Niagara Falls, Canada: Graham Russell Sits Down To Discuss The Future As Well As Air Supply On Saturday, March 24th, I had a rare opportunity to sit down with Graham Russell to talk to him about his debut CD, The Future.
Graham and I spoke about The Future, The Heart of the Rose and Air Supply.
In addition, the interview was taped and is available in six parts at [http://www.
airsupplyblog.
com] and on YouTube at [http://www.
YouTube.
com/ASFanForLife].
Betsy: Thanks for allowing me to do this.
Graham: Oh you are welcome.
Betsy: I’m very excited.
Graham: Oh good.
Betsy: And I feel very privileged.
Graham: Oh of course, you’re very welcome.
Betsy: Let me say congratulations.
You have had and incredible career and I can only imagine that your life has been as incredible.
(Graham laughs) Betsy: You are now into your fourth decade with Air Supply and you don’t seem tired.
What’s your secret? Graham: You know, really the secret is looking after yourself.
Not that I do it, but I try to.
You know, and otherwise you just can’t keep the pace up with the traveling and everything.
And I do my little workout everyday.
I have to, for energy, and I do it before I go on stage too.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: That’s very cool.
Graham: Yeah I do.
Betsy: Ok, it’s been 31 years, right, since you and Russell formed Air Supply? Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: Why did you just now decide to release a debut solo…? Graham: Well, I’ve always wanted to do it.
Plus I write a lot of other songs, not just Air Supply songs.
I write a lot of different kinds of songs too and the songs that I’ve recorded, I don’t think are particularly Air Supply songs.
Do you know what I mean? And I wanted to do it too.
I mean, Russell did one in ‘86, and I really wanted to do it.
And I had a lot of different songs that I thought would be good on my own CD and Russell was really very supportive of it.
And it took me, I mean, I didn’t just do it.
It took me a while to do it because I did it at different times when we were off and when I was able to.
I mean, Air Supply always comes first and it always will.
But I wanted to do this because it’s a different kind of music and as everybody knows I love electronica and stuff like that.
And there’s some of that on there too...
but it’s cool.
I like that, different music .
Betsy: When will it actually be out? Graham: It’s out now.
Well, it came out on the first day of spring, which was intentional but it wasn’t available then.
But it is now.
They were like a day behind.
Betsy: I know that a lot of people have ordered it already and they already got a letter that says… Graham: Yeah, they are backordered already, I believe.
Yeah, that’s good.
Betsy: Oh, does that mean it’s out of stock? Graham: It’s out of the original stock, yeah.
Betsy: Oh, that’s fantastic.
Graham: It’s great.
Betsy: I thought maybe it wasn’t ready.
Graham: Oh no, they’ve already sold their initial shipment that they got but I’ll just give them some more now.
Betsy: Oh that’s fabulous.
Graham: Yeah, it is, it’s great.
Betsy: Tell me about the title.
Why is it called The Future? Graham: Because It is, its kind of my future and it’s also the future I saw when I was very young and I, like when I introduce, when I sing The Future live, when I introduce it as a song that, because The Future, the song, The Future, is all about my dream and my vision when I was very young to be a songwriter and to be in a band, which is the only thing I ever wanted to do.
And it’s that vision that I always held and I always kept and I just never let go of it.
So that was my future.
It’s not necessarily my future now.
It was my future then when I began.
And I used to drive people crazy, you know, all the teachers at my school, ‘cause they all wanted me to be a doctor or plumber or a dentist or something, and I just wasn’t interested.
And I just said, no, I’m gonna be in a band and you don’t have to worry about me.
And I just never let go.
I just held on to it all the time.
Betsy: That is so cool.
Graham: Yeah.
Well you know, I’m a big believer in that.
I tell a lot of people, a lot of younger people, I’ll tell them if you want something bad enough you’ll get it.
You gotta stick at it.
There is an old saying, I don’t know where it came from.
