Project Description
Interview with
JEFF PILSON
from
FOREIGNER
(13th May 2018)
Interviewer – Paul Tadday
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PRE ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW
I Want To Know What Love Is, Cold As Ice,
Waiting For A Girl Like You, Hot Blooded, Juke Box Hero.
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For 42 years Foreigner’s timeless anthems have continued to rock the charts, with ten multi-platinum albums, sixteen Top 30 hits and album sales now exceeding 75 million copies.
The band has had numerous changes of personnel over the years, most notably Lou Gramm (founding vocalist) who left the music scene for an extended period to deal with serious health issues. But the band refuses to slow down, as Jeff Pilson (bassist / ex Dokken) explained when I spoke with him this week.
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Currently on tour in the UK, Jeff spoke of the relentless schedule that is life on the road with Foreigner.
“Oh, we’re always on tour”, he laughs. “If the sun is shining Foreigner’s on tour… But in the UK the sun’s not really shining, but that’s okay!”
For the first time ever, Foreigner has presented all its hits with a 58 -piece orchestra and a 60-piece choir with FOREIGNER with the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus (now available via earMUSIC).
Foreigner will also be bringing their incredible orchestral show to Australia this October!
Accompanied by an 18-piece orchestra led by celebrated Canberra conductor Kenneth Lampl, Foreigner will re-create the magic of their immaculate new live release for their Australian and New Zealand fans!
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I asked Jeff how the collaboration for the orchestral project came to be.
“We were actually invited to do it by the City of Lucerne, Switzerland. They hold a festival every year, which features their orchestra. I believe the gentleman who runs the whole thing, a man by the name of Michael Hauser, had a lot to do with it. He’s a Foreigner fan and I think his thought was, ‘how cool would it be to bring Foreigner in to play with the orchestra’. So they made us an offer we couldn’t refuse! Haha!”
“So we found Dave Egger who is this just brilliant arranger/composer/cellist who came in and sat with Mick Jones (band founder & guitarist) for many months and they worked on the arrangements. And it just came out fabulous. We got to Lucerne, Switzerland, rehearsed for a week then did the two shows, filmed and recorded them. And it’s been such a positive experience”.
“We just did some shows in the States with an orchestra to kind of test out taking an orchestra on the road with us, and it worked quite well. And we knew Australia was coming up, so now we’re very confident that everything’s gonna work out great.”
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As part of its Aussie tour the band are scheduled to play at the Sydney Opera House on October 18.
“I must admit that’s a bucket list show! The first time we ever went to Australia I had my wife and daughter with me and I remember that the Opera House was closed for some reason but we just walked around it. And it’s just such a beautiful, amazing structure. I really do feel like this is one from the list. We did Carnegie Hall a few years ago. So it’s like – Carnegie Hall, check! Sydney Opera House… about to check!”
Jeff’s career in the rock biz spans well over 35 years. As a founding member of the hard rockin’ Dokken back in the early 80’s, through to working with Ronnie James Dio. Pilson became the bass player for Foreigner in 2004 when he was asked to join an impromptu line-up for a charity benefit gig, which consisted of founding member Mick Jones, Jason Bonham, Jeff Jacobs, Thom Gimbel, and singer Chas West.
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Many fans would most fondly know Jeff for his ‘glam metal’ days in Dokken, but at this point of his career he has probably spent more time working with Mick Jones and Foreigner than most would realise.
“As far as actual time working, probably yes. I would venture to say that I’ve done more Foreigner shows than Dokken shows because even though I was with Dokken for many years, with Foreigner we’re at a couple thousand shows together now. Because we do around 120 shows a year, for 14 years… You do the math!” Jeff laughs, “…and I think in a couple of months, and this is a friendly little competition, I think I will surpass Rick Wills and be the longest tenured bass player in Foreigner, and Rick being a dear friend, he would give me a big kiss on the lips for that!”
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With Jeff coming into the band in 2004 and Kelly Hansen (current vocalist – ex Hurricane) coming into the band in 2005 Foreigner was rejuvenated, as anyone who has had the privilege of seeing the band live would attest.
“It’s a lot of fun! And I think a lot of people would forget that Foreigner was first considered a hard rock band that kinda got known for ballads over time, but it was a hard rock band to begin with and that’s why I was a fan”.
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I also pointed out that early Foreigner has a very ‘prog rock’ element to its sound.
“There was a bit of a prog element there. Yeah, you’re exactly right. It was kinda like prog and hard rock with some R&B mixed in, which nobody else did. And I’m a big lover of all three! And when I first heard of Foreigner I was like, oh that’s the band with the guy from King Crimson, (Ian McDonald). The original band was a very amazing and unique combination of elements that made for some heavy music but was also very mainstream at the same time, and I’ve always admired that tremendously”.
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Over its 42 year career Foreigner has had a myriad of incredible musicians move through its ranks, some who have returned to the fold at different times for a second or third stint. In 1997 Lou Gramm was forced to leave the band when an egg-sized tumour was foundwrapped around his pituitary gland and optic nerve. In recent years, Gramm has made several guest appearances with the current Foreigner line-up.
“Yeah, we have quite an alumni association! Lou has come back (for recent guest appearances) and we even did some shows last fall where the entire original band, barring of course Ed Gagliardi (founding bassist) who has passed away, but with Rick Wills, who for all intents and purposes is the ‘classic line-up’ bass player. So the original band did a couple of shows with us and we recorded and filmed it and that will be released somewhere down the line.”
