A Conversation with Jamie Cullum – HuffPost 10.6.14

Mike Ragogna: Jamie, your new album Interlude features covers of Randy Newman and Richard Carpenter songs, a dark film noir approach on a couple of tracks, some lo-fi dirty boogie, and, of course, straight ahead jazz. How did this all come together? Jamie Cullum: I’ve lived my short life as a record geek. I take […]

A Conversation with Peter White – HuffPost 10.6.14

Mike Ragogna: I heard you have a great big Smile coming soon. Peter White: [laughs] Well, yeah. I’ve actually been trying to get myself on an album cover smiling for years. I thought if I called the album Smile there couldn’t be any way that I could avoid it. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice […]

A Conversation with AJ Croce – HuffPost 10.1.14

[piano music playing in background] Mike Ragogna: AJ, that’s you playing? AJ Croce: Yes I am! MR: Awesome, nice way to kick off an interview, man! so your latest album is calledTwelve Tales. We talked about that as it was being recorded, so let’s not only talk about those twelve tales but let’s also get […]

An Interview with Kandace Springs – HuffPost 10.1.14

Mike Ragogna: Kandace, it’s a real pleasure to meet you. Kandace Springs: You too! MR: Thank you. It’s going to be virtually impossible to keep a linear interview going with you because there’s so much stuff. KS: Aw, okay, forget linear! MR: Alright, let’s start with “West Coast,” which was just released. It comes off […]

A Conversation with Steve Arrington – HuffPost 10.1.14

Mike Ragogna: Your new album Way Out is basically an overview of your career from 1980 through 1984. What are your thoughts of your body of work presented here? Steve Arrington: It’s a good representation of that time. The unreleased and unfinished tracks, add an exciting dimension for me, they sit well with the rest […]

A Conversation with RJ Gibb – HuffPost 9.29.14

Mike Ragogna: RJ, 50 St. Catherine’s Drive is the last project your dad was working on before he passed away, so that must have been an incredibly challenging task for you to complete because of the emotional bond you had as father and son. RJ Gibb: Yeah. He had started work on this project in […]

A Conversation with Dennis DeYoung – HuffPost 9.29.14

Mike Ragogna: Sorry, I’m having some issues with my recording software. Dennis DeYoung: [singing] “The problem’s plain to see, too much technology.” MR: Yeah, looks like that helped, Mister Roboto! DD: Little did I know technology would ruin the entire music business. MR: Hey, dude, it’s time to get into “Dennis DeYoung And The Music […]

A Conversation with Jordan Belfort – HuffPost 9.26.14

Mike Ragogna: Jordan, given the fact that the movie had to be entertaining, how close did the movie The Wolf Of Wall Street come to the reality as presented in your book, and how well the Leo DiCaprio and the cast portrayed the players’ lives?

Jordan Belfort: In some respects, it was very accurate. In other respects, it was fictionalized. It’s hard to say a blanket statement because some things were wildly fictionalized and other things were dead-on balls-accurate. It’s a mixed bag, but over all, they really captured the feeling of what was going on really well. There’s some scenes like where I did the meeting and I’m going to leave the firm and then I say, “I’m staying, I’m not leaving, I’m staying,” that’s just pure fiction. I left. That’s an example of something that’s fictionalized, but it served the story and they want it to be exciting. I understand why it’s there. The first day on Wall Street I was a young kid, I wanted to make my clients money and the next scene I’m snorting coke in strip club. That’s stylized. It took like three years for me to go from being a good kid to the dark side. That sort of stuff. The scene in the boardroom, all the energy in there and the sales meetings, they were very accurate. They painted them up a little, there were things that we never did. I would never give the client the finger on the phone, no one’s ever snickering as we were calling, it’s not like that at all. And by the way, I’m not trying to make myself seem like a better guy, it’s just that you would never do that as a businessperson, as a motivator because it’s demotivating to tell people you’re robbing and cheating them. You would never do that. Some of the stuff like that that you’ll see in the movie is just meant to create an emotional response; it’s not really the way it was. But the stuff with the drugs and the parties, that was very accurate.