It says, ‘many are called but few are chosen’.
And many people are called to do certain things, but the universe itself thins everyone out, you know, so there’s only a couple standing.
And then, and those go forward, in any profession, in any chosen career.
You get thinned out and you get presented with barriers and reasons why you shouldn’t do it.
And it’s those that persevere.
It’s like Darwin’s Theory, you know, it’s the survival of the fittest.
Somebody could have come along and knocked me down.
I mean, I had plenty of people that knocked me down, but I just kept getting up again.
It’s like that…Terminator, the metal man, whatever he is called.
He keeps getting up, you know, and then he gets his head squashed in the press and he looks like a pancake and then he keeps getting up again and he comes back you know.
It’s that thought pattern.
But I’m really into that and I believe in that.
Betsy: Well the world is a better place because of it.
Graham: Well I hope so.
I mean, I always thought that, well, I always wanted to be a songwriter and I always wanted to be able to leave something.
I don’t know if I have or not or if Air Supply has.
I think so, something, but I think that these songs make people feel better and they leave a mark on them, I think.
Betsy: Well I can guarantee they do.
And I’m sure you must know that they do.
Graham: Well I think they do.
You know, but it’s not just the songs, its what we do as a band and hopefully it will always be that way, that they leave an impression.
Betsy: You know, I know you looked at my blog and one of the pages I created is called your stories.
I don’t know if you saw that or not, but basically I just asked people to send in their stories…how Air Supply has affected them in their lives.
So it’s really actually very cool because people have put a few things that were meaningful, maybe they met you at a Meet & Greet and you did something but they talk about how you’ve impacted their lives.
Graham: Oh really? Betsy: And you know my blog just started and I only have probably 10 stories or so on there but some of the stories are really very long and are very special.
Graham: You know, I haven’t read them but I will.
I mean, I’ve got on there but I kind of flipped through it.
But I’ll get on there ‘cause I’d like to see how it does affect people.
Betsy: You say that you write everyday.
Graham: I do, yeah.
Betsy: So was it difficult to just put 11 songs on the CD? Graham: There’s only 10 actually.
And I’ll tell you why.
Because I’m into numbers a little bit.
And 11 is always a good number ‘cause I was born on the 11th of June.
And 11 in numerology, you can’t add it together.
You can’t add 11 or 22 together.
They have to stay 22, where as if it was 13, it would become 4 and 16 would become 7.
But 11 stays 11, it doesn’t become 2, and 22 doesn’t become 4.
So from a spiritual point of view it’s a nice number.
But the 11th song didn’t work for me, you know, when I was recording the 11th one.
It wouldn’t come.
It wouldn’t sound the way I wanted it to sound and I tried like six times, at different times.
And it was going to be a very simple thing with me and the guitar but it just didn’t sound right.
But When I played it, when I would sit in a chair to play it, it sounded great.
But when I tried to record it, it just didn’t come out the way I wanted it And I kept getting a little frustrated with it.
And I tried another song and that wasn’t right either.
And so in the end I said it’s gotta be 10.
Then I looked at Bob Dylan’s recent album and he had 10 songs on it.
So I thought, ah, people are going back to 10 songs.
Because you pick albums up now and there’s like 17 or 18 songs on it .
But most of them are usually crap, you know.
They’re not… there’s no value.
And I’m thinking why not put 10 songs on it instead of have 11 songs when one of them Isn’t right.
But I kept looking at the list of the songs, and they felt right, you know, and the sequence was right, and I thought, well, I’m gonna go with it.
So I kind of broke the cycle of 11.
(At this point, someone walked in the room and gave graham a bag that had some vitamins, lip balm and pens in it.
Graham then showed me a bag of vitamins that he takes.
) Betsy: You take all those vitamins before the show? Graham: Yeah.
(Graham laughs) Betsy: So that’s where you have all the energy from? Graham: I think so.
Probably.
I hope so.
Yeah.
Betsy: You know I actually have a nickname for you.
Graham: What’s that? Betsy: Tigger.
Graham: Oh right, yeah! You know, I don’t know where that came from, it just happened.
It’s only kind of happened in the last 3 or 4 years.
Betsy: Really? Graham: I think so, yeah.
Well you know, I have so much energy from doing the show.
I can’t just stand there and just...
I mean some songs when they are mellow songs, I can, but I get so into it that I just have to let some of the energy go.
Betsy: I love it Graham: Oh I , you know what too? It’s a great workout for me too and I look forward to that.
Betsy: I’m concerned for your knees! Graham: Oh, you know, I actually wear a knee brace on my left knee now.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah, I actually just put that on last night for the first time in months.
But, yeah, I enjoy it because it’s just letting some steam off.
But I really like it, yeah.
Betsy: Well I love to see the variety.
Because you typically do it during the same songs.
Graham: I do, yeah.
Betsy: And I always know when it’s coming but then sometimes you stop.
Sometimes you stop and look at Mike or… Graham: Oh yeah? See I don’t even know that.
Betsy: It’s fun just to see the variety.
Graham: Oh really? Oh good, yeah.
Betsy: Well I’m sure it’s all spontaneous.
Graham: It is, yeah, but you’re probably right, I do do it in certain songs.
There are certain songs that are like triggers so if there’s a part… But I never think consciously, oh now I gotta jump or anything.
I just do it.
Betsy: Well, it’s when there is a certain beat and when you get to certain points in the song.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: You know, I’ve been to, I don’t know, maybe 20 shows since the summer… Graham: You have, yeah.
Betsy: For me it’s exciting and it’s very, umm, predictable.
Graham: Right.
Betsy: You know, so for me, the song list is relatively the same, but I love to see the things that are no longer predictable.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: You know, the things that just come up, and I love that.
Graham: Yeah, I do too.
I would like to do more of that, you know.
Russell prefers to be not so predictable.
No, that’s the wrong thing to say.
He prefers to know what’s going on.
Yeah, he prefers to know what’s going on.
Where I’d love to swap things up, but he gets a little nervous when, if I start doing that too much…which is fair enough.
Betsy: Well I love it.
Graham: Oh cool.
Betsy: Now I have to apologize, but who is Stina? Graham: Stina is, she sang on Across the Concrete Sky.
She’s the girl singer on Shadow of the Sun.
I don’t know if you know that song.
Betsy: Oh yeah, I love it.
Graham: Yeah, I do too.
Betsy: It’s beautiful.
Graham: Yeah, I love it.
She sang on that.
And she sings on my album too.
She sings on I think 3 tracks.
She’s a great singer.
She’s an opera singer, and she’s 28, and she’s married.
But she’s got a great voice and I love her voice.
I really do.
And my songs are very suited for her.
She writes her own songs too and does all that, but for my songs, her voice is great, you know, as a female voice and I thought it would be fun to use her again.
Betsy: Is she from the Salt Lake City area? Graham: She is, yeah.
Betsy: I know you have talked about her, but I just didn’t know who she was.
Graham: I also used another girl, a young girl, 19 years old.
Megan Olsonis from Salt Lake.
She never played, never sang on a record before And she sings on a song called Restless, which you haven’t heard yet.
It’s pretty cool.
Betsy: I almost have all of the songs written down.
I’ve got Make You Mine, The Future, Lace and Leather, Let Yourself Go, Save the World, This Time, Our Love and Restless.
Graham: How many is that? Betsy: Eight.
Graham: What’s missing? Let Yourself Go, do you have that? Betsy: Yes, well of course I have that one! Graham: Of course you do, yeah.
You got, Let Yourself Go…Love Is Warm, you have that? Betsy: No Graham: Love Is Warm? Betsy: Love Is Warm, yeah.
Graham: Third is Lace and Leather, Our Love, Make you Mine… Betsy: So This Time is the First Time… is it called This Time? Graham: It’s called This Time, yeah.
Betsy: And that’s on there? That’s nice, it’s lovely.
Graham: Yeah, it’s on there, yeah.
That was one of the first I recorded actually.
it’s This Time, Restless, oh Fall With You? Do you have that? Betsy: Fall With You? Graham: So that’s 10, that’s all of them.
Betsy: Do you have a favorite? Graham: Well, I’m very fond of Lace and Leather, you know, and, but I love The Future too.
Betsy: I love The Future.
I mean, so I’ve only heard 3 of the songs, no, actually I’ve heard more because when you did some of the songs at Fan Day… Graham: In Laughlin.
Betsy: And I did love Let Yourself Go.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: I have to say I love that.
Graham: I do too.
Betsy: But you singing The Future, I really love it.
Graham: I love singing that too.
So, did I play it then? I can’t remember.
Betsy: I don’t know.
You played 5 songs in Laughlin but I don’t know… Graham: I don’t think I played that, I don’t think I played it Betsy: I don’t remember which ones they were.
I recorded a couple little pieces here and there, but probably just a few seconds.
Graham: No I don’t think I played it.
That’s got Lewis Clark’s string arrangement on it, which is amazing.
Betsy: Which song? Graham: The Future.
He did The Future and he did Our Love.
Did I play Our Love? I did.
Betsy: I think you did.
That sounds familiar.
Graham: Yeah.
Yeah.
He did the string arrangement on that too.
He’s amazing.
He’s the guy from ELO from the 70s, right.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Do you know the Electric Light Orchestra? Betsy: I’ve heard of them, yeah.
(laughing) Graham: Oh, they’re fabulous.
Betsy: I was born in ‘69 so I know a little bit from the 70s.
Graham: Oh, ok, right.
Yeah, he’s my favorite string arranger.
I use him all the time.
Yeah, he’s great.
Once again, he’s very sympathetic to my songs.
I call him up and say, are you available to do an arrangement? And I’ll send him the tracks, you know.
But I don’t send him any ideas or anything.
He’ll listen to the track and he’ll call me up and say, I’m ready to do the arrangement.
And he’ll never say, what do you want, or anything.
And I’ll say, you know what to do, right? And he says, oh yeah, I know what to do.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah, and it’s great.
So I never hear the arrangement til we’re in the studio with the orchestra.
Betsy: So kind of how you write for Russell, he arranges for you? Graham: Yeah.
He just does it.
Yeah.
But he knows that I love ELO stuff.
All the da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
I love all that.
Yeah, fabulous.
Betsy: Yeah, I remember some of their music from way back...
when.
Graham: Oh, they’re great, they’re great.
Betsy: So your favorite song then is? Graham: Well, you know, I can’t really narrow it down because there are a lot of different textures and different...
all the songs are different.
There’s only really one big ballad, which is Our Love.
There’s Let Yourself Go, which is very upbeat, very techno.
Betsy: Love it! Graham: Yeah, I do too.
Betsy: I heard that one and said I can not wait to get that CD! Graham: Yeah, it’s...
I think you’ll really dig it, you know.
But The Future for me, the song The Future is probably my favorite.
Betsy: I love that one.
You change the words up a little in some of your songs when you sing them live.
Graham: Do I? Betsy: Yeah, a little bit.
Graham: Oh.
Make You Mine, I got a little lost in Make You Mine last night.
Betsy: Yeah, well, for me, I’m like, well, is he? Or is that really the way it goes.
I can’t tell.
But I did record in Vegas the songs twice.
Graham: Were they different? Betsy: A little bit.
Graham: Well, I started on February 14th opening.
And it took me pretty much up until now to really nail the words, which sounds strange because they’re my songs.
But there’s a lot of words to remember, especially on The Future, there’s a lot of words to remember.
Betsy: It’s so beautiful.
Graham: Thanks.
Betsy: And, it gets great compliments from people.
