March 26, 2021 • 24 mins
Pat Monahan reflects on the heavenly origins of his epic smash “Drops of Jupiter” on the song’s 20th anniversary. The Train front man also gets real about life in lockdown and what’s coming next for the band.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everyone, Welcome to Inside the Studio and I Heart Radio.
My name is Jordan Runtog. But enough about me. My
guest today credits a message from the Great Beyond for
delivering his greatest musical legacy. He was mourning the loss
of his mother to cancer when she appeared to him
(00:23):
in a dream one night and presented a celestial image
of hope and comfort in the form of a song.
The result was Drops of Jupiter, the soaring, inspirational piano
epic that became an instant classic upon its release in
two thousand one. It went on to win a Grammy
that year for Best Rock Song, and two decades later,
it's still going strong. It's since gone platinum six times over.
In honor of the song's twentieth anniversary, this year, the
(00:46):
album of the same name is being reissued with extra
bonus tracks. Will also be made available on vinyl for
the very first time. I'm so happy to welcome the
lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan. Yeah, it's good to
speak to you too, Jordan's. First of all, how are
you doing? In the last year has been tough on
all of us. Have you been feeling have you been
holding up well? It's been a wave of emotions Jordan's.
(01:06):
It started with disbelief, moved into anger, transferred into sadness,
drank a whole lot of wine, a lot a lot
of wine, got obsessed with getting better at golf, so
that that turned back to anger. Then uh, now I'm
back to anger. And in the last month I finally
(01:29):
found um so uh from for me, there's always a
song that isn't always the big song, but it's it's
the defining song on an album, and I finally wrote
that defining song, so now I know what the album is.
So now for the last three weeks, I've been really encouraged,
(01:51):
and it just happens to be at the same time
that you know, herd immunity seems to be working and
vaccines are happening, so it's just a very uh timely.
It just seems like it's the perfect time that all
of this is working out. Plus the weather is getting better,
so I'm finally in a good place. Oh that is
(02:12):
wonderfully here. I mean definitely, there's definitely feels like the
light at the end of the tunnel. He was was
the song inspired by that, by that feeling of sort
of like spring is here. Things are opening up. There's hope. No, no,
not at all. Actually, uh so I was. I have
a golf buddy and his name is Sydney Rice, and
he's a former Seattle Seahawk And when we go out
(02:33):
in golf, even though and please don't tell anyone at
my golf course, we're not allowed to be playing music
out there, but Sydney he doesn't really care because he's
a big, strong guy and if somebody's gonna tell him
to turn his music off, he'll be like, are you sure,
and they'll be like, no, not really. So he actually
is about thirty. I think he's thirty four, thirty three,
(02:54):
thirty four. He's always turning me onto new music, which
you know, you would think be the other way around.
But and so I just was so inspired by these
young guys doing such cool throwback music that I was like,
oh my god, I think I think I know how
to do that. And so this is gonna be a
very different Train album. And it's all inspired by a
(03:15):
friend of mine on the golf course. That's awesome. What
kind of stubs planning for you? Well? I found the
Seattle band called the Dip, and I just think they
are the Shi yet. And there's a lot of other
bands that that he's turned me onto. There's Duran Jones
and uh, that band is nuts so good, Like I
(03:36):
can't believe how good all those guys in the band
can sing. So it's just I'm finding music like that
like this, and it's like a new inspiration because I've
been listening to hip hop for three straight years and
so this is a nice transition. Have you earlier in
the year, have you been feeling productive musically or because
that's what I always talk all my friends and everybody
I talked to say, half the people are super motivated.
(03:57):
They get up there, make a banana, brother, they're doing
this or doing that. And then the other half the
time and thinking, Okay, I got my pants on, this
is a good day, Like this is that's my my
achievement for the day. Were you feeling earlier in the year,
were you feeling really motivated to make music or is
that back and forth? Yeah, it has not been a
very encouraging or creative time for me. I've had to
like wor really work through it, work through those times.
(04:20):
But you know, when you are kind of an overprivileged
white guy in the music business, it's hard to find
someone that you can complain to, you know, Like, so
I just try to just keep quiet about it and
wait for the shift. You know. When the shift came,
and so now I can talk about the prior sadness.
Instead of poor me, you should feel for me. It's
(04:40):
more like, hey, I'm I'm back. Oh that is good
to hear. We can't wait to hear more from you.
We we're here to talk to you about the twentieth anniversary.
That's hard to believe. Of drops a Jupiter. No, No,
I'm not. I just wanted to tell you about that.
I'm out now. I've got more golf stores. I'm happy here.
Those two all right, I'm because I'm just kidding. I'm
more of a bowler myself. But incredible song. That song
(05:02):
means so much to so many people. Has the meaning
of the song changed for you over the last two decades? Well,
I mean, you know, like all music, I think that
at first it's for you, for the writer, and then
soon after that it's not for you anymore. It's not
that's that song is not for me. It was a
really important part of my healing because I had lost
(05:25):
my mother and we were desperate for any kind of
song that was going to make a connection, just so
we could keep making albums. You know. It's like at
a time where it cost a lot of money to
make an album, and the only way someone was going
to support that, uh, that habit, as you would say,
was to keep making music that was compelling to others.
