 David Garfield was interviewed Sune Schack the day after 'David Garfield's Karizma' performed at Pumpehuset during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, 2004:
- David, thanks for a great performance yesterday (10 July 2004) at Pumpehuset, Copenhagen.
Yeah. Thank you, really - our pleasure.
- David, let me start by saying: This was definitely the best Karizma concert I've seen for many years. Let's start with Steve Ferrone. Haven't heard such laid back groove since Jeff Porcaro, man.
Yeah. I know.
- Ferrone is amazing. The perfect new Karizma spirit. Not that any of the previous drummers were bad or anything just, this was really different. I'd say it again, never heard you or Karizma so groovy, simple, laid back and chilled, man - please describe how it feels for you playing with mr. Ferrone in this constellation?
Oh, yeah. I know what you're saying. He's got one of the most relaxed feels. You know, if you've ever seen Steve play with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers group, it's so fun to watch, because he's really a rock drummer. He plays and loves everything, man - but he's like a thoroughbred rock drummer. I've seen him in concerts with Eric Clapton, and. Tom Petty, and he's got this really relaxed feel to him, and he's got a very good rhythm, and simplicity - he's very simplistic. Yeah.
© 2004 - Carsten Weide
- He leaves it all very open to you and the others, right? I really enjoyed hearing that new drum style in Karizma - you know, he's not like other drummers. He doesn't play to loud, he doesn't fill in all the time, or make breaks - he's 'just there', man - right where you're supposed to be.
You're absolutely right. It's really amazing playing with him - he's a fantastic drummer.
- David, this new Karizma - can we call it the 'new' Karizma? - or should we call it like the 'special' Karizma?
Yeah, you know what it is, it's like, I really moved on, because honestly what I've been doing since 1990 - about the last 14 years, is like I've been playing as David Garfield & Friends, because it was too hard to get the Karizma lineup all together at the same time. So what I'm doing is, I'm really trying to broaden my scopes - you know, by teaming up with Alex Ligertwood, I found a vocalist that can sing, and blend into the music so that we can do both instrumental music and vocal music. Now, if you look at the past with Karizma, the original first record was half vocal, half instrumental - and the fourth record was half vocal, half instrumental - you know, I've always wanted to have vocals in Karizma - but I used to have a lot of pressure from some of the other musicians to keep it all instrumental and all fusion, so it's kind of an interesting situation. This is like the newest stuff that we're doing, and for me it's really more about the heart and the beat and the soul of the music, as oppose to too fusion-oriented.
- Yeah, I love fusion - but you know, I think you'll even get a bigger audience now. With more vocals and that stuff. More melodic tunes, more simplicity.
Yeah, and we still do the fusion. But it's in a wider scenario. You know what it's like? It's like going to a restaurant - and all you can eat is Sushi, you know what I mean - and then you go to another restaurant that serves Sushi and Italian food, and. So, it's like. back to the thing about the lineup - I've been using Alex and Steve back in LA, and it's really great.
- Will Lee - he's from New York, we all know that. A lot of west coast people might remember him from the first Los Lobotomys live CD, right? What a great bass player, man. Especially combined with a drum style like Steve Ferrone. I interviewed Will yesterday, and he said that he was kind of honored that you called him for the Los Lobotomy live concert. He said that he played with you guys before at the Baked Potato, and that he thought that he sucked - at this venue this evening - so he was glad that you called him back. Can you believe that?
Well, Will Lee never sucks. That's for sure, he's just hard on himself..
- Yeah, I think so too - he's a fantastic bass player. So much energy - a great guy, just goofing around - like a 20-year-old.
Hehe, yeah, man - you're right, he's a big goof. Just a big boy - that's great.
- David, we talked about the 'new' Karizma - these great new cats - cannot really compare this style to the previous lineups and music - especially not the Document album. But please try to describe the evolution you feel - having started this great band, and now kind of 'a change of heart' - in terms of music style.
