“Like
all great art, it is relevant and ageless. As we change, it changes.
Observe the Mona Lisa at 20,40, 60...nothing is constant, we will see
it differently. No yesterday, no tomorrow. This is the place, this
time, this album- The Key to the Universe- guitar,
bass, drum... it is naked, and stripped.”
Michael
Des Barres
And
so goes the Au Naturel soul of Michael Des Barres. He is singing and
speaking it raw, in your face, honest baby this is me, The Key
to the Universe.
Song
Rivers interview with Musician Michael Des Barres 03/03/2015
Creatives
are multifaceted people, whether they are striking a note, performing
a script, stroking a canvas, or sharing a beat over the airwaves.
It's what keeps everything sane, or at least in motion so you don’t
go insane from the lack of sleep, the over indulgences, and sadistic
body, soul and mind abuse. Many rockers live on the edge, and burn
and fade, but some live through those intense years of abuse to
write, press, and perform on the other side of their realization that
life holds more than a fast lane. With a 'gold spoon in the mouth'
and an upside down household of strippers... Michael
Des Barres knows what excess is and screams that in his heart he
is who he is... and relates to life. As Michael puts it with a smile,
“I am a vagabond gypsy, rejecting the hypocrisy to get out and
disappear.'
As
the gypsy soul called, Michael found himself not only acting, but in
music. Los Angeles eventually came, and the creative fusion of his
tastes for performing were recognized in numerous movies (playing
opposite of Clint Eastwood in Pink Cadillac), Midnight Cabaret, Under
Siege to name just a few, plus the TV show MacGyver, and many more.
His musical hunger linked him with meeting, and becoming friends with
Jimmy Page. Through his
friendship with Page, Michael met and married Page's former
girlfriend, Pamela
Des Barres (Author of- I'm
With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie). Then came the band,
Detective
(signed under Swan Song), and later the successful co-written song
with Holly Knight, Obsession,
which became a hit for the group Animotion.
In
simpatico creativity, simultaneously Michael
was creating another band known as, Chequered
Past. A line up that EMI
took hold of and had open for Billy
Idols tour (Michael Des Barres, Steve
Jones, Nigel
Harrison, Clem
Burke and Tony
Sales. (If you can't see why EMI grabbed this line up you need
your brain cells cleared). From Idol's tour to Duran
Duran's tour in 1984, which lead Michael to Live
Aid.
At
this point I had to ask why Robert
Palmer withdrew from Duran Duran's side project known as, The
Power Station. Michael thinks perhaps it was Robert's personal
decision, defining where his lines of comfort may have influenced his
decision to step out when the Power Station was asked to play Live
Aid. “I loved Robert,” Michael explains warmly, “I was really
there only by proxy. I felt I had to be the luckiest man in the world
I was going to be performing in front of 2 million people. I had no
time to decided to do it or not, very little time to prepare, but I
did it and it was incredible. Of course it is only conjecture, but
Robert was a sophisticated man and the idea of 20,000 topless teenage
girls, well maybe it wasn't comfortable, it wasn't him.”
And
the story goes on... With Michaels radio show on, The
Underground Garage Siriusxm
Radio (channel 21/ 9pm-Midnight), I don't think there isn't
anything he isn't afraid of trying. Confidence in self at times can
be seen as arrogance, but in all candor if we see it as arrogance it
just means our own reflection is stating we have very fragile egos.
Michael is the embodiment of rock- unabashed, provocative, fun, full
spectrum and “telling the truth,” because that is his voice.
Three chords, that is all it takes to be real, naked, and stripped.
Read
on as Michael dispels the assumption of arrogance.
I
asked Michael if there was some 'hidden' meaning behind the title
that we are supposed to look for, in truth he said we are the key. It
is us. “Looking for your soul, is The Key to the Universe-
YOU- without US there is no universal connectivity. Some assume that
I am arrogant, because I see this, but I am not, I am confident in
what I am doing. Community base living, Big and Bold,
controversial...watch yourself, and be observant.”
The
passion Michael has for living, his music, and for those around him,
is self-evident in The
Key to the Universe.
