"Who's Your Band?" Podcast Episode 158! Comedians Jeffrey Paul and Sean Morton with special guest, singer/drummer (The Grip Weeds) and engineer/producer Kurt Reil!

On this week's episode of "Who's Your Band?," Kurt Riel, the multifaceted singer/drummer of The Grip Weeds, and engineer/music producer, joins Jeffrey Paul and Sean Morton to discuss the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry and the creative process behind their upcoming album. They dive into the significance of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, debating the merits of bands like Foreigner finally getting the recognition they deserve. With a keen focus on the balance between artistic integrity and commercial appeal, Kurt shares insights on producing music while maintaining a genuine connection with listeners. The conversation also touches on the dynamic of playing in a band with family, Kurt's musical influences and collaborations, who his dream supergroup would be, and so much more! Check it all out in the newest episode of "Who's Your Band?"

Welcome, everybody to who's your band?

I am Jeffrey Paul.

I am joined by Sean Morton.

How are you, Sean?

Yeah, I'd be ducky if I was in my office doing this podcast, but I had to be cheap and cancel my cable.

And I went with T mobile home Internet because The tower is 700 yards from my house.

But guess what happened?

The tower is down right now.

So that means I have no Internet for like the last 24 hours.

Why did you cancel your cable?

Because it's expensive.

It's 300amonth for cable and Internet.

And now I got it for 160 bucks.

Everybody is doing that.

I want to see if our guest is doing that as well.

We're going to bring him in.

He is not only a singer and drummer and guitarist and a producer and the leader of the band the Grip Weeds.

Okay.

He's also on this show with us.

Let's give it up for Kurt Ryol.

Kurt, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Glad to be here.

Virtually, virtually.

Glad to be here.

It's good to see you again.

Kurt and I met at 101.5 FM and I just got a little taste, a little taste of his band and his, you know, his background in music.

I thought he was a real interesting guy.

I think he'd been perfect for the show, but a lot going on in the world.

A lot going on in the world of music.

So two things.

Kurt, were you an Iron Maiden fan?

Not so much.

The metal stuff isn't.

Isn't my line so much, but I'm familiar with the name.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because the world of music lost.

We lost Paul Diano, who was the singer on the first two Maiden albums.

66 years old, no cause of death given, but he.

He'd been sick for years, confined to a wheelchair, but still getting out there singing the SO songs and, you know, and probably the singer on a top five made an album.

I think Killers was.

Was a great one.

Yeah.

That the sound changed a lot after he left the band.

They were almost like kind of like a power punk band with Diano and then they became total a metal band with Dickinson.

I agree with that.

Yeah.

And then this is something I.

That Sean kind of stayed in.

I want to get Sean's reaction, and especially from a musician point of view.

The Rock and Roll hall of Fame this weekend and the performances you watched all five and a half hours of that.

I watched everything.

Yep.

Mary J.

Blige and her unbelievably big legs.

You know, at some point, wear a.

Dress she can, she can definitely crack a coconut with those thighs, I'll tell you.

Listen, and I love Mary J.

Blige, I really do.

Yeah.

Okay.

But you at some time invest in a mirror.

Kurt, did you see any of the performances again?

I gotta say no.

I mean, I.

As you said before, I'm a musician and a studio producer and I was, I was working it.

You know, that's the, that's the curse of being a working musician is you don't always get to see the show.

You get.

You have to miss, you know.

Yeah, I obviously didn't have time, I'm sure.

Yeah, you can go online.

There's a bunch of stuff that I saw.

I just want to get, you know, get.

Sean, what do you think of foreigners induction and, and, and Kurt, this isn't.

You didn't have to see the show.

But don't you think there's something real sad that this is a band that should have been inducted years ago?

Years ago.

Okay.

They had been put on like a 20 year almost hiatus, you know, like waiting list to get in.

And you had no Mick Jones.

You had.

I mean, Sean, you saw it.

I mean, how many songs did Lou Graham actually sing?

He barely sang I Want to Know what Love Is.

Kelly Clarkson was, was doing that with him, I think.

Right?

I think it was Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato.

I saw Hud do something.

She did one too.

Yeah, but she the girl.

They did very smart booking when it came to putting some of the new current singers with the people that were getting inducted.

Well, because they're going to turn this into a TV show, that's why.

Well, no, I mean, I think because like in some ways, like, you know, you gotta remember too, some of these people are in their late 60s, 70s, even close to 80s.

They're not singing the way that you.

They normally would.

You know, I mean, I think Cher sounded fantastic.

Don't get me wrong.

I think Cher sounded great.

But I think the Dua Lipa kind of added a little, a little bit to that.

Yeah.

You know, I saw the share went and I gotta say this is.

And Kurt.

What this is where I think you gotta give an old artist credit.

It didn't sound like she was singing with the track.

She was definitely singing live.

Yeah, 100%.

You know, that's the problem with the Rock and Roll hall of Fame is it's so political and it comes down to Jan Lenner a lot of the time, doesn't it?

Yes.

Who gets in and who doesn't.

And a lot of Deserving bands maybe don't get in, or it takes so long time, and by the time they get there, maybe they're not a complete band anymore.

Maybe they've lost key members.

And, you know, that's.

That's unfortunate, but people get older, and you got to give props to somebody who's up there still doing it, you know, who can still do it.

Exactly.

Still being able to sing.

But it.

It kind of annoys me that you have Foreigner and, like, if you let.

Let them in 10 years earlier, right.

You have Mick Jones maybe playing, maybe you have a little healthier.

Lou Graham.

Also, Frampton got in, which I was happy to see.

Okay.

Because he got.

He kind of got like, wow.

No, he never was in.

And this was.

This was.

The thing about.

Was bullshit.

We had talked about this on this show before.

Sheryl Crow gets in before Frampton.

Okay.

Last year, during her induction speech, who did she say?

If it wasn't for Peter Frampton, I would have never picked up a guitar.

All right.

It happens every year, though, you understand?

This has happened.

The year that Nirvana went into, I was at that Rock and Roll hall of Fame induction, and they had all people filling in for Kurt.

And the first song was Smells Like Teen Spirit with Joan Jett.

Joan Jet.

Yeah.

And then once they did the speech, they were like, how the hell is Joan Jett not in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame?

And the place goes nuts.

And then what happens next year?

She gets into the hall of Fame.

The very, very next year.

But how is Joan Jett inducted into the hall of Fame before Peter Frampton, before Pat Benatar?

It's like you have to go down, kiss the ring, you know, and then you're going to go in.

Joan Jett shouldn't be in the hall.

Of Fame over those artists, you know, Sherry and said, but you think about it, she's really been an artist for seven decades.

Look how.

Yeah, definitely.

So seven decades.

She's had hits in.

And she goes.

And she still had no chance.

I forgot who she said it was, but she goes.

Until he wrote a letter.

And here, miraculously, here, now I'm in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

So it's really.

They don't like certain kinds of music.

You know, they don't like progressive rock.

You know, they're not a big progressive Rock hall of Fame.

So it was.

It was.

It was really something to get.

Yes.

In there.

That was really something to get the Moody Blues in there because, you know, there's a bias.

Yeah.

Who's not in there?

Kurt Who?

Okay.

Tribe Court Quest is in there.

Public Enemies in there.

And I have no.

I like these as groups, but not in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.

But who's on there?

Kurt Jethro Tull.

Yeah, exactly.

That's my point.

Yep.

Because why?

Because.

Well, they're progressive, Roman.

Well, when you said that, that's exactly the first band that came to mind.

And you're right, it did take a long time.

They're definitely not going in.

They should.

If these other bands got in, then they should get in also.

Now, the big one, Sean, Ozzy and the performers.

Was it hard?

I was heartbroken.

Literally heartbroken, looking at him because you know that he is dying to be out there singing.

And you saw him singing in his throne.

And it's just like they did the cutaway scene where like, you know, they kind of moved throne and then, you know, so you wouldn't see it on camera or on television that, you know, Ozzy was still in there.

So they do it.

The cutaway shot.

It was so horrible to see.

But I think.

I think the performances themselves are great.

I think Maynard jumped off and started.

I don't know if you caught this, Jeff, but May actually jumped in a little quick.

When they were doing crazy training, sure.

They didn't have a lot of time to really perform it.

I had no problem with Made it.

I mean, I didn't think vocally, part.

Of me, the musician part of me was like, oh, shit, he can't.

He came in.

He came in early, but he was good.

I thought he was okay, but I thought that I.

Listen, I'm a huge fan.

I love this guy.

I think he's fantastic.

I know where you're going.

Fucking jelly roll does not have to be on every goddamn show at this point.

I understand he's probably the biggest artist the planet right now, if you really think about it.

But for fuck's sake, I'm tired of looking at him now.

He had.

He struggled.

You gotta.

You know, he struggled during the choruses of My Mom Coming Home.

Jeff.

I have sang my.

I have sang for almost 40 years.

I have a hard time singing that song.

And I know my limits.

And I'm not on television, you know, I mean, like, this guy should not have sang that song.

And I called it ahead of time.

I was like, I know this guy.

When I saw that he was gonna be one of the ones for Ozzy, I said, there's no song that he's doing besides, Mom, I'm coming home.

But you know something.

And we'll get off this right after this.

It was good to see at least real rock and roll being represented this year.

I thought.

I thought it was, well, way, way overdue for Foreigner, Frampton and Ozzy as a solo artist.

So that.

That, in that regard is Dave Matthews.

And Dave Matthews.

No, no, no, because here's the thing, like, I think it's a crime that Maiden's not in the rock and roll hall of Fame.

Okay.

They could have waited a year or two for Dave Matthews band.

Now the thing is, with Dano dying, he'll never get to see.

Because he would have been.

He would have been in the Rock and roll hall of fame with him.

Clive Bird died a couple of years ago.

He's the original drummer.

Nico, the current drummer, had a.

You know, how many members have to die before the Rock and roll hall of fame, you know, lets these legendary bands that obviously deserve to be in, you know, let's.

Let's.

Them.

So what's the criteria?

That's.

What's the criteria to get in?

There is no criteria.

It's a board that just goes, oh, I like that.

I like that.

Exactly.

Yeah, I think they'll get in this year.

Tom Morello, who's very influential in the rock and hall of fame, has really been pushing for Maiden.

And I think they do get in.

But, you know, you would love to see Paul Diano go up there with those guys.

Maybe he would have been able do like a song with them.

It's ridiculous.

But speaking of something that's not.

The Grip Weeds.

Yeah, the grip Weed.

Okay.

Never make it into the hall of Fame.

No, maybe not the Rock and Roll of fame, but maybe the Jersey hall of Fame somewhere down the line.

You know, this is an.

This is a very.

That's a possibility.

Yeah, that's a very.

It's a very interesting band.

For those of you that are not familiar with the grip weeds, Tom, tell me if we're reading this right from what.

From what I listen to.

I think they are.

You guys are very, very Beatles and kinks sounding.

Would you say that's a good reader?

Sure, yeah, absolutely.

Are those your influences?

I think so, yeah.

Some of them, yeah.

I mean, there's.

I felt like a song like lies, you know.

Well, that's a cup.

Yeah, that was.

That's a great cover.

Yeah, that's originally by a band called the knickerbockers.

From Jersey Band.

Did you ever release that as a single?

We actually.

Well, no, we didn't, but it was.

We recorded it originally as part of a compilation for.

To benefit Hurricane Sandy.

That's why we did it.

And it was Jersey artists doing, you know, Jersey tributes.

And we thought, we'll do that one because they were from Knickerbocker Avenue in Dumont, New Jersey, which we.

Where we grew up.

So that's why we did the song.

And the Knickerbockers who recorded it, they thought it was the Beatles.

That.

That was a great, great cover.

I love that.

I thought that was really.

That really, I think, showed off the band.

I really thought that.

And speaking of the band, what's it like playing in a band with your brother and your wife and actually touring with them?

Well, you know, it's.

It's good.

It's actually good.

It's very stable in a way, especially with my brother, because it's.

Even though we've had our disagreements, you know, we can't really leave each other.

I mean, we could, but we're not gonna.

And our influences.

Our influences go back to our childhood and they're shared.

So there's a lot of stuff that we innately know about each other that if I write a song, I'll go, yeah, Rick, you know what I'm doing here.

It's that thing.

And he'll go, oh, yeah, yeah, sure.

And he'll know.

Exactly.

And then Kristen, it's really great to be able to go on tour and have my wife there.

And she was a musician before she was my wife.

And she.

We were in rival bands or, you know, bands that were contemporaries of each other in New York City.

And.

And so I knew her as a musician first, and then we thought, you know, we had.

The first guitar player was not working out in the grip weed.

So we thought, let's bring her in.

And at first I was a little bit like, well, I don't know if we should do that.

And.

Because, you know, boyfriend, girlfriend, and.

And honestly, the original Gripweeds format was kind of the old rock and roll standard.

You know, four guys, four young guys with long hair and guitars.

That was kind of it.

And the woman.

Bringing the woman in was like, oh, that's going to change the.

That's going to change the.

You know, the mold.

And we thought, well, we got to do it because she's so good, and she's actually probably the best musician of all of us to be.

Truth be.

So it's.

Right answer, by the way.

Yeah.

Hopefully she'll be listening to this.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly.

Good answer.

You're smooth.

Well, I mean, it.

It's easy when it's true.

And you know, and it also gave us a uniqueness, even though nowadays it's not as unique to have females in the band.

But what is unique still is that she's a lead guitarist.

And every time we go and play a show where.

Where the, you know, the club doesn't know who we are, inadvertent always will happen is that the will show up and the sound guy will go, okay, so she's the singer.

Right.

And you know, I'm the singer and.

And who's the drummer?

And I'm the drummer and she's the lead guitar player.

And by that time their brain is scrambled.

Well, that is a uniqueness.

I stupid in this day and age.

But, you know, it is what it is.

You and your brother start the band.

Were you playing in high school?

Yeah, we.

My brother got his first drum set when he was about 10 years old.

My parents, or 11, I would say 10.

My parents got him a drum kit for Christmas.

And I remember seeing the drum kit and going, I was seven.

I'm like, wow, that's really cool.

And looked at it for maybe six months.

And then eventually I made my way back there and started playing.

And then I started avoiding the neighborhood football games so I could play drums because it was a whole lot more fun and I wouldn't get hurt.

So I played drums instead.

And by the time I was 13, I could play, but my brother was a drummer and I was a drummer.

Were you self?

Pretty much, yeah.

Wow.

So we were never like in the same band for the longest time until we started to realize the crap bands we were in because the guitar players were.

Whatever they were doing wasn't what we wanted to do.

And my brother and I also played guitar.

So we started to think, well, how can we get more control over this music we want to make and do what we want?

Well, I guess one of us has to switch, unless we want to try to be the Allman Brothers.

And we didn't really want to do that with two drummers, you know, so we decided not to go that route and one of us switched to guitar.

And it was really like drawing us drawing straws.

Like, it was kind of the short straw has to play drums.

So I got the short straw and I'm like, well, I love the drums anyway.

You know, it was not an ego thing at all.

It was like, well, I don't mind it.

And.

And I thought, well, eventually we'll probably switch it up.

I'll come out front, he'll go back, and we'll do that and.

But that never happened.

And then three decades go by and I'm writing songs for the band on guitar.

I'm playing, but I'm still in the back of the band on the drums.

I'm like, you know, can I play a song?

And it was like that for the longest time.

And now I kind of.

It's like a bit we do live.

I say that basically what I just said.

And then I come out and like play a song on guitar.

So it's kind of a little fun we have.

But you know, we're both.

That's how we had to do it to play together.

But how are you self taught and are you self taught on guitar as well?

I had a few lessons on guitar, but it's a lot of it, honestly is listening and watching.

I mean, I think the Beatles would even say, you know, that they were self taught for the most part, except for when they go into a music store and somebody would show them something, or they were watching Little Richard, you know, at the Liverpool Empire or wherever he was, and they're like watching his band and going, oh, that's how they play the B7, you know, or that's how he's singing that, you know, and it's a lot of like really paying attention to how it's done.

And if you listen, if you have your eyes open, especially me in the studio because I'm the fifth band member of every band that comes in here.

And a lot of times, a number of times it's been people who are, you know, pretty well known.

And so I get to kind of eavesdrop.

Not even eavesdrop, just be part of the band on how they do what they're doing.

And before you know it, you're being schooled on how to, how to really sing or how Jim Babjack from the Smithereens gets his guitar sound, you know, and how he plays the chords.

Yeah, but Kurt, hold on a second.

It's one thing to watch Jim play guitar and you're in the studio, okay.

And.

But then how do you know where to put your fingers?

How do you know what, like, like how do you, like, how do you do.

There's we, there's ways, like I.

I used to spend all my allowance on Guitar World magazine or a tablature.

Yeah.

And they teach you and it shows you, it breaks it down how you know, what notes you gotta play, what chords you're going to play.

So once you have the basic idea of where chords are and then you can put Together a couple songs.

I mean, if you.

If you know how to play a bar chord, you can play any Ramones or Green Day song that's ever been recorded.

You know, once you get a little.

Bit of knowledge, like, especially you learn the chord shapes, so the root chords.

And once you get that.

And then somewhere along the way, someone opens up like, oh, this is a bar chord.

And you go, oh.

And how long does that take?

How long does it take?

I don't know.

Seven days.

Jeff, it's only seven days to learn everything.

If you're.

I've told students like Kristen, my wife has too, that, like, they'll be in a hurry.

They'll be like, how long is this going to take me to get good?

And I said, well, you know what?

It's a life journey.

You're starting to play, it's going to take what it takes, and you just have to put the time in.

So it's not like by the time, you know, six months from now, you're going to be a virtuoso.

Probably not.

You know, it's just.

It's like.

It's just.

It's a life journey.

And I swear to God, I've been playing drums since I was.

Well, I've been playing since I was about 8 years old.

And I'm still learning.

Stuff is still coming, you know, it's.

Still exactly like stand up, too.

It's exactly like stand up in a way where you think about it, you can start off and you're building your, you know, you're building up your jokes and you're learning how to do material, and you're learning your timing and you're.

Your pacing.

And then you're starting to get to a point where, you know, then you can do the host spot.

And then you.

You've.

You've managed your way to get to a feature spot.

And then you go into your headliner, then you're going to.

Doing your own club, then the theater.

So it's kind of like this constant buildup all the time, you know, and he's right.

I mean, I'm.

I'm a.

I'm a different guitar player than I was when I was 12.

I'm a different comic than I was 15 years ago.

That's it, you know, and.

And there's a lot of things that, you know, it's like, it's.

Doors are opened or, like, you know, you get these realizations, like, oh, that's how I should be doing it.

Like, I spent.

Probably spent a good 20 years singing not the right way and kind of maybe blowing my voice out sometimes.

Until I realized through working with some people, like Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders, I'm like, oh, that's how you do it.

So you don't want to get into that.

You access into the higher register and it's something you got to learn.

It doesn't come overnight.

It's not like all of a sudden you get it, but you have to work on it.

But it's these little things that open up to you, and if you're smart enough to see them and incorporate them, then you get to the higher place and it's like, you know, when you get to a plateau, you kind of like, oh, okay, now that you're up here, you can see what there is to see.

Because you're at a level as a musician, you kind of go, oh, now I see where I can go from here.

So there's another level.

Another level.

So I'm hoping that I just stay on this level of learning all the time and I'm just doing the best I can, you know, Like, I've always.

How much time do you spend practicing, especially early on?

Not that much, actually.

More time.

Like if I'm practicing, I'm just, I'm listening for sounds and I'm kind of just playing a beat or, or I'm just maybe working out something tempo wise.

And I'm doing small things now, but a lot of it's in the head too.

Or I'll do vocal scales.

See, I'm.

I'm a singer, drummer, guitarist, and I play piano.

So I'm doing all these different things, like trying to build up my chops on each thing and stay in the zone on each instrument.

And it really is just kind of like staying with it and not letting it sort of get too far out of the picture, you know, like if you get into something for a while, sometimes you get into, I don't know, you study in something and then you kind of get cold on it, you go do something else.

But I try to keep up on all my disciplines, you know, so it's, it's just that way.

I stay, I stay fresh, I stay flexible.

But also I stay in shape, like physically so that I can play the drums and I have the air to play the drums, you know, and all those things.

So it's like, for me, it's a, it's a lifestyle really.

So being a multi musician like you are.

Yeah.

I mean, how much does that help you as a producer when you, when you're recording other people's records a lot.

A lot.

And sometimes it could be a curse because I'll have the guitar part in my head that they should play.

And you have to know when not to suggest it or correct them, you know, because it's like you might have the answer, but sometimes they need to work through to find the answer.

And sometimes in their defense, their answer might be better than yours.

So hold on a second.

You bring up something really good here that I don't want to let go of, and that is, how much of it is your influence?

Or are you just recording them or as if, like what?

I guess the heart of the question is what does a producer do and what makes a good.

Really good question?

Well, if you're talking historically a producer, historically, what a producer would do is he'd be given a budget from the record label.

Like a George Martin.

Right.

George Martin would be given the budget from the record label.

You can't spend X.

You can always spend X amount of dollars.

You got to get it done in this time and don't waste a lot of time in the studio.

So you're the guy that's setting the pace and you're going to bring it in on time under budget.

Are you behind, Are you behind the soundboard?

Or are you just kind of like.

Are you just facilitating, like, kind of being like the head coach?

I'm talking historically.

And historically, in the past, when the music industry was functioning fully, you had an engineer who pushed the buttons and the faders, and then you had a producer standing behind him, kind of overseeing, going, yeah, that's good.

Or how about a little more of this?

Or maybe you need a little more balance.

So you had a guy, excuse me, guy working the dials, producer behind him, band out in this, in the playing performance room, making the music.

Right.

And everybody had their jobs.

Yet an A and R got artist and repertoire.

He was feeding songs.

He goes, you guys should play this song.

Let me suggest this, this song for you.

So you'd have this guy feeding the songs, producer running the whole show, engineer getting the sounds, band making the music.

That's how it used to work.

Now in the group leads, I wear all those hats.

I'm in the studio.

Well, that's good because you're saving yourself some money.

You don't have to hire an engineer, you don't have to hire a producer.

You're the guy.

And you're also the musician and you're the songwriter.

Well, exactly.

So now it's like all the band Is doing everything.

The lunatics are running the asylum.

But in order to make that happen, we had to spend years and years and years to develop our crafts.

Like on in all ways.

We were in studios before.

We worked with some producers, not too many.

And we eventually had to figure it out.

And the way we figured it out was we started with making our own demos.

A demo is like, you know, your home version of what you're going to record.

You know, you write a song, you make a demo.

It's a scaled version.

Sketch.

Yeah, it's like a sketch.

And then you take that demo and say to your band or to your producer, whoever, this is what I have in mind.

But I want to make a record out of this, right?

And so we were making these demos and eventually we decided, well, the demos are kind of pretty close to the recording.

Why don't we just make them better?

And that's when we started getting more equipment.

And actually what happened was we actually released.

Our first release was four track demo recordings and we put it out on an EP, a vinyl, a little 45.

And how many years ago was that?

That was mid-90s.

So how many years ago is that?

Is that 30 years?

That's over 30 years ago.

Yeah, 30 years.

It's.

It's going by, time is going by.

But anyway, so we put it out and that was our first thing.

And the bands that we were playing.

You didn't put out a casingo?

Oh, no, no.

We had.

We had cassettes too.

That's true.

The singles were shit because they were so light that they kept getting caught up in the machine.

We never thought a cassette was a real release.

It wasn't a legit release.

We thought, you know, you got to have vinyl at the time because I guess There were CDs too, in the 90s.

Absolutely there were, yeah.

Yes.

And our first album was a CD as well, so.

But when we put out the vinyl, we started getting notice from the other bands that we were playing with.

And it was like, oh, can.

Can you record us?

Like, yeah, sure, you know, I think we could.

And it was.

That was when we went the next step to becoming on the other side of the glass as like an actual producer and engineer and doing it for someone else, which means you're getting paid.

Yeah.

And once you cross that stair, that step that, you know, whatever threshold, well, then your mindset changes.

I remember actually being a little physically ill when I started out for the pressure of having to do this and make sure that you get something that's Usable.

You're not wasting people's money, you know, and there's a lot of pressure involved, but now it's more.

Much more comfortable with that role.

So I can't remember what your original question was.

Well, there's probably a couple of them in there.

There were.

But again, every time you say something, you bring up something that's interesting.

So, you know, you're a singer, musician, drummer.

You know, obviously, you know, you've had success with the producing as well.

Who would you rather be?

