied Latin in these spiritual schools. But I believe in me. If I didn’t believe in me, who am I going to believe in? Bruce Springsteen? I was born in London, not the USA. So I don’t have any arguments with anybody about anything anymore. I believe what I believe, and I trust what they believe, and it’s been a wonderful experience. And it remains so. Plus, when I’m doing these radio shows, what I’m doing is I’m not talking about myself at all. I’m not playing music. I’m playing other people’s music. Stevie knew that when he called me 10 years ago. He said, “You should be in the radio keeping the rock and soul music alive. That’s what you should be doing because you know you’re a dictionary of this stuff,” as I think you are, too, and that’s a great feeling. To bring music to people is as interesting and as fun as playing it yourself.

Todd: Well, the angle you have is that you understand it as not only a fan, but also as an artist. So you understand not only what it does to people, but you know what it did to you and how it affected and influenced you as well. You bring a unique perspective. In my mind, Stevie was a genius putting you on the radio for that alone.

Michael: Yeah. He is a genius and he’s a really good man. And he’s got so much on his plate. He’s got so much, these kids, teachrock.org, all of that. It’s really amazing what he does. He’s not just up there with Bruce and all of that. He’s got a lot more on his mind. He’s a very politicized man, and I love him. And he dresses like a gypsy, which is beautiful. It’s rock and roll. Got it. Eddie Vedder in shorts and a baseball cap. Not cool. God bless him. He’s great. He cares. He’s a lovely geezer. He’s a great songwriter. Lovely geezer. I met him, and he is a lovely fella, but shorts and a baseball cap are not my idea of a good time.

Todd: It’s not rock and roll in my mind, either. Michael, looking back, if you could talk to a young Michael fifty years ago, when you decided to do this, what’s the one piece of advice you would give yourself then knowing what you know now?

Michael: It’s a fabulous question, but the answer is nothing. There’s nothing that I regret and there’s nothing that I felt that I deserved. If I think like that, I’m immediately out of the moment. Looking backwards is, I think, dangerous for us. I think we really must stay in the moment. I think when one’s having a conversation, especially with a guy like you that is clearly an intellectual about these things and not just a fan, I don’t look at anything in my life that I regret. So it’s difficult to answer that.

Todd: You caught me off guard because in 15 years, you’re the first person who didn’t have something.

Michael: I regret nothing. Every philosophical spiritualist believes in now. If I said anything about yesterday, or tomorrow, I’m fucked. So therefore, I’m here now with you, talking, right now. If I look back and go, “Oh, I should have married her,” or “I shouldn’t have married her,” or “I wish I’d gotten a hit with that band,” or “That was really cool, but we didn’t sell any records. Oh, we sold a lot of records here, but I only got 60% of it. Oh, but that…” shut the fuck up and stay here with us now. Me and you. That’s it. That’s all that matters. All the rest of it is bollocks. And I have no idea what’s going to happen in the next few hours, and yet I’m looking forward to it.

Photo credit: Piper Ferguson

Todd: Well, I can’t wait till October 11th when people can really dig into this. And they will. You mentioned no regrets, and the only regrets I have regarding you are that I’ve never seen you perform live, and I was never able to experience The Mistakes.

Michael: The Mistakes was the best band ever.

Todd: Oh my God, Loren is such an amazing guitarist.

Michael: Oh, forget about it.

Todd: Yeah, Paul, and Matt Starr on drums is an amazing drummer. And then you to front that, that’s just fire.

Michael: I know. We did some gigs. It was so funny because we play… I said, “Okay, so we’re only going to play clubs that nobody plays,” and that’s what we did. We played in the LA… No, I didn’t go anywhere. I think we went to San Francisco. San Francisco is the last gig we did. Matt Starr, forget about it. Loren, oh my God. Paul Ill, oh, yeah. And Eric Himel, too, holding it up, that Brian Jones rhythmic thing. But wow, I would look around and just laugh. And Matt, who’s a very serious drummer, would look at me and laugh because he couldn’t believe… When you hit that groove in whatever the song is, and you’ve got a rhythm going, it’s called rhythm and blues. They didn’t call it rhythm for nothing. And you’re in that space, it’s indescribable. It’s like being in heaven in leather trousers.

Todd: Michael, I know you’re busy. You were gracious enough to give me 30 minutes, and I’ve used it, and I’m so glad I did.

Michael: No, I’m so glad I did too.

Todd: Thank you for keeping rock and roll alive and bringing it back to its roots with, like you said, four guys in a room and a whole lot of don’t give a shit attitude.

Michael: That’s right. It’s only rock and roll.

Todd: Thank you, brother, and hopefully we’ll get you out on the road.

Michael: Thank you so much. You will.

MICHAEL DES BARRES LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

X – TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

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Category: Interviews