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All Access Exclusive - 10 Questions with The Immediate Family
August 31, 2021
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Danny Kortchmar – We are all thrilled with it and we're very proud of it. And that's not something that comes easy. I never listen to stuff that I've done, that I've played on, or the old records of mine. I'm not really interested in the past. But this album, every time I put it on, I go, "Man, I'm so proud of this." It's rocking hard. Everyone in the band is just at the top of their game. The people in this band are my brothers, who I've known for many, many years. And it's a deep thing that we're doing here. It's not just about the music, it's about brotherhood. It's about family!
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Left to right- Leland Sklar (Bass), Waddy Wachtel (Guitar), Danny Kortchmar (Guitar), Russ Kunkel (Drums) and Steve Postell (Guitar)
1. I appreciate you taking the time to answer a few questions for All Access. Let’s start with a little history. You’ve backed such Hall of Fame artists as James Taylor, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Eagles, Stevie Nicks, C, S, N &Y and more. What are some of your most memorable moments spent in the studio with some of Rock’s royalty?
Waddy Wachtel- There are so many memorable moments in those rooms…. well, aside from every session The Immediate Family does, it’s very hard to pick but, for example, it was a good night when Stevie Nicks recorded” Leather and Lace” in the studio… just guitar and her voice, and then the band Russell Kunkel and then Roy Bittan overdubbed to that…that was one. Also getting the song “Take It So Hard” on the first take on the first night recording Keith Richards “Talk is Cheap” album. That was fantastic and that would be a very good night. It was the second great tune of the evening. I must say, I never played for the Eagles, or C,S,N, & Y. I have worked on their individual records but never played on an Eagles record or a C,S,N, & Y record.
2. There’s an amazing musical pedigree of everyone in the band. What made you decide to form this band and do your own material?
Waddy Wachtel- When we got done playing for Kootch’s solo album that he did for Japan, he was offered a tour and at that point, he said what we were all thinking anyway-‘guys I can’t do this alone, it’s gotta be with you guys, my brothers, we gotta be a band.’ That was it. We agreed we were a band!
3. What is the significance of the band name “The Immediate Family”?
Waddy Wachtel- Right away…Danny had the perfect name, because that is what we really are. We have been playing together and touring together for over 45 years and we love each other and love playing together. This is what we do and do it beautifully.
4. I remember getting the single “Cruel Twist” last year from you guys, and you have done a couple of EPs since then correct? What’s the scoop on these previous music projects?
Danny Kortchmar- We kept getting requests for more music so we decided to start putting EP’s out. Our album was recorded before the pandemic and was supposed to come out right as the pandemic hit. But we didn't want to release the album under those conditions, but we still wanted to have something out there for our fans. We started putting together these EPs, that way our music could still get out to the public and have it be heard by those who were interested in it, without releasing our whole album. We did two of them, “Slippin’ and Slidin’” and “Can’t Stop Progress,” and there's good material on both. The last one we released, the “Can Stop Progress” EP, there's great stuff on that. The track “One More Time Or Two” which was a direction by Waddy. “Machine Gun Kelly,” is one our staples that we do live all the time and get a great reaction from our audience. And “3:45 Coming Through,” which was one of our singles. “Can't Stop Progress,” is another one of our singles. There's a lot of interesting tracks on the EP’s, but again, all kind of odds and ends rather than the hardcore material of the new self-titled album, “The Immediate Family.”
5. Now let’s talk about the new LP “The Immediate Family” which came out on August 27th. I’ve listened to it and really love it. Let’s start with the first track “Can’t Stop Progress.” What’s the story behind this song…and why is it the lead track?
Danny Kortchmar- Well, I just thought it was a good lead track. It's banging and it's rocking. And we wanted to start off the record with a bang, and that track certainly has it. The way it was written, was with my old pal, Stan Lynch, the original drummer with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He and I wrote a lot of material together. And this particular tune was started several years ago. Stan had the title, “Can't Stop Progress,” and I had the chord changes. We then fooled around with some lyrics, but it was not complete. And then the song lay fallow for a while because I really had no outlet for it. I just didn't know what to do with it. Then once the band (Immediate Family) started up, I revisited that tune. Pulled out the music, started playing it again and started writing more lyrics. And finally stumbled on exactly what I wanted to say and how to say it. Once I felt I had the perfect lyrics to go with the music, then Waddy came in and added another brilliant musical part to it and expanded the whole song. It kind of evolved with the three of us.
6. “Divorced” is another stand out track, especially with its theme of living isolated in the “Valley” outside of L.A. That song should be in a TV or movie about living in L.A. What’s the story on this tune?
Danny Kortchmar- The story is just like it says. It's a typical Los Angeles story, but it’s not just about Los Angeles. It's the same situation everywhere. When I wrote it, I realized there has to be a ‘Valley’ and a ‘405 freeway’ everywhere. I thought that in every big city, there's always the suburbs where people go, when they get divorced — there's always a big thruway, or freeway, where everybody sits in traffic and contemplates the disaster of breaking up. So “Divorced” is a universal thing. But again, I didn't analyze it and think about it that much when I started writing the song. Usually when I write songs, I start with the music. In this case though, I sat down and wrote the lyrics, the whole lyric, before I even thought about the music. Then Waddy came over the next day, and we worked out the music, and the rest of it came together quickly. Bang, like in about 10 minutes, it was over. Done. The whole thing.
7. Another track that stands out to me is “Not Made That Way.” What’s the inspiration for this track?
Danny Kortchmar- Well, you really have to feel and mean that song. It's funny. I wrote it and I put this together, again, with Stan Lynch. This was also a tune that we started around the same time as “Can't Stop Progress.” And we had the title, “Not Made That Way.” I had the chord changes, which is exactly what you hear. And again, it lay fallow for a while. I didn't really know what to think about doing with that tune. But finally, it started coming to me. And fortunately, I got involved with a fantastic woman, a beautiful woman, and then it became obvious that I could sing this tune, because I really meant it. And so, that was the inspiration and the nature of “Not Made That Way.”
8. The LP sounds like a total group effort including the songwriting, vocals, and production. How did you decide to divvy up all these areas in making the LP?
Russ Kunkel- All of us have been involved in the production of lots of projects over the years. We have produced, co-wrote, played on countless albums with many different artists. Our ability to produce an album of our own is well within our wheelhouse. Waddy and Steve currently have studios in their homes which we take advantage of for doing various overdubs. We like to cut the tracks live in the studio together, then finish them in Waddy or Steve’s studio. Once everything is recorded, we turn the tracks over to our mixing engineer Niko Bollas who consults with us as he mixes the tracks until they are all approved.
9. Now that the LP is out and live music is coming back around the country, despite some health concerns that have been popping up, what, if any are your tour plans?
Steve Postell- As of now, we are planning on playing 12 shows both on the west coast, east coast and Florida beginning in November (see www.immediatefamilyband.com for tour dates). From there, more shows are being booked for Spring, and there is talk of returning to our beloved Japan. There is a bit of apprehension and fluidity to all of the plans given the ever-changing Covid updates, but we remain hopeful and excited about getting back out there. We love the process of writing and recording music, but nothing will ever compare to playing rock n’ roll in front of a live audience.
10. Finally, I understand there’s a documentary in the works for The Immediate Family that is expected to be released in 2022. What can you tell us about that?
Leland Sklar- One of my favorite documentaries about the music biz is 'The Wrecking Crew' directed by Denny Tedesco. His father was the great studio guitarist Tommy Tedesco, and the movie was a bit of an homage to Tommy and the great musicians of that period. I was deeply surprised and flattered when Tommy and the producers approached The Immediate Family and said they wanted to do a documentary about the band and our collective history represented in the past five decades plus as working musicians. We were going full steam ahead with the project when COVID hit, and it slowed the process, but we have been moving forward throughout this period. They filmed us and many of the artists that we have recorded with, produced, written and toured with. I am so excited to see what they come up with. It is in editing mode now and we will get to see a rough cut soon and really see what we have been doing for the past 50 years. When you are living it daily it is hard to get a grasp of its entirety. It should be fabulous judging by Denny’s past work.
Bonus Questions
Any final thoughts on the new LP?
Danny Kortchmar - We are all thrilled with it and we're very proud of it. And that's not something that comes easy. I never listen to stuff that I've done, that I've played on, or the old records of mine, or that I played on or anything. I'm not really interested in the past. And I'm not interested in listening so much to something that has been. But this album, every time I put it on, I go, "Man, I'm so proud of this." It's rocking hard. Everyone in the band is just at the top of their game. The people in this band are my brothers, who I've known for many, many years. And it's a deep thing that we're doing here. It's not just about the music, it's about brotherhood. It's about family!
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