When did you join the band?
December of 1996.
How did you get the job?
I was friends with the original bass player. When he left - he called me.
Do you know why he quit?
You'd have to ask him. I don't really know.
Was it hard fitting in with the rest of the band?
No, as a group we hit it off right away. I've always respected the original bass player as a musician... so it
was a real honor to go through and learn all of the songs. So the transition was quite easy.
Were you a fan of Tonic at the time?
Yea, I was. There were a few bands in L.A. that I would actually make a point to go out and see because I enjoy
them - I would go see these guys because I enjoyed it. So it was cool to ultimately end up in the band.
Tell me a little about the newest album you guys have out.
Head On Straight - personally I think it's the best out of all three records. It has maturity and quality... it's
the most evolved. We recorded it in Maui with Bob Rock... he has a studio out there at his house. So we rented
a couple of condos for about two months, and basically worked Monday through Friday... made it as close to a real job as possible.
It worked out great. It was real productive - we took the weekends off to enjoy Maui. Definitely enjoyed working
with Bob Rock.
On the last record you didn't have a producer - was it hard working with one this time?
No, 'cause he... a good producer will really just help you be more like yourself. We enjoyed producing Sugar ourselves,
but it was really tough in terms of trying to know when something's finished. As an artist you never think it's quite
right. With Bob we got the benefit of him saying without question that something... or he would have a musical idea
that none of us would have ever come up with... because he comes from such a different place. So it was probably easier
this way than to produce it ourselves.
What are most of the new songs about?
Lyrically, Emerson stays pretty true to the theme of relationships. I think he tried to do the same on this record
- and just maybe focus a little more on being more honest.
Do you ever feel the pressure to write a song that was better than the last?
Yea, of course. I feel that every song that I've ever written is being compared to other songs I've written in
the past. There's always going to be comparisons made. I feel that it's important to grow too. The pressure
mostly comes from yourself, you know?
Are you at home right now?
Yea, I'm home in L.A. I just had a little baby boy.
What's his name?
His name is Ryan. That's R Y A N. (laughs)
He's definitely taking up most of my time.
Ok, so what's your favorite song on the newest album?
This answer will always change - it depends on when you catch me. I think my favorite song on the record is Believe
Me. Track ten, because it's really different from any other Tonic song. I think it really stands out. It
just moves me in a certain way. And I like Count On Me.
What is everyone up to now since you have a little time off?
Changing diapers. (laughs) That's about it right now. We're actually going to Japan next week.
We're going to play for the US troops. We have a history of playing shows for the military quite a bit. It's something
that I'm very proud of - 'cause I'm certainly not the kind of person that could ever have served. (laughs) I probably
could have benefitted from it, but I just wasn't that type of guy. I think I speak for all three of us in that statement.
So this is our way to give back to the troups that do a lot for us.
What are your other plans for this year?
So far that's it. We haven't been looking too far into the future. There's actually one thing else that I
didn't mention about the new record, Head On Straight. We actually got two Grammy nominations. We lost to Bruce
Springsteen in the best rock album category, and we lost to Coldplay in best rock performance. It was truly an honor
to be in the same category as Springsteen... Elvis Costello was in there... it was amazing. To be mentioned in the same
breath - that was pretty big for me. That'll keep me going.
