A Conversation with Chris Isaak – HuffPost 11.4.11

Mike Ragogna: Hello Chris. How are you?

Chris Isaak: Good. I’m doing good man. It’s nice to talk to you.

MR: Yeah, it’s nice to talk to you too.

CI: It’s kind of nerve wracking to me because I realize that right now, we’re broadcasting to perhaps dozens of people–if the sun is shining–so…

MR: (laughs) Well, we do have some Eveready batteries, just in case the sun isn’t shining. And don’t be too nervous because we’re “taping” this one.

CI: Actually, I hear it goes straight to disc now.

MR: That’s right. Nothing truly goes to tape anymore. Oh, analog, how I miss you. Maybe we should strike “tape” from the vocabulary.

CI: It’s funny–somebody will come up to me and say, “Hey, I liked your last record. Oh wait, I guess you don’t call them records anymore.” But record was just short for recording, so yeah, it’s still a recording.

MR: Yeah, and speaking of records, you have a new record out called Beyond The Sun, on which you visit a lot of the old great ones.

CI: I remember one time we were in Germany on tour, and we were going to a radio show for some big state owned radio in Germany. The building was…old. They had all the old microphones and all the old radio equipment in the hallways, and I couldn’t believe that they had wire recorders. I’m into that kind of old equipment, and I get like, “Yeah, let’s try this.”

MR: A lot of artists have tried to go back to more vintage recording methods because they’re not liking the harsh sound of digital.

CI: I’ve made a lot of records because that’s what I do, and I’ve listened to a lot of records, and I have to tell you the truth–it wouldn’t have mattered if The Beatles had recorded “A Hard Day’s Night” on Silly Putty. It would have sounded good. Do you know what I mean?

MR: Yeah, funny.

CI: The main thing to me…people go, “What do you listen to at your house,” like I’m going to have some wonderful sound system, and I think, you know, nowadays things are so good that for a couple hundred bucks, you can have fantastic sound quality at your house. It’s not like the ’50s where you really had to shell out a bunch of money. Besides that, I used to listen to things…I have a jukebox in my house, and I’d buy old, scratchy 45s and throw them on there, and the scratches and everything else doesn’t bother me. It’s just, “Is the music good?”

MR: That’s the thing about the old records–it was always about the song, it was always about the arrangement, the performance and what went into the production. The concept never goes away, really, does it?

CI: Yeah, I think you’re kind of hitting on something there. On those older records, they didn’t have the ability to go in on each track and clean things up or mix things–that kind of perfection that people think they’re going to get now. So, they could never lose sight of the big picture, which was, “We want to hear Johnny’s voice singing the song, and it’s got to be good.” Then, if you hear a little bit of the drums in the background? Okay. If a truck rumbles by in the background? That doesn’t bother them either. It was like they were going for the big picture. When we went to Sun Studio and made this record, we kind of did it with…I’m the only one I know who has gone in and done it with really the old style, which was to bring the whole band into a room and do it in one take. I sing it, they play it, and we don’t fix it. There’s no overdubbing the guitar part. There’s no fixing the vocal later. It’s like you go in and you do it. That’s the way they did those songs, and I think that makes it more exciting when you’re cutting them, and nobody is wearing headphones because everybody has to listen to each other.

MR: What gave you the idea to record an album of songs from Sun Records?

CI: I’ve made a lot of records over the years, and this was always the record I wanted to make. When I first started off, when I packaged this album, I put some pictures in there that are going to make people go, “What’s that picture?” It’s me when I’m a kid. I had borrowed my dad’s white ’50s coat. I had thrown hay all summer, and I had bought a microphone and a mic stand. I was so excited I had a guitar and I thought, “I’m going to be in show business.” I had these pictures taken, and I don’t know what I thought I was going to do with them, I guess I thought, “These are my glossy pictures that I’ll show people. I had no idea how you got into show business, but I was trying. I’ve finally used the pictures now. The music that I was listening to my whole life was Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. I listened to all those records, but this was before you could look things up on the Internet, and I didn’t realize that all those artists came out of one little studio in Memphis called Sun Studio with Sam Phillips. So, I got into music, and when I actually got my own band, I thought it was important for me to get my own sound out there. I made all these records with my songs and I got lucky and had “Wicked Game” and other songs that were hits, but when I was home, I was sitting in my hallway, where it sounds nice, playing early Elvis, “I’ll never let you go cause I love you.” I was singing those early songs. Finally, I thought, “I’ve done enough records of my own and people know what I sound like, so I could do this record now.”

MR: Nice. You mentioned Elvis, but I think you also pulled off a very interesting Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. I thought that was kind of cool.