Graham: Oh does it? See I don’t hear them.
Continued
Graham and I spoke about The Future, The Heart of the Rose and Air Supply.
In addition, the interview was taped and is available in six parts at [http://www.
airsupplyblog.
com] and on YouTube at [http://www.
YouTube.
com/ASFanForLife].
Betsy: Thanks for allowing me to do this.
Graham: Oh you are welcome.
Betsy: I’m very excited.
Graham: Oh good.
Betsy: And I feel very privileged.
Graham: Oh of course, you’re very welcome.
Betsy: Let me say congratulations.
You have had and incredible career and I can only imagine that your life has been as incredible.
(Graham laughs) Betsy: You are now into your fourth decade with Air Supply and you don’t seem tired.
What’s your secret? Graham: You know, really the secret is looking after yourself.
Not that I do it, but I try to.
You know, and otherwise you just can’t keep the pace up with the traveling and everything.
And I do my little workout everyday.
I have to, for energy, and I do it before I go on stage too.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: That’s very cool.
Graham: Yeah I do.
Betsy: Ok, it’s been 31 years, right, since you and Russell formed Air Supply? Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: Why did you just now decide to release a debut solo…? Graham: Well, I’ve always wanted to do it.
Plus I write a lot of other songs, not just Air Supply songs.
I write a lot of different kinds of songs too and the songs that I’ve recorded, I don’t think are particularly Air Supply songs.
Do you know what I mean? And I wanted to do it too.
I mean, Russell did one in ‘86, and I really wanted to do it.
And I had a lot of different songs that I thought would be good on my own CD and Russell was really very supportive of it.
And it took me, I mean, I didn’t just do it.
It took me a while to do it because I did it at different times when we were off and when I was able to.
I mean, Air Supply always comes first and it always will.
But I wanted to do this because it’s a different kind of music and as everybody knows I love electronica and stuff like that.
And there’s some of that on there too...
but it’s cool.
I like that, different music .
Betsy: When will it actually be out? Graham: It’s out now.
Well, it came out on the first day of spring, which was intentional but it wasn’t available then.
But it is now.
They were like a day behind.
Betsy: I know that a lot of people have ordered it already and they already got a letter that says… Graham: Yeah, they are backordered already, I believe.
Yeah, that’s good.
Betsy: Oh, does that mean it’s out of stock? Graham: It’s out of the original stock, yeah.
Betsy: Oh, that’s fantastic.
Graham: It’s great.
Betsy: I thought maybe it wasn’t ready.
Graham: Oh no, they’ve already sold their initial shipment that they got but I’ll just give them some more now.
Betsy: Oh that’s fabulous.
Graham: Yeah, it is, it’s great.
Betsy: Tell me about the title.
Why is it called The Future? Graham: Because It is, its kind of my future and it’s also the future I saw when I was very young and I, like when I introduce, when I sing The Future live, when I introduce it as a song that, because The Future, the song, The Future, is all about my dream and my vision when I was very young to be a songwriter and to be in a band, which is the only thing I ever wanted to do.
And it’s that vision that I always held and I always kept and I just never let go of it.
So that was my future.
It’s not necessarily my future now.
It was my future then when I began.
And I used to drive people crazy, you know, all the teachers at my school, ‘cause they all wanted me to be a doctor or plumber or a dentist or something, and I just wasn’t interested.
And I just said, no, I’m gonna be in a band and you don’t have to worry about me.
And I just never let go.
I just held on to it all the time.
Betsy: That is so cool.
Graham: Yeah.
Well you know, I’m a big believer in that.
I tell a lot of people, a lot of younger people, I’ll tell them if you want something bad enough you’ll get it.
You gotta stick at it.
There is an old saying, I don’t know where it came from.
It says, ‘many are called but few are chosen’.
And many people are called to do certain things, but the universe itself thins everyone out, you know, so there’s only a couple standing.
And then, and those go forward, in any profession, in any chosen career.
