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A Conversation with Willy Porter (continued)
PM: Listening to the new live album today, I found your song "Angry Words" inspiring.
WP: Thanks.
PM: Helped me get off the dime and make a call I'd been stewing on too long.
[laughter]
WP: Yeah. That one's been around a while. I think I wrote that ten years ago, man. It was on the Dog Eared Dream record.
PM: That song came out of your pop moment, right?
WP: Yeah.
PM: Can we talk about that? I don't know too much about that period.
WP: Sure, yeah. Well, that was kind of an interesting time. I was just kicking around, and I was getting ready to make my second record. And I was into rock 'n' roll, and I was writing a lot with my band at that time, which was a really killer band.
PM: A Milwaukee combo.
WP: Yeah. And so those were the songs of the moment. And it wasn't so much a conscious effort to try to get over, or to get onto the radio or do anything like that; it was just the tunes that I had at that time. So it was kind of an unconscious effort there.
PM: But it worked out as a good Triple-A song, right?
WP: Yeah, it did. That was great. I'm glad it got out there.
PM: How do you do now in that Triple-A domain? Do you get good play out there?
WP: I get a fair amount, but I haven't made a record that is really chasing the mark as much. And there are a lot more people competing for the same limited space since that format became well-traveled. Also the major labels treated it as somewhat of a dumping ground for stuff they couldn't figure out where to place.
PM: Right.
WP: And as that happened more and more, the pressure became greater. And I hate to say it, but I'm sure a fair amount of money changed hands.
PM: Yeah, well, that's just the way of the world.
[laughter]
WP: It is, yeah. And so I haven't really hung my hat on it, per se, or tried to.
PM: But in that space and time, you made the jump to warp speed by somehow creating a niche for yourself that enabled you to open up for big acts on major tours around the world.
WP: I'm very, very fortunate and blessed in that regard.
PM: I mean, I can't think of really but one or two other solo artists who have created that particular niche of "I open for bands."
WP: People seem to see it in one of two ways: either it's "Well, always the bridesmaid, never the bride" or it's "That rocks. You did this and this and this and this." And I feel a little bit of both. I still am driven by music and I'm driven to be successful in a way, but I've never wanted to write the song that makes me uncomfortable--
PM: [laughs]
WP: --which is, I think, kind of what you have to do to get over today.
PM: You mean write the stupid song?
WP: Yeah, or just writing the tune that sort of plays to the middle, or to the lowest common denominator of people's perception. I'm not frustrated that it hasn't happened. In fact, I'm really happy.
PM: I like "Unconditional." It's really good to hear that song on the new record.
WP: Well, thank you, man. Thank you very much.
PM: It's a beautiful song. Now, did you write that at Kerrville?
WP: I did.
PM: Because I noticed a couple of familiar names on there, Billy Jonas and Brian Cutean. I don't know the other Brian credited--who is Brian Mir?
WP: Brian Mir was the bass player in my band at the time, and he contributed that little tag musical climb at the end. But I went down to Kerrville, and I had the choruses, and I really had the song about 90% there. And I played it for Brian Cutean. The last verse was just too bitter. It was like this big turnaround. It wasn't as cool and seeking as the lyric is now. Anyway, I play it for Brian and he goes, "Man, those first two verses, those are cool. I would reverse them in order." And then he says, "And I would probably--you want to rewrite that third verse?" And I was like, "Amen, brother."
PM: [laughs] Yeah, because he's a real positive guy, to understate the case.
WP: Yes, he is. And so he and Billy--well, Billy was right there, kind of lording over the two of us saying, "Okay, good, good. No."
[laughter]
PM: That's funny, and sounds like Billy Jonas.
WP: Yeah. Those guys are two of my best friends. So I think the end result is--it's one of those things where one guy can come up with the idea, but to realize the depth of the idea it takes some outside perspective. And there are so few people who can do that on their own, consistently, and have songs that sounds like you're taking a universal construct and talking about it in those little colloquial terms, taking something universal and breaking it down to a something very easily understood. And those guys are brilliant at that.
PM: And in the world of entertainment, what a genius Billy Jonas is.
WP: Oh, there's no question, man. Yeah, he's just--
PM: Talk about a real original.
WP: Isn't he great?
PM: Yeah, he's really something. You ever do shows together?
WP: We did. When he was in The Billys, we did a bunch of stuff together. Since then I think he's dug in really deep to his kids shows, which are unbelievably phenomenal experiences. And I think that's the wind in his sails right now.
PM: Ah, good for him.
WP: Yeah.
PM: So, speaking of kids, how's the family?
WP: Everybody's great.
PM: Two kids, right?
WP: Two kids, yeah, eight months and three and a half years. So we're just... [laughs] We're learning how it's done. It's great, though. continue