CI: I love all those singers, and I didn’t really want to try to be…you can never do those songs as good as they do them. But I just had so much fun doing the record. I said to the guys, “We’ve got to learn the records, really learn them, and focus in on them.” We all stayed at my house. I bought a bunch of spaghetti, we’d have band practice all day, then we’d have dinner, and then one by one, people would trickle back down to the room. We were supposed to be done playing, and we’d end up playing all day and all night. What I said was, “We’ve got to learn these songs and then forget it.” When you go to the studio we couldn’t try to be Elvis or Johnny Cash, but we had to do it our own way when we get to the studio. If you learn it right, it will sound like it came out of Sun Studio, and that was kind of our goal. I have to say, it’s the most fun I’ve ever had making a record. We went to Memphis, and if I lived there another couple of months, I’d probably be doing some damage because everything they gave me there was fried. Have you ever had fried pickles?

MR: Oh no, don’t even say that.

CI: Seriously.

MR: No.

CI: I went, “Fried Pickles?!” I was eating at this restaurant, and besides me, I think everybody else there was black and dressed to the nines because they had just gotten out of church. There couldn’t have been a nicer restaurant or nicer people, and I turned to somebody and said, “I’ve never had fried pickles. Are they any good?” They all looked at me and went, “You’ve never had fried pickles?!” It was almost like they were saying, “You’ve been living in poverty. Come on!” I’ll tell you, the food in Memphis was awesome, and the people were awesome. Sun Studio is the same studio that has been there since Sam Phillips started it early on in the ’50s, and by a miracle, it never got torn down. So, we go in there and you go, “I’m standing in a shrine. This is where Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis played.” We played ’til the middle of the night, and they told us that there was this little diner next door that had been there since the ’50s, and they said, “Listen, at night, if you want to make yourself a sandwich or milkshake or something, you go over to next door and help yourself.” We played ’til two or three in the morning, then went over there and made milkshakes and sandwiches, and then went back and played some more. They have tours in the afternoon, and as the people would be coming in for the tours, we’d be walking out of there beat.

MR: Now before we get too far into this album, I just want to point out that you have a version of this album that has a whole extra album attached.

CI: Well, usually when you go in to cut a record, you cut sixteen songs to get thirteen sides–you get a couple of extras. On this one, my manager called and said, “How many songs have you cut?” I said, “Well, we’re up to thirty-eight now, and we’re still going.” She goes, “You got to stop!” I said, “We’re having a ball, man. I know this stuff and I can sing it in one take, let’s go.” At one point, we were in there and we were just about done, and I remember the guys all calling their girlfriends letting them know that they were almost done. I looked at them and said, “Hey, we’ve still got like forty-five minutes on the clock, we’ve got time.” I asked my piano player, “Do you know how to play all the stuff for (sings) “…wise men say, only fools rush in…”? He says, “Yeah, I think I do.” So, I said, “Well, let’s just try it and see how it sounds because the piano in this room sounds so good.” We went over and started playing, and everybody just started filtering back one by one. Everybody came in and we cut (“Can’t Help Falling In Love”) in about twenty minutes, and it’s one of my favorite tracks that we cut. That was like the story of the whole thing. We had done all the practicing before we got there, and it was just fun to play.

MR: Was it almost like the ghosts of Sun were there with you?

CI: You know, I’m the most pragmatic, straight ahead kind of American guy. I’m not someone who goes, “Oh, the angels helped me write this song.” I always heard Carlos Santana talking about angels doing stuff, but I never got it. Well, on this one, I understand and I finally get it, Carlos. I was in that room and you really did feel–I think it was just that you know all those great people were in there, and you just feel like you have to be you best. Everybody is trying a little harder because they go, “If Elvis stood here and did it, well I better do my best.” It was fun.

MR: On the bonus disc, you do a version of “Oh, Pretty Woman.” Roy Orbison. What a surprise. (laughs)

CI: I’ve always loved that song. I told somebody once, “If you had to teach Martians how to rock ‘n’ roll, “Pretty Woman” is the song because it teaches you everything about a rock song; it’s got a great beat, it’s got a great riff, it’s a story song with a surprise happy ending, and it’s even got a trick sound with the growl he does in the middle. I think that might be the best rock song there is.

MR: Wow. So…like Roy Orbison much?

CI: (laughs) That’s the understatement of the year. I got to work with Roy when he was alive. We were friends and he couldn’t have been a sweeter guy in real life. One of the stupidest things I’ve ever done–and I’ve got a long list of them, but I put this one right at the top. Roy called me and asked me to be on his Black And White special, and he called me twice to be on it. At the time I had a different manager, but I said to my manager, “Roy Orbison called me, and I get to be on the Black And White Special!” He said, “Nope, you’re booked at the Tick Tock Tavern, and we already sold fifty tickets.” I was incredulous. Whenever I see that special, I kick myself again. It was a lot of fun to go in there and cut a couple of Orbison tracks too.