(05:46):
And we just didn't have the goods on that album.
And it was a very very frustrating time. So when
Trump's Jupiter was written, it was very quick. It was
from a dream. It was just basically my mom saying,
this is what it's like afterlife. Then the song was
recorded and and put on the radio, and then it
(06:07):
wasn't for me anymore. It was for other people. I said.
It came new into dreams. It's funny often that happens.
If Keith Richard's dream in the Satisfaction riff, you have
Paul McCartney, you're only dreaming yesterday. But also his mother
came to him and that's where Let it Be came from.
Did the words in the music come together or was
it just a snippet of a phrase of music or
just a snippet of the lyrics, or was it all
(06:28):
all there in your hand. It was just all there,
it was all it was all vocal, melody and lyric.
And then the next day, you know, putting a very
primal piano to h to the melody. That is amazing.
I Uh, it's funny how vivid those dreams are with
with your late parents there full disclosure, I lost my
(06:52):
mother to cancer about maybe six months before drops a
Jupiter came out, and when it it did came out,
it you know, it obviously has a very special place
for me for that reason, for that the reason that
we share. It's it's very interesting how those dreams is.
I dream a lot. I never remember them, but I
always remember those when when the couple, but only handful
of times. Maybe she ever come back to you in
(07:12):
a dream? No, it never, it never reoccurred. Yeah, it
was a really really strange time for me to think
about it now and to think about that one time.
Is was definitely didn't seem very coincidental. You know, it
seemed very like my my wife asked me the other day,
she said, uh, what do you think happens to us
(07:34):
after this? And I was like, well, this is not
like a five minute while I'm in the shower conversation,
but if you'd like to know. And so we started
to really talk about it, and I think drops A
Jupiter actually gave me some type of faith that maybe
it's not just a dark hole in the ground that
that's the end. Maybe there's just a waiting pattern afterwards
(07:58):
that we get to help others. I don't really know
the answer to all of it, but I know that
she definitely made a big enough impression, either in the
time that she was with me or afterwards, that that
was a real That was a real moment. It was
(08:21):
an interview you gave I think fairly recently. Were you
saying the song is as much about your mother it
is as it is about you and you growing and changing.
What is the song taught you? I don't know. I
guess the word faith again. You know, some people have
religion or god and and some people have you know,
sports or and I guess for me, it's uh music.
(08:43):
You know that that music has given me faith And
something like something happened to me about a month ago
where I was pretty down, I mean about a month ago,
right before everything kind of kicked into gear. I was
like pretty much feeling really bad for myself for super
super dumb reasons. No, no one would ever relate in
a way that they should relate. And so I was
(09:05):
kind of, you know, complaining to a friend about having
hurt feelings and you know, and things like that. And
it was among other other friends too. There were there
three other guys, and I was explaining to them, like
the feelings that I was going through and I had
been hurt by people. And what they said to me
as a response made me remember that I have to
(09:28):
just have faith, like the universe knows what you need somehow,
and I just needed to just believe in my friendships
and believe in the things that matter the most to me.
And they reminded me that I was being a knucklehead
and it was really important for me. And so music
does that for me, like when I hear like that's
why I listened to hip hop so much. And now
(09:49):
this new version of or new cycle of music that
I've been listening to because it's kind of young people's
stories to remind me that guys my age should sometimes
just shut up and listen, you know, like we we
think that the old cat should be heard most, but
sometimes not so much. Was there somebody when you first
started out listening to music that really made you think, Okay,
(10:11):
this is what I want to do. I want to
I want to share my voice as well. Well, I
was the last of seven kids, and my dad listened
to a lot of jazz records, and uh, my brothers
would be, you know, using their Beatles records to sort
out their their marijuana from stems and seeds and roll
(10:32):
their joints, and then my sisters will be listening to
James Taylor and Chris Christofferson and uh, you know, I
got to hear the Ohio Players and led Zeppelin and
you know, everything that was happening. And uh then I
found Michael Jackson kind of that was my artist at
the time, and I was able to sing like him
(10:52):
and my brother I remember going like damn boy, Like
you know, he was way older than me. And just
to think that an older sibling would take one second
to give you one moment of something pleasant was that
made is a pretty good sign. That's a positive reinforcement
right there. Well, I mean, speaking of positive reinforcement, what
(11:13):
was talking to me about winning a Grammy? The Grammy
because not only must have been cool, but you know,
you were handed it by Don Henley and you toour
in the front row. You know that that you beat
I think twice. I think they were nominated twice for
for Best Rock Song. What did that feel like? I mean,
just taking it to the opposite extreme from from you
your brother giving you note, your older brother giving you notice,
(11:34):
to having the eyes of the musical world on you.
How how does that feel? It was pretty surreal? You know,
I was not a seasoned guy and how to be
grateful on a stage, you know, like I learned a
lot of hard lessons about how to be grateful and why,
but professionally grateful that's hard to do, you know what
(11:56):
I mean, like to be to be gracious on stage?
You know, I'm I'm not a guy that's going to
go up there and be like, you know, these awards
are bullshit, bro, Like I'm here just because, um, you know,
and that's just not who I've ever been. And uh,
I wanted to make sure that my my mother got
(12:19):
some props because she probably wrote the thing, and um,
I don't remember it. You know. It was just such
a blowing, forceful, just a sketch of a moment that
was so quick that I don't remember much about it,
except for being backstage and having my picture taken, but
knowing that the photographers were waiting for the next hot
(12:41):
chick to come in that was far more interesting than
I was that, so I just wanted to get the
heck out of There's all about those moments. I guess
I want to ask you. I read, do the best
songs come quickly? The ones that you almost don't even
have to work on? I guess, like drops the Jupiters.
I think I read that you said, Hey, Soul's sister
came almost equally as fast as that does? That Is
that usually a sign for you that those are the
(13:03):
ones that just are almost delivered fully formed? It? Does?
They do have that in common. I'm not good at
recognizing high quality things like that or whatever the thing
would be. Uh, I don't. I'm not good at recognizing
songs that could potentially be hits. Um. I'm the worst
at it. And I'm not good at titling songs like
(13:25):
I called it Drops a Jupiter because it was such
a such an interesting three words, like it was the
most interesting three words in the whole composition. How do
you call it? You know? Tell me like that's just
not that interesting to me, but I was. I was
asked to change it, to tell me over and over
and over again, until it was called drops the Jupiter
(13:47):
in parentheses tell me anyway. Um, I don't know why
things come fast. Well, I guess they're just supposed to
be there. I mean a song like Troups the Jupiter
to me, it's it's so poetic and so specific, which
I guess in a lot of cases that sometimes leads
to misinterpretations because it's so specific. Are there any myths
or mistakes that people have about it that you might
(14:08):
want to clear up involving I don't know, soy lattees
or fried chicken or falling from a falling star or something.
Is there anything for the ages that you would like
to to clear up now about that song? Yeah, those
are all things. So I was definitely asked to get
rid of soy latte hundred percent asked to get rid
of fried Chicken. It's fall for a shooting star and
(14:30):
not from a shooting star, because the idea was did
you fall for somebody that was that looked like a
better you know, because I had to turn what was
about my mother into a love song. You know about
maybe two young people. But and then the last thing,
my favorite thing is that people really thought I was
saying and that van Halen is overrated. And so I
(14:53):
got a lot of this is early this early internet days,
and so I got a lot of hate mail about
you know, you got a lot of nerve, bitch van
Halen rules you still compared to van Halen. I'm Michael,
I don't even I don't even know why you're mad
at me? What does this even mean? And then I
found out that they thought I was saying. It's so
(15:14):
funny because like Sammy Hagar and I have been friends
for fifteen years, and I used to golf with with
Eddie van Halen, and it's just so cute that that was.
I adore those guys. You know, I never met the
other Fellows, but I love that band. What were they
like to golf with? That's that's amazing. He's just you know,
Eddie was such a quiet, mild mannered guy, you know
(15:36):
he was. I don't know if that was in the
second half of his life or if that's just you know,
who he was when I knew him. But he was
just so sweet. Man. I want to invite to one
of your golf games. You've got a good got a
good going, You're good. I'm kidding. My favorite guy to
(15:59):
golf with a the whole world is George Lopez. He is.
He has a charity tournament every year. I hope he
has it this year because it's my favorite thing to
do in the whole world. Oh man, is it later
on the year? I hope that happens and he's Actually
he's why I know Eddie van Halen is because of George.
WHOA how was that introduction? I met George at a well.
(16:19):
I was on the George Lopez Show with Hay soul
Sister the same day that that Cheech and Chong were on.
So that was a huge day for me because I
I love all three of those guys. And then I
didn't see George for years and didn't realize that he
was into golf and I had just started to get
into golf. So uh, we were on this San Francisco
(16:41):
golf slash cooking show together and then we just stayed
friends and we're very close. Now. I hope that that
opens up soon. Now pouring opens up soon as well.
I mean, I know that's got to be tough. This
last year and not being able to for so many reason.
Nothing of the engage with your friends. What's filled that
space for you? Have you been big on social media
just in keeping you know, in contact with all the
(17:03):
people that love you and your music? Uh? You know,
I mean I think early on we did some TikTok
stuff and tried to stay socially active. But honestly, Jordan's
I think sometimes it's good for people to go away
for a little while, and so I don't think it's
a bad thing to be missed. I think it's endearing
and and adds here's the thing, it's a beautiful part
(17:26):
of humanity. If I can come back with an album
that is worth a ship, then I missed and it's
worth the weight. Otherwise, you know, Oh, we really missed you,
And I just heard that new crappy song. Uh, you know,
I'd rather it was like, Man, we really missed you,
and you're still my favorite band. This new album is
just my favorite. That's going to be. That is what
(17:48):
I lived for. How the Zoom songwriting session has been going.
Has that been working for you? You are more solitary.
Do you like doing it on your own? First? I've
been pretty bummed out about the zoom writing until about
(18:09):
a month ago, and then I was like, man, it's
working out. It's working for me. I love it. I'm
just good with it, uh, because it gets lonely. I'm
like in my studio now and I like interacting with people,
and and you know, half the time we're together, we're
just trying to make each other laugh, and then there's
fifteen minutes of work. So this this way, I just
(18:30):
have to get to work more often, and that's not
as fun. But I'm learning how to do it better
and and manage my my loneliness, you know, and turning
it into fuel. Do you have a rough idea of
when when fans can expect the new album or EP
or single or is that that's still a little further
down the line. I feel like it shouldn't be until
(18:51):
after the summer, you know. I mean, we're we're planning
on a big summer tour for two thousand twenty two
in amphitheater around the country and going into Europe and Australia.
And you know, I haven't have still haven't been to
South Africa and meet so many South Africans that are like, man,
your music is just so big and we've just never
(19:11):
been there. I'd love to stop saying that. So I
think that Fall would make a lot of sense to
have a first single, maybe put the album out in
November perhaps, and then by the time the concert tickets
come for sale, you can buy the album and it
all all makes sense, and people will start looking forward
to that Summer Vibes, because this is a Summer Vibes
(19:34):
album for sure. I at the other end of the spectrum,
I read that you were filming a movie based on
I believe your Christmas album, Christmas and Tahoe. Do I
have that right? Yeah, they're you know, we're gonna shoot
a movie for it. I still haven't seen the script,
and I was hoping that I would see it by now,
because it'll be shot in Tahoe obviously, and they still
(19:55):
have snow, so I don't know how much longer they'll
have snow, but I ink snow is going to be
an important part of the whole Christmas and Tahoe experience.
But yeah, and then my friend Neil McDonough, who's an
extraordinary actor who you've seen a hundred times in a
hundred movies and was one of the really good, bad
guys in yellow Stone. He asked me to be in
(20:18):
a movie, and so about two months ago I went
and shot I'm in the first scene of a movie
called Boon. So I'm excited to see that. Maybe that
would be the beginning of a you know, maybe I'm
the next Brad Pitt Jordan. You never know. Hell yeah,
I mean that's something you really want to do more of? Yeah,
I would. I wouldn't mind if it was a specific thing.
(20:39):
And you know, I knew that acting is very difficult,
Like you have to really really care a lot. It's
like music where you know, yeah, maybe you get lucky
and have one song do well. But honestly, if you
want to be good at it, you need to commit
your life to it. So I don't know that I
can commit my life to acting, and I know that
(21:00):
I have the talent to be good at both things,
but I wouldn't mind trying once in a while. One
of the things been keeping me saying during lockdown is
watching a lot of movies. Have you been watching a lot? Yeah?
That's another thing that my friend Sydney Rice. I go, hey, Sydney,
do you watch Netflix? And he said, I have watched Netflix,
(21:21):
meaning to I have already watched a Netflix. I feel
like that, that's what I feel like. We just revisited
the the First Coming to America with my kids so
that we could watch the second one. So oh now
that's awesome. Oh my god. Yeah. No, I've been meeting
(21:43):
to watch that do a little like musical and TV
comfort food. Like I just like watched All of the
Wonder Years, which I haven't seen like since it came out,
which was strange, well a long time coming. I have
to watch A Night in Miami because Leslie Odom Jr.
Is a friend, and he just was nominated for an
Oscar today. So out of my respect for what a
(22:06):
talent he is and the fact that UM such a
huge Sam Cook fan, I have to see the movie.
I don't know what's taking. If you're especially if you're
a Sam Cook fan, you're gonna love it. Have you
seen so good? Yeah, it's it's really incredible. Well, my
last question, and we've been asking everyone this question has
been really fascinating to hear everybody's very different answers. If
you could snap your fingers and have everything go back
(22:27):
to normal, whatever your definition of normal is, call it,
say what would be the first thing that you would do,
places you'd go, people you'd hug. What would it be?
Uh Well, my real, honest answer is that my relationships,
the closest relationships in my life, have suffered a great
deal because of COVID, because we've all thought of it
(22:48):
in different ways, none of us being irresponsible, but some
of us being scared, and that fear has really interrupted
a lot of the great close love that we had,
and I would want that back, and it's gonna be
some work to get that back, because there's a lot
(23:09):
of feelings that get hurt when there's not communicating about like, hey,
Jordan's here's the way I'm gonna behave and you're like, okay, cool, Pat,
I love that, and I'm gonna behave like this and
we'll meet at the end. It's there's not that kind
of communicating when it comes to most relationships. It's a
lot of well that was bullshit. I can't believe that
they did that without telling, you know, like whatever, whatever
(23:29):
the thing is. But I I would want the old
version of those relationships back. That's my snap of the finger.
That is the most considerate answer we've had, And you know,
I mean open communication, approaching things with love. I think
you can't go wrong. It seems like you can't, but
you can. You'll find a way for it to go wrong.
We're humans. We're humans, and we we expect it. We
(23:53):
factor that in and we forgive. And there is light
at the end of the tunnel. Yep. I think it's
gonna be good soon. Man. Thank you so much for
your time today, and your music has meant so much
to me over the years. Thank you, Thank you so much.
I appreciate that Jordan's well. I have this recorded. I'll
send it to you and uh in a picture of
me without my shirt on, just because I'm not sending that.
(24:18):
Thank you. I'll talk to you guys soon. We hope
you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio, a production
of I Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the
Studio or other fantastic shows, check out the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
(24:40):
favorite podcasts.
