A Conversation with Jonny Lang – HuffPost 9.13.13

Mike Ragogna: Hey Jonny, the new album is titled Fight For My Soul. Was it truly a fight for your soul?

Jonny Lang: Some days. Making this record was. The title of the record is not necessarily autobiographical, but at times over the last five or ten years, so many different changes of life have happened to me, so it could explain me at times. But really, I think it just kind of conveys the sentiment of some of the songs on the record and certainly the title track “Fight For My Soul.” I figured it would be a fitting name for the record.

MR: This is your first studio album since 2006’s Turn Around?

JL: Yes.

MR: Dude, what took you so long?

JL: [laughs] Man, well, children. Having children was really the whole reason, which started about six years ago. So I took a shot at trying to make a follow-up to Turn Around. I had one little block in the studio when I recorded some stuff, but I was never able to follow-up on it because we had our twins, and then we just kept having children after that. I don’t know what happened. We have four now and over the last year or two, I’ve kind of had a bit more time to break away and finish the record. Yeah, man I could’ve done it, I just didn’t want to spend even more time away from the family and always on the road playing concerts. If I was to come home and say, “See you later, I’m leaving again to make a record!” I just couldn’t do that.

MR: So when daddy sang the kids to sleep, it was with blues lullabies?

JL: [laughs] No. I don’t know if they had that many lullabies. It was mostly, “Daddy, rub my back,” “Okay, okay.”

MR: [laughs] You’re allegedly thirty-two years old but you have the voice of a sixty year-old black man. Which is it?

JL: [laughs] Maybe both. I don’t know, man. People have been saying that now for a while, and I don’t hear it, but cool. I’ll take it. It’s better than the voice of a thirty two year-old white man.

MR: [laughs] What guitars are you playing these days? What’s tickling your fancy fingers?

JL: I’m still stuck in my ways. I like the Telecaster I’ve been playing for years, except over the… I don’t even know how to gauge time anymore. Maybe over the last five or seven years, I’ve been playing a Les Paul as well. I love that guitar too, so I go back and forth on those two. But yeah, nothing too exciting. No Ibanez with a handle and seven strings or anything like that.

MR: Now, this album took you a few years, you’ve been working for about three years on it with Tommy Sims. What was it like hanging with him in the studio?

JL: If you are going to create music, there is not a better person on Earth to do it with than Tommy Sims. He was born to create. He’s unbelievable and it was so much fun. I’ve been wanting to make a record with him since the day I heard his music, which was when I was maybe seventeen or eighteen years old and I heard his solo record. I’ve known him for years now and I got to know him shortly after I first heard him and I’ve gotten to write with him and hang with him and become friends with him over that period of time. But I didn’t make a record, so this was a dream come true for me.

MR: What about the material on Fight For My Soul? What was the creative process?

JL: It’s amazing, man. For most of these songs, I had the music and melody laying around and when you play something like that for him, he just instantly gift wraps it. He just instantly knows what needs to happen. Obviously, art is a little subjective and you can do a number of things. But he just locks into the heart and soul of what he knows you’re trying to do, and then he does it and fills in the blanks. He’s amazing. It’s awesome.

MR: That’s the beauty of having a truly great producer. They hear what you’re doing, they know what you’re doing, and then they try to facilitate as opposed to trying to rebuild or reframe what you’re doing.

JL: Yeah, he has no pride in the whole process, he just wants to make a great record for you. It’s very cool.

MR: So “Blew Up (The House)” is the first single on the album. What caused the explosion?

JL: That song was brought almost entirely by Tommy. He’s so funny, man. One day, he came walking in and he was like, “Man, I wish we could do something kind of more upbeat, like a rock song. I came up with this idea,” and when he says he’s got an idea, really, he’s got the whole song written. I may have added a bridge and some lyrics in there, but that’s Tommy’s song. Anyway, I loved it because it’s basically about this guy who has nothing left. Short of removing himself from this existence, he’s just got to start over again. He’s basically got to metaphorically blow up the house and start all over again. So he’s not really blowing up the house, although this guy was in such a state, he probably would have done it.

MR: And of course, with “Breakin’ In,” you’re breaking into somebody house because you blew up your own.

JL: [laughs] Exactly! There’s a theme here. See? We blow up, we break in, we remodel.

MR: Which are your favorite songs on the album and what are the stories behind them.

