Smitty: Right.
EM: I mean, we had a real vibe going and a flow going, and I very much by design just wanted the focus of the record to be consistent and it came out that way. I’m really proud of the way it turned out, mostly because the end product was very much what I had thought to do originally.
Smitty: Yeah, I think when you’re writing with a degree of succession like that and while you had that vibe, not to wait so long is great because you’re still in that same feel of what you want and where you want to go, and I think that’s beautiful and you can tell that this didn’t take two years, you know what I mean?
EM: Well, yeah, you’re right. I mean, a lot of times just the kind of scheduling between you and the other players, it does take a minute, unfortunately. It would be great if you could just sit down and devote every minute to your record. You could be done in a month and that would be a wonderful thing.
Smitty: True.
EM: So it does take a bit, but I tell you, working with Brian was fantastic. He’s got a great studio and he’s just a very, very focused guy and he’s young. I don’t know how old he is, but he’s a young guy and he’s got a ton of energy and he just called me today. He’s working on a great new record right now himself that I guess I’m going to do some things on, and I can’t say enough good things about Brian. He really helped tremendously.
Smitty: Yeah, he’s a bad boy. (Both laugh.)
EM: Bad…he’s a bad one.
Smitty: Yeah. Well, let me mention one of the songs that I love….“Blue Water” is the bomb. Wow, that’s a great track, man.
EM: Well, thanks. I appreciate it. That was the first tune that Brian and I wrote, and it’s funny because a lot of the songs on the record we wrote like the whole thing just sort of flowed. In fact, the last tune on the record is a duet and we wrote the whole thing and recorded it and we were ready to mix maybe four or five hours after we just sat down to start writing. It was just pretty much a duet and that was the idea of that song. But “Blue Water” was kind of like a painting where you have a little idea here and you put that down and you have a little idea here and you put that down, and you add little bits here and there, and it was really fun to work on because we could just sort of see it grow. It was like watching a plant. You water it and you both kind of watch it pop up, you know?
Smitty: Yeah, man. Well, that’s a great way to get the party started because it’s exciting. I know I go back to that word, but I think that’s what fans will feel when they listen to this record because you mentioned Brian having a lot of energy. That song has just a plethora of energy and it sets the tone for the rest of the record.
EM: Yeah, well, thank you. And we also we worked really hard beyond the compositions. That’s one thing I have never done on any of my records. From a production standpoint, we really tried to keep it pretty modern. There’s an edge to the production of this record where it’s fun, I think, when you listen to studio records to listen to a song five times in a row and each time pick out something a little different, a little harmony here or a little effect there or something different. And that’s what we tried to do and I think really accomplished on this whole record in general, was to just create fun things. Ear candy, we call it. New things to listen to and to creep out.
Smitty: Yeah, and you did that, man. You definitely accomplished that. And another one of my favorites is “Open Road.”
EM: (Chuckles.)
Smitty: It’s vintage Eric Marienthal with a twist, you know?
EM: Oh, thanks. The funny story about that track, we were recording and we had all along intended to have a guitar on the track and the guy who we had lined up to come play we were just having a hard time getting hold of and he was a little busy and this and that, and so we thought, you know, we’ve gotta get this done, and he said “You know, Ray Parker Jr. lives right down the street and I know him, he was on my last tour,” Brian said, “Let’s give him a call.” And so we called Ray Parker Jr. and he said “You know what? I’d love to come over, but you gotta do it right now” and we said “We’re here, man,” and he said “Great, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He literally shows up on the studio doorstep with his guitar in one hand and his amp in the other hand and he sits down and we said, hey, and talked for a minute, but we got him set up and he played one pass through. I mean, at the end of the story he ended up playing some more tracks so we had the choices, but man, his first pass is just so killer. No written music, just kinda opened his ear. I mean, that one track could be just like a guitar play along, you know, learn these licks and you’ll have a great career as a guitar player. (Both laugh.)
Smitty: Well, that’s gotta be exciting for you as well. When you get that kind of groove in the studio spontaneously and on the first pass, it just excites you to another level with your writing and everything from that point sometimes, you know?
EM: Yeah, definitely, and like I say, this record….I’m really excited about it and just the whole process was fun and exciting, and so every time we’d get to work, we just had a great feeling about it because we just kinda knew that it was gonna be a good one, and every time something like that would happen, where like the Ray Parker Jr. bit or Paul Brown was involved. He did some mixing on the record and actually ended up playing quite a lot.
Smitty: Yeah, that’s right.
EM: That’s actually a funny bit too because he mixed a couple of tunes and he said “I hear a little acoustic guitar here” and he plays an acoustic guitar. He goes “I hear some tambourine” and he picked up his tambourine and started playing, and it’s so funny. He’s such a great producer and engineer, so it was neat to get him to do both.
Smitty: Yeah, well, man, you had such a stacked deck with producing and engineering because, I mean, you’ve got Jeff Lorber, Brian Culbertson and Paul Brown. You could’ve all fallen asleep and this would’ve turned out great, you know? (Both laugh.) You know what I’m saying? You really went out and grabbed some talented guys to accompany you with this project.
EM: Yeah.
Smitty: And I can’t say enough about the mind-blowing sax lines that you laid down on this record for example….“21 Ocean Front,” which I think is just, man, the title just fits the music like a glove, you know?
EM: The inspiration for that track, actually, 21 Ocean Front is a restaurant where I met my wife, where we met 26-7 years ago, and as we were writing, it became clear that it was kind of, maybe a little, oh, I don’t know if it’s a romantic track. I was gonna say romantic. I don’t know if it’s romantic, but just had sort of a, kind of in that world kind of vibe, and just thought about her a lot as we were writing and especially as I was playing it. I thought, you know, this’ll be the right title and it fits from a title standpoint, but the story is a cool one too.
