EP 258 | Bob Rock on Gord Downie and their album Lustre Parfait

now I'm chairman David Mulligan you know that again he's Bob Rock because would Bob Brock anybody but Bob wear a striped shirt like that no it's a jacket you know I thought I'd put a good jacket on for you I did the same thing here yeah there you go get a little black T-shirt um are you at warehouse yeah what's the project oh it's Offspring isn't it no it's Motley Crue I know three new songs good Lord are you doing the whole album or just three oh just three songs okay that's great and listen here's the deal how much have they changed are they the surprise they're the same guys they're uh they're they're clean they're you know they're just having the greatest time they did this stadium tour this big stadium tour you know they're so happy they've got great families you know yeah it's a different scene yeah you have to talk about yourself for a bit why do they come to you why do they come back I don't I don't know I mean we've had a long we had a great deal of success together and we just get along as people you know it's a friendship you know I did I did some I did the tracks on the dirt the movie thing right and we just had so much fun so yeah and where's Offspring and all of this were you working with them yeah I'm working on an album uh with them yeah I'm just astonished a band called Offspring they implode they've come together again they they disappear they know they show up again no no no they've they've been continuing and uh now they're managed by Bruce yeah right and he just put them in another another level taking them to another level they're doing very very well it's great it still kills me that we can talk about Bon Jovi and Metallica and uh all those guys all those guys all those cats Aerosmith and Ron freaking sexmith it blows my mind did you hear the album yeah yeah it's a good album yeah good album good album I'm just astonished um because because then then we can't get a fix on you you can do pretty much anything you want you challenge yourself yeah at this point you know Terry I just I want to be with people I like being with and just great material you know so yeah uh and it brings us to Gord uh the the hip would would join me on much music for a backtracks they loved going through old videos and playing them in a one-hour format they dug the hell out of it and I should have noticed that a bit more about their leanings in terms of old dead stuff and Old Stone stuff and but but it's all come full circle so you hook up with him uh uh uh World container and on uh within the same yes uh how was the experience for you just walking away from it how was it Oh you mean working well it was great it was great to uh you know they've been on the radio in Canada and they're very big here and stuff so it was just um to get involved with them and what I what I loved about them and what I discovered is what a great you know like it they're like the stones they have a sound when they play you know and it's it's just one of those those things the way they play together is just you know original right great View and great guys yeah very Canadian and I like that it's probably what pissed off Bruce Allen more than anything is that that they they were too Canadian they you as you know as you well know you just couldn't stand him he couldn't stand he couldn't understand what we liked about the hip didn't get it yeah but the funny thing is is that uh when he heard the mix Gordon Bob you know what he said he says you know what I never heard gord's vocal this loud I never heard the lyrics and he says that was the thing yeah he never knew the talent that Gord had because it was mixed down in the music that's the thing you know it's just part of the story right is that um when he passed away I you know I rushed to kind of mix it um and you know when he passed away I really couldn't touch yeah I walked away for four years or whatever and then when I came back and looked at it um I had a different perspective and I realized that he was the main the main thing so I pushed his vocal up you know and it's his vocalist lyrics you know there you go and so what Bruce was blown away yeah because he never we never would have heard him no in the hip context like that that's the thing yeah what part of the um the final tour did you visit did you see them somewhere I saw him in Calgary okay yeah what do you remember walking out thinking um well it's just so it was a Bittersweet you know it was like David they obviously elevated themselves this is the band the performance were amazing right but it's like I said bittersweet because you knew what was going on yeah and what was it did you get were you in Canada or did were you when when Gord finally passed away uh no I was in I was in Maui okay no Patrick phoned me you know yeah it was it was tough for everybody but yeah uh so 2016 I think is when this journey started for you in terms of yeah cluster parfait that's a long time that's a lifetime ago because a lot of things have happened to the world and all of us yeah but you didn't think you were you were in no hurry to get to those songs well the the thing was is that because we were both so busy we just grabbed you know where like for instance there was a time three days he was in Los Angeles and I was there so we just recorded some vocals in my hotel room in the sunset Marquis you know we'd