You get thinned out and you get presented with barriers and reasons why you shouldn’t do it.
And it’s those that persevere.
It’s like Darwin’s Theory, you know, it’s the survival of the fittest.
Somebody could have come along and knocked me down.
I mean, I had plenty of people that knocked me down, but I just kept getting up again.
It’s like that…Terminator, the metal man, whatever he is called.
He keeps getting up, you know, and then he gets his head squashed in the press and he looks like a pancake and then he keeps getting up again and he comes back you know.
It’s that thought pattern.
But I’m really into that and I believe in that.
Betsy: Well the world is a better place because of it.
Graham: Well I hope so.
I mean, I always thought that, well, I always wanted to be a songwriter and I always wanted to be able to leave something.
I don’t know if I have or not or if Air Supply has.
I think so, something, but I think that these songs make people feel better and they leave a mark on them, I think.
Betsy: Well I can guarantee they do.
And I’m sure you must know that they do.
Graham: Well I think they do.
You know, but it’s not just the songs, its what we do as a band and hopefully it will always be that way, that they leave an impression.
Betsy: You know, I know you looked at my blog and one of the pages I created is called your stories.
I don’t know if you saw that or not, but basically I just asked people to send in their stories…how Air Supply has affected them in their lives.
So it’s really actually very cool because people have put a few things that were meaningful, maybe they met you at a Meet & Greet and you did something but they talk about how you’ve impacted their lives.
Graham: Oh really? Betsy: And you know my blog just started and I only have probably 10 stories or so on there but some of the stories are really very long and are very special.
Graham: You know, I haven’t read them but I will.
I mean, I’ve got on there but I kind of flipped through it.
But I’ll get on there ‘cause I’d like to see how it does affect people.
Betsy: You say that you write everyday.
Graham: I do, yeah.
Betsy: So was it difficult to just put 11 songs on the CD? Graham: There’s only 10 actually.
And I’ll tell you why.
Because I’m into numbers a little bit.
And 11 is always a good number ‘cause I was born on the 11th of June.
And 11 in numerology, you can’t add it together.
You can’t add 11 or 22 together.
They have to stay 22, where as if it was 13, it would become 4 and 16 would become 7.
But 11 stays 11, it doesn’t become 2, and 22 doesn’t become 4.
So from a spiritual point of view it’s a nice number.
But the 11th song didn’t work for me, you know, when I was recording the 11th one.
It wouldn’t come.
It wouldn’t sound the way I wanted it to sound and I tried like six times, at different times.
And it was going to be a very simple thing with me and the guitar but it just didn’t sound right.
But When I played it, when I would sit in a chair to play it, it sounded great.
But when I tried to record it, it just didn’t come out the way I wanted it And I kept getting a little frustrated with it.
And I tried another song and that wasn’t right either.
And so in the end I said it’s gotta be 10.
Then I looked at Bob Dylan’s recent album and he had 10 songs on it.
So I thought, ah, people are going back to 10 songs.
Because you pick albums up now and there’s like 17 or 18 songs on it .
But most of them are usually crap, you know.
They’re not… there’s no value.
And I’m thinking why not put 10 songs on it instead of have 11 songs when one of them Isn’t right.
But I kept looking at the list of the songs, and they felt right, you know, and the sequence was right, and I thought, well, I’m gonna go with it.
So I kind of broke the cycle of 11.
(At this point, someone walked in the room and gave graham a bag that had some vitamins, lip balm and pens in it.
Graham then showed me a bag of vitamins that he takes.
) Betsy: You take all those vitamins before the show? Graham: Yeah.
(Graham laughs) Betsy: So that’s where you have all the energy from? Graham: I think so.
Probably.
I hope so.
Yeah.
Betsy: You know I actually have a nickname for you.
Graham: What’s that? Betsy: Tigger.
Graham: Oh right, yeah! You know, I don’t know where that came from, it just happened.