“Lou joining us has been a fabulous thing. He’s such a sweetheart and he’s just got that voice. He is just a true gentleman and it was really an honour having him out with us. And at the end of the show we do a couple of songs with everyone up on stage and we call that Super Foreigner”.
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Foreigner is also slated to headline Rock the Boat 2018; a Rock N Roll paradise on the high seas aboard the Luxury Royal Caribbean cruise liner, Radiance of the Seas. Departing Sydney for seven days beginning on October 21, fans can witness the legendary rockers (and many more) whilst cruising the beautiful South Pacific.
“The cruise was put in place even before the orchestra, and it was really an opportunity that was just too good to be true. And those cruises are a very unique thing. It’s kinda like an extended holiday with your family, where you all rent a big house together and have lots of fun and laughs. And that’s kinda what it’s like with the fans and us. We get a chance to really hang with the fans and it becomes a whole different experience. You never would’ve dreamed 25 years ago, nobody could have told me… ‘Yeah, you’ll enjoy doing cruises with a rock band’ (laughs). You know, music’s just as good on the open seas as it is on land. And we get to see a lot of the other bands play, which is really cool”.
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When asked about the release of new Foreigner music, Jeff explains…
“Yeah, there is some stuff going on. I don’t necessarily see a whole record of new material. That’s just kind of an impractical thing in this day and age where we tour all year round. Because to really make a record right you’ve gotta take some time to write, rehearse and then record, all of which are time consuming things. We just put out a record last year called Foreigner 40, which is forty hits in forty years. And included on that were a couple of new songs. One of which was a brand new song called I Give My Life For Love. Then we had a song called The Flame Still Burns, which had been in a movie called Still Crazy. But we totally revamped the song and we recorded it as though it was a new Foreigner song, and it really came across like that.”
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On the subject of Mick’s health:
“You know, people ask us about that because there are shows where he doesn’t attend but sometimes that’s just everybody saying, ‘hey listen, just put the brakes on, Mick. Enjoy, relax, slow down. You don’t have to hit all these shows’. The band is now fairly established even when he’s not there. Because we are HIS ‘Foreigner’ and so it’s just a question of pacing a little bit. But he still loves to play. And certainly with the challenge of the orchestral shows, he loves to play. There’s a tour this summer with Whitesnake where I’m sure he’s gonna be on most or all of that”.
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As a huge fan of the band before he joined, I asked Jeff what his favourite Foreigner song to play live is.
“You know, there isn’t really just one favourite by any means. There are several favourite highlight moments. But with Foreigner we have 16 ‘Top 30’ songs so that makes choosing the set list pretty damn easy. The hardest thing about making a Foreigner set list is what songs do you leave off! Haha… So we’re a very fortunate band. We have this tremendous body of work to draw from, so it would be hard to fail at putting together a Foreigner set list! We never take that for granted and that’s all down to Mick Jones and his vision for this band and his song writing abilities. So yeah, we’re lucky guys”.
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FOREIGNER are: Mick Jones (guitar), Kelly Hansen (lead vocals), Jeff Pilson (bass, vocals), Tom Gimbel (rhythm guitar, sax, vocals), Michael Bluestein (keyboards), Bruce Watson (guitar) and Chris Frazier (drums)
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FOREIGNER
WITH THE 21st CENTURY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHORUS
CD Tracklist
1. Overture
2. Blue Morning, Blue Day
3. Cold As Ice
4. Waiting For A Girl Like You
5. Say You Will
6. When It Comes To Love
7. That Was Yesterday
8. Feels Like The First Time
9. Starrider
10. Double Vision
11. Fool For You Anyway
12. Urgent
13. Juke Box Hero
14. I Want To Know What Love Is
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DVD Tracklist
1. Overture
2. Blue Morning, Blue Day
3. Cold As Ice
4. Waiting For A Girl Like You
5. Head Games
6. When It Comes To Love
7. Say You Will
8. The Flame Still Burns
9. That Was Yesterday
10. Juke Box Hero
11. Starrider
12. Double Vision
13. Fool For You Anyway
14. Hot Blooded
15. Urgent
16. Feels Like The First Time
17. I Want To Know What Love Is
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DOUBLE-VINYL Tracklist
Side One:
1. Overture
2. Blue Morning, Blue Day
3. Cold As Ice
4. Waiting For A Girl Like You
Side Two:
1. Double Vision
2. When It Comes To Love
3. Say You Will
4. That Was Yesterday
Side Three:
1. Urgent
2. Juke Box Hero
Side Four:
1. Starrider
2. Feels Like The First Time
3. I Want To Know What Love Is
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PRE ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW
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TICKETS ON SALE NOW
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FOREIGNER Photo Bill Bernstein
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FOREIGNER
2018 TOUR DATES
Presented by Chugg Entertainment & Artist Network
CANBERRA
Friday 12th October – Royal Theatre
ticketek.com.au
ADELAIDE
(Presented by Space Events)
Sunday 14th October – Botanic Park
ticketmaster.com.au
PERTH
Tuesday 16th October – Riverside Theatre
ticketek.com.au
SYDNEY
Thursday 18th October – Sydney Opera House
sydneyoperahouse.com
ROCK THE BOAT
Sunday 21st – Sunday 28th October
rocktheboatcruise.com.au
MELBOURNE
Tuesday 30th October – Hamer Hall
ticketmaster.com.au
HAMILTON, NZ
Thursday 1st November – Claudelands Arena
ticketek.co.nz
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For more information go to:
Foreigneronline.com
Chugg Entertainment
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AMNPLIFY – DB
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