Would you rather be Don Henley or Mutt Lang?

There are times when I would rather just be Don Henley out.

Out in the room playing.

But then I.

Part of the way I write a song and the way we write songs in the grip weeds is we.

I have a recording in mind.

So when I'm writing a song, a lot of times, if I'm thinking it up and before I write it, I'm thinking it maybe I'm out on a jog, I'm running, and I'm like, I got a whole visual, I got a whole sonic picture in my head.

So I'm hearing the song and then I got to translate it into reality.

And that translation starts with an acoustic guitar.

Then you flesh it out with vocal and lyrics.

And then you flesh it out with how does the bass go, how does the drums go, how does.

What are the lead guitar parts?

And that's where the band comes in and fleshes everything out.

And then.

But the Guiding hand is still my original idea of what the song could be and trying to achieve that.

So that's how I write the songs, at least the songs that I write.

And I do have a production in mind.

So someone asked me that very question once of like, you know, how would you feel about having a producer work with you?

And I thought, wow, that would be a real luxury.

But, you know, it's.

It's a real handoff because I really love to birth the track and.

And make it become what.

That's got to be a huge.

That's got to be a huge decision, you know, but, you know, you.

Because it's so personal to you, and.

Then you understand, like, everything that he's saying is exactly what we do as well too.

We can have.

And I'm.

I'm saying this too, from even like a songwriting point of view as well.

You have.

You see it on both sides, Sean.

I see it on both sides.

What I'm trying to say is for.

But like this.

Think of it this way.

Do you have an idea for his bit you know exactly in your head how this joke is a.

Is a million dollar joke, right?

It involves a didgeridoo.

Right.

You realize that this joke is a winner, right?

I have a great joke about didgeridoo Curry, you got to come see me sometimes.

Recorded a didgeridoo.

Of course, you did know what didgeridoo was until he saw my bit.

So then you have this grandiose idea.

But then you have to realize you can't just go from A to B to A to Z.

You got to fill in all those little gaps with little tags and add ons and your buildups and stuff like that.

So writing a great joke is exactly the same as writing a song.

Well, there you go.

The thing about it is though is like, you know, if you get too insulated, like if you don't have outside viewpoints, if you don't have any perspective other than your own, that could be very dangerous.

And it could also be.

And it could also be wasteful because maybe when the song is done, it doesn't measure up and you didn't listen to anybody, so you've got no other viewpoints.

And that can happen.

You can, it's.

That is a.

Is a major problem these days with people working in their bedrooms, like musicians working, you know, in their own little cocoon.

They don't have the outside view.

You got the luxury that a lot of these bands don't.

You're living with someone in the band.

So does your wife will say to you, hey, you know, have you ever thought about this?

Or does your brother who has a connection with you, do they add that 2 cents in?

My favorite thing to do actually is, let's say a band is coming in to work.

Before we start, I'll go, hey, give a listen to this and.

And maybe it'll be one of our songs.

Because I.

What I want to get.

I saw Pat from the Smithereens do this.

Pat.

Before he passed away, Pat Denisio.

Obviously, if you can get an honest viewpoint from somebody about how your music is hitting, then you've got some valuable information.

Absolutely.

Like it's okay to, you know, I could say, oh, I, you know, I've thought this song up and I know what the vision is and I gotta, I have it all, I have it all figured out.

But when you play that song for somebody, does it work?

Does it move them?

Or do they go, eh, I don't know, you know, and that's what I look for.

I look for.

It's about a minute.

It takes one minute.

You watch them, you play the song and you watch for when they check out and when they lose interest.

And right, there you go, okay, I don't have it.

All right?

What did I not do?

How can I make this stronger?

What am I missing?

You know?

And that's the viewpoint I'm always looking for, because I don't have that unless I put the song away for a while and then pick it back up and then maybe I'll get it, you know?

But it takes a long time.

If you make a record, it takes a while to pull that record out and go, oh, I could have done that better.

Why didn't I do this?

Why didn't I do that?

You know, and it's the viewpoint of the cold listen.

It's for you guys to be like the audience member who has no ax to grind.

He's out there.

Does he laugh?

Is he.

Is he moved?

You know, did you hit?

Did you hit him?

Or.

If you didn't, go back and do something better, you know, but you've also.

You've also have had the luxury of working with some really monumental guys.

Yes.

Have you ever discussed this with Brian Wilson, who I know you work with and I know you on.

I think you toured with Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders.

I mean, so did they ever give you any type of insight tips, you know, something that you took with you that you're able to, like, apply to your band and the other bands that you produce?

Well, not so much Mark.

I'm sorry.

Brian, personally, with Brian, I didn't get to know him personally very well.

I play.

I spent one day with him and another time.

Another two times actually after that.

That's still incredible because, I mean, would you say.

And Sean, you too?

Would you say that he's the greatest American songwriter?

American songwriter.

He's one of them.

If not, he's right up there.

Dylan, Springsteen and Brian Wilson.

Would you say those are the top.

Three major influence on my work and on my.

What?

You know, when I was a kid, I just loved the Beach Boys and, you know, and it's the type of music that you can grow up with, you can grow old with, because it's totally, you know, totally.

So, you know, while.

While I didn't learn anything directly from him telling me, I learned a whole lot from him just by soaking it in.

Mark Lindsay is someone who I worked with very closely, both in the studio and live, so I learned a whole lot on both sides of that.

How's that come about?

You're.

Because You're a Jersey guy.

How do you hook up with Mark Lindsay?

Well, he came to New York to do.

It was a.

It was called Cave Stomp which they were putting on in New York City and as a garage rock festival.

And he was Steven Zandt.

Van Zandt have a hand in this?

Well, he was there and yes.

Yeah, he did.

So it was before the underground garage.

Not that long ago.

Okay, right before it was.

Specifically it was right after 9 11.

It was the month after.

So what happened was Mark was putting a band together to play New York and he got a guy who I knew and I happened to make a short list of drummers.

Number one drummer was Clem Burke from Blondie.

Oh great.

Yeah, I remember Clem Brooke from years ago.

Sure, yeah, great, great drummer.

I love him.

He used to play in, in another local band.

Oh my God.

What?

He had a side project that's a Blondie.

What was it called?

I don't know, but colors.

The colors.

Okay.

Yeah, he's had a lot of.

Yeah, I used to go see them.

He's done a lot of different things.

But Blondie was his main obviously claim to fame.

But anyway, he was on the left, he was on the west coast and his wife said, you're not flying.

It's 9 11.

I don't want you up there.

You can't go.

So Clems off the list, number two, Dennis Steichen from the Smithereens.

They had a gig that night.

So no, can't do it.

So I was number three.

So I'm like, oh, Mark Lindsay, New York City.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I took the gig and I remember it being very.

The city really smelled of the Twin Towers had come down.

It was still in the air.

Who knows if I got sick from that, you know, you never know.

But anyway, I learned Mark and I just hooked a.

Sort of hit it off right away at that time and we did the show.

We did another two shows after that and then I didn't see him for a while and then I saw him a couple years later.

He hired me again to do something and then I didn't see him for another few years and then he came to do.

We were making a Christmas record and it was the grip weeds under the influence of Christmas that we were doing and we decided we're going to let guests in.

Gripweeds are very self contained.

We usually don't have anybody else playing anything because we all play.

But this time we thought let's get, let's, let's get some guest artists.

We've never done that.

So we got the smithereens.

We got a couple of local guys and stuff, and some legends.

And I called Mark, and Mark was like.

I said, I wrote a song for you to sing.

And I wrote it, and I thought, the only guy to sing this is the guy who sang Hungry.

Hungry for the Good Things, Baby.

That song.

That's the guy.

That's what I want.

That attitude of punk.

So I called him up and he's like, sure, I'll do it.

And he.

And I thought, wow, that's cool.

You know?

Glad he remembered me at all.

So he comes over, he does the song, and he's like, I really like the studio.

Did you have to pay him?

No, he didn't want anything.

Wow.

So I was like, hey, I really like the studio.

I like to work together again.

I'm working on some stuff.

I'd like to do something.

So he brought me a project of his, and we started working on his stuff in the studio.

Then we did another one, and then we did another one.

And then came time for.

He was doing some casino shows, and he needed a band, and he thought of the grip weeds to back him up.

And that opened up a whole other, like, thing.

Oh, you guys did it?

Yeah.

Okay.

You all did it.

Okay.

And backed him up.

And we're going to back him up again next year.

And that was really good for our growth as a live band.

Definitely.

Like to work behind a legendary singer, to be tight, know those songs inside and Out Cold and deliver, you know, to a paying audience that you got to make sure you're measuring up.

It's got to be great.

And.

But.

But, you know, in the studio is where Mark and I really hit it off as well, because he had.

He had produced those songs.

He was the guy.

He did like, he was there when hungry, and he.

He did all those songs like he was a co producer or a producer of all those songs.

He tells us one story.

Always walking out the door of 16 magazine, having just seen Gloria Stavers for this and that.

She told him how to dress.

She was like his wardrobe person.

And he says, he goes, it was a monumental moment.

I'm walking out.

Jim Morrison's walking in.

And I felt like, wow, I just passed the torch to Jim, you know, and I'm done with the teen thing, you know, and so to work with somebody who's got that kind of deep Knowledge of the music that I love was just gold.

So what is the music that you love?

Well, right there, I.

I love.

You know what, besides that.

I mean, because the name of our show and, you know, and before we run out of time, is called To Japan.

Okay, so who is Kurt's band?

Who do you love?

Well, it depends on what time period.

I mean, I love the Doors.

I love all the 60s stuff.

I love music in the 70s.

I love R.E.M.

i used.

I've loved.

I like Modern Bands.

I like.

Let's see.

Well, I loved Oasis, all the stuff that they do.

But you relate to Oasis?

Yeah.

You and your brother were in a band together?

Well, you know, we always sort of like, you know, joke about that.

It's like, yeah, we have fights, but we don't have fights like that.

You know, we worked it out.

Maybe the King, maybe the Kingston.

Close.

Yeah, we came pretty close a few times.

But okay, so if we.

If you have.

Well, the Kinks was another huge influence on me, too.

And, you know, but in all of that is like, yeah, those are the inspiration.

Like the Beach Boys, you know, I like to go back to kind of the 60s stuff is very impactful for me.

But is that the best era of music influences?

I'll take from the 70s.

ELO.

Love ELO.

60S.

That's what I'm asking.

Because we've debated this on the show as well.

The best era of music, the best decade of music is Walker.

Oh, man, that's such a.

You gotta answer.

No, you can't.

You can't.

They all such great things.

Of course they do.

That's what makes it a hard question.

So, like me, okay, I'm inspired by 60s, 70s, even the 80s, and even the 90s, you know, and Nirvana.

I love Nirvana.

And even that made its way into what we were doing because at the time, you know, when you're an artist, when you're writing a song, you know, you're reflecting on what's around you.

In our own way, you know.

But we have a strong tie to those.

That music, you could probably say, yeah, all right, I'm going to give it to you, Jeff.

The 60s would be my favorite because I think it was less calculated.

The music industry wasn't quite as together.

They were Like, I think they were shocked at what the Beatles did.

Like, whoa, where'd that come from?

We thought that stuff was crap, you know, and all of a sudden, whoa, there's money to be made.

And then after that, it was like, wow, well, we can make more money.

We'll put these guys on the road.

And then FM radio and, you know, then they all got into it.

But I don't think they really understood how the bands were doing what they did.

So they gave them a long leash, you know, they let the producers do what they did, make the music that was effective, you know, and.

And then it started to get ruined.

Like, you ever see Aerosmith Pump?

Remember that album from the 80s, or was it 90 or something?

And there's a video called the Making of Pump, and there's the Aerosmith are trying to record their album, and they get these consultants that are wheeled and they come in, they show these consultants and they're listening to their music.

No, you should.

You should make that more accessible.

That chorus is no good.

You know, you gotta hit this market and that market, and all of a sudden, lo and behold, you get a hit.

But maybe it's not the pure statement from the band anymore, it's a calculation from the label to make money.

You know, not saying that that's not a good record, because it is a good record.

But nobody could see you, Dylan, you and your band.

I could see you being like the band, or at least the songs in a movie, like that thing you do.

Yeah, yeah, that would be.

Right.

That'd be great.

No, because.

Well, because your sound is.

Is very catchy, very poppy, you know, and you know who the band that did that was, right?

That was Fountains of Wayne.