grab three days here and there Toronto I was in Toronto hotel room we grabbed some more time there and then Studios and we just did it over so you know we just kept working at it you know we had so much fun it was really David uh Terry I would just say the main thing is is we just became really great friends being dads Canadians lovers of hockey and and you know just being who we are and when we got together we just just had the best time we did whatever we wanted there was no thing that we had to no box that we had to be in and you trusted each other and especially he trusted you because he knew that this music wouldn't see the light of day till after he was gone and it was it would be in your hands yeah I had to fulfill the promise you know but um you know in a way the time when I put it down it was I gained A New Perspective I knew how to finish it you know and yeah did he talk to you from the monitors because well you know like I I'm I've got I've got hours of interviews with Red Robinson and I start down the road and I have to stop I'm bawling my eyes out yes it's going to take a while so how was the journey for you oh which after yeah after he passed well it was foreign it's just really tough you know the last days when he got sick uh I wanted to see him to Toronto and we spent two days with him and he had his turntable and he was playing music while we were talking I hadn't done that since I haven't done that for 30 years you know when music's just playing and you're having a conversation it's not loud you know and we just talked about music and we just uh it was great but you know yeah it's tough Terry to be quite honest even just bringing it up now yeah how was the song selection do the songs form themselves well basically you know I've always written I I put together tracks like I was a stranger I put it all together and handed it to Paul yeah so it's basically done so that's what I do because that's what I've learned that's how I write um so I handed him tracks and then he would send me what he did and you know I was just it just blew me away every time he sent it back were they were they complete tracks or or bits and pieces were Bridges here Bridges there well little things there was all sorts of different sizes and shapes and I had to kind of like collect it and finish the record you know like for one song The the last song that I did um it's called gray boy and we had this he wrote it to this track and after he sang it I realized that the music wasn't up to snap so I just kept his vocal and rewrote the whole track wow I like that and and did you and so you sent your music he sent back lyrics uh and did he did he then sing over top of the track just to give you anything yeah okay wow yeah holy crap so yeah yeah you you see this is this is this wonderful thing about music it's like are just so blessed that he was inspired by the music you know so and he just took it and took the ball and ran with it you know when I first started to play so I saw the music come out I saw the the teas and I took a look at it went okay but let me hear that I was just blown away I because a a his voice was still there it was strong it was as you say front and center you can't miss it but there's a horn section over here and there's there's riffs over here and the band is cooking who's you have in the studio with you well they're just all the collection of all my friends you know that uh for years like I I cut some of these tracks in 2013 and they were just sitting there you know uh maybe Paul and I were gonna finish them they just sat there and um when he said you know he said send me more and so I sent him 14 tracks and there's 14 tracks in the album it was uh it's it's I've never experienced anything like this and um you know we were so excited we um you know we're talking about you know we're not going to tour but we're trying to think of some way to play it live because it's a very Lively album you know it it's almost it that's what's that's what such a drag you know because we loved it you know what we did well given AI do you think there maybe something could some visual because he was a very visual guy as you well know yeah and he would do it he'd make a film of all of this if he were with us well he wrote he wrote a film a script over the album he did yes yeah no he wrote it it's a whole record you only take it one step further what do you think would you do that would you would you set a film In Motion do you think I I don't know do you know Terry I'm just one step at a time you know the most the most the most important thing was to put this up because he he he said it can't stop please finish it everybody's got to hear this he was very proud of it yeah uh North Shore I thought it was about North Vancouver but it's not everybody has a North Shore well that's the thing you know he when he came over to Maui I live on the North Shore so actually we met on the North Shore in Little Town in paella in Maui that was the first meeting you know and we we talked about like maybe working together and then we just talked like I said we talked about being dads husbands uh you know hockey and how we grew up you know we had a lot of similarities even though he was in Eastern Canada I was West Coast in Winnipeg right so um yeah we got to know each other really quickly yeah it's really a remarkable story Bob as you well know I mean not just you and Gord but you and Gord that's I know it's yeah it's a complete accident you know there was no conception going into this this was just it was just fun it was like a couple to be quite honest we felt like we were 20 years old just discovering music you know it's so great I think it it really comes out in the track tracks you know totally comes out in the tracks Greyboy you mentioned it really drives it home drives it home a lot I just love it um who's who's your horn section by the way I want to congratulate that uh Tom kaneley side put the the uh he played all the sacks amazing solos through the whole album and he put together the guys here the great guys and did the arrangements yeah uh so now what's the reaction uh what what tracks are starting to get some play who's uh what are they jumping on dude um well it varies I mean one one thing I think that hits a lot of people is the moment because it's a very long song yeah and gourd's performance and the lyrics um uh about living in the moment it was kind of like I said it's kind of like a weird thing because he wrote that before he ever got sick you know so yeah I mean everybody has their favorites you know all the singles that came out I think the best part of this is when people actually heard the whole record yeah they had a different idea of what it was right and really it's kind of a record to listen to like all of it when you hear it you kind of hear what's going on rather than one song he's the most remarkable thing well I keep saying that but remarkable thing is that we don't we don't have a structure like this anywhere else it's astonishing that um the life events in your life and his took place and yet in the middle of it there's music yes it sat on the shelf for years and years and years but it's ours now and it's going to have a life you've set something in motion that will have a life forever ever in a day it's fantastic it's just remarkable that that this Legacy can hold up the way it has yeah I think a lot of the reactions that I hear is just great to hear his voice again something new you know just that voice and it's loud and proud you know was he able to hear most of the tracks uh like through monitors blasting in his hair did he hear some of the final mixes or something he didn't I actually mixed when he got sick I I was in Vancouver and and I mixed it there's I think three songs that were mixed for I think it's North Shore was one of them yeah um that was uh and the moment they were mixed at that time you know but then I had to I had to work on the other ones you know did he like what he heard he loved it he was very proud of it very proud of it all right um I wonder what somebody visually is going to do something there's just there's a means to an end I just don't know how it is and who's whose job it will be um anyway I'd love to hear see it toured in some capacity somehow some way but I don't know how to do that um any word from the band about what they want to do going forward um not really I mean not a Johnny Johnny Played On The Record he played on three tracks yep you know so he uh wrote me an email he loved it you know and he said that he's you know certain performances like the moment he said he's never heard Gord sing like that before never never but look also you pushed his voice forward it was a driving instrument it was fantastic it was fantastic thank you for doing that thank you thank you thank you because we both loved him so um now what what are you doing now you're just going to keep me and Bob rock is that what you're going to do um how boring is that um no it's you know you know a lot of musicians I mean music music has been my life since I was a kid you know so it's it's gonna be there always to uh to uh I'm not here anymore but you know I have a great I have all my kids are gone now it's just Angie and I together in Maui you know all our kids are gone they've they're they have wonderful lives and you know so I just hang there we got horses keeps me busy keeps me uh working she works me hard that and music it's great I love working with The Offspring uh you know and Richie Sambora close friend we've done a lot of records together sure you know the all the people that are really and even like um Nikki and I and Tommy we've all kept in touch you know all these people that are just big in my life right I'm just astonished that they're still with us I am I'm because because the nature of the business is you can self-destruct anytime you want if you're they got pretty close yeah I did they did but yeah yeah they're great um yeah the best actually they played better than in the day you know like it was amazing they've got a new guitar player and um he was amazing and so it was just so much fun I'll tell you who's um oh by the way um um I'll tell you who's making some very interesting music today just now is Art Bergman oh yeah yeah he sent me a couple of singles and I went oh my God this is fantastic and he's retained himself it's quieter but it still art it's still the poet it's great he's a brilliant brilliant writer always has been all right let me ask you a couple questions I'll let you go what the hell's happened to rock and roll is it still alive and well that's a really good question you know uh it still excites me you know they see um every now and again you just hear you know a little flash of something that reminds you how what we grew up in you know the the air I think I timed my life perfectly you know born in 54. yeah it's almost like the day rock and roll was born really you know um with Bill Haley and and everybody else right um I don't know I think it's of course it's it's not as big as it maybe it once was but it's like the blues and jazz and it's music that'll never go away you know have you got one last Bob Rock album somewhere you the performer uh uh I don't know if it's a performer like live I don't I don't think so Paul and I are I've got like I think we we recorded a blues album we came from we we started out as a friendship we were a blues band yeah okay yeah and uh so we did uh an album of all our favorite blue songs okay and we finished it and we've been writing so you know who knows uh you know the National Music Center uh may come calling if they haven't already and they they always want for people that they want to make a fuss about they ask them for one thing to to leave behind so that future Generations can look in a Plexiglas case and and see somebody's guitar or whatever if they do come calling well yeah what would you give them for displays that represent you probably the drum machine from us of a stranger so I'll tell you about the story of eyes of a stranger okay Natty Dread the Bob Marley record which is one of my favorite records and I noticed that a lot of the tracks They had were playing along to a drum machine okay so I found out what that drum machine was bought one fiddled around with it and with my acoustic I wrote eyes of a stranger okay yeah that started it all and what I when I first started writing I decided that any money that I made as a writer I put back into an instrument a guitar a drum machine and synthesizer to keep me inspired so I've kept that going but that was the start of it and that you know as of a stranger is a demo oh yeah that was a demo that I could recorded over a Hudson's Bay commercial because I didn't have the money for the tape I did that after after I worked all day doing jingle recorded that track and the Glorious Mick Ronson heard it and he said this is an amazing story instead of having to re-report he says he says we're not going to get much better than that Bob and we did an edit and he put the synthesizers on and we went to New York and we mixed it it's a demo you know the highlight of this may be the mick Bronson Story the fact that you mention the name Mick Ronson I love Mick Ronson Doug the hell yeah I don't know if you ever saw the palace you realize he toured with us right yeah we warmed up for split ends and we did a whole Canadian tour he played keyboards for us all right yeah uh so my basic last question is again how do you want to how do you want the Final Act of your life to to play out have you set any any goals any dreams any bucket list anything or are you just going to let it come day to day yeah it's uh yeah I just like I say I just can't believe it my whole life I mean I'm a sum of all the mistakes that I've made that's why I'm here hey you know any advice I would say don't be afraid to make a mistake I got my job because of that you know you know everything it all just happened it was not planned you know so um I'm I'm satisfied let's put it that way and finally I own every guitar that I ever wanted to own so it's great I don't buy guitars anymore because that thing that I said with the drum machine right I always buy a guitar that has inspiration so that was like what 1978 so do the math how many guitars now a lot I don't know I'm not yeah but they all have a sound you see I didn't collect guitars that collect sounds okay anyway there you go I asked David Lindley how many guitars you have you said way too many I said um how do you pick him he said I go to when I go to Japan I go to Tokyo I go into the largest music store I can find and it and they stack their guitars one on top of the other in cases he said I want the I want the guitar at the bottom of the stack that's the guitar I want I'm gonna buy it and every time I go to Tokyo I go to the same store and buy the whatever is the runs of the litter down the stack and take it home yeah it keeps me alive yeah yeah of the one other thing it would just be great if the Canucks won a Stanley Cup before I die that's one that that you know my dad didn't see it you know and my manager my close friend Bruce Allen we all deserve for the Canucks to win the standings why do you beat why do you beat yourself up like that it's not gonna happen ah I still believe yeah you have it how pissed off will you be if they do it the day after you leave this Earth no I'd be fine I'll be smiling down from that gourd right in my dad and we'll be going like you know finally they did it yeah and do you in your heart of hearts last question I swear do you think you'll meet up with gourd again somewhere yeah no question sometimes he's small The Mao is in a very magical place I'm not going to get to your corner but sometimes the clouds part I know he's talking to me okay I talk to him all the time yeah me too yeah this has been great Terry thank you Bob thank you buddy yeah look good we look good man this is the highlight of my week right here you know the thing is is it's great you know I've known you for a very long time and thank you through the years for the support you've gave me and Paul and all of us in Vancouver it was great thank you man thank you all right