Produced by the honorable Bob Rose
(FOD Records) and
recorded at the Forum Music Village in Rome, the album reunites
friends and rockers Des Barres and Nigel Harrison (former bassist of
Silverhead
and Blondie), along with
notable vitrine drummer, Clive
Deamer (Portishead and
Robert Plant) and the final
key... Dani Robinson
on guitar. This is the explosion of universal rock in motion!
Opening
up the album is a song penned by Linda
Perry, Can't
Get You Off My Mind,
and as Michael put it, “Passion
and honesty mean everything to me, (Linda Perry)
she is
authentic—she is the real thing.” With an opening track written
by the remarkably noted Perry who's long passionate history as a
singer /song writer for 4 Non
Blondes,
and creating hits for Gwen
Stefani,
Christina
Aguilera,
Adam
Lambert and
working closely with James
Blunt,
Coutney
Love,
Alicia
Keys,
P!nk
and many others. Michaels performance states unequivocally
passionate ownership of this lustful song about obsession making the
writer and the performer kick this one in the neural structure.
With
the measure of no longer living to the excess, Michael continues this
truth through out each track, Room
Full of Angels,
and the brutal honesty of
I Want Love To Punch Me in the Face-
a right jab to the heart can certainly do that. Maybe
Means Nothing,
yes a song saying give me a definitive... in truth, you reach a
certain place and you haven't time for the maybe's anymore. Spinning
through a few more tracks and landing on Yesterday's
Casanova,
needing no explanation, to Black
Sheep,
maybe another layer of revelation peeled back? The album concludes in
unabashed, no apologies rock with Liberty
Train,
and Supernatural
Lovers.
Ten tracks of raw, open, honest lyrics, rhythm, beats and melody.
The
essence of The Key to the
Universe has a
roughness, and a scent of unadulterated bluesy rock, with the mature
vocals of Des Barres given to a 'rough me up foreplay' and an
unmitigated indulging vocals reminiscent of Jimmy
Barnes and Rod Stewart.
Michael Des Barres knows what rock n roll is supposed to make you
feel.
Lastly,
I asked Michael if he were to choose a few musicians he had come to
admire over the years, he said, “The list would be long, but I will
give you just a few. Hendrix, Bonham, Russell,
Winehouse, Elvis, Stewart,
Richards...”
and the list goes on. To sum up Michael Des Barres and who he is I
would select these words; No, wait. Better yet I will let him, “To
express myself in whatever forms it comes. Rock N Roll lives.”
Michael Des Barres 2015.
This
latest album, The Key to the Universe, is open for you
to decide; grab the knob and shift...or ease back the seat and see
where the music takes you.
(Photos used by permission) Article appearing in Vents Magazine
More information:
#rock #michaeldesbarres #theykeytotheuniverse #blondie #radiohead #sexpistols #theundergroundgarage #acting #1970's #blues #songriver #billyidol #fobrecords #cowgirlzenphotography #interviews #reviews #TV
Song River is the owner of CowGirlZen Photography. She is also a freelance photojournalist. Currently working with L3 Magazine, Vents Mag, Silverplatter. You can follow her interviews, reviews of great musicians, writers, artists on her blog, http://cowgirlzenphoto.cowgirlzenphotojournalist.com/. She is also quite active in social media working as a copywriter for several companies, and individuals. Never wrong, always right... and filled with a twisted satirical outlooks onlife sometimes... you have to be thinking out of the box most of the time to catch her. A mess of delight and quandary at times, but known for her love and compassion to help others succeed. A die hard Nikon proficient!
Song River is the owner of CowGirlZen Photography. She is also a freelance photojournalist. Currently working with L3 Magazine, Vents Mag, Silverplatter. You can follow her interviews, reviews of great musicians, writers, artists on her blog, http://cowgirlzenphoto.cowgirlzenphotojournalist.com/. She is also quite active in social media working as a copywriter for several companies, and individuals. Never wrong, always right... and filled with a twisted satirical outlooks onlife sometimes... you have to be thinking out of the box most of the time to catch her. A mess of delight and quandary at times, but known for her love and compassion to help others succeed. A die hard Nikon proficient!