MR: Now, I have to ask you about the story behind your classic “Wicked Game” and also about your connection to David Lynch.

CI: Well, “Wicked Game” was one of those rare things that comes together once in a while. Most of the time, when I write songs, I start off fooling around with my guitar, then I get a little bit of an idea and that’s the inspirational part. Then to get it finished is homework because there’s always that third verse. The first two verses come easy, and the third one is just like doing homework; you’ve got to sit down somewhere and think about it. “Wicked Game” was different though. I had a girl that was a bad influence who had called me to come over and–unspeakable things were discussed–by the time I hung up the phone and said, “Oh, I shouldn’t have had her come by. I know I’m going to be in trouble.” I wrote that song before she got to the house. I wrote it, and it was just one, two, three–it came out really fast. I wish they all came that easy, but they don’t. That one was just fun.

MR: Okay, you’ve left me hanging. How many wicked things actually took place that night?

CI: (laughs) You know, by the time she got there I was so happy about the song that I don’t think anything that wicked was done.

MR: (laughs)

CI: I enjoy talking about David Lynch because he’s such a great guy. The question I get about him is, “How is David Lynch? Is he scary or spooky or something?” I don’t think it’s ever guys who make films like David makes or who have that kind of weird bent in their artwork–those guys are probably the nicest guys in real life because they’ve expressed all of their weird angles. The guys you have to watch are the guys who go, “I’m a scout master, the proud father of two children, and I’m also a deacon in the church.” Then you go, “Be careful.” If he’s out in the back yard at night with a shovel, be careful because he’s burying something.

MR: (laughs) I don’t even know what to say after that.

CI: David is still a friend, and he’s one of those guys that when I’m around him, I’m always amazed at how straight ahead he is. I do a lot of interviews and stuff because of what I do, and I was on MTV or something one time with David on the same program. They asked us each, “What do you think is sexy in a woman?” I made some sort of wisecrack and made it funny, and then they got to David and he goes (David Lynch impression), “Well, I’ll tell you what I like. I really like red high heel shoes–I find those really attractive–and nice stockings.” He proceeded to completely, without any kind of covering, tell them exactly what he thought was sexy. They looked at him like, “You’re from outer space.” He’s funny because he’s so direct.

MR: Yeah, he’s very direct. It’s sometimes hard to understand how a human puts some of the stuff on screen that he does. It’s almost like there are statements constantly emerging from the subconscious or wherever it’s coming from with him. I’m lucky, I got to interview him once. He’s brilliant.

CI: For all the strange things he brings us on the screen, I’ve worked with him on a film set and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him yell at anybody, be rude to anybody, or even act like most directors. Most of the time on a film set, the director is kind of like a dictator because whatever he says goes, but (David) treats everybody with respect. You know, he’s really big into meditation. I come from a small town in the West. I mean, I grew up working on farms, and meditation wasn’t something people talked about except to make jokes about it. Yet, when I see how it works in his life, and if he’s the result of that, then that’s pretty cool.

MR: So, when did you first start getting into music? How young were you?

CI: Well, I have pictures on this record…I have pictures of when I was really young, like I was talking about before. In those pictures, I’m posed just like my heroes. When I was young, all those guys from Sun Records were my heroes. I have two pictures in my whole house–one is my mom as a little girl, and the other picture is of Johnny Cash at Sun Studio, which was sent to me by Johnny, by the way. I did a special with Johnny and I brought a new picture because I thought it would be polite to give him a new picture to sign. I said, “I love this picture of you because it’s the era when you were at Sun. Would you mind signing it?” He looked at it a long time–I mean, a minute, which seems like a long time when you’re standing next to Johnny Cash–and then he looked at me and goes, “I was a good looking man.” I love him, man.

MR: Can you picture yourself doing that, in what, another forty years?

CI: You know, I’ll be thrilled if anybody remembers me. I always hope that somebody will. I don’t ever think, in my mind, that I’ll be as big as the people that are legends to me, but I do the music and I think, “Who knows, maybe someday, there will be a guy sitting in India, and he goes, ‘I don’t know what he’s singing about, but I like this song.'” When I was a kid, I was listening to all these records and they really changed my life. I went from throwing hay and hoping that I could get a job at the box factory if I worked hard, to all of a sudden starting to think that I wanted to be a singer. It changed my life. Johnny Cash didn’t know Chris Isaak in Stockton, but he sent that record there like a message in a bottle, you know?

MR: Do you think you’ve lived up to your own expectations of yourself in your musical career?