It’s only kind of happened in the last 3 or 4 years.
Betsy: Really? Graham: I think so, yeah.
Well you know, I have so much energy from doing the show.
I can’t just stand there and just...
I mean some songs when they are mellow songs, I can, but I get so into it that I just have to let some of the energy go.
Betsy: I love it Graham: Oh I , you know what too? It’s a great workout for me too and I look forward to that.
Betsy: I’m concerned for your knees! Graham: Oh, you know, I actually wear a knee brace on my left knee now.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah, I actually just put that on last night for the first time in months.
But, yeah, I enjoy it because it’s just letting some steam off.
But I really like it, yeah.
Betsy: Well I love to see the variety.
Because you typically do it during the same songs.
Graham: I do, yeah.
Betsy: And I always know when it’s coming but then sometimes you stop.
Sometimes you stop and look at Mike or… Graham: Oh yeah? See I don’t even know that.
Betsy: It’s fun just to see the variety.
Graham: Oh really? Oh good, yeah.
Betsy: Well I’m sure it’s all spontaneous.
Graham: It is, yeah, but you’re probably right, I do do it in certain songs.
There are certain songs that are like triggers so if there’s a part… But I never think consciously, oh now I gotta jump or anything.
I just do it.
Betsy: Well, it’s when there is a certain beat and when you get to certain points in the song.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: You know, I’ve been to, I don’t know, maybe 20 shows since the summer… Graham: You have, yeah.
Betsy: For me it’s exciting and it’s very, umm, predictable.
Graham: Right.
Betsy: You know, so for me, the song list is relatively the same, but I love to see the things that are no longer predictable.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: You know, the things that just come up, and I love that.
Graham: Yeah, I do too.
I would like to do more of that, you know.
Russell prefers to be not so predictable.
No, that’s the wrong thing to say.
He prefers to know what’s going on.
Yeah, he prefers to know what’s going on.
Where I’d love to swap things up, but he gets a little nervous when, if I start doing that too much…which is fair enough.
Betsy: Well I love it.
Graham: Oh cool.
Betsy: Now I have to apologize, but who is Stina? Graham: Stina is, she sang on Across the Concrete Sky.
She’s the girl singer on Shadow of the Sun.
I don’t know if you know that song.
Betsy: Oh yeah, I love it.
Graham: Yeah, I do too.
Betsy: It’s beautiful.
Graham: Yeah, I love it.
She sang on that.
And she sings on my album too.
She sings on I think 3 tracks.
She’s a great singer.
She’s an opera singer, and she’s 28, and she’s married.
But she’s got a great voice and I love her voice.
I really do.
And my songs are very suited for her.
She writes her own songs too and does all that, but for my songs, her voice is great, you know, as a female voice and I thought it would be fun to use her again.
Betsy: Is she from the Salt Lake City area? Graham: She is, yeah.
Betsy: I know you have talked about her, but I just didn’t know who she was.
Graham: I also used another girl, a young girl, 19 years old.
Megan Olsonis from Salt Lake.
She never played, never sang on a record before And she sings on a song called Restless, which you haven’t heard yet.
It’s pretty cool.
Betsy: I almost have all of the songs written down.
I’ve got Make You Mine, The Future, Lace and Leather, Let Yourself Go, Save the World, This Time, Our Love and Restless.
Graham: How many is that? Betsy: Eight.
Graham: What’s missing? Let Yourself Go, do you have that? Betsy: Yes, well of course I have that one! Graham: Of course you do, yeah.
You got, Let Yourself Go…Love Is Warm, you have that? Betsy: No Graham: Love Is Warm? Betsy: Love Is Warm, yeah.
Graham: Third is Lace and Leather, Our Love, Make you Mine… Betsy: So This Time is the First Time… is it called This Time? Graham: It’s called This Time, yeah.
Betsy: And that’s on there? That’s nice, it’s lovely.
Graham: Yeah, it’s on there, yeah.