Well, it really reflects what I'm really all about, because when I grew up I was influenced by fusion and jazz - but I always. I really came up on soul and R'n'B and rock, so for me the music that really reflects who I am is gonna have some soul to it, it's gonna have some real beat, you know, and it's gonna have some groove and some rock-edge too. You know, that's really in my soul. You know, Karizma is gonna have 30 year Anniversary next year, can you believe it? We started 1975 - and so it's amazing that I've been doing this stuff for 30 years, man. And I really appreciate all the people that support us - it's something else, I know, but what I'm getting at is that - it's not that I want more things, it's like that this music really is about reflecting what I really feel in my heart.
- Yeah. You know, you could have like two different Karizma bands. I understand your 'dilemma' - on one hand you have the hard core fusion/instrumental fans, and on the other you have the more vocal-oriented mass. The more eatable Karizma - the 'new Karizma', music to the masses.
Actually, you're right, I could do everything with the one band, but last night, because we're coming from all different places - especially with Søren coming from here - and all the rest of the band coming from different places, the only chance we had to rehearse was yesterday - during the day, the day before the gig - so because of that we were limited in what we could do. Like if we had had more time for rehearsal, we could have done all the music from 'Document', you know what I mean - all the music from 'Forever in the arms of love'. So I guess what I'm saying is, we could go any way, but this was a very special get together of international musicians - we actually prepared 17 songs in one day, and we played every single one of them, you know what I'm saying.
- Yeah, but really nice groovy through out the entire concert - so my personal opinion is that the 'limited time' became a great advantage for you guys . You played like 4-5 songs from the 'Giving Back' CD, the tunes you co-wrote with Alex, and also very cool that you played 3-4 cover songs ('Babylon sisters', Steely Dan, 'Georgy Porgy', Toto, etc.) - it get's kind of very 'groovy' with vocals and stuff people know.
Yeah, thanks man. And we did one song from Steve Ferrone's album, and one song from Will Lee's album. We didn't do anything from Søren's record. I was gonna try to do that too, but we didn't make it. However, we did go to the studio the day before the gig with Søren and recorded some new music.
- I know, which is great for him with you guys on, right.
Yeah, that's cool. You know, I really think that Søren is a nice addition to the group.
- Definitely - and very different style compared to the other Karizma guitar players, right. Mike Landau - and who else played, David?
© 2004 - Carsten Weide
Yeah. You're right. Now, here's the Karizma lineup - the original guitar player was Michael Landau. He was the first guitar player. After Michael Landau, we started using Dean Parks, and he played with the group for quite a while. And then, you know, we've some other guys here and there, you know they were not in the group. And then after Dean Parks, there was.. You know Steve Lukather always made guest appearances - there was. Mike Miller, he played in the group for a while too. And then Landau came back, and so that pretty much it. Landau, Dean Parks and Mike Miller.
- Great. Always fun with different guitar players, right? Now, of course I'm 'biased' because Søren Reiff Jr. is from my country, but you know, I really think he fits great on that place. A lot better than I expected actually, like the Lukather/Carlton stuff 'Check your ego at the door'-thingie - Søren is just there, playing for the entire band, and he has a really nice sound.
Oh yeah, he's really great. Love his sound, and yes, you're absolutely right, he fits in very well, a clever Danish guitar player.
- David, would you consider making a studio album with exactly these cats? (Steve Ferrone, Will Lee, Alex Ligertwood and Søren Reiff Jr.)
Oh yeah, of course.. I'll tell you this: I would really like to record with Will and Steve together. I've never done that. Actually, I've never played with Will and Steve together. Those guys have played together a lot over the years. They rock, man. They're pretty outstanding. One of my favorite moments from the concert last night was when Will - during the bass solo - jumped up and down and hit the bass together with Ferrone's drumming - that was awesome.
- Yeah, you're right, they are awesome together. Now, you should be really unmotivated if you cannot 'groove' with Steve Ferrone and Will Lee, right?