CI: At different points in my life, I would have wanted my life to be different. I wanted to have as many hits as Elvis, I wanted to be big like The Beatles–you know, everybody thinks that. But I have to tell you, I think whatever I’ve had has been more than enough, it’s been fantastic, and I think I have a better life than a lot of the people I idolize. Roy Orbison was gone by my age, Elvis was gone by my age, Carl Perkins died young, Buddy Holly was gone young–a lot of people in rock ‘n’ roll went quick, and a lot of other people had lonely lives. I’ve always had a pretty good career. I got signed to a record company, I’ve always had records out, always made movies, and it was never like I was forgotten because I always had work. My job is I get to sing. Some people don’t think about this, but when you’re a musician, if you have a band that…like, I’ve had the same band for twenty-six years. Those guys in my band are really nice men, and what makes my life fun is when we go on the road, it’s not “Chris Isaak,” it’s the band. We get on that bus, we’re making jokes, we’re eating pizza, and we’re going five hundred miles a night and that’s my life. I just thank God that I have people in that band that are like my family, where I go, “I like hanging out with them.” You don’t have to pay me to hang out with them because I’d do that for free.

MR: Chris, what advice would you have for new artists?

CI: Play out a lot. Don’t just make records, but get out on stage and play all you can. These days, everybody has a studio. If you’ve got a computer, you can make a record at home. Equipment has gotten really easy and everybody can make a pretty good sounding record. But my advice would be to make sure you get out and play live because you learn a lot by playing out in front of people. You can make a record on your home studio, but you won’t know if it’s good until you play it for a crowd and they’ll tell you, you know?

MR: As you were talking about making good records, I got to thinking about your catalog, and I have to tell you that I love San Francisco Days.

CI: Thanks.

MR: Every once in a while I find myself singing that song (sings), “San Francisco days…” With virtually all your albums, you’re capturing periods in time.

CI: Thanks. You know, I started that record in a weird way. I had broken up with a girl I was really nuts about and I guess I’ll always be nuts about. But we broke up and my friends said, “You have to forget her and not talk to her.” So, I was trying to get over this, and I was walking down the street and just about fell out of my car because I looked and went, “That’s her!” I started to realize that I would see her every place in San Francisco, but she wasn’t there. That song started out of that.

MR: Directors have used that device a lot, where you think you see the girl you used to be with, but it only looks like her from the back.

CI: What’s the Hitchcock film with Jimmy Stewart? I think it’s Kim Novak that he sees and says (mimicking Jimmy Stewart), “You just remind me so very much of somebody. Could you put on her clothes, and just stand on the bed and sort of wiggle?”

MR: (laughs) You know, that’s the best Jimmy Stewart I’ve heard, like ever.

CI: (laughs) I love Jimmy Stewart. When I grew up, Jimmy Stewart was a big star, and I think, in a way, he made you better. You know, Brad Pitt is a huge star and a great actor, but when I watch Jimmy Stewart movies, he was inspirational. You looked at him and you go, “He’s a good man.” I think it was good to have those kinds of stars. You looked at Jimmy Stewart and you saw that he was a decent human being.

MR: I know, I feel the same. Where are all the heroes.

CI: You know, I’m a musician, and I’m part of the problem I guess because musicians are known to be smart alecks and wise guys and cynical. Cynicism…at some point I just go, “You know, there’s a lot to be said for people who are just polite, straight forward, decent people.”

MR: As long as they’re not in your back yard, burying something.

CI: As long as they’re not burying somebody. “What are you burying over there?” “Um, candy. It went bad and I have to bury it so the ants don’t get it.” That’s a true story. There was some serial killer that was always burying things in the back yard, and when somebody asked him what it was he said, “Oh, I make candy, and when it goes bad, I have to bury it or the ants get it.”

MR: (laughs) Well Chris, before you leave us, is there anything else we need to know about Beyond The Sun?

CI: Well, it starts with all those ’50s records that you like. I’ve got a few of my originals on there, but not enough to bother you because I think they blend in. These are the artists that Sam Phillips discovered, and then I also took it to where those artists went later in their careers. “Pretty Woman” wasn’t Sun Studios, but I put it on so you get a little perspective. If you ever want to buy a record, I think this is a great record. It was a labor of love and out of all the records I’ve made, I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had. I think people are going to like it if they get it. I’ll probably sell ten, and I’m still thrilled that I got to make it.

MR: Very nice. And there is the deluxe edition for those who do get it.

CI: To me, I put them all on one disc, and I listen to it as I was driving around town, and maybe it’s because it’s other people’s songs or something. But it’s my favorite one to listen to. I think it rolls through pretty good.

MR: It does. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today.

CI: Thanks for having me.

Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney