April 23, 2021 • 38 mins
This week we get into why Eva’s famous father and British Rocker, Kim Gardner may not have wanted to see her follow in his footsteps, Brian’s advice for kids passionate about the music industry on taking the opportunity vs finishing school and how important it is to read music. We get into how musicians have an uncanny ability to compartmentalize on stage when dealing with something traumatic off stage and Etta James life advice to get anyone through that situation. The importance of bonding with your band off stage and dive a little deeper into just how was possible for Eva to get her head stuck in bass drum….
To learn more about Eva and to check out her new music, go to her website: evagardner.com
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to the after Show, the bonus episode series
for on Tour with Brian Ray. This is a production
of I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media and I'm
your host Mandy Wimmer. In the after show, we dive
a little deeper into Brian's thoughts about certain parts of
the interviews, as well as expound a bit more on
his own experiences on tour. In this episode, we covered
(00:32):
a little bit of everything why Eva's famous father Kim Gardner,
may not have wanted her to follow in his footsteps,
and Brian's advice for kids passionate about the music industry,
on taking the opportunity or finishing school, as well as
how important it is to read music. We get into
how musicians have the uncanny ability to compartmentalize on stage
(00:54):
when dealing with something traumatic off stage, the importance of
bonding with your band off stage age, and dive a
little deeper and did just how it was possible for
Eva to get her head stuck in the bass drum.
Here's my conversation with Brian right, good afternoon, Brian. Here
(01:22):
we are episode five, which I actually think I said
episode five last time, but today is the real Episode five.
After show. We talked to Eva Gardner Um this week
the basis for Pink And I gotta say, I mean,
Eva super super talented, very grounded, very impressive person. I
just I really enjoyed her. I agree. Yeah, she's rare
(01:44):
and wonderful and what a story and what a great
record of success. Yeah. And you you've known Eva, I
mean you've known her family forever, which I thought was
really cool. So Kim Gardner, her dad, who was a
big part of the British invasion. You how did you
even how did you know him? Well? I think we
first met uh at his pub called the Captain Fiddle Pub,
(02:07):
which was initially stationed up in Laurel Canyon at where
Pat that restaurant is where we've been to that restaurant.
That's where the Captain Fiddle originally was under the Laurel
Canyon Market, famous only market in Laurel Canyon gets under there,
and that's a very old building from the turn of
(02:28):
the last century. And that's not where it is now then, No,
it is not. It has moved a few times since then.
But anyway, I used to go to that pub because
I used to like pubs, and yes, I drank them.
Dry and now I don't do the pubs very often
except to visit Eva and her mom. But yeah, that's
(02:52):
where I met Kim Gardner, and he was he couldn't
be a better host. You know, he'd be back there
behind the bar, pulling science crack and jokes. It was
a very fun renegade sort of seemed very youthful, uh
middle aged rocker, you know. And yes, his story is fantastic. Uh.
(03:14):
You know, he started out with a band called The Creation,
who are probably some of the progenitors of garage rock
from the British invasions, and he went on to be
in the British version of The Birds spelled b I
r d S with Ron wood Um. But as a
(03:35):
member of both of those bands, I mean, he really
cut a path for everybody. It was a style of
music that wasn't dependent on the adults producing them and
making them manicure. They were very raw and real and
they their music stands up so well as a result
of that, right right, Well, yeah, I know obviously I
(03:55):
wasn't as familiar with with Cam as I am with Eva, actually,
but you know, it sounds he's got a pretty impressive story.
Now tell me how does Valentino work in to hear
something about they lived at the villa which was a
Valentino estate or something I didn't I wasn't quite tracking. Yes,
So soon after meeting him at the pub, I learned
that he also was one of the renters in this
(04:20):
apartment unit, this apartment building I should say, called Villa
Valentino upon Hyland Boulevard, a couple of blocks from the
Hollywood Bowl. And among other luminaries who lived there was
my old friend who had gone to junior high and
high school with with whom I was in one of
my earliest successful uh signed bands, uh Katie Segal Katie's
(04:47):
married with children, Katie Seagal, Yes, and about six other
incredibly successful franchise I loved that show. Yeah, Lovely Lovely Woman.
I hear that she mentioned me on a recent podcast
interview with Mark Marin. So anyway, back to that, Katie
Seagal was living at Villa Valentino right sort of next
(05:10):
to where Paula and Kim Gardner were living before before
Eva was even born, and so it was a real
family scenario, and there was like Melrose Place of musicians
and artists and writers, and I would imagine that that
Villa Valentino has served as a home for artists and
(05:34):
such ever since it was built. It was initially built
by Rudolph Valentino, hence the name Villa Valentino, as I
think guest homes for some of his quote unquote friends,
most of them female. Okay, so that to your imagination,
is this like a playboy mansion sort of a complex. Yes,
(05:57):
picture playboy mansion with everyone having their own apartment rather
than one big mansion. Yeah, it's a lovely, lovely place. Anyway,
they all lived there and it became quite a family.
A lot of sharing of music and ideas and passing
joints and just having a great time together. Um, lovely,
(06:19):
lovely time. Very cool. So Kim being the party animal,
it sounds like he may have been so rightfully. So.
Eva talks a lot about how her dad was not
supportive of her going into the music industry, and with
his background, I can kind of see why he had
(06:40):
three girls. Even this is cutting room floor material. But
Eva has two sisters that I believe we're twins and Eva,
and Eva says that she is the one of the
three of them that really wanted to kind of follow
in his footsteps a little bit, loved music, loved guitar,
and he was not having it that Andy Johns taught
her to play and he didn't want any part of it.
He finally ends up coming around, but knowing, I guess, Kim,
(07:04):
how you did? And do you have any take on
maybe why he didn't want Eva to be in the
music industry. And then second parts of that question would be,
how would you advise young kids today? You know they
have a really big passion for music. Mean you you've
been through the industry, what would you say to people? Well,
I'll take both parts of that. I'll take the second
(07:24):
part of that first, because that's the most recent thing
you've asked me. Yeah, I guess for kids, you know,
for me and for Eva, it really comes down to desire.
Like I didn't have a choice. I was just feeling it.
It was down in my bones, it was rushing through
(07:46):
my blood the very first time I heard rock and roll. Um.
As I've said before, as a result of having this
an amazing musical half sister Geane, who is fifteen years
my elder. Anyway, in her case, she's raised around it
with her dad being a rock star or uh, you know,
(08:06):
the storied career of a man who had been a
rock star by this time. He was more of a
pub owner by the time she was born. In any case,
I think that if a if a young kid shows
desire and determination and that sort of that X factor
of I have to do it. It's just in me
(08:26):
and I've got to do it. That hunger, that desire,
then all bets her off. I think it's a great path.
And you know what music could use more hungry, desirous, uh,
young blood coming in, and especially rock and roll that
is so vital and it was so important to so
many people. And it's a little bit of a dying language,
(08:49):
like like Latin is, you know, it's a little bit
like jazz. In other words, there are other kinds of
music that have taken over, other kinds of other styles
of music that have taken over. But back to the
first part of your question. When I think about Eva's
story with her dad, Kim, I mean, I got the
(09:10):
feeling from her, and maybe I'm mistaken that it her
her feelings that her dad wasn't more supportive, right, I
got that feeling as well, and I think I remember
saying in the moment well, it sounds to me like
he was just being protective of you because you're his
little Eva. And well, and then you sort of extrapolate
(09:34):
go forward from that, and you just think, well, what
was Kim like as a young kid, and he can
only project onto her, what would it be like for
her to be anywhere close to what he was like?
And it would be a disaster for a parent to think, Oh,
she's out there going to the pubs, acting like a clown,
(09:55):
you know, and being a bit irresponsible and all of
the stuff that comes along with that. Of course, sixty
five was a very different time, right of course, So
I would just think that more than anything, if I
were even I would look at again and go, that
was my dad protecting me. That was my dad wanting
a better future for me than he had himself. Right, Well,
(10:18):
she's managed to create quite an amazing future for herself
and in rock and roll, I mean, playing with Sharon,
Gwen Stefani and Moby and now Pink for over a decade,
and I mean it's a pretty impressive resume that she's
created for herself. So, um, that's it's very interesting. And
one thing I also think maybe goes a little bit
to what we just talked about. But kids leaving school
(10:41):
to go be in bands. That happened all the time
when you were growing up, I mean you left school.
Almost every person that we talked to, we've talked to
in Season one has gotten opportunities and left school or
just knew that that's what they wanted to do, even
if they didn't have the big opportunity yet that's the
path that they were going to take. And they did
not continue pursuing school beyond high school. Some of them
(11:02):
left in the middle of high school. Eva, however, got
opportunities well in high school from the Wallflowers, which is
a huge baby exactly, and she said no. She went
on to even go to ethno musicology class. I think
it was l a county music school. Um, so she
not only said no to that, but then she went
on to further her education. Uh, you know, and then
(11:24):
you know, I guess just trusting that the opportunities would
be there. I don't know. I mean, to be honest
with you, I'm not sure I would have made that
same decision. I took multiple leaves of absence first from
school to do various jobs and ended up finally finishing
but I mean, what would And clearly we know you
didn't continue on with school, you left to go and
be the musical director for Eda James. But what would
(11:47):
you advise kids? Now? I mean we're talking about how
we need another generation of rockers, right, you know, I mean,
we need to keep you that rock and roll going.
But when you have that opportunity, do you stay or
do you go? Hey, that sounds like a song title,
totally original. Oh my god, you're blushing right now, everyone
(12:09):
out there. I just want you to know, this is
what man you looks like when she's blessing. Because I
had no clue I was going to say that was
totally fun. It's a really good question, and I think
that it's a really good question. And I think that again,
it goes back to desire, because you've got to want
it so badly and show a real acumen for it
(12:31):
and talent for it, you know, just in you to
make up for, uh, maybe the lack of knowledge. Now,
I would also say that the kind of music that
I wanted to make isn't as popular now as it
was then. Where this was band oriented, an artist oriented,
songwriter oriented. Now it's more producer oriented and those producers.
(12:56):
They don't need many musicians. They do it all on
a computer digital. You know, pop music hip hop if
that's even still a word hip hop is it? Let
us know out there, if you're listening really to those
kids still call it hip hop anyway? Um yeah, So,
(13:16):
I mean I can only guess with Eva. I kind
of think that she did a calculation in her mind
that she might be running it a slight disadvantage, as
she may have seen it being a woman trying to
break into a young woman breaking into a successful career,
and wouldn't she need just a few more arrows in
(13:37):
the quiver rather than just playing old good desire and
a rock and roll spirit. She had that in spades,
but she probably said, I think I could be more
um of a hot property if I knew a bunch
too well. And that goes into reading music. I mean
she went to college and and she did or went
(14:00):
went on to ethno musicology school. And I just like
saying that word now because I figured out how to
say it, so I may say, I may get it
in here a few more very musical phrase musicology. So
you have to listen to the episode here exactly what
that is because I yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna
I'm gonna mess that up. But she got a no
(14:22):
from that school the first time she auditioned, and uh,
and it was interesting because she couldn't read music. And
most big musicians these days, not maybe not most, a
lot of them. You, Paul McCartney, you know, to name
a couple don't read music. So how is how is
that so important? Now? I mean obviously you talk, you
even talk about how Paul McCartney composes. How do you
(14:44):
compose and not read music? And how does how does
all of that? How does it work well? In the
case of Paul, My experience of him in the studio
is is that he hear's ideas. He hears them in
his very melodic, very music iCal, very producer oriented, arranger
oriented imagination. Here's them. It just goes out and does
(15:07):
it on whatever instrument he plays, all the instruments. And
in my case, I still want to write the music
that moved me as a teenager. That's what I'm into.
I'm into garage rock, early rock and roll, rock and
soul and soul music. That's what I'm into is what
moves me. And I don't really uh, miss any other elements.
(15:27):
Now these days I think that kids, uh, it doesn't
hurt to have an education as well. Um, And in
even his choice, I think she made a really smart
calculation to go and do that because look at her,
look at who she's played with. Now. I don't know
how many times she's needed her reading chops to do that,
but it couldn't hurt. So when you create an original song,
(15:49):
then you do basically the same thing that you just
talked about with Paul, the same process that you just
talked about. You don't ever actually need sheet music for
that song, so there's no need to have to, you know,
delineate it in that way for you. Okay, Yeah, I
understand how that's hard for people to understand it. So
it's a great question because I think a lot of
people just wonder how how is music made? Like the
(16:14):
heck happens in there? And so if you are on
stage with Paul or or whomever and someone says we
need more of a B flat or a middle C,
I mean, did you guys know what those notes are
to them? But you just okay, you know where they
are on your guitar or your piano, Yes, got it?
But Um, so I did read music as a kid.
(16:35):
I did recitals on piano, and uh so to do that,
you have to learn to read music. You're playing sheet
music in front of people with a little suit on
on a stage with a yeah, I don't laugh. I
clean up pretty good anyway. H you know, but what
I wanted to do on piano was learned to play
(16:58):
boogie woogie. I wanted to be Jerry Lee Lewis, and
they wanted me to be like, you know, whatever, you know,
you know or something else. I wasn't very interested in that.
(17:25):
So we're gonna take a little bit of a turn
right now and talk about being able to compartmentalize on stage.
You and Eva had a really really touching moment in
this interview where I don't even know if you guys
both both realized that you shared such common ground on
a very very sad topic, and that is that both
of your father's died while you were on tour, and
(17:49):
you know, and and her it turned out that it
was her first tour, so I mean that's the first
I mean, all these new experiences for her when she's
first going out and her father, you know, is finally
on board with her dream to be a musician, and
then he's dying as she's leaving, and she and he
ultimately dies. She had to go on that tour, continue playing,
(18:09):
of course, you know, and away from home she's her
family is not there to support her. You had to
do very similar that. You had to show that night
when you found out that your father died, and that
night you were playing a show with Johnny Holiday. How
do you do that? I mean, you've got to imagine
that musicians are not machines, right, I mean, things happen,
(18:30):
you have a bad phone call before you go on stage.
I mean, you find out, you know, something like a death,
and you've got to go play. How do you how
do you do that? How do you actually compartmentalize that?
You know? It's it's a good question, I um. In
the case of my father's passing, it was the summer
of nineteen uh and I think I was expecting that
(18:55):
he would pass while I was on tour and when
I said goodbye to go on tour, and he and
I were very close by this time. We had really
patched things up and then some and I'm very very
grateful for that. That's the story for another time. But
I uh was nonetheless gutted because you never expect that call.
(19:16):
And yes, I did have a show. We were in
a Monaco and uh we were playing the Sporting Club,
which is like Richie Rich of the Richest, and that
in the ceiling retracts and you're now you're under the
stars and the stage comes out as the ceiling, which
it's like black Tie. Any other night that would be
(19:36):
very cool. Any other night, that would be very cool.
We were playing a week long stand there, I believe,
and it wasn't our first night playing, so there was
a comfort level and we'd already set up. We've already
done it once, so it wasn't like I have to
go to a big long sound check and then the gig,
so now it's comfortable. There is no sound check plan. Um.
(20:00):
I had learned about three hours before the actual downbeat
of the show that my father had passed. And the
band leaves the hotel on a bus together. Johnny Halliday
is coming from a separate place separately, and I chose
to only tell a few people because I just didn't
really think it was fair to other people to lay
(20:23):
it on them right before we're supposed to go and
rock out. You know, it's just a tough thing. But
my I made a call and that call was, I'll
tell Abe, Abe Jr. The fabulous, amazing Gabe Junior, you're
still quite good friends with obviously, Yes, so I elected
to tell Abe. Uh. We busted out a couple of
Cuban cigars, smoked them on the edge of the marina
(20:46):
there in Monte Carlo, as you do, and then we
went in like twenty minutes before the show. Everyone is
very nervous because we were much later than the band
bus because we went to smoke a cigar and talk
and Abe couldn't have been a more lovely friend and
ally just great listener, just so sweet. And we we
(21:08):
got through that really well. And I again elected not
to tell Johnny, not to tell the promoter, the producer
of the show, any of the other musicians. Just Abe
and I knew, and I decided that I would use
this as fuel to go play from my heart and
soul in in in a way that maybe you don't
(21:29):
when you're in the routine of a tour. I was
calling upon something else. Um, I went out and Uh
turned in a stormer, as they would say in the biz,
meaning that you you played a great show. And and
the next night when Johnny did find out the news,
Johnny Halliday did find out the news that my father
(21:49):
had passed and that I had played a show. Right
after learning that, he was very very sweet and and
he says, oh, you played a great show last night,
you know, And it was just so kind. And then,
as I've said before, he gave me this amazing ring
and we went out to dinner together, and you know,
he really made something of that for me. And and
(22:11):
it continues to be a memory when I looked down
at this very ring every time I looked down. Um,
that reminds me of another thing Edta James. When I
was a little kid. I remember asking her how do
you go on stage? Same question you asked me? How
do you go on stage at a after you know,
getting that brutal phone call I heard you on where
(22:34):
someone's just given it all and you're just mad and
you're yelling and you have a cold, and then you
go out and you are funny, fun and available and
you sing your ass off. How in the hell do
you do that? She goes, Brian, you know, you got
a call on the Warriors within you and I just
(22:56):
thought that was such a cool thing, and I kind
of carried that with me. It's like, you don't just
come with your knowledge or you're schooling your education on music,
you come with that whatever that was that drove you
to do something as crazy as pursue a life in music. Well,
I guess that's kind of a good life lesson as
(23:18):
well for anybody, because everyone's got you know, had a
really horrible day and has a huge meeting. You know,
you see, you know the NFL players who have the
best game of their life right after someone you know
close to them past. I mean you in every walk
of life. This is relevant, but just good advice from
dear Eda. Yeah, from dear Edda. That's right. Well we're
(23:39):
on Edda James. Another shocking part about this interview was
that at a babysat Eva right, I mean, how does
that happen? So Edda was friends with her parents and
apparently that whole crew at that aforementioned apartment building that
still stands up on Highland Boulevard near the Hollywood Bowl,
(24:00):
Villa Valentino. Well, Eda didn't have a place there, but
she knew half of the tenants from this or that
you know, and she knew Kim's wife, Eva's mom of course, Paula,
and they were very very good friends. And then as
a result she also met Katie Seagal, my old buddy
(24:21):
and and at that time, that's right, Katie Seagal's husband
of that time, who I had introduced her to, was
named Freddie Beckmeyer and they were married, living next door
to Paula and Kim and Freddie Beckmeyer. I asked to
come and play with Edna James and this is like
and he was from Philly, and uh so that's part
(24:47):
of it. I mean. Edda was of course close with
the people that she had in her band, and soon
Katie Seagal sang with Edda James. Another three years later
Katie was in the band too. Okay, It's genuinely all
in the family. And now you mentioned, I think last
week after show that you are a godfather to one
of her children. I am. I'm the godfather which which son?
(25:10):
It had two sons, uh, the first name Danto and
the second name Simeto. Uh. Danto was about four years
old when I joined her band, and years after that
Meto was born as we call him Meto, and gosh,
we have great memories of him. Is just a new born,
just a toddler, swimming in the pools together, and I
(25:32):
used to call him my little water bug, and I
still do. We still talk and he'll sign off with
your little water bugs, I'm a godfather and uh yeah, yeah,
he's a lovely, lovely dude. Well, I can't believe that
(25:59):
we are this far into this interview and I've really
not even talked about the ridiculously amazing, badass women that
even shared the stage with, I mean, Gwen, Gwen Stefani,
Pink Share. I Mean, one thing that I really love
is that all of these women are welcoming of other
women on stage, because that seemed to be that seems
(26:22):
to be a problem in the industry where there's that competition,
you know, women not wanting that competition on stage. Eva
talks about it quite a bit. I've heard that story often, sadly,
you know, but these women brought it, you know, I mean,
they welcome it. They want to see other women shine.
Is that do you see that happen in industry? Is
that just a shitty girl thing or does that happen
(26:42):
in guy bands too? Or like where are we at
on that? Yeah? Well, I I don't think I've really
seen it, but then I don't look through the same
eyes as a woman, Wooden. Maybe that goes back to
the h that you know, just me supposing the supposition
that maybe um eve Uh was desirous of of an
(27:02):
education in music as one more arrow in or quiver.
Maybe she sensed that she could have trouble with some
female band leaders and other musicians in a band being
a female as the new girl in the band, like
the new kid in school. Because she's pretty looking and
very talented and very shiny and very positive. She kind
(27:24):
of probably felt like she needed uh, some more warriors
within her to call on, and she decided education. So
I haven't really seen that myself because I'm looking through
different eyes as a man. But I'll tell you that
for sure, Pink, Gwen Stefani and Share are three very
confident women, and they are the opposite of insecure. And yes,
(27:48):
they would probably see Eva or any talented woman as
a value add not as a distraction, right and that
and that just doesn't happen with guys though it sounds like,
I mean, guys are just cool with other guys like
being on stage and just don't want anyone that looks
hotter than you, and you just got you know, you
just gotta keep it real. No, I'm kidding. So, yeah,
(28:09):
guys are a little different in that way. You know.
We uh, we have each other's backs for the most part.
You know. Interesting. Yeah, girls should take a lesson. Yeah girl. No.
So Also, the really cool thing about Pink, which I
was a little bit taken aback by. I mean, I
don't know Pink at all, but I thought this was
really cool. I didn't see this coming. That she is
(28:32):
like a very bonding leader of the band and plans
barbecues and plans birthdays and really wants the band to
be getting together and be friends. And Eva says that
they genuinely are like a family off off stage and
outside of tours. How In Steve Lucathan talks about this
as well, is that you have to be able to
hang with the band. But we didn't really get into
(28:52):
you with Paul and your other bands. Has that been
a thing with you do? You guys get together quite
a bit outside of the show. So it's been the
case in most of the bands I've been with, and
I think back to um many of them from Edda
James and we were talking last time, uh last time
we met about the casual barbecues out by her place
on Athens Boulevard, um and many of the other bands
(29:16):
I've been with Laura Laura Brannigan's band while on tour,
we had a softball team. Yeah, we ruled because we
had a couple of ringers in the band. Trust me,
it wasn't me, but I held my own. But I
wasn't what you would call a ringer. At least I
didn't have to say it. I wasn't a liability, but
I was not a ringer anyway. Super fun and I
(29:37):
think that, you know, touring, you better be able to
hang or or it's brutal, you know, because you know,
clicks will form. In the case of Pink, and we
only really spoke about that one in her career because
it's her current family. It's the current tour family. I
would imagine that share and Gwen Stefani had ra aging
(30:00):
wonderful dinner parties and hangs as well. But Pink is
you know, she's like apparently just a lot of fun,
you know. Yeah, no, I mean it sounds that way. Okay,
So we were speaking to Fun. We've got to get
to Eva's most embarrassing moment because I was crying. I'm
(30:21):
not sure if you could actually hear me on the interview,
but I was dying laughing when she was telling this story.
I had to walk into another room. Uh but tell
me how does one put their head in a bass drum?
For those of us, we know that there's that my
laar thing you know on the front that has a logo.
But where does one's head go if you want to
stick your head in the basset? For people who don't
(30:45):
know out there, the bass drum in a drum set
is the great big one that you're looking straight at.
You know that you see the drumhead or skin facing
and often has the band's logo on it. Um. Well,
what you might not know is they cut a head
sized hole in the in the bass drum, perfectly round,
(31:07):
not shaped like a head, and sometimes not quite as
big as a head, through which to place the cable
that goes to the microphone that gives the sound to
the sound man from the kick drum, the kick drum microphone.
So inside that kick drum will also be maybe a
(31:28):
sandbag or a pillow, or maybe that's what she was
going for the pillow. She was going to want a nap.
There was just a nice feathery billow. So anyway, she
in uh you know what could be a cutting room
floor scene cut from spinal tap. Decided the thing to
(31:50):
do is I can't get enough kick drum. I will
prove that. And the drums are often up on a riser,
so it's not like you have to be on your
hands and used to do this right right, It's not
I'm gonna get you going again. It was not quite
as awkward as you might think. It's not like her
(32:10):
took us is up in the air and her heads
down on the ground. Well, if you check out our
social media, one of the pictures we put up is
her right by the bass drum, like right by the drum. Kids.
You can see how they elevate it, and you can
see where her head may find her way in. But
it's very awkward. Ladies and gentlemen, go look at our
(32:31):
social media's right now, all of them. You will see
her not with her head in the bass drum, but
standing right behind it, right beside it, so you can
see how this might happen. Well, she stuck her head
in that hole. Just to see if she could get
even more kick drum, because that's what as a bass
player you're married to. You're married to the drums and
(32:52):
specifically to the beats the kick drum. Then she gets
stuck and but she saw how keeps playing? Yeah, what
like would you think you could do that? I wouldn't
do that, but um, you would you put your head
in the bage drum where you wouldn't keep playing? Once
you put your head in My head just too big.
(33:13):
I do have a fairly big head, no jokes. I'm
holding my tongue. Okay. So well, she decided that was
the thing to do it. She couldn't extricate herself from
the bage drug. She was just left with her head
in there. Wick come out like a dog in a fence.
(33:35):
It's so cute. I did not envy you during that
interview because, like I said, I had to run out
of the room and you spit out your water. It
was like we were all a hot master during that story.
I did hear some zing like from you from the
other room. I did not have it together. So so so funny. Okay,
So we are going to wrap it up now with
(33:56):
the audience questions and then our Lightning Round. Okay, all right,
So a couple audience questions for you before tours. Do
you always have rehearsals the week before you go out
or are you guys rehearsing together rehearsing separately? Kind of
How does that work before big tours? Well, it's different
for every band. UM. In the case of Paul's band,
(34:18):
what used to happen is the band would get together four,
five or six days and run through the songs that
Paul has named the newer songs that he wants to
run through, new and old and from his giant career,
you know, whether it's solo or Wings or his former band,
his other former band, UM. But uh, you know, and
(34:40):
then the band would get comfortable with that stuff because
there's a lot to learn. There's vocals to learn, you know,
who plays what, and a little bit of that is
sausage making. So uh, we we kind of figured that
we would like to get enough of that done. So
Paul doesn't, you know, like to keep things moving so
we don't get bogged down figuring a little stuff out.
Uh uh. In the case of our more recent tours
(35:03):
for the last eight ten years, we just get together
and bang them out from note one a new song
from nineteen sixty seven or nineteen seventy eight, you know whatever.
So the rehearsals at this point are not overly grueling.
It doesn't sound like because you guys have pretty much
played everything at least at some point, right. Um, you know,
(35:25):
it's work, we are. Rehearsals are real work. We we
work for a good six seven hours every time we
get together, take a little lunch break. But you know, um,
it's not just all rainbows and toadstools. It's it's serious work.
And you're standing up for all that time and you're
wearing a you know, eight to twelve pound instrument over
(35:48):
your shoulder of course and singing and you know, staying
on it and well, and you kind of got to
be in shape too. I mean, you need to like
make sure that you're like in shape enough to play
a three hour show ultimately. And you know that. It's
just it's a lot, alright, So lightning round. We have
talked a lot about some very serious, badass women in
(36:09):
this episode. In your opinion, dead or alive most impressive
female artist, Well, I'm gonna have to say, Eddi James,
I'm so biased, but you know, she was just a
wonder to me, remarkable, and so much of it was
also knowing her story and the struggles from which she rose. Right, Yeah,
(36:31):
so I would say, James, alright, bigger obsession shoes or sunglasses? Oh? Sunglasses?
Do we know how many pairs of sunglasses you have? No?
Do you care to take a guess? On this episode?
The funniest thing though, Brian comes in and he says, oh, man,
I've lost my favorite pair of sunglasses. And my response was,
(36:51):
what good thing you have? Five dred other pairs of sunglasses?
Good point, I forgot our right Well, Eva Gardner, thank
you so much. Awesome, awesome interview. If you haven't listened
to that, please go back and do so. For nothing else.
Her hysterical head in the drum story, I mean it's yeah,
it's one of a car. You've got to hear it,
(37:12):
all right, Thank you so much, Brian. We'll see you
next week. Thanks Mandy, Thank you everyone for listening. On
Tour and the after Show our productions of I Heart
(37:32):
Radio and Black Barrel Media. This show is produced by
me Mandy Weimmer with executive producer Noel Brown. For more
information about on Tour. Visit our website black Barrel Media
dot com for behind the scenes photos from these interviews
or to submit questions for the after show. Visit our
social media at on tour pod on, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
(37:53):
For more shows from I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever
you get your favorite podcast. M m m m m
You're listening to the after Show, the bonus episode series
for on Tour with Brian Ray. This is a production
of I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media and I'm
your host Mandy Wimmer. In the after show, we dive
a little deeper into Brian's thoughts about certain parts of
the interviews, as well as expound a bit more on
his own experiences on tour. In this episode, we covered
(00:32):
a little bit of everything why Eva's famous father Kim Gardner,
may not have wanted her to follow in his footsteps,
and Brian's advice for kids passionate about the music industry,
on taking the opportunity or finishing school, as well as
how important it is to read music. We get into
how musicians have the uncanny ability to compartmentalize on stage
(00:54):
when dealing with something traumatic off stage, the importance of
bonding with your band off stage age, and dive a
little deeper and did just how it was possible for
Eva to get her head stuck in the bass drum.
Here's my conversation with Brian right, good afternoon, Brian. Here
(01:22):
we are episode five, which I actually think I said
episode five last time, but today is the real Episode five.
After show. We talked to Eva Gardner Um this week
the basis for Pink And I gotta say, I mean,
Eva super super talented, very grounded, very impressive person. I
just I really enjoyed her. I agree. Yeah, she's rare
(01:44):
and wonderful and what a story and what a great
record of success. Yeah. And you you've known Eva, I
mean you've known her family forever, which I thought was
really cool. So Kim Gardner, her dad, who was a
big part of the British invasion. You how did you
even how did you know him? Well? I think we
first met uh at his pub called the Captain Fiddle Pub,
(02:07):
which was initially stationed up in Laurel Canyon at where
Pat that restaurant is where we've been to that restaurant.
That's where the Captain Fiddle originally was under the Laurel
Canyon Market, famous only market in Laurel Canyon gets under there,
and that's a very old building from the turn of
(02:28):
the last century. And that's not where it is now then, No,
it is not. It has moved a few times since then.
But anyway, I used to go to that pub because
I used to like pubs, and yes, I drank them.
Dry and now I don't do the pubs very often
except to visit Eva and her mom. But yeah, that's
(02:52):
where I met Kim Gardner, and he was he couldn't
be a better host. You know, he'd be back there
behind the bar, pulling science crack and jokes. It was
a very fun renegade sort of seemed very youthful, uh
middle aged rocker, you know. And yes, his story is fantastic. Uh.
(03:14):
You know, he started out with a band called The Creation,
who are probably some of the progenitors of garage rock
from the British invasions, and he went on to be
in the British version of The Birds spelled b I
r d S with Ron wood Um. But as a
(03:35):
member of both of those bands, I mean, he really
cut a path for everybody. It was a style of
music that wasn't dependent on the adults producing them and
making them manicure. They were very raw and real and
they their music stands up so well as a result
of that, right right, Well, yeah, I know obviously I
(03:55):
wasn't as familiar with with Cam as I am with Eva, actually,
but you know, it sounds he's got a pretty impressive story.
Now tell me how does Valentino work in to hear
something about they lived at the villa which was a
Valentino estate or something I didn't I wasn't quite tracking. Yes,
So soon after meeting him at the pub, I learned
that he also was one of the renters in this
(04:20):
apartment unit, this apartment building I should say, called Villa
Valentino upon Hyland Boulevard, a couple of blocks from the
Hollywood Bowl. And among other luminaries who lived there was
my old friend who had gone to junior high and
high school with with whom I was in one of
my earliest successful uh signed bands, uh Katie Segal Katie's
(04:47):
married with children, Katie Seagal, Yes, and about six other
incredibly successful franchise I loved that show. Yeah, Lovely Lovely Woman.
I hear that she mentioned me on a recent podcast
interview with Mark Marin. So anyway, back to that, Katie
Seagal was living at Villa Valentino right sort of next
(05:10):
to where Paula and Kim Gardner were living before before
Eva was even born, and so it was a real
family scenario, and there was like Melrose Place of musicians
and artists and writers, and I would imagine that that
Villa Valentino has served as a home for artists and
(05:34):
such ever since it was built. It was initially built
by Rudolph Valentino, hence the name Villa Valentino, as I
think guest homes for some of his quote unquote friends,
most of them female. Okay, so that to your imagination,
is this like a playboy mansion sort of a complex. Yes,
(05:57):
picture playboy mansion with everyone having their own apartment rather
than one big mansion. Yeah, it's a lovely, lovely place. Anyway,
they all lived there and it became quite a family.
A lot of sharing of music and ideas and passing
joints and just having a great time together. Um, lovely,
(06:19):
lovely time. Very cool. So Kim being the party animal,
it sounds like he may have been so rightfully. So.
Eva talks a lot about how her dad was not
supportive of her going into the music industry, and with
his background, I can kind of see why he had
(06:40):
three girls. Even this is cutting room floor material. But
Eva has two sisters that I believe we're twins and Eva,
and Eva says that she is the one of the
three of them that really wanted to kind of follow
in his footsteps a little bit, loved music, loved guitar,
and he was not having it that Andy Johns taught
her to play and he didn't want any part of it.
He finally ends up coming around, but knowing, I guess, Kim,
(07:04):
how you did? And do you have any take on
maybe why he didn't want Eva to be in the
music industry. And then second parts of that question would be,
how would you advise young kids today? You know they
have a really big passion for music. Mean you you've
been through the industry, what would you say to people? Well,
I'll take both parts of that. I'll take the second
(07:24):
part of that first, because that's the most recent thing
you've asked me. Yeah, I guess for kids, you know,
for me and for Eva, it really comes down to desire.
Like I didn't have a choice. I was just feeling it.
It was down in my bones, it was rushing through
(07:46):
my blood the very first time I heard rock and roll. Um.
As I've said before, as a result of having this
an amazing musical half sister Geane, who is fifteen years
my elder. Anyway, in her case, she's raised around it
with her dad being a rock star or uh, you know,
(08:06):
the storied career of a man who had been a
rock star by this time. He was more of a
pub owner by the time she was born. In any case,
I think that if a if a young kid shows
desire and determination and that sort of that X factor
of I have to do it. It's just in me
(08:26):
and I've got to do it. That hunger, that desire,
then all bets her off. I think it's a great path.
And you know what music could use more hungry, desirous, uh,
young blood coming in, and especially rock and roll that
is so vital and it was so important to so
many people. And it's a little bit of a dying language,
(08:49):
like like Latin is, you know, it's a little bit
like jazz. In other words, there are other kinds of
music that have taken over, other kinds of other styles
of music that have taken over. But back to the
first part of your question. When I think about Eva's
story with her dad, Kim, I mean, I got the
(09:10):
feeling from her, and maybe I'm mistaken that it her
her feelings that her dad wasn't more supportive, right, I
got that feeling as well, and I think I remember
saying in the moment well, it sounds to me like
he was just being protective of you because you're his
little Eva. And well, and then you sort of extrapolate
(09:34):
go forward from that, and you just think, well, what
was Kim like as a young kid, and he can
only project onto her, what would it be like for
her to be anywhere close to what he was like?
And it would be a disaster for a parent to think, Oh,
she's out there going to the pubs, acting like a clown,
(09:55):
you know, and being a bit irresponsible and all of
the stuff that comes along with that. Of course, sixty
five was a very different time, right of course, So
I would just think that more than anything, if I
were even I would look at again and go, that
was my dad protecting me. That was my dad wanting
a better future for me than he had himself. Right, Well,
(10:18):
she's managed to create quite an amazing future for herself
and in rock and roll, I mean, playing with Sharon,
Gwen Stefani and Moby and now Pink for over a decade,
and I mean it's a pretty impressive resume that she's
created for herself. So, um, that's it's very interesting. And
one thing I also think maybe goes a little bit
to what we just talked about. But kids leaving school
(10:41):
to go be in bands. That happened all the time
when you were growing up, I mean you left school.
Almost every person that we talked to, we've talked to
in Season one has gotten opportunities and left school or
just knew that that's what they wanted to do, even
if they didn't have the big opportunity yet that's the
path that they were going to take. And they did
not continue pursuing school beyond high school. Some of them
(11:02):
left in the middle of high school. Eva, however, got
opportunities well in high school from the Wallflowers, which is
a huge baby exactly, and she said no. She went
on to even go to ethno musicology class. I think
it was l a county music school. Um, so she
not only said no to that, but then she went
on to further her education. Uh, you know, and then
(11:24):
you know, I guess just trusting that the opportunities would
be there. I don't know. I mean, to be honest
with you, I'm not sure I would have made that
same decision. I took multiple leaves of absence first from
school to do various jobs and ended up finally finishing
but I mean, what would And clearly we know you
didn't continue on with school, you left to go and
be the musical director for Eda James. But what would
(11:47):
you advise kids? Now? I mean we're talking about how
we need another generation of rockers, right, you know, I mean,
we need to keep you that rock and roll going.
But when you have that opportunity, do you stay or
do you go? Hey, that sounds like a song title,
totally original. Oh my god, you're blushing right now, everyone
(12:09):
out there. I just want you to know, this is
what man you looks like when she's blessing. Because I
had no clue I was going to say that was
totally fun. It's a really good question, and I think
that it's a really good question. And I think that again,
it goes back to desire, because you've got to want
it so badly and show a real acumen for it
(12:31):
and talent for it, you know, just in you to
make up for, uh, maybe the lack of knowledge. Now,
I would also say that the kind of music that
I wanted to make isn't as popular now as it
was then. Where this was band oriented, an artist oriented,
songwriter oriented. Now it's more producer oriented and those producers.
(12:56):
They don't need many musicians. They do it all on
a computer digital. You know, pop music hip hop if
that's even still a word hip hop is it? Let
us know out there, if you're listening really to those
kids still call it hip hop anyway? Um yeah, So,
(13:16):
I mean I can only guess with Eva. I kind
of think that she did a calculation in her mind
that she might be running it a slight disadvantage, as
she may have seen it being a woman trying to
break into a young woman breaking into a successful career,
and wouldn't she need just a few more arrows in
(13:37):
the quiver rather than just playing old good desire and
a rock and roll spirit. She had that in spades,
but she probably said, I think I could be more
um of a hot property if I knew a bunch
too well. And that goes into reading music. I mean
she went to college and and she did or went
(14:00):
went on to ethno musicology school. And I just like
saying that word now because I figured out how to
say it, so I may say, I may get it
in here a few more very musical phrase musicology. So
you have to listen to the episode here exactly what
that is because I yeah, I'm not I'm not gonna
I'm gonna mess that up. But she got a no
(14:22):
from that school the first time she auditioned, and uh,
and it was interesting because she couldn't read music. And
most big musicians these days, not maybe not most, a
lot of them. You, Paul McCartney, you know, to name
a couple don't read music. So how is how is
that so important? Now? I mean obviously you talk, you
even talk about how Paul McCartney composes. How do you
(14:44):
compose and not read music? And how does how does
all of that? How does it work well? In the
case of Paul, My experience of him in the studio
is is that he hear's ideas. He hears them in
his very melodic, very music iCal, very producer oriented, arranger
oriented imagination. Here's them. It just goes out and does
(15:07):
it on whatever instrument he plays, all the instruments. And
in my case, I still want to write the music
that moved me as a teenager. That's what I'm into.
I'm into garage rock, early rock and roll, rock and
soul and soul music. That's what I'm into is what
moves me. And I don't really uh, miss any other elements.
(15:27):
Now these days I think that kids, uh, it doesn't
hurt to have an education as well. Um, And in
even his choice, I think she made a really smart
calculation to go and do that because look at her,
look at who she's played with. Now. I don't know
how many times she's needed her reading chops to do that,
but it couldn't hurt. So when you create an original song,
(15:49):
then you do basically the same thing that you just
talked about with Paul, the same process that you just
talked about. You don't ever actually need sheet music for
that song, so there's no need to have to, you know,
delineate it in that way for you. Okay, Yeah, I
understand how that's hard for people to understand it. So
it's a great question because I think a lot of
people just wonder how how is music made? Like the
(16:14):
heck happens in there? And so if you are on
stage with Paul or or whomever and someone says we
need more of a B flat or a middle C,
I mean, did you guys know what those notes are
to them? But you just okay, you know where they
are on your guitar or your piano, Yes, got it?
But Um, so I did read music as a kid.
(16:35):
I did recitals on piano, and uh so to do that,
you have to learn to read music. You're playing sheet
music in front of people with a little suit on
on a stage with a yeah, I don't laugh. I
clean up pretty good anyway. H you know, but what
I wanted to do on piano was learned to play
(16:58):
boogie woogie. I wanted to be Jerry Lee Lewis, and
they wanted me to be like, you know, whatever, you know,
you know or something else. I wasn't very interested in that.
(17:25):
So we're gonna take a little bit of a turn
right now and talk about being able to compartmentalize on stage.
You and Eva had a really really touching moment in
this interview where I don't even know if you guys
both both realized that you shared such common ground on
a very very sad topic, and that is that both
of your father's died while you were on tour, and
(17:49):
you know, and and her it turned out that it
was her first tour, so I mean that's the first
I mean, all these new experiences for her when she's
first going out and her father, you know, is finally
on board with her dream to be a musician, and
then he's dying as she's leaving, and she and he
ultimately dies. She had to go on that tour, continue playing,
(18:09):
of course, you know, and away from home she's her
family is not there to support her. You had to
do very similar that. You had to show that night
when you found out that your father died, and that
night you were playing a show with Johnny Holiday. How
do you do that? I mean, you've got to imagine
that musicians are not machines, right, I mean, things happen,
(18:30):
you have a bad phone call before you go on stage.
I mean, you find out, you know, something like a death,
and you've got to go play. How do you how
do you do that? How do you actually compartmentalize that?
You know? It's it's a good question, I um. In
the case of my father's passing, it was the summer
of nineteen uh and I think I was expecting that
(18:55):
he would pass while I was on tour and when
I said goodbye to go on tour, and he and
I were very close by this time. We had really
patched things up and then some and I'm very very
grateful for that. That's the story for another time. But
I uh was nonetheless gutted because you never expect that call.
(19:16):
And yes, I did have a show. We were in
a Monaco and uh we were playing the Sporting Club,
which is like Richie Rich of the Richest, and that
in the ceiling retracts and you're now you're under the
stars and the stage comes out as the ceiling, which
it's like black Tie. Any other night that would be
(19:36):
very cool. Any other night, that would be very cool.
We were playing a week long stand there, I believe,
and it wasn't our first night playing, so there was
a comfort level and we'd already set up. We've already
done it once, so it wasn't like I have to
go to a big long sound check and then the gig,
so now it's comfortable. There is no sound check plan. Um.
(20:00):
I had learned about three hours before the actual downbeat
of the show that my father had passed. And the
band leaves the hotel on a bus together. Johnny Halliday
is coming from a separate place separately, and I chose
to only tell a few people because I just didn't
really think it was fair to other people to lay
(20:23):
it on them right before we're supposed to go and
rock out. You know, it's just a tough thing. But
my I made a call and that call was, I'll
tell Abe, Abe Jr. The fabulous, amazing Gabe Junior, you're
still quite good friends with obviously, Yes, so I elected
to tell Abe. Uh. We busted out a couple of
Cuban cigars, smoked them on the edge of the marina
(20:46):
there in Monte Carlo, as you do, and then we
went in like twenty minutes before the show. Everyone is
very nervous because we were much later than the band
bus because we went to smoke a cigar and talk
and Abe couldn't have been a more lovely friend and
ally just great listener, just so sweet. And we we
(21:08):
got through that really well. And I again elected not
to tell Johnny, not to tell the promoter, the producer
of the show, any of the other musicians. Just Abe
and I knew, and I decided that I would use
this as fuel to go play from my heart and
soul in in in a way that maybe you don't
(21:29):
when you're in the routine of a tour. I was
calling upon something else. Um, I went out and Uh
turned in a stormer, as they would say in the biz,
meaning that you you played a great show. And and
the next night when Johnny did find out the news,
Johnny Halliday did find out the news that my father
(21:49):
had passed and that I had played a show. Right
after learning that, he was very very sweet and and
he says, oh, you played a great show last night,
you know, And it was just so kind. And then,
as I've said before, he gave me this amazing ring
and we went out to dinner together, and you know,
he really made something of that for me. And and
(22:11):
it continues to be a memory when I looked down
at this very ring every time I looked down. Um,
that reminds me of another thing Edta James. When I
was a little kid. I remember asking her how do
you go on stage? Same question you asked me? How
do you go on stage at a after you know,
getting that brutal phone call I heard you on where
(22:34):
someone's just given it all and you're just mad and
you're yelling and you have a cold, and then you
go out and you are funny, fun and available and
you sing your ass off. How in the hell do
you do that? She goes, Brian, you know, you got
a call on the Warriors within you and I just
(22:56):
thought that was such a cool thing, and I kind
of carried that with me. It's like, you don't just
come with your knowledge or you're schooling your education on music,
you come with that whatever that was that drove you
to do something as crazy as pursue a life in music. Well,
I guess that's kind of a good life lesson as
(23:18):
well for anybody, because everyone's got you know, had a
really horrible day and has a huge meeting. You know,
you see, you know the NFL players who have the
best game of their life right after someone you know
close to them past. I mean you in every walk
of life. This is relevant, but just good advice from
dear Eda. Yeah, from dear Edda. That's right. Well we're
(23:39):
on Edda James. Another shocking part about this interview was
that at a babysat Eva right, I mean, how does
that happen? So Edda was friends with her parents and
apparently that whole crew at that aforementioned apartment building that
still stands up on Highland Boulevard near the Hollywood Bowl,
(24:00):
Villa Valentino. Well, Eda didn't have a place there, but
she knew half of the tenants from this or that
you know, and she knew Kim's wife, Eva's mom of course, Paula,
and they were very very good friends. And then as
a result she also met Katie Seagal, my old buddy
(24:21):
and and at that time, that's right, Katie Seagal's husband
of that time, who I had introduced her to, was
named Freddie Beckmeyer and they were married, living next door
to Paula and Kim and Freddie Beckmeyer. I asked to
come and play with Edna James and this is like
and he was from Philly, and uh so that's part
(24:47):
of it. I mean. Edda was of course close with
the people that she had in her band, and soon
Katie Seagal sang with Edda James. Another three years later
Katie was in the band too. Okay, It's genuinely all
in the family. And now you mentioned, I think last
week after show that you are a godfather to one
of her children. I am. I'm the godfather which which son?
(25:10):
It had two sons, uh, the first name Danto and
the second name Simeto. Uh. Danto was about four years
old when I joined her band, and years after that
Meto was born as we call him Meto, and gosh,
we have great memories of him. Is just a new born,
just a toddler, swimming in the pools together, and I
(25:32):
used to call him my little water bug, and I
still do. We still talk and he'll sign off with
your little water bugs, I'm a godfather and uh yeah, yeah,
he's a lovely, lovely dude. Well, I can't believe that
(25:59):
we are this far into this interview and I've really
not even talked about the ridiculously amazing, badass women that
even shared the stage with, I mean, Gwen, Gwen Stefani,
Pink Share. I Mean, one thing that I really love
is that all of these women are welcoming of other
women on stage, because that seemed to be that seems
(26:22):
to be a problem in the industry where there's that competition,
you know, women not wanting that competition on stage. Eva
talks about it quite a bit. I've heard that story often, sadly,
you know, but these women brought it, you know, I mean,
they welcome it. They want to see other women shine.
Is that do you see that happen in industry? Is
that just a shitty girl thing or does that happen
(26:42):
in guy bands too? Or like where are we at
on that? Yeah? Well, I I don't think I've really
seen it, but then I don't look through the same
eyes as a woman, Wooden. Maybe that goes back to
the h that you know, just me supposing the supposition
that maybe um eve Uh was desirous of of an
(27:02):
education in music as one more arrow in or quiver.
Maybe she sensed that she could have trouble with some
female band leaders and other musicians in a band being
a female as the new girl in the band, like
the new kid in school. Because she's pretty looking and
very talented and very shiny and very positive. She kind
(27:24):
of probably felt like she needed uh, some more warriors
within her to call on, and she decided education. So
I haven't really seen that myself because I'm looking through
different eyes as a man. But I'll tell you that
for sure, Pink, Gwen Stefani and Share are three very
confident women, and they are the opposite of insecure. And yes,
(27:48):
they would probably see Eva or any talented woman as
a value add not as a distraction, right and that
and that just doesn't happen with guys though it sounds like,
I mean, guys are just cool with other guys like
being on stage and just don't want anyone that looks
hotter than you, and you just got you know, you
just gotta keep it real. No, I'm kidding. So, yeah,
(28:09):
guys are a little different in that way. You know.
We uh, we have each other's backs for the most part.
You know. Interesting. Yeah, girls should take a lesson. Yeah girl. No.
So Also, the really cool thing about Pink, which I
was a little bit taken aback by. I mean, I
don't know Pink at all, but I thought this was
really cool. I didn't see this coming. That she is
(28:32):
like a very bonding leader of the band and plans
barbecues and plans birthdays and really wants the band to
be getting together and be friends. And Eva says that
they genuinely are like a family off off stage and
outside of tours. How In Steve Lucathan talks about this
as well, is that you have to be able to
hang with the band. But we didn't really get into
(28:52):
you with Paul and your other bands. Has that been
a thing with you do? You guys get together quite
a bit outside of the show. So it's been the
case in most of the bands I've been with, and
I think back to um many of them from Edda
James and we were talking last time, uh last time
we met about the casual barbecues out by her place
on Athens Boulevard, um and many of the other bands
(29:16):
I've been with Laura Laura Brannigan's band while on tour,
we had a softball team. Yeah, we ruled because we
had a couple of ringers in the band. Trust me,
it wasn't me, but I held my own. But I
wasn't what you would call a ringer. At least I
didn't have to say it. I wasn't a liability, but
I was not a ringer anyway. Super fun and I
(29:37):
think that, you know, touring, you better be able to
hang or or it's brutal, you know, because you know,
clicks will form. In the case of Pink, and we
only really spoke about that one in her career because
it's her current family. It's the current tour family. I
would imagine that share and Gwen Stefani had ra aging
(30:00):
wonderful dinner parties and hangs as well. But Pink is
you know, she's like apparently just a lot of fun,
you know. Yeah, no, I mean it sounds that way. Okay,
So we were speaking to Fun. We've got to get
to Eva's most embarrassing moment because I was crying. I'm
(30:21):
not sure if you could actually hear me on the interview,
but I was dying laughing when she was telling this story.
I had to walk into another room. Uh but tell
me how does one put their head in a bass drum?
For those of us, we know that there's that my
laar thing you know on the front that has a logo.
But where does one's head go if you want to
stick your head in the basset? For people who don't
(30:45):
know out there, the bass drum in a drum set
is the great big one that you're looking straight at.
You know that you see the drumhead or skin facing
and often has the band's logo on it. Um. Well,
what you might not know is they cut a head
sized hole in the in the bass drum, perfectly round,
(31:07):
not shaped like a head, and sometimes not quite as
big as a head, through which to place the cable
that goes to the microphone that gives the sound to
the sound man from the kick drum, the kick drum microphone.
So inside that kick drum will also be maybe a
(31:28):
sandbag or a pillow, or maybe that's what she was
going for the pillow. She was going to want a nap.
There was just a nice feathery billow. So anyway, she
in uh you know what could be a cutting room
floor scene cut from spinal tap. Decided the thing to
(31:50):
do is I can't get enough kick drum. I will
prove that. And the drums are often up on a riser,
so it's not like you have to be on your
hands and used to do this right right, It's not
I'm gonna get you going again. It was not quite
as awkward as you might think. It's not like her
(32:10):
took us is up in the air and her heads
down on the ground. Well, if you check out our
social media, one of the pictures we put up is
her right by the bass drum, like right by the drum. Kids.
You can see how they elevate it, and you can
see where her head may find her way in. But
it's very awkward. Ladies and gentlemen, go look at our
(32:31):
social media's right now, all of them. You will see
her not with her head in the bass drum, but
standing right behind it, right beside it, so you can
see how this might happen. Well, she stuck her head
in that hole. Just to see if she could get
even more kick drum, because that's what as a bass
player you're married to. You're married to the drums and
(32:52):
specifically to the beats the kick drum. Then she gets
stuck and but she saw how keeps playing? Yeah, what
like would you think you could do that? I wouldn't
do that, but um, you would you put your head
in the bage drum where you wouldn't keep playing? Once
you put your head in My head just too big.
(33:13):
I do have a fairly big head, no jokes. I'm
holding my tongue. Okay. So well, she decided that was
the thing to do it. She couldn't extricate herself from
the bage drug. She was just left with her head
in there. Wick come out like a dog in a fence.
(33:35):
It's so cute. I did not envy you during that
interview because, like I said, I had to run out
of the room and you spit out your water. It
was like we were all a hot master during that story.
I did hear some zing like from you from the
other room. I did not have it together. So so so funny. Okay,
So we are going to wrap it up now with
(33:56):
the audience questions and then our Lightning Round. Okay, all right,
So a couple audience questions for you before tours. Do
you always have rehearsals the week before you go out
or are you guys rehearsing together rehearsing separately? Kind of
How does that work before big tours? Well, it's different
for every band. UM. In the case of Paul's band,
(34:18):
what used to happen is the band would get together four,
five or six days and run through the songs that
Paul has named the newer songs that he wants to
run through, new and old and from his giant career,
you know, whether it's solo or Wings or his former band,
his other former band, UM. But uh, you know, and
(34:40):
then the band would get comfortable with that stuff because
there's a lot to learn. There's vocals to learn, you know,
who plays what, and a little bit of that is
sausage making. So uh, we we kind of figured that
we would like to get enough of that done. So
Paul doesn't, you know, like to keep things moving so
we don't get bogged down figuring a little stuff out.
Uh uh. In the case of our more recent tours
(35:03):
for the last eight ten years, we just get together
and bang them out from note one a new song
from nineteen sixty seven or nineteen seventy eight, you know whatever.
So the rehearsals at this point are not overly grueling.
It doesn't sound like because you guys have pretty much
played everything at least at some point, right. Um, you know,
(35:25):
it's work, we are. Rehearsals are real work. We we
work for a good six seven hours every time we
get together, take a little lunch break. But you know, um,
it's not just all rainbows and toadstools. It's it's serious work.
And you're standing up for all that time and you're
wearing a you know, eight to twelve pound instrument over
(35:48):
your shoulder of course and singing and you know, staying
on it and well, and you kind of got to
be in shape too. I mean, you need to like
make sure that you're like in shape enough to play
a three hour show ultimately. And you know that. It's
just it's a lot, alright, So lightning round. We have
talked a lot about some very serious, badass women in
(36:09):
this episode. In your opinion, dead or alive most impressive
female artist, Well, I'm gonna have to say, Eddi James,
I'm so biased, but you know, she was just a
wonder to me, remarkable, and so much of it was
also knowing her story and the struggles from which she rose. Right, Yeah,
(36:31):
so I would say, James, alright, bigger obsession shoes or sunglasses? Oh? Sunglasses?
Do we know how many pairs of sunglasses you have? No?
Do you care to take a guess? On this episode?
The funniest thing though, Brian comes in and he says, oh, man,
I've lost my favorite pair of sunglasses. And my response was,
(36:51):
what good thing you have? Five dred other pairs of sunglasses?
Good point, I forgot our right Well, Eva Gardner, thank
you so much. Awesome, awesome interview. If you haven't listened
to that, please go back and do so. For nothing else.
Her hysterical head in the drum story, I mean it's yeah,
it's one of a car. You've got to hear it,
(37:12):
all right, Thank you so much, Brian. We'll see you
next week. Thanks Mandy, Thank you everyone for listening. On
Tour and the after Show our productions of I Heart
(37:32):
Radio and Black Barrel Media. This show is produced by
me Mandy Weimmer with executive producer Noel Brown. For more
information about on Tour. Visit our website black Barrel Media
dot com for behind the scenes photos from these interviews
or to submit questions for the after show. Visit our
social media at on tour pod on, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
(37:53):
For more shows from I Heart Radio and Black Barrel Media,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever
you get your favorite podcast. M m m m m
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