Hello, everyone, Welcome to Inside the Studio and I Heart Radio.
My name is Jordan Runtog. But enough about me. My
guest today credits a message from the Great Beyond for
delivering his greatest musical legacy. He was mourning the loss
of his mother to cancer when she appeared to him
(00:23):
in a dream one night and presented a celestial image
of hope and comfort in the form of a song.
The result was Drops of Jupiter, the soaring, inspirational piano
epic that became an instant classic upon its release in
two thousand one. It went on to win a Grammy
that year for Best Rock Song, and two decades later,
it's still going strong. It's since gone platinum six times over.
In honor of the song's twentieth anniversary, this year, the
(00:46):
album of the same name is being reissued with extra
bonus tracks. Will also be made available on vinyl for
the very first time. I'm so happy to welcome the
lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan. Yeah, it's good to
speak to you too, Jordan's. First of all, how are
you doing? In the last year has been tough on
all of us. Have you been feeling have you been
holding up well? It's been a wave of emotions Jordan's.
(01:06):
It started with disbelief, moved into anger, transferred into sadness,
drank a whole lot of wine, a lot a lot
of wine, got obsessed with getting better at golf, so
that that turned back to anger. Then uh, now I'm
back to anger. And in the last month I finally
(01:29):
found um so uh from for me, there's always a
song that isn't always the big song, but it's it's
the defining song on an album, and I finally wrote
that defining song, so now I know what the album is.
So now for the last three weeks, I've been really encouraged,
(01:51):
and it just happens to be at the same time
that you know, herd immunity seems to be working and
vaccines are happening, so it's just a very uh timely.
It just seems like it's the perfect time that all
of this is working out. Plus the weather is getting better,
so I'm finally in a good place. Oh that is
(02:12):
wonderfully here. I mean definitely, there's definitely feels like the
light at the end of the tunnel. He was was
the song inspired by that, by that feeling of sort
of like spring is here. Things are opening up. There's hope. No, no,
not at all. Actually, uh so I was. I have
a golf buddy and his name is Sydney Rice, and
he's a former Seattle Seahawk And when we go out
(02:33):
in golf, even though and please don't tell anyone at
my golf course, we're not allowed to be playing music
out there, but Sydney he doesn't really care because he's
a big, strong guy and if somebody's gonna tell him
to turn his music off, he'll be like, are you sure,
and they'll be like, no, not really. So he actually
is about thirty. I think he's thirty four, thirty three,
(02:54):
thirty four. He's always turning me onto new music, which
you know, you would think be the other way around.
But and so I just was so inspired by these
young guys doing such cool throwback music that I was like,
oh my god, I think I think I know how
to do that. And so this is gonna be a
very different Train album. And it's all inspired by a
(03:15):
friend of mine on the golf course. That's awesome. What
kind of stubs planning for you? Well? I found the
Seattle band called the Dip, and I just think they
are the Shi yet. And there's a lot of other
bands that that he's turned me onto. There's Duran Jones
and uh, that band is nuts so good, Like I
(03:36):
can't believe how good all those guys in the band
can sing. So it's just I'm finding music like that
like this, and it's like a new inspiration because I've
been listening to hip hop for three straight years and
so this is a nice transition. Have you earlier in
the year, have you been feeling productive musically or because
that's what I always talk all my friends and everybody
I talked to say, half the people are super motivated.
(03:57):
They get up there, make a banana, brother, they're doing
this or doing that. And then the other half the
time and thinking, Okay, I got my pants on, this
is a good day, Like this is that's my my
achievement for the day. Were you feeling earlier in the year,
were you feeling really motivated to make music or is
that back and forth? Yeah, it has not been a
very encouraging or creative time for me. I've had to
like wor really work through it, work through those times.
(04:20):
But you know, when you are kind of an overprivileged
white guy in the music business, it's hard to find
someone that you can complain to, you know, Like, so
I just try to just keep quiet about it and
wait for the shift. You know. When the shift came,
and so now I can talk about the prior sadness.
Instead of poor me, you should feel for me. It's
(04:40):
more like, hey, I'm I'm back. Oh that is good
to hear. We can't wait to hear more from you.
We we're here to talk to you about the twentieth anniversary.
That's hard to believe. Of drops a Jupiter. No, No,
I'm not. I just wanted to tell you about that.
I'm out now. I've got more golf stores. I'm happy here.
Those two all right, I'm because I'm just kidding. I'm
more of a bowler myself. But incredible song. That song
(05:02):
means so much to so many people. Has the meaning
of the song changed for you over the last two decades? Well,
I mean, you know, like all music, I think that
at first it's for you, for the writer, and then
soon after that it's not for you anymore. It's not
that's that song is not for me. It was a
really important part of my healing because I had lost
(05:25):
my mother and we were desperate for any kind of
song that was going to make a connection, just so
we could keep making albums. You know. It's like at
a time where it cost a lot of money to
make an album, and the only way someone was going
to support that, uh, that habit, as you would say,
was to keep making music that was compelling to others.
(05:46):
And we just didn't have the goods on that album.
And it was a very very frustrating time. So when
Trump's Jupiter was written, it was very quick. It was
from a dream. It was just basically my mom saying,
this is what it's like afterlife. Then the song was
recorded and and put on the radio, and then it
(06:07):
wasn't for me anymore. It was for other people. I said.
It came new into dreams. It's funny often that happens.
If Keith Richard's dream in the Satisfaction riff, you have
Paul McCartney, you're only dreaming yesterday. But also his mother
came to him and that's where Let it Be came from.
Did the words in the music come together or was
it just a snippet of a phrase of music or
just a snippet of the lyrics, or was it all
(06:28):
all there in your hand. It was just all there,
it was all it was all vocal, melody and lyric.
And then the next day, you know, putting a very
primal piano to h to the melody. That is amazing.
I Uh, it's funny how vivid those dreams are with
with your late parents there full disclosure, I lost my
(06:52):
mother to cancer about maybe six months before drops a
Jupiter came out, and when it it did came out,
it you know, it obviously has a very special place
for me for that reason, for that the reason that
we share. It's it's very interesting how those dreams is.
I dream a lot. I never remember them, but I
always remember those when when the couple, but only handful
of times. Maybe she ever come back to you in
(07:12):
a dream? No, it never, it never reoccurred. Yeah, it
was a really really strange time for me to think
about it now and to think about that one time.
Is was definitely didn't seem very coincidental. You know, it
seemed very like my my wife asked me the other day,
she said, uh, what do you think happens to us
(07:34):
after this? And I was like, well, this is not
like a five minute while I'm in the shower conversation,
but if you'd like to know. And so we started
to really talk about it, and I think drops A
Jupiter actually gave me some type of faith that maybe
it's not just a dark hole in the ground that
that's the end. Maybe there's just a waiting pattern afterwards
(07:58):
that we get to help others. I don't really know
the answer to all of it, but I know that
she definitely made a big enough impression, either in the
time that she was with me or afterwards, that that
was a real That was a real moment. It was
(08:21):
an interview you gave I think fairly recently. Were you
saying the song is as much about your mother it
is as it is about you and you growing and changing.
What is the song taught you? I don't know. I
guess the word faith again. You know, some people have
religion or god and and some people have you know,
sports or and I guess for me, it's uh music.
(08:43):
You know that that music has given me faith And
something like something happened to me about a month ago
where I was pretty down, I mean about a month ago,
right before everything kind of kicked into gear. I was
like pretty much feeling really bad for myself for super
super dumb reasons. No, no one would ever relate in
a way that they should relate. And so I was
(09:05):
kind of, you know, complaining to a friend about having
hurt feelings and you know, and things like that. And
it was among other other friends too. There were there
three other guys, and I was explaining to them, like
the feelings that I was going through and I had
been hurt by people. And what they said to me
as a response made me remember that I have to
(09:28):
just have faith, like the universe knows what you need somehow,
and I just needed to just believe in my friendships
and believe in the things that matter the most to me.
And they reminded me that I was being a knucklehead
and it was really important for me. And so music
does that for me, like when I hear like that's
why I listened to hip hop so much. And now
(09:49):
this new version of or new cycle of music that
I've been listening to because it's kind of young people's
stories to remind me that guys my age should sometimes
just shut up and listen, you know, like we we
think that the old cat should be heard most, but
sometimes not so much. Was there somebody when you first
started out listening to music that really made you think, Okay,
(10:11):
this is what I want to do. I want to
I want to share my voice as well. Well, I
was the last of seven kids, and my dad listened
to a lot of jazz records, and uh, my brothers
would be, you know, using their Beatles records to sort
out their their marijuana from stems and seeds and roll
(10:32):
their joints, and then my sisters will be listening to
James Taylor and Chris Christofferson and uh, you know, I
got to hear the Ohio Players and led Zeppelin and
you know, everything that was happening. And uh then I
found Michael Jackson kind of that was my artist at
the time, and I was able to sing like him
(10:52):
and my brother I remember going like damn boy, Like
you know, he was way older than me. And just
to think that an older sibling would take one second
to give you one moment of something pleasant was that
made is a pretty good sign. That's a positive reinforcement
right there. Well, I mean, speaking of positive reinforcement, what
(11:13):
was talking to me about winning a Grammy? The Grammy
because not only must have been cool, but you know,
you were handed it by Don Henley and you toour
in the front row. You know that that you beat
I think twice. I think they were nominated twice for
for Best Rock Song. What did that feel like? I mean,
just taking it to the opposite extreme from from you
your brother giving you note, your older brother giving you notice,
(11:34):
to having the eyes of the musical world on you.
How how does that feel? It was pretty surreal? You know,
I was not a seasoned guy and how to be
grateful on a stage, you know, like I learned a
lot of hard lessons about how to be grateful and why,
but professionally grateful that's hard to do, you know what
(11:56):
I mean, like to be to be gracious on stage?
You know, I'm I'm not a guy that's going to
go up there and be like, you know, these awards
are bullshit, bro, Like I'm here just because, um, you know,
and that's just not who I've ever been. And uh,
I wanted to make sure that my my mother got
(12:19):
some props because she probably wrote the thing, and um,
I don't remember it. You know. It was just such
a blowing, forceful, just a sketch of a moment that
was so quick that I don't remember much about it,
except for being backstage and having my picture taken, but
knowing that the photographers were waiting for the next hot
(12:41):
chick to come in that was far more interesting than
I was that, so I just wanted to get the
heck out of There's all about those moments. I guess
I want to ask you. I read, do the best
songs come quickly? The ones that you almost don't even
have to work on? I guess, like drops the Jupiters.
I think I read that you said, Hey, Soul's sister
came almost equally as fast as that does? That Is
that usually a sign for you that those are the
(13:03):
ones that just are almost delivered fully formed? It? Does?
They do have that in common. I'm not good at
recognizing high quality things like that or whatever the thing
would be. Uh, I don't. I'm not good at recognizing
songs that could potentially be hits. Um. I'm the worst
at it. And I'm not good at titling songs like
(13:25):
I called it Drops a Jupiter because it was such
a such an interesting three words, like it was the
most interesting three words in the whole composition. How do
you call it? You know? Tell me like that's just
not that interesting to me, but I was. I was
asked to change it, to tell me over and over
and over again, until it was called drops the Jupiter
(13:47):
in parentheses tell me anyway. Um, I don't know why
things come fast. Well, I guess they're just supposed to
be there. I mean a song like Troups the Jupiter
to me, it's it's so poetic and so specific, which
I guess in a lot of cases that sometimes leads
to misinterpretations because it's so specific. Are there any myths
or mistakes that people have about it that you might
(14:08):
want to clear up involving I don't know, soy lattees
or fried chicken or falling from a falling star or something.
Is there anything for the ages that you would like
to to clear up now about that song? Yeah, those
are all things. So I was definitely asked to get
rid of soy latte hundred percent asked to get rid
of fried Chicken. It's fall for a shooting star and
(14:30):
not from a shooting star, because the idea was did
you fall for somebody that was that looked like a
better you know, because I had to turn what was
about my mother into a love song. You know about
maybe two young people. But and then the last thing,
my favorite thing is that people really thought I was
saying and that van Halen is overrated. And so I
(14:53):
got a lot of this is early this early internet days,
and so I got a lot of hate mail about
you know, you got a lot of nerve, bitch van
Halen rules you still compared to van Halen. I'm Michael,
I don't even I don't even know why you're mad
at me? What does this even mean? And then I
found out that they thought I was saying. It's so
(15:14):
funny because like Sammy Hagar and I have been friends
for fifteen years, and I used to golf with with
Eddie van Halen, and it's just so cute that that was.
I adore those guys. You know, I never met the
other Fellows, but I love that band. What were they
like to golf with? That's that's amazing. He's just you know,
Eddie was such a quiet, mild mannered guy, you know
(15:36):
he was. I don't know if that was in the
second half of his life or if that's just you know,
who he was when I knew him. But he was
just so sweet. Man. I want to invite to one
of your golf games. You've got a good got a
good going, You're good. I'm kidding. My favorite guy to
(15:59):
golf with a the whole world is George Lopez. He is.
He has a charity tournament every year. I hope he
has it this year because it's my favorite thing to
do in the whole world. Oh man, is it later
on the year? I hope that happens and he's Actually
he's why I know Eddie van Halen is because of George.
WHOA how was that introduction? I met George at a well.
(16:19):
I was on the George Lopez Show with Hay soul
Sister the same day that that Cheech and Chong were on.
So that was a huge day for me because I
I love all three of those guys. And then I
didn't see George for years and didn't realize that he
was into golf and I had just started to get
into golf. So uh, we were on this San Francisco
(16:41):
golf slash cooking show together and then we just stayed
friends and we're very close. Now. I hope that that
opens up soon. Now pouring opens up soon as well.
I mean, I know that's got to be tough. This
last year and not being able to for so many reason.
Nothing of the engage with your friends. What's filled that
space for you? Have you been big on social media
just in keeping you know, in contact with all the
(17:03):
people that love you and your music? Uh? You know,
I mean I think early on we did some TikTok
stuff and tried to stay socially active. But honestly, Jordan's
I think sometimes it's good for people to go away
for a little while, and so I don't think it's
a bad thing to be missed. I think it's endearing
and and adds here's the thing, it's a beautiful part
(17:26):
of humanity. If I can come back with an album
that is worth a ship, then I missed and it's
worth the weight. Otherwise, you know, Oh, we really missed you,
And I just heard that new crappy song. Uh, you know,
I'd rather it was like, Man, we really missed you,
and you're still my favorite band. This new album is
just my favorite. That's going to be. That is what
(17:48):
I lived for. How the Zoom songwriting session has been going.
Has that been working for you? You are more solitary.
Do you like doing it on your own? First? I've
been pretty bummed out about the zoom writing until about
(18:09):
a month ago, and then I was like, man, it's
working out. It's working for me. I love it. I'm
just good with it, uh, because it gets lonely. I'm
like in my studio now and I like interacting with people,
and and you know, half the time we're together, we're
just trying to make each other laugh, and then there's
fifteen minutes of work. So this this way, I just
(18:30):
have to get to work more often, and that's not
as fun. But I'm learning how to do it better
and and manage my my loneliness, you know, and turning
it into fuel. Do you have a rough idea of
when when fans can expect the new album or EP
or single or is that that's still a little further
down the line. I feel like it shouldn't be until
(18:51):
after the summer, you know. I mean, we're we're planning
on a big summer tour for two thousand twenty two
in amphitheater around the country and going into Europe and Australia.
And you know, I haven't have still haven't been to
South Africa and meet so many South Africans that are like, man,
your music is just so big and we've just never
(19:11):
been there. I'd love to stop saying that. So I
think that Fall would make a lot of sense to
have a first single, maybe put the album out in
November perhaps, and then by the time the concert tickets
come for sale, you can buy the album and it
all all makes sense, and people will start looking forward
to that Summer Vibes, because this is a Summer Vibes
(19:34):
album for sure. I at the other end of the spectrum,
I read that you were filming a movie based on
I believe your Christmas album, Christmas and Tahoe. Do I
have that right? Yeah, they're you know, we're gonna shoot
a movie for it. I still haven't seen the script,
and I was hoping that I would see it by now,
because it'll be shot in Tahoe obviously, and they still
(19:55):
have snow, so I don't know how much longer they'll
have snow, but I ink snow is going to be
an important part of the whole Christmas and Tahoe experience.
But yeah, and then my friend Neil McDonough, who's an
extraordinary actor who you've seen a hundred times in a
hundred movies and was one of the really good, bad
guys in yellow Stone. He asked me to be in
(20:18):
a movie, and so about two months ago I went
and shot I'm in the first scene of a movie
called Boon. So I'm excited to see that. Maybe that
would be the beginning of a you know, maybe I'm
the next Brad Pitt Jordan. You never know. Hell yeah,
I mean that's something you really want to do more of? Yeah,
I would. I wouldn't mind if it was a specific thing.
(20:39):
And you know, I knew that acting is very difficult,
Like you have to really really care a lot. It's
like music where you know, yeah, maybe you get lucky
and have one song do well. But honestly, if you
want to be good at it, you need to commit
your life to it. So I don't know that I
can commit my life to acting, and I know that
(21:00):
I have the talent to be good at both things,
but I wouldn't mind trying once in a while. One
of the things been keeping me saying during lockdown is
watching a lot of movies. Have you been watching a lot? Yeah?
That's another thing that my friend Sydney Rice. I go, hey, Sydney,
do you watch Netflix? And he said, I have watched Netflix,
(21:21):
meaning to I have already watched a Netflix. I feel
like that, that's what I feel like. We just revisited
the the First Coming to America with my kids so
that we could watch the second one. So oh now
that's awesome. Oh my god. Yeah. No, I've been meeting
(21:43):
to watch that do a little like musical and TV
comfort food. Like I just like watched All of the
Wonder Years, which I haven't seen like since it came out,
which was strange, well a long time coming. I have
to watch A Night in Miami because Leslie Odom Jr.
Is a friend, and he just was nominated for an
Oscar today. So out of my respect for what a
(22:06):
talent he is and the fact that UM such a
huge Sam Cook fan, I have to see the movie.
I don't know what's taking. If you're especially if you're
a Sam Cook fan, you're gonna love it. Have you
seen so good? Yeah, it's it's really incredible. Well, my
last question, and we've been asking everyone this question has
been really fascinating to hear everybody's very different answers. If
you could snap your fingers and have everything go back
(22:27):
to normal, whatever your definition of normal is, call it,
say what would be the first thing that you would do,
places you'd go, people you'd hug. What would it be?
Uh Well, my real, honest answer is that my relationships,
the closest relationships in my life, have suffered a great
deal because of COVID, because we've all thought of it
(22:48):
in different ways, none of us being irresponsible, but some
of us being scared, and that fear has really interrupted
a lot of the great close love that we had,
and I would want that back, and it's gonna be
some work to get that back, because there's a lot
(23:09):
of feelings that get hurt when there's not communicating about like, hey,
Jordan's here's the way I'm gonna behave and you're like, okay, cool, Pat,
I love that, and I'm gonna behave like this and
we'll meet at the end. It's there's not that kind
of communicating when it comes to most relationships. It's a
lot of well that was bullshit. I can't believe that
they did that without telling, you know, like whatever, whatever
(23:29):
the thing is. But I I would want the old
version of those relationships back. That's my snap of the finger.
That is the most considerate answer we've had, And you know,
I mean open communication, approaching things with love. I think
you can't go wrong. It seems like you can't, but
you can. You'll find a way for it to go wrong.
We're humans. We're humans, and we we expect it. We
(23:53):
factor that in and we forgive. And there is light
at the end of the tunnel. Yep. I think it's
gonna be good soon. Man. Thank you so much for
your time today, and your music has meant so much
to me over the years. Thank you, Thank you so much.
I appreciate that Jordan's well. I have this recorded. I'll
send it to you and uh in a picture of
me without my shirt on, just because I'm not sending that.
(24:18):
Thank you. I'll talk to you guys soon. We hope
you enjoyed this episode of Inside the Studio, a production
of I Heart Radio. For more episodes of Inside the
Studio or other fantastic shows, check out the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
(24:40):
favorite podcasts.
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