A Conversation with Joe Pisapia (continued)

PM: So how are you staying in shape, physically, spiritually, on the road? What do you do to take care of yourself?

JP: I'm not, really.

[laughter]

PM: "I'm going to hell."

JP: Exactly. That's a challenge, to stay in shape all those ways on the road. It's hard on the road to maintain that balance and that grounding.

PM: Do you find, for instance, time to read? Do you make yourself read, is that part of life?

JP: I do. A lot of times, just to go to bed, or whatever.

PM: Right.

JP: And then I have my bike out there, which--

PM: Oh, well, that helps.

JP: Yeah, that's good. So I try to get on that, and walk. I usually have a little time in the afternoon to walk and explore the city or whatever. I make it a point to do that.

PM: You know what I'm reading is, Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of Beatles. Have you seen that?

JP: That's the engineer's book, right? I heard about that.

PM: Yeah, Geoff Emerick.

JP: I want to get that. I think I might get that for this next trip.

PM: Yeah, it's really good. It really gets you all the way inside.

JP: Well, he really goes into detail, doesn't he?

PM: Oh, big time. And not the electronic minutiae, either, more the emotional stuff, and who's getting on whose nerves and why, and who's taking the piss, and who's the great guy, and when, and why. I mean, he's a real McCartney guy. And he's not a very pro-Harrison guy in the beginning, but becomes one.

JP: Wow.

PM: I mean, his account of how Harrison was basically screwing up all the way right up until like Abbey Road is unbelievable. It's like, yeah, he's out there trying to take that solo for four hours until Paul finally says, "Give me that guitar." Goes out there, slams it in two takes, and says, "Okay, next song."

JP: Wow. That's weird, because Brad Jones was telling me about when they did All Things Must Pass, his confidence was so shattered by the Beatles that he had Pete Drake do all the all the slide parts on the pedal steel for "My Sweet Lord."

PM: Are you kidding me?

JP: No.

PM: Oh, my God!

JP: I didn't even know that that was a steel guitar.

PM: Oh, because my buddy who's a Harrison freak is always telling me how All Things Must Pass is the greatest album ever made. Wait'll I tell him that Pete Drake cut all those slide solos.

[laughter]

PM: I just love what a great gig this has turned into for you, and no doubt, what an incredible fourth member you ended up to be for them.

JP: Yeah, I hope so. I always tell the story of how, with JMB, one of the things that we wanted to do to move forward was we just wished we knew a guy who could sort of play a bunch of stuff, and maybe not even be part of our core band, but just sort of be that guy that would be the go-to guy for anything. And so when I first went out with those guys, that's the role I tried to play, because I felt, you know what? I know exactly what they want, because this is what I always wanted.

PM: Right.

JP: Just the guy to be like, "I'll try that. And I'll put this little thing in here so you guys don't have to work so hard, it kind of fleshes this part out, so you don't have to hit five pedals and have three vocals."

PM: "Here's the riff that's missing, let me drop it in."

JP: Yeah. And then after while it just--you sit there and listen to records together, you're talking about songs you like, whatever, and then you start writing together. And then the next thing you know, I'm kind of in the whole thing.

PM: Right.

JP: But yeah, it's been great, Frank, I mean, as far as putting my life on track--and it's helped me to put together my environment here, and my studio stuff, and just sort of be able to try a lot of things there. It's a blessing, in many ways.

PM: Hey, have you seen this DVD that's really rocked my world lately called B4MD, Before the Music Dies?

JP: No, what's that?

PM: Oh, these two guys just cruise the country looking for answers to like, "What the hell has happened to music and the music business?"

JP: Wow.

PM: And both of the filmmakers had siblings die who were musicians, and one of them in his last conversation with his brother, the brother had expressed dismay at how the music business had left the fans and the musicians behind. And they just set off on all these answers, and talked with all these famous musicians. How long are you home? I've got to lend you this before you leave.

JP: I'm home until Saturday. But I'm coming back in two weeks.

PM: Okay. Let's hook up. I want you to see this thing. Thanks for taking the time today to do this interview.

[Be sure to check out Joe's Place, the wonderful set of 5 ten-minute movies filmed by D.F. Yonkman during the making of Ganging Up On The Sun. They're available free for your viewing pleasure at the guster.com media page.]

	listen to clips
	print (pdf)
	buy the latest CD here or here
	guster.com
	repriserecords.com
	guster FAQ
	guster.net (fansite)
	reverb
	joepisapia.com
	joemarcsbrother.com
	photo thanks:
	C. Taylor Crothers
	John Brassil
	puremusic home