That was.

Right.

I'm thinking Adam Schlesinger, as you say.

Adam Schlesinger.

Oh, yeah.

You know, and he's an influence.

You know, more contemporary, but for.

To us, but definitely an influence.

And it goes back to what I was saying before of where, you know, you're looking for what's going to hit people, what's.

You don't want to waste anybody's time.

You don't want to be too self indulgent.

You still want to be quality and you want to make sure that you've got your integrity, but you want to connect with the listener in a big way, if you can.

Somehow, you know, that's what it's all about.

And you're.

And.

And what you're doing is you're.

It's energy.

There's all this stuff is Energy.

It's like, it's, it's.

It's waves of sound, which is energy.

And you're just tweaking people, you know, you're trying to, like, influence them a little bit.

Oh, yeah, I love that.

Oh, it makes me feel good, you know, or.

Or maybe it makes me feel like hitting something.

Whatever it is, it causes a reaction, you know, that's.

I think that's what we all want.

A comedian.

You want a reaction.

Well, we want one.

We want one reaction.

I have a question.

So playing out in the 90s, the New York City scene and the Asbury park scene, what were the differences between those two scenes?

Knowing that you played both of them?

Who, me?

Yeah.

Well, I would say a really a big difference.

It depends.

The New York scene that we were in was very much geared towards getting signed to a label in the 90s.

It was very much like, who's going to be seeing you?

And you got to make sure you get the industry people out to check out the band and the radio people and blah, blah, blah, blah.

You know, you've got to get these people to come see you, you know, and fill the place.

And I think there was less of pressure to do that.

Down the shore in Asbury Park.

It was a little bit more, let's have a party.

Come on, Bruce Springsteen.

You know, it was more of that to me, having done both and having.

Still do both.

We're playing in.

Well, we're just going to do a show on Friday, but this will air later.

So we will have done the show on Friday in New York City, which we're looking forward to.

But yeah, yeah, I was gonna say.

So tell us about what's the future plans of the Grip Weeds.

Where can people follow you?

How could they go see a Grip weed show?

Tell us a little bit more Grip Weeds.

Well, I would say the best place to start there is just go on the Internet, type in Grip Weeds.

Where the.

We're pretty much the only one.

Gripweeds.com is our website.

Facebook, the Gripweeds, Twitter or X, whatever.

We're on all the social media accounts and if you just type in Doug Gripweeds or Gripweeds, you'll find us.

And we're pretty.

We like to keep things current as far as letting people know what we're doing.

And what we're actually doing right now is making a new album, which has taken up a lot of our time to get it right.

We want it to be good.

And all the stuff I was just talking about is pretty much What I do on a daily basis.

And it's the thought process of how can we make this music stronger?

You know, that's what it is.

It's like we got the song, but how do we make it stronger?

You know?

And hold on a second.

Now what I heard on 101.5 FM, that's.

That was a new song, right?

Yeah, that's right.

That's a good song.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Well, that's an example of what we're doing in the studio now and just drawing.

We're drawing on all our life experience to knock this out of the park.

That's what we're trying to do, you know, and not screw it up.

When will this record be finished?

Well, we're.

We're actually got a lot done on it, so it's going to come out in March.

That's the plan.

Which means we have to finish it up in December, which we will be able to do.

Just have to.

A few things we're still working on.

And then after.

The great part about, you know, living and playing in this era that we are now is like, you don't have to wait three years to put out an album.

Yeah.

Why?

What is that, Sean?

Because people are just cutting songs.

Like.

Yeah, you know, they're cutting songs, but sometimes they're not good.

Like you take a guy like Tom Schultz of Boston, who was a.

Who was an off the charts perfectionist, and Mutt Lang, who would also.

47 takes, you know, for hand claps.

Okay, so is it the industry, Sean, or is it, is it the producer in the band that, you know, that, that, you know, every little minutia has to be.

Exactly.

I don't know.

I think, I think that this, I think it's a good mix of both because, like, you'll have these artists who are putting out, you know, I'm noticing too.

And Kurt, I don't know if you, if you see this through, that full length albums are getting a lot longer.

They're more than I would think.

They're getting less because people have the attention span.

No, I mean the amount of songs I'm seeing albums that are doing at a minimum 16, 18, 20 songs on an album.

That's stupid.

No, because, you know, what's happened is with the resurgence of vinyl, it's becoming.

We're doing it because when we started making records, we were gearing it towards the cd.

Vinyl was dying, so we were gearing it towards the CD.

And the CD was 80 minutes of music.

Right.

And we wouldn't be trying to fill the 80 minutes, but we would sometimes we actually did put out a double album, 83 minutes of music, which wouldn't make a single CD.

But what I'm saying is the vinyl resurgence has, has made us go back to a 40 minute record, which is 20 minutes per side.

That's the ideal sweet spot for vinyl.

You don't want to go over 20 minutes, 22 minutes.

You don't want to go too far beyond that because the sound starts to suffer.

But that just happens to be a good length of time.

It doesn't write songs like that.

You're not, you're not LP, you're not, you're not doing an 11 minute number of songs.

But the number of songs that we were would put on a record, you know, will add up to 45 minutes or whatever it is, you know, and we don't want to go too far over that.

And it just so happens that they actually got it right with vinyl.

Vinyl is a good length of time for a listener not to get 100%.

100% agree with that.

They got to flip the record over 20 minutes.

If you can hold them for 20 minutes, that's you're doing something.

Yeah, I mentioned, I mentioned Jelly roll before.

Like two weeks ago, he puts an album out, right?

It's 22 songs.

Hold on, it gets better.

The next day he releases the deluxe version with seven more songs, 29 songs.

Listen, I'm going to good songs, Sean.

Honest to God, there was about seven of them that all sounded exactly the same to me and I like to do.

And out of 29, he had a third.

He had a really solid 13, 14 songs.

Yeah, you don't need that many.

But you edit again, like comedy editing the economy of words, you know, make it, make it, make it short.

People don't have the attention span anymore.

But you know what's happening with that.

There's Spotify playing a game.

They're playing into Spotify, right?

People putting on their album, playing all 22 songs and Ka ching, ka ching, ka ching.

Even though you only get a fraction of a century per play, which is criminal by the way.

At least you're getting.

If you can get your fans to play it and play it and play it and play it and play it.