That was one of the first I recorded actually.
it’s This Time, Restless, oh Fall With You? Do you have that? Betsy: Fall With You? Graham: So that’s 10, that’s all of them.
Betsy: Do you have a favorite? Graham: Well, I’m very fond of Lace and Leather, you know, and, but I love The Future too.
Betsy: I love The Future.
I mean, so I’ve only heard 3 of the songs, no, actually I’ve heard more because when you did some of the songs at Fan Day… Graham: In Laughlin.
Betsy: And I did love Let Yourself Go.
Graham: Yeah.
Betsy: I have to say I love that.
Graham: I do too.
Betsy: But you singing The Future, I really love it.
Graham: I love singing that too.
So, did I play it then? I can’t remember.
Betsy: I don’t know.
You played 5 songs in Laughlin but I don’t know… Graham: I don’t think I played that, I don’t think I played it Betsy: I don’t remember which ones they were.
I recorded a couple little pieces here and there, but probably just a few seconds.
Graham: No I don’t think I played it.
That’s got Lewis Clark’s string arrangement on it, which is amazing.
Betsy: Which song? Graham: The Future.
He did The Future and he did Our Love.
Did I play Our Love? I did.
Betsy: I think you did.
That sounds familiar.
Graham: Yeah.
Yeah.
He did the string arrangement on that too.
He’s amazing.
He’s the guy from ELO from the 70s, right.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Do you know the Electric Light Orchestra? Betsy: I’ve heard of them, yeah.
(laughing) Graham: Oh, they’re fabulous.
Betsy: I was born in ‘69 so I know a little bit from the 70s.
Graham: Oh, ok, right.
Yeah, he’s my favorite string arranger.
I use him all the time.
Yeah, he’s great.
Once again, he’s very sympathetic to my songs.
I call him up and say, are you available to do an arrangement? And I’ll send him the tracks, you know.
But I don’t send him any ideas or anything.
He’ll listen to the track and he’ll call me up and say, I’m ready to do the arrangement.
And he’ll never say, what do you want, or anything.
And I’ll say, you know what to do, right? And he says, oh yeah, I know what to do.
Betsy: Really? Graham: Yeah, and it’s great.
So I never hear the arrangement til we’re in the studio with the orchestra.
Betsy: So kind of how you write for Russell, he arranges for you? Graham: Yeah.
He just does it.
Yeah.
But he knows that I love ELO stuff.
All the da da da da da da da da da da da da da.
I love all that.
Yeah, fabulous.
Betsy: Yeah, I remember some of their music from way back...
when.
Graham: Oh, they’re great, they’re great.
Betsy: So your favorite song then is? Graham: Well, you know, I can’t really narrow it down because there are a lot of different textures and different...
all the songs are different.
There’s only really one big ballad, which is Our Love.
There’s Let Yourself Go, which is very upbeat, very techno.
Betsy: Love it! Graham: Yeah, I do too.
Betsy: I heard that one and said I can not wait to get that CD! Graham: Yeah, it’s...
I think you’ll really dig it, you know.
But The Future for me, the song The Future is probably my favorite.
Betsy: I love that one.
You change the words up a little in some of your songs when you sing them live.
Graham: Do I? Betsy: Yeah, a little bit.
Graham: Oh.
Make You Mine, I got a little lost in Make You Mine last night.
Betsy: Yeah, well, for me, I’m like, well, is he? Or is that really the way it goes.
I can’t tell.
But I did record in Vegas the songs twice.
Graham: Were they different? Betsy: A little bit.
Graham: Well, I started on February 14th opening.
And it took me pretty much up until now to really nail the words, which sounds strange because they’re my songs.
But there’s a lot of words to remember, especially on The Future, there’s a lot of words to remember.
Betsy: It’s so beautiful.
Graham: Thanks.
Betsy: And, it gets great compliments from people.
Graham: Oh does it? See I don’t hear them.
Continued
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