It is always a pleasure to talk rock and roll, sports and life in the great rock and roll band in the world with the great Maryland native and one time “Bullets Fever” author. Life in E Street with the affable Lofgren on Radio Row.
From January 2003
Nestor Aparicio interviews Nils Lofgren about his experiences with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. They discuss the album “The Rising,” which Lofgren describes as a dose of reality with respect and humility. Lofgren highlights the quick recording process and the challenges of replicating the album’s lush sound live. He mentions the excitement of performing in a general admission setting and the audience’s familiarity with the new material. They also touch on the media’s focus on Springsteen’s recent work and the band’s anticipation for the tour. Lofgren expresses his pride in the album and readiness for the upcoming shows.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band, The Rising, Redskins fan, tour rehearsals, album release, dark themes, live performance, audience engagement, media attention, new songs, general admission, concert excitement, tour preparation
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Nils Lofgren
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back wnst Taos in Baltimore and wnst.net this is wnst Rock week. Anything that you miss here you can find out in our bio Toyota audio of all 24 hours a day, as well as blogs. We have pictures available. There you can hashtag nest alja 25 or wnst Rock week, and you will find all of the interviews with many, many rock stars here, including several from this guy. This was a rising era, 2003 visit on my W, N, S T program with Nils Lofgren, who I knew from Wow, from back in the 1980s I had interviewed Nils on a solo tour after the Born in the USA tour, when the East Street Band sort of collapsed and wrote about that for the Baltimore Evening Sun. You hear that interview, you’ll hear some more modern interviews. And certainly, he did a 2016 spring sit down with us that was unbelievable, very, very lengthy that you could find in the buy a Toyota audio vault that was about an hour long chat, but Nels has visited about three or four different Super Bowls on radio row through the course of time. This was a call in before a local show. I was at DC, I believe it was then the MCI center, when he would call the rising center, then down in DC, and Bruce was touring on the rising and was, once again, one of the biggest stars in the world, always a pleasure to talk about sports and rock and roll, even if he is a Redskins fan with the great, great Nils Lofgren of the legendary E Street Band. All right, let’s go get Nils Lofgren. See, I knew he would call. I called me 20 minutes ago. I knew he would call back Ray, you didn’t believe me, and he’s not gonna believe his story. I had to tell you know, ladies and gentlemen, the great news. Lofgren joining us here live on the Bucha sports forum. Nils, how are you, buddy?
Nils Lofgren 01:51
I’m good nasty. How are you man? I
Nestor Aparicio 01:53
mean, Wednesday night you put on the performance there. You guys been working so hard. Now you got a homecoming show tomorrow night?
Nils Lofgren 01:59
Yeah, it’s DC. It’s gonna be exciting. And got a big guest list of family, and I’m just glad we finally started the tour. Rehearsal have been so chaotic and hectic. And you know, any great band, I mean, you do dozen shows, and you get to another level. So I’m excited that things actually started. And as always, Bruce goes out and delivers you can always count on them. So it’s cool to be a part of it, and you’re glad
Nestor Aparicio 02:22
I’m not asking for tickets, right? Well, I
Nils Lofgren 02:24
gotta say nasty. I almost fell over. Because I think for the first time in 18 years, within 48 hours of a show, I got a call from someone who said, I don’t need tickets or passes. I almost fell down.
Nestor Aparicio 02:35
Am I a great guy or what? Hey, man,
Nils Lofgren 02:37
I had to return that call exactly
Nestor Aparicio 02:38
I need. I need nothing from you, but we are going to bug you for Indianapolis in November. There you go for you with this, the whole album and stuff. We talked to you back in January, and I got to tell you, Nils, I wasn’t going to bother you today. I said it on the air. I said, Look, Nils, gave us an hour back in January. I was going to break the tapes out. Do you know on the other end we were in New Orleans together. They didn’t hit the record button. No, no, we did not have we only had the beginning. We had the Hello, Nils, welcome. We’re going to a break. Are we right back with Nils? Lofgren, and the tape went dead. You’re a kid, and I found that out about 45 minutes ago. I had like plan on running this tape, so I said, Well, now I got to bug Nils. So the first thing I’m going to say is I don’t need tickets for you with this tour and with the album. And I’ve been listening to the album for the 10 days it’s been out. I guess the words are so dark, but the music is so hopeful. I mean, is that kind of the way you see this music in this album? The Rising,
Nils Lofgren 03:30
yeah, well, you know, the words are, I guess dark is one word, but it’s also, you know, it’s just a dose of reality, and it’s done with great deal of respect that probably, I think, only Bruce you know is a writer that could address something on 10 or 11 tracks with that kind of subject matter, and do it with some respect and humility. Yet, yet so poignantly. So, hey, he’s the best you know as a great singer, writer, player, but when it comes to words, man, he there’s, he’s got no peers, and I was proud to be a part of it. And I think too, you know, there’s stuff like Mary’s Place and this and that, and I don’t know, I think that some there was some concern about presenting it live, taking people that low. But on the other hand, you know, his his shows have always been a up and down ride, and we’re hoping that, because this is life. It’s all our lives, and we’re just hoping that’ll make the highs even more a higher high, and people appreciate the time to cut loose with stuff like Mary’s Place and enjoy it, because you can’t run and hide from it. Man, it’s the world we’re in, and I think Bruce has handled it and addressed it extremely eloquently, and as always, with great music behind it.
