Pete Yorn |
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Thu. April 24.2003 12:00 AM EDT |
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Pete Yorn: T-Shirts, Burritos & Self DiscoveryL.A.- based singer jams with Iggy, hangs with Springsteen, and makes all the music on his new disc himself. by Gil Kaufman |
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Pete Yorn (Publicity) |
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They may be more snug and faded than they used to be, but Pete Yorn likes sporting the same t-shirts he wore in eighth grade. In fact, his teens were such a memorable period, he wrote a song about them. It's called "Burrito." "I’ve been
Yorn's new album, Day I Forgot, swings between confessional, Springsteen-esque rockers and introspective ballads, and it tells a tale of growing up, figuring out who you are, and grappling with the complexities of love. Maybe it's best summarized by the line "I could have been someone else/ But now I’m me this time." The singer pulls a Prince on the new disc, playing everything from drums (his favorite instrument) to guitar, bass, and piano. He worked mostly alone in his friend’s Los Angeles garage. Some outsiders - pals like R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, producer Brad Wood, and Beck bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen - were tapped for a song or two. After spending much of his acclaimed debut, musicforthemorningafter, paying homage to musical heroes that include Jeff Buckley and the Smiths, Yorn says the new disc comes closer to describing who he really is. But the Jersey boy seems humbled by his success, and still pondering life’s big questions. "It makes me wonder why I’m here," he moans on "Pass Me By." We don’t have any answers for him, but Yorn did respond to our questions, sharing what it's like to play drums for Iggy Pop, describing the first time he met the Boss, and explaining his love for those shrunken, dirty t-shirts. VH1: People have compared you to Bruce Springsteen and you slip a Springsteen poster into the background of the "Come Back Home" video. Is it safe to assume he’s a big influence? Pete Yorn: Definitely. I don’t think we sound alike, but he was always into singing about love and heartache in a way that was kind of tough. When I do those kinds of songs, I try to keep it that way. When songs get really sappy, it turns me off. The reason the poster’s in my video is because we shot it in my house and that’s my basement practice space. The poster’s always been there. When we’re on the roof, my friends filmed me up there and they couldn’t hear, but I’m singing, "Badlands!" VH1: Have you ever met him? Yorn: Yeah, I met him twice. Because of my brother [major Hollywood talent agent Rick Yorn] I’ll meet actors and not get star stuck. But around certain musical heroes it's ‘Whoa!’ Sometimes you’re afraid to meet your idols because you don’t want to be let down. After I met Springsteen the first time, I remember thinking that he was as cool as I thought he would be. The first time I clammed up. I was with a couple of friends and they said, "We’ve never seen you get so quiet." And I was like, "I didn’t know what to say - what, tell him that I’m from Jersey?" That was before musicforthemorningafter had come out. We’d been signed in a similar way, off playing acoustic for people at the label, and he said, "I didn’t know they still do that." I met him again at the Columbia Grammy party in New York and we talked for a long time and he invited me down to his farm and I was like, "Sweet! Let’s go!’ VH1: You play just about every instrument on this album. Why? Yorn: I know what to let other people play ... but it’s just fun. That’s the way I came up, writing and recording at home. I developed by playing everything myself. I was a drummer first and that’s my favorite instrument to play. Once I get the drums done, everything else comes real quick. Also, we track in my friends’ garage, which is really small ... there’s not really room to record live with a band. VH1: Are there any instruments you can’t play or don’t like to? Yorn: I can’t play any horns. Every time I tried to take saxophone lessons as a kid ... I can’t whistle. I don’t know if that has anything to do with ... VH1: Wait, you literally can’t whistle? Yorn: Yeah. [blows air into the phone]. I don’t know if it’s the way I’m put together. VH1: What was it like playing drums for Iggy Pop at the Shortlist awards last year? What did you talk about? Yorn: I got a call and they said they wanted an all-star jam, with the guys from the Strokes and Hives. I said that sounded amazing, as long as I get to play drums. Then I suggested they get Mike Watt on bass, because I knew he’s played with the Asheton brothers. We went to a rehearsal space and Iggy was coming the next day, so we learned five songs. Iggy shows up the next night and he was super cool. VH1: You grew up loving the Stooges and now here you are, backing him up. What was going through your mind? Yorn: While we’re playing, Mike Watt turns to me and mouths, ‘Holy shit!’ He’s totally freaking out, too. Iggy’s totally mellow backstage and then he just explodes onstage. After that, I felt like I had rocked. I felt like I’d lived in a big way. VH1: What’s the worst advice a manager ever gave you? Yorn: Someone once told me not to go by my own name. It was a British guy and he thought it sounded like Pete Yawn. He thought a band name would be more marketable. For all I know maybe if I’d had a band name I would have sold a few million records the first time. VH1: On the occasions that people mistake you for someone else, who do they think you are? Like, anyone ever mistake you for Danzig? Yorn: Danzig! [laughs] I’m not that big. Someone thought I was in the Strokes once, when they first came out. I was walking on the street in Chicago and they were playing in town that night and this girl comes up with their record and asks me to sign it. I said, ‘Sure!’ And I signed it, ‘Ted Nugent.’ VH1: Let’s talk about "Burrito," which is just about you being a bored teen hanging around waiting to go to your first girlfriend’s house. What dredged up that memory? Yorn: It was a period in my life when I had nothing else to do. I just wanted a fun power pop song. I was doing an in-store recently and I was taking a leak in the back room and I heard it blasting over the speakers - it sounds like it could have been on a Morrissey solo record. VH1: How did you meet Baz Luhrmann and why did he inspire your song "Turn of the Century?" Yorn: We met at a party and we ended up talking. He was telling me about this idea for a movie he was developing ["Moulin Rouge"] and describing Paris at the turn of the century; the clothes they wore and all that. I got this image in my head of what that looked like. But the song has nothing to do with that, it was just the feeling it evokes. VH1: "But now I’m me this time." People seem to be focusing on that line. What does it mean to you? Yorn: The last record felt like I was anxious to show off my influences and pay homages to certain bands, throw every style I was into at the time on there. This one is more about me not having so many external influences, but focusing on developing my sound at this stage in my life. VH1: Who is a big musical influence people wouldn’t suspect has been important to you? Yorn: I’m a huge Carpenters fans. I love Lesley Gore, the Ronettes, old Grateful Dead live stuff. VH1: What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to? Yorn: Sloan. They played at the Troubadour in L.A. a few years ago and I had just got off a plane from New York. I took a bunch of friends to the show who were musicians and they all said they should quit right now. VH1: What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you on stage? Yorn: I got shocked really bad at a show once. We do this big intro to a cover of the Smiths’ "Panic on the Streets of London" and I got a huge shock and went, ‘Ohhhh!’ We had to stop the show for 15 minutes. VH1: Just how many of those crummy old T-shirts do you own? Yorn: I have hundreds of them. I never threw that stuff away from 8th grade. I think it has something to do with being a nostalgic guy. I like the comfort of them. They might fit a bit tighter than they should. I rotate between the same four shirts for the most part and it’s sad when they expire. |
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