22 songs times a million plays.

Well, you've just made a good chunk of money.

So that's probably why they're loading it up more than we're going to lose them.

You know, I hate the way, you know, we didn't talk about this.

But I, you know, right out of college, that was my first job.

I worked A and R for CBS Records.

Okay.

Right.

Yeah, you're telling me.

Yeah.

And I hate what the record company.

The record business has become is.

It's completely.

It's completely reversed the way it used to be.

Yeah, it's totally reversed, but it's, you know, where the keys of the kingdom, they used to hold them and hold them over your head.

Oh, absolutely.

Right.

But also, what they.

But what they did, they provided a service because now you don't have to go on the Internet and listen to, you know, thousands of shit.

And they kind of like, you know, edited out and gave you what they thought was going to be like.

And sometimes they got it wrong.

There was a lot of times I got it wrong.

But then there was also a lot of times they got it right and say people.

A lot of times they dropped the band.

Well, that.

Well, have you ever heard of a band called New Man?

No.

Well, New man was a band that, you know, because actually, I wound up graduating in the late 80s, so they were kind of like a mid to late 80s band.

They wound up getting signed.

They won best Band out of Boston.

They put out their first record.

They barely sold.

Sold 10,000 copies.

And that.

You never heard of New man again.

Exactly.

Yeah.

That's what would happen if.

And they were lucky that they actually got the record released because I can tell you other horror stories of bands getting the budgets and, like, going to make their first album, and then the label saying, no, we're not going to put it out.

We're dropping you, and you can't take your album and go home.

You lose.

That's right.

That's right.

That's it.

Yeah.

So, like, this is actually.

In that sense, this is better because, you know, we're at least.

We're captains of our own ship.

It might not be the Titanic.

Well, no, not the Titanic.

The Queen Mary.

Yeah, you don't want to be the Titanic.

Queen Mary, but it's a good ship, you know, and we own it.

Okay, so we're going to end.

Because we got two minutes.

We're going to end on this.

On this question.

Sean, ask a final question that we always ask.

Okay.

So, yeah.

And especially Kurt is the perfect guy to answer this question.

No bailing out.

You can.

You can't take a.

You can't do the weeds.

Yeah, don't be a.

Don't be a answer.

I'll do my best.

You don't have to say your wife.

You don't have to say your brother.

You get to pick and be in your all time favorite band.

You get to pick the drummer, the guitar player, the bass player, the singer, the keyboard, whatever.

What is the band and what do you play in it?

Oh, so you're looking for me to put together a band.

You're a super group.

Your super.

My super group.

Well, okay, yeah, I gotta have Paul McCartney on bass.

Okay about it already.

This is a good band.

Yeah, I'm gonna put on drums.

Well, that would be me if I'm in the band.

You're in the band?

Yeah.

Right.

So I'm gonna play drums.

Guitar player.

Well, like I tough one here, but I'm gonna go with my good buddy Jim babjack on guitar because he's so good.

And then second guitar will be Pete Townsend.

Oh, wow.

Okay.

Yeah, I don't think we've ever gotten that answer before, Sean.

Paul McCartney.

Pete Townsend.

Jim, baby, my cell phone drums.

I'm in.

I'm in ridiculously stupid company here.

But let's see.

So keyboard.

So I pick the keyboard player.

Well, I'll pick.

Oh boy.

Maybe I'll pick.

Well, you guys probably don't even know who this is.

Rod Argent from the Zombies.

Yeah, we know who Rod Arjun is.

He was in the Zombies.

I'll pick Rod Argent for keyboard.

This guy.

This guy.

And then vocals.

Oh man.

Vocals.

Well, the best singer of all time, John Lennon.

He's living or dead, right?

You can't.

You can go with two Beatles do.

I can't.

I can't do it.

All right, you could, you could.

But I mean, come on.

And already this is insanely great band.

It's a great band.

But like again, as everybody else in the world is like fuck Ringo and.

And Harrison.

But I love both of those guys.

But he's the drummer, so Ringo can't be in the band.

That's right.

Or I could come out front, I'll sing.

Ringo plays drums now John gets shifted over guitar.

And poor Jim.

I loved it.

Jim was on this show too, you know, he.

Yeah, he.

He was.

He's great.

He's such a good.

Oh, he did.

He was on there.

Oh yeah.

There was a time when we were recording.

I'll make this quick.

We were recording Mark Lindsay and he just did a vocal and we're sitting there and I had this realization now Mark has had.

He had a number.

He had.

I think it was number one Indian reservation.

Oh yeah.

Cherokee People.

Cherokee People.

Great song.

I used to love that song when I was a kid.

It has that great bass and drum.

That's great.

The whole thing is amazing.

So here's mark Lindsay in the studio, and he puts down this vocal, and we're looking at each other in the control room going, holy.

Holy shit.

You know, and now I get it.

This guy, you know, we're just a bunch of, like, kind of average mules in a barn.

And the stallion just walked in and he's showing what he really can do.

Pitch perfect.

The guy's amazing.

His voices and he was 70.

Why don't you make him usanga?

Well, maybe I will.

Okay.

Mark Lindsay, I love it.

That's a great.

That's now that now.

That's a super band.

That's a super group.

Kurt, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Well, thank you for having me and you too.

We really appreciate it.

You know, real great insights and stuff.

Guys, please, please, please.

Check out the grip weeds album coming out in March, will be done in December.

Look for their dates, look for tour dates.

We're going to do st around the album, so we'll be playing out.

Yeah, go if you want.

If you want to record your own album.

House of vibe studios.

House of vibes dot com.

Yep.

Yeah, I'll.

I'll discuss it all with you, but we don't take everybody.

We take music that we feel we can, you know, work with.

I'm not taking, like, a rap artist because it's not really my genre.

So I'm looking for.

I'm profiling you as much as you're profiling me to see if you want to work with that work, you know, something that's great.

You know, if you're all comfortable.

It's not a job for me.

It's like, what I want to do, you know?

Yep, I hear you.

We appreciate your time.

Thank you so much again, Kurt.

Kurt Ryle, everybody.

Thank you.

The grip weeds.

Check them out, guys.

This is who's your band?

Remember, please, again, Follow, subscribe, Comment, like all that stuff.

That helps more than you think.

We'll catch you next time on hooja band.

Thank you, everybody.