Nestor Aparicio 04:41
I know when you guys get together and put this thing together, it’s certainly Bruce’s vision, and he is for, I guess, for lack of expression, the boss when it comes to this stuff. But when you hear the album for the first time, when it’s getting mixed down, and you’re cutting your parts in in Atlanta, back six, seven months ago, when you get. That finished product your hand. How much, how far along are the songs? I mean, do you know exactly what it’s going to sound like before it’s packaged and sent out at the end? Or do you put the thing together and then Bruce kind of figures out later on exactly the way he’s going to tweak it and
Nils Lofgren 05:15
push it? Well, it’s a bit of both. I mean, Bruce just just to have some sanity in the production, he found a guy, Brennan O’Brien, who’s fabulous, and they hit a great groove together, just kind of accidentally. He what he would do is cut the trash with the rhythm section, and Roy, you know, Roy bitten fabulous on piano, and since and Max and Gary, and they cut four or five things, and then they bring the other all of us else in a couple days at a time to work on it and put some parts on so they could focus on each individual instrument. And I just accidentally happened to be the last guy down on the three different trips, so when I got there, most of the parts had been recorded. So naturally, as a producer and a singer, as they were working on it, they have the parts feature that they liked the most. And so I did get a good feeling for what it would become. And, you know, I put my little parts on, and was happy to just hang out and get to watch them, you know, I stuck around four or five days of clip and just watched them work. So I got to hear it a lot, and had a good idea what it was going to become. I was real proud of both of them
Nestor Aparicio 06:21
from all indications. You know, I’m out on the websites and reading all the stuff that’s going on, and I haven’t talked to you since you played down at the Rams Head about a month and a half, two months ago, with the rehearsals and getting this tour ready to go, and the music on the rising being so lush, how hard was it to replicate that and bring it on the stage? From everything I’ve seen, heard and read what you guys are doing on stage was like giving like giving birth. I mean, it wasn’t as simple as, hey, we learned these songs six months ago. We’re just going to go onto a stage and do this thing. There’s a lot of reworking, a lot of things going on that maybe over the last six or seven weeks, you guys had to prepare to take this thing out
Nils Lofgren 06:57
on the road. One thing that happened was, which was a first for Bruce, who usually records, you know, six, seven albums over three years and debates putting one out. He recorded this very quickly over seven weeks of work spaced out over a few months. Actually, this was all done in the last, you know, few, three, four months. It was a big surprise to all of us that he was had it completed, and felt good about having to come out so quick. And I thought it was the right call, for obvious reasons, the music’s great, but it was uncharacteristically quick process. And what happens is, you know, the record is brilliant, but now to present it live, you got to change things. Sometimes, you know, we’ll change keys so Bruce can sing higher, because sometimes you have to, need to put a little more energy into it, so it’ll read in a stadium setting, and just all the natural stuff, and with the wealth and new music and wanting to present a lot of it, we had a month to rehearse. We could have used maybe six weeks. So we pushed ourselves a little bit harder than usual. And, you know, it’s, it’ll keep changing and evolving as we go, but we feel like we’ve got got it to a point now where it’s certainly ready for the public and it’s time to play. And you know, you learn the most about a song and what it needs in front of an audience, and that’s where we are now, those warm up shows we did around town a little bit helped us out a lot, but we’re ready to present it, and Bruce will keep tweaking it as we go, and we’ll tweak our individual parts, but it feels real like a good show already to me, and I’m glad we’re out in front of
Nestor Aparicio 08:21
people, Nils, lofkin joining us here on the Budweiser sports forum. We’ll get to the Raven Redskin thing momentarily. But one last question for you. Bruce, on the cover Time and Newsweek in 1975 the revival, and you were on the outside looking at he was a fan of yours at that point. And at 84 Born in the USA, comes out, and it takes the whole world by storm sells a bajillion albums, and then they’re the quiet times, you know, the when you guys weren’t with the band and, and I guess that goes to Tom, Joe comes out and, and it wasn’t cover of Time magazine worthy. Why here? Why now? Why this album? This album is number one in the country. It’s the most anticipated tour of the year. The stones are going to the tour on the tour on the road in four weeks. We’re not hearing anything about them. The who’s out on the road. We’re not hearing anything about them. All we’re hearing about is Bruce and and the cover of all the magazines. Why has, I guess, the media and the public taken to this, as opposed to any of the other things he’s done the last 15 or 18 years? Well, I
Nils Lofgren 09:16
think that you know, the perception of the whole media thing is so crazy and not based in any real reality. I mean, goes to Tom Joe is a brilliant record, but it’s not, you know what the press can chat up. Obviously, this the first official record with the street band since born in USA. That’s 18 years ago. It’s also, you know, a record of brand new Bruce stuff in rock setting, even though it’s very rough stuff to listen to lyrically, and it’s a combination of a lot of things, it’s also a combination of Bruce having a brilliant batch of songs that lends itself to the band, and he wants to go share it live, and he wants to do some promotion to share it, because even Bruce is. More promotion he does, the more people know about it, and he’s proud of it, will want to share it, and we got to play the game a little bit. No one likes sitting around answering questions, but
Nestor Aparicio 10:09
except when you talk to me, except you right? Because you called said you didn’t need nothing. I need nothing. I need nothing. No. I mean, listen,
Nils Lofgren 10:17
that was great, but listen, it’s just even Bruce was surprised. He got together with Brendan as a kind of experiment, and next thing he knew, he was writing his brains out. Thrilled, excited. Brendan took over production and relieved Bruce of that responsibility, which is huge, and allowed him to focus more on his art as a writer and singer and player. And they hit a great groove. And next thing you know, he’s got a record he should be proud of, and we want to share it, so we’re going to go out and do that to the best of our ability. How
Nestor Aparicio 10:47
weird was it on Wednesday night to be playing in an arena, especially an arena you guys have played 1015, 20 dates from time to time and not have any seats on the floor. I mean, it’s a general mission gig down on the floor, and everybody’s crowding the stage. It must feel like, I guess, the stone pony back in the 70s
Nils Lofgren 11:04
kind of neat. You know, last year we did a bit of that, a lot of that, in Europe, but not in America. And I think for the hardcore fans that want to get up and do that, it’s a good, good atmosphere. Our show has got a lot of roaring rock to it, so it’s nicely people up dancing around, having fun. And, you know, people want to sit down, the seats are available to buy, or at least they were. So it’s exciting to do it that way, and I think we’re up for it, and looking forward to a long ride glory days
Nestor Aparicio 11:31
Born in the USA back in the set, you had to relearn some songs, huh? Yeah, I’ve
Nils Lofgren 11:35
been lobbying for the electric version of born USA all tour. I mean, Bruce’s acoustic version was fabulous, but that song electric just always gives me the chills. So I’m glad we’re doing that again.
Nestor Aparicio 11:45
Well, yeah, I mean, I don’t want to give the set list away too much, but very, very heavy on the new stuff. You don’t have the new album, you’re going to really be exposed to this stuff tomorrow night, then at MCI center
Nils Lofgren 11:54
up unusual to have. We, even after the first show, noticed how exciting it was that the audiences knew the new stuff already, and the records just been out a week. So that was a big plus for us. And we’re doing like, 10 or 11 songs off a new record, which is unheard of for a new tour, to be doing that much of a new record and having it seem to work. So we’re excited and hoping to see a lot of people down the road. Do
Nestor Aparicio 12:16
you watch your Redskins play last week or No, no, man, I
Nils Lofgren 12:18
wanted to what’s what’s going on with them.
Nestor Aparicio 12:20
Not nothing good. I hope you know, I’m a raving guy, I
Nils Lofgren 12:23
know. Well, you guys got decimated, man. What’s going on with the Ravens this year?
Nestor Aparicio 12:27
Well, we’re gonna find out tonight. We’re about four hours away from our first preseason game, and so I’m heading down there tonight. I got Bruce tomorrow night. You know, I’m explaining to listeners, this is like, one of the great weekends of my young life. I mean, that’s great, nasty, yeah, man, so
Nils Lofgren 12:40
we’ll go enjoy it. Yo, I’m
Nestor Aparicio 12:41
going to do that, and I’m glad you’re not watching the Redskins. Maybe we can make your Raven fan before it’s all over with.
Nils Lofgren 12:47
Hey, I was pulling from in the Super Bowl since the skins weren’t there. Yeah, you hate the Giants
Nestor Aparicio 12:50
too. So you played into things. Hey, Nils, thanks for calling me back tomorrow night. Be healthy. Enjoy yourself out on the tour, and I will bug you for tickets somewhere along the line. And that’s okay, nasty. Take care of yourself. You
Nils Lofgren 13:03
take care of yourself. Be good, all
Nestor Aparicio 13:04
right, ladies and gentlemen from the East Street Band joining us here live. That was just good stuff there, huh?