JL: Okay. The song “Seasons” is sort of the songs I’m most proud of on the record, because this is a song I had kind of sitting around. I played it for Tommy once, and I don’t really know why I played it for him. I didn’t want it to be on the record, but he was like, “Oh, man, that’s got to be on the record,” and I was like, “No, man, this is way too different. It’s not going to go with anything,” and he was like, “It will. Let’s do it.” So he basically made me do it, but I’m glad he did because, yeah, it is different. But I got to do really what I wanted to do and what I’ve been wanting to do for all these years is a little bit more intricate arrangements for the songs and have some stuff in there so you can listen to it five or six times and still not quite hear everything. That song is basically an anti-holiday song. Well, not “anti”, but instead of “Happy, happy, joy, joy, it’s holiday time,” it’s, “Wow, as the years keep going, why does this keep getting worse? What happened to when I was a kid? Where’d all that go?” In “Fight For My Soul,” the track, the first verse is about a little girl, so no, that’s not about me, but the second verse is a little autobiographical. The inspiration of the song was just my personal struggle with drugs and trying to stay away from them and fight through that whole part of my life.

MR: How do you think you’ve done? It sounds like you’ve gotten your life where you want it to be. Did you win the fight?

JL: Well, sometimes, it continues to be a fight. There are still times, a little bit more few and far between, but it’s a monkey that never quite leaves your back for some people. It’s always right there going, “You know what would make this all better right now, don’t you?” But I can give him the “Shoo, monkey, get out of here,” whereas before it was like, “Get the crowbar! Get him off of there!” I feel like I’m relatively together.

MR: Do you feel like family life has contributed to you being able to refocus?

JL: Yeah, it saved my life, I’m pretty sure, although, my wife’s had to put up with quite a lot from me. Thank God for her because left to my own devices, not having anyone like a partner in this along the way to bail me out of certain times in my life, it would’ve been much more difficult if not impossible. So I’m glad I went down this road.

MR: Can I throw something at you from Couchpotatoanalystland? You were signed and had immediate success when you were sixteen years old. You also had a reputation of being one of the great players when you were sixteen years old. The child star syndrome seems to happen because a lot of times, it can be difficult to get a grip on what the world is like based on that kind of a reality. Do you think that played into any of your challenges?

JL: Oh, totally. I mean, that IS the reason, basically. You’re going to do this stuff anyway when you’re growing up, right? Or being on the road and it’s right there whenever you want it with a little bow on it and it’s ready for you to consume. Whatever you want out there, it’s there, and it’s free, so that doesn’t help. If you’re sneaking out to parties and then you’ve got school the next day, everybody does that, but when it’s there every single day, it’s a lot different. It’s harder to fight off, and yeah, the whole reality of it. I was just having the time of my life being able to do what I loved and all of that. You kind of think you’re invincible when you’re younger, “I’ve got all the time in the world, nothing can hurt me.” All of that plays into it.

MR: Jonny, I have a traditional question and I asked you this last time, but what advice do you have for new artists?

JL: I’ll offer some blanket advice. Everyone has their own journey, but I think–and I’ve said this before–just remember at any given point along your journey where you’re sort of questioning what you’re about to do, just remember why you’re out here in the first place, why you’re doing what you’re doing, and sort of try to let that guide the ship a little bit because the things that you encounter out here, the distractions, which are many, they don’t serve to support your love for what you do. They serve to completely destroy you. You’ve just got to remember why it is you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place. Is it to tempt yourself into going down a road that’s going to destroy you or is it because you love what you’re doing? I don’t know, just try to keep in a frame of mind that’s going to allow you to make the right choices.

MR: How freaked out do you get when the kids play with your Grammy?

JL: [laughs] Well, I’ll tell you what. They didn’t have a chance to. We had this little Christmas party at our house one year, and we just had some friends over and apparently some friends of friends showed up and the next day, the old Grammy wasn’t there anymore.

MR: Noooo!

JL: Yeah, that was years ago now. But they sent a new one which you have to pay for, of course.

MR: How much does a replacement Grammy go for these days?

JL: Oh boy, I don’t know. I’m embarrassed to say, actually.

MR: Oy, that kind of sucks! I hope whoever stole it is reading this right now and feeling horribly guilty!

JL: Yeah, right, and eating Fruity Pebbles out of it or something.

MR: [laughs]

JL: It’s horrible. What are you going to do with it? That’s like stealing somebody’s underwear. What are you going to do with that? It’s funny. But yeah, it got stolen, so now I keep mine in an undisclosed location.

MR: You’re going to be touring for the album, right?

JL: Yeah, yeah, starting right now.

MR: And I imagine since you had such a great experience making this Fight For My Soul, you probably won’t be taking as long making the next one.

JL: Nope! It’s not going to be another seven years if I have anything to say about it anyway. I don’t plan on having any more children.

MR: [laughs] That’s great, Jonny, and a nice place to land this. I appreciate your time, you’re always fun to talk to. All the best and have a great year.

JL: Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne