Jerry Becker: The Road to Train

A loud Cleveland house. Nine kids. A basement full of drums and harmony guitars.  We sit down with Jerry Becker, Train’s multi-instrumentalist and music director to trace a winding creative path—from a rejected teenager who formed his own band to a music store employee who told a stranger in a Steelers hat that his team “sucked,” then sold him a saxophone and changed his life.

Jerry takes us inside the machine of a modern touring act: how set lists are shaped, how transitions breathe, and why almost everyone in the band plays drums.  We talk about the lost art of album narratives, the rise of high-quality home recording, and the urgency of finishing a song while the idea is still in the air.

The biggest curveball? A four-year plunge into Broadway. Jerry, Pat Monahan, and drummer Matt have written dozens of songs for a stage adaptation of Begin Again, discovering the thrill and terror of hearing other voices carry their melodies. It’s the hardest writing he’s done—and the most clarifying.  

If you care about the craft of live music, the realities of today’s music business, and the courage to say yes before you know how, this conversation will hit home. 

Follow along, share with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the show.

www.slightlyprod.com

Episode Transcript

Jerry Becker (00:00):
Like musicians want to be comedians and
comedians want to be musmusicians, but I'm sure those
guys are like, you get to sitand play in front of fifteen or
twenty thousand people everynight and you want to work in an
office.

Jen Coronado (00:10):
Hi, welcome to everyone is.
I'm your host, JenniferCoronado.
The intent of this show is toengage with all kinds of people
and build the understanding thatanyone who has any kind of
success is successful becausethey're a creative thinker.
So whether you're an artist ora cook or an award-winning
journalist, everyone hassomething to contribute to the
human conversation.

(00:32):
Because everyone just did.
Aaron and I were thinking aboutwho we wanted to interview
next.
And a friend and a coworker ofmine said, Hey, I'm friends with
the keyboardist and guitaristfrom the band Train.
Do you want to interview him?
And I said, Stop name-dropping.
And then I said, Yeah, ofcourse.
So we're lucky today to havethe exact person join us.

(00:52):
And that's Gary Becker.
Yeah, welcome to everyone.

Jerry Becker (00:54):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
It's so nice of you guys toinvite me and to have me here.
Thank you.

Jen Coronado (00:59):
Oh, of course, of course.
I mean, we want to dig intoyour history, but you know, I
don't want to just focus on yourlinear history.
I want to find out like some ofthe whys of the things that
have happened in your life.
But the first thing that I dowant to talk about is uh where
did you grow up?
Where were you born?

Jerry Becker (01:16):
Well, to me, it's all a big why.
Like, why did this happen?
No, just kidding.
Uh I grew up in North Olmsted,Ohio, which is uh outside of
Cleveland, about 30 minutes onthe west side.
And I'm eight of nine kids.
I have a twin sister, and itwas a wonderful place to grow
up.
I had a great loving family.

(01:37):
We're all very close still, anduh, I don't know that I could
live there ever.
I I moved about 31 years ago.
Uh every time I go back, I loveit.
But it's definitely it'sprobably not the best place if
you want to be a musician or apainter or an artist or
something.
Now it's way better.
But in the 90s, it was itwasn't it wasn't easy.

(01:59):
You know, there wasn't a lot ofpeople around going, you got
this, you can do this.
You know, you there was a lotof uh, well, what are you really
gonna do?
You know, and and there was thewhole town is a like a plan B
almost, you know what I mean?
Which makes sense, but buteveryone works so hard,
everyone's great.
They love, they live for theweekend in Cleveland, you know.
It's all about the games.

(02:20):
We had the worst teams in theworld, but they were the best
games to go to, you know.
Like it's still it's still likethat.
It's a little better now, butyeah.

Jen Coronado (02:28):
This might be the point of the podcast where we're
I reveal I'm a Denver Broncosfan.

Jerry Becker (02:33):
Oh my goodness, I'm sorry.
So so many heartbreaking L Waywins.
It was such a it was so bad.
But it was I could say the samething about the the Raiders or
any other team.
Like the Browns were always theother team in the poster, you
know.
It was always, you know,someone catching the touchdown
and there were the Browns.
But what a what a place that Imean, it's the Cardiac Kids.

(02:53):
It's what I grew up in.
I was 10 years old when BrianSip and everybody was playing.
And I'm not even a hugefootball guy.
I just I just I like sportsbecause my family liked it.
And I did follow it.
I know more about it than I Ithought I, you know, like I
don't know.
I enjoy the hang.
I like I love I love anythinguh that has everyone coming
around, drinking shitty beer andlaughing.

(03:15):
It's great.
Yeah, you know.

Jen Coronado (03:16):
So it's very funny.
I my husband's not a sportsperson, and I either's my wife.
Yeah, and um I was watching theSuper Bowl a few years ago, and
my brother and I were likewalking out of the room and we
were so stressed, and then wecame back in, and he was like,
Do you like this?
Because you seem so upset thewhole thing, you know.

Jerry Becker (03:36):
She says the same thing to me.
She goes, Why are you so mad?
She goes, if you watch it ornot, it's not gonna change
anything.
You know, and I watch a lot ofPremier League now.
I know uh Ian does also.
Like we we really like watchinga lot of soccer.
I got friends here.
I live in Berkeley right now,and we always go to Oakland, the
Athletic Club here Saturdaymornings.
We did the whole World Cup atsix in the morning and stuff.
So I still really enjoy sports,you know.

(03:57):
I'm in.

Jen Coronado (03:58):
Yeah.
Well, I'm so curious because Iknow that um Pat and your band,
he's one of seven children,right?

Jerry Becker (04:03):
That's right.
The baby of seven, I'm the babyof nine.
So that's right.
Yeah.

Jen Coronado (04:07):
What was your house like growing up?

Jerry Becker (04:09):
It was loud, it was always loud, and my house is
very quiet, and I really likeit.
Uh, I don't listen to musicloud at the house.
You you'd think I would, but Iit's very cool.
It's just it's such a differentthing.
My yeah, my oldest sister was16 when I was born.
So she was, you know, I didn'treally interact with her much.

(04:30):
She went away to college by thetime I was two or three.
So uh, you know, the k thebrothers and sisters raised me.
My mom and dad were awesome,but they definitely, you know,
we were raised by the kids.
The house was it was like ahotel because not only were was
were there nine kids and mom anddad, but there were everyone's
friends and family spending thenight at our hotel.
So like there were so manyother friends at at uh, you

(04:53):
know, there was just kidseverywhere all the time.
You know, yeah.
And my family was a big soccerfamily, so my brother played
their kids always in and out.
We learned about the world ininternational like countries
because my family housed kidsfrom France or housed kids from
for tournaments all the time.
That was kind of a cool way tolearn about, you know, the world
a little bit, you know.
So uh I liked that.

(05:15):
I liked and my dad was like thepresident of our organization,
North Homestead SoccerOrganization.
It was we had this big Fourthof July tournament every year.
It was it was like the SuperBowl of of our town, you know.

Jen Coronado (05:26):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (05:26):
Uh so we were a very, very big soccer family,
and and we still some of themstill play.
And my brother did very well inhigh school.
He was all American.
He was on one of the teams thatwould have been picked to go to
the Olympics in the 80s.
My siblings are the best.
They they're I just sat backand watched everybody.
No, I wasn't quiet.

Jen Coronado (05:47):
Yeah.
So you mentioned, you know, um,that your siblings, your older
siblings were really kind ofguide guides for you, you know.
Definitely and I imagine withhaving nine children, parents
can only manage so much, so theyhave to rely on their older
children.
And I say that as an oldestchild myself.
You've said before in otherinterviews your family was
pretty musical.
What did what did that looklike?
Who who drove that?

Jerry Becker (06:08):
I think my first memories, my my sister Teresa
was a really great piano player.
She played in the house.
I heard piano coming from thehouse all the time.
My older sister Katie played aswell, but she had already kind
of left, so I didn't really hearher play.
Uh, my older brother John hadthe best drums.
He had a drum set and it wasloud and it was great.
And then George was incrediblygreat.

(06:28):
He played bass and guitar, andI think my brother Jim played
flute.
Everybody played something.
My other brother Joe played alittle piano as well.
He was great.
Everybody was great.
I was just kind of like, what?
All I wanted to do was playdrums, you know.
And then uh my brother Jay washe's the one that gave me my
first guitar.
He went away to Ohio State andhe kind of handed me a guitar.
I was already playing drums alittle bit as a kid.

(06:49):
And remember, he he peeked downthe stairs, and you know, I had
this beat-up old like Muppetdrum set.
The heads were all beat, and Iused Tupperware cans to try to
make it sound good.
You know, it was like it wasthe best, but it was the worst,
right?
And I remember one day I thinkmy brother Jay went to my mom
and dad, goes, We really need toget Jerry a drum set.

(07:10):
Yeah, like this is bad news,you know.
So I did get one for maybe my11th birthday.
I got a little, little set, andit was the coolest thing in the
world.
I still have a picture ofChristmas morning of me playing
it.
And I thought I would all Iwould do is play drums because
everyone else in the familyplayed that, played other
instruments.
And I was lucky to sit withthem.
Every get together had guitars,everybody played Crosby Sales

(07:31):
and Ash Beatles songs,everything.
So I was I thought every familywas like that.
I didn't really know thatpeople didn't play music.
But Teresa played Scott Joplinand all these incredible songs.
And I I never took a lesson, Ididn't know anything.
She would leave and I'd walkover and go, What's going on
here?
You know, how does that go?
But I think it helped with myear, it made my ear good, but I

(07:52):
still don't read music and I Ican't.
I failed out of my high schoolmusic theory class.
Like I couldn't I couldn't getit together, which is really
great because my son just acedhis class in Berkeley High.
So something happened.

Jen Coronado (08:08):
It's an evolution, as they say.

Jerry Becker (08:10):
That's right.
That's right.
But but yeah, growing up in thehouse was weird.
It was just like a hotel, and Ireally loved it.
And we had a basement that wasvery loud.
We they'd let us play in highschool.
I got to play in bands.
I had all my friends over, andit used to be that I played
drums, and then carrying thosearound was a pain in the butt.
People would leave theirguitars at the house, and it
just became way easier.
My brother Jay did go to OhioState, gave me his old guitar,

(08:32):
and that was kind of it.
That's where I got excited, youknow.

Jen Coronado (08:35):
Yeah, I've heard you say before too, like the
best way to learn playing guitaris to have a crappy guitar.

Jerry Becker (08:40):
Oh my god.
Because either you that'sright, either you're gonna stick
it out or you're not, right?

Jen Coronado (08:44):
No.

Jerry Becker (08:45):
And I think my I think it was a harmony old
guitar.
When I hear this, I hear like Iread articles about uh Jimmy
Page and he had this, you know,harmony guitar, and I hear about
these people using theseharmony guitars, and they were
kind of garbage, but you know,people saw it after them.
Mine was not great.
I do remember uh I'm readingthe Mike Campbell book right now

(09:07):
from uh Tom Petty, and hisfirst guitar was a harmony
guitar too.
Yeah.
I keep hearing these the sameword get brought up.
Uh no, the action, which is thethe height of the strings, you
know, it's it's it really iseverything.
And either you have to pushdown, you're gonna get it, or
you're gonna quit.
You know, it's two differentthings.
You're gonna get good or you'regonna quit.
Right.
And a lot of a lot of peoplequit.
And luckily, I I got decent.

(09:28):
I don't know that I ever gotgood because everybody all
around me was a much betterguitar player.
I went to hire guitar playersfor my bands all the time.
You know, I was like, I want toplay rhythm.
I love rhythm guitar.
Let me play the chores and yousolo, you know.

Jen Coronado (09:41):
When did you start thinking about like, I want to
have a band?

Jerry Becker (09:45):
I think middle school, I really like middle
school, beginning of highschool, there was this other
band called After Dark.
I know this is a little toomuch info, but no, those guys,
they ended up becoming reallygood friends, but I was so
jealous of them.
They were playing the the therec.
They would play Friday nights,the ice rink.
They play the parties.
I'd walk up and see these guys,and I was so furious that they

(10:08):
gotta do it.
And I was just getting my feet,I was just a couple years
behind them, I felt like.
And then one day I was like, Ithink you guys should hire me.
I think, I think you shouldbring me in your band.
You know, I got really kind oflike, I think you need me.
I thought I was arrogant orsomething, you know.
And they're and they're like,they go, let me think about it.
And then they came back about aweek later and said, No, we're

(10:31):
good, right?
And I was like, kind ofdevastated.
I didn't, I thought, why don'twhy don't they want me?
Right.
And and I found out, I mean,they were kind of like, hey, you
play guitar, you play piano,you play drums, you play
everything.
We don't want competition.
This is our band.
Like, kind of like leave usalone, right?
Right.
And then I was so mad, but Ialso it was the that no was

(10:52):
probably the best no I ever hadbecause I I made my own band.
I found four other guys that tothis day I they're still like
my best buddies.
I text them every day.
Like the that band came fromnot having a band, you know.
And we got real musical andplayed, wrote songs, and then
one year we beat them in thebattle of the band.

(11:12):
So that was kind of thehighlight of my career.

Jen Coronado (11:14):
You're like, how you like me now?

Jerry Becker (11:17):
No, they they were very, they were very talented,
great dudes.
I like all of them very much.
And and I mean, one of themwent to play with Lincoln Park.
One of them, I mean they theythey we had this weird little
like thing that happened inNorthomestead.
There was so much music.
I had no idea.
Uh, there's a book about WMMS,our radio station there, and and

(11:37):
it was all about breaking uh uhBowie and breaking KISS and
breaking Rush and breaking allthese bands.
For some reason, Cleveland wasthis like weird thing in the 80s
where or late 70s too, whereyou know it was just one of the
towns that you would go to tobreak.
MTV had like a their pilotprogram was there too.
So I saw MTV when it startedand all the like it was supposed
to just be New York, you know.

(11:58):
But I didn't know radio andother places wasn't as good, you
know.
So we were very, very lucky.
We had a great radio station,and I had brothers that loved
Genesis and King Crimson and andevery cool hip band.
And plus the Beatles were justalways being played.
It was there, was never like welove the Beatles, it was always
like that was just part of it,you know.
It was loud and musical andfun.

(12:20):
And yeah, so I'm I'm lucky thatit's interesting.

Jen Coronado (12:24):
I so I grew up in Central Valley and they would
test a lot, they tested a lot ofstuff there, like credit cards
came from Fresno.
That's where they first testedcredit cards.

Jerry Becker (12:34):
I didn't know that.

Jen Coronado (12:34):
Yeah, wow, and Zima, that wonderful liquor uh
of the 1990s, that was alsotested in uh from and I think
it's because you go to smalltowns or you go to what what
they consider Americana, andyou're like, do these people
like this?
You know, versus what aredefined as elite circles.

Jerry Becker (12:55):
Wasn't Zima like uh it was a malt liquor though,
right?

Jen Coronado (12:59):
It was a malt liquor, yeah.

Jerry Becker (13:02):
We we would go and hide.
I mean, I can't talk about itnow because I have high school
kids, but yeah, Zima in highschool.
I I knew I hated it, but butthe joke was like, oh, there'll
be a bunch of Zima there, youknow, like it was the worst.

Jen Coronado (13:14):
And also wine coolers were also very popular.

Jerry Becker (13:17):
We were the Bartles and James generation
with Zima, right?

Jen Coronado (13:20):
Yeah, that's right.

Jerry Becker (13:21):
I know.
I I I love the Gen X thing.
I love that that we're at atthis point where we lived
without the internet and then weended up making it or adapting
it, and then now we can reallycherry pick the best parts of
it, I feel like.
You know, yeah.

Jen Coronado (13:37):
I frequently say to my husband, I'd be fine now
if the internet boiled down touh maps and what time
restaurants open.
Yeah.
And uh I'd be good with that.
That would be my my need forthe internet.

Jerry Becker (13:51):
This new AI stuff on every search is freaking me
out.
But what are you gonna do,right?

Jen Coronado (13:56):
Yeah.
Also, I'm like, I don't wanna,I there's a big part of me, and
maybe it's the gen, to yourpoint, the gen X part of me that
is very suspicious of the firstanswer being the right answer.
You know what I mean?

Jerry Becker (14:06):
Wait, it's not.

Jen Coronado (14:08):
I'm like, where'd they get this from?
You know?
That's my first impulse.

Jerry Becker (14:13):
I that's a good point.
I know, I know.
It's frightening, and it's fasttoo.
Yeah, so fast.
It's creepy.
But I mean, I'm sure you see itin your work and everything
you're doing.
It it has infiltrated the musicindustry.
But if you can use it, I thinkas a tool, it's gonna be it's
great.
You know, there's some stuff,there's some stuff, you know,
that is pretty incredible, youknow.

Jen Coronado (14:32):
Yeah.
I mean, one of the things youryour friend and I were talking
about the other day is like ifyou have a good ear, you have a
good eye, if you're creative,it's an things can be another
tool in your arsenal.
Um if you if you're not verycreative, you're gonna not gonna
get very creative things out ofit at the end of the day.

Jerry Becker (14:49):
Right when that mid-journey, you're familiar
with the mid-journey art stuff,right?
When that came out a coupleyears ago, I was paying 30, 40
bucks a month just to make theseimages because I thought it was
I thought it was like these arethe paintings, these are the
things I always wanted to make,and I don't have to even paint
them now, right?
Yeah, but but I was fascinatedby what they thought the future
looked like from the 50s styleor art deco style of the future.

(15:13):
I I was blown away by it.

Jen Coronado (15:15):
But you you tried art too when you were younger,
it wasn't just music.

Jerry Becker (15:18):
No, I uh I think that I think that that's what my
mom and dad thought.
That's all that's all I did.
I would draw and paint and drawand paint, and I I was decent,
I think.
And then through high school, Iwould do all the stuff and
murals and everything, and and Ithought I was just an
illustrator.
I wasn't like coming up withthis incredible new art.
I could just illustrate.
I feel like someone could giveme something and I could paint

(15:40):
it really well on the wall.

Jen Coronado (15:42):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (15:42):
So I never could I never was like that guy, you
know, he's he's got great ideas.
I just had good, I could Icould finish it, you know, I
could blow it up.

Jen Coronado (15:50):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (15:51):
And so I did a lot of that, and then I did get a
scholarship.
I went to Cleveland Instituteof Art.
Like that's really where Ireally thought.
I mean, I was maybe better thanI I don't know, the teachers
thought I was better, butremember one teacher said to me,
You gotta make a choice becausehe knew that I played music all
the time.
And it and my Mr.
Shardell, I the guy was great,he cared about everything I did,

(16:11):
he made me work hard, but hedid say you have to make a
choice.
But I was 17, I didn't know,yeah, and I was like, I don't
really want to stop playingmusic to do shitty paintings
because I didn't think mypaintings were that great.
You know, I was still doingacrylic, and but in my mind,
he's like, You you're gonna putyour energy somewhere.
He goes, You should put itsomewhere.
He wasn't saying do art, but Ireally think he's saying you

(16:33):
should, you know, make a choice.
Yeah, and it kind of alwaysstuck with me.
And then maybe maybe what'shappened to me, at least the
last 20 years, it's been music.
I don't paint, and it's kind ofa heartbreaking, but it's also
like the next painting I do isprobably the best one I've ever
done.
That's because I'm just waitingto do another thing.
Yeah, you know, and I I Ishould do more.

(16:54):
I just have all the canvas,everything sitting downstairs.
I just I my the time that Ispend right now, I it's not
doing that anymore.
But I think I will.
I'll get back to it, you know.
But I did go to art school, Iliked it.
I played music while I wasthere too in a band, and uh I
really thought that was it.
I thought, and you know, butart schools are expensive.
And I yeah, it wasn't a goodtime at the Becker house.

(17:16):
There was a lot, my parentswere getting old, my mom had
some heart trouble, and and itwasn't really the time to be
messing around and not gettingincredible art grades or
whatever.
I think I got straight reallygood grades, but it was just
like there wasn't a lot ofmoney, you know.
And I was already pretty indebt with just this first year,
you know.
Yeah, but I just remember thosemoments of going, well, maybe

(17:37):
I'll play in a band for a littlebit, and I did, and and that
band did okay, but it wasn'tlike we were on the radio a
little bit, we would play 500,six, 600 seat venues, which was
big.

Jen Coronado (17:47):
That's great.

Jerry Becker (17:48):
It'd be like playing at Slim's or one of
these cool plays.
To me, that that was we were asgood as we were gonna get.

Jen Coronado (17:53):
Right.

Jerry Becker (17:54):
And then and then the band couldn't get along,
just like any band, you know,like we just can't get along.
People people don't get along.
I don't know if you know this.

Jen Coronado (18:00):
I've I haven't noticed.

Jerry Becker (18:03):
Just people don't get along.
And I love all those guysindividually.
They're we're all stillfriends.
I like the butt but too manydirections, too many alphas.
I I find like band bands needone guy or two, what you know,
and the other guys fall in, butnot fall in in a negative way,
like, oh, you're you're onlythis guy, you can only do it.
It's not like that at all.

(18:23):
It's like we need everybody,right?
But we someone has to make adecision.
That's right.
We can't all be, you know, uhalpha-e or whatever.
I hate that word, but you knowwhat I mean.
Oh no, yeah.
I feel like that band didn'twork, and luckily I had a my a
brother in California who uh wasalready here since 1980.
Like I said, it's like that'swhat happens when you have such

(18:46):
a big family.
I he I he was a I was eightyears old when he moved to
California.
Right.
So George lived here, and I Iremember hitting him up and
going, dude, you know, I kindof, you know, my girlfriend
thing's not working out, myband's breaking up, like
everything's awful, you know.
Uh can I visit can I visit forthe summer?
And he's like, Of course.
We just got a new house, we gotroom, you can help with the

(19:07):
young kids, like it'll be great.
And I'm like, and I honestlymet my girlfriend, which became
my wife, within weeks of movingto California.
We met at this killer littlecafe, and it was so weird.
It was all just kind of like Iwas on a summer vacation, and I
didn't think I would stay, butonce I started like meeting some
of the nice people, and Georgewas great to play music with

(19:29):
every day, and she ended upplaying tennis and getting um
recruited to go up to SonomaState, and then we moved up
there, got an apartment, andthat's where I met Pat.
So that was like 97.
I just met him, you know, at amusic store I was working at
because she was finishing schooland I was working there, and he
came in and he was very, veryuh I think his wife, his ex-wife

(19:49):
used to come in with theirlittle kids to the music store
that I worked at, and I wouldlet him play the instruments.
It was no big, you know, Ididn't really it didn't really
bug me to have kids playingmusic.

Jen Coronado (19:57):
Is it the one on Petaluma Boulevard?

Jerry Becker (19:59):
That's right.

Jen Coronado (20:00):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (20:01):
You know this place?

Jen Coronado (20:02):
I live in Petaluma, so yeah.

Jerry Becker (20:03):
Oh yeah, it was.
It was it it's funny becauseyeah, I just remember I just
needed to have a job for about ayear until she was done with
school.
And I really liked it.
I didn't mind.
I had already sold guitars fora guitar company.
I I'd done a little travelingwith that.
So next thing you know, shecame in.
I let the kids play a little,or his son play a little bit,
and and then one day this dudewalks in and his hair is like

(20:25):
down here, and he's you know,he's got a I think I've told the
story a lot on it, but it'slike he has a Pittsburgh
Steelers hat on, right?
And and he goes, You guys gotsaxophones?
And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, youknow, and then he goes, I looked
at him, I was like, Yeah, youknow the Steelers suck.

Jen Coronado (20:40):
And it was like And yet I sold to you with the
Broncos right at the beginningof this, didn't I?

Jerry Becker (20:45):
No, I mean it it probably changed the course of
my life by making this guylaugh, right?
Yeah, and he goes, Why would hesay, Why would you say that?
And I'm like, I'm fromCleveland, and he goes, Oh,
Jesus, you know.
And then we headed off andstarted laughing and sold him a
saxophone and he said he's in aband, and and they weren't
signed yet.
They weren't, you know, luckilythey they'd are, you know, they

(21:07):
were still doing clubs andstuff.
And I I thought they were thecoolest band.
I loved them.
I thought they were great.
Next thing you know, they wouldbring in their instruments, I'd
help them, I'd work on theirgear with them a little bit, I'd
sell them other stuff, and andthen out of nowhere, he calls
me, he's like, Hey man, we'regoing on the road.
We just got signed to ColumbiaRecords, you know.
Do you want to do you wannacome and tour with us?

(21:28):
And I was like, what do youmean?
Because he knew that I playedmusic, but he was like, we need
a guy that's good at everything.
It can you know, balance thebooks.
You've been in bands, you workin a store, you seem honest, you
know, like you're not gonnasteal from us.

Jen Coronado (21:40):
And I'm like, Can I just say that is such a young
guy band thing to do?
You work in a store and you'vebeen helping me with my guitar.
Please manage my tour after Ijust signed uh with Columbia.

Jerry Becker (21:52):
I don't know anything.
I mean, I'd done shows.
I did shows.
I've done local shows.
I never toured in a van, Inever toured with gear.
So we had to all learn itourselves, learn it, you know,
and it was really fun to be outwith those guys, but man, it was
probably it was by far theworst job I've ever had.

Jen Coronado (22:11):
Why?
Tell me why.

Jerry Becker (22:13):
These guys were all between five and ten years
older than me.
And and it was very hardbecause I'm not I'm not great,
I'm not the most organizedperson.
I was too much like them in myhead.
I was just kind of this flightyartist where I always like, you
know, I'm on time all the time,but I was kind of always like
expecting someone else to helpme with where's the hotel,

(22:35):
where's this, where's theflight, where's this, where's
that?
And I'm like, oh shit, I haveto do this.
You know, I'm the guy, I'm incharge, you know.
But I was, you know, it was sofunny to watch them go from
4,000 records to half a millionrecords in the time in the time
that I worked with them, youknow.

Jen Coronado (22:52):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (22:53):
But uh, so I just I I knew that they needed a guy
who loved tour managing.
That was like my I was like, Igotta get out of here.
I'm gonna go crazy.
You know, like I'm not very Igotta get out of here before I'm
fired, first of all.
But but but luckily I wasfriends with them enough that
Pat and I were were tight and welaughed.
And and there was always alittle bit of hey, we can't wait

(23:14):
to have you play with us, can'twait to get you in the band,
can't wait to, but it was alwaysa little bit of a string.
It never it and I understoodwhy would they want someone
else?
Why would they share at thatpoint, right?

Jen Coronado (23:23):
So what did you you left, but what'd you go to?
What what did you do next?

Jerry Becker (23:27):
So that's that's so funny.
I I moved to Chicago.
Oh because that's where Emily,my wife, got a job with United
Airlines, and she got out ofschool and became a flight
attendant.
So I was like, where do youwant to go?
And she's like, they just theyjust stationed me in Chicago.
The hub.
The hub.
But it was kind of amazingbecause I it was like a clean

(23:48):
slate, it was awesome, you know.
And I mean, yeah, working forColumbia Records, where I mean,
and then watching your friendsblow up on TV, right?
Yeah, that's that was kind of alittle bit woof, but there was
no doubt that I knew it wasn'tgonna happen.
I I I I saw it happen.
I mean, we were in the middleof it.
I saw it on the charts, I sawthese their first songs doing
really well.

(24:08):
Uh but but it was great.
It wasn't, I felt really happyfor them, but I was definitely
it got me.
I said I want to go makerecords.
You know, it's kind of reallywhat I wanted to do because I
was able to sit in on a lot oftheir sessions and watch
producers like you know, MattWallace and these guys make
their records, and I just lovedbeing in the room going, Holy
shit, this is all I reallywanted to do.

(24:30):
I didn't I didn't realize thatyou could just do this for a
living.

Jen Coronado (24:32):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (24:33):
So I bought a bunch of gear in Chicago,
started recording some bands,and I really, really enjoyed it
just for the short time that wewere there.
Came back to San Francisco,went to music school at San
Francisco State and did therecording program there.
And I I honestly thought that'sall I would do.

Jen Coronado (24:48):
Well, I have a question for you there, because
like which I was happy with it.
Yeah, I loved it, yeah.
Yeah.
Full disclosure, I came out,you know, I came out of acting
school and I went, Yeah.
Man, I'm not gonna go to NewYork, I'm not gonna go to LA,
I'm gonna go to Seattle and likedo my art.
You know what I mean?
So you didn't do LA and youdidn't do New York and you did

(25:08):
the Bay, which you know, there'sa lot of music in the Bay, but
it's not the hub of no.

Jerry Becker (25:13):
I mean, I I made I made the worst decisions I feel
like in the world.
I have 18 nephews and nieces,right?
And the joke is once I once Igot back, got playing and
touring with the band andstarted being on TV and stuff, I
would make jokes with them.
I go, you know, stay in school,don't do drugs, you know, or
you'll end up like your UncleJerry on TV.
Like, like every every singlething you could do wrong, I did,

(25:36):
you know.
Yeah.
Drop out is drop out of school,you know, just like bad
decision after bad decision.
But it wasn't bad decision, itwas just the momentum.

Jen Coronado (25:44):
It was something like we're waiting on, yeah.

Jerry Becker (25:46):
That's right.
And I felt like the Bay Areajust it was so great.
I loved just the people were sofunny.
Everyone, everyone wasoptimistic, at least when I
moved here in the 90s.
And look at we just saw theinternet, everything blew up.
I mean, man, boy, I screw up onthat financially.
But we all did.

Jen Coronado (26:04):
Why didn't we all invest in Apple?
Is the question.

Jerry Becker (26:07):
You could have just gone like this, and you
would be fine.
But anyway, I uh yeah, that itwas years later I made a lot of
local records with some peopleand I loved it.
I loved producing albums andengineered, but it was it was on
a small scale.
But the K-Fog people weregreat.
Um Renee became a really goodfriend, and all the people at K
Fog because uh they would let methey would let me come in and

(26:29):
we'd play songs of bands that Iwas producing.
And to me, I was successful.
That was like that's all I everI was like, you're kidding me.
You know, I get to be on K Fog.
And then uh yeah, luckily Patcalled me a few years later,
maybe 2006, and said, I'm makinga solo record.
Do you want to come and play onthat?
Do you want to come and be?
He was all he was always like,When you're finished school, let
me know.

(26:49):
When you finish school, let meknow.
And it just worked out at thattime that I finished school.
I started playing with him.
I did his tour.
He asked me to put together hisband, so I music directed his
tour, and then then I thought,oh, that was it.
And then luckily Train did havea keyboard player that that
quit a few months before werecorded Hey Soul Sister, and

(27:12):
then that was 15 years 15 yearsago, and that was pretty funny
because I've been on the roadever since.
Like we've just been waking,making records and touring.
So yeah, so it it wasn't it'sone of those things of being
being available at the righttime, but also it's not you
never know if that's the rightmoment, you know.
And this is back in like the90s, and I was like, Well, I

(27:35):
have other stuff I can do, youknow, but but he was so driven,
and being around someone likethat was it's intoxicating to
find someone who knew what theywanted, and they started a
business.
The difference is I started aband with friends and he started
a band with business partners,you know.
And and I not that that itnever quite made it was

(27:57):
friendship, but it's definitelydifferent, you know, because
they didn't hang out, you know.
And and I didn't know that.
I just thought you share musicwith your friends, you know,
this is what you do together.
You don't go, we're gonna we'regonna write songs and and do
well, you know.
And I never met anybody likethat, just driven.
And and they had talent too.
So I was like, well, this isdifferent.

(28:18):
I think a lot of our band, andwe've been through a bunch of
different members of the bandover the years, but this this
lineup right now is great.
I love everybody.
I've had to audition all thenew guys.
Like it's funny to be on theother side of it and to kind of
be the guy going, What aboutthis guy?

Jen Coronado (28:31):
You know, you're the music director now, right?

Jerry Becker (28:34):
Yeah, it's it's more of a someone just has to
run the show.
It doesn't mean anything.
It's not like you're at aBroadway show and you're the guy
going, like, the, you know,it's it's not a conductor or
anything.
It's just kind of like, herethe here are the this is what we
got to get done today.
You know, hey, when when Patcomes in, I usually try to get
the band ready so that when hecomes in, we're ready.
You know, we got 10 songs, fivesongs, 15.

(28:54):
We'll put the sets togetherwith him and make sure that the
songs flow, you know, betweeneach song and stuff that I
didn't even know existed.
I didn't know the job reallyexisted, you know.

Jen Coronado (29:04):
Wait, so that's something I want to dig in with
you because you have you've hadthis tendency in your life to
pick up something that youdidn't know what it is, like and
just take it on.

Jerry Becker (29:13):
Like like marriage?
No, I'm just gonna go.

Jen Coronado (29:15):
I mean, that's everybody, my friend.
But um why did what drives youto do that?
Why why do you feel comfortablejust like jumping in because I
didn't know how to I didn't knowthat you could fail.

Jerry Becker (29:31):
I mean, I didn't I've never I've never been
fired, right?
So I didn't know that there wasa consequence to say if you
don't get this done, we don'twant you anymore.

Jen Coronado (29:40):
Right.

Jerry Becker (29:40):
You know, so I didn't I didn't really know.
That's a good point.
I never really thought aboutthat.
Yeah, I got thrown into somethings, and but it's I think
maybe I care maybe to to like II I don't want I I want Pat to
my singer and the band to alwayslook and sound as great as good
as we can, you know.
I don't like phone.
I don't like any of that stuff.

(30:01):
So maybe he saw that in me,just like, hey, you know, I can
I can lean on him and we'regonna be okay, you know.
Yeah.
And and and I don't know.
I don't know.
I have no idea.

Jen Coronado (30:12):
Do you ever think that maybe comes from being in a
big family of people who haveto be responsible for each
other?

Jerry Becker (30:19):
Oh, they they didn't care about me.

Jen Coronado (30:22):
That's fair.
You were the youngest.
The youngest was kind of anafricot.

Jerry Becker (30:25):
My my family, like they tease me so much because
they just say that I was mymom's favorite.
I had a lot of health stuffwhen I was born.
So there was a lot of stuffwrong.
So I think I did get extraattention.
And I think to this day they'relike, oh, Jerry's calling,
Jerry's home.
We gotta, you know, we got sowhenever I would visit, they
would all, you know, so they'rethey like to tease me about

(30:47):
that.
But they gotta spend a lot moretime with my mom than I did,
you know.
Right.
So uh yeah, mom loved music.
She was always telling me, youknow, check this out, check this
out.
My dad played piano, he waspretty good, but I never saw him
play piano unless he had a beerand a cigarette in his hand,
you know.
So it it wasn't like, hey son,you know, the four o'clock, four

(31:09):
o'clock on a Monday.
Here, here's this new thingI've been working on.
It was always, you know,Saturday night roll out the
barrel music, you know?
Yeah.
And and so to me, music washappy.
It wasn't, you know, it wasalways like associated with
that, you know.

Jen Coronado (31:24):
Yeah.
Well, you talked earlier abouthow you guys have been touring,
like just touring and touring.
And you play Yeah, you'veplayed, you've played different
size venues, obviously.
Do you add do you guys have toadjust your adjust yourself and
your style to the the venues?

Jerry Becker (31:40):
Or that's funny.
That's a good point.
The band itself can break downinto an acoustic trio, which we
do a lot.
Uh for we do a lot of corporateshows.
Companies will have us come in,and that it's really good for
the band, it's good for thecrew, and it greases the wheels
for the whole year, so no onehas to go get another job or
anything, you know.
Uh so the band itself does takeon different forms, but when

(32:02):
it's a full band, I always laughat this.
You're right.
Like we could play MadisonSquare Garden with the same
exact set that we play, youknow, Bill Gates' wife's
birthday party, which we played.

Jen Coronado (32:14):
What?
Bill Gates wife's birthdayparty.

Jerry Becker (32:17):
I think she I think she turned 60, and we were
like, what are we doing here?
You know, but she was verynice, and everyone's very nice.
We get to do some oddball stuffbecause I this this band is uh
it's generational.
There's people now in their 50sand 60s that love the band
whose kids love the band, and wehave more young kids at our
concerts than we've ever had.

(32:38):
You know, young is in like 30sand then they're kids, you know.
So and we're not offensive,we're not bumming anybody out,
we're not doing anything crazyon stage, but all the songs have
lasted for 30 years.
So it's part of a lot of fam.
It's like we've become thosebands that I grew up listening
to, you know, and and that'swhat does well business-wise for

(32:58):
Pat and everybody, where I feellike we do do a lot of
corporate things.
And and it used to be 20 yearsago, it wasn't it didn't taste
very good when you did them.
Sometimes they just felt funny,you know.
And you didn't want to tellother people you're doing
private shows, you know.
And then now it's just like, ohyeah, that's because no one
buys records anymore.

Jen Coronado (33:21):
Talk to me about that.

Jerry Becker (33:22):
Like how when did that like once everything became
an MP3, once Mr.
Steve Jobs made music a dollar,you know, even though we like,
I'm okay with Apple, I'm notfunny, but but once that dollar
U2 has a song that's worth adollar, then some kid in his
bedroom makes a song and it'sworth a dollar too, you know?

(33:43):
Yeah, that's that's that's notreally fair, right?
And then I'll I'll take adollar any day now because now
it's 0.003 cents for a spin, youknow.

Jen Coronado (33:54):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (33:54):
So I think for every million, I mean, think
about this, people, when you'relistening to music, it takes a
million spins to make aroundabout $4,000 or something, you
know.
Wow.
And then that $4,000 you have tosplit with the other writers
and your publisher, you know.

Jen Coronado (34:08):
Right.

Jerry Becker (34:08):
Uh so this isn't a negative.
I mean, then again, that'sforever.
Like that's that's the onlypositive way to look at it, is
unless unless some lawyers comein and they can make that
royalty royalty rate better.
And then next thing you know,people are making really good
money.
But uh, we have to tour muchmore than we used to.
Um, but people are listening tomusic more than they ever have.

Jen Coronado (34:30):
Yeah, just right at the time of life when you
want to tour all the time.

Jerry Becker (34:33):
Uh I mean, I'm gone.
I just got I think we have 85shows or something this year.
I just got back from Australiaa couple days ago or last week,
went to Nashville, did someshows, and then I leave for
Spain on Saturday, and then I'mback at the end of the month,
and then we do a US tour for twomonths.
Wow, yeah.
My kids are thrilled.

Jen Coronado (34:55):
They're like, Dad's gone again.
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (34:58):
It's all right.
We they they've not knownanything since I mean it's yeah,
it it's not like you know whatI'm saying?
The pandemic was definitelyodd.
Yeah.
Because they're like, I mean,out on many levels and very sad,
but also like to have me home,I didn't I don't know what to do
with myself, you know.

Jen Coronado (35:16):
Yeah.
So I can understand that.
I was gonna say something Ithink, because I'm gonna sound
like an old lady now.
Here I go.
Something I think that kidskind of miss out on, which I
think is the story of albums,you know what I mean?

Jerry Becker (35:32):
Oh, completely.

Jen Coronado (35:34):
And yeah, and like I think about like David Bowie
had the album, and it's the nameis alluding me, but it was like
an entire story about a villageof people, and it had I'm
afraid of Americans on it.

Jerry Becker (35:44):
Not low.
What what album is that?
Um oh you're gonna make me looklike a bad Bowie fan.
Sorry.

Jen Coronado (35:50):
No, no, it's okay.
But I'm forgetting myself and Ilove David Bowie, but it was a
story, like the whole album wasa story, and if you listen to it
from if you had to buy thealbum, you were sort of forced
to listen to how everything fittogether.
Do you know what I mean?

Jerry Becker (36:07):
No, I know.
I mean, I from Abbey Road toLamb Light on Broadway, these
records that are my favoriterecords.
You're right.
They it's it's a journey, theybring back the same themes from
the first, second, and thirdsong, and musically they have
different lyrics now later, andthen and then yeah, I mean I I

(36:27):
love making records still.
If we can make records, it'd begreat.
And we still do, but it's alsothey're recorded half and half
at home now because everyone gotso good at recording at home
and it sounds really good.
We'll still go in together andtrack, but it it a lot of this
the hard work in thepre-production starts at home,
you know.
And uh yeah, you can't really.

(36:49):
I mean, all the Floyd stuff,all that stuff, but I mean we're
just in a different time.
They they oh totally they wouldsit around and and be able to
live in a house and work formonths on one song, you know.
It just doesn't it doesn'texist, you know.
I don't know.
That's a that's an interestingthing.
We don't really have themes,yeah.
We should have more themes.
I like that.

Jen Coronado (37:10):
I think about like um the bands of the 80s and
90s, like you know, I thinkabout Rage Against the Machine
or even some of the albums thatyou too did, and they were all
message albums, you know?

Jerry Becker (37:21):
Oh yeah, yeah.

Jen Coronado (37:22):
And I wonder are there are there new musicians or
acts that you can do message?
Yeah, yeah.

Jerry Becker (37:30):
Yes, I think there's a ton, and my son would
tell you all about them.
I'm just better.

Jen Coronado (37:33):
Oh, really?
That's a great deal.
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (37:35):
He's he's locked in, and my daughter too.
They they I love sneaking inand looking at their Spotify
playlist and stuff, and everyonce in a while there'll be
something in there that'llsurprise me.
But I mean, could you imaginegrowing up with Spotify?

Jen Coronado (37:48):
Just the access to the thing.
That's what I mean.
Yeah, yeah.

Jerry Becker (37:51):
Any song anytime.
Any song anytime.
Yeah.
And and I my I read this bookmy wife read told me to read.
It was about they got some guyfrom the 1800s or maybe even the
1700s, and they threw him in aroom and they they say, Hey,
nowaday in the future, you canlisten to music uh, you know,
like this.
And he goes, Well, let me hearit.
He listens to a song, and theygo, What else do you want to

(38:13):
hear?
And he goes, I just want tohear that again, right?
And it's this idea of theycould never, unless you went and
saw music, you could never hearthe same song twice, right?
Right.
And now you could listen to ita million times, you know.

Jen Coronado (38:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jerry Becker (38:26):
Which is yeah.

Jen Coronado (38:28):
Yeah, I think about that.
That's so true because therewas that, and then there was an
era, probably when we were myparents were young, our parents
were young, where they wouldjust had to wait for that song
to come on the radio, right?

Jerry Becker (38:40):
With their record, with their tape player ready to
record.

Jen Coronado (38:43):
Yeah, with the the tape player.
And then it's now it'severywhere, and you can get it
at all times, and you can playit over and over again, and you
just have to have asubscription, you know.

Jerry Becker (38:54):
That's right.
I'm gonna take a turn here.
You ready?
Go for it.
The best thing that happenedafter the pandemic is my singer
and I and our our drummer Matt,we started writing a Broadway
musical.

Jen Coronado (39:06):
You're kidding me.

Jerry Becker (39:07):
So we are four years into a musical right now
that I think is might end upgoing next year.
So that's another thing.
I don't even think Ian knewthat we've been working on this.

Jen Coronado (39:16):
So wow, what made you want to do that?

Jerry Becker (39:18):
Oh, I I don't want to do it.
Uh Pat Pat's, you know, peoplelove the guy.
He's he's he's one of the mostincredible singers and writers.
Like, wonderful boys.
Lucky to be in a room.
I I just put up this mic, I putup a mic, and and it doesn't
matter.

(39:39):
You're in a hotel room, you'rein a studio, and and people just
gravitate towards his what he'swhat he sings and what he sings
about, right?
And uh, so I'm I'm very luckythat he lets me hang out with
him.
Anyways, he did a little thingin Broadway a couple years ago
called Rocktopia, where he justdid a couple weeks of um classic

(39:59):
rock songs with an orchestra orsomething like that, you know.
And I think like the guy fromCheap Trick did it after him, D.
Snyder, all these it, you know,I don't know what it was
called, it was fine.
I saw it, it was great.
But I think he met someproducers through that, and they
said, Hey, we we're thinking ofdoing this thing, we're we're
looking for musicians, we'relooking for writers.
And I think we had a demo, youknow.

(40:21):
We'll we've written 50 to 80songs for every album, and then
you whittle it down to record15, and then you might end up
with 12 on a record.
So sometimes there's otherstuff laying around that are
still pretty good, just didn'tfit on the records.

Jen Coronado (40:34):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (40:35):
And these people heard one of our demos, and they
I think they the producers, andnext thing you know, we're
writing the music for a show.
Wow.
And and it's been probably thehardest thing I think we've ever
done, I've ever done.
Uh, because we've now writtenover 40, 50 songs, and now we're
only using 20.

(40:55):
Uh, but but the people involvedare really great.
Like they're all slick and pro,and they're in New York, and we
get to go there and sit andwatch these actors, and they're
they're in the middle of it.
So this is an adaptation of amovie called Begin Again from
about 15 years ago.
Do you remember this movie?

Jen Coronado (41:11):
Yeah, I do.

Jerry Becker (41:12):
Uh, so it's about a songwriter, a woman that goes
to New York, and her boyfriendcheats on her, and she ends up
becoming a songwriter.
So uh it's great, it's fun,it's different.
But we just did rehearsals in Ithink April with a whole 40
people, 30, whatever.
It's crazy.

Jen Coronado (41:30):
That's a big production.

Jerry Becker (41:32):
I mean, yeah, sorry, these are all the
everybody around.
Probably there's fifth 10 or 15in the cast, but I don't know.
It's just it's fascinating tosit there and watch your songs
come out of someone else'smouth.

Jen Coronado (41:44):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (41:44):
You know, because Pat did the demos, so I'm so
used to his voice, and then youhear someone else sing it, and
uh you're so used to Pat, youknow, but yeah.
But then again, it's it takeson its whole other life, it just
becomes something else.
We're not even in the band,it's these other people in the
band, and then you have to say,do it a little more like this,
do it a little more like this,or other things happen that you

(42:06):
weren't expecting, and it getsit gets incredible, you know.

Jen Coronado (42:11):
So who's writing the book on it?

Jerry Becker (42:14):
We've had a few different writers.
We're on our third uh writerright now.
Uh uh Jenna Embry, you know sheis.
She does all of the uh uhLincoln Center stuff.
She's amazing.
She's become great.
But we had two other writersthat were wonderful, Kate
Gersten and our friend Chelsea.

(42:35):
We we it's been a reallyinteresting experience because I
I didn't know it's kind ofcommon to have people come and
go while while something's beingworked on.

Jen Coronado (42:43):
But for us, it takes so long sometimes to prep
a musical like that, too.

Jerry Becker (42:48):
That's right.
That's right.
But uh I learned a lot.
We'll see.
You'll definitely become if weget it out.
I promise we'll.

Jen Coronado (42:54):
Oh, I I definitely would want to.
I it sounds to me like Patconvinces you to do a lot of
things, Michael.

Jerry Becker (43:01):
What am I supposed to do?
What do I say?
I'm gonna sit this one out.
No.
Yeah.
I can't.
Like, like uh I think that'sthe thing about Pat is I I mean,
think of the stuff he must turndown if this is as much stuff
that we do, you know.
Where we're really lucky thatpeople care, they show up and
they they I mean, we like Isaid, we went to Australia, we

(43:22):
hadn't been there in eightyears, and we sold thousands of
tickets more than we've eversold.
And it like some of the numbersdon't make sense.
His uh, his son, Pat's son'sname's Rock, and he's this
budding musician.
He's 13 and playing guitar andsinging a lot.
And he I think he said asentence to Pat.
He asked him one day a coupleweeks ago, he's like, Hey, when

(43:43):
was train's peak, Dad?
Like, imagine this kid wasn'teven yeah, and then you kind of
go, Oh my god.
Well, and Pat goes, you knowwhat?
I like we saw more tickets thanwe've ever had, you know.
Yeah, and like like I have a Ihave a plaque downstairs you get
you get your you know platinumthings, these you never thought
I'd have these gold records andstuff in my house, right?
But I have one for a billion,or sorry, it's this one is uh 10

(44:07):
million hey solstice isdiamond, right?
And there's only been like 60or 70 songs that have ever done
it.
And then I think Train willhave another one later this year
with drops of Jupiter will godiamond.
And like it doesn't make anysense.
So we're all just as fascinatedthat that people still listen
and it keeps on moving, youknow.

Jen Coronado (44:27):
What do you think um uh 10-year-old Jerry from
Ohio would think about that?

Jerry Becker (44:31):
He says, Why aren't you playing drums?

Jen Coronado (44:35):
Kids are so fixated on things.

Jerry Becker (44:37):
I really I really thought, and everyone teases me
that, you know, because I'm notvery good at at all anymore.
Like I don't even know if Iever was, but in my brain I'm
good.
Like Pat's a good drummer, heplays drums too, my singer.
So he he will jump back thereand get a chance almost every
night to play a little bit.
But I think our whole band, youknow, Hector, Matt, everybody,

(44:58):
we all play drums, and I thinkthat's a good part of why
everybody plays a little bit ofeverything, right?
But it's a good part of why theband has good rhythm, you know.
And and it sounds stupid to saythat, but if you grew up as a
drummer, you know, uh yeah.

Jen Coronado (45:13):
It it doesn't sound stupid because it the
rhythm section is what holdssomething together, right?
Yeah, and if you don'tunderstand how to hit that
rhythm, then it it fragmentsthings a little bit, right?
You know what I mean?

Jerry Becker (45:27):
We toured with uh Maroon Five 10 years ago or
whatever, and we learned a lotabout touring from them because
we had Soul Sisters done reallywell, but those guys had already
been on the road, they're alittle younger than Train, but
they'd already done pretty goodsize amphitheaters like
Shorelines for years.
So there we were, kind of inthe best way learning how to put
on a big show because we hadalready done clubs and theaters,

(45:50):
but we didn't know how to dothat.
And that was a great tour wedid with them.
We learned a lot, but watchingevery single sound check, Adam
Levine right on the drum set,all he wanted to do is play
drums.
Like everybody just wants toplay drums, it's the most fun,
yeah.

Jen Coronado (46:05):
So well, you get it, you get a you get to hit
something over and over and overagain and get the aggression
out, too.

Jerry Becker (46:12):
But like, yeah, 10-year-old me, I think, yeah.
I don't know.
It's hard to say.
What about 10-year-old you?
What would you expect?

Jen Coronado (46:21):
That's a very good question.
All right.
When I was that about that age,they were auditioning for
Annie, the musical across theUS.
Oh my gosh.
And I was a little girl wholived in Rapid City, South
Dakota at that time.
Wow.
And so I would sit on the frontfence of my babysitter's house

(46:44):
and belt out tomorrow, hopingthat an agent would drive by and
see me.

Jerry Becker (46:53):
That's pretty loud.

Jen Coronado (46:55):
Yeah.
So uh I was hoping to be Anniemaybe for my whole life.
I don't know.
And then yeah, no.

Jerry Becker (47:02):
Uh I don't know.

Jen Coronado (47:03):
I don't know.

Jerry Becker (47:04):
Yeah, I I'm jealous if you're a singer.
I'm not a I'm a singer.
Like I I'm around greatsingers, and it's always been
something that everyone's like,oh, you play piano, you play
guitar, you play other things.
And I feel like I'm only thereto support great singers.
So did you did you grow upwanting to sing just not only
Annie, but everything?

Jen Coronado (47:25):
Or um, you know, I uh I can carry a tune.
I would not call myself a greatsinger.
Like I can do a musical theaterthat's a little talky, a little
you know.
Um but I I've always loved Ilove the idea of pretending to
be something else and alwaysusing your imagination, you

(47:48):
know?

Jerry Becker (47:50):
That's that's not too bad, not too shabby.
So I thought we were gonna talkabout Andor.

Jen Coronado (47:55):
Oh, that was ties to Andor on this podcast.

Jerry Becker (47:57):
This is my my my ILM, I'll do real quick, and
then I know we got a hangout.
I think my brother Jay'sbirthday was it's July 22nd, so
1977.
They take me and him and mysister.
We all went to the drive-in tosee Star Wars, right?
And so I'm five years old, andI get to see Star Wars at a
drive-in, and I swear to God,like the ship came, it was all

(48:22):
stars, and then the ship cameover your head, and I was just
like, Well, what is going onhere?
Yeah, it it changed my life.
Like, even just the word ILM,like I went home and made a
storybook of the whole thing,and I drew everything, and
everything I did was all aboutthe miniatures too.
I built all the miniatures, somy my favorite people were you

(48:44):
know, Phil Tippett or DennisMurin.
Like those were my stars in mylife.
All I wanted to do is work atILM.
So part of my brain was to goto art school, and I was like, I
gotta get my shit together.
I'm gonna start doing this.
And that's when the cubecomputer graphics started,
right?
Yeah.
And I took a couple classesthere, and that was like it
wasn't anywhere near what it isnow.

(49:04):
It's just awful, like theselike stiff like things moving
around.
But it's so funny in the backof my brain.
I was like, I I I know I havesomething about the Bay Area, I
need to get out there someday.
And then it's been so funny forme to run into people who
worked there.
Yeah.
And then Ian gave me sometours, and I was like, I can't
believe that I'm you knowwalking through this place, you

(49:25):
know.
And then uh Bruce, did you knowBruce Holcomb?
I think, you know, yeah, heworked for me actually.
Yeah, yeah, he's such a sweetguy.
He's come out and seen showsand stuff, and and in my brain,
what they get to do for a livingis like anything that I wanted
to do at 10, right?
And then here, like likemusicians want to be comedians
and comedians want to bemusicians, but I'm sure those

(49:46):
guys are like, you get to sitand play in front of 15 or
20,000 people every night andyou want to work and you want to
work in an office.
Yeah, you know what I mean?
It's such a different, yeah,it's such a different thing.
Like that was my I mean, Ithought I work at Skywalker
Sound.
I honestly thought that's whereI would end up.
I would be there making recordsor making movies or doing Foley

(50:07):
or something like that.
What an interesting, weirdturn.
Yeah, too bad I too bad I havethis awesome job instead, right?

Jen Coronado (50:13):
Too bad.
You suffer so I do have a finalquestion for you.

Jerry Becker (50:17):
Uh-huh.

Jen Coronado (50:18):
So our whole premise of this podcast is that
you don't we sometimes conflateart and creativity, right?
And you can be creative andartistic, and you can be
artistic and not creative,right?
Meaning and so and beingcreative is really about problem
solving and finding the nextthing in my mind.

(50:40):
But for you, Jerry, Star Warsfan, what does creativity mean
to you?

Jerry Becker (50:52):
Wow.
I think to me, if it it feelslike the fact that I have I get
to live in a place where my kidsthey don't know where money
comes from because they they'relike something that doesn't

(51:13):
exist in the morning but doeslater in the day, I think that's
creativity to me.
And and to me, it's either an apainting or something you've
started or an idea you have thatyou could turn into a a joke or
something, like that that'swhat something that didn't exist
that you get to bring life tothat other people can enjoy.
Like it's and then you get paidfor it.

(51:34):
Like it doesn't make any sense.
But that that to me is like Iget so excited still when a new
idea comes up, if it's music andand we finish it by the end of
the day, you know, and then andthat that idea is sometimes if
you don't finish it and you tryto chase it, it it doesn't, you
know, it it it'll go in thefolder, you know?

Jen Coronado (51:54):
Yeah.

Jerry Becker (51:55):
And I I love when we can get something done in a
day.
So that's I think that's thoseare the things that's it to me,
is that if you can actually likeit, it exists already, and if
you have to be able to grab itor it's just slippy and someone
else is gonna get it.
Yeah.
So so to me, that's I thinkthat's where my antenna works

(52:15):
pretty well, is I can you knowmove on it quick, hopefully, you
know.
And and if if you're slow andyou can't work in the studio
very well, it's you know, yougotta be able to show show up,
you know.
So I think that's it.
Sometimes we'll yeah, startsomething in the morning and
we'll be mixing it at 10 o'clockat night and it's finished, you
know.
So to me, that's that'sexciting.

Jen Coronado (52:38):
Well, it's great.

Jerry Becker (52:39):
Yeah, I don't know if that's very that's what it
means to me.

Jen Coronado (52:42):
Well, that's what I'm asking you.
And thank you so much fortalking to us today.

Jerry Becker (52:46):
Yeah, this was great.
Thank you.
I can't wait to listen more.

Jen Coronado (52:49):
Thank you for listening to Everyone Is.
Everyone Is is produced andedited by Chris Hawkinson.
Executive producer is AaronDusseau, music by Doug Infinite,
our logo and graphic design isby Harrison Parker, and I'm Jen
Coronado.
Everyone Is is a slightlydisappointed productions
production dropping every otherThursday.
So make sure to rate and reviewand like and subscribe.

(53:10):
Thanks for listening.