2011-06-16 – SIRIUS XM – LARRY FLICK – INTERVIEW (Transcript by Jeannie, Closeyoureyes &...

8/6/2019 2011-06-16 SIRIUS XM LARRY FLICK INTERVIEW (Transcript by Jeannie, Closeyoureyes & Annie702)

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2011-06-16 SIRIUS XM LARRY FLICK INTERVIEW (Transcript by Jeannie, Closeyoureyes &

Annie702)

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtalrwFOcA&p=80F42D1CB4BABB58

LARRY: I have the least of my hairs because I shaved a couple of weeks ago.

DAVID: Im, um Youre put together; you look put together.

L: Youre a very nice fellow. Dont worry, Im already playing the record. Its okay, its okay. [D laughs]

L: But were both envious of your label dude. Ive known this guy a long time

D: Berkowitz. Hes got the beard

L: Hes got the beard

D: Fact

L: Yeah!

D: Serpico really.

L: Exactly. Exactly

[D laughs]

L: And uh ... uh he claims he grew that in like a minute

D: I know. Its pretty for those of us that struggle to maintain the beard, thats uh ... its almost

insulting. Almost.

L: It is insulting.

D: There you go.

L:Cos you know, it wasnt until I was this age that I could grow what I have now. I used to be like the

king of the anchovies.

D: Oh yeah!

L: Remember those back at school?D: Im with you

L: High School pictures, dudes the anchovies. When you look back at them

D: Never a good look

L: Never a good look.

L: Well, Im Larry Flick and this is Sirius XMLQ and what you just heard there was the brand new single by

David Cook. Weve been playing it for a l ittle bit here; its called The Last Goodbye

D: Yeah

L: Thats an interesting way to say Hello Again, by saying goodbye.

D: Isnt it? I know, right. It was funny, because when we decided that was going to be the single, I said

Oh boy, here we go. I can just see (break in tape) it writes itselfL: It kinda does..

D: If it flops Im in real trouble.

L: I doubt thats gonna happen

D: Oh, thank you

L: Doubt thats going to happen. Congratulations on the new record.

D; Thank you so much


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L: And .. uh the new record is called This Loud Morning

D: Yes!

L: I like that title.

D: Thank you so much!

L: I like that title a lot. Im going to tell you from the outset, Im a really big fan.

D: Oh yeah?

L: For me, honestly Because Im a geek. Im an old dude but Im like an American Idol dude, and

D: Yeah!

L: And youre like the last relevant Idol since Kelly Clarkson.

D: Wow!

L: Its really just the truth.

D: Thank you so much!

L: Youre welcome. [laughs]

David: Damn.

L: And I was a really, really big fan of your first album. You did a really great job. And so what Im really

intrigued by is the three year gap. Thats sort of jumping off the conveyor belt.

D: Yeah it is.

L: Why would you do that? And how many people did you freak out?

D: Um uh Probably everybody. If you surveyed the label, Im sure everybody was sweating it. I .. um

I just wanted to make the record that I wrote . And this meant really getting into into song-writing,

and almost kind of starting from scratch. This record was really different for me. Cos Ive always been a

gut instinct guy, you know? So if I like it in the first 30 seconds, thats what Im going to do.

L: Uh-huh.

D: And with this record, I I really tried to get out of my comfort zone, and take the time to craft these

songs to the best of my ability. We wrote 80-something songs for this record, and 12 made the cut. So I

mean, its been a process. But I think the end result is this is far and away the largest undertaking Ive

ever I guess undertaken (laughs) for a record. And uh Im really proud of the end result. I really am.

L: And so was your approach sort of a knee-jerk to the fact that the last album was put together really

fast?

D: Um Not so much a knee-jerk. I just thought You know, I could do what everybody else is doing,

and rush a record and get all these writers to write me hits. Or I can acknowledge and respect the fact

that I think Im a decent writer. And I think I have something to say. And why not just put myself into this

record? Like lets lets envelop myself into this record, the way that I, the way that I want to. And I had

a producer that was willing to give me the time to do it, I had a label that was willing to give me the time

to do it, and so thats what I did. This record took as long as it needed to take.

L: So this time you worked with you worked with Matt Serletic.

D: yes

L: Last time was Rob Cavello

D: Uh-huh.

L: Peak producers both

D: Absolutely

L: But my understanding, as a listener, is that Matt Serletic is umm kind of a micromanager in terms of


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arrangements. Would that be fair?

D: Thats very fair.

L: And um.. will tell you, without flinching, Nah.

D: Yeah, absolutely.

L: So how did you survive that? Because that that can be very wounding

D: Yeah. Its its almost one of those things where you have to ... theyve got like a coat rack by the

front door, and thats where you hang your ego when you walk in. For me, it was going into the studio

every day and making a conscious effort to just be like, Alright, these songs are way more important

than me, this record is way more important than me or this band, or anything like that, or the paycheck

or the travel or whatever. This record is the most important thing. So .. I was just like Screw it. Ive got to

make this record the best record that it can possibly be. And Matt, he hes like an intricate guy. And

for me, whos like a gut instinct guy, it was like Oh dear lord, what the hell are we doing here?

L: That really is the yin and yang.

D: Absolutely. But Matt was conscious of that. And really really uh, kind of took me in a little bit more

than be probably was required to. But I think that really helped in the process a lot.

L: So in this process, where youre working with your second, big-deal producer and um If Im reading

the cards correctly, you did write with some pretty big-deal writers, and yet, you are a writer yourself.

Im familiar with your writing before you did Idol, because you had a band, and once you were on the

show, like everybody else, Im like, Okay what does this dude really sound like, and it was good stuff!

D: Thank you

L: So how how hard was it to pull your pants all the way up and walk into the session and say I know

youre Ryan Tedder, Im very proud of you, but this is how I want my song to sound.?

D: Um Surprisingly, it was easier than I thought it would be. And a part of it was the people I worked

with just being good people, and understanding ... um that were all facilitators to the song. But also

just Im Im Im confident in what I can do and I have knowledge of what I cant. Um And so

walking into these writing sessions, it was just Look, this is what Im good at, this is where um this

is where I reside on the musical landscape, lets attack it, lets go after it. And really use these writers as

a way to expand my own parameters and horizons and all that. And so, I think as such, I feel very

strongly that my personality is what drives each one of these songs on the record. And really drives this

record as a whole.

L: So, if I Im batting pretty well in terms of guessing, so Im going to give it a little bit more.

D: Lets do it.

L:And you can please correct me

D: [laughs]

L: My interpretation of you, from what Ive heard of your music so far, again post-idol, pre-idol, is that

youre a comfortable storyteller

D; Yes

L: That youre probably a little more sensitive than you want people to know

D: Probably

L: Youre less comfortable with pop hooks than with anything else.

D: Yes. Thank you.

L: Was that good?


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D: It was very accurate.

L: So far, so good. Good. So then what happens when youre writing, and you have a lot of guys again

with Ryan Tedder, and I keep mentioning him because he co-wrote this single and Ive met Ryan a few

times. I know him; hes a good guy.

D: Hes absolutely a good dude.

L: You also wrote with David Hodges; hes another really good guy. These are guys who sometimes put

on a song doctor hat and say Well, thats a really good song, but if you to this here, then suddenly the

chorus pops!

D: Absolutely

L: And so what did that do to you when they say that to you?

D: Um you know, its a shot in the arm. It stings for a second, but then you realize its for the better.

You know, their track record kinda speaks for itself. And so to me, it was going to workshops everyday

and learning the craft. I mean, thats what this is, its a craft. And its artistic endeavor. Theres a million

different ways to get to the same results, its just a matter of what works for you. So for me it was just

learning my craft. And I think anytime you can pick somebody elses brain when it comes to songwriting,

I think thats always a plus.

L: So I remember listening to the first album, the first solo record, and thinking... again, because Id

heard your first bands album, I could pick out the songs that you were really comfortable with, and I

could pick out the one or two songs that were like right in your sweet spot. Like Bar-Ba-Sol felt l ike that

was the one you if you got you probably had to sing two other songs that you didnt want to sing to

put that song on the album.

D: Absolutely! [laughs]

L: Im doing pretty well so far!

D: I know, right? I like this.

L: Did you feel like this time it was a little bit more of a balanced situation? Because youd kind of earned

I feel that whats really cool about your last record is that it did it did well enough to earn you some

respect, but it didnt lock you in because it wasnt bombastically big. It was big but you know what I

mean, it was like a really good first showing.

D: [Laughs] Yeah!

L: Do you feel that you earned the right to say I dont wanna do those two songs. I wanna sing these

two songs.

D: Ah, yeah. I think I did. And I think Ibut I think its a you know, really all youve got is your last

record. And so um actually... I tried to bridge the gap a little bit. Youre talking about songs like Bar-Ba-

Sol, verses maybe some of the more pop based fare on the last record. And thats just become um .. I

dont necessarily want to confuse listeners, you know what I mean?

L: yeah, sure.

D: And i dont want necessarily a distinction like alright these are obviously the songs the label wanted

and these are obviously the songs that David wanted. Because in the end I work in conjunction with

these people - we are a team and I want this record to be something that were all happy with.

L: It never felt contentious,

D: No i understand

L: It was just kind of that Im one of those geeks from like back in my boyhood years where I would study


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thing on your mind, and thats like a hell of a way to start the day. But I m um Im learning to

appreciate things a little bit more, and I think with the last record especially, the minute that Adam

passed, I think all of a sudden I got a little numb. I didnt want to miss any shows, so we were out on the

road, and I didnt process it the way I probably should have. You know when I Ive said a few times, in

other interviews how this record was a therapeutic outlet for me, and never in a blatant way. Im not

going to directly talk about Adam on this record, but I do talk about loss, and both ends of that

experience.

L: Tell me about Rapid Eye Movement. I was reading about it before you got here today, and Ive read

the line over and over again Give me one more quiet night, before this loud morning gets it right and

does me in. Thats a really good line. Holy shit, man

D: (laughs)

L: No seriously, because thats that will level anybody who pays attention to whats happening in their

lives.

D: Well I think that for me, thats the if I had to give a thesis statement for this record, thats it. I mean,

thats the plot synopsis. And thats something, I remember it was a purge to write that song. I wrote that

song with David Hodges, and I came in with this riff, and I just (?) and I knew this was going to be one of

those songs. He knew exactly what I was talking about, and we immediately we vibed on that emotion,

and that moment, and that song came together actually pretty quickly. And its thats like a six minute

song. If it ever becomes a single, weve got some editing to do. (Both laugh)

L: You realize that youll be able to tell I dont know how much press youre getting yet for this album

youll soon be able to tell whos listened to the record and who hasnt.

D: Absolutely

L: And thats the one. You know Ive only heard snippets of the record Im being very candid with you,

you heard me accost the dude Wheres my album? but that already just lyrically from what Ive read,

and the small snippets that have been available I feel it jumped.

D: I want those moments. I do. In an industry and a climate where records dont, in my opinion, get the

attention that they deserve, I want to make a record that forces people to pay attention. You know,

singles are great, but I would rather make great records that have great songs, as opposed to just make

great singles and then filler. Filler pisses me off to no end I hate that term. So for me, I want to make

great records and if I make great records and play great shows I feel like everything else will fall into

place.

L: God, you sound so not like a dude who was on American Idol. (Both laugh) Does that feel like a

lifetime away?

D: It does. You know I think I umm.. God I backed into Idol. I really did. And I loved the experience, it was

a whirlwind and had I known the levels of stress associated with it, I might have thought twice. But

ignorance is bliss, and it afforded me this amazing opportunity to have conversations like this and really

show people what I want to do musically, man. You know if I never have a trophy to put on my mantle,

or a plaque to hang on the wall, thats fine. Like I said, I just want to make good music and play good

shows. Thats it.

L: Well, congratulations because youre doing all of that, and you also just seem like a good guy.

D: Thanks, man.

L: Its nice to talk to someone who seems like hes got something to say.


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D: Well, I should talk about my clothing line, and no, Im kidding.

L: What is your fragrance, David?

D: (laughs)

L: Actually he should have beard wax

D: Beard Wax. (whispers) Perfect!

L:Andrew, get started on it!

D:Lets Go. Mustache wax

L: Write it down, write it down get it with the dye in it for people like me who are going gray

D: Shade of gray?

L: Shade of gray. For guys like me who are going gray its perfect, and for guys like him (whispers) it

covers the patches. (Laughs)

D: See? Its all coming together.

L: Full circle! David Cook, thanks for coming by.

D: Thank you very much, man.

L: The album is called This Loud Morning, and because I can its my show lets listen to the single one

more time. This is called The Last Goodbye.

2011-06-16 – SIRIUS XM – LARRY FLICK – INTERVIEW (Transcript by Jeannie, Closeyoureyes &...

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Transcript of 2011-06-16 – SIRIUS XM – LARRY FLICK – INTERVIEW (Transcript by Jeannie, Closeyoureyes &...