Hehe. Absolutely.
- That's about all it takes in my opinion. A minimalistic, perfect drummer like Steve Ferrone, and Will Lee on the bass - then you should just throw in the right layers on the keyboard + some nice vocals. I believe that's pretty 'easy', especially when you have Alex Ligertwood and a guitar player as laid back as Søren, right?
Yeah, I actually wanna keep working with Søren too, and I like the idea of making the band more international, as opposed to just LA, you know. We've been an LA-only-band for so long, and I like the idea of having New York, Denmark, Europe - you know what I mean?
- Definitely. You've got like New York, LA, Denmark, Scotland and the UK in your band now, David - that's pretty international.
It really is, man. I like that.
- Hehe - yeah, you're the owner of Creatchy Records. How hard could it be to make a nice studio album with this lineup, can you do it?
Oh, of course. I think you should actually plan on that, really. I think I will plan on future recordings with all of this lineup, definitely.
- Great stuff - I was going to ask you actually, how is it going with Creatchy Records?
It's going fantastic, really. Creatchy Records has never been doing better. We entered into a US distribution deal with Synergy - which is a new distributor in the United States, who's got very new ideas, very cutting edge technology-ideas with the new digital era. They're the distributor for the US, and we've got distribution in Japan, and we now have distribution in Australia. We're affiliated with a great group of people down in Australia. Obviously, we've been really promoting this Giving Back CD - extensively, and we're doing very well, considering that we're an independent group. The response to that record has been fantastic, and we are doing a lot of radio promotion, publicity - I mean all kinds of stuff connected to this record.
- Oh, yeah.. No wonder. When you look at the all star lineup of this record, it's kind of surrealistic. Like the entire LA west coast gang plus Will Lee. Nice work, David.
Thanks, man. Yeah, that's really great. They're all there. Yeah, and we've got another new record that just came out - they're called 'Potato Salad'. Another band that I've been producing - they're a very interesting band. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring any of the CDs with me on this tour, but it just came out, and it's very interesting. We have another CD coming out very soon, which - believe it or not - was Los Lobotomys live at Midtfyns 1994 (Midfyns Festival, Denmark), also with some bonus tracks from the Baked Potato, live-recording at the Baked Potato from 1999 or 2000, I think. So, this is pretty cool stuff + also working on some live-recording from Koblenz, Germany - the tribute to Jeff concert we did - which was AMAZING. Unbelievable, really. With Alex Ligertwood, Bobby Kimball, Glenn Huges, Steve Gadd, you know. Gregg Bisonnette, Joe Porcaro. Steve Ferrone was supposed to be there, too, but something came up. You know, we've got a lot of projects we're working on, a Beatles project, all Beatles tunes, so a lot of stuff coming up soon. I mean, I could quit working with everybody, and just work in the studio everyday - for months and still not finish everything that I'm working on - but I'm also busy touring with other artists, and it's like I can't seem to find all the time that I need.
- You're touring with George Benson, right?
I just finished 7 weeks in Europe with him, yeah. And I came home, and after 5 days turned around and came back here, so you know.
- Yeah, tight schedule, I know. Could you live from the Creatchy Records and the stuff you do - I mean do you go on tour because you like it, or because you have to?
© 2004 - Carsten Weide
You know, it's an interesting question. because I've been doing the touring with George for several reasons. The tour with George has been helping me to promote my record, cause George agreed to announce it and promote it himself + selling it at the gigs, so the gigs we've played with George both in Europe and in the United States have been great promotion for me, so I'm doing it more for promotional reasons, but also I like George, you know, I have a history with him - and they needed me, so.. But at the same time, I'm wondering now, if I have the time to keep doing it, you know?
- Hehe, yeah, you're not 20 anymore, David.
No, I'm not, man. haha.
- And with so many records coming out - yeah, it's kind of difficult to find the 'right time' - I can understand that.
Oh yeah, it is. The Los Lobotomys live CD that's coming out is AWESOME, I tell you. John Peña has mastered it, and it sounds so good, man. The band was really tight. Really tight.
- Looking forward to that, that's for sure.
Yeah, I'll make sure you get one, Sune - no problem.
- This Potato Salad band - we talked about it/them during my last interview actually - they're doing Karizma, Los Lobotomys songs, right?
Yeah, it's an amazing band. They contacted me through my website, and asked me to come play with them. And, when I went out there, they played only like you know Los Lobotomys songs, Michael Landau songs, Karizma songs and songs of my tribute to Jeff - all my stuff. Basically, like a Creatchy cover band. And the thing that was really interesting was that they had one original song - and that song was the one that really caught my ear. I said 'woh'. They only had this one original song. I said 'I love this song. So, I said - I wanna do a record, doing their stuff. I encouraged them to write more music - and it took a while, took a couple of years to do it, but we did a record - and we had four of their songs on. And in addition to their 4 original songs, we had a version of Michael Landau's 'Unbuzzed', we have a version of 'Lobotomy stew' that they arranged, we have one Karizma song that has never been recorded - you know, I have a lot of Karizma songs that have never been recorded - that we played, but never recorded. so I pulled one of those out, and then they also did 'Corbitt van Brauer' and 'Ire' - so they did two like older Karizma songs.
- Now, that's pretty cool - having your own David 'Creatchy' Garfield tribute band, right? Then you know, you've done something right .
It's is, man. It is. It's amazing. I was hearing about them for years, and I couldn't believe it. And then, on top of that, on the record we also brought in Larry Klimas and Lenny Castro - but it was originally done live at the Baked Potato - a live-recording.
- And they're pretty young guys, aren't they?
Yeah, they're young guys. You know, like a band, you know.
- So, the Karizma legacy will live on, David, that's cool. While YOU change style into a vocal funky band, the old Karizma will live on through Potato Salad .
Haha, yeah, there you go, man - that's right.
- No shit, I'm not kidding, Dave. You were 'on' last night - like I haven't seen you before, that's for sure. Don't know why, but you seemed kind of differently motivated. I'm talking about your solos (among the best ever), but also the general 'feeling' on stage. Now, I discussed that with Kenneth, Thomas and Laurent - and they all agreed.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Thanks, man.
- No kidding, these cats were awesome - and definitely you should put out an album with exactly this lineup, as we talked about. You, know - it's very different from the other Karizma vocal things you've done - this was 'more like a band' - funky as hell, and still you could hear the fusion, but again so nicely wrapped that you could play it in the radio. And that would be very, very good for you, air play, right. A lot more air play.
It is, you're right. And luckily, we're getting quite some air play in Japan, in Australia and in the US.
- Great. don't get me wrong, this is like your solo record 'Giving back' - David Garfield and the all star LA gang - but it's not a band, it's a 'come together' of the hard core dudes. However, I'd really like to see/hear you with your own band - like the same 4-5 people on the entire album, you know what I'm saying.. call it whatever you like, like the 'Karizma 30' - not with 10-35 different musicians on - BUT your band, you know?
© 2004 - Carsten Weide
You know, you just gave me an idea, man. I think what we'll do is like we make a Karizma record next year. We have 6 out, so it'll be the 7th one - it'll be a studio album, and it'll be our 30-year anniversary - Karizma 30 - like you said... so, we'll make something really nice. Maybe putting in Michael Landau and Lenny Castro on some of the tunes. Now, that would be great, you know a Karizma 30-year anniversary CD - maybe do most of it with the 'new Karizma' - and a few tunes with the 'old ones' as guest appearances . Yeah, you just gave me that idea, Sune - thanks, man - we had no plan actually of making a new Karizma album. But now, that we're talking you just gave me that idea with the 'Karizma 30' (30-year anniversary) - so that's kind of brilliant. You know, people we're asking last night if we have another studio album, cause Karizma only really has 2 studio albums - the 1st one and the 4th one - so now, the 7th one.
- Hahaha - yeah, if you sell as many as TOTO's 'Seventh One' - I guess it's OK .
The Seventh One - maybe we can use that as a title. Or do you think anyone has used that before?
- Check with Steve Lukather - he ought to know - if he remembers that CD .
Yeah, maybe it's been used before. The 7th one I'll take 'Karizma 30' - it's great, thanks, man. I'll put your name in the liner notes for that title that's for sure.
- That would be great. Just spell my name correct, please. So, you have one year, David. You're in a hurry, man. Start writing the songs tomorrow. Would you team up co-writing with Alex Ligertwood again?
Yeah, I'd write with anyone - definitely, I'll write one song with Michael Landau too, but also the rest of the 'new band' - Steve Ferrone, Søren Reiff Jr., Will Lee. Also, I gotta tell you this, we got a lot of un-released material - actually, I'm thinking of one song that Michael Landau did - that I'd really like to record with this band - Søren, Steve, Will and Alex. You'll be surprised, wait and see.
- Yeah, looking forward to that. It really suits this band going back to the roots (vocals) where you started. It's like, you started there, went on to instrumental, and now with this new Karizma incarnation. back again. Back to the roots, right?
You're right. Absolutely right. Let me tell you about the original Karizma concept. When I started Karizma back in 1975 - in 1974, I was 18 years-old. and I just left Saint Louis to go out to LA, and this was my dream. My dream was, I was gonna start a band. And in the band, each person was gonna have a special 'karizma' - they were gonna have, you know, a special appeal - whether it was the drummer or the guitar player, sax, bass, etc. And the idea was like saying: the conga player had like the 'latin vibe', the guitar player had like the 'rock vibe', the sax like the 'jazz vibe' - so you have already in the band, you have different elements coming in, all these 'karizmatic' people - including nice vocals, that was the whole idea of the band, so what I'm realizing now is that we've come full circle - 30 years later, we're right back where we started.
And I really appreciate you talking about this, man - cause things are really crystalizing now .
- No probs. Still no doubt about the fact that you would be able to reach a lot more people, if you maintain this style. As we talked about in the last interview also. you said: women are allergic to fusion music - that's right, but did you see how many of yesterday's audience were women? That was like 40% - you haven't managed that before, David .
Yeah, I noticed that. That's so cool.
- Yeah, and they were young, Danish good-looking too - that could never had happened like 5-10 years ago at an instrumental Karizma fusion concert.
Hahaha. I saw that too. You're right. I really appreciate that. With this lineup and this music we're able to reach more people, that's very true.
- Well David, my man - this is gonna be a looooong interview - maybe we should stop the dictaphone here. Thanks for a wonderful concert yesterday. Respect, brother. And really looking forward to hearing the new Creatchy stuff coming out soon - and especially a brand new studio album with these cats from yesterday - see you next time, my friend.
Yeah, thanks man. I'm honored. Good to be back. Nice talking to you, Sune. Until next time, my Danish friend.
Stopped the dictaphone after approx. 40 mins, and talked a bit more with David about this fantastic concert. Also the fact that this was a 40,- EUR entrance concert, and it took place during the 'Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2004' where a lot of concerts are either free entrance or approx 15-25 EUR. Unfortunately, this could have been one of the reasons why this 'New Karizma' concert at Pumpehuset 10 July 2004 wasn't sold-out. Probably around 130 people in the audience - which is way too few at a concert of this quality. To the ones who know about quality west coast music, and were not at the Pumpehuset on 10 July 2004, I can only say, you really missed something big. Keep your fingers crossed that David will release the 7th 'Karizma 30' album with 100% these cats - they are outstanding. Probably the most awesome Karizma incarnation and west coast experience I've seen with Creatchy.
|
